Saturday, July 04, 2009
Friday, July 03, 2009
Mercy
Truly, to be kept from danger is as great a privilege as to be kept in danger - but we forget this.
Let us thank God for preserved lives, continued comforts, and unspotted characters - for these essentials are marked "Fragile," and that they are not broken is a marvel of grace.
Our spiritual life still survives, and only He who holds the stars in their courses, could have maintained us in our integrity.
This ought to bring tears of gratitude to our eyes.
A flood of light breaks over the scene if we look back on our mercies!
Now for your arithmetic! Now begin to make your calculations!
Think of major mercies and minor mercies; fleeting mercies and eternal mercies; mercies by day, and mercies by night; mercies averting evil, and mercies securing good; mercies at home, and mercies abroad; mercies of bed and board, mercies of city and field, and mercies of society and seclusion.
Mercy affects every faculty of the mind, and every portion of the body.
There are mercies for conscience, and fear, and hope; mercies for the understanding, and the heart.
At the same time, there are mercies of eye, and ear, and head, and hand.
The whole landscape of life is golden with the light of mercy!
In the love of God we have lived, and moved, and had our being.
We see mercies new every morning, mercies old as the eternal hills - Streams of mercy! Oceans of mercy! Mercy all, and all mercy!
- Spurgeon, "Breaking the Long Silence"
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
A.W. Tozer Quotes
"I say that a Christian congregation can survive and often appear to prosper in the community by the exercise of human talent and without any touch from the Holy Spirit! All that religious activity and the dear people will not know anything better until the great and terrible day when our self-employed talents are burned with fire and only that which was wrought by the Holy Ghost will stand forever!" -Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts, page 30.
"We must do something about the cross, and one of two things only we can do--flee it or die upon it." - The Root of the Righteous, page 63.
"Christianity today is man-centered, not God-centered. God is made to wait patiently, even respectfully, on the whims of men. The image of God currently popular is that of a distracted Father, struggling in heartbroken desperation to get people to accept a Saviour of whom they feel no need and in whom they have very little interest. To persuade these self-sufficent souls to respond to His generous offers God will do almost anything, even using salesmanship methods and talking down to them in the chummiest way imaginable. This view of things is, of course, a kind of religious romanticism which, while it often uses flattering and sometimes embarrasing terms in praise of God, manages nevertheless to make man the star of the show." - Man: The Dwelling Place of God, page 27.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Jay Wingard - The Loudest Silence
From Jay Wingard:
In my study of Scripture I am always in awe of the description of the throne room of God. The very place He is said to sit on His throne in all His glory and majesty. The Old Testament book of Ezekiel and the New Testament book of Revelation both describe God on His throne in such amazing ways all the while never giving us enough detail to be able to break the second commandment and make a graven image.
Scripture gives us these stunning images of our Lord on His throne reigning and ruling in His sovereign and majestic power. We definitely get the sense that the vision is beyond human description - unfathomable. These glorious images Scripture gives us should cause us to pause and remember who our God is - the God of all creation - the one and only true God. He is above all and Creator of all. He is sovereign, He is Lord, He is King!
The imagery that the Holy Spirit gives us in the Word of God is stunning…
Ezekiel 1:26 Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. 27 Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. 28 As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.
Revelation 4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. 5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.
One thing that has always struck me is the constant worship God receives. At this very moment as I type this article and as you are reading it there is constant worship at the throne of God directed towards the triune God - the Father, Son (the Lamb who was worthy to be slain) and the Holy Spirit. There at the throne of God the four living creatures or seraphim incessantly sing out the trihagion, the three-fold song of holiness to our Great God…
Isaiah 6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “ Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Scripture goes on to teach us that all the angels join in worship to the Lion and the Lamb as well as the 24 elders on their thrones. The throne room of God is an ear piercing non-stop jubilation of praise and honor to the One who deserves nothing but praise, honor and glory. He alone is worthy of praise, for as Revelation clearly tells us Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was worthy to be slain, is surrounded by constant singing:
Rev. 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
So in heaven at the very throne of God there is constant sound - the constant sound of praise, adoration that has the three fold trihagion setting the tempo as sung by an angelic order that Ezekiel nor John could describe with fullness using human words for the very vision was overwhelming and beyond description - just as our Great God is.
