On the Necessity of Reading the Bible – C.H.Spurgeon

I recently found this quote of C.H. Spurgeon on another blog (“Live a Life of No Regrets!”) and saved it for a re-post here someday. Today is the day! It is truly a gem, as Spurgeon reflects on why the Scriptures are so important to his life as a Christian and as a pastor. From time to time I need to be reminded that the most important – really, the only indispensable – book I need to read is the Word of God. I hope this helps you too see why.

Why, the Book has wrestled with me;

the Book has smitten me;

the Book has comforted me, the Book has smiled on me; the Book has frowned on me;

the Book has clasped my hand;

the Book has warmed my heart.

The Book weeps with me, and sings with me;

it whispers to me, and it preaches to me;

it maps my way, and holds up my goings;

it is the young man’s best companion, and is still my morning and evening Chaplain.

~Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Costly Covenant Sacrifice

For our Bible study this evening we will be studying Judge Jephthah (Judges 10-11). It is Jephthah’s vow which receives most of the attention in the narrative, though of course the focus must be on the Lord of sovereign grace Who brought another great victory to His undeserving and ill-deserving covenant people. Yet Jephthah’s vow is also worthy of attention, and in connection with explaining the godliness and costliness of this vow, David J. Engelsma makes the following worthy comments by way of application, which are good food for thought today:

Life in the covenant is not different today (than for Jephthah – cjt). Following Christ is costly. It involves self-denial, loss, pain, sacrifice of those who are dearest, and death. Those who are called to serve God by following Christ are expected and enabled to make the sacrifice willingly as an offering to God, for covenant life is itself an offering of oneself in gratitude and love to God. God, who directed Jephthah’s daughter would come out to greet him, similarly arranges that each of his children must suffer painful loss, must give up heart’s desire, and even must sacrifice one whom he loves in the course of the Christian life. Thus does he test, thus does he deepen, and thus does he confirm in them the confession that they belong to him and are consecrated to him with all they are and all that they have. And what must be thought of the man or woman who in the hour of testing goes back on his or her vow, putting son or daughter, name or possession, ease or ambition – that is, self – before the name of God?

Taken from Unfolding Covenant History: An Exposition of the Old Testament, Volume 5, Judges and Ruth (RFPA, 2005), p.115.

A Prayer for the End of the Year – Valley of Vision

This prayer, titled “Lord’s Day Eve” is actually a prayer for preparation for Sunday, to be made on Saturday night. But as I looked at it, I realized how fitting it is for the end of the year. So as you read this today, and perhaps make it your prayer, substitute the words “another year has gone” for “another week has gone”. May this help us meditate properly and profitably on this last day of 2012.

Another week has gone and I have been preserved
in my going out,
in my coming in.

Thine has been the vigilance that has turned threatened evils aside;
thine the supplies that have nourished me;
Thine the comforts that have indulged me;
Thine the relations and friends that have delighted me;
Thine the means of grace which have edified me;
Thine the Book, which, amidst all my enjoyments, has told me that this is not my rest,
that in all successes one thing alone is needful, to love my Saviour.
Nothing can equal the number of thy mercies but my imperfections and sins.
These, O God, I will neither conceal nor palliate, but confess with a broken heart.

In what condition would secret reviews of my life leave me
were it not for the assurance that with thee there is plenteous redemption,
that thou art a forgiving God,
that thou mayest be feared!

While I hope for pardon through the blood of the cross,
I pray to be clothed with humility,
to be quickened in thy way,
to be more devoted to thee,
to keep the end of my life in view,
to be cured of the folly of delay and indecision,
to know how frail I am,
to number my days and apply my heart unto wisdom.

Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions edited by Arthur Bennett; Banner of Truth, 1975.

Christ Has Come and is Coming Again (4)

For our final Christmas devotional on these Sunday’s in December we want to take one more look at the truth that Jesus’ 1st coming also points us to His 2nd coming. While we celebrate Christmas looking back, we also celebrate it looking ahead. The Word of God will not let us remember the wonder of Christ’s Incarnation without remembering the wonder of His parousia (personal return in glory). We have been drawing some contrasts between these two comings of our Lord, and in this last devotional we want to draw one more contrast.

