Resolved

It's that time when people are gearing up for the new year ahead with resolutions. In my judgment, this gearing up can be good, or it can be bad, depending. It depends on whether or not what we resolve (as we look back on the previous year, and ahead to the new one) is done in the strength that God supplies (1 Pet. 4:11), and is done evangelically, that is to say, by faith alone in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us (Gal. 2:20). 

But if resolutions are undertaken in the right spirit (or, perhaps I should say, by the Spirit), in complete dependence upon the one who fulfills "every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified" (2 Thess. 1:11-12), then they are holy, good, and right-minded.  

So, it seems salutary, to me at least, to re-post what I posted some time ago: some of Jonathan Edwards' resolutions when he was a young man, since they never cease to stir me. I'll list some that have affected me most, and that give a good flavor of the whole (70 resolutions in total). Rereading them fills me with shame and self-loathing for how lukewarmly I've lived this past year! And makes me want to resolve to live differently in 2013!

Edwards (at age 19!):

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.
7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
9. Resolved, to think much on all occassions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.
10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom and of hell.
16. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.
17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.
18. Resolved, to live so at all times, as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel, and another world.
20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.
28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.
30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.

31. Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the Golden Rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution.
34. Resolved, in narrations never to speak anything but the pure and simple verity.
36. Resolved, never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call for it.
39. Resolved, never to do anything that I so much question the lawfulness of, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or no: except I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.
40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking.
43. Resolved, never henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were anyway my own, but entirely and altogether God's. . . .
44. Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it.

46. Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eye: and to be especially careful of it, with respect to any of our family.
47. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented, easy, compassionate, generous, humble, meek, modest, submissive, obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable, even, patient, moderate, forgiving, sincere temper; and to do at all times what such a temper would lead me to. Examine strictly every week, whether I have done so.
56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.
58. Resolved, not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness, and benignity.
59. Resolved, when I am most conscious of provocations to ill-nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times.
60. Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination.
61. Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it—that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, etc.
62. Resolved, never to do anything but duty; and then according to Eph. 6:6-8, do it willingly and cheerfully "as unto the Lord, and not to man; knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord."
67. Resolved, after afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them, what good I have got by them, and what I might have got by them.
70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak.

—Letters and Personal Writings (vol. 16 in the Works of Jonathan Edwards; ed. George S. Clanghorn; New Haven: Yale University, 1998), 753-759.

Setting the Consciences of Men on Fire

Solomon Stoddard on preaching: 

"We are not sent into the pulpit to shew our wit and eloquence but to set the consciences of men on fire."

— Iain H. Murray, Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1987), 8. 

The Athanasian Creed

Consider me odd, but I love creeds. A brother who filled the pulpit for our pastors this past weekend recited the Athanasian creed in his fine sermon on Jn. 1:1-18, which recitation lit a fire in my soul. If you want a good sermon to listen to on what Christmas is all about, or if you want a good message on the deity of Jesus to meditate upon, you could do much, much worse than this one. And if you do listen, you'll hear, amid much solid instruction, the profound and stirring stuff of an ancient creed proclaimed.

I reproduce the Athanasian creed now for the good of my soul and yours (just as it is printed in the edition I'm citing from). It's worth memorizing.

1. Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith:
2. Which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled; without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
3. And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
4. Neither confounding Persons: nor dividing Substance [Essense].
5. For there is one Person of the Father: another of the Son: and another of the Holy Ghost.
6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal.
7. Such as the Father is: such is the Son: and such is the Holy Ghost.
8. The Father uncreate [uncreated]: the Son uncreate [uncreated]; and the Holy Ghost uncreate [uncreated].
9. The Father incomprehensible [unlimited]: the Son incomprehensible [unlimited]: and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible [unlimited, or infinite].
10. The Father eternal: the Son eternal: and the Holy Ghost eternal.
11. And yet they are not three eternals: but one eternal.
12. As also there are not three uncreated: nor three incomprehensibles [infinites], but one uncreated: and one incomprehensible [infinite].
13 So likewise the Father is Almighty: the Son Almighty: and the Holy Ghost Almighty.
14. And yet they are not three Almighties: but one Almighty.
15. So the Father is God: the Son is God: and the Holy Ghost is God.
16. And yet they are not three Gods: but one God.
17. So likewise the Father is Lord: the Son Lord: and the Holy Ghost Lord.
18. And yet not three Lords: but one Lord.
19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity: to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord:
20. So are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion: to say, There be [are] three Gods, or three Lords.
21. The Father is made of none: neither created, nor begotten.
22. The Son is of the Father alone: not made, nor created: but begotten.
23.  The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son: neither made, nor created, nor begotten: but proceeding.
24.So there is one Father, not three Fathers: one Son, not three Sons: one Holy Ghost, and not three Holy Ghosts.
25. And in this Trinity none is afore, or after another: none is greater, or less than another [there is nothing before, or after: nothing greater or less].
26. But the whole three Persons are coeternal, and coequal.
27. So that in all things, as aforesaid: the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped.
28. He therefore that will be saved, must [let him] thus think of the Trinity.

29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation: that he also believe rightly [faithfully] the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
30. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess: that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man;
31. God, of the Substance [Essence] of the Father; begotten before the worlds: and Man, of the Substance [Essence] of his Mother, born in the world.
32. Perfect God: and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
33. Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead: and inferior to the Father as touching his Manhood.
34. Who although he be [is] God and Man; yet he is not two, but one Christ.
35. One; not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh: but by taking [assumption] of the Manhood into God.
36. One altogether; not by confusion of Substance [Essence]: but by unity of Person.
37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man: so God and Man is one Christ;
38. Who suffered for our salvation: descended into hell [Hades, spirit-world]: rose again the third day from the dead.
39. He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father God [God the Father] Almighty.
40 From whence [thence] he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;

42. And shall give account for their own works.
43. And they that have done good shall go into live everlasting: and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire.
44. This is the Catholic Faith: which except a man believe faithfully [truly and firmly], he can not be saved.

—Philip Schaff, ed., The Creeds of Christendom (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996), 66-70.

Building in Disciplined Bible Reading and Prayer

Piper on reading the Scriptures:

If your longing is to be spontaneous in the way you commune with God, then build discipline into your Bible reading and prayer. . . .  

. . . plan a place and a time when you will read the Bible and think about it each day. There can always be more times during the day. There should be. But let there be one sacred time and place. Put it on your calendar. Treat it the same way you would an appointment with a partner or friend. If someone asks you to do something during that time, say, "I'm sorry, I already have an appointment then."

—John Piper, When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy (Wheaton: Crossway, 2004), 116.

Free Audio on Romans Taught by Dr. Moo

Here's a free course on Romans taught by Professor Doug Moo of Wheaton College. I took a Greek exegesis course on Romans with him last spring. I was not disappointed. It helped to sharpen some of my thinking on the so-called New Perspective on Paul. N. T. Wright's commentary was assigned to be read alongside Moo's.

Professor Moo's commentary, published in 1996, is still tops. I recall D. A. Carson saying somewhere that Moo's commentary is the best one on Romans in the English language. And my understanding is that Dr. Moo may even be putting out a revision before too long.

Enjoy.

Thankful for Pastors Who Work Hard in the Word

"The pastor's job is to look at the Bible and work hard to understand what's in it, and then work hard to make it understandable and attractive and compelling to our people."

—John Piper & D. A. Carson, The Pastor as Scholar & the Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on Life and Ministry (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 61.

A Lutheran Prayer for Good Government

Martin Luther:

We pray especially for the government under whose care and protection you have called us. Bless it with success and prosperity. May the word of God, decency, and all honesty be advanced; may all of the offense of which there is much be prevented; and may the common welfare be properly and peaceably provided. Make us obedient and devout. Amen.

—Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 98.

