John Donne on distractions

I have the wonderful privilege of preaching this morning at my church, Church In The Oaks, while sharing the pulpit with good friend Rich Cherry. We are preaching on 2 Timothy 2:1-9 which is as follows:

    You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

    Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!

As I discuss the analogy of a soldier refraining from entanglement and focusing on pleasing his commander, I'll share this excerpt from John Donne as it occurred in his sermon entitled The Divided Mind.

I throw myself down in my chamber, and I call in, and invite God, and his angels thither, and when they are there, I neglect God and his angels, for the noise of a fly, for the rattling of a coach, for the whining of a door; I talk on, in the same posture of praying; eyes lifted up; knees bowed down; as though I prayed to God; and, if God, or his angels should ask me, when I thought last of God in that prayer, I cannot tell: sometimes I find that I had forgot what I was about, but when I began to forget it, I cannot tell. A memory of yesterday's pleasures, a fear of tomorrow's dangers, a straw under my knee, a noise in mine ear, a light in mine eye, an anything, a nothing, a fancy, a chimera in my brain, troubles me in my prayer.

We are easily distracted; our attention and devotion is diverted and side-tracked by the momentous and the mundane. But, perseverance in the midst of faith-confirming suffering necessitates a single-minded beholding of the gospel, of the cross, of Christ, of God. Pray with us that God would help us keep him as proverbial apple of our eye.

Tough teaching on sovereign grace

Therefore, while we all labour naturally under the same disease, those only recover health to whom the Lord is pleased to put forth his healing hand. The others whom, in just judgement, he passes over, pine and rot away till they are consumed. And this is the only reason why some persevere to the end, and others, after beginning their course, fall away. Perseverance is the gift of God, which he does not lavish promiscuously on all, but imparts to whom he pleases. If it is asked how the difference arises - why some steadily persevere, and others prove deficient in steadfastness, we can give no other reason than that the Lord, by his mighty power, strengthens and sustains the former, so that they perish not, while he does not furnish the same assistance to the latter, but leaves them to be monuments of instability. (Institutes 2.5.3)

These are some tough words by Calvin. I still cringe when I read words in the same vein as this teaching. Two things help me when I contemplate God's sovereignty in our salvation.

The first is that I only have one answer to the question "Do you believe that God is meticulously sovereign over all?" and that answer is a resounding YES. So be it.

Secondly, I remind myself that God's sovereignty does not negate human responsibility; all who  reject God's love in Christ do so willingly and culpably.

That leaves me with a sense of the amazing mercy and grace of God in my life.

Reading the Classics with Challies - Redemption Accomplished and Applied

Perseverance of the Saints

When I was a quasi-Arminian-semi-Pelagian, the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, or 'once saved always saved' as I referred to it, caused me no small amount of frustration. The clear Biblical teaching and simple logic that evidenced this great truth, and is an integral part of Murray's treatment of the order of salvation, was foreign to my way of thinking. As I look back on my ignorance, I can only be thankful that the Spirit of God helped me to see what I know consider the clearly obvious truth.

As with the rest of the book, Murray is concise and thorough in explaining and expounding this controversial doctrine. He begins like this: " In order to place the doctrine of perseverance in proper light we need to know what it is not. It does not mean that every one who professes faith in Christ and who is accepted as a believer in fellowship of the saints is secure for eternity and may entertain the assurance of eternal salvation." ((Murray, John. Redemption Accomplished and Applied. Boston: Wm. B. Eerdmans Company, 1984) The puritans would use an interesting term for those who professed Christ but were not regenerate; professors! In today's lingo we might call them 'posers'. Claiming one is a Christian and attending church does not assure on of eternal security. In fact, there is but crucial test according to Murray; "The crucial test of true faith is endurance to the end, abiding in Christ, and continuance in his word." (152)

According to Murray, this particular emphasis of Scripture should indicate two things: first, it provides one with the meaning of falling away, of apostasy; second it helps us appreciate the heights to which temporary faith may carry some. As to apostasy, the author writes, "It is possible to give all the outward signs of faith in Christ and obedience to him, to witness for a time a good confession and show great zeal for Christ and his kingdom and then lose all interest and become indifferent, if not hostile, to the claims of Christ and of his kingdom." (152)

Murray goes on to positively affirm what perseverance is. "The doctrine of perseverance is the doctrine that believers persevere; it cannot be too strongly stressed that it is the perseverance of the saints. And that means that the saints, those united to Christ by the effectual call of the Father and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, will persevere unto the end. If they persevere, they endure, they continue. " (154) This should be a clarion wake up call to all believers, for the saints must "recognize that we may entertain the faith of our security in Christ only as we persevere in faith and holiness to the end." (155)

