Genesis 1 and the Encouragement of Our Hearts

“It is a mighty support of faith that God creates.  He that made all things with a word, what cannot he do?  He can create strength in weakness; he can create a supply of our wants.  What a foolish question was that, ‘Can he prepare a table in the wilderness?’ (Psalm 78:19).  Cannot he that made the world do much more? ‘Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.’ (Psalm 124:8).  Rest on this God for help, who made heaven and earth.  As the work of creation is a monument of God’s power, so it is a stay of faith.  Is thy heart hard? He can with a word create softness.  Is it unclean?  He can create purity.  ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God’ (Psalm 51:10).  Is the church of God low?  He can create Jerusalem a praise (Isaiah 65:18).  There is no such golden pillar for faith to stay upon as a creating power.”  – Thomas Watson

Broken Pieces and the Providence of God

Have you ever asked the question, “What in the world is God doing?!”  I’m sure we’ve all had moments when the circumstances in our lives suggest that God has lost His sovereign grip on the universe.  The next time you bump into one of those, remember this important reminder from our dear brother, Thomas Watson:

God is to be trusted when his providences seem to run contrary to his promises.  God promised to give David the crown, to make him king; but providence ran contrary to his promise.  David was pursued by Saul, and was in danger of his life, but all this while it was David’s duty to trust God.  Pray observe, that the Lord by cross providences often brings to pass his promise. God promised Paul the lives of all that were with him in the ship; but the providence of God seemed to run quite contrary to his promise, for the winds blew, the ship split and broke in peices.  Thus God fulfilled his promise; upon the broken pieces of the ship they all came safe to shore.  Trust God when providences seem to run quite contrary to promises. ( “The Providence of God” from A Body of Divinity)

T4G08…Day 2

“Tell me about the Gospel.”

This statement was made by Al Mohler in the final address of the day and it summarizes very well Wednesday’s focus.

The day began with John MacArthur preaching on the topic of Total Depravity, focusing on the truth that every person (before the sovereign working of God’s grace) is unwilling and unable to come to Him for salvation.  The message was a glorious, richly biblical defense of this often attacked doctrine.  The brother sitting next to me, who before the session made it clear he wasn’t a Calvinist, was furiously taking notes.  After the message was over, he told me how amazing the sermon was and he sat in his seat for the next half hour looking again over all the scripture passages.  I praise God for the clarity of His word and the power found in preaching it truthfully and clearly.

The second session was an address by Mark Dever entitled “Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology.”  Dr. Dever’s heart was made so clear- the man is passionate about the Gospel and desires everyone to know it and to know it clearly. To strike at this target, his message focused on exposing 5 threats to clarity in understanding the Gospel or, as he put it, “5 Cries” that call us to change or alter the message of the Gospel.  All 5 were very helpful, but it was his second point, Don’t “Make the Gospel Larger,” that really got me thinking.  He warned us against confusing the implications of the Gospel with the Gospel itself.  Having a godly marriage or loving our enemies is not the Gospel; it is an outworking of the Gospel.  No one is saved by having a good marriage or by loving their enemies.  There can even be those who have a good marriage or in some sense show love to those who are against them but those same people don’t submit to the Gospel.  If we mix the Gospel with its implications we either end up with a works Gospel or allowing people to think they are saved without having embraced Christ’s death on the cross for their behalf.

This may seem pretty elementary to most, but the reason it hit me so squarely was that I love to dwell on the implications of the Gospel.  I regularly remind myself that “the ethical imperatives of the NT are always ground in redemptive indicatives.”  My attitude towards my wife is an outworking of my understanding of the Gospel.  My love for my enemies is an outworking of the Gospel.  But as I hold the Gospel and its implications so closely together, there is a danger in taking that true connection too far, equating the outworking with the Gospel itself.  Dr. Dever’s point here served as a good warning to make sure I always know where the line is between the actual Gospel and the fruit of it.

The third session was were I lost it… in a good way. 

