Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Joe Thorn on the Gospel
There is more in God’s word than the gospel. God has given us his law to show us the way, uncover our corruption and condemnation, and point us to our need of redemption. There are commands to be obeyed, there is wisdom to learn and practice, and affections to feel and be moved by. But, the law itself is unable to create within us new hearts, or empower us to obey its demands. So let me say it this way: The gospel is the main thing, it is not the only thing. However, it is the only thing that brings life, power, and transformation. The gospel isn’t everything, but it does connect to everything, and preachers and teachers in the church must be able to show that connection lest we allow the church to drift (or even be lead) into various kinds of hopeless, powerless legalism.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Bavinck on Justification
Of all God's benefits given in the covenant of grace, first place belongs to justification, to forgiveness of sins. All joy and peace, all certainty of communion with God, rests on this forgiveness, a benefit no mind can fully comprehend or believe.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Augustine on the Law
The law commands; grace supplies the strength to act.
The law was given to accuse you, that accused you might fear, that fearing you might beg forgiveness.
The law was given to accuse you, that accused you might fear, that fearing you might beg forgiveness.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Augustine on Law
The law commands; grace supplies the strength to act.
The law was given to accuse you, that accused you might fear, and that fearing you might beg forgiveness.
The law was given to accuse you, that accused you might fear, and that fearing you might beg forgiveness.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Hengel and Bird on Torah and Christ
For him, the encounter with the Resurrected One near Damascus set before him the question of the law or Christ in the form of a soteriological alternative. For Judaism of that time the Torah was in manifold expression the essence of salvation, and could be identified with the fundamental religious metaphor, “life”. Since the opposition between Torah and Jesus of Nazareth had made him into a persecutor, now the relationship between Christ and Torah had to become a fundamental issue, in which the inversion of the opposition immediately because apparent: he, the Resurrected One is zwh& for those who believe (2 Cor 4:11-12; cf. 2:16).[1]
While I demur from Hengel’s treatment of the incident at Antioch for the reasons given above, I remain convinced that Hengel has tapped into the nerve of Paul’s thought and demonstrated the radical stance of Paul and the Torah that made him the controversial figure that he was. Yet this Christ-Torah antithesis needs some qualifications as I suspect that it does not mean what many Protestant commentators think it means. It does not mean that Jewish Christians should cease observing the law, nor does it mean that the Torah has nothing binding on the ethical life of Gentile Christians. Rather, the advent of Christ means that his death and resurrection has effected the end of ages and broken the link between law, sin, and death. Christ turns the condemnation of the law into justification. Christ made the curse of the law into redemption. Faith in Christ is the testimony of the law and yet faith in Christ places believers beyond the jurisdiction of the law. Christ terminates the Mosaic dispensation in order to fulfil the Abrahamic hopes. Christ serves the circumcision by making Gentiles heirs of the Patriarchs.
While I demur from Hengel’s treatment of the incident at Antioch for the reasons given above, I remain convinced that Hengel has tapped into the nerve of Paul’s thought and demonstrated the radical stance of Paul and the Torah that made him the controversial figure that he was. Yet this Christ-Torah antithesis needs some qualifications as I suspect that it does not mean what many Protestant commentators think it means. It does not mean that Jewish Christians should cease observing the law, nor does it mean that the Torah has nothing binding on the ethical life of Gentile Christians. Rather, the advent of Christ means that his death and resurrection has effected the end of ages and broken the link between law, sin, and death. Christ turns the condemnation of the law into justification. Christ made the curse of the law into redemption. Faith in Christ is the testimony of the law and yet faith in Christ places believers beyond the jurisdiction of the law. Christ terminates the Mosaic dispensation in order to fulfil the Abrahamic hopes. Christ serves the circumcision by making Gentiles heirs of the Patriarchs.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Honeysett on Change
Spiritual leadership is NOT the same as other organisational leadership. That is not to say we don't have a lot to learn from secular leadership models and theory, but those models will only take us so far.
Spiritual leadership involves knowing what God wants for his people in his local church, using God's methods to get them there, relying on God's power to do it. Therefore the process of change and the methods of initiating change that are available to Christian leaders are not necessarily the same as in any other organisation.
Organisational change in churches starts with spiritual roots. Roots of godliness, spiritual perception and hunger for God. That is the baseline starting point. When we meet situations where it seems impossible to bring necessary organisational change because of the sheer degree of resistance, our first response is to pray and teach into these areas. Because gospel-centred change emerges from gospel-centred convictions about ourselves, about God, about the church and its purpose.
