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Gold is in every grain of sand

07 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in Hebrews, John Owen, Meditation, Scripture, Study

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Doctrine of Scriptrue, gold, Hebrews, Hebrews Commentary, John Owen, Meditation, Sand, Scripture, Study, Treasure

John Owen on the beauty and depth of Scripture:

I. Every thing in the Scripture is instructive. The apostle’s arguing in this place is not so much from the thing spoken, as from the manner wherein it is spoken. Even that also is highly mysterious. So are all the concernments of it. Nothing in it is needless, nothing useless. Men sometimes perplex themselves to find out the suitableness of some testimonies produced out of the Old Testament unto the confirmation of things and doctrines in the New by the penmen of the Holy Ghost, when all the difficulty ariseth from a fond conceit that they can apprehend the length and breadth of the wisdom that is laid up in any one text of Scripture, when the Holy Ghost may have a principal aim at those things which they are not able to dive into. Every letter and tittle of it is teaching, and every thing that relates unto it is instructive in the mind of God. And it must be so, because, —

1. It proceeds from infinite wisdom, which hath put an impress of itself upon it, and filled all its capacity with its blessed effects. In the whole frame, structure, and order of it, in the sense, words, coherence, expression, it is filled with wisdom; which makes the commandment exceeding broad and large, so that there is no absolute comprehension of it in this life. We cannot perfectly trace the footsteps of infinite wisdom, nor find out all the effects and characters of it that it hath left upon the Word. The whole Scripture is full of wisdom, as the sea is of water, which fills and covers all the parts of it. And, —

2. Because it was to be very comprehensive. It was to contain, directly or by consequence, one way or other, the whole revelation of God unto us, and all our duty unto him; both which are marvellous, great, large, and various. Now this could not have been done in so narrow a room, but that every part of it, and all the concernments of it, with its whole order, were to be filled with mysteries and expressions or intimations of the mind and will of God. It could not hence be that any thing superfluous should be put into it, or any thing be in it that should not relate to teaching and instruction.

3. It is that which God hath given unto his servants for their continual exercise day and night in this world; and in their inquiry into it he requires of them their utmost diligence and endeavors. This being assigned for their duty, it was convenient unto divine wisdom and goodness to find them blessed and useful work in the whole Scripture to exercise themselves
about, that everywhere they might meet with that which might satisfy their inquiry and answer their industry. There shall never be any time or strength lost or misspent that is laid out according to the mind of God in and about his Word. The matter, the words, the order, the contexture of them, the scope, design, and aim of the Holy Ghost in them, all and every one of them, may well take up the utmost of our diligence, — all are divine. Nothing is empty, unfurnished, or unprepared for our spiritual use, advantage, and benefit. Let us then learn hence, —

(1.) To admire, and, as one said of old, to adore the fullness of the Scripture, or of the wisdom of God in it. It is all full of divine wisdom, and calls for our reverence in the consideration of it. And indeed a constant awe of the majesty, authority, and holiness of God in his Word, is the only teachable frame. Proud and careless spirits see nothing of heaven or Divinity in the Word; but the humble are made wise in it.

(2.) To stir up and exercise our faith and diligence to the utmost in our study and search of the Scripture. It is an endless storehouse, a bottomless treasure of divine truth; gold is in every sand. All the wise men in the world may, every one for himself, learn somewhat out of every word of it, and yet leave enough still behind them for the instruction of all those that shall come after them. The fountains and springs of wisdom in it are endless, and will never be dry. We may have much truth and power out of a word, sometimes enough, but never all that is in it. There will still be enough remaining to exercise and refresh us anew for ever. So that we may attain a true sense, but we can never attain the full sense of any place; we can never exhaust the whole impress of infinite wisdom that is on the Word. And how should this stir us up to be meditating in it day and night!

— From John Owen’s Commentary on Hebrews, volume 1 (verse 5b), pages 168-170

Of Communion With the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Digression 2a

17 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Corinthians, Biblical Counseling, Christology, God the Father, John Owen, Preaching, Study, Trinity, Wisdom

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christology, John Owen, knowledge of God, Of Communion With the Father Son and Holy Spirit, Puritan, Theology Proper, Wisdom, Wisdom of God

The previous post in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2012/10/06/of-communion-with-the-father-son-and-holy-spirit-digression-1c-v-shame/

In 1 Corinthians 1:24, Paul writes that Christ is both the power and the wisdom of God. In the second digression, Owen unpacks the phrase “the wisdom of God”. First, he lays out the potential scope of meaning:

The sum of all true wisdom and knowledge may be reduced to these three heads: —
1. The knowledge of God, his nature and his properties.
2. The knowledge of ourselves in reference to the will of God concerning us.
3. Skill to walk in communion with God: —
I. What one may know of God

A. Knowledge of God in Creation: Creation itself, prior to Fall displayed attributes of God’s power and goodness; but without sin, there would have been no time for God to display longsuffering patience or endurance.

B. Knowledge of God in Christ: Yet, even if God had patience with humanity for aeons, there would still be aspects of God’s character which could not be known by in and through Christ. Of these Owen sets out two: (1) love & (2) pardoning mercy.

By “love” Owen intends a very specific application:

Love; I mean love unto sinners. Without this, man is of all creatures most miserable; and there is not the least glimpse of it that can possibly be discovered but in Christ. The Holy Ghost says, 1 John 4:8,16, “God is love;” that is, not only of a loving and tender nature, but one that will exercise himself in a dispensation of his love, eternal love, towards us, — one that has purposes of love for us from of old, and will fulfill them all towards us in due season. But how is this demonstrated? how may we attain an acquaintance with it? He tells us, verse 9, “In this was manifested the love of God, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” This is the only discovery that God has made of any such property in his nature, or of any thought of exercising it towards sinners, — in that he has sent Jesus Christ into the world, that we might live by him.

In addition to love, Owen marks the pardoning mercy of God in Christ: “Pardoning mercy, or grace. Without this, even his love would be fruitless.”

Pardoning mercy is God’s free, gracious acceptance of a sinner upon satisfaction made to his justice in the blood of Jesus; nor is any discovery of it, but as relating to the satisfaction of justice, consistent with the glory of God. It is a mercy of inconceivable condescension in forgiveness, tempered with exact justice and severity. Romans 3:25, God is said “to set forth Christ to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness in the remission of sins;” f58his righteousness is also manifested in the business of forgiveness of sins: and therefore it is everywhere said to be wholly in Christ, Ephesians 1:7. So that this gospel grace and pardoning mercy is alone purchased by him, and revealed in him.

C. Those things which are seen most clearly in Christ.

Owen notes another category of God’s properties which are known most clearly in Christ:

There are other properties of God which, though also otherwise discovered, yet are so clearly, eminently, and savingly only in Jesus Christ; as, —
[1.] His vindictive justice in punishing sin;
[2.] His patience, forbearance, and long-suffering towards sinners;
[3.] His wisdom, in managing things for his own glory;
[4.] His all-sufficiency, in himself and unto others. All these, though they may receive some lower and inferior manifestations out of Christ, yet they clearly shine only in him; so as that it may be our wisdom to be acquainted with them.

1. Vindicative justice. While evidence of God’s judgment exists outside of Christ, in the life and death of Christ we can see most clearly that judgment of sin could not be avoided. One think that God could simply forgive becasue he is merciful. But such an act of God would subvert his justice. In the passion of Christ we see the unavoidable demand of God’s justice. Owen refers to this as the “naturalness” of punishment due sin, “In him God has manifested the naturalness of this righteousness unto him, in that it was impossible that it should be diverted from sinners without the interposing of a propitiation.”