And though the doctrine comes with warnings, it also comes with great assurances: "The guarantee of infallible preservation is that the persons given to the Son are in the Son's hand and though given to the Son they are still mysteriously in the Father's hand. From the hand of neither can anyone snatch them. This is the heritage of those given by the Father." (160)

Three Impossibilities from John 6

Image by Tony Reinke - www.spurgeon.wordpress.com

Sam Storms spends several chapter in his book Chosen for Life discussing sections of Scripture relevant to divine election. You can see here how he engages different sections of the New Testament:

7. Unconditional Election (1): The Gospels and Acts
8. Unconditional Election (2): The Epistles and Revelation
9. Unconditional Election (3): Romans 9:1-13
10. Unconditional Election (4): Romans 9:14-23
11. Unconditional Election (5): Romans 9:14-23

In Chapter 7 the author considers a segment of The Gospel of John; John 6:37-40, 44, 65.

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day...No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day...And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

Storms draws out 3 impossibilities from these verses:

1. It is "morally and spiritually impossible for a person to come to Christ apart from the "drawing" of that person by God the Father...Their not coming to Christ is due to their moral and spiritual refusal to do so, a refusal in which they willingly and freely delight."
2. It is "impossible for someone the Father "draws" not to come to him...all the elect will come to faith in Christ. God's drawing of them is efficacious."
3. When a person whom the Father has drawn comes it is "impossible for him or her to be cast out...Their life in Christ is eternal and irrevocable because that is the will of the Father, a will or a purpose that the whole of Christ's person and work was designed to secure."

(Chosen for Life, 92-4, emphasis mine)

Storms has shown how the 'God of the Possible' is also the 'God of the Impossible'; and that is a great thing!

Passion and Perseverance

I have an affinity for these two virtues. And by affinity, I'm not suggesting I'm particularly developed in either two. But I think about them a lot and I speak to people about them a lot. I am currently reading J. P. Moreland's book called Love Your God With All Your Mind. Moreland touches upon these virtues in the following quote:

The Christian thinker should be a passionate person filled with ardor or zeal [both are synonymous with passion] - zeal for God and truth. The zeal expresses itself in a passion to know and to do the truth and to live a religiously reasonable form of life. It also helps make possible the vigilance [perseverance] necessary to stick to a life of study when it is not convenient or not particularly valued by those around you...An impatient generation looking for instant solutions and quick answers will be a generation of shallow slogans. (109-10)

I also came across these two virtues in a recent blog post by Ray Ortlund Jr at his blog Christ Is Deeper Still:

Zeal and resolve

The righteous are bold as a lion. Proverbs 28:1

"Two things urgently needed in ministers, if they would attempt great advances for the kingdom of Christ, are zeal and resolve. Their influence and power for impact are greater than we think. A man of ordinary abilities will accomplish more with zeal and resolve than a man ten times more gifted without zeal and resolve. . . . Men who are possessed by these qualities commonly carry the day in almost all affairs. Most of the great things that have been done in the world, the great revolutions that have been accomplished in the kingdoms and empires of the earth, have been primarily owing to zeal and resolve. The very appearance of a intensely engaged spirit, together with a fearless courage and unyielding resolve, in any person that has undertaken leadership in any human affair goes a long way toward accomplishing the intended outcome. . . . When people see a high degree of zeal and resolve in a person, it awes them and has a commanding influence upon them. . . . But while we are cold and heartless and only go on in a dull manner, in an old formal round, we will never accomplish anything great. Our efforts, when they display such coldness and irresolution, will not even make people think of yielding. . . . The appearance of such indifference and cowardice does, as it were, call for and provoke opposition. Our misery is lack of zeal and courage."

Jonathan Edwards, "Thoughts on the Revival," in Works, I:424, paraphrased.

I see 'zeal and resolve' as yet another facet of passion and perseverance. I think perseverance, resolve, persistence, or vigilance are all a product of both God's Spirit at works and us and our co-operation with Him in sanctification. For our part, I believe our choice to persevere is informed by our mind and our emotions. Generally, I think we know that persisting is the right thing to do. But our emotions are not always 'on board' with that decision. And that is where passion comes in.

Being passionate, having zeal and ardor, is the emotional stance that will help us to persevere. Passion is basically strength of emotion and zeal is tireless devotion. When we are passionate our emotional state is one that cries "keep on keeping on".

Keep your eyes open for another post describing how to maintain passion in your life.