Tag Archives: Self-Examination

The Soul’s Conflict With Itself.5

28 Thursday Aug 2014

Posted by in Richard Sibbes

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The prior post in this series may be found here

In the fifth chapter, Sibbes begins to consider the “remedies” for a downcast soul. First, he notes that we must “reason the case” and speak to our dejected soul. “Therefore the first way to quiet the soul, is, to ask a reason of the tumult raised, and then many of our distempers for shame will not appear, because though they rage in silent darkness, yet they can say nothing for themselves, being summoned before strength of judgment and reason” (145).

Yet, there are many people who never take the time to sound their own soul. Nor knowing their own heart, “Such men are strangers at home, afraid of nothing more than themselves, and therefore in a fearful condition, because they are reserved for the judgment of the great day, if God doth not before that set upon them in this world. If men, carried away with their own lusts, would give but a little check, and stop themselves in their posting to hell, and ask, What have I done? What am I now about? Whither will this course tend? How will it end? &c., undoubtedly men would begin to be wise” (145).

The reason we shun to know ourselves is that don’t desire to see the effects of sin. Sibbes explains:

But sin is a work of darkness, and therefore shuns not only the light of grace, but even the light of reason. Yet sin seldom wants a seeming reason. Men will not go to hell without a show of reason. But such be sophistical fallacies, not reasons; and, therefore, sinners are said to play the sophisters with themselves. Satan could not deceive us, unless we deceived ourselves first, and are willingly deceived. Wilful sinners are blind, because they put out the light of reason, and so think God, like themselves, blind too, Ps. 50:21, and, therefore, they are deservedly termed madmen and fools (146).

This is certainly true. No one (perhaps there is one) thinks their action truly wrong and warranting punishment and without excuse.  We live by rationalization and could not live without it. In this appearance the wonder of true repentance. Repentance has no rationalization; rather it condemns the sin most strongly and prays with David, “Pardon my iniquity for it is great” (Psalm 25:11b).

Sibbes further details the movements of the heart which shun such work. First, we love ourselves and thus will not think ourselves wrong. “but this self-love is but self-hatred in the end” (146).

Second, it is simply hard work to examine one’s own heart truthfully.

Third, “pride also, with a desire of liberty, makes men think it to be a diminishing of greatness and freedom either to be curbed, or to curb ourselves” (146).

Sibbes next explains that when we come to examine and charge (“cite”) our soul, we must not stop there: we press the soul to “give an account” (explain itself). Since our souls will rebel more strongly the longer the sinful passion rages, it is best to press the case as soon as possible.

Now, he moves to the objection: What if my soul refuse to give an account?

Then speak to God, to Jesus Christ by prayer, that as he rebuked the winds and the waves, and went upon the sea, so he would walk upon our souls, and command a calm there. It is no less power to settle a peace in the soul, than to command the seas to be quiet. It is God’s prerogative to rule in the heart, as likewise to give it up to itself, which, next to hell is the greatest judgment; which should draw us to the greater reverence and fear of displeasing God(147-148)

There Goes John Bradford

14 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Psalms

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The Psalmist’s horror (A. V.) and grief is not for any contempt or injury of himself,* but because God’s law is forsaken, and his sorrow is for those who so forsake it, because they die to God. So an affectionate father of a delirious child, when abused, struck, and insulted by him, does not grieve for his own trouble, but the patient’s, and so far as he laments the foul language, does so not because it is heaped on himself, but because the sick child knows not what he is doing in his frenzy.

And in like manner a good man laments over a sinner as at the point of death, and like one given over by the physicians, and stays by him just as a wise physician would do, heedless of any bad treatment he may receive from the patient, if only he may help him in his need, with knowledge as well as skill.