A month ago, as I was reading through Thomas Watson’s A Godly Man’s Picture, I came across his section on holy tears and godly weeping.  I thought to myself, “when was the last time I wept over the things of Christ; over my sin, over the cross, over the Gospel?”  I couldn’t remember it happening any time during the last few years.  I prayed that God would soften my heart and give me real sensitivity towards these wonderful and eternal truths.  I wanted what Watson was pointing to.

Well, today I got it.  At the conclusion of the third session, a moving message by Dr. R. C. Sproul on Christ becoming the Curse for us (from Galatians 3:10-14), my broken heart started spilling out through my eyes. I tried to hold it back as message was ending, but the singing of Arise, My Soul, Arise broke my control.  I couldn’t sing; I could only stand there with tears running down my face as I thought “Why me?  I can’t believe You took that on for me!”  I praise God for His softening of this hard heart.  Such a moment was only of His grace.

After a rich panel discussion with Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, Mark Dever, C. J. Mahaney and Dr. Sproul, we took a break, got dinner, and gave our souls some time to rest and reflect. 

We then returned for Mohler’s address regard the modern attack on the doctrine of subsitutionary atonement.  Dr. Mohler took us on a climb through the mountains of his intellect (wow, what a climb!) and dissected this controversy, exposing its severe and grotesque departure from Biblical revelation in attempting to remove the offense of the Cross.  The quotes shared and the theology explained were both shocking and saddening, grieving many as we sat appalled at what our “brothers” are doing in an attempt to “better” explain the “gospel” to our postmodern world.

Mohler’s address stood in sharp contrast with Dr. Sproule’s, the latter like a glorious sunrise and the former like a tour through a sewage treatment plant!  Dr. Sproul declared the greatness of our God and Dr. Mohler exposed the danger and ugliness of departing from His truth.  I praise God for both men’s work and for the power of seeing both together- it increased my love for the Gospel and my desire to defend it.

Today was a day my soul was bombarded with the Gospel’s glory and as I write this I find myself even more amazed at and full of worship for our God than when I awoke this morning.  What an glorious message the Gospel is (truly “good news”!) and how merciful, holy, just, and loving is our Righteous Sovereign God!

I pray that He brings me safely to my earthly home tomorrow so that I can see my precious family- I love you and miss you and can’t wait to see you!     

Hard on the Ears or a Joy to the Heart?

How do you respond to convicting truth preached from the Word?

Personally, I love hard preaching.  When the Spirit of God takes me to the “woodshed” through the preached Word of God, I rejoice!  It is like water to my soul; it is refreshing, invigorating, and satisfying.  I want to be reminded of eternity, of the gravity of these truth, of the call to holiness and the sacrifice of my Savior.  I need to be reminded of my own inability, of how lost I was, and how desperately every day I need to grace of God. 

But there are times when I wonder if my delight in such convicting sermons is weird or bizarre or strange.  There are moments when I think: “Am I just wired wrong?” 

Recently, through conversations with some others in our church who delight in a convicting challenge (who actually find joy in it!) I came to a place of puzzlement over this “phenomena.”  Why would people enjoy hearing that they are wrong, out of line, or in danger of punishment?

The world would answer the question by saying that we are just a bunch of masochists, that somehow we get some perverse delight out of the emotional or psychological pain.  They would say we need help (as in the professional kind).  However, I think the world couldn’t be more wrong with their answer.

I came across the following in Thomas Watson’s A Godly Man’s Picture and I believe it gives the true answer to this “bizarre” behavior:

The Scripture is like the Garden of Eden: as it has a tree of life in it, so it has a flaming sword at its gates.  This is the threatening of the Word.  It flashes fire in the face of every person who goes on obstinately in wickedness… a godly man loves the menace of the Word.  He knows there is love in every threat.  God would not have us perish; he therefore mercifully threatens us, so that he may scare us from sin… there is mercy in every threat. 

