Sure, but that is not the gospel. God had a plan for Pharaoh, but it wasn’t good news. Don’t invite people to come to our Lord Jesus Christ because God has a wonderful plan for them.
The good news is not you can, but he has.
The good news of the gospel is not your potentiality, but Christ’s accomplishment.
Snagged this from Keller’s Counterfiet Gods. “It is finished,” oh the depth of gospel truth contained in those three words. My favorite lines are the ones Keller quotes, the lines of the last stanza, “cast your dealdy ‘doing’ down…”.
It is Finished by James Proctor
Nothing, either great or small—
Nothing, sinner, no;
Jesus died and paid it all,
Long, long ago.Refrain
“It is finished!” yes, indeed,
Finished, ev’ry jot;
Sinner, this is all you need,
Tell me, is it not?When He, from His lofty throne,
Stooped to do and die,
Ev’rything was fully done;
Hearken to His cry!Refrain
Weary, working, burdened one,
Wherefore toil you so?
Cease your doing; all was done
Long, long ago.Refrain
Till to Jesus’ work you cling
By a simple faith,
“Doing” is a deadly thing—
“Doing” ends in death.Refrain
Cast your deadly “doing” down—
Down at Jesus’ feet;
Stand in Him, in Him alone,
Gloriously complete.Refrain
I encourage you to watch the whole video, or listen to the audio here. But please at least watch and listen to John Piper’s prayer for Chandler starting at 46 minutes.
T4G 2010 — Session 8 — Matt Chandler from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.
Oh Father,
Teach us that when we pray to You,
we pray
to You.
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Oh how this singular thought would rectify much sin in our prayers
Story and proposition are not two antithetical approaches to reading the Scriptures; they are the way to read the Scriptures. Without story the proposition “God is faithful” is just a bone with no flesh. You can see it sure enough, but it does not come alive with meaning and depth as when you see God faithfulness displayed with the patriarchs. Without propositions story becomes a puddle of flesh. We become the story’s interpreter, able to form it as we wish. It becomes a story by us, about us. Be true theologians, be men of flesh and bone.
Jesus became flesh and bone to put God’s glory on display. Because of Him we know what it means that God is gracious, God is forgiving, God is just, God is righteous, and so much more. Take away the story and the proposition “justification by faith” has no basis. Take away the proposition “justification by faith” and we misinterpret the story.
Be true theologians, be men of flesh and bone. Be men of proposition and story.
Here is a hymn to go with our upcomming study of 2 Timothy at The Still. Read 2 Timothy a couple of times and then read the hymn again. Convicted? I was.
Am I a Soldier of the Cross?
By Isaac Watts
Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?
Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?
Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?
Sure I must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.
Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die;
They see the triumph from afar,
By faith’s discerning eye.
When that illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
The glory shall be Thine
Positive/negative and optimism/pesimissim are not Biblical catagories, faith/unbelief and hope/despair are.
Oh how much impotence results from confusing the two!
I read two great posts today. One made me joyfully shout amen, the other sweetly broken.
A Wordless Gospel Is Like a Digitless Phone Number
Saying “Preach the gospel; if necessary use words” is like saying “Tell me your phone number; if necessary use digits.” – J.D. Greear
HT: Justin Taylor
I’m afraid I have more faith and interest in the internet than in God. How about you?
I tried for hours this morning to access the internet, though it wasn’t responding.
I don’t do that with God. Do you? – Abraham Piper
I found this gem while looking back through Pink’s The Sovereignty of God. I love the last stanza.
I Worship Thee, Most Gracious God
By Frederick W. Faber
I worship Thee, most gracious God,
And all Thy ways adore;
And every day I live, I seem
To love Thee more and more.When obstacles and trials seem
Like prison walls to be,
I do the little I can do,
And leave the rest to Thee.I have no cares, O blessèd Will,
For all my cares are Thine;
I live in triumph, Lord, for Thou
Hast made Thy triumphs mine.He always wins who sides with God;
To him no chance is lost;
God’s will is sweetest to him when
It triumphs at his cost.Ill that He blesses is our good,
And unblest good is ill;
And all is right that seems most wrong,
If it be His sweet will.
I once posted how some books are dynamite, they leave you gloriously devastated. You have to wait for years for the dust to settle to see just how big the devastation is. In another post I listed some of the books that have done this for me.
There are other books, you think that they are producing the same effect, but they are neither concussion bombs nor fragmentary bombs, they are functionally smoke bombs. You think there has been a rattling explosion, but they have changed nothing, they have only stirred up dust. Years go by, the dust settles, and their effect has been blown away by the wind. What are a few such books for you? Here are mine:
They remain in my library as reminders only, I seriously doubt I will ever reread them. These books that stirred up so much dust, now only collect them.
No Other Boast 