Evidence of God in creation is not enough to save us

From John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion:

Bright, however, as is the manifestation which God gives both of himself and his immortal kingdom in the mirror of his works, so great is our stupidity, so dull are we in regard to these bright manifestations, that we derive no benefit from them. For in regard to the fabric and admirable arrangement of the universe, how few of us are there who, in lifting our eyes to the heavens, or looking abroad on the various regions of the earth, ever think of the Creator? Do we not rather overlook Him, and sluggishly content ourselves with a view of his works? (1.5.11)

Creation does shine forth God's glory. But that was, ultimately, of no value to us. Knowledge of God's existence is also a knowledge of our separation from him, perhaps even a knowledge of our shared enmity towards each other. With Him being all-powerful and holy, we find ourselves in a difficult spot.

But, we have a Saviour who is enough. A Redeemer whose life, death, and resurrection is 'profitable' to us. He takes us beyond the knowledge of God's existence to a place of being loved by God, and thereby being able to love Him back.

The great duty

The great duty is love to God with our whole heart,

and not such a contemplative love as philosophers may have to the object of sciences, which they are concerned in no further than to please their fancies in the knowledge of them;

but a practical love,
by which we are willing that God should be absolute Lord and Governor of us and all the world,
to dispose of us and all others according to His will, as to our temporal and everlasting condition,
and that He should be the only portion and happiness of all those that are happy;

a love by which we like everything in Him as He is our Lord
- His justice as well as any other attribute -
without wishing or desiring that He were better than He is;

and by which we desire that His will may be done on us and all others,
whether prosperity or adversity,
life or death;

and by which we can heartily praise Him for all things,
and delight in our obedience to Him,
in doing His will,
though we suffer that which is ever so grievous to us,
even present death.

The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Walter Marshall, line breaks mine

Inward Pleasures

I am reading another book my soon to be father-in-law gave me: Matthew Henry's "The Pleasantness of a Religious Life. I watch sitcoms and see movies that retell the horrors that in-laws can be. I am thankful mine put solid books in my hands!

This booklet is amazing. Henry's basic premise is that the greatest pleasure we derive from our faith is that of our thought life. We live in a fallen sinful world, and on a daily basis, in the physical we encounter far more evil and suffering than righteousness and peace.

Henry argues that what it means to "set our minds on the things above" as Paul urges us to do in Colossians 3, is to take pleasure in contemplating the attributes and beauty of God in order to "energize us" as it were to live out our faith in a world full of difficulty.

Read the book. He articulates it so well!

“Tradesman that take no pleasure in their business, will not stick to it long, no more will those that take no pleasure in their religion; nor will any thing carry us through the outward difficulties of it, but the inward delights of it…”

The Scapel of God

A bit of Owen from The Essential Owen:

The Scalpel Of God

By thepuritans

God oftentimes, in his providential dispensations, meets with a man, and speaks particularly to the evil of his heart, as he did to Joseph’s brethren in their selling of him into Egypt. This makes the man reflect on his sin, and judge himself in particular for it. God makes it to be the voice of the danger, affliction, trouble, sickness that he is in or under. Sometimes in reading of the word God makes a man stay on something that cuts him to the heart, and shakes him as to his present condition. More frequently in the hearing of the word preached, his great ordinance for conviction, conversion, and edification, doth he meet with men. God often hews men by the sword of his word in that ordinance, strikes directly on their bosom-beloved lust, startles the sinner, makes him engage unto the mortification and relinquishment of the evil of his heart.

- John Owen -

from The Mortification of Sin in Believers, volume 6 of Works, page 49

Cause for contemplating mercy

From John Calvin as it appears in Institutes of the Christian Religion:

... how richly does he supply us with the means of contemplating his mercy when, as frequently happens, he continues to visit miserable sinners with unwearied kindness, until he subdues their depravity, and woos them back with more than a parent’s fondness?