A Brief Break from My Blog Break, To Give Thanks to God

On this Thanksgiving, there's so much for which to be thankful. Given recent happenings in the life of the Wencels, I'm especially thankful for my little girl, my wife, our families, our church, progressive sanctification, the Father's rod, modern medical mercies, my work, my opportunities, my creatureliness, the material universe, our daily bread, salt, coffee, beer, cheese, wine, and on and on it would be easy to go. 

But most of all, I'm thankful for God. With each passing, fleeting breath I take in this glorious theater of God, with all the new mercies I drink in each morning, I'm reminded that God is all and the fountain of all my happiness, pleasure, peace, satisfaction, and rest. With the psalmists, I confess: "I have no good apart from God." And, "There is nothing on earth that I desire besides God." And, "The Lord is my chosen portion."

So I'm deeply thankful for God as my portion and all. And I'm reminded of one of my favorite quotations from Jonathan Edwards. It's a good word to remind all that whatever you enjoy and rightfully thank God for this Thanksgiving, it's only a pointer and dim reflection of the glory from which that good emanates.

Edwards:

The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accomodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the ocean.

Indeed God is the sun and ocean. Amid the intense enjoyments and delights of this day, for which I will heartily bless and thank God, my soul will still feel that pang for so much more, so much more of God.

I open wide my mouth today, O Lord, and ask You to fill it, fill it with Your good things, eternal things, durable goods, all-satisfying things, infinite things, the things of the Spirit. And I rejoice that my cry and yearning will assuredly be heard and satisfied in your good time in a new heavens and new earth! Thank you, O Lord! For you I wait all the day, all my life!

Blog Break

It's time for a blog break. As some of you know, I'm a practicing physical therapist. That's my vocation. While practicing physical therapy, I've also been working on a biblical exegesis degree at Wheaton College. Well, it's time to wrap up the degree this year, and I've got to kick it in high gear as I gear up for my comprehensive exams and push through my final coursework. My wife and I are also expecting the public appearance of our first child, Ariana, in about six weeks.

So, I'll be occupied with caring for our little girl, and I'll be doing much more reading and studying that I have to do, instead of what I'd like to do. The upshot: there will be less material for the blog that I'd like to post. So I'm putting it on hold for a season. I hope to be back to blogging before too long, probably posting a lot of stuff from fresh communion with my first love—theology, especially the practical, experimental, doxological variety. The only kind, in my mind, that matters much!

Till then, press on to know the Lord! And please pray that I'll do the same.

Dear Father, Deliver Us From All Evil

A Lutheran prayer for God's protection from all evil:

Dear Father, give us our daily bread, good seasons, and health. Protect us from war, disease, and drought. If you would tempt me a bit by withholding your blessings for a while, then your will be done. If my time is up and my hour has come, deliver me from all evil. If not, give me strength and patience. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 95.

Calvin's Faith Facing Death

From Calvin's will, made on his deathbead:

I give thanks to God who had mercy on me. . . . He delivered me out of the deep darkness of idolatry in which I was plunged, that he might bring me into the light of the gospel. . . . I have no other defense or refuge for salvation than his free adoption, on which alone my salvation depends. With all my soul I embrace the mercy that he has exercised towards me through Jesus Christ, atoning for my sins with the merits of his death and passion, that in this way he might satisfy for all my offences and faults and blot them out form his remembrance. I testify also and declare that I earnestly beg him to be pleased so to wash and purify me in the blood that my Sovereign Redeemer has shed for the sins of mankind, that under his shadow I may be able to stand at the judgment-seat. . . . 

I also testify and declare that in all the battles and disputations in which I have been engaged with the enemies of the gospel, I have used no falsehood, no wicked and sophistical devices, but have acted straightforwardly and sincerely in defending the truth.  

Yet, alas, my ardour and zeal (if indeed worthy of the name) have been so slack and languid that I confess I have failed countless times to execute my office properly, and had not he, of his boundless goodness, assisted me . . . those mental powers that the Lord gave me would at his judgment-seat prove me more and more guilty of sin and sloth. 

For these reasons I testify and declare that I trust to no other security for my salvation than this alone, that as God is the Father of mercy, so he will show himself such a Father to me, who acknowledge myself to be a miserable sinner.

—J. I. Packer, Honoring the People of God: Collected Shorter Writings on Christian Leaders and Theologians (Vancoover: Regent College Publishing, 1999), 16.

Is God Concerned about Oxen?

A helpful and insightful interpretation for Paul's use of Deut. 25:4 in 1 Cor. 9:9 may be found here. And the methodology modeled there is quite instructive and sound.

O God, Be Glorified at Home

A Lutheran prayer for the glory of God in the home:

Dear God, you have given to me my wife, children, house, and property. I receive these as you desire, and will care for them for your sake. Therefore I will do as much as possible that all may go well. If my plans do not all succeed, I will learn to be patient and let what cannot be changed take its course. If I do well I will give God the glory. I will say, O Lord, it is not my work or effort but your gift and providence. Take my place and be the head of the family. I will yield humbly and be obedient to you. Amen.  

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 94.

When God Pours Out His Spirit

Commenting on Gen. 4:26, Edwards speaks to what begins to happen when God's Spirit moves among men:

We see by experience that a remarkable pouring out of the Spirit of God is always attended with such an effect, namely, a great increase of the performance of the duty of prayer. When the Spirit of God begins or works on men's hearts, [he] immediately sets them to calling on the name of the Lord; as it was with Paul after the Spirit of God had laid hold on him, the the next news is behold he prayeth. So it has been in all remarkable pourings out of the Spirit of God that we have any particular account of in Scripture, and so it is foretold it will be at the great pouring out of the Spirit of God in the latter days. 

 —Jonathan Edwards, A History of the Work of Redemption (ed. John F. Wilson; vol. 21, Works; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 142.

The Minister and His Greek Testament

From "The Minister and His Greek New Testament," originally published in The Presbyterian 88 (February 7, 1918), Machen speaks pretty straightforwardly about the decline of Greek among ministers:

The widening breach between the minister and his Greek Testament may be traced to two prinicipal causes. The modern minister objects to his Greek New Testament or is indifferent to it, first, because he is becoming less interested in his Greek, and second, because he is becoming less interested in his New Testament.

—J. Gresham Machen, Selected Shorter Writings (Phillipsburg: P&R, 2004), 210.

What is Typology?

Here are a few answers.

J. I. Packer succinctly gives us the standard stuff:

Typology . . . looks into Old Testament patterns of divine action, agency, and instruction that [find] final fulfillment in Christ. . . .[1]

Peter J. Leithart says it in his own way:

 “Typology” is a loaded word. . . . I use the word not only to highlight the principle that the Old Testament points ahead to Christ, but also to describe the structure of the Old Testament itself. The Old Testament is composed according to a rhythm of “repetition with difference” that is a microcosm of New Testament typology. David is a “type” of Jesus, but he is also an “antitype” of Adam. When I speak of a “typological” understanding of the Old Testament I am further calling attention to the literary devices that the Bible uses to communicate its message. These are “typological” in the sense that they are the means by which the Bible presents the rhythms of history, as well as the means by which the Old Testament in particular points to Christ. . . .[2]

And D. L. Baker perhaps puts it most helpfully:

The fundamental conviction that underlies typology is that God is consistently active in the history of this world (especially in the history of his chosen people) and that as a consequence the events in this history tend to follow a consistent pattern. One event may thus be chosen as typical of another or of many others. 

A type is a biblical event, person, or institution that serves as an example or pattern for other events, person, or institutions; typology is the study of types and the historical and theological correspondences between them; the basis of typology is God’s consistent activity in the history of his chosen people.[3]

---

[1] J. I. Packer, From the Forward of The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament (Phillipsburg: P&R, 1988), 8.

[2] Peter Leithart, A House for My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament (Moscow: Canon Press, 2000), 27-28.

[3] Quoted in Robin Routledge, Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 45. 

No Fixed Rules of Interpretation

Luther on hermeneutics:

I acknowledge no fixed rules of interpretation of the Word of God, since the Word of God, which teaches freedom in all other matters, must not be bound.