But there is a moment in time when something will happen that has never happened and never will happen after it. There will be a moment in time when heaven will have the sound of silence. There will be a moment in time when the four living creatures will close their mouths in awe. There will be a time when the 24 elders will be silent. There will be a time when all of the angels - all of them, the innumerable army of angels will not utter a sound. The book of Revelation paints this amazing picture for us in the beginning of chapter 8:
Rev. 8:1 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
You see God has been patient, desiring that no one perish but that all come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) Even in His judgments that are summed up in the breaking of the first through the 6th seals we see mercy as opportunity to repent and turn to Him. But as the Lamb of God breaks that final seal it is done. Time is up. The sun, moon and stars fall from the sky no longer to meter the days and define time. All of heaven and all created order stops what they are doing and watches in awe as God symbolically stands up from His throne to render final judgment. The cries of the martyred souls no longer cry out (Rev. 6:9-10) - for they also see that the time has come. The time only the Father knows has come as the number of their fellow servants who would join their martyrdom was complete. (Rev. 6:10)
All of heaven is silent in absolute awe in anticipation of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Scripture teaches us that all of the angels of heaven will appear with Christ in the sky. Picture this: all of the angels, all myriads and myriads of them are silently arraying themselves while focused in silent awe of the Lamb who was worthy to be slain in preparation for the sky to split apart to display the Lord of lords in the glory of the Father. Those in Christ will be caught up in the air to meet Him while His wrath, the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:16), will be poured out on all who are not found in Him.
As Revelation teaches us, there is a moment of about one-half and hour where heaven is absolutely silent. The Creator of All, the Almighty Judge has stood to righteously deliver judgment upon the earth. Scripture teaches us that angels look intently at the church of Jesus Christ and peer deeply at the unsearchable riches of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now they see the culmination of all that the Lion and the Lamb has ushered in and bought through His obedience to the Father. Jesus Christ has saved His elect, has purchased a kingdom of priests for Himself who will reign upon the earth. Satan and his demons and all his children - all of the ungodly who have turned from God and denied Him are thrown into the lake of fire along with death itself. Let us never, ever forget that Christ experienced that very hell on the cross as He stood condemned in the place of sinners - His elect. Oh our gracious and merciful Lord! Our great God then ushers in a new heaven and a new earth - a restoration of Eden - when all “was good”. The bride of Christ will spend eternity with Him and will “see His face” (Rev. 22:4) in the new earth. This my friends is a true description of “heaven”.
While Revelation can be a challenging book to interpret, the overall theme and message is plain. God has won. It is that simple. God is on His throne and He will be glorified. He is equally glorified by the saints as well as those who will spend eternity in hell. The idea of their being silence is heaven is actually one of the loudest scenes Scripture portrays for us.
May we never forget who our God is. May we learn from the throne room of heaven in our own worship here on earth and remember that the Lion and the Lamb is our focus of worship just as it is in the heavenly throne. Do not miss that Christ is described as the Lamb who is slain - heaven never leaves the cross and nor should the Church! Let this silence described in Scripture bring you comfort as a Christian knowing that judgment has been passed on your Substitute and you are safe and secure in Him. However, let this silence bring about terror and conviction to anyone who is outside of the love of Christ. Today is the day of salvation for when the silence is heard it is too late.
The cross of Jesus Christ exemplifies in absolute beauty beyond description both the perfect love and perfect justice of God. Yes, God is love but He is also a God of perfect justice. We see both of those attributes displayed simultaneously at Calvary. The wrath of God abides on all those who are outside of Christ as their Lord and Savior - for the Lamb of God took our place and satisfied the requirements of the Law and the wrath we deserve. He receives all of the glory and rightly so for He is God!