Thoughts on Original Sin and Sanctification

Walter Marshall, in his classic work on sanctification entitled The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, addresses the doctrine of original sin writing, "We are all, by nature, void of all strength and ability to perform acceptably that holiness and righteousness which the law requires, and are dead in trespasses and sins, and children of wrath, by the sin of our first father, Adam, as the Scripture witnesses (Rom. 5:12, 15, 18, 19; Eph. 2: 1-3; Rom. 8:7, 8). This doctrine of original sin, which Protestants generally profess ... " (4). However, according to Marshall, we often fail to apply this doctrine properly, particularly when it comes to sanctification and our ability to be holy: "Men show themselves strangely forgetful, or hypocritical, in professing original sin in their prayers, catechisms and confessions of faith, and yet urging on themselves and others the practice of the law, without the consideration of any strengthening, enlivening means - as if there were no want of ability, but only of activity" (5).

Evidence of the knowledge of God

My guess is that we have all received a request for prayer from friends and acquaintances who either do not normally recognize God in their lives or who are generally anti-God in their sentiments. Either trials or tribulations often precipitate this request for prayer. For Calvin, this points towards their knowledge of God's existence, despite their indifference or hostility. Calvin writes,

Nay, we have still stronger evidence of the proposition for which I now contend—viz. that a sense of Deity is naturally engraven on the human heart, in the fact, that the very reprobate are forced to acknowledge it. When at their ease, they can jest about God, and talk pertly and loquaciously in disparagement of his power; but should despair, from any cause, overtake them, it will stimulate them to seek him, and dictate ejaculatory prayers, proving that they were not entirely ignorant of God, but had perversely suppressed feelings which ought to have been earlier manifested. (Institutes, 1.4.4)

The Cause Remix

Yesterday, we considered John Calvin's suggestion that God is the ultimate cause of all good. Today, I offer another quote, this time from Walter Marshall, advancing the same thought:

We are to love Him, not only better than other things, but singly, as only good, the fountain of all goodness; and to reject all fleshly and worldly enjoyments, even our own lives, as if we hated them, when they stand in competition with our enjoyment of Him, or our duty towards Him. (The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, 2)

These quotes are something we understand, but they are also something that we drift from. For me it is absolutely necessary to be reminded-to remind myself-of these truths. We are under a constant bombardment from every sort of media and the messages from these sources is constantly propagating ideas contrary to what we hold. We need to battle theses 'lofty thoughts' with truthful, edifying thoughts of our own.

The Cause

In order to apprehend God, Calvin suggests we need to believe that He ought to be honoured, but also that he is the fountain of every good. Calvin writes,

... we must be persuaded
not only that as he once formed the world,
so he sustains it by his boundless power,
governs it by his wisdom,
preserves it by his goodness,
in particular,
rules the human race with justice and Judgment,
bears with them in mercy,
shields them by his protection;
but also that not a particle of light, or wisdom, or justice, or power, or rectitude, or genuine truth, will anywhere be found, which does not flow from him, and of which he is not the cause ...
(Institutes 1.2.1, line breaks mine)

Strength and gray hairs

Reading the Bible this morning. I came across the following in Proverbs 20: The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair (Proverbs 20:29 ESV).

It got me to thinking about my own gray hairs. The general colour of my hair is still brown, but increasingly the gray hairs are successfully proselytizing the brown ones. It also got me to thinking about my strength. This past week I ventured into the weight room at the school where I teach. I had decided to lift some weights with the football team I coach. I threw some weights around, and could tell by the looks on their faces that they were a little surprised this 'old' guy could still push some poundage.

So here I am, caught somewhere between the young guys with their strength and the old guys with their gray hair; still strong enough to hold my own, and old enough to not be wet behind the ears. I'm closing in on forty and the dreaded mid-life crisis that comes with it! "Why the crisis?" I ask myself. This is a good age. An age where I have had some life experiences that mature an individual; marriage, work, kids. And an age when I could handle a lot of 20 and 30 year-olds if I needed to.

I'm at a good age to be of some use to the kingdom of our Lord with my hands, heart, and head.

So be it.