—The Freedom of the Christian (Luther's Works, vol. 31; ed. Harold J. Grimm; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1957), 341.

YHWH's Majestic Royal Voice

Here's trying my hand at translating Psalm 29. I've attempted to bring out something of the structure, flow, force, and poetics of the Hebrew, while maintaing an essentially literal translation.

A Psalm of David.

Give to YHWH, O sons of God,
     Give to YHWH glory and strength.
     Give to YHWH the glory of his name;
Worship YHWH in holy array.

YHWH's voice is over the waters,
     The God of glory thunders,
          YHWH, over vast waters;
YHWH's voice in power,
YHWH's voice in majesty;
YHWH's voice breaking cedars,
     YHWH shattering the cedars of Lebanon,
          making them skip like a calf,
               Lebanon and Sirion, like a young wild ox.
YHWH's voice hews flames of fire.
YHWH's voice cunvulses the wilderness,
     YHWH convulses the wilderness of Kadesh.
YHWH's voice brings birth pangs on does
          as it strips the forests bare,
               And all in his temple cry, "Glory!"

YHWH sat enthroned at the flood;
      YHWH sits enthroned, King forever.
YHWH grants strength to his people;
     YHWH blesses his people with peace.

Apprehending the Meaning and Power of the Word of God

From The Presbyterian Guardian, February 25, 1945, John Murray pleads for "concentrated, sustained, devoted study of the Bible, the kind of study that is not fulfilled by the perfunctory reading of some passages each day":

The set periods of family worship are not, of course, by any means to be disparaged. This is a highly necessary and most fruitful exercise. The influence for good exerted by honouring God's Word in this way is incalculable for all concerned. Indeed, the minimal use of the Bible in this way has often left an indelible impression for good. And furthermore, the set periods of family worship may become the occasions for very concentrated and systematic study of the Bible.

But what I am going to stress is the necessity for diligent and persevering searching of the Scriptures; study whereby we shall turn and turn again the pages of Scripture; the study of prolonged thought and meditation by which our hearts and minds may become soaked with the truth of the Bible and by which the deepest springs of thought, feeling and action may be stirred and directed; the study by which the Word of God will grip us, bind us, hold us, pull us, drive us, raise us up from the dunghill, bring us down from our high conceits and make us its bondservants in all of thought, life and conduct. 

The Word of God is a great deep; the commandment is exceeding broad; and so we cannot by merely occasional, hurried and perfunctory use of it understand its meaning and power.

—Collected Writings of John Murray (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), 3.

Edwards on Righteousness and Covenant Faithfulness

Here's a quotation from Edwards' A History of the Work of Redemption that might surprise you:

By God's righteousness here [Isa. 51:8] is meant his faithfulness in fulfilling his covenant promises to his church, or his faithfulness towards his church and people in bestowing the benefits of the covenant of grace upon them. . . .

 So the word righteousness is very often used in Scripture for his covenant faithfulness; so 'tis in Neh. 9:8, "Thou hast performed thy words for thou art righteous." And so we are to understand righteousness and covenant mercy to be the same thing, as in Ps. 24:5, "He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of [his salvation]"; Ps. 36:10, "O continue thy lovingkindness to them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright"; and Ps. 51:14, "Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, though God of my salvation; and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness"; and Dan. 9:16, "O Lord, according to thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away"; and so in innumerable places.

—Jonathan Edwards, A History of the Work of Redemption (ed. John F. Wilson; vol. 21, Works; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 114-115.

Secularism and Separation of Church and State

Hunter Baker on the difference between secularism and the notion of the separation of church and state:

Secularism is not and should not be synonymous with the separation of church and state. The separation of church and state, in the classical sense, simply means that the state does not collect fees to support the church; neither does it mandate membership in the church. . . . 

When Christians rail against the separation of church and state and heatedly charge that those words do not appear in the Constitution, they are really reacting to secularism. The problem is that the language of the separation of church and state is often used to push for more secularistic understandings. Given a right understanding of secularism as the separation of religion from public life and the separation of church and state as nothing more than formal institutional independence of church and state, citizens should value church-state separation as the healthier and more justifiable state of affairs. 

—Hunter Baker, The End of Secularism (Wheaton: Crossway, 2009), 19-20.

Parting with Your Isaac for God's Sake

From his Signs of Godliness notebook, Edwards commenting on Gen. 22:12:

God would teach us this by it: that that is a sign of the truth of grace, when men have a preparedness of mind to part with their Isaac, that is, that which is dearest to them of all things earthly, for God's sake.

—Jonathan Edwards, Writings on the Trinity, Grace, and Faith (ed. Sang Hyun Lee; vol. 21, Works; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 483.

The Fruits of Grace in the Life

From Edwards' Signs of Godliness notebook:

The fruits of grace in the life must needs be the proper evidences of it. What can be the proper evidence of a person's loving God above all but his actually preferring him, or preferring him indeed when it comes to a trial? What can be the proper evidences of the heart's forsaking all for Christ, or of his willingness to forsake all for him, than his actually doing of it, as there is occasion? What can be the proper evidence of trusting in the promises of God, than his actually running the venture of their truth when it comes to a trial? 

The act of the man must be the proper evidence of the act of the heart. The will must be shown by the voluntary actions. We find the promises of God sometimes made to conversion and sometimes to perseverance: 'tis because perseverance is but the actual fulfillment of that which is virtually done in conversion, and the accomplishment is the proper evidence of the virtual accomplishment. When two things are set before a man to see which he will choose, the proper evidence which he chooses, is which he takes. So is practice the evidence of sincerity, and the fruit that by which the tree is known. Surely the proper evidence of a man's heart's being prepared to cleave to Christ above all, is his actually doing it; the proper manifestation of choice is act. 

'Tis true it is the heart that God looks at; godliness lies in the disposition of the heart, but godliness consists not in an heart to purpose to fulfill God's commandments, but in an heart actually to do it.

—Jonathan Edwards, Writings on the Trinity, Grace, and Faith (ed. Sang Hyun Lee; vol. 21, Works; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 476.

Relativism Commits Cosmic Treason

Piper speaks to the cosmic treason of relativism:

Relativism is a pervasive rebellion against the very concept of divine law. Therefore, it is a profound rebellion against God. It is a treason that is worse than outright revolt, because it is devious. Instead of saying to God's face, "Your word is false," it says to man, "There is no such thing as a universally binding divine word." This is treason against the King of the universe.

 —John Piper, Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 106.

Authentic Biblical Interpretation

Packer on inauthentic interpretation versus the real deal:

Historical exegesis is only the preliminary part of interpretation; application is its essence. Exegesis without application should not be called interpretation at all (27).

And further on,

This is biblical interpretation: seeing first what the text meant and then what it means—that is, how what it says touches our lives (45).

And even further on,

Historical exegesis becomes interpretation only when the application is truly made (45).

—J. I. Packer, Honouring the Written Word of God: Collected Shorter Writings on the Authority and Interpretation of Scripture (Vancoover: Regent College Publishing, 1999).

Ten Words Amid Intolerance

D. A. Carson concludes his book The Intolerance of Tolerance with a chapter entitled "Ways Ahead: Ten Words." What follows are the headings of these ten words:

1. Expose the New Tolerance's Moral and Epistemological Bankruptcy
2. Preserve a Place for Truth
3. Expose the New Tolerance's Condescending Arrogance
4. Insist That the New Tolerance Is Not Progress
5. Distinguish Between Empirical Diversity and the Inherent Goodness of All Diversity
6. Challenge Secularism's Ostensible Neutrality and Superiority
7. Practice and Encourage Civility
8. Evangelize
9. Be Prepared to Suffer
10. Delight in and Trust God

Under the tenth heading, so important that I include it, Carson says this:

Delight in God, and trust him. God remains sovereign, wise, and good. Our ultimate confidence is not in any government or party, still less in our ability to mold the culture in which we live. God may bring about changes that reflect the more robust understanding of tolerance better known in earlier times, and that would be very helpful; alternatively, he may send "a powerful delusion so that [people] will believe the lie" (2 Thessalonians 2:11), and in consequence we may enter into more suffering for Jesus than the West has known for some time. That would have the effect of aligning us with brothers and sisters in Christ in other parts of the world, and enable us to share something of the apostle's joy (Acts 5:41). 