Moreover, in the death of Christ we see more plainly than elsewhere the depth of God’s judgment upon sin:

In the penalty inflicted on Christ for sin, this justice is far more gloriously manifested than otherwise. To see, indeed, a world, made (Genesis 3:17-19, 8:21; Romans 8:21, 22; 2 Peter 2:4-6, 3:6; Jude 1:6, 7) good and beautiful, wrapped up in wrath and curses, clothed with thorns and briers; to see the whole beautiful creation made subject to vanity, given up to the bondage of corruption; to hear it groan in pain under that burden; to consider legions of angels, most glorious and immortal creatures, cast down into hell, bound with chains of darkness, and reserved for a more dreadful judgement for one sin; to view the ocean of the blood of souls spilt to eternity on this account, — will give some insight into this thing. But what is all this to that view of it which may be had by a spiritual eye in the Lord Christ? All these things are worms, and of no value in comparison of him. To see him who is the (1 Corinthians 1:30) wisdom of God, and the power of God, always (Matthew 3:17) beloved of the Father; to see him, I say, fear, (Matthew 26:37, 38; Mark 14:33; Luke 22:43, 44; Hebrews 5:7; Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:33, 34; Isaiah 53:6) and tremble, and bow, and sweat, and pray, and die; to see him lifted up upon the cross, the earth trembling under him, as if unable to bear his weight; and the heavens darkened over him, as if shut against his cry; and himself hanging between both, as if refused by both; and all this because our sins did meet upon him.

2. His patience toward sinners. Certainly experiences teach that God does not immediately punish every and all sin. Yet, without a sight of God in Christ, how could we be certain of God patience? Christ demonstrates to us the basis of God’s dealing with the world:

In him the very nature of God is discovered to be love and kindness; and that he will exercise the same to sinners, he has promised, sworn, and solemnly engaged himself by covenant. And that we may not hesitate about the aim which he has herein, there is a stable bottom and foundation of acting suitably to those gracious properties of his nature held forth, — namely, the reconciliation and atonement that is made in the blood of Christ.

In this we see God’s kindness with an aim to save us:

That which lies hid in Christ, and is revealed from him, is full of love, sweetness, tenderness, kindness, grace. It is the Lord’s waiting to be gracious to sinners; waiting for an advantage to show love and kindness, for the most eminent endearing of a soul unto himself, Isaiah 30:18, “Therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you.” Neither is there any revelation of God that the soul finds more sweetness in than this. When it [one’s soul] is experimentally convinced that God from time to time has passed by many, innumerable iniquities, he is astonished to think that God should do so; and admires that he did not take the advantage of his provocations to cast him out of his presence. He finds that, with infinite wisdom, in all long-suffering, he has managed all his dispensations towards him to recover him from the power of the devil, to rebuke and chasten his spirit for sin, to endear him unto himself; — there is, I say, nothing of greater sweetness to the soul than this: and therefore the apostle says, Romans 3:25, that all is “through the forbearance of God.” God makes way for complete forgiveness of sins through this his forbearance; which the other does not. </blockquote.

3. The wisdom of God in managing all for his glory.

So, then, this also is hid in Christ, — the great and unspeakable riches of the wisdom of God, in pardoning sin, saving sinners, satisfying justice, fulfilling the law, repairing his own honor, and providing for us a more exceeding weight of glory; and all this out of such a condition as wherein it was impossible that it should enter into the hearts of angels or men how ever the glory of God should be repaired, and one sinning creature delivered from everlasting ruin. Hence it is said, that at the last day God “shall be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe,” 2 Thessalonians 1:10. It shall be an admirable thing, and God shall be for ever glorious in it, even in the bringing of believers to himself. To save sinners through believing, shall be found to be a far more admirable work than to create the world of nothing.

4. God’s self-sufficiency.

D. “There is no saving knowledge of any property of God, nor such as brings consolation, but what alone is to be had in Christ Jesus, being laid up in him, and manifested by him.” To know God outside of Christ is to know judgment. It is only in Christ that we can know the reconciliation of God’s justice and mercy:

This is to be received, that God has actually manifested the glory of all his attributes in a way of doing us good. What will it avail our souls, what comfort will it bring unto us, what endearment will it put upon our hearts unto God, to know that he is infinitely righteous, just, and holy, unchangeably true and faithful, if we know not how he may preserve the glory of his justice and faithfulness in his comminations and threatening, but only in one ruin and destruction? if we can from thence only say it is a righteous thing with him to recompense tribulation unto us for our iniquities? What fruit of this consideration had Adam in the garden? Genesis 3. What sweetness, what encouragement, is there in knowing that he is patient and full of forbearance, if the glory of these is to be exalted in enduring the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction? nay, what will it avail us to hear him proclaim himself “The LORD, The LORD God, (Exodus 34:6, 7) merciful and gracious, abundant in goodness and truth,” yet, withal, that he will “by no means clear the guilty,” so shutting up the exercise of all his other properties towards us, upon the account of our iniquity? Doubtless, not at all.

Moreover, it is only in Christ that we can know that God can but actually has reconciled justice and mercy.

It is then in covenant brought about by Christ that God does bring this reconciliation to bear in our relationship with Him:

There remaineth only, then, that these attributes of God, so manifested and exercised, are powerful and able to bring us to the everlasting fruition of him. To evince this, the Lord wraps up the whole covenant of grace in one promise, signifying no less: “I will be your God.” In the covenant, God becomes our God, and we are his people; and thereby all his attributes are ours also. And lest that we should doubt — when once our eyes are opened to see in any measure the inconceivable difficulty that is in this thing, what unimaginable obstacles on all hands there lie against us — that all is not enough to deliver and save us, God has, I say, wrapped it up in this expression, Genesis 17:1, “I am,” saith he, “God Almighty” (all- sufficient); — “I am wholly able to perform all my undertakings, and to be thy exceeding great reward. I can remove all difficulties, answer all objections, pardon all sins, conquer all opposition: I am God all-sufficient.” Now, you know in whom this covenant and all the promises thereof are ratified, and in whose blood it is confirmed, — to wit, in the Lord Christ alone; in him only is God an all-sufficient God to any, and an exceeding great reward. And hence Christ himself is said to “save to the uttermost them that come to God by him,” Hebrews 7. And these three things, I say, are required to be known, that we may have a saving acquaintance, and such as is attended with consolation, with any of the properties of God; and all these being hid only in Christ, from him alone it is to be obtained.

A Sermon Must Have “Force”

26 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in Preaching, Scripture, Study

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Force, Homiletics, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, Mighty in the Scripture, Preaching, Scripture, Sermon, William Greenough Thayer Shedd

The previous post in this series may be found here:

Shedd comes to the second element of an effective sermon style: Force. “Force is power manifested; power streaming out in all directions, and from every pore of the mind.” William Greenough Thayer Shedd. “Homiletics and Pastoral Theology.”

To understand this matter of force, we must understand Shedd’s definition of a preacher (he is a herald), his understand of the source of power (the objective Word), and his means for the herald bringing the Word with power (study).

First, the preacher as herald:

The preacher is a herald, and his function is proclamation. In this way, the ideas which he presents to his fellow-men augment, instead of diminishing his strength. He gives no faster than he receives. He simply suffers divine truth, which is never feeble and never fails, to pass through his mind, as a medium of communication, to the minds of his fellow-men.