In longing and delighting

Yet, that you may not miss the mark for want of discerning it, take notice in few words that the holiness which I would bring you to is spiritual (Rom. 7:14). It consists not only in external works of piety and charity, but in the holy thoughts, imaginations and affections of the soul, and chiefly in love, from whence all other good works must flow, or else they are not acceptable to God; not only in refraining the execution of sinful lusts, but in longing and delighting to do the will of God and in a cheerful obedience to God, without repining, fretting, grudging at any duty, as if it were a grievous yoke and burden to you. - Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

Decorpulation

As a support pastor at my church (Youth pastor, assistant pastor, associate pastor -- depends on who you ask) I don't always get to choose the topics that I preach about. Usually our pastor (currently our interim pastor) comes up with a series and I have opportunity to plug in with one of the topics that works into that series. (An opportunity I am so very grateful for.)

I love preaching. I love the study that goes in to it. I love the reading. I love falling asleep trying to formulate the best way to verbally articulate what God has birthed in my heart. I love praying and studying to discover how the timeless truth of scripture can be applied to the 21st century. I love wrestling with God's word, and letting it transform me and then trying to bring people in to that process in a 45 minute verbal presentation as I try to point them to the text that so deeply affected me.

I love preaching.

If I could preach about anything this Sunday, it would be the topic I have been given. The topic I get to preach on this week: the church. Christ's bride.

I have spent my time in Matthew 18, 28, Acts 1-4, 8, Ephesians and 2 Timothy the past two weeks. I have been reading Why we Love the Church and listening to sermons by Kevin Deyoung, Pipes and CJ...

If decapitation is the removing of a head from the body, decorpulation is the removing of the body from the head. DeYoung argues that's the trend in modern Christianity... they want Jesus, but not the church. They love Christ, but dislike his bride. They want the head, but they want to do away with the body... scripturally, functionally, practically... that just doesn't happen.

So as these things bounce around in my head I thought I'd post a quote I will be using, it's Kevin Deyoung quoting and discussing John Stott's writing:

"I trust that none of my readers is that grotesque anomaly, an unchurched Christian. The New Testament knows nothing of such a person. For the church lies at the very centre of the eternal purpose of God."

From a historical perspective, the existence of unbaptized believers in Christ who are not under the authority of the church is not accepted as normative ecclesiology. The very word ekklesia means ‘public assembly’ and speaks to the necessity of our Christian commitment being made visible.

As the body of Christ, the church makes visible our invisible God. The Body of Christ takes up space on earth. The Body of Christ can only be a visible Body, or else it is not a Body at all.

Churchless Christianity makes about as much sense as a Christless church, and has just as much biblical warrant. John Stott’s assessment of evangelism in the book of Acts is right: "The Lord ‘didn’t add them to the church without saving them, and he didn’t save them without adding them to the church." Salvation and church membership went together; they still do.’

The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

In his introduction to Walter Marshall's classic on sanctification, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, Joel Beeke has some helpful; commentary on the book. Here are a few quotes I collected from the book's intro:

To believe on Christ rightly means to receive the proof of the Gospel and to come to the Christ of the gospel. To come to Christ rightly means to receive him as a free gift with ardent affection, trusting in him alone for salvation. Joel Beeke on Howard Marshall's beliefs.

... Where there is little difference between a Christian and non-Christian in what we think and believe, there will soon be little difference in how we live.

As long as Christ remains outside of us, all that He has suffered for the salvation of sinners is meaningless to us.

Gratitude

When I do my morning devotions, I usually write out the things I'm praying and thinking about. Occasionally, I scribble something down that is semi-intelligent and worth repeating. Here is a brief prayer of thanksgiving that I prayed yesterday morning:

Blessed be Your Name! I praise you because you are a God of hope; doing more than we ask or imagine; being the source of every good and perfect gift; working all things for our good; turning evil into blessing; completing the work you began until it ends; never giving us a rock or a snake; and restoring all things to You and in You.

Deeply affected

Concerning Scripture Calvin writes, "...so deeply will it affect you, so penetrate your heart, so fix itself in your very marrow, that, compared with its deep impression, such vigor as the orators and philosophers will nearly vanish. (Institutes 1.3.2)

Fascinating post on Genesis and creation

From Justin Taylor's blog:

It is sometimes claimed that the church has historically interpreted Genesis 1 as taking place in six twenty-four hour days, such that this is the “traditional” interpretation, with the rise of other interpretations as being solely due to scientific theories with naturalistic assumptions, especially those of Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century.