 —D. A. Carson, The Intolerance of Tolerance (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 161-176.

Dear Lord, Make Me a Devout Parent

A Lutheran prayer for parenting:

O Lord Jesus Christ, you have opened my eyes for me to see how through your death you have redeemed me from sin, and through your resurrection have made me an heir of heaven and eternal life. 

Now, dear Lord, I thank you for these great and unspeakable gifts. I will in turn gladly do what you require of me. You have commanded me to serve my wife (husband) faithfully, and to bear the responsibilities of family life diligently and submissively. I will gladly do this. You have made me father (mother) of a family. 

Dear Lord, make me a devout parent. Help me to discharge my parental duties with heart and soul. I would rather lose my life than disobey you by offending my children and members of my household or by failing to guide them faithfully. You will not permit this ordinance and blessing of yours to be disturbed or destroyed, but will graciously protect it through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1994), 94.

Shallow Reductionism and Homosexuality

D. A. Carson on popular discourse about homosexuality:

Not for a moment should anyone deny that the evidence as to what "makes" a homosexual is extraordinarily complex. Few have matched the care and objectivity of the study by Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse. In popular discourse, however, virtually none of that complexity is allowed to surface in the public square. It is everywhere assumed that people are simply born that way, and that's all there is to it. Even if that were the case—and the evidence simply will not allow such shallow reductionism—it would not in itself establish that the practice of homosexuality is a good thing, absent a number of other assumptions

 —D. A. Carson, The Intolerance of Tolerance (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 134.

The Destruction of Sennacherib

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay wither'd and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd;
and the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there roll'd not the breath of his pride:
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

—George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824)

On Controversy and a Little Math

A good word over at Ligonier from John Newton about engaging in controversy. If you are sixty years old or older, read it twice a year, or roughly every six months. Multiply this recommendation of twice a year by two for every ten years that you fall short of sixty. If you are over eighty, you don't need to read it anymore.

I can hear the sophomoric nineteen-year-old's voice crying out vehemently in objection and gathering up a steam of polemic against legalism: "But where does the Bible require that!? And, in any case, if I did that, do you know how little time I'd have for fighting the enemy who is threatening to overthrow Christendom if I don't act now." Exactly.

Jesus Hates the Fed

Doug Wilson posts on legalized governmental theft:

Christian preachers need to just cut to the chase. Obamacare is not just theft, and not just grand larceny, it is mega larceny. Life is simple. Taking money from one group of people in order to give it to another group of people is larceny.

And further on:

I would have no problem condemning our modern banking and finance system, from the Fed on down, and I would have no problem issuing this condemnation from the pulpit in the name of Jesus. Why? Thou shalt not steal, as someone once said. 

"But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God" (Deut. 25:15-16). 

"Divers weights, and divers measures, Both of them are alike abomination to the Lord" (Prov. 20:10). 

"Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water" (Isa. 1:22).

This is why we can say that Jesus Christ hates the Fed. He hates it because it is an abomination to Him, and we can say this for the same reason that we can say He hates it when a butcher has his thumb on the scales. 

Pumping unbacked currency into the economy is the same sin in principle as having different sets of weights and measures. It is the same sin as mixing low-grade wheat into the silo, and pretending you didn't. It is the same sin as cutting the wine with water, and selling it as though you hadn't. 

It is the sin of putting copper into your quarters. That's not a little thing—the Bible calls it an abomination.

The whole post, which is quite good, may be found here.

Atheism, Secularism, and Oceans of Spilled Blood

D. A. Carson on the legacy of secularism in the twentieth century:

The twentieth century, the bloodiest in human history, exhibited spectacular instances of intolerance—and the most violent exemplars had very little to do with religion. Of course, there was at least a religious component in the strife in the Balkans and again in the bloody violence between the Tutsis and Hutus. Yet most observers recognized that even here the more important factors were tribalism, racism, perceived economic injustice, very different interpretations of history, and "honor" and vengeance killings that escalated to the scale of genocide.  

Few religious factors played much part in the largest of the slaughters of the twentieth century, the violence espoused by Fascism and Communism. Perhaps fifty million Chinese died under Mao, about twenty million Ukrainians under Stalin, and then we come to World War II and the Holocaust. In both its Russian and its Chinese forms, Communism was overtly atheistic. In both its German and its Italian forms, Fascism was nominally Christian but only in the sense that it was happy to appeal to God and religion in pursuit of its own social and political agendas, never so as to be reformed by Scripture or Christian truth or morality, never in any sense to belong to the great tradition of historic creeds. . . . Atheism, whether theoretical (as in Communism) or practical (as in Fascism), far from being tolerant, spilled oceans of blood. 

 —D. A. Carson, The Intolerance of Tolerance (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 72-73.

Reformation and the Liberal Arts

Doug Wilson offers a helpful review of The Liberal Arts: A Student's Guide by Gene C. Fant Jr. What these educators point out about that state of education and the needs of the hour really should be taken to heart by every thinking man, woman, boy, and girl, but especially by every nonthinking man, woman, boy, and girl. Such would be part of moving the church and country in the direction of much-needed reformation. I doubt that cultural reform and church reform can happen without serious educational reform, starting with our own children in the church.

Carson Lectures on Revelation

Justin Taylor links to a recent lecture by D. A. Carson on Rev. 21-22—and also to 26 lectures on the whole book! If I'm not mistaken, I listened to these lectures years ago when they were only available for purchase on CD. And they are a great resource for the non-trained Christian. In fact, I think Carson first gave these talks for an evening class of non-seminary students. You don't need any Greek or technical training to follow the lectures.

We have an embarrassment of resources at our fingertips today. There is no reason we should be biblically ignorant. We should easily be the most biblically literate people in the history of the church. But, alas, the pleasures of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and desires for other things choke out that word!

A Reformation-Scale Work of the Holy Spirit

With the polarization that's well underway in our country (which is not a good thing, of course, for a house divided against itself cannot stand) and the scope of the government's reach ever increasing, there are three possible scenarios looming (barring a Reformation-scale work of the Holy Spirit).

First, the state will exert more coercive power to try to get unity, and most will go along. Second, there will be wide-scale backlash against the coercive power of the state, as many don't go along. In this scenario, there will be a scaling back of the state's overreach as civil limbs get cut off. Or third, there will be a civil war, as happened, you may recall, not too long ago.

I'm not happy about any of these, though the second scenario would be better than the first or third. My hope and prayer are for reformation and revival. In other words, I'm hoping and praying for God to do it again.

Packer on Revivals

What are revivals? Here's one way J. I. Packer puts it:

Revivals are "animatings and deepenings of the awareness of God, of the sense of sin, of the knowledge of Christ, and of the evangelical responses of faith, repentance, righteousness, prayer and praise. . . ."

—J. I. Packer, Honoring the People of God: Collected Shorter Writings on Christian Leaders and Theologians (Vancoover: Regent College Publishing, 1999), 56.

The Power of Truth in the Heart

Sentences like these (and what they convey) are why I love John Owen:

It is one thing to have only the conviction of truth in our minds; another to have the power of it in our hearts. The former will only produce an outward profession; the latter effect an inward renovation of our souls.

—John Owen, The Doctrine of Justification by Faith (vol. 5, Works; Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 1998), 376.

Benjamin Franklin's Love and Respect for George Whitefield

In a chapter on "The Reformational Revivalism of George Whitefield," J. I. Packer records these sentiments by Benjamin Franklin about Whitefield:

In 1747, he wrote: "He is a good man and I love him."