Second, all the power comes from the text. He begins this argument with a proposition concerning the functioning of the human mind: “The efficient power of the human intellect results not from spinning out its own notions and figments, but from contemplating those objective and eternal ideas, to which it is pre-conformed by its rational structure”

Put more plainly, ““It was made to receive truth into itself, and not to originate it out of itself. The human mind is recipient in its nature, and not creative; it beholds truth, but it does not make it.”

Therefore, “The mind cannot think successfully, without an object of thought, and the heart cannot feel strongly and truly, without an object of feeling. There can be no manifestation of power therefore, and no force in the finite mind, except as it has been nourished, stimulated and strengthened by an object other than itself.”

When it comes to preaching, the objective truth which stands before the mind as truth is the Word of God, “We shall be able to answer this question, by considering the fact that the written revelation stands in the same relation to the sacred orator, that the world of nature does to the philosopher. The Bible is something objective to the human mind, and not a mass of subjective thinking which human reason has originated.”

And, ““Human reason, therefore, is the subject, or the knowing agent, and the Scriptures are the object, or the thing to be known. All true power, consequently, in the sacred orator, springs from this body of objective verity”

Third, to convey the objective reality of the Scripture, the preacher must be “mighty in he Scriptures”:

Hence, the preacher’s first duty, in respect to the property of style under consideration, is to render himself a Biblical student. The term is not employed here in its narrower signification, to denote one who is learned in the literary externals of the Bible, and nothing more. A genuine Biblical student is both an exegete, and a dogmatic theologian. He is one whose mind is continually receiving the whole body of Holy Writ into itself in a living and genial way, and who, for this reason, is becoming more and more energetic in his methods of contemplation, and more and more forcible in his modes of presentation. A truly mighty sacred orator is “mighty in the Scriptures.

This is far more than knowing everything about the Scripture. Rather, he must know the Scripture. He must be taken by the reality of the Scripture:

Scripture should not lie in the preacher’s mind in the form of congregated atoms, but of living, salient energies. True Biblical knowledge is dynamic, and not atomic. There is no better word to denote its nature, than the word imbue. The mind, by long-continued contemplation of revelation, is steeped in Divine wisdom, and saturated with it.

Impatient Haste

14 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Charles Bridges, Meditation, Study

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Charles Bridges, Christian Ministry, Meditation, Study

“Patient application, is literally, every thing. Without it you may have a number of half-formedldeas floating in your mind ; but deep, connected, large, and consistent views of any subject you will never gain. Impatient haste is the bane of deep intellectual work. If you are investigating any important doctrine, be not ready to leave it. Come to it again and again; seeking light from every quarter; and perusing with attention the best books, until you have entered, as far as you are capable, into its profoundest merits. And, if compelled by any circumstance to leave the subject before you have reached this point, hold it in reserve for another and more satisfactory examination. In short, let your motto, and, as far as practicable, your habit, be, to leave nothing till you have thoroughly mastered it.’ Professor Miller’s Letters, pp. 256—25S.”

REV. CHARLES BRIDGES,. “THE CHRISIAN MINISTRY; WITH AN INQUIRY INTO THE CAUSES OF ITS INEFFICIENCY: WITH AN ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE MINISTRY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT.”

Jonathan Edwards, The Preacher Part II

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Corinthians, Church History, Jonathan Edwards, Meditation, Preaching, Reading, Study

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1 Corinthians 2:1, exposition, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, Jesse Burton Weatherspoon, John A. Broadus, Jonathan Edwards the Preacher, Literature, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, n the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, Preachers, Preachers and Preaching, Preaching, Ralph G. Trunball, T. David Gordon, The Art of Prophesying, Why Johnny Can’t Preach, William Greenbough Thayer Shedd, William Perkins

(The previous post in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/jonathan-edwards-the-preacher-part-1/)

One brutal fault of many preachers is the idea that “plain” and “clear” mean slobberingly dull. In the end, you have been coated words which have no form, no beauty. Perhaps you are fond of the dog that licked you, but you still want to wash your hand.

T. David Gordon’s wonderful book Why Johnny Can’t Preach begins with the sorry (and true) statement,

I’ve always feared to state publicly that, in my opinion, less than 30 percent of those who are ordained to the Christian ministry can preach even a mediocre sermon (11).

He goes on to quote a godly, experienced elder at a fine, orthodox congregation, speaking concerning the current pastor of his church:

David, of course he can’t preach; but I’ve served on pulpit committees off and on for thirty years, and nobody can preach. We look for men who are gifted in other areas, and who are orthodox, but we accept from the outset of the search that we are not likely to find a person who can preach (21).

Gordon does an apt job of diagnosing the cause of such dull-witted monologues which are called sermon (the preachers have more grown up on imagery rather than literature, “because television, in contrast to poetry is essentially trivial”; “What kinds of ministers does such a culture produce? Ministers who are not at home with what is significant; ministers whose attention span is less than that of a four-year-old in the 1940’s” (58-59)) and suggesting a cure (perhaps they could learn to read something beyond Go Dog Go). [1]

Trunball notes that Edwards’ work was precisely the opposite in source and effect:

Edwards had a disciplined mind and a ready pen. His force of intellect, his philosophical grasp of ideas, his knowledge of theology, and his acquaintance with the best English writers, enabled him to write vigorously. Whatever may be thought of the imprecatory sermons, they, together with the pastoral message, were productive of action. That is the primary test of good literature. It was not some emotional disturbance in religious meetings which gave rise to those upsurgings of moral life and commitment. The reading quality of the written word was pregnant with deeps of feeling, wells of truth undefiled, and a running stream of living faith.

The sermons as literature have rhythm and balance, well-defined propositions, and marked climaxes. Novel arrangements, word-pairs, impressiveness of phrase affect us. The logical unity of thought and argument with a definite structure give the sentences a place as good literature.

Like his Puritan predecessors Edwards sought to find the pleasant word: not to delight the mind alone, but to work upon the heart. That was the goal of his preaching.

Jonathan Edwards the Preacher, 75. Such a sermon does not come from nowhere. Trunball methodically points out that Edwards first statured himself in the Scripture – he read, studied, thought, and then thought again concerning the Scripture:

Bible reading and mediation is the foundation of spiritual development for the preacher. Edwards aimed to be an interpreter of the divine Word.  We are not surprised at his keen interest in Bible study. The fruits of those early years of study were reaped throughout his ministry. A man of one book, he made captive all branches of knowledge and thus effectively expounded the eternal to the times in which he lived (Trunball, 77).

Such intensive study gave the force and power of Edwards’ originality: “Originality in man, then, is not the power of making a communication of truth, but of apprehending one” (William Greenbough Thayer Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, 37; the true origin lies in God; originality in human beings lies in exegeting that which God has first created, be it nature or Scripture). In addition to his study of Scripture, Edwards intently studied the best of English literature and philosophy and science.  His mind was brimming with words and beauty and ideas which he brought to bear upon the Scripture.

Such intensive education, study and thought must lie behind the sermon—even if it does not show expressly in the sermon.  The sermon must not be a parade of the preacher’s learning (which, as Gordon notes, is likely to be pathetic, anyway), but that doesn’t mean that such learning does not go into the preparation:

But that does not mean that pulpits will be marked by a lack of knowledge and education. The minister may, and in fact must, privately make use of the general arts and of philosophy aas well as employ a wide variety of reading while he is preparing a sermon. But in public exposition these should be hidden from the congregation, not ostentatiously paraded before them. As the Latin proverb says, Artis etiam celare artem –it is the point of art to conceal art.