In light of this claim, it’s instructive to read the historical survey conducted by Robert Letham in his article, “‘In the Space of Six Days’: The Days of Creation from Origen to the Westminster Assembly,” Westminster Theological Journal 61 (1999): 147-74 [not available online].

Professor Letham writes, “This article focuses on how the six days of creation in Genesis 1 have been understood in exegetical history until the time of the Westminster Assembly [1640s]. . . . We will simply ask how the matter has been viewed in the past, for if it is as obvious as some make out we might expect a broad measure of agreement to exist.”

What follows are his summary points at the end of the article:

(1) Before the Westminster Assembly there were a variety of interpretations of Genesis 1 and its days. If the text of Genesis is so clear-cut why did the church down the centuries not see it that way? Does that not say something not only about the interpreters but also the text? Claims that a literal reading of the days of Genesis 1 is obvious fall down when the history of interpretation is taken into consideration.

(2) We will be wise to heed the warnings Augustine and Calvin give on the difficulty of interpreting this chapter, and so beware of dogmatic claims they themselves did not advance. Jerome pointed to the Jewish rabbis’ refusal to let anyone under thirty interpret it. Creation transcends our knowledge and experience. A heavy dose of medicine from Job 38:1ff is in order. As with any other passage, Genesis 1 must not be interpreted in isolation but in the context of the whole of Scripture.

(3) Until the mid-sixteenth century the interpreters we cited were all abreast of the philosophy and science of their day, and often made use of it in biblical interpretation. That we reject many of their scientific beliefs is because of our own scientific knowledge. That we place implicit faith in the laws of gravity is due to what we know scientifically, rather than from the Bible. So far I, for one, have found this reliable! Calvin allows and supports scientific work. He indicates Genesis is of a different literary genre than a science text book.

(4) The Reformed tradition of the sixteenth century interpreted creation theologically. The classic Reformed creeds consider it in the context of the doctrine of God, as an ex nihilo work of the Trinity. In so doing, they affirm their continuity with the historic teaching of the church. The question of the days of creation was not even a matter of discussion. It does not appear in theses for debate by students. Its absence is striking. It was never a matter of confessional significance.

(5) The Puritans until the time of the Westminster Assembly are significantly different from the historic church in their conspicuous lack of interest in creation in general and Genesis in particular. They never even attempted a serious theological interpretation of creation. Nor were they interested in interacting with contemporary science. At a time of such scientific and philosophical ferment this is astounding. Their interests had switched to the narrowly soteriological and ecclesiastical. Evidently, the focus of this article was not a matter of controversy for them.

You’ll have to track down the full article to see the historical homework behind these conclusions.

To be sure, none of this settles the issue—which ultimately must be settled by careful exegesis. But it is a helpful reminder for us not to assert or assume that the history of interpretation before Darwin was uniform.

From yesterday's sermon

I preached at my church this morning. The topic I was given was "The Work of the Holy Spirit". I focused on the Holy Spirit glorifying the Son as in John 16:12-15 as well as the Spirit's application of redemption and our union with Christ. Below are a few quotes I used:

Leon Morris: “The work of the spirit is Christocentric. He will draw attention not to himself, but to Christ. He will glorify Christ.”

D. A. Carson: “Just as the Son by his ministry on earth brought glory to his Father, so the Paraclete by his ministry brings glory to Jesus: that is his central aim.”

John Calvin on union - “... we must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us ... he unites himself to us by the spirit alone.”

John Murray on union: “what is the nature of our union with Christ? ... It is Spiritual ... “Spiritual” in the New Testament refers to that which is of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual man is the person who is indwelt and controlled by the Holy Spirit and a spiritual state of mind is a state of mind that is produced and maintained by the Holy Spirit. Hence ... the bond of this union is the Holy Spirit himself.”

More from D. Ortlund

Another great post a Strawberry Rhubarb Theology:

Break Them and Smash Them and Humble Them

Lloyd-Jones, preaching on Mark 9:29 ('And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer"'):

We must become utterly and absolutely convinced of our need.