And, after Whitfield's death, Franklin said: "I knew him intimately upwards of 30 years. His integrity, disinterestedness and indefatigable zeal in prosecuting every good work, I have never seen equalled, I shall never see excelled."

—J. I. Packer, Honoring the People of God: Collected Shorter Writings on Christian Leaders and Theologians (Vancoover: Regent College Publishing, 1999), 48-49.

Ten Important Principles for Doing Comparative Studies

1. Both similarities and differences must be considered.
2. Similarities may suggest a common cultural heritage rather than borrowing.
3. It is common to find similarities at the surface but differences at the conceptual level and vice versa.
4. All elements must be understood in their own context as accurately as possible before crosscultrual comparisons are made.
5. Proximity in time, geography, and spheres of cultural contact all increase the possibility of interaction leading to influence.
6. A case for literary borrowing requires identification of likely channels of transmission.
7. The significance of differences between two pieces of literature is minimized if the works are not the same genre.
8. Similar functions may be performed by different genres in different cultures.
9. When literary or cultural elements are borrowed, they may in turn be transformed into something quite different.
10. A single culture will rarely be monolithic, either in a contemporary cross-section or in consideration of a passage of time.

—Walton , John H. “Methodology: An Introductory Essay.” Pages viii-xiii in vol. 1 of Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Edited by John H. Walton. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009. 

How Senseless Hate Confirms Faith

One of the main reasons that I believe Christianity (not cultural Christianity, I'm talking about the real deal) is utter truth is that Jesus' words keep coming true.

For example, take John 15:18-20. Christians are easily the most hated and persecuted group in the world today, including in the post-Christian West. Every time someone or some group spews senseless hate toward me and brothers and sisters in Christ simply because we are following Christ, my faith is confirmed in his words all the more!

It is not a little ironic that the culture that prides itself on being tolerant has fast become highly intolerant of a group of people with a rich (though not perfect) history of and commitment to tolerance.

If you want to think more about tolerance, I commend D. A. Carson's The Intolerance of Tolerance. If you were to read it simply to appreciate how the word tolerance has been used historically and how it is used in diverse senses today, you'd have spent your time and money well. 

Carried to Heaven While Asleep in an Easy Chair?

C. H. Spurgeon on John Buynan's depiction of the Christian life in the Pilgrim's Progress:

John Buynan has not pictured Christian as carried to heaven while asleep in an easy chair. He makes him lose his burden at the foot of the cross, but he represents him as climbing Hill Difficulty on his hands and knees. Christian has to descend into the Valley of Humiliation, and to tread the dangerous pathway through the gloomy horrors of the Shadow of Death. He has to be urgently watchful to keep himself from sleeping in the Enchanted Ground. Nowhere is he delivered from the necessities incident to the way, for even at the last he fords the black river, and struggles with its terrible billows. Effort is used all the way through, and you that are pilgrims to the skies will find it to be no allegory, but a real matter of fact. Your soul must gird up her loins; you need your pilgrim's staff, and your armour. You must foot it all the way to heaven, contending with giants, fighting with lions, and combating Apollyon himself.

—C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim's Progress (Pasadena: Pilgrim Publications, 1992), 134.

True Biblical Equality and—Then There's Egalitarianism

Doug Wilson on the biblical notion of equality and its modern distortion egalitarianism:

The Christian faith teaches and brings true biblical equality. The Christian faith also rejects egalitarianism, which is a false definition of equality. Christian equality can be described as equity, or even-handedness. Egalitarianism, in contrast, demands sameness, or equality of outcome. These two visions of equality are about as comparable as wet and dry. Think of it in terms of ten teenage boys trying to dunk a basketball: equity means that they all face the same ten-foot standard, and only two of them can do it—equity thus usually means differences in outcome. Egalitariansm wants equality of outcome, and there is only one way to get that—lower the net. Sameness of outcome requires differences in the standards.

—For a Glory and a Covering: A Practical Theology of Marriage (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2006), 90.

A Fight for One's Life

I'm not a pastor. But I still find this to be an important word about guarding time to read. More to the point, it is an important word about finding time for unhurried, unbroken communion with God over books. It is literally a fight for one's life!

O Lord, The Cause Is Not Mine

"Lord, what you do not do remains undone. If you will not help, I shall gladly surrender. The cause is not mine. I will happily be your mask and disguise if only you will do the work. Amen."

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 90.

Speak, O Lord, Our Delight and Our Reward

The prayer that follows is the congregational prayer from this last Lord's Day at New Covenant Church:

O God—Father, Son, and Spirit—you are our God. Earnestly we seek you; our souls thirst for you; our flesh faints for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

You, the Fountain of Living Waters, the Fountain of Life, you have said to us: “Seek my face.” Our hearts say to you, "Your face, O Lord, do we seek!" To whom else shall we go? You have words of eternal life. You give us drink from the river of your pleasures. You hold pleasures at your right hand forevermore. So hide not your face from us, O God, our God. Turn us not away in our longings and thirstings and pantings of soul. None can slake our souls’ thirst but you alone.

We have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory, and we confess that your steadfast love is better than this life. And so our lips will praise you, God, our Exceeding Joy, you who have put more joy in our hearts than the world has when their grain and new wine abound.

As we pass, then, through this fleeting, vapor’s breath of a life, this wilderness of the world, we long to be where you are, O Lord; we would be at Jerusalem, in the new heavens and new earth. But in your infinite wisdom, you have seen fit, for now, for us to press on in pilgrimage to that great city where your glory is the sun, where the river of your pleasures runs through, where all things are made new, where our souls will fully and finally find rest in God alone.

So as we linger in this world, this desert, as we press, then, toward our heavenly home, the new Jerusalem, help us, Father, to fix our eyes on the Lord of glory, our Lord Jesus, high and lifted up, merciful and mighty, ready to help us in time of need. You have called us to walk worthy of the Gospel, worthy of our calling, worthy of our Lord. But we cannot walk a worthy walk without your speaking to us a sustaining and satisfying word. So help us to grasp firmly in faith your very great and precious promises purchased by his blood. You have told us, Father, that all your promises—old and new—are “Yes!” in your Son.

So speak, O Lord, to our leaders as they bear the load of their pastoral labors: “I am your salvation and your very great reward. I will be with you, even as I was with Moses.”

Speak, O Lord, to the aging among us, bodies fading and failing, say to them: “When you go through deep waters, even the valley of the shadow of death, I will be with you. You shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Speak, O God, to those who have lost loved ones: “I will be with you; I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in me will live and never die.”

O God our Father, speak to your children battling all manner of struggles inward and outward: “I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you. I will not let your foot be moved; I who keep you will not slumber.”

O God our Father, from whom every fatherhood is named, speak to our families and the heads of homes: “I will be with you; I will keep you from all evil, I will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

Speak, O Lord, to our womens ministry: “I will be with you; I will supply all your needs according to my riches in glory in Christ Jesus; my grace is sufficient for you, my power is perfected in weakness.”

Speak, O Lord, to all of us in our individual and particular callings in this world: “I will be with you; no good thing will I withhold from you if you walk uprightly.”

Speak, O Lord, our Delight and our Reward, for your servants are listening; say to our souls, again and again, “I am your salvation.”

For we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Speak, O Lord, For Your Servant Is Listening

A Lutheran prayer for God to speak:

Dear heavenly Father, say something. I will gladly remain silent and be a child and learner. If I should rule the church with my own knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, I would have been sunk long ago. Therefore, dear God, you guide and direct it. I will gladly forsake my point of view and understanding and let you rule alone through your Word. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 89.

The Crux of the Psalms

Dane Ortlund cites Calvin concerning the chief concern of the Psalms, namely, the cross. A choice quotation. Check it out.

Like a Hearty Meal for a Hungry Man

A short way back, I posted about a marriage study a group of us have been doing together this summer using Doug Wilson's book For a Glory and a Covering: A Practical Theology of Marriage. And I said that I expected to do some blogging on the book. However, I've not done any yet.

