Impulses

Here's another quote from Murray's Biography on Jonathan Edwards, from JE himself, referencing the tendancy of some spiritual leaders to conduct their ministry based on impressions, impulses, or what they perceived God was wanting them to do in a particular moment. Causes me to think very seriously about how I, or anyone I'm around, talk about why I do or say something...

"One erroneous principle, than which scarce any has proved more mischievous to the present glorious work of God, is the notion that it is God's manner in these days (I would add any days) to guide his saints, at least some that are more eminent (leaders), by inspiration, or immediate revelation...
This error will defend and support (other) errors. As long as a person has a notion that he is guided by immediate direction from heaven, it makes him incorrigible and impregnable in all his misconduct..." 3

My additions in un-italic parentheses.

When Revival Comes

I came across this quote in Murray's biography of Jonathan Edwards. It poignantly expresses the differences that show up in Christians and pseudo-christians when an extraordinary outpouring of God's presence comes.

"When winter has stripped the trees of their verdure it is hard to distinguish those that have life from those that have not; but when spring approaches, then they are easily known by their spreading leaves, while those that are dead still continue the same; thus when religion is in decay, the saint can scarcely be distinguished from the sinner, but when a time of refreshing comes, then will they blossom and bring forth fruit abundantly." 3

3. Jonathan Edwards, A New Biography, Iain H. Murray, Banner of Truth Trust, 1987, p211, quoted in W. H. Foote, Sketches of North Carolina, 1846.

God is saying "Prove Me now. Try Me."

I thought this was such an excellent post at Worship Matters, that I wanted to have a large excerpt here too.

“We must not be content until we have had some manifestation of the activity of God. We must concentrate on this. This is my plea, that we concentrate on this, because it is the great message of the Bible, so substantiated by the lessons of history. That is obviously today the only thing that gives us any hope as we face the future. And God seems to be saying that to us. 'Prove Me now. Try Me. Risk your everything on Me. Be fools for My sake. Cast yourselves utterly upon this belief.' Let us put it like this: Do we really believe that God can still act? That is the question; that is the ultimate challenge. Or have we, for theological or some other reasons, excluded the very possibility? Here is the crucial matter. Do we individually and personally really believe that God still acts, can act and will act - in individuals, in groups of individuals, in churches, localities, perhaps even in countries? Do we believe that He is as capable of doing that today as He was in ancient times - the Old Testament, the New Testament times, the book of Acts, Protestant Reformation, Puritans, Methodist Awakening, 1859, 1904-5? Do we really believe that He can still do it? You see, it is ultimately what you believe about God. If He is the great Jehovah - I am that I am, I am that I shall be, unchanged, unchanging, unchangeable, the everlasting and eternal God - well, He can still do it.” 1

What about you? Where do you need to grow in faith for God’s activity in your life and your church? How have you maintained a balance between celebrating God’s promised presence through ordinary means and an expectation for his supernatural activity in unexpected ways? I’d be interested in your comments.


1. In 1971, the great 20th century preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, brought these remarks to an annual Minister’s conference.

Joy and Depression

"Joy is not the opposite of depression. It is deeper than depression. Therefore, you can experience both. Depression is the relentless rain. Joy is the rock. Whether depression is present or not, you can stand on joy!" 1

"I am created by God. I am his offspring; he is my Father. I have sinned, but like the father of the prodigal son, my Father has pursued me. He sent Jesus to be the sacrifice for my sin and redeem me from the grave and the Evil One. Now I live for the One who died for me but is alive. I fight against sin through the power of God's Spirit, and I look forward to the day when sin and suffering are over and I see Jesus face to face." 2

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Psalm 130:5-8

1. Depression – A Stubborn Darkness, Edward T. Welch, Punch Press, 2004, p. 140.
2. Ibid., p. 254.

A Stewardship of Pain

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.

“What do you have that you did not receive?” 1 Cor 4:7

“The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.” 1 Sam 2:6-7

“I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.” Isa 45:7

“God is over all things, and nothing happens apart from his knowledge and will. By the time suffering or depression comes to our doorstep, God did it. To believe anything else is to opt for a universe that is random and out of control, without a guiding hand bringing all things to a purposeful and awe-inspiring conclusion.” 1

Since God is sovereign, and since I have been suffering daily with horrible physical pain and depression, I must acknowledge that these have been given by the Lord for my good. Like the Steward given charge over the Master’s goods, I have been given a charge, entrusted with a suffering. Suffering has a purpose. It is a tool of the Master to change us, to conform us into the image of Christ.