We must cease to have so much confidence in ourselves, and in all our methods and organizations, and in all our slickness.

We have got to realize that we must be filled with God's Spirit. And we must be equally certain that God can fill us with his Spirit.

We have got to realise that however great 'this kind' is, the power of God is infinitely greater, that what we need is not more knowledge, more understanding, more apologetics . . . no, we need a power that can enter into the souls of men and break them and smash them and humble them and then make them anew.

And that is the power of the living God. And we must be confident that God has this power as much today as he had one hundred years ago, and two hundred years ago, and so we must begin to seek the power and to pray for it. We must begin to plead and yearn for it. 'This kind' needs prayer.

--Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Revival (Crossway, 1987), 19

Dane Ortlund on Gospel-centeredness and the Spirit

A very interesting post by Dane Ortlund:

Does Gospel-Centeredness Neglect the Spirit?

That's a criticism I hear from time to time. (By 'gospel-centered' I have in mind an approach to the Christian life that views the gospel of grace--perhaps crystallized best in 1 Cor 15:3-5--as not only the gateway into the Christian life but also the pathway of the Christian life.)

Isn't this whole way of thinking, the objection goes, focusing on the second Person of the Trinity to the neglect of the third? The objective to the neglect of the subjective? While taking nothing away from the gospel--what magnificent grace it is!--shouldn't we describe the 'center' of Christian growth, progressive sanctification, as the Holy Spirit?

Good questions!

Three responses--a tiny one, a small one, and a big one.

1. Tiny response

Yes, it is possible to neglect the Spirit.

2. Small Response

There is an appropriate multiperspectivalism to contemplating the 'center' of growth in godliness.

From one perspective the Spirit is indeed the center. From another perspective the gospel is the center. To use categories from historical theology, the Spirit is the center effectually. Yet the gospel is the center instrumentally.

To those who snort in response to such flabby/everybody-wins/postmodern 'multiperspectivalism,' may I ask a question--what is the center of the human body?

Answer: it depends on the perspective. From the perspective of geometry, somewhere around the belly button. From the perspective of neuroscience, the brain. From the perspective of biblical psychology, the heart. All are right. Complex realities such as the human body--or spiritual growth--will be greatly impoverished if only one 'center' is allowed, from only one perspective (along these lines see Vern Poythress' Symphonic Theology or John Frame's Doctrine of the Knowledge of God). This is not only a defense that gospel-centeredness is compatible with Spirit-sensitivity, but also a rebuke to some of us who have ourselves viewed growth monoperspectivally—only from the perspective of gospel instrumentality. I think I have fallen into this in the past.

In brief: the answer to the objection, 'The Spirit, not the gospel, is the center of sanctification!' is: 'Yes--if we're talking about effectual empowering.'

2. Big response

The main way I would respond to someone who thinks that self-consciously centering on the gospel in sanctification neglects the Spirit is to ask: What does the Spirit do?

'Well,' you say, 'the Spirit animates us, impels us, transforms us.'

Yes and amen. And how does the Spirit do that?

The New Testament's answer is: By giving us eyes to see the beauty of Christ. By opening our eyes to the wonder of the gospel. The work of the third Person is to rivet our eyes, in increasingly joyful astonishment, on the second Person.

Several passages teach this. I'll briefly cite three and reference a few more.

1. Throughout John 14-16, Jesus comforts the disciples by teaching them, among other things, that it is good for them that he go away, so that the Spirit can come. And how does Jesus describe the work of the Spirit? The Spirit 'will bear witness about' Jesus (John 15:26). The Spirit 'will glorify' Jesus (16:13-14). The third Person spotlights the Second Person. The Spirit’s animating impulse is not a raw, faceless power. The subjective work of the Spirit works in tandem with the objective work of Christ.

2. The most startling passage to me is 1 Cor 2:12. 'We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.' Why do we receive the Spirit? In order that (hina) we might grasp what we have freely received--the phrase 'freely given' is one Greek word, the verb form of the noun 'grace.' The Spirit opens our eyes to see what we have been ‘graced’ with. And note further the strongly Christocentric context of 1 Cor 2, both before and after v. 12--the Spirit opens our eyes to see what we have been graced with in Christ.