William Perkins, The Art of Prophesying, 71. [2]

The sermon must contain truth, but it must be digestible, or no one will ever carry it to heart. Just because a sermon must concern truth, does not mean a sermon must neglect the presentation:

Other faults of style result from too exclusive attention to the fact that the sermon is concerned with truth… a sermon requires to be understood, to be interesting, to come to grips with life and its problems, to be moving.

On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, by John A. Broadus, new and revised edition, by Jesse Burton Weatherspoon, ThD, D.D., 1944, p. 239.

The vicious mediocrity of most pulpits (even the music of “killer bands” is dull; it is a bad parody of better bands; repetitive, derivative, uncreative, and registering in a single idiom) is waging an outright war against the Gospel.  When the Gospel cannot be heard, it cannot have effect. 

Yes, but say some of the dullards, Paul would not preach with eloquence! And they cite to 1 Corinthians 2:1,

2 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. (ESV).

I will end with the rejoinder of Dr. Martyn:

He tells the Corinthians that ‘his speech was contemptible.’ That simply meant that he did not affect the rhetorical manner of the Greek rhetoricians; it did not mean that he could not be eloquent. What it did mean was that his eloquence was always spontaneous and inevitable—never contrived, never produced, never done to order. It became inevitable because of the grandeur of the Truth and the conception that had opened itself before his mind. When eloquence is so produced, I say that it is one of the best handmaidens of true preaching. The history of preaching demonstrates this again and again abundantly.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, 251.

William Perkins from the National Portrait Gallery:

NPG D23054; William Perkins by Renold or Reginold Elstrack (Elstracke), published by  Compton Holland, after  Unknown artist

 


[1] “Nine Ways to Become a Boring Writer”, Matt Anderson:

Read everything your peers write.  There is no better way to sound exactly like everyone else around you than by immersing yourself in their words.  Forget about the fact that you have  conversations with normal people every day, and convince yourself that to be a relevant writer you must be as familiar as possible with what they are writing about.

Spend all your free time consuming “pop culture.”  The logic works the same as the above:  forget about the fact that you’re already immersed in the culture around you, and that saying anything that might sound strange to it demands above all critical distance from it.  You need your words to be relevant, and liberally sprinkling pop culture references throughout will do the trick nicely while ensuring that your words will be forgotten as soon as the show/movie/song is.

– See more at: http://mereorthodoxy.com/ten-surefire-ways-to-become-a-more-boring-writer/#sthash.vBVNjOES.dpuf

[2] Here’s a quick background on Perkins: http://www.apuritansmind.com/puritan-favorites/william-perkins/

Let the Word of Christ Dwell in You Richly

31 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Acts, Biblical Counseling, Colossians, Discipleship, Meditation, Memorization, Preaching, Study

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Acts 2, admonish, Biblical Counseling, Colossians, Colossians 3:16, Discipleship, Meditation, Memorization, Paul, Peter, Preaching, Spiritual Disciplines, Study, Teaching, Training, Word of God, Word of God in Acts

(Notes for a sermon to be preached on September 1, 2013):

          In the first chapter of Acts we read that Christ commanded the Apostles and disciples to stay in Jerusalem. The apostles kept the command of Christ: they stayed in Jerusalem and waited for the Holy Spirit. They waited. They prayed. In time, the Spirit came upon them … and they spoke. They could not deny it. They spoke “As the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). The crowd came drawn by the words.  Peter filled with the Spirit stood in their midst and preached.

At the end of the sermon we read

So those who received his word were baptized. Acts. 2:41

In Acts 3 we read of a man healed at the Gate Beautiful, entering in the Temple. A crowd again comes and so Peter preaches. The priests and Sadducees became  

2 greatly annoyed because [Peter was] teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. Acts 4:2 (ESV)

So they arrested Peter and the others, leaving in jail them for the evening. Now, you might think this would end the trouble. But what the leaders did not realize is that the word was the trouble – not the apostles. The apostles merely proclaimed the Word. The Word kept working even when the Apostles could not:

4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. Acts 4:4 (ESV)

The Apostles were soon reason. When the church gathered, they prayed:

29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, Acts 4:29 (ESV)

In verse 31, we read that

They were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:31 (ESV).

Do you see the pattern? The Spirit comes. Their hearts are filled with words and they speak. Those Spirit wrought words are heard and men and women are transformed.

The enemies of the gospel did not understand the working of the Spirit and Word. Acts 5 records yet another incident of prison. This time, an angel comes and rescues them with this command:

20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” Acts 5:20 (ESV)

Not raise an army; organize a movement; change the government. No: God, through the angel, commands the apostles: go speak.

Do you see that God works by means of Word and Spirit? The Word of God did the work. When you see this, you find it everywhere in the story. For example, in chapter 8, we read that Philip began to preach the Samaritans –just as Christ had commanded in Acts 1:8. In verse 14 of Acts we read

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:14-15

There it is again: The Word and Spirit transforming the human heart. It is the Word of God proclaimed and the word of God received that changes human beings. In Acts 12, Herod began a vicious persecution of the apostle. Yet this persecution did not stop God. God struck Herod dead. Then we read in verse 24:

24 But the word of God increased and multiplied. Acts 12:24 (ESV)

Those who sought to stop the spread of the church foolishly thought the power was in the men. They thought that by beating and imprisoning and killing men and women that they could stop the church. The enemies did not understand that the power was not in the people but in the word.

Acts 13 records the first missionary journey of Paul. In this chapter, we read a sermon by Paul. The next Sabbath, a crowd gathered, Jews and Gentiles. But they did not come to hear Paul. Acts 13:44 reads,

44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Acts 13:44 (ESV)

Never go to a sermon to hear a man. Go to hear the word of the Lord preached. If you do hear the word of the Lord, then you have wasted your time. And look at the wondrous outcome of the word preached:

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:52 (ESV).

That power in the Word of the Lord is why we are here this morning. The word of Christ in the power of the Spirit has been set loose in the world, changing generation after generation of men and women. It has changed us – and it will change others.  It has changed us – and, this morning, we will learn that it can change us far more. If you know Christ

You have put off the old man with its practice and have put on the new man who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his creator. Col. 3:9-10

The Word and Spirit make a human being new; but that only opens the door to change. The Word and Spirit do not stop by making a woman or man new. They continue to work and work, renewing us in knowledge after the image of our creator. We’re going to see that from Paul’s letter, the Spirit’s words, sent to the church in Colossae.

The church in Colossae came into being not by Paul making a missionary journey, but rather by someone who heard Paul. A man named Epaphras from Colossae heard the word of God – perhaps while Paul taught in Ephesus. The Word of God traveled up the Lycus Valley with Epaphrus, where the seed sprouted and churches began in Colossae, and Hierapolis and Laodicea. If the story ended there, we would probably not know much of anything about these Christians.

At some point and for some reason, Epaphrus ended upon in prison with Paul (Philemon 23). And while there, Epaphrus unfolded a strange story to Paul. It seems the people in Colossae were being kidnapped and made captives. It was as if pirates invaded the valley and were capturing Christians and dragging them off to slavery.

But I don’t want you to think too much about ships and parrots, because Colossae is hundreds of miles from the ocean. Rather, I want you to think about talkers.

The Devil is much smarter than the human beings enslaved to do his will. While a Herod might think killing an apostle will do the trick, the Devil had a more ambitious plan. The Devil knew – and knows – that the power was in the Word, not in the people. The Devil knew that he could never ultimately succeed merely with prisons and murders. He needed something more dangerous and more subtle.