Therefore a righteous man when ill-treated by a sinner, does not abandon him, but if injured, sets the act down to insanity, not to wickedness, and is zealous to apply some healing remedy to the wound, thinking that if his foe were in his right mind he would have acted very differently. And thus the Apostle speaks, “I have great sorrow and continual weariness in my heart for my brethren.” (Cd.) It is as though the Psalmist, looking round on the sea of life, saw men rejecting the guidance of right reason, throwing the Divine Pilot overboard, and drifting rapidly with the tide of iniquity towards the rocks and sands, and as he gazes, the thick darkness of horror falls on him, and he faints away.*

The sinner looks on godliness as subject matter for amusement, but the godly man looks on sin as a frightful thing, because he foresees the terrible nature of its punishment;* and we ought therefore to grieve over our erring brethern.

Again, (D. C.) the righteous man may well feel [horror when he thinks on his own frailty, and bears in mind that he is even as his fellow men, as likely to sin, as open to be tempted as they. He listens to the Apostle’s warnings, “Be not high-minded, but fear,”* and “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”* For that is a true saying of the wise man, “Happy is the man that feareth alway.”* And so it is told of one who had a zeal for God, though not according to knowledge, that one day seeing] a malefactor led to execution, he exclaimed, “But for the grace of God, there goes John Bradford.”

A Commentary on the Psalms form Primitive and Medieval Writers
Psalm 119:53

The Hidden Blessing of Discouragement (Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry)

14 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in Charles Bridges, Exhortation, Meditation, Ministry

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In the final section of his discussion of discouragement in the ministry, Charles Bridges raises the paradoxical truth that discouragement can be turned to good effect in the life of the minister.  Even more strange, a lack of difficulty can actually produce a lack of true fruitfulness in ministry.

 

Now, true fruitfulness cannot be measured by numbers or programs or money or activity. True fruitfulness comes from the minister leading fellow believers to Christ. Think of the Great Commission, teach them to observe.  God may bring great numbers to be discipled in a particular congregation – but the Devil will bring far more to his congregations of discipleship (and I don’t primary mean poor or false churches – the entire world is a discipleship machine which constantly seeks to mould us all, hence the fight: Rom. 12:1-2).

 

Discouragement and difficulty in the ministry can make plain to us the truth that true ministerial work must be done in dependence upon the Lord – while we constantly bend toward independence.

 

Bridges describes the process by which comes to such knowledge:

 

Perhaps with many of us the conscientious discharge of official duty furnishes the only anticipation of Ministerial difficulties. This want of acquaintance with the real difficulties connected with every part of the function—by failing to realize our entire helplessness—is one main cause of its unfruitfulness. None of us will find this “pleasure of the Lord to prosper in our hands,” except every effort is grounded upon the practical conviction, that no strength but the arm of Omnipotence is sufficient for the work. Many of us also had tasted in the prospect some of the delights and encouragements of the work; and in all the spring and freshness of youth had calculated upon a steady and uninterrupted devotedness rising above all opposing obstacles. But scarcely had we passed the threshold, before the dream of confidence passed away. The chilling influence of the world, and the disheartening effect of unsuccessful pains, soon made us conversant with disappointment, and dispelled our sanguine expectation of a harvest proportioned to our industry.

 

But we must not stop there in the place of discouragement. On one hand, some will forge ahead in their own strength. Others will pull back and think they have left it to God. Both moves dishonour our calling. Like those who built the wall of Jerusalem in the time Nehemiah, we must carry both a sword and a trowel.

 

We must work heartily and must work in complete dependence:

 

Nothing therefore remains but to maintain the posture of resistance in dependence upon our wise Master-builder, and the Captain of our salvation—waiting for our rest, our crown, our home. Not indeed that we can complain of a dispensation, so obviously fraught with important blessings to our own souls, and subservient to the best ends of the Ministry.

The discouragement which we can so easily suffer teaches us to seek the Lord, the pain teaches dependence. Thus, rather than quit, discouragement must become a prod to further and more diligent work – but which in which like Christian on the Mount of Difficulty we surmount on hands and knees, ever moving, ever dependent.  Discouragement can be conquered only by faith and faith opens the way of the Lord.