3. The seeing-metaphor I'm using in this post is explicitly used by Paul in 2 Cor 3, where he speaks of 'beholding the glory of the Lord' (Lord = the exalted Lord Jesus--note also 4:3-6) as what transforms believers. And all this 'comes from the Lord who is the Spirit' (not a conflation of Christ and the Spirit, but simply a most intimate association--cf. Rom 8:9-11). In brief: the Spirit effectually causes us to behold Christ in such a way that transforms us.

I'll leave the textual evidence at that, though there are other texts that reinforce the notion that one major role of the Spirit is to rivet our eyes on the gospel of what Christ has done in our place. Note, for example, Gal 5:4-5; Eph 5:18-20; Phil 3:3; 1 John 4:2-3; 1 John 5:6; maybe also Rom 8:2-4.

It would be horrid to reduce the total work of the Spirit solely to opening our eyes more and more to the gospel. Even within the specific realm of sanctification, another major strand of NT teaching is the new impulses toward godliness that the indwelling Spirit gives believers. But as the Spirit relates to the role of the gospel in progressive sanctification, I believe the criticism that gospel-centeredness neglects the Spirit is wrongheaded and unbiblical.

Conclusion

In a single sentence, here’s what I am trying to communicate: Yes, the Spirit is the effectual cause of transformation, and a (the?) major way the Spirit transforms us is by opening our eyes more and more to the wonder of the gospel of grace. The Spirit applies what the Son accomplished. Yet in thinking of the Spirit 'applying' salvation we should think not only of how the Spirit joins us to Christ but also how he makes subjectively real to us what is objectively true of us by virtue of that participation in Christ’s death and resurrection. (You don’t focus on your brain when you look at your wife and ponder how beautiful she is. You focus on her, and enjoy her. Your brain is what effectually causes that enjoyment. But what would you say to someone who told you you’re neglecting your brain by being so wife-centered? You’d say—if it weren’t for my brain, I would not be able to enjoy my wife at all. Praise God for a brain. But I don’t look at my brain; I look with my brain. Yes, yes, in lots of ways the analogy breaks down, but I think you get the point.)

O to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. In working slowly through Lloyd-Jones on revival, just last night I read a sermon on what it means to live in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. I want that. Take my degrees, I'd rather have 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.

But Christian growth in holiness is not a see-saw, one side representing the Spirit and the other side the gospel, such that if we put weight on one side then the other must necessarily go down in neglect. No, the two sides of the see-saw rise and fall together. Both or neither. To the degree that we are Spirit-filled, to that degree we will be gospel-centered. And to the degree that we are gospel-centered, to that degree we will walk in the power of the Spirit.

Devotionals

This year I have really come to appreciate devotionals. For a few months I read Morning by Morning, a daily devotional by Charles Spurgeon, as well as Morning Thoughts, a similar work by Octavius Winslow. I always thought that daily devotionals were sort of ... well ... cheesy. But my mind has been convincingly changed. I am currently being enjedified (edified in an enjoyable manner) by a devotional by John Piper: A Godward Life.

Here is a quote, about revival, from A Godward Life that I liked:

Revival is the sovereign work of God to awaken his people with fresh intensity to the truth and glory of God, the ugliness of sin, the horror of hell, the preciousness of Christ's atoning work, the wonder of salvation by grace through faith, the urgency of holiness and witness, in the sweetness of worship with God's people (111).

I hope you will find devotionals a profitable endeavour at some point in your journeys.

More quotes from Calvin's Institutes

... not only does he sustain this universe (as he once founded it) by his boundless might, regulate it by his wisdom, preserve it by his goodness, and especially rule mankind by his righteousness and judgment, bear with it in his mercy, watch over it by his protection; but also that no drop will be found either of wisdom and light, or of righteousness or power or rectitude, or of genuine truth, which does not flow from him, and of which he is not the cause.

In this ruin of mankind no one now experiences God either as Father or as Author of salvation, or favorable in any way, until Christ the Mediator comes forward to reconcile him to us.

As a consequence, we must infer that man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty.

