Edward Taylor, What a Feast is This.2

24 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Discipleship, Edward Taylor, Literature, Meditation, Proverbs, Puritan, Song of Solomon

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Desire, Edward Taylor, Lebanon, lees, Mark 8:34-38, Meditation, Meditations, Poetry, Proverbs 9:1-5, Puritan Poetry, Song of Solomon 8:2, wine

(Analysis of the first stanza of this poem is found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/edward-taylor-what-feast-is-this-1/)

7 A feast, a feast, a feast of spiced wine
8 Of wines upon the lees, refined well
9 Of fat things full of marrow, things divine
10 Of heavens blest cookery which doth excel.
11 The smell of Lebanon, and Carmel sweet
12 Are earthly damps unto this heavenly reek.

Taylor looking to the Lord’s Supper, continues in his praise for the glory of what is offered in Christ. He alludes to the feasts of wisdom in Proverbs and the bride in Canticles, both of which would be standard sources of imagery and mediation on the matter of the Christian and Christ.

Christ is such a great feast that nothing in the world – not even Lebanon and Carmel – with their highest offerings could offer something which would tempt him away.

Such praise is not hyperbole but rather the true aim of the spiritual life. Christians will often seem songs with language which aims in this direction (“you are the treasure that I seek”), but the profound passion and desire of Taylor is missing in both expression and in life.

Another element of Taylor’s poetry and meditation can be seen when this is compared to Jesus’ injunction:

³⁴ And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ³⁵ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. ³⁶ For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? ³⁷ Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Mark 8:34–38 (KJV 1900). When seen in isolation, Jesus’ call to discipleship sounds wholly negative – yet, as shown by Taylor’s poem, the rejection of the world comes about due to the desire for something better. Deny this world, follow me – because you will get me, and I am worth more than all the world.

We miss the radical and delightful nature of Christ and discipleship when we seek to mix Christ with the world – adding Christ as a good thing, a spice; rather than seeing Christ as worth more than all of Lebanon and Carmel (I was speaking a couple of days ago about Lebanon with a man from there – and even now, despite its hardships, the place is one of great beauty).

Such meditation upon the beauty and greatness of Christ makes leaving the world behind not a burden but a joy.

A feast, a feast, a feast: A figure of amplification/repetition like this has effect of increasing the emotional content: A feast, a feast, a feast ! – of spiced wine. “Spiced” should be pronounced as two syllables: spic-ed (as should “refined” in the next line).

A feast of spiced wine: The narrow phrase “spiced wine” occurs in Canticles 8:2

I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me:

I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.

Song of Solomon 8:2 (KJV 1900). Fredericks comments on this phrase, “The rare word ‘asis probably refes to stronger win, comparable to the Gr. gleuka in Acts 2:13 ….This drink is probably intended by Shulmmith to stimulate sexual arousal in Solomon.

Another possible reference is to the mixed wine offered at Wisdom’s feast:

Wisdom hath builded her house,

She hath hewn out her seven pillars:

² She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine;

She hath also furnished her table.

³ She hath sent forth her maidens:

She crieth upon the highest places of the city,

⁴ Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither:

As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

⁵ Come, eat of my bread,

And drink of the wine which I have mingled.

Proverbs 9:1–5 (KJV 1900). The correspondence of Christ and Wisdom is a common motif (See, e.g. 1 Cor. 1:30), thus the allusion to wisdom’s feast would not be beyond Taylor’s reference.

Wine upon the lees: wine may be left upon the “lees” to development the taste. http://www.wineweekly.com/wine-basics/wine-terms/wine-term-lees/

Earthly damps: Damp had a common usage which revolved around the concept of stopping or lessening a good.

The serving of God with cheerfulness strengtheneth both body and mind; whereas excess of grief damps the spirit and enfeebles the body, unfitting us for the service of either God or man.

James Nichols, Puritan Sermons, Volume 4 (Wheaton, IL: Richard Owen Roberts, Publishers, 1981), 189. “How May we Give Christ a Satisfying Account, Why we Attend Upon the Ministry of the Word?” by Rev. Samuel Annesley, LL.D. Several such examples could be given.

