Injustice is more than a political dysfunction. It is a spiritual evil, a denial of God. And by now the mess we’ve made is so far advanced, so systemic, so overwhelming, its beyond our correction. – Ray Ortlund Sr., Isaiah: God Saves Sinners
Wesley and Whitefield may preach better than I can, but they cannot preach a better gospel. – C.H. Spurgeon
There was no abasement ever so deep as Christ’s was, in a double regard. First, None ever went so low as he, for he suffered the wrath of God, and bore upon him the sins of us all; none was ever so low. And then in another respect his abasement was greatest because He descended from the highest top of glory; and for Him to be man, to be a servant, to be a curse, to suffer the wrath of god, to be the lowest of all – Lord, wither doest Thou descend? – Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed
Shall God be abased and man proud? – Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed
There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us. – Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed
Category: Quotes
Eat what You Serve
Please pray for me that I never serve what I have not partaken of myself. Also never expect others to taste and see that He is good while your lips smack of the world and your breath reeks of idolatry.
A man preacheth that sermon only well unto others which preacheth itself in his own soul. And he that doth not feed on and thrive in the digestion of the food which he provides for others will scarce make it savoury unto them; yea, he knows not but the food he hath provided may be poison, unless he have really tasted of it himself. If the word do not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us. And no man lives in a more woeful condition than those who really believe not themselves what they persuade others to believe continually. The want of this experience of the power of gospel truth on their own souls is that which gives us so many lifeless, sapless orations, quaint in words and dead as to power, instead of preaching the gospel in the demonstration of the Spirit. – John Owen in The True Nature of a Gospel Church
The Thirsty Look for Wells
While studying Isaiah today I came accross this sermon excerpt from Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s “I will pour Water” in Ray Ortlund Jr.’s commentary on Isaiah.
When two travellers are going through the wilderness, you may know which of them is thirsty, by his always looking out for wells. How gladly Israel came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees! So it is with thirsty believers; they love the Word, read and preached, they thirst for it more and more. Is it so with you, dear believing brethren? In Scotland long ago, it used to be so. Often, after the blessing was pronounced, the people would not go away till they heard more. Ah! children of God, it is a fearful sign to see little thirst in you[.] I do not wonder much when the world stay[s] away from our meetings for the Word and prayer; but, ah! when you do.
The full sermon is available here.
Sermon Quotes – Bittersweet Pie
A spiritual experience which is thoroughly flavored with a deep and bitter sense of sin is of great value to him that hath had it. It is terrible in the drinking, but it is most wholesome in the bowels, and in the whole of the afterlife. Possibly much of the flimsy piety of the day arises from the ease with which men reach to peace and joy in these evangelistic days. We would not judge modern converts, but we certainly prefer that form of spiritual exercise which leads the soul by the way of Weeping cross, and makes it see its blackness before it assures it that it is “clean every whit.” Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore lightly of a Savior. He who has stood before his God, convicted, and condemned, with the rope about his neck, is the man to weep for joy when he is pardoned, to hate the evil which has been forgiven him, and to live to the honor of the Redeemer by whose blood he has been cleansed. – C.H. Spurgeon, Light for Those Who Sit in Darkness
Christ is not only light, but great light; he reveals great things, he manifests great comforts, saves us from great sin and great wrath, and prepares us for great glory. He is, however, a Savior that must be seen. – C.H. Spurgeon, Light for Those Who Sit in Darkness
If you are unhappy at the thought that you do not love God as you ought to, that is a wonderful proof that you love Him. Love is never satisfied with itself; it always feels it is insufficient. The men and women who are unhappy because they do not love God more are, in a sense, people who ought to be very happy, because their very unhappiness at their lack of love is proof that they do love. – D. Martyn lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ
Though [repentance] be a deep sorrow for sin that God requires as necessary to salvation, yet the very nature of it necessarily implies delight. Repentance of sin is a sorrow arising from the sight of God’s excellency and mercy, but the apprehension of excellency or mercy must necessarily and unavoidably beget pleasure in the mind of the beholder. ‘Tis impossible that anyone should see anything that appears to him excellent and not behold it with pleasure, and it’s impossible to be affected with the mercy and love of God, and his willingness to be merciful to us and love us, and not be affected with pleasure at the thoughts of [it]; but this is the very affection that begets true repentance. How much sovever of a paradox it may seem, it is true that repentance is a sweet sorrow, so that the more of this sorrow, the more pleasure. – Jonathan Edwards, The Pleasantness of Religion