 

It is the same as all the Christian life. Indeed, if the minister is to lead the congregation, he of all people must be the one most plainly dependent upon the Lord. We cannot teach others to walk by faith when we will only walk by sight.

 

The discipline of the cross is most needful to repress the over-weaning confidence of presumption; to establish an habitual dependence on the Divine promises; to prove the power of faith, the privileges of prayer, and the heavenly support of the word of God; and to furnish us with ” the tongue of the learned ;” that from our own experience of the difficulties and supports of the Christian warfare we “should know how,” after our Master’s example, “to speak a word in season to him that is weary.” Yet in our contact with Ministerial difficulty the enlivening views of faith are most important.

 

How then does one do this? First, we must recognize the true nature of our difficulty. Discouragement does not mean that we are wholly wrong and should quit. If we search our hearts and lives for obvious sin, and if we repent and keep our conscience clear, we must search elsewhere.  If it is not a matter of apparent sin, then let us see the trouble as built into the nature of ministry. The work is greater than our abilities – it is a supernatural task and must be seen as such.

 

Second, we must make use of all the stays which God has provided: We must take care that our own hearts are enlivened and warmed by the work of the Spirit. We must be much in private meditation, study and prayer. We must make use of the exhortation and encouragement of the congregation – too many pastors will isolate themselves and put themselves beyond all encouragement, exhortation, and rebuke. The elder must be the most humble, the most approachable, the most meek and most willing to receive rebuke of all the congregation. The danger of our position must make us most to desire all help of the Lord.

 

Third, we must not flinch or compromise the directives of the Lord. Many pastors have failed miserably in God’s work (even if their numbers or finances have flourished) by compromise to gain the approval of man. Paul speaks much of pleasing God versus pleasing human beings.

 

Fourth, we must seek our reward from our Savoir and be content with any manner of contrary pressure from the world. We must not be foolishly difficult. We cannot blame the effects of bad preaching on the Devil or the world. We must be diligent in all our work and seek to excel more in God’s call. But when we have done all, we must not quit because the work is hard.

 

Fifth, see the discouragement as the blessing it is: it is the good work of God to point us to greater dependence upon him.  If we would seek to be faithful, we must first exercise faith.

 

‘The sacred Ministry is not a state of idleness or of delight; but a holy warfare, in which there are always toils and fatigues to be endured. Whoever is not resolved courageously to maintain the interests of Jesus Christ, and to labour continually to enlarge his kingdom, is not fit for this warfare.’—Quesnel on I Tim. i. 18.

The Sacrifice of Love in Romans 12:1

10 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by in Fellowship, Ministry, Romans

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Romans 12 presents an interesting quandary for the modern, North American Christian. Verse one presents a command: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

That command receives further detail in the next verse: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

The diligent, serious Christians reads these verses and thinks, I must do something. Yet, as John Street (TMC, head of Biblical Counseling department), explained once, Probably every sermon you have ever heard on this passage is wrong. Not wrong in the sense that it is used to teach a dangerous heresy. Rather wrong in the sense that we miss an important aspect of the passage.

The default of far too many Christians is to read an individualism into the passage which Paul never intended. We read the command “present your bodies as a living sacrifice” and think I, personally and independently, must do something. But consider the matter carefully: Bodies is plural, but the sacrifice is singular. All of you are presenting one sacrifice.

Consider the movement of the passage: Paul commands a living sacrifice. He then explains that we must live differently from the terms of culture; rather, our mind must be transformed. We not think of ourselves more highly than we ought. Why? Because all the individual believers make up one body:

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Something rather interesting happens at this point: the next several verses do not contain a finite verb. A general rule of Greek grammar is that a sentence has a finite verb which is the main verb and other verbs which are either participles or infinitives. You could think of this as a main idea with the other verbs as related ideas hanging on the main idea. In fact, we have go to verse 14 and the word “bless” before we get a “normal” sentence.