As long as we do not look beyond the earth, being quite content with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue, we flatter ourselves most sweetly, and fancy ourselves all but demigods.

Crying Out For Mercy

More from The Bruised Reed

The bruising is necessary prior to conversion that so the Spirit may make way for himself into the heart by leveling all proud, high thoughts that and that we may understand ourselves to be shat we are indeed by nature...It is a very hard thing to bring a dull and an evasive heart to cry with feeling for mercy. Our hearts, like criminals, until they be beaten from all evasions, never cry for the mercy of the Judge.

Sibbes lived in a different era. Corporal punishment was much more the norm of the penal system at that time. In our era, we lack understanding regarding any need to “cry out for mercy”. We are far more familiar with the “cry out” for rights. We even cry out for the rights of the most vile criminals and protect those rights within our laws. Fairness is paramount in our society. It would be abhorrent for most of us to hear a criminal cry out for mercy while being beaten at the hands of a judge, even if he was guilty. That is unfair! Right are being violated! However, we are not talking about fairness when we talk about God being a judge. We are talking about perfection. There is no appeal to fairness when perfection is determining the justice. To cry out to God for rights in light of His perfection and His just wrath only demonstrates a lack of awareness of your own state. Once you know that you are truly guilty, beyond a doubt, deserving punishment, under the view of an all knowing, perfectly just God - you quickly realize that an appeal for fairness will be your demise. Only fools would appeal for fairness in this situation. Your only recourse is an appeal for mercy.

Ignorance of God

In his magnum opus, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin contemplates the knowledge of God that is prevalent in all people, godly or otherwise. One of his proofs is something we have all seen. Unsaved people will often ignore God, mock Christians, despise the Word, and avoid church; until something bad happens. And then the prayers flow; we Christians often show the same flaw. However, Calvin uses this evidence to show that even in the unregenerate their is not complete ignorance of God.

Nay, we have still stronger evidence of the proposition for which I now contend—viz. that a sense of Deity is naturally engraven on the human heart, in the fact, that the very reprobate are forced to acknowledge it. When at their ease, they can jest about God, and talk pertly and loquaciously in disparagement of his power; but should despair, from any cause, overtake them, it will stimulate them to seek him, and dictate ejaculatory prayers, proving that they were not entirely ignorant of God, but had perversely suppressed feelings which ought to have been earlier manifested. (1.4.4)

The Bruised Reed

I've started reading The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes. The book's title is derived from
Isaiah 42:1-3
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice n the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

Later in Matthew12:18-20 we read how Jesus was the fulfillment of this prophesy. I know some of the other bloggers have been through this Puritan classic but this is my first time reading it. I haven't been disappointed, Chapter 1 - The Reed and the Bruising caught my attention right out of the gate. Here's a few of my favourite quotes:

What a support to our faith is this, that God the father, the party offended by our sins, is so well pleased with the work of redemption.

The bruised reed is a man that for the most part is in some misery, as those were that came to Christ for help, and by misery he is brought to see sin as the cause of it, for whatever pretense sin makes, it comes to an end when we are bruised and broken. After conversion we need bruising so that reeds may know themselves to be reeds, and not oaks.

Referring to David, Paul and Peter...the heroic deeds of those great worthies do not comfort the church so much as their falls and bruises do.

I think this is going to be a great read!

10 reasons why good theology is better than good medicine.

Now the final installment of the list...

#4 Good medicine can treat rock hard blood vessels on your heart to get rid of your angina. Good theology can take an entire heart of rock, make it soft and cause it to ache for something else - God. (Ez 11:19)

#3 Good medicine can help you out of your mother's womb. Neither good medicine nor good theology can get you back in. Good theology can get you 'born again' without that rather unseemly 're-entry' proposition being necessary. (See Nicodemus in John 3:4-7)

#2 Good medicine has many great physicians. Good theology only has one and his waiting list isn't very long. Walk-ins are accepted! (Luke 5:31-32, Rev 3:20)

#1 reason why good theology is better than good medicine...
Good medicine is good for your lifetime. Good theology is good for eternity.