And so he sent pirates full of words up the valley to capture Christians. We know this, because Paul warns the Christians against them:

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Colossians 2:8 (ESV)

Look at those words for a moment. There are some words, some kind of idea which can actually capture human beings. Back in verse 4 of chapter 2, Paul had warned:

4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. Colossians 2:4 (ESV)

These were tricky words: they sounded good, they made perfectly fine sense; and yet the words were false. In verse 8, Paul traces these words back up to their source. First, he calls them a deceit and philosophy. Then he shows they come from “human tradition”. But look more carefully, he calls the ultimate source, “elemental spirits of the world” – If you have an NASB it says, “elementary principles”. Paul is using some strange language. What he means exactly is hard to tell. But we do know it was something wicked and dangerous; something demonic.

Paul is warning them off from these dangerous words. He tells them, Do not let the pirates take you captive. He warns them the words will sound good and the idea will make sense. But behind it all is something very evil and dangerous.

But he also tells them that these powers are nothing before Christ. You see, when Christ came to the cross he delivered us from our sins. But that is not all: Christ also defeated these demonic powers:

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Colossians 2:13–15 (ESV)

That part about “rulers and authorities” – that is a reference to some sort of spiritual powers in rebellion against God.

Someone here is thinking, That’s interesting and all. But I really don’t want to waste time talking about demons and demon stuff. If you don’t like what they’re saying, just don’t listen!  But there is where you miss the danger.

The danger comes in the form of words – words which sound good, which make sense. They are words which sound right to you. The Devil is far too smart to come up to a Christian and say, Hi! I’m the Devil! Would you like some demonic deception?

The Devil will first use someone you’ll listen to – maybe even someone who doesn’t know that he’s doing something dangerous. Then the Devil will use language which makes sense, which sounds good. And here is the really dangerous part: All the Devil needs to do is to get you think that the Word of Christ is not enough.

The Sadducees and Herod and the Romans thought they could chain Christ by chaining Peter and Paul. They were wrong. The Devil then came upon another plan: Rather than chaining the men, he tried to chain the words. If he can keep Christians busy with anything else, he will prevail

The pirates in Colossae did not attack Jesus directly. There is no evidence that anyone said anything overtly against Jesus. Instead, they just wanted to add to Jesus.

Jesus is good and all, but … there is something which you may want to consider.

When the adulteress approaches, she doesn’t begin with “Divorce your wife!” She says,

Proverbs 7:16–18 (ESV)

16  I have spread my couch with coverings,

            colored linens from Egyptian linen;

17  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,

            aloes, and cinnamon.

18  Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;

            let us delight ourselves with love.

 

It will be just a night. And so when the pirates came, they merely sought to add a bit here and there. But, just as my wife will not be pleased with a little adultery, so Christ will not be pleased with a little spiritual adultery.

You see, if the power is in the Word of Christ, the Devil merely needs to add to that word, and detract from that word and replace that Word. If Peter simply preached something other than Christ; if Paul simply preached something other than Christ, then the Devil has succeeded.

And so the Colossian pirates merely added to Christ.

In fact, these pirates actually said they would help the Christians become more holy and spiritual. They were talking about visions and angels putting off sin. Who here would not wish to become more spiritual, more godly, more holy? Who would not want a life which transcends our present place and brings up to worship with the angels?  Who would not wish to never sin again? That is what these pirates offered.

Paul admitted these things looked good, but they would never work:

23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Colossians 2:23 (ESV)

You see, what the pirates offered was good: a better life; holiness; spirituality. Perhaps if they were here, they would offer you a happier marriage; less stress at work; a better way to take care of your money; maybe teach you how to find a husband or wife; perhaps a better way to parent.  Who doesn’t want such things?  Which of you does not want to finally once and for all put your sin to death? I would love for you to have all those things.

But Christ has sought something better for you: Himself.

Paul, in the third chapter of this, commands the Colossians to be holy and loving and gracious. He commands them to live lives of complete transformation. But the key is how he commands this change.  Look down at Colossians 3:16:

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

That will be our text for the next few moments. It contains a single command:

Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly.

It contains two results of obeying that command: first it will change how you live with others. Second, it will change how you live before God. After that, we’ll consider some implications.

The Command: Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

The command has two parts: The subject, “the word of Christ”; and the action “dwelling”.

You should have no difficulty with the “word of Christ”. It is means the same thing as the word of God or the Word of the Lord, or just the “Word” –as we saw in Acts. The great power of God in this world is the Word and the Spirit. The Spirit uses the Word of God to transform human beings.

This most certainly includes the Gospel:

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15.

Now, all human beings from the moment of conception are corrupted by sin. As David said,

            5       Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

      and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5 (ESV)

 

If you think that sounds unfair and untrue, it is because you don’t really understand sin. Sin is a bad act, lying, cheating, murder, and so on. But sin is also an infection, a condition – it is something we caught from our parents and give to our children. Sin is a vile action. But sin is also the corrupting force that brought in death and disease. Everything which troubles you in this life comes from sin: your own sin; the sin of others against; and the effect of sin in the world.  We have all been poisoned; we are all infected.

Now think about it: You can’t trick someone without tricking them. A magician makes you think you are seeing one thing, when really you see something else. That’s sleight of hand. That is how sin works – it is deception; it is the very act of lying. It is a disease which tickles the heart and soothes the conscience until it is too late to escape.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

The entire universe has become corrupted with the sludge of sin and death.  The stuff of creation which God once called “very good” has been subjected to frailty and futility and death. As Ecclesiastes reads, Vanity of vanities … all is vanity – a mist, a breath, a moment and then gone. Thus, nothing in Creation could save us from sin and death.

It was into that world that Jesus came. The Son of God

7 … emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:7–8 (ESV)

And in that act of dying, Christ took hold of my sin – he took the charges against me and nailed them to the Christ:

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

 

You see, when Christ was laid in the tomb, it was not over. For sin had no claim upon him; death had no power over him. And Christ arose, having

… disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Colossians 2:15 (ESV)

The Son obedient to death has now been exalted by his Father:

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV)

That is the good news. For everyone who receives that good news, for everyone who believes that Gospel and trusts to Christ for their salvation, there is salvation. For those who seek Christ as savior and Lord, he comes and makes all things new.

How does this happen? The Holy Spirit joins with the words of the Gospel, and I see my sin for the bitter rebellion against my God. I see Christ as beautiful

The rose of Sharon

The lily of the valley. Song 2:1

 

I throw myself upon his mercy. The Spirit of bondage becomes the Spirit of adoption and I cry out Abba, Father! It is to see the beauty of God in the face of Christ – that is the only right response to the Gospel.

The rest of Scripture gives depth and hope and application of the Gospel. It draws out the details and gives instruction on how to live worthy of the Gospel. You must know these words.

And that bring us to the second half of the command:

            Let the words of Christ dwell richly

That must sink down into your heart. That Word of Christ must dwell richly in your heart.

And not just the gospel – you must know it all. You see, this book, from front to back is letter disclosing to me the wonder and love of God. He reveals my sin, and shows me a Savior. It is a

            … lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105

In this book we find

            …the words of eternal life. John 6:68.

Let those words dwell richly. Look again at your Bible at Colossians 3:16:

            Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

The verb here, to dwell, is a cozy word. It means not merely to live somewhere, but to be home somewhere. Paul uses it to describe the Holy Spirit dwelling within a believer (Romans 8:11 & 2 Timothy1:14), of God dwelling among his people (2 Cor. 6:16); of faith dwelling in Timothy’s grandmother (1 Timothy 1:5) and of the word of Christ dwelling in his people –in our text.