I've not done so mainly because I've just enjoyed taking the book in as one takes in a hearty meal for nourishment. What can I say? I'm finding it to be solid food for edification. And I've not found myself wanting to analyze and reflect much. I'm just eating. I'm being nourished.

But I do want to record a couple choice quotes. And perhaps I'll get into a more analytical mode later.

In the introduction Wilson recalls how "C. S. Lewis once commented that men think that love means not giving trouble to others, while women think that it means taking trouble for others" (xix). Great observation. To our shame, men.

Speaking then to how some women veer toward overachieving, Wilson recalls how "Lewis once described a woman 'who lived for others'—and you could tell who those were by their hunted expression" (xix). And of course we all know someone like this.

Jesus Is Lord, So Caesar Is Not

Good post over at Between Two Worlds linking to a recent post by Doug Wilson on the lordship of Christ. Read everything you can by Wilson on politics and economics! And don't delay!

And related to this subject, here's a recent sermon by Wilson that deserves a wide hearing and response. It's a sermon addressed to the governor and legislature of Idaho.

May God raise up more prophetic preaching of this sort. What would happen if pulpits started preaching like they really believed the basic Christian confession that Jesus is Lord? We just might see some reform. Just maybe.

O Lord, Left Alone, I Would Ruin Everything

A Lutheran prayer for God's guidance for the task of pastoring:

You know how unworthy I am to fill so great and important an office. Were it not for your counsel, I would have utterly failed long ago. Therefore I call upon you for guidance. Gladly will I give my heart and voice to this work. I want to teach the people. I want always to seek and study in your Word, and eagerly to meditate upon it. Use me as your instrument. Lord, do not forsake me. If I were alone, I would ruin everything. Amen. 

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 89.

Christian's Charity

C. H. Spurgeon sees Christian in Pilgrim's Progress as an example of being charitable toward all who profess to be Christians. In the words below, he's referring to the time when Christian met Formalist and Hypocrisy:

Well, these two men drew up apace to Christian, and he saluted them, for it is not Christian's duty to suspect anybody; and when he finds people in the right road, he must treat them as if they were sincere until he has proof to the contrary. If it is the law of England that every man is to be accounted honest, till he is proved to be a rogue, it should certainly be the law of the Christian Church.

—C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim's Progress (Pasadena: Pilgrim Publications, 1992), 96.

O God, Harm None Through My Preaching

A Lutheran prayer for a beginning preacher:

Dear God, I have begun to preach, and to teach the people. It is hard. If it offends here and there, may no harm be done. Since you have commanded me to preach your Word, I will not stop. If it fails, it fails for you. If it succeeds, it succeeds for you and me. Amen. 

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 89.

Come, Let Us Spite the Devil

The apostle Paul commands the redeemed of the Lord to "rejoice always" (1 Thess. 5:16). And seeing the importance of this, he urges this upon believers regularly (e.g., Phil. 3:1; 4:4). Now for the religiously minded person, this is troublesome. That person says, "Just tell me what program or ritual to perform. Tell me where to show up, what motions to push through. Don't give me any of this feelings or emotions business. I can't generate that. And certainly not 'always.'" Exactly. You must be born again to obey such commands. You must be born again to be a Christian!

But if you are born again, rejoicing always should be at the top of your scale of priorities. And obeying the command to rejoice in the Lord always really ought not to be so hard for the regenerate. There are innumerable inducements to be joyful. But we miss them. We look right beyond them. So often we prefer to groan over some trifle that, in eternity, will prove to be like an irksome gnat that bothered you for two minutes on a bright, cool summer day off in the distance.

So C. H. Spurgeon says a good word about this privilege of every believer. It is one of our most potent weapons against Satan's stratagems. Let's hear it, and take it to heart:

It is the privilege of the true believer to be "singing all the time." Joy in God is suitable to our condition. Joy in the Lord is more injurious to Satan's empire than anything. I am of the same mind as Luther, who, when he heard any bad news, used to say, "Come, let us sing a psalm, and spite the devil."

—C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim's Progress (Pasadena: Pilgrim Publications, 1992), 86-87.

O Lord, Give Me What I Need to Glorify You

A Lutheran prayer for understanding and doing that glorify God:

Dear Lord God, give me your grace that I may rightly understand your Word, and more than that, do it. O most blessed Lord Jesus Christ, see to it that my search after knowledge leads me to glorify you alone. If not, let me knot know a single letter. Give only what I, a poor sinner, need to glorify you. Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 88-89.

Brief Blog Break

We're heading out of town for a few days. I'll be back to posting when we get back!

Shooting Off Fireworks While Wearing Shackles

There is undoubtedly much for which to give thanks to God this July 4th. However, we ought not to forget how far we've fallen from the true and living God and the freedoms he gave this country.

Doug Wilson's "Five Aphorisms for the Fourth" follows as a reminder that our celebrations are misguided if we don't realize how far we've fallen from what we used to have to celebrate, and that the celebrations are starting to ring hollow.

"The problem with George III was that he was from the House of Hanover. The problem with Obama is he's from the House of Handover.

Christians who absolutize obedience to the 'existing authorities' never seem to think that the Constitution is an existing authority.

Shooting off fireworks without a real commitment to liberty now is a red, white, and blue way of building tombs for the prophets.

To approve resistance to tyranny long-dead without resisting tyranny here and now is . . . convenient somehow.

As we observe the 4th, recent events make it inappropriate to celebrate our freedoms. It is appropriate, however, to reassert them."

O God, Uphold Us by Your Spirit in Our Trials

A Lutheran prayer for upholding by God's Spirit amid trials:

O Father of all mercy and God of all comfort, strengthen and uphold me by your Spirit. You command that we should wait on him until the reason of our trials shall appear. For you do not for your own pleasure permit us to be tortured and grieved. In fact, you do not permit any evil to be done unless you can make it serve a good purpose. You see my distress and weakness. Therefore you will help and deliver me. Amen. 

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 87.

Sermons that Stoop

C. H. Spurgeon on the preacher humbling himself in the pulpit for the sake of coming clear to his listeners:

It is said that many of the sermons of Augustine are full of shockingly bad Latin, not because Augustine was a poor Latin scholar, but because the dog-Latin of the day was better suited to the popular ear than more classically correct language would have been; and we shall have to speak in similar style if we want to get hold of men.

There is a certain prudery about ministers which disqualifies them for some kinds of work; they cannot bring their mouth to utter the truth in such plain speech as fisher-women would understand, but happy is that man whose mouth is able to declare the truth in such a way that the person to whom he is speaking will receive it.

So Spurgeon concludes, "Learn to stoop."

—C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim's Progress (Pasadena: Pilgrim Publications, 1992), 58-59.

Anticipation in the Pentateuch

William Dumbrell on the trajectory of the Pentateuch:

The remainder of the Pentateuch comments on Genesis 1-11. By the time that the covenantal theology of Israel is fully developed in Deuteronomy, a program to which the rest of the OT remains committed, the national failure of Israel has been anticipated. The Pentateuch makes clear, however, that this failure in no way vitiates the eschatology already developed in these books. A people of God will be constructed and will enjoy the ideal of rest in a Promised Land. God will be their God and will indwell them forever.

—The Faith of Israel: A Theological Survey of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 68.

Discovering What to Put First

Blaise Pascal: "The last thing one discovers in composing a work is what to put first."

—Taken from Mark Trendinnick, Writing Well (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 146.

Torah In Deuteronomy

Old Testament scholar William Dumbrell on the term torah ("law") in Deuteronomy:

The concept of torah is critical for Deuteronomy. Usually the term is understood as "teaching, instruction," but its meaning in Deuteronomy is stronger. Torah is covenantal law, the divinely authorized social order of Israel that attests its election. Deuteronomy is entirely about this law and the blessings that obedience to the law will bring.

 —The Faith of Israel: A Theological Survey of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 66.