So, the child of God learns to see the mercy in the threat, the joy in the conviction, the eternal pleasure gained through moments of pain, the refinement in the moments of fire.  Explaining this truth leads Watson to raise the following question (and further drive the point home):

Do we love the convictions of the Word? Do we love the Word when it comes home to our conscience and shoots its arrows of reproof at our sins?  It is the minister’s duty sometimes to reprove.  He who can speak smooth words in the pulpit, but does not know how to reprove, is like a sword with a fine hilt without an edge. ‘Rebuke them sharply’ (Titus 2:15).  Dip the nail in oil, reprove in love, but strike the nail home.  Now Christian, when the Word touches your sin and says, ‘Thou are the man,’ do you love reproof?  Can you bless God that ‘the sword of the Spirit’ has divided between you and your lusts?  This is indeed a sign of grace and shows that you are a lover of the Word.

Did you catch that last part?  Why this bizarre behavior?   Because God is producing it.  It is a sign of his grace working in our life.  If we fought the conviction, if we hated it, it would only manifest a heart that is embracing rebellion and doesn’t want to submit to what God is saying.  However, that we love such hard teaching and desire to have the light of truth shine upon our souls reveals something heavenly working in our lives- it reveals Someone divine working in our lives.

So, the next time your pastor isn’t “pulling any punches” and you find yourself broken but joyfully, realize there is nothing wrong with what you are experiencing.  Actually, there is everything right with it, and your joy should only increase when you realize this strange feeling is evidence of God’s Spirit working in your life.  

Why Would God Let Us Suffer? (part 2)

Do you remember the last time you had a sliver?  The entire experience of removing a sliver has changed greatly as an adult, hasn’t it?  Now, when I have a sliver in my finger or in my hand, I get out the pocket knife or tweezers and dig it out.  But as a child, when my father attempted the same approach, I thought I might die!  I would scream and cry and beg my dad to just “leave it alone!”  However, he couldn’t.  With a sliver comes the possibility of infection and, if left alone, that little sliver could become a big problem.  The pain of removing that sliver isn’t pleasant, but it is necessary to deal with the corruption present and to avoid an even more painful situation.  Which brings me to Thomas Watson and the discussion of a far more serious form of corruption. 

Last week, we began looking at Thomas Watson’s answers to the question: “Why does God let his people be in the house of bondage or in an afflicted state?”  Watson raised this question and answered it as he worked through Exodus 20 and the Ten Commandments.  You will remember that God reminds His people of their redemption (“I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” Exodus 20:2) before He sets forth the model for their obedience.  However, that phrase “house of bondage” does raise the question of why God would allow His own, His chosen, His children to undergo pain and suffering.  Here is Watson’s second answer: 

For purgation; to purge our corruption. ‘And this is all the fruit, to take away his sin'(Isaiah 27:9).  The eye, though a tender part, yet when sore, we put sharp powders and waters into it to eat out the pearl; so though the people of God are dear to him, yet, when corruption begins to grow in them, he will apply the sharp powder of affliction, to eat out the pearl in the eye. Affliction is God’s flail to thresh off our husks; it is a means God uses to purge out sloth, luxury, pride, and love of the world. God’s furnace is in Zion. (Isaiah 31:9). This is not to consume, but to refine. What if we have more affliction, if by this means we have less sin!

When I read through this second answer, it reminds me of my duties as a father.  I love my daughter and I try to always have that love be my motive for disciplining her.  I don’t want sin to run unchecked in her life because I know that it will only grow and, eventually, seriously harm her.  Although the discipline is uncomfortable for her (and me too!), it is so much better than the alternative.  And the same is true for us.  God will use the “house of bondage” to make us holy, as He uses the affliction to drive us to Him and away from sin.  The trials are His way to remove the slivers of corruption and make His people -His children- healthy, sound, and more like Him.   

Care to Accept a Challenge?