Now Paul says that the Word must not merely dwell with us, but it must dwell richly. It is as if he said you must furnish your finest room for a guest. You must make all accommodation and place for this guest.

It does no good to take the word of God in our mouth if it does not settle down into our hearts.  This is the great failure of many Christians – they do not exclude the Word of Christ — for then they would not be Christians at all. Sadly they give the Word room – a small room in the back; they let the word of God dwell with them – but not richly.

The Word of God is a guest; but he is not at home. The best room in the house has been given over to something, to someone else. The good furniture and the comfortable clothes have been given to the stranger. But the Word of God who should possess the richest room is told to make-do with the couch.

Beloved, this must not be. The Word of God must dwell in you richly. Have you not read of the blessed man, who

Delights in the law of the Lord

And in his law he meditates day and night.

 

Psalm 1:2.

But I hear the complaint, I would delight in the word – but it is so often dry. The blessed man delights, but I don’t. I tried, I really did. But can make no progress. I read and it’s words and sounds.

Perhaps you see nothing or little when you first look in the word. That comes from being too quick. No one becomes a dear friend in a moment. The depth of love in a marriage takes a life.

Let the word dwell richly.

I spoke with a man about watching birds. He said, sit quietly and wait. That is how we must come to Scripture. At first you will see no birds; but as you wait patiently and look about and listen carefully, you hear the birds move and then see a wing. Soon you will hear them sing. The expert hears beauty in the symphony that the novice does not know. The lover knows the slightest shadow that moves across his beloved’s face.

But we make such a racket when we come to the garden of Scripture. We stomp and grumble and pick up a phone to check some nonsense or other. Don’t sit down for the Bible with your smartphone in one hand. Don’t rush your time alone with the Lord.

Which of you would reveal your dearest secrets to a so-called friend who kept looking over your shoulder at the movie playing in the room?

We want immediate answers, when the Lord seeks an eternal marriage with his Bride. But we have no true hurry. Our impatience is a lie. We will live forever with the Lord. Come sit by the water and watch sunlight glint upon the text.

The 119th Psalm gives us a picture of the God’s Word dwelling richly in one’s heart. I am going to just run through the verbs used to describe how the Psalmist lives with the word of God:

1. He walks in it. v. 1

2. Seeks it with his whole heart.

3. Keeps it diligently.

4. Fixes his eyes upon it.

5. Learn.

6. Living according to it.

7. Stored up.

8. Declare

9. Delights in it.

10. Meditates upon

11. Beholds wonderful things

12. Consumed with longing

13. Takes counsel from

14. Is strengthened by.

15. Chooses

16. Clings to

17. Run in the way of

18.  Understands

19. Inclines his heart

20. Longs for.

21. Trusts

22 Hopes in

23. Loves

24. Does not turn away from

And so on. Here is the procedure: First, he takes it in: the word of God comes into his thoughts. There he meditates upon it; he studies it; he memorizes it; he ponders it and discusses it. The word of God becomes the object of his desire. He trusts it – for it comes from God.  He does not turn away from it.

Wait a second, someone will say. Aren’t you making an idol out of the Bible? No! I will do no such thing. I do not want the book per se, but rather the God of the book.

You see, the Scripture is a love letter on which I smell the perfume of glory and catch a sight of my beloved. When a soldier treasures a letter from his wife, he does not love the paper and ink. No he loves the heart disclosed in the words. When the soldier holds the letter up to read, the paper becomes a window and he gazes upon his wife from afar. She becomes near as reads.

How much more so with the word of God!

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)

The word of God is not mere words – it is the disclosure of God: God is in it. The Word of God is authoritative – it causes things:

5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:5–6 (ESV)

When God said, Let there be light – there was light. When the Gospel is proclaimed, Christ is in it.

Don’t fall into the trap of the religious leaders who thought they could chain God by chaining the messenger. It was not Peter, but Peter’s sermon which did the work. The physical world is real, but it is not ultimate. When you dig down through reality, you will not find some stuff there. At the very basis of the entire Creation is not matter in motion; no, at the very first you will find God, who rules and works by Word and Spirit.

God spoke and the universe became. God’s Spirit hovered over the waters. The universe came from God, from Word and Spirit. The Word of God is more than anything. The Bible is not God – no, but it contains the words of God and the Words which disclose God. I love the words because I love the Word:

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1:1.

Oh friend, take these words down deep into your heart that the Word of Christ may dwell richly in you.

And look to see what happens:

The First Result of the Dwelling Word:

First, the words will come flowing back out to those around you:

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

When the word of Christ dwells richly in your heart, it will gush back out onto those around you, transforming us all. You see, the Word of God does not merely bring us to salvation at the first – it works in our hearts throughout our lives and brings us to change upon change.

You have heard and read that Christians must teach and admonish one another. That is true – absolutely so. But let us think about this, for a moment. Are we called upon to teach and admonish in just any way? No.

First, look at the text. Paul specifies a content for this teaching and admonition: Paul does not mention personal experience, popular ideas, or your own “wisdom”. The wisdom is the wisdom of Christ, the wisdom of the Word. The teaching and admonishing come as the result of the word dwelling in the heart.

Our Lord made plain that we are to teach – but only what he has commanded: In Matthew 28:20, Jesus tells the church to make disciples by

Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

It is not teaching, but teaching what Jesus has commanded. And we looked at the teaching of Acts – they taught Christ. At the end of Acts 2, we see the church filled with fellowship, joy, worship, communion, praise – and all of this came from the fact that they

Devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching … Acts 2:42.

In Romans 15:14, Paul writes:

14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. Romans 15:14 (ESV)

But with what do they instruct one another? This comes at the end of the letter – they at least have heard the content of Paul’s letter. But Paul also has told them that their hope comes from their knowledge of the Scriptures (Romans 15:4).  And in verse 13, immediately Paul’s confidence that they can teach one-another he writes,

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13 (ESV)

That hope came from the Scriptures. And being filled with such hop and joy and the Holy Spirit they are fit to counsel one-another.

When you look through Paul’s other letters, you will see that time and again, the Christians need correcting because they have been busy instructing, admonishing, counseling, exhorting one-another in the wrong way. In Colossae, Paul writes specifically because they have been taking instruction which was not the word of Christ.

When you look through Timothy and Titus you will see that the primary job of the pastor in the church is to protect the doctrine. The pastor’s job is teaching – both what you must know, and what you must avoid. The very first instruction Paul writes to Timothy is;

3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 1 Timothy 1:3 (ESV)

I could go on, but I think the point is clear. We must exhort and teach and admonish and encourage one another daily.

At this point I want to first praise you all. This congregation does do that. I have seen it. I have been encouraged and rebuked. The youngest Christians in this congregation have poured on me the sweetest encouragement when my soul was must burdened. Many of you do not even know how deeply you have blessed me. And, if you have been so to me, I can only think that you must have been such a blessing to one-another.

I must praise you and encourage you to do far more.

But, I must also rebuke you. You and I have been guilty of declaring not Christ, but ourselves. We have taken the words of Christ and have hidden them from one-another. How so?

A dear sister comes to you in confidence. She has a great sorrow in her family – some trouble with her children or her husband. She unburdens herself. You pray for her and remind her that God is good.  And this you have done well. But she continues and asks, What should I do?