Spoiling the Gospel
You may spoil the gospel by substitution. You have only to withdraw from the eyes of the sinner the grand object which the Bible proposes to faith – Jesus Christ; and to substitute another object in His place… and the mischief is done. Substitute anything for Christ, and the gospel is totally spoiled! …
You may spoil the gospel by addition. You have only to add to Christ, the grand object of faith, some other objects as equally worthy of honor, and the mischief is done. Add anything to Christ, and the gospel ceases to be pure Gospel! …
You may spoil the gospel by interposition. You have only to push something between Christ and the eye of the soul, to draw away the sinner’s attention from the Savior, and the mischief is done…
You may spoil the gospel by disproportion. You have only to attach an exaggerated importance to the secondary things of Christianity, and a diminished importance to the first things, and the mischief is done. Once alter the proportion of the parts of truth, and truth soon becomes downright error! …
Lastly, but not least, you may completely spoil the Gospel by confused and contradictory directions. Complicated and obscure statements about faith, baptism, Church privileges, and the benefits of the Lord’s Supper, all jumbled together, and thrown down without order before hearers, make the Gospel no Gospel at all! Confused and disorderly statements of Christianity are almost as bad as no statement at all! Religion of this sort is not Evangelical. – J.C. Ryle as quoted in The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies
The full tract from which Challies quoted is available online here.
Ink and Pen
In his commentary on Hebrews R. Kent Hughes refers to A History of Preaching in Britain and America, a work by F.R. Webber. According to Hughes, Webber “tells us that one of the curious by-products of the Awakening was the sudden interest in shorthand.”
Men and women studied shorthand in order that they might take down the sermons that were stirring the English speaking countries. This had happened once before in Scotland, and it made its appearance once more in all countries where the influence of the Awakening was felt. It was not unusual to see men with a portable inkwell strapped about them, and a quill pen thrust over and ear, hastening to join the throng assembling on the village green.
Few come with an attitude of an uninterested, but invested student who takes notes because they need to take them. Many come to church as they would the movies, “I hope this is entertaining!” There is a medium that seems to be reflected in the paragraph quoted above; i.e. an earnest, joyful seriousness that anticipates the preaching of God’s word demonstrated by note-taking. While note-taking is no definitive mark of the Spirit, it may say something about our attitude toward the Bible and preaching.
Great Questions Concerning Mood Worship
Greg Gilbert has some great questions that go along with the last post. Powerfully convicting.
– Do you get bored when someone reads a longish passage of Scripture in your church? Do you start wishing they’d get on with the music?
– Do you need music playing in the background for the reading of Scripture to affect your emotions?
– Does a prayer seem too “plain” or “stark” to you if it doesn’t have music playing behind it?
– Do you feel depressed a few weeks after a worship conference because you haven’t felt close to God in a long time?
– Do you desperately look forward to the next conference you’re going to attend because you know that, finally, you’ll be able to feel close to God again?
– If you’re in a big church with great music, are you able to worship when you visit your parents’ small rural church?
– Do you ever feel worshipful in the middle of the week, at work, at school, etc. just because of thinking about God and his grace? Or does that only happen when the music’s playing?
– Do you tend to feel closer to God when you’re alone with your iPOD than you do when you’re gathered with God’s people in your church?
– Do you feel like you just can’t connect with other believers who haven’t had the same “worship experiences” that you have? Can you only connect with other believers who “know what it feels like to really worship?”
– Is your sense of spiritual well-being based more on feeling close to God, or knowing that you are close to God because of Jesus Christ?
A Gift For You, a Gift For Me?
I ran across this quote in R. Kent Hughes commentary on Hebrews. It is from Lewis Bayly’s Practice of Piety, a book which I found out greatly influenced John Bunyan and was the book to have along with Pilgrims Progress and Foxes Book of Martyrs. Unfortunately the book is no longer in print…but there is one used copy on sale at Amazon for just over $400 just in case you wanted to buy it for me!
Soule. Lord, why, wouldest Thou be taken, when Thou mightest have escaped Thine enemies?