Soli Deo Gloria!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
John Piper - A Cavern For Christ
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
4:1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. [1]
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. [2] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
43 After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.
Jesus Heals an Official's Son
46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants [3] met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour [4] the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Man's Total Depravity
“It is our deep conviction that the vital question most requiring to be raised today is this: Is man a totally and thoroughly depraved creature by nature? Does he now enter the world completely ruined and helpless, spiritually blind and dead in trespasses and sins? According as is our answer to that question, so will be our views on many others. It is upon the basis of this dark background that the whole Bible proceeds. Any attempt to modify or abate, repudiate or tone down the teaching of Scripture thereon is fatal. Put the question in another form: Is man now in such a condition that he cannot be saved without the special and direct intervention of the Triune God on his behalf? In other words, is there any hope for him apart from his personal election by the Father, his particular redemption by the Son, and the supernatural operations of the Spirit within him? Or, putting it in still another way: If man be a totally depraved being, can he possibly take the first step in the matter of his return unto God?
The Scriptural answer to that question makes evident the utter futility of the schemes of social reformers for ‘the moral elevation of the masses,’ the plans of politicians for the peace of the nations, and the ideologies of dreamers to usher in a ‘golden age’ for this world. It is both pathetic and tragic to see many of our greatest men putting their faith in such chimeras. Divisions and discords, hatred and bloodshed, cannot be banished while human nature is what it is. But during the past century the steady trend of a deteriorating Christendom has been to underrate the evil of sin and overrate the moral capabilities of men. Instead of proclaiming the heinousness of sin, there has been a dwelling more upon its inconveniences, and the abasing portrayal of the lost condition of man as set forth in Holy Writ has been obscured, if not obliterated, by flattering disquisitions upon human advancement. If the popular religion of ‘the churches’—including nine-tenths of what is termed ‘Evangelical Christianity’—be tested at this point, it will be found that it clashes directly with man’s fallen, mined, and spiritually dead condition.
There is therefore a crying need today for sin to be viewed in the light of God’s Law and Gospel, so that its exceeding sinfulness may be demonstrated, and the dark depths of human depravity exposed by the teaching of Holy Writ—that we may learn what is connoted by those fearful words, ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ The grand object of the Bible is to make God known unto us, to portray man as he appears in the eyes of his Maker, and to show the relation of one to the other. It is therefore the business of His servants not only to declare the Divine character and perfections, but also to delineate the original condition and apostasy of man, as well as the Divine remedy for his ruin. Until we really behold the hole of the pit in which by nature we lie, we can never properly appreciate Christ’s so-great salvation. In man’s fallen condition we have the awful disease for which Divine redemption is the only cure, and our estimation and valuation of the provisions of Divine grace will necessarily be modified in proportion to how well we understand the depth and degree of our sin.” - A.W. Pink, Man’s Total Depravity
Symphony Of Scripture
Spurgeon - Be Silent
"Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment." - Isaiah 41:1
"This is a noisy age, and the Church of Christ herself is too noisy. We have little silent worship, I fear. I do not so much regret the absence of silence from the public assembly as from our private devotions, where it has a sacred hallowing influence, unspeakably valuable.
Be silent, that you may hear the voice of Jesus, for when He speaks you will renew your strength. The eternal Spirit is with His people; but we often miss His power because we give more ear to other voices than to His, and quite as often our own voice is an injury to us, for it is heard when we have received no message from the Lord, and therefore gives an uncertain sound.
If we wait upon the blessed Spirit, His mysterious influence will sway us most divinely, and we shall be filled with all the fullness of God. Even as we have seen the frost yield suddenly to the influence of the warm south wind, so shall out lethargy melt before His sovereign energy.
How often have I felt in a moment my ice-locked spirit yield to the breath of the Holy Spirit. You have seen a cloud on high flying, as you thought, against the wind, driven on by some upper current of air which you did not feel below; even thus have we been carried on by the upper currents which flesh and blood cannot understand. We sang as Dr. Watts does—
“Look how we grovel here below, Fond of these trifling toys; Our souls can neither fly nor go, To reach eternal joys.”