Last week, I came across a “challenge” at Timmy Brister’s blog Provocations and Pantings.  He is encouraging others to get acquainted with the Puritans by taking a “Puritan Reading Challenge.”  On his blog, he has laid out a monthly reading list that serves as a great and diverse introduction to Puritan thought and writing.  Several bloggers have accepted the challenge (over 100!) and are conversing in the blogosphere about what they are reading.

After reading through Timmy’s list, I decided to accept the challenge (although I’m almost two months late).  Why did I accept?

First, as I have been growing in my love for Puritan teaching and preaching I have acquired a number of Puritan titles.  However, I haven’t really had any set “plan” about how to approach them.  The Puritan Challenge reading list, being balanced among a variety of authors and topics, sets out a great plan to follow and I really thank Tim for taking the time to share it.  I’m looking forward to walking down this monthly path to a better acquaintance with a number of Puritan authors.   

Second, because the Challenge is built around the Puritan Paperback collection, each month’s title is very affordable (most books are around $6, with the most expensive title being $8).  Reformation Heritage Books even put together a package deal, where you can purchase all 12 books for only $65.00!  This makes it easy to add a new book each month and not feel like I am doing damage to the family budget (with a new baby on the way, this is important!).

And, lastly, I accepted the challenge because it is always more enjoyable to read through a book with others.  I’m looking forward to reading what others have to say about each month’s book and for engaging in some intra-blogosphere discussion.  

So, what about you?  Interested in joining the challenge?  Don’t worry if you don’t have a blog, you can always come here to discuss what you’re reading!

My plan is to begin with the March title, which happens to be Thomas Watson’s A Godly Man’s Picture.  (When I saw that it was next on the list, I got really excited since it was sitting on my “to-be-read” shelf!)  The book is affordable ($ 6.50 at Monergism), easy to read, and short (only 250 small pages).   Throughout the month I’ll put up a few posts with some of my thoughts on the book, some quotes, and maybe a topic or two for discussion.  I’d love to have you join me in reading the book and then weigh in on what you think.

So, what do you say?  Are you up for a challenge?

For more information on the “Challenge” or to see the full reading list, click on the link below. 

Why Would God Let Us Suffer? (part 1)

As I hope I have made clear on this blog, I love and admire the work of Thomas Watson.  His preaching is rich, practical, and always God-centered.  This last year, as I was studying to preach with the other pastors of our church through the Ten Commandments, I greatly benefited from reading Watson’s sermons on the Decalogue.  As our puritan brother began his own series on this topic, his exposition of Exodus 20:2: “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (KJV) led him to raise this question: “Why does God let his people be in the house of bondage or in an afflicted state?” As I read that line, I wrote “good question!” in the margin, and it is an important question.  Have you ever asked this question?  Have you ever prayed, “God, why me? God, why now?  God, what did I do to deserve this?!”  If you haven’t, hold your breath, because an event to make you ask this question might be right around the corner! 

As good as Watson’s question is, it is in his answers that we find the real treasure.  So, for the next few weeks, my plan is to post our brother’s insight into this question and I hope that our souls will be strengthened by seeing more clearly God’s purpose for our seasons in the “house of bondage.”  

Watson’s first answer explains that God purposes suffering in His children’s lives: “for probation or trial. ‘Who led thee through that terrible wilderness, that he might humble thee and prove thee’ Deut 8:15, 16.  Affliction is the touch-stone of sincerity. ‘Thou O God, hast proved us; thou hast tried us as silver; thou laidst affliction upon our loins’ Psalm 66:10-11. Hypocrites may embrace the true religion in prosperity, and court this queen while she has a jewel hung at her ear; but he is a good Christian who will keep close to God in a time of suffering.  ‘All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee’  Psalm 44:17 . To love God in heaven, is no wonder; but to love him when he chastises us, discovers sincerity.”

Have you ever wondered what the church in America would look like if God allowed us to undergo serious persecution?  Our brother, Thomas Watson, is making the point that it would definitely look like a more sincere church.  Those who truly do love God would be the only ones who would walk through the fire for Him; things would be too uncomfortable for the pretenders.  So, first, in suffering God’s people find an opportunity to prove the sincerity and genuineness of their commitment.