The Man Whose Name Was "Help"

Recalling the man named "Help" in Pilgrim's Progress, C. H. Spurgeon has a wonderful chapter in his Pictures from Pilgrim's Progress on how to be a "Help." You'll perhaps remember that Help found Christian in the Slough of Despond, and he compassionately stooped to help Christian out of the muck with his wise counsel.

Spurgeon tells of how he himself knew "about that awful Slough of Despond." He says, "I myself floundered in it for five years, or thereabouts, and am therefore well acquainted with its terrible geography." Moved with pity for those who also find themselves in the mire of despair, he says to his flock: "So, a little knot of Christian people, both men and women, should always be ready, in every church, to listen for cries of distress, and to watch for broken hearts and cast-down spirits."

Urging his people to imitate the man named Help, Spurgeon gave the following instruction for how they might be of help to those who, like Christian, need to be lifted out of the muck:

1. Get him to state his own case. When Help assisted Christian, he did not at once put out his hand to him; but he asked him what he did there, and why he did not look for the steps. It does men much good to make them unveil their spiritual griefs to their comforters. Confession to a priest is an abomination, but the communication of our spiritual difficulties to a fellow-Christian will often be a sweet relief and a helpful exercise.

2. Enter, as much as lieth in you, into the case before you. Help came to the the brink of the Slough, and stooped down to his poor friend. This may seem to you, perhaps, as an unimportant direction; but, depend upon it, you will be able to give very little help, in any, if you do not follow it. Sympathy is the mainspring of our ability to comfort others. If you cannot enter into a soul's distress, you will be no "Son of Consolation" to that soul. So, seek to bring yourselves down to "weep with them that weep," that you may uplift them to the platform of your joy.

3. Comfort these poor brethren with the promises of God. Help asked Christian why he did not look for the steps; for there were good and substantial stepping-stones placed through the very midst of the Slough; but Christian said he had missed them through excessive fear. We should point sinking souls to the many precious promises of God's Word. Brethren, mind that you are yourselves well acquainted with the consoling declarations of Scripture; have them on the tip of your tongue, ready for use at any time that they are required.

4. Try to instruct those who may need your help more fully in the plan of salvation. The preacher cannot, even with all his attempts, make the simple Gospel plain to some of his hearers; but you, who are no preachers, may be able to do it, because your state of mind and education may happen just to suit the comprehension of the person concerned. . . . If my brethren and sisters, the "helps," will be constantly and intelligently active, they may, by homely language, often explain where theologians only confuse; that which may not have been understood, in the form of scholastic divinity, may reach the heart when uttered in the language of daily life. We need parlour and kitchen and workshop preachers, who can talk the natural speech of men; Universities and Colleges often obscure the truth by their modes of speech.

5. Tell the troubled one your own experience. Many have been aided to escape from the Slough of Despond in this way. "What! exclaims the young friend to whom we are speaking, "did you ever feel as I do?" I have often been amused, when I have been talking with enquirers, to see them open their eyes with amazement to think I had ever felt as they did, whereas I should have opened mine with far greater astonishment if I had not. We tell our patients all their symptoms, and then they think we must have read their hearts; whilst the fact is, that our hearts are just like theirs, and, in reading ourselves, we read them.

6. Pray with them. Oh the power of prayer! When you cannot tell the sinner what you want to say, you can sometimes tell it to God in the sinner's hearing. There is a way of saying, in prayer with a person, what you cannot say direct to his face; and it is well, sometimes, when praying with another, to put the case very plainly and earnestly.

—C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim's Progress (Pasadena: Pilgrim Publications, 1992), 38-48.

Suffer a Little for My Sake

"Dear God, I am your creature. You have sent me a cross and suffering, saying to me: Suffer a little for my sake and I will reward you well. Dear God, because it is your will I will gladly suffer. Amen."

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 86.

Making Texts Do Little Poodle Tricks?

Over at Blag and Mablog, Doug Wilson helpfully describes the task of systematic theology:

Systematic theology is nothing less than remembering what you read in other passages while you are reading this passage. The kind of thing that gives systematic theology a bad name is remembering what you thought other passages said, privileging them in some form of special pleading, and making the verse in front of you do little poodle tricks.

The whole post, which addresses the reality of the faithful and unfaithful within the same Church, may be found here.

O God, Grant Firm, Glad, and Grateful Faith

A Lutheran prayer for a robust faith:

O Father and God of all comfort, through your word and Holy Spirit grant us a firm, glad, and grateful faith. By it may we easily overcome this and every trial, and at length realize that what your dear Son Jesus Christ himself says is true: "But take courage; I have conquered the world" (John 16:33). Amen.

—Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 85.

Baptism as a Sure Sign

A Lutheran prayer of thanksgiving for the sure sign of baptism:

O my God, I am a sinner, and yet I am not a sinner. Alone and apart from Christ, I am a sinner. But in my Lord Jesus Christ and with him, I am no sinner. I firmly believe that he has destroyed all my sins with his precious blood. The sign of this is that I am baptized, cleansed by God's word, and declared absolved and freed from all my sins. In the sacrament of the true body and blood of my Lord Jesus Christ I have received as a sure sign of grace the forgiveness of sins. This he has won and accomplished for me by the shedding of his precious blood. For this I thank him in eternity. Amen.

  —Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 77.

Grammatico-Historical Method Not Enough

Ahhh. A breath of fresh air. Peter Leithart on our approach to the Scriptures:

Since the Reformation, "grammatical-historical" biblical interpretation has been the main hermeneutical method among Protestants. A development of the medieval idea of "literal" meaning, the grammatical-historical approach attempts to understand Scripture in the light of the grammar of the original languages and the historical and cultural setting in which the text was written.

Something like the grammatical-historical method has been foundational to all biblical interpretation throughout the history of the church. Biblical interpretation would be a free play of signifiers without grounding in the vocabulary, grammar, and historical setting of the Bible.

But the grammatical-historical method, essential as it is as a foundation, cannot provide the overarching "grammar" for the interpretation of Scripture. If it becomes the sole method of interpretation, the study of the Old Testament will be reduced to a study of "what they did then" rather than a study of the glories of the Christ who was yet to come.

Liberal interpretation of the Old Testament can, in fact, be understood as the product of an exclusive reliance on the grammatical-historical method, and evangelical biblical study often has the same narrow focus. Interpretation of the Old Testament must be grounded in grammar and history, but if it does not move to typology, it is not Christian interpretation.

—A House for My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament (Canon Press: Moscow, 2000), 27.

Preacher: Be Bold and Calm

C. H. Spurgeon on a man's public conduct as a preacher called of God:

My brethren, if the Lord has indeed ordained you to the ministry, you have the best reasons for being bold and calm, for whom have you to fear? You have to deliver your Lord's errand as he enables you, and if this be done, you are responsible to no one but your heavenly Master, who is no harsh judge. You do not enter the pulpit to shine as an orator, or to gratify the predilections of you audience; you are the messenger of heaven and not the servant of men.

 —“The Faculty of Impromptu Speech,” in Lectures to My Students, Book I, 163.

God Does All, and We Do All

Jonathan Edwards gives the most profound explanation I've ever read or heard for the interplay between divine sovereignty and human willing and acting (the italics are mine):

In efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some, and we do the rest. But God does all, and we do all. God produces all, and we act all. For that is what he produces, namely, our own acts. God is the only proper author and fountain; we only are the proper actors. We are, in different respects, wholly passive and wholly active.

In the Scriptures the same things are represented as from God and from us. God is said to convert, and men are said to convert and turn. God makes a new heart, and we are commanded to make us a new heart. God circumcises the heart, and we are commanded to circumcise our own hearts; not merely because we must use the means in order to the effect, but the effect itself is our act and our duty. These things are agreeable to that text, "God worketh in you both to will and to do."

"God does all, and we do all. God produces all, and we act all." Now that is profound. Do you see it? If you don't, O ponder it long and hard. Peer as deep down as you can into this deep mystery! And ask yourself if this is not what Phil. 2:12-13 means when it says to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure."