Reek: Reek has no negative connotations. Thomas Brooks (an English Puritan, and thus a bit earlier than Taylor) records the following similar usage:

By all these instances, it is most evident that no earthly portions can satisfy the souls of men. Can a man fill up his chest with air? or can he fill up the huge ocean with a drop of water? or can a few drops of beer quench the thirst of a man in a burning fever? or can the smell of meat, or the reeking fume of a ladle, or dreaming of a banquet, satisfy an hungry stomach? No! no more can any earthly portions fill or satisfy the heart of man. If emptiness can fill the soul, if vanity can satisfy the soul, or if vexation can give content to the soul, then may earthly portions satisfy the soul, but not till then. When a man can gather grapes of thorns, and figs of thistles, and turn day into night, and winter into summer, then shall he find satisfaction in the creatures; but not before. All earthly portions are weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, and they are found to be lighter than the dust of the balance; and this will rather inflame the thirst than quench it.

Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 2, ed. “A Matchless Portion”, Alexander Balloch Grosart (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 34-35.

By this time, Taylor’s usage would be old fashioned: by the 1650’s the negative sense of the word was recorded (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=reek&allowed_in_frame=0). Two possible explanations for the old fashioned usage ( beyond the near rhyme): 1) Poetry tends toward old language; and 2) living in New England, his personal vocabulary would not necessarily track the most “modern” usage of England.

Discipleship Begins With the Gospel Call

18 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Discipleship, Faith, J.I. Packer, Mark

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9 Marks, Discipleship, Faith, Five Reasons We Don't Disciple, Mark, Mark 8:34, Mark 8:34-38, saving faith

Barry Cooper, “Five Reasons We Don’t Disciple (Part 1)” http://www.9marks.org/blog/five-reasons-we-don%E2%80%99t-disciple-part-1 draws an interesting correlation between the initial proclamation of the Gospel and the lack of discipleship in the Christian Church of North America. He argues that a “cheap grace” Gospel allows one to stumble into the door of the invisible church (that is, the congregation of true believers) without actual conversion:

My fear is that in our evangelistic desire to get “decisions” from people, we may have rendered many of those “decisions” meaningless. It is one thing to “pray the prayer,” another thing entirely to repent and believe. It is much easier to tread the sawdust trail than to walk the Calvary road.

Since salvation comes merely from a bare external act, the matter of repentance and transformation do not exist as a practical reality. Thus, any demand made upon the “believer” – the demands of discipleship – are “legalism”.

One wonders what the “believer” would think were he to stumble upon Mark 8:34-38:

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34–38 (ESV)

Cooper lays (at least some) of the blame desire for “decisions” which separates belief and repentance:

Let none of our congregation be in any doubt: a Christian demonstrates that fact by denying self and taking up their cross. That means that in our gospel preaching, we must not forget the way Jesus himself preached the gospel. He called people to repent as well as believe (Mark 1:15). The two are inseparable. We must never drive a wedge between them in our preaching, as if “belief” is necessary to make someone a Christian, and then “repentance” is an optional extra for the really keen Christians. Neither are negotiable.

I would agree with this contention; although, upon reflection, it seems that trouble lies at more fundamental level (and perhaps Cooper will develop this point more in the next four promised posts). Some have not just separated belief and repentance – they have not even communicated the concept of “belief” correctly.

In common English usage, “belief” can refer to the most tentative of commitments (“I believe the color of my dorm room in college was beige”), to life altering transformations.