But here’s the rub- why the need for proving?  Doesn’t God already know our hearts?  Why would He need to test us and reveal our sincerity?  The glorious part of this proven commitment is that it becomes a testimony to God’s grace actively working in our lives!  It declares we are His and part of His plan.  Our perseverance becomes a testimony for others and for ourselves, as we come to understand that it is only through the sustaining work of God’s power in our lives that we can be kept sincere and loving God as we go through the fire!  That is why Peter explains that this proven faith is “more precious than gold” (1 Peter 1:7). What could be more precious than to know God is actively working in your life to keep you and sustain you?  What could be more precious than to know you are His and He will not let you go! The trial discovers the sincerity, and the sincerity proves the persevering presence of God. He is the treasure that the fire of affliction discovers!

We’ll come to understand all of this more in the next few weeks as we continue to sit at the feet of our brother, Pastor Watson, and hear more of his insight into God’s purpose in allowing His own to experience a season of suffering.

Worshiping our Wealth?

A dear brother of ours travels to North Korea to minister from time time (yes, North Korea).  One of the points he regularly makes when he returns is that we Americans are as much indoctrinated by propaganda as the North Koreans.  However, we usually don’t notice it because it is part of our culture and our propaganda machines are a bit more subtle than those of the North Koreans. 

So, what is the propaganda he points to?  What is the ‘god’ we are directed towards so subtly and consistently by our culture?  It is the god of materialism.  My friend shares how obvious this becomes to him, how visible it is to him, when he enters the States after having been in a foreign culture for an extended period.  He explains that it is so shockingly clear that we, Americans, have put our hope in our wealth instead of in God.  As I was thinking about this (especially post Christmas!), I was reminded of the words of another faithful brother, our wise mentor Thomas Watson:

Whatever we love more than God we make a god […] That which a man trusts to he makes his god; but he makes the wedge of gold his hope; he makes money his creator, redeemer, and comforter. It is his creator; if he has money, he thinks he is made: it is his redeemer; if he be in danger, he trusts in his money to redeem him: it is his comforter; if at any time he be sad, the golden harp drives away the evil spirit: so that money is his god. God made man of the dust of the earth, and man makes a god of the dust of the earth.
                                                                  (from the sermon “The Unity of God”)

I think he has clearly put his finger on the pulse of our culture (although he lived almost 400 years ago).  Look around; isn’t wealth being viewed as our maker, redeemer, and comforter?  Doesn’t our culture often look to wealth and material possessions to establish itself, to secure itself, and to cheer itself? 

Now, read again through Watson’s comments and look at your own heart… yeah, mine looks that way too.

The propaganda machine has been pretty effective.    

       

My Smile, God’s Glory?

In some Christian circles, the more long and somber your face, the more godly you must be.  Often this is the way the Puritans are painted, as those drab and delight-less saints of old who might burn you at the stake if you were found to be of a cheery temperament.  However, as this quote from our brother Thomas Watson makes quite clear, this was not the case.  As you read his words, realize he is saying more than “it is OK to smile.”  He’s actually pointing out the blasphemy in our sour dispositions.  Next time you go to work with a chip on your shoulder or come home and kick the cat, take a moment and think through what you actions are saying about the God you serve.