That is the truth that when Jesus came the first time, he came in relative obscurity and quietness; the coming of the Son of God in our flesh was almost secret and hidden. But his second coming will not be so. When Jesus returns in glory, it will be an open and public event, a “showy” and loud revelation, heralded by shouting angels and saints, and announced with trumpet blast. Let’s notice more of this contrast and “flesh it out” according to what the Bible says.

When Jesus came the first time, it was a relatively hidden and quiet coming. Although it was announced throughout the OT Scriptures that He was coming, and though He came into the world and the world had been prepared for Him by the sovereign hand of His Father, the world (with few exceptions) didn’t know the Son of God had come (Jn.1:10-11). He was born of lowly, obscure Jewish parents (Matt.1:18ff.). His place of birth was Bethlehem, a little, despised village in Judea (Micah 5:2; Matt.2:5-6). His birth announcement was not proclaimed in the capital city of Jerusalem or even in another prominent city of Israel, but to insignificant (by human standards) shepherds out on the hills of Bethlehem (Lu.2:8ff.). And yes, that first coming of our Lord was heralded by a glorious appearance by angels – a multitude of the heavenly host singing and praising God (Lu.2:13-14)! – but besides those lowly shepherds who heard that glorious chorus? And yes, Jesus was later honored by a visit from the Eastern magi (Persians), who were led by a glorious star and who brought him magnificent gifts (Matt.2:1ff.), but again, who knew about this, besides the deranged, hateful Herod and his henchmen?

This characteristic of the first coming of our Lord was in perfect harmony with the nature of His mission the first time He entered our world. He came in humiliation and shame to rescue sinners. He came to assume the nature of His “seed”, so that He could assume their sin and guilt, their curse and shame, and deliver them from it by suffering in their place all His life and then dying for them on the cross (see our previous devotions on this). It was fitting, then, that His first coming be hidden and quiet.

But not so His second coming! That will be a wide open, public affair! In the end of this age the Son of God will return to this earth with glory and power, and with a great show of that glory and power. Yes, the Lord Jesus will come the 2nd time as a thief in the night, suddenly and unexpectedly (for the unbelieving wicked), but when He comes, they – and all His children – will know it, plainly and unmistakably! Listen to what these verses declare about our Lord’s 2nd coming:

Matt.24:27 – For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ²⁹Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: ³⁰And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

I Thess.4: ¹³But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. ¹⁵For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.¹⁸Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

2 Thess.1: ⁷And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, ⁸In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: ⁹Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; ¹⁰When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

2 Peter 3: ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. ¹¹Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, ¹²Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? ¹³Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. ¹⁴Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Rev.1:  ⁷Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Rev.19: And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: ²For true and righteousare his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. ³And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. ⁴And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. ⁵And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. ⁶And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. ⁷Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. ⁸And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. ⁹And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Do you see the contrast between the two comings of the Lord also in this respect? And do you see why too? The purpose of Christ’s mission in the 2nd coming (plain from the above passages) is in harmony with this public and prominent personal coming. Look at all that He comes again to accomplish – the defeat of antichrist and satan, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of all men, the purifying and re-making of the heavens and the earth, and the taking home of His bride to an unending wedding feast! Nothing private or hidden about these things! And so He comes with great public glory and power. No one will miss the day.

And so, as we remember and celebrate Christmas, let us do so with our spiritual eyes on the return of our Lord. The above verses also make plain that if this is our hope, it will transform our whole way of living. Is that reflected in the way we keep Christmas too? May God bless our celebration of Christ’s lowly coming even as we prepare for our celebration of that great and glorious day to come.