And here, you begin to make disciples after yourselves. You tell her what you have done.  You give her your experience and your advice.

Dear sister, you have closed to her the gates of God. You have shut her out of the Scriptures. It is the word of God which is living and active – not your insights.

So much Christianish malarkey gets published and said. Who cares about my experience and wisdom?

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)

It is Scripture that has such authority – not you.

Oh the damage which has been done by this mistake. I oversee the counseling ministry here at CBC, and I must tell you that the hardest cases have often been situations where a well-meaning believer has given poor counsel to another. The counsel has been based upon expediency or experience or guess work, but not careful consideration of Scripture.

Now I don’t pretend to believe that I know all when it comes to this work. I am constantly studying and thinking and considering the Scripture and how it applies. I do not have confidence in my perfect abilities. However, I do have confidence in the power of the Scripture. Perhaps I do not know, but that does not excuse me from discovering an answer.

Now, I want you to consider, how often have you failed in this? How often have you given personal advice when what your brother needed was the Word of God?

A related but no less serious trouble comes when one misapplies the Scripture.

This comes first from a lack of confidence in the Scripture. You may think – the Bible is good, but there some places where some experience could help.

It more often comes from simple lack of training in the Scriptures and how they must be applied. I want you to go back to our discussion of the word of God dwelling richly. Do you remember the Psalmist who studied, memorized, meditated upon the Scripture?

You cannot apply the Scripture well without training. You must learn how to use the Scripture.

Think of it like this, Would you like just anyone to preach on Sunday morning? Giving counsel is no less a matter of understanding and applying the Scripture than is preaching or teaching. The greatest difference between the two is the number of people in the room. Counseling is private; preaching is public. Both require understanding and explaining the Scripture.

That is why we are seeking to help you better understand the Scripture and its application. Every week when you hear a sermon in this pulpit, the goal is not merely that you leave with information, but that you know better how the Scripture functions, how the Christian life is lived, how to better love God and your neighbor –and that you will be able to bring this truth to one-another.

We are also trying to provide you with additional training. On Sunday evenings, we will be providing specific training about how to do this thing of “teaching and admonishing” one-another. We want you all to be better equipped to intentionally disciple and counsel one-another.

Some of you will have greater ability and inclination and will learn enough to help with counseling in a more intentional manner. There are some difficult and serious problems which arise in the church which will take greater wisdom and knowledge to provide a biblical response. We want you to know how to respond in a godly manner when your friend shares of a crushing depression or having been abused as a child or learning that a wife or husband has committed adultery. These are grave matters and they deserve a careful response. To answer carelessly or mistakenly can cause great hurt.

If you are lying by the side of the road and you have a gushing chest wound, you should hope that a trained paramedic shows up on the scene. If you must settle for me, you’ll probably die – because I have not been trained to help. You don’t want someone who has no training to fix your car – much less operate on your body. Why do you think that care for your soul takes less skill and training than care for your garbage disposal?

So we are offering training on Sunday evenings. We also want you to know of training which is being offered by our church in combination with several other churches in Southern California and with the Masters College biblical counseling professors. Over the next three months, on one Friday evening and one Saturday day there will be training in biblical counseling. I will be one of the instructions as will other pastors from our area. We have information about this training conference in foyer. The organization is called the BCDA of Southern California. 

For those who would like even more training so as to be part of the counseling ministry here at CBC, contact Shelbi Cullen – and if you can’t find her, contact the office and Ruth can hand your name on to us. There are already many men and women who have been training and working with counseling.

We need more people who have been trained to counsel. We routinely receive requests for counseling from people outside of our congregation – but as it is, we cannot always care for everyone who is already in attendance here.

We can also use counseling as a means of evangelism. If you think back over your own life and the lives of others, you know that God often uses crisis to get our attention. The world is a wreck and sin has done great damage. The Scripture has much to say in the face of loss and pain and trial. We need people who have trained and ready to help those people here the good news of Christ.

Second Result of the Scripture Dwelling Richly: Thankfulness

This point needs no great elaboration. The Scriptures reveal God to us and thus give us hope. As you exhort me, and I encourage you, we grow – ever so slowly, but truly – we grow in godliness. It seems glacial sometimes, but we grow toward Christlikeness; we grow in hope. We remind one another that our Lord has conquered death – and our recollection that sin and death have been overcome draws us evermore toward Christ.

We bring the Scripture to one, and in this book we read of our loss and God’s salvation. We read of the precious promises of life now and life to come. In this book we read of

Christ in you, the hope of glory. Col. 1:27.

When we read and know and meditate and hope we can have no other response but to praise, to give thanks, to rejoice. We want to burst out in songs of thankfulness and hope. Look at the words in our text. The Word of Christ does not merely result in teaching and admonishing, it results in a burst of Psalm and hymns and spiritual songs filled with thankfulness in your hearts toward God.  What joy is here! Do you not see that you have been made new by the word of Christ? O, think of this!

Oh let me beseech you, for the Lord’s sake, for your soul’s sake, to value the gospel. Alas! What are we without it, but condemned malefactors, every moment liable to be called forth and hung up, as monuments of God’s fury, in hell! If ever a poor creature, in fear every moment of being fetched out of the prison and carried to the gallows, did esteem a pardon, sure I am ye have cause to prize the gospel. O sirs, how had all of us at this day been shut up under the law’s curse, in the dungeon of endless wrath and misery, had not the gospel opened the prison doors, knocked off our shackles and set our souls at liberty!
“The Pastor’s Farewell” George Swinock (vol. 4, 93)

Let the promise of eternal life settle down in your hearts and see what rose will bloom.

Redeemed how I love to proclaim it

Redeemed by the blood of the lamb

Redeemed by his infinite mercy

 

His child now forever I am!

The Secret to Muller’s Success

13 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in 2 Corinthians, George Muller, Meditation, Ministry, Numbers, Prayer, Study, Uncategorized

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Arthur Pierson, Bible, Faith, George Muller, George Muller of Bristol, humility, Meditation, Meekness, Prayer, Study

By many measures, George Muller had extraordinary success in his ministry. Unlike many who crave attention, Muller craved The Lord. At each step, Muller’s method followed the lead of Psalm 121:

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Such a complete dependence is the aim of any true believer of Christ — and yet we rarely show moments — much less a life of such dependence. Pierson reviews Muller’s life and notes 24 separate aspects of Muller’s development and education God used to make the man who could be used of God to run the orphanage. The education — and then work — of Muller illustrate Paul’s commendation in 2 Corinthians 12:

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God, having saved Muller, then led Muller into a complete dependence upon him (which was the point of God permitting the messenger from Satan buffet Paul. (2 Corinthians 12:7) Muller’s faith did not come in flash but rather it grew over the course of years.

The basic element of Muller’s piety was a complete devotion to the Lord which consisted of study and meditation on the Bible:

8. His satisfaction in the Word. As knowledge of the Scriptures grew, love for the divine oracles increased, until all other books, even of a religious sort, lost their charms in comparison with God’s own text-book, as explained and illumined by the divine Interpreter.
9. His thorough Bible study. Few young men have ever been led to such a systematic search into the treasures of God’s truth. He read the Book of God through and through, fixing its teachings on his mind by meditation and translating them into practice.

Prayer:

20. His habit of secret prayer. He learned so to prize closet communion with God that he came to regard it as his highest duty and privilege. To him nothing could compensate for the lack or loss of that fellowship with God and meditation on His word which are the support of all spiritual life.