But when the Holy Spirit came the lightening itself could not overtake us; we rode upon a cherub and did fly, yea, we did ride upon the wings of the wind, for God the everlasting One had caught us up and filled us with His power.
Be silent, then, that the Spirit may thus work upon you. Let other spirits be gone—let the spirit of the world, and the spirit of the flesh, and the spirit of self be banished, and let the Spirit of the Ever Blessed be heard speaking in your soul. Thus shall you renew your strength."
Friday, June 19, 2009
C.H. Spurgeon - What It Is To Preach The Gospel
"Again, am I asked what it is to preach the gospel? I answer to preach the gospel is to exalt Jesus Christ. Perhaps this is the best answer that I could give. I am very sorry to see very often how little the gospel is understood even by some of the best Christians. Some time ago there was a young woman under great distress of soul; she came to a very pious Christian man, who said, 'My dear girl, you must go home and pray.'
Well I thought within myself, that is not the Bible way at all. It never says, "Go home and pray." The poor girl went home; she did pray, and she still continued in distress. Said he, "You must wait, you must read the Scriptures and study them." That is not the Bible way; that is not exalting Christ; find a great many preachers are preaching that kind of doctrine. They tell a poor convinced sinner, "You must go home and pray, and read the Scriptures; you must attend the ministry;" and so on.
Works, works, works—instead of "By grace are ye saved through faith," If a penitent should come and ask me, "What must I do to be saved?" I would say, "Christ must save you—believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." I would neither direct to prayer, nor reading of the Scri ptures nor attending God's house; but simply direct to faith, naked faith on God's gospel.
Not that I despise prayer—that must come after faith. Not that I speak a word against the searching of the Scriptures—that is an infallible mark of God's children. Not that I find fault with attendance on God's word—God forbid! I love to see people there. But none of those things are the way of salvation. It is nowhere written—"He that attendeth chapel shall be saved," or, "He that readeth the Bible shall be saved." Nor do I read—"He that prayeth and is baptised shall be saved;" but, "He that believeth,"—he that has a naked faith on the "Man Christ Jesus,"—on his Godhead, on his manhood, is delivered from sin. To preach that faith alone saves, is to preach God's truth."
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Truth Matters Book Of The Week
"The tragic reality is that we are living in an age that is marked by so much spiritual and theological confusion that the God of the Bible has largely disappeared from view -- replaced by less imposing deities that are more amenable to the modern mind.
In one sense, we are witnessing the result of secularization and the evaporation of biblical theism from our public life. To this we must add the privatization of truth and the fact that millions of Americans claim a divine right to their own spiritual cocoon and belief system. As the song suggests, Americans now lay claim to “their own personal Jesus.” This personal vision of Jesus Christ may well bear little or no resemblance to Jesus as he is revealed in the Bible.
Indeed, the abdication of biblical faith is one of the hallmarks of our age – whether you prefer to call it postmodern, hypermodern, or post-postmodern. Yet, once the faith is severed from biblical authority, Christianity becomes essentially plastic; a malleable and changeable belief system that just begs for transformation into some other shape and substance.
The situation is complicated further by the embrace of an “openness” that is not open to authentic biblical Christianity. “Tolerance” becomes a code-word for avoiding truth=2 0and “openness” means never having to make a judgment about truth at all.
A rescue from this predicament would appear more hopeful but for the fact that the church has, in large part, apparently joined the revolution. Theological fads and fashions dot the American religious landscape, and far too many Christian churches flirt with doctrinal disaster.
As always, truth is the essential issue. Where a clear notion of truth is absent, Christianity becomes more of an attitude than a belief system. But belief has always stood at the center of Christianity, and belief presupposes a truth that can and must be known.
The issues addressed within this book are matters of continuing concern within the Christian church. Intelligent and faithful Christians should know of these issues, and this book is intended to help believers to understand what is at stake.
In the end, the hope for the church is the hope of our lives – Jesus Christ. As our Lord promised, the gates of Hell shall not prevail over his church. This is a promise we can trust, even (and especially) in the face of current controversies and concerns.