It is typical to simply break this up into various sentences and infer a finite verb. For example, the translation handbook reads:

In Greek verses 6–8 form one sentence, and it is rather complex. It begins with a participle and there is no main verb in the entire sentence. Although a verb is not present in the Greek, the context makes it clear what verb is implicit: we are to use (RSV “let us use them”; NEB “must be exercised accordingly”).

However, as James Dunn (Word Commentary, Romans) explains, there is a different way to understand the structure which takes into account the actual grammar and the flow of Paul’s argument:

It is almost universally assumed that v 6 begins a new sentence (e.g., neb, Barrett, Michel, Käsemann), with the second halves of the subsequent phrases filled out with imperatival force—so particularly rsv: “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them” (the last four words having been added to the text). This forces the sense too much in one direction (a “somewhat harsh ellipse,” as SH recognize). The sentence reads more naturally as a continuation of the body imagery of vv 4–5 with the meaning of ἀλλήλων μέλη spelled out in terms of different charisms. The point then of the following phrases is that they are a description of the Christian congregation functioning as “one body in Christ” ….

Considered in this way, the nature of the spiritual sacrifice comes into view. The sacrifice is not longer a “me and Jesus” sacrifice of radical individualism (whether the song means precisely that is a different question), but is a sacrificing of oneself in love: this is a passage which introduces an extended discussion on Christian community (see, e.g., 1 Peter 1:21-22, sanctification and being “born again” bring about a radical transformation of brotherly love; Paul’s argument concerning the law is that love fulfills the law, Romans 13:10).

Gore explains that transformation sought by Paul is more than isolated holiness; it is a holiness, a transformation, a sacrifice which brings about a radical transformation of human life together:

And when St. Paul, justifying himself here, as before and later on, by the special divine favour which has made him the apostle of the Gentiles, proceeds to develop his exhortation, it appears that with him, as with St. James, the form in which ‘divine service’ shows itself must be love of the brethren. To be called into the body of Christ—the society which is bound into one by His life and spirit—is to be called to social service, that is, to live a community life, and to cultivate the virtues which make true community life possible and healthy. Of these the first is humility, which in this connexion means the viewing oneself in all things as one truly is, as a part of a whole. Of the faith by which the whole body lives, a share, but only a share, belongs to each member—a certain measure of faith—and he must not strain beyond it. But he is diligently to make the best of his faculty, and do the work for which his special gift qualifies him, in due subordination to the welfare of the whole whether it be inspired preaching, or ordinary teaching, or the distribution of alms, or presidency, or some other form of helping others which is his special function. Besides humility there are other virtues which make the life of a community healthy and happy, and St. Paul enumerates them, as they occur to his mind, in no defined order or completeness. There must be sincerity in love, that is in considering and seeking the real interest of others; there must be the righteous severity which keeps the moral atmosphere free from taint; there must be tenderness of feeling, which makes the community a real family of brothers; and an absence of all self-assertion, or desire for personal prominence; and thorough industry; and spiritual zeal; and devotion to God’s service; and the cheerfulness which Christian hope inspires; and the ready endurance of affliction; and close application to prayer; and a love for giving whenever fellow Christians need; and an eagerness to entertain them when they are travelling—for ‘the community’ embraces, not one church only, but ‘all the churches.’

Nay in a wider sense the community extends itself to all mankind, even those who persecute them.

In short, the spiritual sacrifice is a sacrifice of myself in love of God which leads to love of neighbor.

Volume 2 of the commentary on St. Paul’s
Epistle to the Romans, A Practical Exposition

By Charles Gore, D.D.
Lord Bishop of Worcester
Chaplain to His Majesty the King

Thirteen Diagnostic Tests for Soul Idolatry.4

06 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, David Clarkson, Puritan

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10. Delight: Delight is the heart of one in rapturous worship – it is a transcendent joy. And thus, the object which brings on delight is that which is our God. For some it may be comfort, or pleasure, or control, or entertainment, or sex, or drugs, or music, or power, or adulation of others, or success, or food.