“God Talk” – Dealing with Christian Cliches

Bookstores and Thrift stores often yield previously undiscovered treasures. I have told you of them here before. A few weeks ago I happened (providentially) on a unique book in a local Thrift store – God Talk: The Triteness and Truth in Christian Cliches by Randall J. VanderMey (IVP, 193). It was clean as a whistle (cliche intended!) and even signed by the author (I can nearly count on both hands now the number of signed copies I have found in Thrift stores!). I immediately began digging into it since it is a book about language and writing and speaking, and I love these fields, especially language (origin, usage, etc.). Turns out the author grew up in Grand Rapids, MI and in a Calvinistic-Christian environment (I’m thinking CRC!), which shaped his language and vocabulary – and cliches. At the time this book was written he was assistant professor of English at Westmont College (Santa Barbara, CA), and, after a little searching, I learned he is still there, but as full professor of English now.

In this treat of a book VanderMey goes after the cliches with which he grew up and the cliches he has listened to all his life. And as his sub-title reveals, he wants to bring out both the “triteness” and the “truth” he finds in these cliches. I have read a few chapters now and am thoroughly enjoying and profiting from his thoughts. It has opened my eyes and my mind to the way I (we) talk, especially in our Christian (and Reformed) circles. If you don’t mind (and I guess, even if you do!), I am going take you along for a few glimpses into this book and into the way we talk. Because if we are using “God talk”, we don’t want it to be trite – we want it to be truth.

Today I give you a few paragraphs from VanderMey’s introduction, titled “Inwards and In-wards”:

In one’s desire for such experience, however, language is not exclusively an ally. Speaking is an action, a physical participation in the movement of life; but at the same time, it is a diversion of mental energy into the thickets of liguistic symbol and system. Words point to the world, but they point us, as well, to other words. Thus, speech gives us something but costs something, too. It both reveals and conceals. In speech it is hard to make the mind available to the mysteries of life. As soon as language becomes opaque, as it does when we resort to tried-and-true phrases, the mysteries close.

Here and there I have struck the note of satire. Elsewhere I have blamed or bemoaned. My overall purpose, however, is not to make anyone’s speech sound bad or to make my own sound better. My primary interest, in fact, is not even language, except as speech turns out to be, along with behavior and thought, the site of spiritual conflict. What looks from one side like treading on a giant’s corns appears from the other side like wrestling with an angel or a devil. For as Christian language walks on stilts or harbors fears or signals the aimlessness of  a herd, it accompanies the closing of the Christian mind. The good news is that close attention to Christian language – its possibilities as well as its poverties – can open the mind, reawaken wonder and strengthen faith (pp.15-16).

Gideon-Jerubbaal & the Church: Baal-fighters

Tonight for our Bible study we are studying Judge Gideon, a man valiant for truth and godliness in Israel, albeit with sin and weakness (As is true of every leader and every child of God in the church.). In preparing for this study I came across two fine quotes, which I post for your benefit today. The first is by David J. Engelsma, taken from his Unfolding Covenant History, v.5, Judges and Ruth(RFPA, 2005). In treating the new name given to Gideon, Engelsma points out these things by way of application:

Jerubbaal is a significant name for the judge. It carries the message to all Israel not only that Baal, supposedly Lord of creation, is powerless to defend himself against the assault on his worship, but also that Israel’s deliverer contends mainly against Baal. The real enemy is not Midian, but Baal, that is idolatry….

Jerubbaal is a glorious name. It identifies the bearer as the intolerant enemy and destroyer of idolatry. He is the enemy of idolatry because he is zealous for the one true God, the God of Israel, whose name is Jehovah.