God has certainly not disappeared, but the belief that he has, sets our pr esent challenge squarely before us. We will soon find out whether this generation of Christians is up to the challenge."
- Albert Mohler - Preface from his new book, The Disappearance of God: Dangerous Beliefs in the New Spiritual Openness
Edward Griffin
"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee." - Psalm 73:25
"How is this? Was it then a matter of indifference to Asaph whether his friends lived or died,-whether he enjoyed the comforts of life or perished with hunger? This was not literally and precisely his meaning. But what he intended may, I conclude, be summed up in the following ideas.
First, that there was nothing among all the charms of earth which could prevent him from wishing to depart and be with the Lord. Secondly, while continuing on earth, he desired nothing besides God in a comparative sense. His soul was at that moment so filled with the supreme excellence and glory of Jehovah, that all earthly things were put out of view. Thirdly, he desired nothing besides God in that he coveted nothing which he considered distinct from the emanations of God. Did he desire food and raiment and friends? He desired them chiefly as divine goodness expressed, as God existing in his outward bounty.
Such a temper of supreme delight in God will operate in unreserved and universal submission to divine providence. While God is more beloved than all other objects, the withholding or removal of every thing besides him will not awaken a spirit of unsubmission and rebellion.
While the Christian has such supreme delight in God, he will not be inordinately leaning on friends or wealth or any worldly object for enjoyment. No high expectations will be formed except those which centre in the supreme good. Lightly valuing the things of time and sense, he will scorn the restless pursuits and unsatisfied desires of the covetous; and holding the commands of God in supreme veneration, he will practice deeds of liberal charity.
Sensible that prosperity gives and adversity takes away only those things which are least desirable, neither by prosperity nor adversity will he be greatly moved. Ever assured that God, the supreme good, is safe, he will dismiss all anxieties respecting future changes, and come what will, he will "rejoice evermore." Calmly resigning the management of all affairs into hands dearer than his own, he passes his days in unruffled serenity, and knows not the distrusts of jealousy nor the uneasiness of unbelief. Having a greater regard for the divine will than for any earthly comfort which that will can bestow, he has learned "both how to abound and to suffer need," and "in whatsoever state" he is, "therewith to be content."
The result of this supreme love to God will be faith, trust, self-denial, obedience, and an unreserved consecration of all that we are and have to him, to be disposed of according to his pleasure, and to be employed in his service, how and when and where he is pleased to appoint." - Edward Griffin
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
"Election" by J.C. Ryle
Those men and women whom God has been pleased to choose from all eternity, He calls in time, by His Spirit working in due season. He convinces them of sin. He leads them to Christ. He works in them repentance and faith. He converts, renews, and sanctifies them. He keeps them by His grace from falling away entirely, and finally brings them safe to glory. In short, God’s eternal Election is the first link in that chain of a sinner’s salvation of which heavenly glory is the end. None ever repent, believe, and are born again, except the Elect. The primary and original cause of a saint’s being what he is, is eternal God’s election.
The doctrine here stated, no doubt, is peculiarly deep, mysterious, and hard to understand. We have no eyes to see it fully. We have no line to fathom it thoroughly. No part of the Christian religion has been so much disputed, rejected, and reviled as this. None has called forth so much of that enmity against God which is the grand mark of the carnal mind. Thousands of so-called Christians profess to believe the Atonement, salvation by grace, and justification by faith, and yet refuse to look at the doctrine of Election. The very mention of the word to some persons is enough to call forth expressions of anger, ill-temper, and passion.
But, after all, is the doctrine of Election plainly stated in Scripture? This is the whole question which an honest Christian has to do with. If it is not in the Book of God, let it be forever discarded, refused, and rejected by man, no matter who propounds it. If it is there, let us receive it with reverence, as a part of Divine revelation, and humbly believe, even where we are not able to understand completely or explain fully. What then is written in the Scriptures? “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah. viii. 20.) Is Election in the Bible, or is it not? Does the Bible speak of certain persons as God’s Elect, or not? (J.C.Ryle)
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