“We glorify God by walking cheerfully. It brings glory to God, when the world sees a Christian has that within him that can make him cheerful in the worst times; that can enable him, with the nightingale, to sing with a thorn at his breast. The people of God have ground for cheerfulness. They are justified and adopted, and this creates inward peace; it makes music within, whatever storms are without. 2 Cor 1:4. 1 Thess 1:6 If we consider what Christ has wrought for us by his blood, and wrought in us by his Spirit, it is a ground of great cheerfulness, and this cheerfulness glorifies God. It reflects upon a master when the servant is always drooping and sad; sure he is kept to hard commons, his master does not give him what is fitting; so, when God’s people hang their heads, it looks as if they did not serve a good master, or repented of their choice, which reflects dishonour on God. As the gross sins of the wicked bring a scandal on the gospel, so do the uncheerful lives of the godly. Ps 100:2. ‘Serve the Lord with gladness.’ Your serving him does not glorify him, unless it be with gladness. A Christian’s cheerful looks glorify God; religion does not take away our joy, but refines it; it does not break our viol, but tunes it, and makes the music sweeter.”

Thomas Watson, from the sermon Man’s Chief End

Adventures at Cafepress!

A few days ago, I was messing around with Cafepress and did a few shirt designs that I’m planning on purchasing down the road.  I thought it would be fun to proudly display my affection for Watson, so I came up with this shirt.

I did a few other designs…

… and then I made a few with the following quotes on the back (the Whitefield quote is my favorite!).

“Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed.”
   – THOMAS WATSON

“For every look at self take ten looks at Christ.”
   – ROBERT MURRAY M’CHEYNE

“Works? Works? A man get to heaven by works? I would as soon think of climbing to the moon on a rope of sand!”      
   – GEORGE WHITEFIELD

I set up a storefront; if you’re interested in checking my “puritan pride” designs, here’s the link: Ye Olde Mud Shoppe.
(The problem with the basic “shop” at Cafepress is that it only lets you use 1 item per shop, so I had to get creative with the t-shirt options.)

If you’ve never played around at Cafepress, it is a lot of fun!

Why Must We Glorify God? (Reason 5)

I hope these rich words from Thomas Watson have been an encouragement and a challenge to you over the last two weeks.  When I first read this section of Man’s Chief End, Watson’s question puzzled me.  What kind of question is “Why must we glorify God?”  However, as I meditated on his answers, I found a rich fountain of humbling truth.  The more I drink it in the more clearly I see who I am in relationship to our Almighty, Wonderful, and Glorious God.  I appreciate all five reasons, but I must admit his third reason is a most devastating blow to my pride! Here is the last in the series; savor its richness.

“We must bring glory to God, because all our hopes hang upon him. Psalm 39:7 ‘My hope is in thee.’ And Psalm 62:5 ‘My expectation is from him;’ I expect a kingdom from him. A child that is good-natured will honour his parent, by expecting all he needs from him. Psalm 87:7 ‘All my springs are in thee.’ The silver springs of grace, and the golden springs of glory are in him.”

–Thomas Watson from the sermon Man’s Chief End

Reason 1
Reason 2
Reason 3
Reason 4

On Preaching for the Preacher…

Today is the birthday of our dear Pastor and my beloved mentor and friend. 
In honor of his birthday, I thought it appropriate to reflect upon the call to preach: 

“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”
   – 2 Timothy 4:2

“What is preaching? Logic on fire!  It is theology on fire.  Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire.”
   – D. Martin Lloyd-Jones

“The word is called a hammer (Jer 23:39) . Every blow of the hammer is to fasten the nails of the building; so the preacher’s words are to fasten you the more to Christ; they weaken themselves to strengthen and settle you. This is the grand design of preaching, not only for the enlightening, but for the establishing of souls; not only to guide them in the right way, but to keep them in it.”
   – Thomas Watson

“For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.”
  – Ezra 7:10

“I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.”
   – Richard Baxter

 “Oh what an honor is it to a faithful minister, when he has . . .
  found the people dark and blind—but left them enlightened;
  found them dead—but left them alive;
  found them a proud people—but left them humble;
  found them a profane people—but left them holy;
  found them a carnal people—but left them spiritual;
  found them a worldly people—but left them heavenly;
  found them a wavering people—but left them settled and rooted.”
   – Thomas Brooks

“We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
   – Colossians 1:28-29

You exemplify and have embraced all of these truths! 
Have a wonderful birthday, Rev!