 

When you sit and think, What would give me the greatest delight? That which comes to your mind is your God.

 

This is not a speculative venture: look carefully, run through member and think of moments of delight: does God ever come into your heart as the object of delight? What delight tempts you first and most? You do delight in your God.

 

On this point, the counsel of Thomas Brooks is most astute. If you delight in anything other than God, consider:

 

Look on sin with that eye [with] which within a few hours we shall see it. Ah, souls! when you shall lie upon a dying bed, and stand before a judgment-seat, sin shall be unmasked, and its dress and robes shall then be taken off, and then it shall appear more vile, filthy, and terrible than hell itself; then, that which formerly appeared most sweet will appear most bitter, and that which appeared most beautiful will appear most ugly, and that which appeared most delightful will then appear most dreadful to the soul.1 Ah, the shame, the pain, the gall, the bitterness, the horror, the hell that the sight of sin, when its dress is taken off, will raise in poor souls! Sin will surely prove evil and bitter to the soul when its robes are taken off. A man may have the stone who feels no fit of it. Conscience will work at last, though for the present one may feel no fit of accusation. Laban shewed himself at parting. Sin will be bitterness in the latter end, when it shall appear to the soul in its own filthy nature. The devil deals with men as the panther doth with beasts; he hides his deformed head till his sweet scent hath drawn them into his danger. Till we have sinned, Satan is a parasite; when we have sinned, he is a tyrant. O souls! the day is at hand when the devil will pull off the paint and garnish that he hath put upon sin, and present that monster, sin, in such a monstrous shape to your souls, that will cause your thoughts to be troubled, your countenance to be changed, the joints of your loins to be loosed, and your knees to be dashed one against another, and your hearts to be so terrified, that you will be ready, with Ahithophel and Judas, to strangle and hang your bodies on earth, and your souls in hell, if the Lord hath not more mercy on you than he had on them. Oh! therefore, look upon sin now as you must look upon it to all eternity, and as God, conscience, and Satan will present it to you another day!

 

Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 1, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 17.

 

That in which you delight is your God. Pray that you God be no idol and thus be the tyrant to accuse you at the Judgment.

 

11. Zeal: Where do you place your effort? Are you lukewarm toward God? Are you  weak in meditation and prayer but zealous at “self-improvement”? Are you careless in love, forgiveness, patience, and yet zealous for your own reputation? Zeal is a mark of worship. The one who knows & loves God, that one is zealous for God. You will be zealous in the cause of something.

 

Do not ask this question abstractly, but consider it factually. Look at your life – take the last year. Where and when have you expended zeal? That object which pulled forth your zeal is your God.

 

12. Gratitude, thankfulness: For what, to what, to whom are you most painfully thankful? Where does your gratitude aim – for thankfulness will always find out one’s true God.

 

Consider this passage in Hosea: the children of Israel were thankful to Baal for their plenty – and not to the Lord. Thus, the Lord charges them with idolatry on the basis of their gratitude:

5 For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ 6 Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’ 8 And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. 9 Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. Hosea 2:5–9 (ESV)

 

God strips Nebuchadnezzar of his sanity when he thanked himself:

 

29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.

Daniel 4:29–33 (ESV)

 

In Romans 1 Paul says that those who were not thankful to God are turned over idolatry:

 

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Romans 1:21–23 (ESV)

 

Who or what do you truly believe has given you good? To whom are you thankful? There is your God.

 

13. Where do you spend your efforts? Take a measure of your time. Take out a calendar and mark off your days and hours. What receives your industry? For whom do you work?

 

Let us think more deeply and peer into the heart: When you do the work, whom do you seek to please? You may quickly say God, but is that so?