So there is not the tension that some might think. God really does all, and we really do all.

—"Concerning Efficacious Grace," in Miscellaneous Observations on Important Theological Subjects (vol. 2, Works; Banner of Truth: Carlisle, 1997), 557.

Creating a Church Culture of Reading

I judge that unless we seek to do what Mark Dever urges here, our churches will never see the much needed reformation, growing maturity, spiritual depth, and generational faithfulness many of us long for. 

The pastoral consideration Dever urges is patently important, and yet somehow so little considered and carried out. Some wonder why our churches are biblically and theologically anemic. Wonder no more!

Preacher: Acquire Other Languages

C. H. Spurgeon on the value of learning languages to the expositor of sacred Scripture:

The acquisition of another language affords a fine drilling for the practice of extempore speech. Brought into connection with the roots of words, and the rules of speech, and being compelled to note the differentia of the two languages, a man grows by degrees to be much at home with parts of speech, moods, tenses, and inflections; like a workman he becomes familiar with his tools, and handles them as every day companions.

I know of no better exercise than to translate with as much rapidity as possible a portion of Virgil or Tacitus, and then with deliberation to amend one's mistakes. Persons who know no better, think all time thrown away which is spent upon the classics, but if it were only for the usefulness of such studies to the sacred orator, they ought to be retained in all our collegiate institutions.

Who does not see that the perpetual comparison of the terms and idioms of two languages must aid facility of expression? Who does not see moreover that by this exercise the mind becomes able to appreciate refinements and subtleties of meaning, and so acquires the power of distinguishing between things that differ—a power essential to an expositor of the Word of God, and an extempore declarer of his truth.

Learn, gentlemen, to put together, and unscrew all the machinery of language, mark every cog, and wheel, and bolt, and rod, and you will feel the more free to drive the engine, even at an express speed should emergencies demand it.

—“The Faculty of Impromptu Speech,” in Lectures to My Students, Book I, 160-161.

The World Ordained to Display Gospel Glories

When the time came for God to send his Son into the world, did he do so in the light of the categories that happened to be in place? In other words, did God look around for fitting symbols and patterns and analogies (e.g., sonship, kingship, priesthood, temple, bridegroom, etc.) with which Christ might be understood?

No way. Not in ten million ages. The whole of creation and human history has been ordained to display the glories of Christ and the good news he brings. God made and rules the world in such a way that all the categories for understanding the fullness of the Son and the Gospel are woven into reality from all eternity. When the Creator created, he created all things in view of what he wanted to communicate about his Son. He ordained the world, he governs the world to display the realities of redemption.

Edmund Clowney underscores this with the example of Jesus as the bridegroom of his people:

When Jesus came to gather to Himself the people of God, He revealed Himself as the Bridegroom, come to claim His church as His bride. The figure is not accidental. It is not that God looks down from heaven to discern some human relationship that might prove to be a fitting symbol of His love. The reality is the other way around. When God formed Eve from the body of Adam, He was providing the means by which we might be prepared to understand the joy of an exclusive love.

—Edmund P. Clowney, The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament (P&R: Phillipsburg, 1988), 26.

Religious Affections Essential

Are "affections" (what we would call "emotions" or "feelings" today) important in Christianity?

In 1746, Jonathan Edwards wrote an important and famous book, A Treatise Concerning the Religious Affections. He wanted to make one main point in this work: "true religion, in great part, consists in holy affections" (95). He defined "affections" as "the more vigorous and sensible exercises of the inclination and will of the soul" (96)—such as love, hatred, desire, delight, joy, grief, sorrow, hope, gratitude, compassion, fear, anger, zeal (97-99).

So, yes, if Edwards and, more importantly, the Bible are to be our guide, the affections are essential. Without them there is no true Christianity. Certain feelings and emotions are not optional or seen in only certain personality types. True Christianity consists, in great part, in holy affections.

—Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections (ed. John E. Smith; vol. 2, Works; Yale University Press: New Haven, 1959), 95-96.

LIke a Silkworm Eating into the Leaf

C. H. Spurgeon on devouring the Word à la John Buynan:

Oh, that you and I might get into the very heart of the Word of God, and get that Word into ourselves! As I have seen the silkworm eat into the leaf, and consume it, so ought we to do with the Word of the Lord—not crawl over its surface, but eat right into it till we have taken it into our inmost parts.  

It is idle merely to let the eye glance over the words, or to recollect the poetical expressions, or the historic facts; but it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in Scriptural language, and your very style is fashioned upon Scripture models, and, what is better still, your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord.  

I would quote John Buynan as an instance of what I mean. Read anything of his, and you will see that it is almost like reading the Bible itself. He had read it till his very soul was saturated with Scripture; and, though his writings are charmingly full of poetry, yet he cannot give us his Pilgrim's Progress—that sweetest of all prose poems—without continually making us feel and say, "Why, this man is a living Bible!" Prick him anywhere; his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God. I commend his example to you, beloved.

—C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim's Progress (Pasadena: Pilgrim Publications, 1992), 5-6.

Chronological Snobbery

C. S. Lewis defines what he calls "chronological snobbery" as "the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited."

But, he says,

You must find why it went out of date. Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where, and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, this tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood. From seeing this, one passes to the realization that our own age is also "a period," and certainly has, like all periods, its own characteristic illusions. They are likeliest to lurk in those widespread assumptions which are so ingrained in the age that no one dares to attack or feels it necessary to defend them. 

—Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1955), 207-208.

Orators Born, Not Bred

"All the rules of rhetoric, and all the artifices of oratory cannot make a man eloquent, it is a gift from heaven, and where it is withheld it cannot be obtained."

—C. H. Spurgeon, “The Faculty of Impromptu Speech,” in Lectures to My Students, Book I, 156.

Plagarism in the Pulpit

 Dr. D. A. Carson on plagarism in the pulpit over at The Gospel Coalition:

First: Taking over another sermon and preaching it as if it were yours is always and unequivocally wrong, and if you do it you should resign or be fired immediately. The wickedness is along at least three axes: (1) You are stealing. (2) You are deceiving the people to whom you are preaching. (3) Perhaps worst, you are not devoting yourself to the study of the Bible to the end that God's truth captures you, molds you, makes you a man of God and equips you to speak for him. If preaching is God's truth through human personality (so Phillips Brooks), then serving as nothing more than a kind of organic recording device in playback mode does not qualify. Incidentally, changing a few words here and there in someone else's work does not let you off the hook; re-telling personal experiences as if they were yours when they were not makes the offense all the uglier. That this offense is easy to commit because of the availability of source material in the digital age does not lessen its wickedness, any more than the ready availability of porn in the digital age does not turn pornography into a virtue. (Occasionally preachers have preached a famous sermon from another preacher, carefully noting their source. That should be done, at most, only very occasionally, but there is no evil in it.) 

Second: Taking over the structure, perhaps the outline in exact wording, and other significant chunks, while filling in the rest of the substance yourself, is not quite so grievous but still reprehensible. The temptation springs from the fact that writing a really good outline is often the most creative and challenging part of sermon preparation. Fair enough: if you "borrow" someone else's outline, simply acknowledge it, and you have not sinned. 

Third: In the course of diligent preparation, you are likely to come across clever snippets and ways of summarizing or formulating the truth of a passage that are creative and memorable. If you cite them, you should acknowledge that they are not yours, either with an "As so-and-so has said" or an "As someone has said." This discipline keeps you honest and humble. 

Fourth: If you read widely and have a good mind, that mind will inevitably become charged with good things whose source or origin you cannot recall. Often such sources can be tracked down fairly easily. On the other hand, do not become paranoid: a well-stocked mind is the result of decades of reading and learning, and ought to overflow easily and happily with gratitude toward God to the blessing of God's people. 

Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752): "Apply yourself wholly to the text; apply the text wholly to yourself."