…Today also, the true church, empowered by the same Spirit that clothed Gideon, is privileged to be the object of the murderous hatred and opposition of the devotees of the god of works-righteousness, of the god of free will, of the god of evolution, of the god of sexual uncleanness, and of all the other gods, when she carries out her divine mandate to destroy all these idols with the Word of God. The true church is Jerubbaal: Let theological modernism contend! Let Roman Catholic works-righteousness contend! Let Arminianism contend! Let the evolutionary theory of origins contend! Let the uncleanness of fornication, divorce and remarriage, and homosexuality contend! (p.74)

The second quote on Gideon is from Gordon J. Keddie and is taken from his fine little commentary on Judges and Ruth, Even in Darkness (Evangelical Press, 1985). His final point of application from the life of Gideon is this:

There is, too, a watchword for every believer in the words of Judges 8:4… Gideon and his faithful followers were ‘exhausted yet keeping up pursuit’. Gideon was no Greek hero. He was no ‘superstar’. He was one of God’s ‘weak things’ raised up to ‘confound the mighty’. Of course, he and his men were fit and clearly in vigorous heath, but a pursuit of a  night and a day will make even such men exhausted. The point is that they were persevering in the face of every difficulty. They were spending themselves for their Lord and he was renewing their strength by his grace. Here is the calling of every child of God. When the Lord rules over you, you have no greater desire than to give yourselves for him, even Christ Jesus your Saviour (p.70)

Let Me Tell You About “The Prodigal Son” – David Murray

The Prodigal Son by David Murray | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

Yesterday was another beautiful and blessed Lord’s Day of worship and rest. We heard wonderful preaching on saving faith (Heid.Cat. sermon by Prof.R.Dykstra on Jn.15) and on Jesus’ healing of the demoniac (Rev.W.Langerak on Mark 5:19-20). Being saved from sin’s pullution, power, and penalty by faith alone in Christ alone, we are called to “go home to thy friends and tell them how great things” Christ has done for us. This is our life’s mission; this is true discipleship of Jesus.

And before both services, as is my custom, I read in my new Tabletalk, on the theme of “The Prodigal Son”. Last evening it was Prof.D.Murray’s article by the very same title, and it cut through to my heart. For I too am the prodigal son. Not just in my youth, but in my 40′s and 50′s. Not just then, but now. Every day I am departing from the loving home of my Father in heaven, wasting His goods on the life I want to live according to my foolish flesh. And every day, coming to my senses, I am returning to my merciful Father, finding that He was calling after me by name, running after me in love, and preparing a feast of grace when I came back again.

Let me tell you how great things Jesus has done for me! I am a vile sinner saved by God’s sovereign grace in Christ. Only and alone! Without my willing and working. And certainly without my deserving. In spite of me. Overcoming me. I am the prodigal son who is favored to have an unlimited loving and forgiving Father. Why would I ever turn my back on Him? Indeed, why would I – and you! Shall we not thank and praise Him all our days?!

If you wish to be convicted today of what your life (and mine) are really like – if you are a young man or woman (or an old one) who has drifted from God and either have begun to realize or don’t realize the condition you are in – then read Murray’s very contemporary and very convicting re-telling of  “the prodigal son” linked above. And start returning to the Father. Today. For Jesus sake.

Here are a couple of pargraphs to encourage you:

Look at the filthy mess you’re in. Sin sickens you, doesn’t it? It didn’t once. It used to taste so sweet and satisfying, for a moment or two at least. Now it disgusts you and makes you sick. The good news is that such sickness is a sign of returning health.

…Forgiveness awaits. Beg for it and be assured that you will receive it. You think you’re heading home to your Father, but your Father has already left home to find you and bring you the rest of the way. Look, He’s running, He’s coming, He’s hugging, He’s kissing, He’s calling, He’s enjoying, He’s celebrating. There’s nothing He enjoys more than forgiving. Why not enjoy it, too, through His perfect Son, Jesus Christ?

“Do I Really Need to Attend Church Services?” Yes, and here’s 8 reasons why.

Worship as a Body by Bob Kauflin | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

Feeling like you want to “pass” on going to church for worship from time to time and looking for excuses not to go (weather’s cold, people are cold, allergies, etc.)? Going through a spiritually tough time when you are tempted to say that God’s Word just isn’t “reaching” you right now? Have teenagers that drag their feet on Sunday morning (and afternoon!) and wish they could stay in bed?