 

When you work diligently and no one thanks you – or even worse, you must suffer some pain for your efforts, have you been cheated? Are you angry? Your reward from God is safe and cannot be lost merely because a man or woman treats you poorly. Indeed, it is often the opposite for the believer (Matt. 5:10-12).

 

If you are dark and angry, then you have not worked for God but for human approval? You have seen your god.

 

(Adapted from David Clarkson’s sermon, “Soul Idolatry Excludes Men Out of Heaven”).

Part One can be found here:

https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/thirteen-diagnostic-tests-for-soul-idolatry-1/

Part Two can be found here:

https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/thirteen-diagnostic-tests-for-soul-idolatry-2/

Part Three can be found here:

https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/thirteen-diagnostic-tests-for-soul-idolatry-3/

Thirteen Diagnostic Tests for Soul Idolatry.3

05 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, David Clarkson, Hope, Puritan, Thomas Watson

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7. Fear: That we fear is our God; for fear is in the heart of worship. Thus, Scripture often terms worship to be “fear” of the Lord (Matt. 4:10; Deut. 6:13). In Isaiah 51:12-13 God equates fear of “who dies” with forgetting the Lord.  That which we fear most is our God.

 

Thomas Watson in The Great Gain of Godliness explains the rightful fear of the Lord:

 

[It] is a divine fear, which is the reverencing and adoring of God’s holiness, and the setting of ourselves always under his sacred inspection. The infinite distance between God and us causes this fear.

 

God is so breat that the Christian is afraid of displeasing him, and so good that he is afraid of losing him.

 

This is not to be “afraid of God”, because a godly fear is mixed with love, faith, prudence (caution), hope, diligence (in the things of God).

 

That which we fear we make our greatest concern. If we first fear man, then man’s judgment is the basis of justification – we bring ourselves into judgment before that which we fear.

 

This is especially a deadly matter, because when we fail to fear God we cannot help but sin against him. That thing we fear other than God, that god which is no God, will lead us surely. Thus, the fearful and cowardly are reckoned among the idolaters (Rev. 21:8).

 

8. Hope: That object of our hope is our God – it is the place to which we journey and subject our life. A drowning man thinks of nothing but the air – the place of the air is his hope and all his life he directs to getting air.

 

The Christian’s hope must be solely in the Lord Jesus Christ:

 

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:13 (ESV)

 

God, himself is our hope and joy:

 

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)

 

Just as saving faith must entail trust so it must entail hope. Therefore, Jesus is called our “hope” (1 Tim. 1:1). This is the effect of Christ:

 

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 (ESV)

 

There are many who hope for “heaven”, by which them the fulfilling of their desire for the creature. They think heaven to be a place of all their current delight – when heaven (and better still, the New Heavens and the New Earth) are a place of love and joy in our Savior.

There is a subtle danger in our hope: For one can learn to hope in her own prayers, and obedience, and service. In so doing, salvation is no longer the gift of a God who justifies the ungodly, but rather the merit of my efforts. If we will hope in God, then we must hope in him alone.

 

That upon which we fix our immovable hope, that is our God – and thus is often an idol.

 

9. Desire: Anything we desire as much as or more than a desire to enjoy God – that is our god.  David’s desire was for the Lord:

 

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4 (ESV)

 

When the Sons of Korah despair, they desire to appear before God:

 

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Psalm 42:1–2 (ESV)

 

When you fall into a crushing hole of sorrow and despair, what do you desire – what do you think or feel could lift the weight? That which you desire in your joy – and that which you desire in your depression, that is your God:

 

1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me! 2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! 4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Psalm 43 (ESV)

Part One can be found here:

https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/thirteen-diagnostic-tests-for-soul-idolatry-1/

Part Two can be found here:

https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/thirteen-diagnostic-tests-for-soul-idolatry-2/

Thirteen Diagnostic Tests for Soul Idolatry.2

04 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, David Clarkson, Puritan, Thomas Watson

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4. Resolution: That which is our aim – that thing for which we resolve to set our efforts is what we worship as God. We can see this in three ways.

