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Showing posts from May, 2015

the process of history

hearing the Spirit

At Basics this year I picked up a book by Christopher Ash, entitled Hearing the Spirit.  An excellent -- and greatly needed study -- on the relationship of the Holy Spirit and God's Word.  And it's a vital corrective to many who are trying to "hear the Spirit" apart from God's word.   A couple of highlights:  "The Spirit breathes into our hearts the Word He first breathed out from the Father.  There is a stable meaning in the text. What it said, it says.  What God spoke, He speaks.  It has a fixed meaning." "So the Spirit does not supplement the sufficiency of the word, but He works in us the efficacy of the word.  He renders the word effective.  The Spirit is, in a sense, mute without the word.  But on the other hand the word is inactive without the Spirit.  The word does not work on its own, as it were ex opere operato ; it works as the Spirit renders it effective." -- Christopher Ash, Hearing The Spirit (Christian Focus, 2011)

the glory of Christ

"Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world."  (John 17:24 ESV) "A continual contemplation of the glory of Christ, in his person, work, and grace will carry us cheerfully, peaceably, and victoriously through life and death, and through all our struggles in either of them."  (John Owen, The Glory of Christ )

letting the Bible read you

You read the Bible, but are you letting the Bible read you?   What I mean by that is, we may search the Scriptures, but we must also take time for the Scriptures to search us. We need to look intently at the word and not merely glance and then forget... "For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.   For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the  law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." (James  1:23-25 ESV) We come to the Bible not to gain content only, but for growth in our relationship with Christ.  We come for his life, the life we need...     "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,  yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life." (John 5:39-

already spoken

"Many of us want a word from God, but we don’t want the Word of God."  (Howard Hendricks)

he must increase, but I must decrease

John [the Baptist] answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease."   (John 3:27-30 ESV) Here are some reading highlights from Lloyd-Jones on this verse... “'He must increase, but I must decrease.' Are you proud of  your religion? Are you proud of the good life you are  living? Believe me, once you know something about this you  will hate all that; it will have to go, decrease, disappear." "The greatest enemy in the Christian life is self. By that I  mean the greatest enemy within us." "The Law has been given very definitely in order to show us  exactly what we are. &#

a review of Experiencing the New Birth

I am always interested in any new publication of the works of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, with the hope that his sermons might be introduced to new  readers and new generations.   I was first introduced to Lloyd-Jones -- the physician-turned-evangelist -- in 1996 through a collection of messages called  Knowing the Times .  I soon moved on to reading many more sermons by Lloyd-Jones, as well as his biography.  I was amazed at  his grasp of the gospel, his depth of wisdom in applying biblical truth, the breadth of his understanding of history, and his  prescient understanding of where our western world is heading. He was able to communicate all this in a plain and straight- forward manner from the pulpit. Experiencing the New Birth is a collection of sermons on John 3, preached in 1966 at Westminster Chapel. This is a most timely book, and quite needed today among professing Christians, many of whom take the new birth for granted.   Evangelical offerings published recently have been strong o

the ascension

"Parts of the church celebrate Ascension Day. We must never lose sight of the ascension. We worship the One who has conquered all enemies—death, the Devil, and hell. And he has risen; he has passed through the heavens. There he is in glorious power; there is nothing he cannot do for you. You must start with that. If you think of your Christianity in terms of your little life, you will have nothing. But if you look at him and realize who he is, that there is literally no limit and that there are endless possibilities, then you will begin to receive his fullness. The Christian church is as she is because she has become uncertain about her Lord." --Martyn Lloyd-Jones,  Experiencing the New Birth  (Crossway, 2015)

Jesus never sought to amuse

My friend Harry transcribed the following from a recent sermon by Alistair Begg : And it is by means of this Word being sown says Jesus that the Kingdom of God will come to it's fulfillment. This is an important principle in all of time and in every era.  In the 19th century in Great Britain in London when Charles Haddon Spurgeon was the foremost preacher of the day he had as a contemporary a man by the name of Archibald G. Brown. Archibald had been first one of his students and then became one of his peers. Brown was a very effective minister and at one point in his ministry began to bemoan what he referred to as quote "the Devil's mission of entertainment."  And what Brown was referring to was the fact that in his own day in the 19th century many of the churches and many of the ministers of the time appeared to be seeking to put crowds together gathering people in their congregation by means of seeking to entertain them and amuse them.  And Brown, observing