Muller’s piety was consciously personal — he relied not upon an abstraction but upon the Triune God. Therefore, communication — reading, meditation and prayer lay at the heart of his life. Such a personal reliance makes sense of Pierson’s observation as to Muller’s preaching:

15. His waiting on God for a message. For every new occasion he asked of Him a word in season; then a mode of treatment, and unction in delivery; and, in godly simplicity and sincerity, with the demonstration of the Spirit, he aimed to reach the hearers.

One does not wait on a word from an abstraction, but rather waits on a friend. Such intense and real friendship, led Muller to a complete dependence upon God:

18. His stress upon voluntary offerings. While he courageously gave up all fixed salary for himself, he taught that all the work of God should be maintained by the freewill gifts of believers, and that pew-rents promote invidious distinctions among saints.
19. His surrender of all earthly possessions. Both himself and his wife literally sold all they had and gave alms, henceforth to live by the day, hoarding no money even against a time of future need, sickness, old age, or any other possible crisis of want.

Which dependence even extended to occasion for service:

10. His freedom from human control. He felt the need of independence of man in order to complete dependence on God, and boldly broke all fetters that hindered his liberty in preaching, in teaching, or in following the heavenly Guide and serving the heavenly Master.
11. His use of opportunity. He felt the value of souls, and he formed habits of approaching others as to matters of salvation, even in public conveyances. By a word of witness, a tract, a humble example, he sought constantly to lead some one to Christ.

Pierson concludes the Muller’s ministry derived from Muller’s seeming weakness. Note the difference between Muller’s true humility — and a false humility which focuses on self. Moses was “very meek” (Numbers 12:3) and he led Israel. Neither humility nor being meek hinge upon self-deprecation but rather in selfless coupled to dependence upon God.

Muller demonstrates humility by seeking to be utterly transparent to the work of God:

To lose sight of this sovereign shaping Hand is to miss one of the main lessons God means to teach us by George Miilleris whole career. He himself saw and felt that he was only an earthen vessel; that God had both chosen and filled him for the work he was to do ; and, while this conviction made him happy in his work, it made him humble, and the older he grew the humbler he became. He felt more and more his own utter insufficiency. It grieved him that human eyes should ever turn away from the Master to the servant, and he perpetually sought to avert their gaze from himself to God alone. “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things—to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Arthur Tappan Pierson. “George Müller of Bristol.”

More On Patience

22 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in George Muller, Ministry, Prayer, Study

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Arthur Pierson, Christian Ministry, George Muller, George Muller of Bristol, Ministry, patience, Patience, Prayer, Study, Wisdom

“The one thing needful was therefore to have sought through much prayer and Bible study to get first of all a deeper knowledge and a deeper experience of divine things. Impatience to settle a matter so important was itself seen to be a positive disqualification for true service, revealing unfitness to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. There is a constant strain and drain on patient waiting which is a necessary feature of missionary trial and particularly the trial of deferred harvests. One who, at the outset, could not brook delay in making his first decision, and wait for God to make known His will in His own way and time, would not on the field have had long patience as a husbandman, waiting for the precious fruit of his toil, or have met with quietness of spirit the thousand perplexing problems of work among the heathen!”

Excerpt From: Arthur Tappan Pierson. “George Müller of Bristol.”

Translation of Plutarch’s Marriage Advice.2 (NT Background)

25 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by memoirandremains in Greek, New Testament Background, Study

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conjugalia praecepta, Greek, Greek Translation, marriage, Marriage Advice, New Testament Background, Plutarch, Plutarch Moralia, Plutarch translation, Plutarch's Marriage Advice, Study

(The first entry in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/translation-of-plutarchs-marriage-advice-1/

Introduction, second paragraph:

φιλοσοφίᾳ δὲ πολλῶν λόγων καὶ καλῶν ἐνόντων, οὐδενὸς ἧττον ἄξιος σπουδῆς ὁ γαμήλιός ἐστιν οὗτος, ᾧ κατᾴδουσα τοὺς ἐπὶ βίου κοινωνίᾳ συνιόντας εἰς ταὐτὸ πράους τε παρέχει καὶ χειροήθεις ἀλλήλοις

Translation: Marriage must not be overlooked among the many excellent matters philosophy may consider. For philosophy can cast a spell upon that life of fellowship, rendering the two gentle, even tame for one-another.

Babbitt: Of the many admirable themes contained in philosophy, that which deals with marriage deserves no less serious attention than any other, for by means of it philosophy weaves a spell over those who are entering together into a lifelong partnership, and renders them gentle and amiable toward each other.

Notes:

φιλοσοφίᾳ δὲ:  But in philosophy: Dative is used to so the sphere or area of concern (Wallace 153-15).

πολλῶν λόγων:  Of  [the] many logoi, that is words, propositions, statements, sayings; the choice between English translations lies with the subject matter.  Babbitt translate it as “themes” which has the advantage of sounding winsome and plays a bit off of the music mentioned in the previous verse.

καὶ καλῶν: And beautiful, excellent, good things: adjective describing logoi: many and excellent logoi.

ἐνόντων: Exist, existing (present active participle).

πολλῶν λόγων καὶ καλῶν ἐνόντων:  The genitive may be seen as possessive (the themes which belong to philosophy), partitive (the propositions which are a part of the whole of philosophy). The construction is anarthous because it refers to the class as a whole: from the entire sum of propositions which philosophy may consider …..

οὐδενὸς: no, not: A proposition not less worthy …..

ἧττον:  Accusative adjective, also spelled ἧσσον, meaning lesser, inferior, weaker; related to the verb ἡττάομαι.

ἄξιος: worthy (adjective describing the proposition to be considered).

σπουδῆς: of earnest, of serious. The construction seems to be an ellipses with the complementary consideration missing. Genitive of reference (?): Of earnest consideration with reference to …. (Wallace 127-128).

ὁ γαμήλιός ἐστιν: Is marriage. The article identifies marriage as an abstract quality for consideration. Plutarch is identifying marriage as a proper objective for philosophical consideration.

οὗτος: This one, emphasizes the topic identified.

ᾧ: In him: philosophy.

κατᾴδουσα: From κατ-αείδω: to sing. Hence a charm, spell, incantation.

τοὺς ἐπὶ βίου κοινωνίᾳ συνιόντας: The accusative plural article is paired to the substantive participle: those being together. ἐπὶ βίου κοινωνίᾳfurther clarifies the substantive: in a common life, a life of fellowship. Epi controls the dative fellowship/commonness and refers to the temporal aspect, during.: βίουa common life, attributed genitive, Wallace 89-91.

εἰς ταὐτὸ πράους τε παρέχει καὶ χειροήθεις ἀλλήλοις:

εἰς ταὐτὸ: for this thing, reason, purpose.

Πράους= πραΰς, gentle, humble, considerate, meek.

τε παρέχει καὶ:  And also to maintain a state or condition, or to render, grant. Philosophy makes this grant.

χειροήθεις: χειρο-ήθης, ες, (ἦθος), to the hand habituated, thus manageable, submissive, tame.

ἀλλήλοις: to one-another.

As With Trees

31 Saturday Mar 2012

Posted by memoirandremains in Edward Polhill, Puritan, Study

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Affliction, Edward Polhill, knowledge, Puritan, Study, Suffering

. It is with christians as it is with trees, the more the tree is rooted in the ground, the faster it stands in a storm; the more a christian is rooted in evangelical truths, the firmer he stands in a time of persecution

Edward Polhill
A Preparation for Suffering
Chapter VI

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