 

First, we can consider the degree of our resolve: When we consider the degree of our resolve toward God and compare that with the degree of our resolve toward creature – be it anything – that which gains your most intense resolve is your God.  What promise will you not break? Which end will you not miss?

 

Second, do you resolve for things in this world without condition (our job, a relationship, a material good) and yet put limitations upon our resolution toward God? That which has no condition is our god or God.

 

Third, if we must have something of the world now – but leave our resolution for God for the future – then that which has our resolution now is our God. If we think, the world can have my morning and God have my deathbed conversion, then God is not your God.

 

5. Love: That which we must love is our God.  Love is the essential act of soul worship. God unquestionably demands the place of the highest and greatest love – he claims the place of that which we must love:

 

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5 (ESV)

 

 

Jesus called this the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37). Other things may be loved, but God must be loved first:

He loves You too little who loves anything together with you, which he loves not for Your sake.

 – Augustine

 

John lays all sins as contrary to the love of the Father:

 

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15–17 (ESV)

 

Those that love pleasure have pleasure as a god (2 Tim. 3:4). Those that love their appetites have their belly as a god (Phil. 3:19). God even demands place before our dearest human relatives (Matt. 10:37; Luke 14:26).

 

6. Trust: That which we trust most is our God. Trust, a settled dependence upon God and God alone is at the heart of worship and faith. Faith necessarily entails trust. Thus, in Proverbs 3:5, we are instructed to wholly trust God:

 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 (ESV)

 

Do you trust in your riches – your ability to make money or the money you have (or dream you will have)? Then that is your god. Do you trust in friends – or the ability to make friends? Then such is your god. Yet the LORD is the rightful object of our trust:

 

8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. Psalm 118:8–9 (ESV)

 

To trust in something other than the LORD is to make that an idol and seek God’s curse:

 

5 Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:5–10 (ESV)

 

Trust in the creature is always idolatrous.

Part one is found here:

https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/thirteen-diagnostic-tests-for-soul-idolatry-1/

Thirteen Diagnostic Tests for Soul Idolatry.1

31 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, David Clarkson, Discipleship, Puritan

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Thirteen Diagnostic Tests for Heart Idolatry:

1. Esteem: God calls us to esteem his name:

Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.

Malachi 3:16. Now, esteem alone does not constitute idolatry; for we should rightly esteem those who labor most diligently for Christ’s Kingdom (1 Thess. 5:12-13). Rather, that we we must highly esteem is our God.

Only one object can be held held in highest esteem. Thus, we each must ask ourself: What do I most highly esteem? What do I count as most honorable, most desirable, most excellent, most valuable? For the very act of counting some object as most valuable is to make God somehow less valuable.

In this place, special mention must be given to self: Our heart seeks its own. By nature, we esteem ourself, our hope, our dream, our desires, our honor, in the first place. Indeed, we consider it a positive evil to prohibit the self’s desire as the standard of all good.

Our culture in particular creates idols after this manner. The moral value of thing, whether it is good or evil lies in subjective human estimation. Morality is relative, not because we have no standard. Rather, the standard exists in the personal valuation. Thus, the public moral standard is to protect the right of personal valuation. I cannot condemn any moral decision other than to call someone else’s valuation wrong.

How do I test for estimation? Given a choice between X & Y, which do I choose? Which do I think best? We must measure this against our actual actions, because we often & easily say we esteem X when our practice shows that we esteem Y. We must look to our actual conduct, because sin by its nature deceives.

2. Mindfulness: God calls us to mind him:

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; Ecclesiastes 12:1

11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.

12 I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. 13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? 14 You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. Psalm 77:11-14.

What gets your attention? Look to your thoughts: When you have idle moments, what do you first consider? When you wake & sleep, what first captures your heart?