So as with any other entrusted gift, I am learning to be a good steward of pain. Pray that I will be faithful with it.

1. Depression – A Stubborn Darkness, Edward T. Welch, Punch Press, 2004, p. 41.

Together for the Gospel Conference

This last week, I had the privilege of attending the Together for the Gospel Conference, in Louisville, Kentucky. I went with my Pastor, Brian, and my friend, Ben. It was a fantastic time of teaching and preaching by Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, Albert Mohler, John Piper, RC Sproul, and John MacArthur. I enjoyed Albert Mohler’s talk on preaching with the culture in view the most, followed closely by C.J. Mahaney’s convicting message on watching our life and doctrine.

What I’d like to do with this post is list the affirmations and denials that were crafted by the four main guys, Dever, Duncan, Mahaney, and Mohler. All four of these diverse guys signed these articles, and as I read through them again, I thought, I too would sign them.

Article I
We (I) affirm that the sole authority for the Church is the Bible, verbally inspired, inerrant, infallible, and totally sufficient and trustworthy.
We (I) deny that the Bible is a mere witness to the divine revelation, or that any portion of Scripture is marked by error, incompleteness, or the effects of human sinfulness.

Article II
We (I) affirm that the authority and sufficiency of Scripture extends to the entire Bible, and therefore that the Bible is our final authority for all doctrine and practice.
We (I) deny that any portion of the Bible is to be used in an effort to deny the truthfulness or trustworthiness of any other portion. We (I) further deny any effort to identify a canon within the canon or, for example, to set the words of Jesus against the writings of Paul.

Article III
We (I) affirm that truth ever remains a central issue for the Church, and that the church must resist the allure of pragmatism and postmodern conceptions of truth as substitutes for obedience to the comprehensive truth claims of Scripture.
We (I) deny that truth is merely a product of social construction or that the truth of the Gospel can be expressed or grounded in anything less than total confidence in the veracity of the Bible, the historicity of biblical events, and the ability of language to convey understandable truth in sentence form. We (I) further deny that the church can establish its ministry on a foundation of pragmatism, current marketing techniques, or contemporary cultural fashions.

Article IV
We (I) affirm the centrality of expository preaching in the church and the urgent need for a recovery of biblical exposition and the public reading of Scripture in worship.
We (I) deny that God-honoring worship can marginalize or neglect the ministry of the Word as manifested through exposition and public reading. We (I) further deny that a church devoid of true biblical preaching can survive as a Gospel church.

Article V
We (I) affirm that the Bible reveals God to be infinite in all his perfections, and thus truly omniscient, omnipotent, timeless, and self-existent. We (I) further affirm that God possesses perfect knowledge of all things, past, present, and future, including all human thoughts, acts, and decisions.
We (I) deny that the God of the Bible is in any way limited in terms of knowledge or power or any other perfection or attribute, or that God has in any way limited his own perfections.

Article VI
We (I) affirm that the doctrine of the Trinity is a Christian essential, bearing witness to the ontological reality of the one true God in three divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each of the same substance and perfections.
We (I) deny the claim that the Trinity is not an essential doctrine, or that the Trinity can be understood in merely economic or functional categories.

Article VII
We (I) affirm that Jesus Christ is true God and true Man, in perfect, undiluted, and unconfused union throughout his incarnation and now eternally. We (I) also affirm that Christ died on the cross as a substitute for sinners, as a sacrifice for sin, and as a propitiation of the wrath of God toward sin. We (I) affirm the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Christ as essential to the Gospel. We (I) further affirm Jesus Christ is Lord over His church, and that Christ will reign over the entire cosmos in fulfillment of the Father’s gracious purpose.
We (I) deny that the substitutionary character of Christ’s atonement for sin can be compromised or denied without serious injury, or even repudiation, of the Gospel. We (I) further deny that Jesus Christ is visible only in weakness, rather than in power, Lordship, or royal reign, or, conversely, that Christ is visible only in power, and never in weakness.

Article VIII
We (I) affirm that salvation is all of grace, and that the Gospel is revealed to us in doctrines that most faithfully exalt God’s sovereign purpose to save sinners and in His determination to save his redeemed people by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to His glory alone.
We (I) deny that any teaching, theological system, or means of presenting the Gospel that denies the centrality of God’s grace as His gift of unmerited favor to sinners in Christ can be considered true doctrine.