We’ve all had times when in spiritual weakness we didn’t desire God’s house of worship as we ought and looked for ways to avoid public worship. Bob Kauflin addresses this spiritual malaise well in the above-linked article found in the November Tabletalk. This was one of the first articles I read, and it was one that I needed. I urge you to discover Kauflin’s eight (8) reasons for being faithful in public worship. Maybe we should post these on our fridges for a while to remind ourselves of this great need we have.

Here’s his introduction and first two reasons:

The psalmist declares, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” (Ps. 122:1; emphasis mine). Worldly distractions, bad theology, or indwelling sin can cause us to lose sight of why we should be glad about meeting together on the Lord’s Day. We might even start to think private devotions are an adequate substitute for, if not superior to, gathering with the church.

Of course, both private and corporate worship are vital to our relationship with God. But there are reasons the writer of Hebrews admonishes us not to follow “the habit of some” by neglecting to meet together (Heb. 10:25). Here are eight of them:

Obedience to God’s Word

While Hebrews 10:25 directly states that we must not neglect meeting together, Paul’s repeated use of the phrase “when you come together” in 1 Corinthians 11 and 14 indicates that the Corinthians were assembling regularly. He often refers to the church in so-and-so’s house, and we can assume he did not mean the “church” as a physical structure but rather the people who regularly met in that house.

The Spirit Working Through Others

We should be able to encourage ourselves in the Lord through Bible study, prayer, and worship in song. But God ordains strengthening to come through others as well. “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you’” (1 Cor. 12:21). No one has every gift. God cannot build me up through gifts like preaching, encouragement, compassion, leadership, and faith unless I’m actually there to experience those gifts.

Bob Kauflin is director of worship development for Sovereign Grace Ministries. He is author of Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God.

True Thanksgiving: Not indulgence but praise to God for His goodness

The above words are part of John Calvin’s treatment of the Christian’s calling to give thanks in his little work, Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life (Baker, c.1952). The last part of that work is on “The Right Use of the Present Life” (chap.5). As he treats this subject he calls us first to “avoid extremes” by living in moderation with regard to the things of this life (p.85). Second, he reminds us that “earthly things are gifts of God” and must be “directed to the same purpose for which the Creator himself has created and destined them” (p.87). And then third, he states that “true gratitude will restrain us from abuse”. And he expands on that point in this way:

First of all, if we want to curb our passions we must remember that all things are made for us, with the purpose that we may know and acknowledge their Author.

We should praise his kindness towards us in earthly matters by giving him thanks.

But, what will become of our thanksgiving, if we indulge in dainties, or wine, in such a way that we are too dull to carry our the duties of devotion or of our business?

Where is our acknowledgment of God, if the excesses of our body drive us to the vilest passions, and infect our mind with impurity, so that we can no longer distinguish between right and wrong?

Where is our gratitude towards God for clothing, if we admire ourselves, and despise others because of our own sumptuous apparel?

Where is it, if we prepare ourselves for unchastity, with the elegance and beauty of our dress?

Where is our acknowledgment of God, if our thoughts are fixed on the glamour of our garments?

…Therefore, it is clear, that the principle of gratitude should curb our desire to abuse the divine blessings (pp.89-90).

Good things to keep in mind as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the midst of such abundance of earthly gifts. May we not selfishly indulge in the gifts, but humbly thank the Giver.

Testimony of God’s Good Design in Disability – Desiring God

Testimony of God’s Good Design The Works of God God’s Good Design in Disability – Desiring God.

Do you know someone with a disability? Do you know how that person struggles with the disability, not just physically but spiritually? I believe we all know someone in such a situation, and most likely close to us. Whether in our family or in our church family, we are connected to people with various disabilities – people who have unique struggles as children of God. This wonderful video will help us and them see themselves as GOD sees them, overagainst all the stigmas that society puts on them. This is an amazing, beautiful, and moving testimony from a disabled woman by the name of Krista Horning. I received this in my “mailbox” last night, watched it, and immediately knew I had to post it for today. May it help us gain perspective – on them, and on our own life. Disabled Christians have so much to teach us.

By John Piper. ©2012 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org