This requires great self-consciousness. Our thoughts and intentions (Heb. 4:12), may be disclosed in our conduct, our choice of words. But by their nature, our thoughts and intentions cannot be seen by others unless we bring them forth.

Here the Scripture brings a knife:

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. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Heb. 4:12-13.

When we read the Scripture; when hear the Scripture preached, how do we respond? The Holy Spirit uses the Scripture to uncover and display the seemingly hidden thoughts and intentions. We realize that we cannot keep our heart secret from God. Romans 8:27 calls the Spirit, “he who searches hearts.”

Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD;
how much more the hearts of the children of man! Proverbs 15:11

That which consider most, that we makes up the meat of meditation, that we captures our heart’s attention — that is our God:

5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, 6 when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; Psalms 63:5-6

3. Intention: The thing we make our chief aim, our intention – that thing is our God. It is here we can misuse God and make our seemingly devoted actions sin. It as on this ground that Jesus rebuked the crowd:

26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” John 6:26-27

They sought Jesus, but only as a means. They did not search for him for himself; they sought for him the way one would search for a door: to go through for something better. They sought him to fill their true god, their bellies:

18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. Philippians 3:18-19

When we intend any other end than to obtain Christ, we have made an idol:

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 3:13-15.

It is at this very point that the reward offered to those believe is mistaken. No true follower of Christ desire heaven or the new creation for itself; rather, such things are sought because that is where we may see our Lord.

Look to intention, consider your goals. Note this carefully. The sin of the people who came to Jesus was not hunger: Jesus had just fed. Jesus acknowledges food and clothing as rightful and needful. The sin lies in seeking such things first and most:

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:31-33

(Adapted from David Clarkson’s sermon, “Soul Idolatry Excludes Men Out of Heaven”).

Edward Taylor: What Feast is This.1

28 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in Edward Taylor, Isaiah, Lord's Supper, Meditation, Puritan

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What Feast is This?

Isaiah 25 is a poem of praise to God for reversing the power of sin and death. The power of wicked who use violence to crush the poor and powerless will be undone and also the power of death which animates the oppression will itself be destroyed (the poem is written in a “prophetic perfect” — that is, it represents a future state, but speaks of it in past time: it is a thing so sure as to be counted complete before it happens in time).

In place of death, God will raise a feast; rather than a funeral, there will be a marriage celebration:

6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7 And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

This image of a feast replacing death is used by Jesus to speak of the coming world (Matthew 8:11 & 25:1-13). The Bible ends with the invitation to a marriage feast (Revelation 19:9). Thus, the Bible opens (Genesis 2:24) and closes with a marriage. Death has intervened (Genesis 3), but God has overcome death in the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Taylor takes this imagery of the feast in celebration of death being overcome and uses it to contemplate the Lord’s Supper (communion):

A Deity of Love incorporate
My Lord, lies in thy flesh, in dishes stable
Ten thousand times more rich than golden plate
In golden service on thy table,
To feast thy people with. What feast is this!
Where richest love lies cooked in e’ry dish?

Deity of love incorporate: The Son of God incarnate: John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. John 3:16, “For God so love the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
1 John 4:9-10: 9 “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Dishes stable/Where richest love lies cooked in e’ry dish: This is a reference to the communion service (the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper):

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

In short, Taylor sees himself before the Lord’s Table (another name for communion), where the feast is the Lord whose death overcomes death. By means this meditation, he is seeking to see “spiritually” (if you will) — to see the truth of thing, itself; and bring his heart to a state to relish it rightly.

Stable/table: The second lines contains 11 syllables, the fourth, 9.

My Lord, lies in thy flesh: the accent should fall on “lies” & “flesh” -“–`-`-`-

The main art in the manner of spiritual living

21 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Meditation, Psalms, Quotations

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The main art in the manner of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, you have to preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul, “Why art thou cast down?” — what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: “Hope thou in God” — instead of muttering in this depressed unhappy way. And you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: “I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression, “General Consideration”