When many people hear, “Believe Jesus raised from the dead,” they think, “Yeah, he probably did – so, yeah, I believe.” However, the doctrine of faith in orthodox Christianity (and the Bible) entails far more than a bare possibility – it entails an entire commitment of one’s life: head, heart and will:

Faith cannot be defined in subjective terms, as a confident and optimistic mind-set, or in passive terms, as acquiescent orthodoxy or confidence in God without commitment to God. Faith is an object-oriented response, shaped by that which is trusted, namely God himself, God’s promises, and Jesus Christ, all as set forth in the Scriptures. And faith is a whole-souled response, involving mind, heart, will, and affections. Older Reformed theology analyzed faith as notitia (“knowledge,” i.e., acquaintance with the content of the gospel), plus assensus (“agreement,” i.e., recognition that the gospel is true), plus fiducia (“trust and reliance,” i.e., personal dependence on the grace of Father, Son, and Spirit for salvation, with thankful cessation of all attempts to save oneself by establishing one’s own righteousness: Rom. 4:5; 10:3). Without fiducia there is no faith, but without notitia and assensus there can be no fiducia (Rom. 10:14).

J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993).

When the preacher and the hearer both have a defective understanding of faith, we cannot be surprised that they will not see the connection of “belief” to a life of discipleship and repentance. We cannot get to discipleship unless we understand and communicate that “faith” is an utter commitment to Jesus, not casual dating.

The call to salvation in Jesus Christ is a call to follow Jesus[1]. That “discipleship” is even considered to be an appendage to salvation demonstrates the defect at the start.

One final caveat: A true believer may not be in an active relationship of directed instruction and encouragement (discipleship) and still be a true believer. Such a true believer will, however, exhibit some growth of some sort and will huger for more. The fact that no one is available to teach and encourage does not mean his spiritual life does not exist. Yet, should such an opportunity be made plain, one would think that the believer would soon move toward such growth.

[1] This does not mean that salvation is dependent upon the success of the following discipleship. An analogy may help: A proposal to marriage necessarily entails a life of marriage. However, the existence of the marriage does begin a point where the relationship between the parties is transformed – the action of the wedding. However, the fact that a wedding marks off the beginning of the marriage, does not mean that anyone can truly undertake married life and think the marriage complete because there has been an exchange of vows. Indeed, where the “marriage” ends with the wedding, we do not even say that the couple is divorced: rather, they obtain an annulment.

No analogy is perfect. This marriage analogy suffers from the fact that a wedding does not create an ontological change in the parties: their nature does not fundamentally change, even though their legal status does. In salvation, the initiation of the relationship transforms the nature of the believer (Romans 6; Colossians 3:1-11). The one who exercises true believe will be transformed and will begin to follow Jesus. Now such discipleship will be fitful – but there will be following of some sort (just as a living person will breathe).

I have learned to abound

04 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Biblical Counseling, Philippians, Uncategorized

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1 Timothy 6:17-19, Abound, Biblical Counseling, Comfort, Contentment, Ease, Ecclesiastes 7:14, Ecclesiastes 7:2-4, Mark 8:34-38, Philippians, Philippians 3:12-16, Philippians 4:12-13, Philippians 4:14-19, poverty, Proverbs 30:7-9, Riches, Robert Buchanan, The Book of Ecclesiastes Its Meaning and Its Lessons, Uncategorized, Want, Wealth

Paul writes to the Philippians:

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Philippians 4:12-13.

We can understand why Paul would need to learn how to live with being brought low. But the idea that “good” could be something which would require wisdom and learning seems positively foreign. Consider the words to a popular Christian song

Blessed be your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the worlds all as it should be

This is contrasted with the “road marked with suffering”. I don’t mean to push too much weight onto a song which was not written to bear too much scrutiny (I think of the ghastly graduate thesis where a poor student tries to wring some semiotic significance from a pop song). But the given of the song is that getting what I would like (even if it is not a sinful thing, merely a matter of comfort) is how things “should be”. For the Christian, isn’t everything “as it should be?”