Christ. That thy spiritual enemies should not take thee, and cast thee into the prison of utter darkness.
Soule. Lord, wherefore wouldest Thou be bound?
Christ. That I might loose the cordes of thine iniquities.
Soule. Lord, wherefore wouldest Thou be lift up upon a Crosse?
Christ. That I might lift thee up with Me to heaven.
Soule. Lord, wherefore were Thy hands and feet nayled to the Crosse?
Christ. To enlarge thy hands to doe the works of righteousness and to set thy feete at libertie, to walke in the wayes of peace.
Soule. Lord, why wouldest Thou have Thine arms nayled abroad?
Christ. That I might embrace thee more lovingly, My sweet soule.
Soule.Lord, wherefore was Thy side opened with a speare?
Christ.That thou mightest have a way to come near to My heart.
The Centrality of the Cross
Here are the quotes I used sunday night reguarding the centralirty of the cross:
The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is not inadequate technique, insufficient organization, or antiquated music, and those who want to squander the church’s resources bandaging these scratches will do nothing to stanch the flow of blood that is spilling from its true wounds. The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is that God rests too inconsequentially upon the church. His truth is too distant, his grace is too ordinary, his judgment is too benign, his gospel is too easy, and his Christ is too common. – David Wells in God in the Wasteland
Superficial views of the Work of Christ produce superficial human lives. – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in The Cross
If our meditation on the cross be meager, can our love for the savior be great? – Frederick Leahy in The Cross He Bore
The cross was the centerpiece of Paul’s theology. It wasn’t merely one of Paul’s messages; it was the message. He taught about other things as well, but whatever he taught was always derived from, and related to, the foundational reality that Jesus Christ died so that sinners would be reconciled to God and forgiven by God. – C.J. Mahaney in The Cross Centered Life
He cannot talk long about Christian joy, or Christian ethics, or Christian fellowship, or the Christian doctrine of God, or anything else, without finally tying it to the cross. Paul is gospel centered; he is cross centered. – D.A. Carson in The Cross and Christian Ministry
During these twenty-six years in my Westminster pulpit there have been times when in my utter folly I have wondered, or the devil has suggested to me that there is nothing more for me to say, that I have preached it all. I thank God that I can now say that I feel I am only at the beginning of it. There is no end to this glorious message of the cross, for there is always something new and fresh and entrancing and moving and uplifting that one has never seen before. – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in The Cross
(Commenting on Romans 16:25) The heart of the gospel is that Jesus Christ, the righteous one, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation, but everlasting joy, for those who trust him. You never, never, never outgrow your need for this gospel. You don’t begin the Christian life with this and then leave it behind and get stronger with something else. God strengthens us with the gospel to the day we die. – John Piper in God Strengthens Us by the Gospel
Bunyan a Fun-One
Addendum to pilgrims:
I listened to a sermon about Bunyan later today. Bunyan said the following in a book called “the greatness of the soul” in reference to the need for endurance in following CHRIST.
Following of me [Christ] is not like following of some other masters. The wind sits always on my face and the foaming rage of the sea of this world, and the proud and lofty waves thereof do continually beat upon the sides of the bark or ship that myself, my cause, and my followers are in; he therefore that will not run hazards, and that is afraid to venture a drowning, let him not set foot into this vessel.
If you are doing this Christian thing because it seemed like a “good, nice, clean, American, healthy” way to live in this life, you might want to read the gospels. You do not follow Christ for the rewards in this life. There are rewards, but they are not worth the cost if there is nothing beyond this life (I Cor. 15:19). Paul and Bunyan seemed to think that the Christian life was so costly that the only reason to live in such a way was the hope of the eternal reward of Christ.
It seems Jesus lived this way too, you know with the cross and all.
And isn’t it a cross we are called to bear?
Discipleship costs a lot in this world.
Worldliness costs a lot in the next.
Which one are you living for?
Bunyan lost his wife, leaving him with four children, one of them blind. He remarried only to be thrown in prison one year later. He spent 12 years in prison for preaching the gospel. It was here that he wrote the jewel “the pilgrim’s progress”. The glory came after the suffering. The suffering is what birthed the glory. He was a pilgrim living for another world.
No Other Boast 