Reflecting on summer in the middle of winter

In the middle of the frigid temperatures and mounds of snow, let's join John Piper as he contemplates summer in his devotional entitled A Godward Life:

Every season is God's season, but summer has a special power.

Jesus Christ is refreshing, but flight from him into Christless leisure makes the soul parched. At first it may feel like freedom and a\fun to skimp on prayer and neglect the Word, but then we pay: shallowness, powerlessness, vulnerability to sin, preoccupation with trifles, superficial relationships, and frightening loss of interest in worship and the things of the Spirit.

Don't let summer make your soul shrivel. God made summer as a foretaste of heaven, not a substitute. If the mailman brings you a love letter from your fiance, don't fall in love with the mailman. That's what summer is: a glistening letter of love to show us what he is planning for us in the age to come-"things that the eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him" ( 1 Corinthians 2:9). Don't fall in love with the video preview and find yourself unable to love the coming reality.

Jesus Christ is the refreshing center of summer.

The cause and the source of all good things

Calvin declares God as the source of all goodness, that is, light, wisdom, power, rectitude, and truth. As the source of these things, and every good thing, God is not only the primary and foundational cause of these things, but he is also the very essence of those things. God is not just the source of truth, though He is that. But he is also truth; things are true as far as they correspond to Him. He is the original cause of wisdom, but He is not just that. He is wisdom; things are wise only so far as they correspond with Him. He is both the mover and disseminater of these things, and He is the very standard of these things, and He is these things.

... we must be persuaded not only that as he once formed the world, so he sustains it by his boundless power, governs it by his wisdom, preserves it by his goodness, in particular, rules the human race with justice and Judgment, bears with them in mercy, shields them by his protection; but also that not a particle of light, or wisdom, or justice, or power, or rectitude, or genuine truth, will anywhere be found, which does not flow from him, and of which he is not the cause ... (Institutes 1.2.1)

A few quotes from Institutes

• As a consequence, we must infer that man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty.
• As long as we do not look beyond the earth, being quite content with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue, we flatter ourselves most sweetly, and fancy ourselves all but demigods.
• In this ruin of mankind no one now experiences God either as Father or as Author of salvation, or favorable in any way, until Christ the Mediator comes forward to reconcile him to us.
• ... not only does he sustain this universe (as he once founded it) by his boundless might, regulate it by his wisdom, preserve it by his goodness, and especially rule mankind by his righteousness and judgment, bear with it in his mercy, watch over it by his protection; but also that no drop will be found either of wisdom and light, or of righteousness or power or rectitude, or of genuine truth, which does not flow from him, and of which he is not the cause.

10 reasons why good theology is better than good medicine

Here's the first of two installment on this blog topic. In keeping with a David Letterman tradition of the "Top 10 list" and combining a bit of the recent "legendary exploits of Chuck Norris" genre my kids seem to enjoy reciting, I offer the following reason why good theology is better than good medicine.

#10 Some good medicines can calm your mind. Good theology gives you a brand new mind. (Eph 4:23)

#9 Good medicine needs saws and drills to separate joints and marrow. Good theology does it with words. (Hb 4:12)

#8 Good medicine can replace your bad hip with titanium, polyethylene and methylmethacrylate. Good theology can put your hip out, leave you with a limp and you'd be better off. (Gen 32:25)

#7 Good medicine can put you to sleep and take out your rib. Good theology can put you to sleep, take out your rib and turn it into the best thing that ever happened to you. (Gen 2:22)

#6 Good medicine would have saved Jesus life by stopping his bleeding. Good theology saved yours by allowing it. (Hb 9:22)

#5 Good medicine temporarily helps those who are sick. Good theology brings back to life those who are dead! (Eph 2:1)

Whetting your thoughts = faith

"Faith is not a sleeping thing, nor merely not doubting that Christ is mine, but a continual active whetting of my thoughts on Christ as mine ..." - Thomas Goodwin

Faith is not the absence of doubt. It is not the negation of incertitude or uncertainty. It is active and participatory. It is a 'sharpening through friction' of our thinking. It is a 'stimulation and making keen' of this thought: Christ is mine. You do not 'whet' your thoughts and thinking passively. You must be proactive and purposeful. You must read. You must think. You must converse.