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Ecclesiastes 7:14. Both want and fullness present trials:

7 Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7-9. Melanchthon explains:

In prosperity, men become reckless; they think less of God’s wrath, and less expect His aid. Thus they become more and more presumptuous; they trust to their own industry, their own power, and are thus easily driven on by the devil.—

Buchanan draws out this point at greater length:

Alas! that prosperity, instead of thus drawing the soul nearer to the great fountain of all blessedness, should, on the contrary, serve so often only to wed it more closely to the world! It is in this way that “the prosperity of fools shall destroy them” (Prov. 1:32). As was exemplified in the case of Israel of old, “Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness: then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.” Therefore the Lord said, “I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be” (Deut. 32:15, &c). Solomon himself had painfully illustrated, in his own personal history, this fatal tendency of outward prosperity to alienate the heart from God. The wisdom, and wealth, and power with which the Lord had so remarkably endowed him, became his snare. In that dark season of spiritual declension he tried to be joyful. He said in his heart, Go to; I will prove thee with mirth. He withheld not his heart from any joy; from any joy, that is, but one. He had ceased to joy in God. And how empty and unsatisfying did his earthly joys prove! Of the best of them he had nothing better than this to say, “It is vanity.” When he, therefore, with all this experience, says, “In the day of prosperity be joyful,” let us be well assured he does not mean us to repeat his own error; but rather that, taking warning from that error, we should turn every blessing we receive, whether temporal or spiritual, into a fresh argument for stirring up our souls and all that is within us, to praise and magnify the great name of our God.

Robert Buchanan, The Book of Ecclesiastes Its Meaning and Its Lessons, 1859, 259-260.

Of the two, ease and mirth are the more dangerous:

2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4.

How then did Paul learn to abound? Did he merely consider the end of death? No, he writes, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

In what does Christ strength Paul? By rightly valuing all the things of this life. He happily receives gifts and comforts as gifts from The Lord which will prosper those who give them (Philippians 4:10 & 14-19). But Paul does not fall into the trap of trusting in such things:

17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

1 Timothy 6:17-19. He sees a thing for what it is — uncertain. But he also sees something better:

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Philippians 3:12-16. Thus, the answer is not enforced poverty. The answer is not a grimace and growl. We may learn how to abound by realizing that even gaining the entire world cannot compare with Christ:

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?
38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Mark 8:34-38

Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies, Device 1, Remedy 2

16 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by memoirandremains in Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, Ecclesiastes, Mark, Mortification

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Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, Ecclesiastes, Mark, Mark 8:34-38, Mortification, Precious Remedies, profit, Sin, soul, temptation, Thomas Brooks, Transitory, Vanity

Every temptation must be a thing offered: a pleasure, an escape, a revenge: such as thing as were born in Babylon:

11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore,12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble,13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls

Revelation 18.

How can we turn down such things? Temptations are always pretty, always perfect, always fit to the occasion. But, as Brooks explains, such things are always vain. They are transitory:

2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 1:2-3. What if I should gain everything, would I keep it?

18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

Ecclesiastes 2:18-21. Who could contend with this thought? Even the most certain atheist must look to his work and know that he will leave it behind. I walked Getty’s museum, bought with his money — and yet built after he died. I did not toil for his wealth, and yet I enjoyed it in a manner he never could.

But for the Christian, the matter is worse. I know better. I know that such things are illusory in their offer. But the false certainty of sense overcomes truth at times. I must know what things are in truth, not bare immediate appearance:

Such men will sell Christ, heaven, and their souls for a trifle, that call these things vanity, but do not cordially believe them to be vanity, but set their hearts upon them as if they were their crown, the top of all their royalty and glory. Oh let your souls dwell upon the vanity of all things here below, till your hearts be so throughly convinced and persuaded of the vanity of them, as to trample upon them, and make them a footstool for Christ to get up, and ride in a holy triumph in your hearts.

How do I remember this? First, consider the matter plainly: Scripture and experience both prove that my own life is transitory, how then could I believer otherwise about the things of this life. Think of how foolishly I cared for the opinion of a man or woman whom I have not seen in 40 years.

Second, consider the particular matter at issue: How permanent is this particular thing?

Third, meditate upon Scripture plainly says about such things. Roll the truth about in your heart, your mind, your mouth until you do not doubt it. Memorize that which is applicable and appropriate from Scripture. For example:

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Mark 8:34-36

Fourth, pray to be settled in the truth of the matter. Pray to see things for what they are.

Fifth, stay away from vanities. To give one’s attention fully to vanities and yet to think that I shall stay away when temptation comes is foolishness. Guard the heart. For that which goes in will come out.