Oct
10
The election of grace
Filed Under Christian Living, Resources | Leave a Comment
Today is my birthday. While shaving this morning, I thought back to something I first read in 1997–a bit of personal reflection about a shared birthday written by one of my favorite preachers, The Rev. Geoffrey Thomas of Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, Wales. Here’s a reverse birthday gift for you: The Election of Grace.
I share a birthday with actress Helen Hayes (’First Lady of the Amerian Theater’), David Lee Roth, Brett Favre and composer Giuseppe Verdi (which, being interpreted, means ‘Joe Green’, I think).
Oct
6
Manton Quotes
Filed Under Justification, Puritans | Leave a Comment
I was reading a sermon by Thomas Manton this morning on the redemption purchased by Christ. The sermon was from Colossians 1:15. He had an excellent point concerning the dignity of Christ’s person which I include below for you to think on.
There are three things that commend the value of Christ’s sacrifice - the dignity of his person, the greatness of his sufferings, and the merit of his obedience. But the two latter without the former will little quiet the heart of scrupulous men. His sufferings were great, but temporary and finite - the merit of his obedience much; but how shall the virtue of it reach all the world? And if he be but a mere creature, he hath done what he ought to do. I confess a fourth thing may be added - God’s institution, which availeth to the end for which God hath appointed it; but the scripture insists most on the first - the dignity of his person - which putteth value on his sacrifice.
We can think much on the suffering of Jesus for poor sinners. We can think much of the perfect obedience offered on our behalf. But neither of these truths carry biblical or redemptive weight unless the suffering and obedience of Jesus are subservient to his eternal dignity and value. The glory of Jesus Christ is what makes his sacrifice for sin possible. The glory of Jesus Christ is what lends eternal value to his suffering and obedience.
Oct
5
Holy laughter
Filed Under Christian Living, Fun | 2 Comments
When the gospel takes deep root in our hearts, laughter inevitably follows. Sometimes we laugh in joy and delight at God’s ways and our thick-headedness about it all. Sometimes we chuckle at the incongruities of life–the explanations of the world that 3-year-olds offer us, funny hats, and the catapult hurling Wile E. Coyote into the side of the mountain. Sometimes we imitate our Father and his prophet Elijah in mocking and ridiculing the arrogance of those who exalt themselves against God and his Christ (Psalm 2:2-4; 1 Kings 18:27).
Here are some thoughts from Charles Spurgeon on laughter and the Christian life.
I do believe, in my heart, that there may be as much holiness in a laugh as in a cry; and that, sometimes, to laugh is the better thing of the two, for I may weep, and be murmuring, and repining, and thinking all sorts of bitter thoughts against God; while, at another time, I may laugh the laugh of sarcasm against sin, and so evince a holy earnestness in the defense of the truth.
I do not know why ridicule is to be given up to Satan as a weapon to be used against us, and not to be employed by us as a weapon against him. I will venture to affirm that the Reformation owed almost as much to the sense of the ridiculous in human nature as to anything else, and that those humorous squibs and caricatures, that were issued by the friends of Luther, did more to open the eyes of Germany to the abominations of the priesthood than the more solid and ponderous arguments against Romanism.
I know no reason why we should not,on suitable occasions, try the same style of reasoning. “It is a dangerous weapon,” it will be said, “any many men will cut their fingers with it.” Well, that is their own lookout; but I do not know why we should be so particular about their cutting their fingers if they can, at the same time, cut the throat of sin, and do serious damage to the great adversary of souls.
At no extra cost, here’s one from Martin Luther:
It is pleasing to the dear God whenever you rejoice or laugh from the bottom of your heart.
Oct
4
My Every-Year-Read List
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Mortimer Adler in his book, How To Read a Book, suggests that there are three types of books in the world.
- Books that are fluff, make no demands on the reader, and should be skimmed (%99 of all books)
- Good books that help a reader to grow in knowledge and life and should be read in entirety (1 in 10,000 books)
- Inexhaustible books, that cause growth in the reader every time they are read and should be read many times (less than 100 books)
It is my contention that a Christian should keep a list of their own inexhaustible books and commit to read through them once a year. I’ll give you a few that are on my list and leave the comments open for you to suggest your own inexhaustible books.
- The Holy Bible (of course, the most inexhaustible book standing in a league of its own)
- Holiness, by JC Ryle
- Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by JRR Tolkien
- The Westminster Confession of Faith
Oct
2
Sinful covetousness and godly ambition
Filed Under Ethics, Ten Commandments | 3 Comments
Is there a difference between the two? Time did not allow me to explore this in my sermon on the 10th Commandment, which requires of us , “full contentment with our own condition.” Does this mean that a Christian should never desire to advance in a career, to move from a position of indebtedness to debt-free living, from being single to being married, to take another job, to trade in that clunker and buy a shiny new car, etc.?
In short, the answer to the question is NO. In fact, in some cases the Bible commends a godly ambition that is distinct from sinful covetousness. Here’s an example from 1 Timothy 3:1: “If a man desires the position of an overseer (i.e., bishop, elder), he desires a good work.” What is interesting is that Paul uses the same word for desire in chapter 6:10 to describe the greediness of people that drives many to stray from the faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows!
So is ambition good or bad? Well, that depends. The desire to be rich described in chapter 6 is a recipe for ruin, while the desire in chapter 3 is a good thing. Part of the answer lies in the object of our desires and ambitions? Do we value the right things in light of the kingdom of God? The other part of the answer lies in the 1 Timothy 3 passage. Right on the heels of commending the desire to be an elder, Paul spells out qualifications. While the desire may be godly, it could also arise from envy and self-seeking. Others must be able to look at a man’s life and recognize certain character traits and giftedness that an elder must possess. An examination of his life may reveal that he wants the respect and prestige of being an elder (which is overblown anyway, trust me on this one), but he may not take godliness seriously and may not care a whit about people. In that case, his desire is more akin to covetousness than to the good desire Paul praises. C.S. Lewis once observed that when a man is in the grip of lust for a woman, the truth is that a woman is the last thing that he wants! He merely longs for a physical sensation for which a woman is a necessary apparatus. If he wanted a woman, he would also want marriage, the long walks, the house, the curtains, the landscaping, the gravy boat, etc.
Sinful covetousness differs from godly ambition by the willingness to ‘pay the price’–in other words, to walk in submission before God, which another term to describe, well, contentment. Can I trust God and submit to him even if I am not given what I desire? Sinful ambition and godly ambition give two different answers to that question.