Article IX
We (I) affirm that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s means of bringing salvation to His people, that sinners are commanded to believe the Gospel, and that the church is commissioned to preach and teach the Gospel to all nations.
We (I) deny that evangelism can be reduced to any program, technique, or marketing approach. We (I) further deny that salvation can be separated from repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Article X
We (I) affirm that salvation comes to those who truly believe and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
We (I) deny that there is salvation in any other name, or that saving faith can take any form other than conscious belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving acts.

Article XI
We (I) affirm the continuity of God’s saving purpose and the Christological unity of the covenants. We (I) further affirm a basic distinction between law and grace, and that the true Gospel exalts Christ’s atoning work as the consummate and perfect fulfillment of the law.
We (I) deny that the Bible presents any other means of salvation than God’s gracious acceptance of sinners in Christ.

Article XII
We (I) affirm that sinners are justified only through faith in Christ, and that justification by faith alone is both essential and central to the Gospel.
We (I) deny that any teaching that minimizes, denies, or confuses justification by faith alone can be considered true to the Gospel. We (I) further deny that any teaching that separates regeneration and faith is a true rendering of the Gospel.

Article XIII
We (I) affirm that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to believers by God’s decree alone, and that this righteousness, imputed to the believer through faith alone, is the only righteousness that saves.
We (I) deny that such righteousness is earned or deserved in any manner, is infused within believer to any degree, or is realized in the believer through anything other than faith alone.

Article XIV
We (I) affirm that the shape of Christian discipleship is congregational, and that God’s purpose is evident in faithful Gospel congregations, each displaying God’s glory in the marks of authentic ecclesiology.
We (I) deny that any Christian can truly be a faithful disciple apart from the teaching, discipline, fellowship, and accountability of a congregation of fellow disciples, organized as a Gospel church. We (I) further deny that the Lord’s Supper can faithfully be administered apart from the right practice of church discipline.

Article XV
We (I) affirm that evangelical congregations are to work together in humble and voluntary cooperation and that the spiritual fellowship of Gospel congregations bears witness to the unity of the Church and the glory of God.
We (I) deny that loyalty to any denomination or fellowship of churches can take precedence over the claims of truth and faithfulness to the Gospel.

Article XVI
We (I) affirm that the Scripture reveals a pattern of complementary order between men and women, and that this order is itself a testimony to the Gospel, even as it is the gift of our Creator and Redeemer. We (I) also affirm that all Christians are called to service within the body of Christ, and that God has given both men and women important and strategic roles within the home, the church, and the society. We (I) further affirm that the teaching office of the church is assigned only to those men who are called of God in fulfillment of the biblical teachings and that men are to lead in their homes as husbands and fathers who fear and love God.
We (I) deny that the distinction of roles between men and women revealed in the Bible is evidence of mere cultural conditioning or a manifestation of male oppression or prejudice against women. We (I) also deny that this biblical distinction of roles excludes women from meaningful ministry in Christ’s kingdom. We (I) further deny that any church can confuse these issues without damaging its witness to the Gospel.

Article XVII
We (I) affirm that God calls his people to display his glory in the reconciliation of the nations within the Church, and that God’s pleasure in this reconciliation is evident in the gathering of believers from every tongue and tribe and people and nation. We (I) acknowledge that the staggering magnitude of injustice against African-Americans in the name of the Gospel presents a special opportunity for displaying the repentance, forgiveness, and restoration promised in the Gospel. We (I) further affirm that evangelical Christianity in America bears a unique responsibility to demonstrate this reconciliation with our African-American brothers and sisters.
We (I) deny that any church can accept racial prejudice, discrimination, or division without betraying the Gospel.

Article XVIII
We (I) affirm that our only sure confident hope is in the sure and certain promises of God. Thus, our hope is an eschatological hope, grounded in our confidence that God will bring all things to consummation in a manner that will bring greatest glory to his own name, greatest preeminence to his Son, and greatest joy for his redeemed people.
We (I) deny that we are to find ultimate fulfillment or happiness in this world, or that God’s ultimate purpose is for us to find merely a more meaningful and fulfilling life in this fallen world. We (I) further deny that any teaching that offers health and wealth as God’s assured promises in this life can be considered true Gospel.