If you don’t believe that the purpose of the church is to declare God’s excellencies to a dying world, then any call to change it to produce that is threatening. If you think that activities are good in and of themselves regardless of any connection with glorifying God, magnifying him and drawing attention to him, then you will never be able to stop those activities or replace them with ones that do.
Unless the reality of God’s promises grip people they won’t adjust their lives to base all they do on them. Unless the grace of God in Christ is thrilling them, they won’t attempt new things with an attendant risk of failure, because they are content with the way things are.
Spiritual leadership involves knowing what God wants for his people in his local church, using God's methods to get them there, relying on God's power to do it. Therefore the process of change and the methods of initiating change that are available to Christian leaders are not necessarily the same as in any other organisation.
Organisational change in churches starts with spiritual roots. Roots of godliness, spiritual perception and hunger for God. That is the baseline starting point. When we meet situations where it seems impossible to bring necessary organisational change because of the sheer degree of resistance, our first response is to pray and teach into these areas. Because gospel-centred change emerges from gospel-centred convictions about ourselves, about God, about the church and its purpose.
If you don’t believe that the purpose of the church is to declare God’s excellencies to a dying world, then any call to change it to produce that is threatening. If you think that activities are good in and of themselves regardless of any connection with glorifying God, magnifying him and drawing attention to him, then you will never be able to stop those activities or replace them with ones that do.
Unless the reality of God’s promises grip people they won’t adjust their lives to base all they do on them. Unless the grace of God in Christ is thrilling them, they won’t attempt new things with an attendant risk of failure, because they are content with the way things are.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Murray on Legalism
A particularly insightful blog post from David Murray on the legalism family - and yes, I think we all fall prey to being one of these 'members' at various times, as well as meeting them in person. Thank God for His transforming Grace to us all!!!
I’d like to introduce you to four members of the Legalism family that I’ve frequently run into in pastoral ministry. They are among the most miserable people that you can possibly meet.
Mrs Try-Harder is trying to reach heaven by her good works. You’ll know her if you meet her, because she talks so much about herself that you’ll hardly get a word in. You certainly won’t be asked any questions about your own life and interests. If you manage to speak about the Gospel of grace, and “Whiter than snow” salvation, she may go quiet for a while and smile in a sort of condescending way. But she soon manages to change the subject from God’s Works to her own again.
Mr Addition knows the law so well that he’s decided to add quite a few of his own. He is often motivated by a desire to see Christians live more godly lives and feels sorry that God left so many gaps and grey areas in matters of personal conduct. So, to help everyone else he has scoured past tradition to fill in the gaps and eliminate the grey areas. There are two things Mr Addition hates. He hates being asked, “Where does the Bible actually forbid this or require this?” And he hates people pointing out his own failures in areas the Bible is crystal clear on. He’s much happier talking about his own laws rather than God’s.
Mr Contract has had quite a sad upbringing. He was raised in a family that believed in grace, but which conducted relationships on the basis of law. If a sister did something for a brother, the brother knew that he would have to return the favor soon, or else he would be reminded of his debt (usually in the middle of an unrelated argument). No one seemed to do anything for anyone else out of sheer love, without expecting repayment. Long records were kept of how much each had done for, or given to, the other. And woe betide anyone who failed to repay in kind before the next argument. Unfortunately this quid pro quo, like for like, commercial contract spirit is often carried into adult relationships and even into their relationship with God. For example, Mr Contract finds it difficult to receive grace from God or gifts from others without thinking immediately about how to quickly repay and equalize the accounts. Don’t ask him to do anything for you, unless you are willing to do something in return, usually with a bit of interest. And never ask him to go above and beyond the call of duty. He knows his rights! Having grasped and enjoyed little of grace himself, he is not going to show it easily to others.
Mr Pleaser is a pastor. Yes, pastors can be legalists too. Sometimes they look awfully like Mrs Try-harder. Regrettably, they are sometimes influenced too much by Mr Addition, who always seems to have the loudest voice in the fellowship. And too often they do their work out of a sense of contractual duty, rather than out of love for Christ and His people. But most often, Mr Pleaser’s day is dictated by the expectations of others, a legalism as miserable as all the others. Instead of being motivated to serve God’s people by his own experience of divine grace and love, Mr Pleaser ends up being pushed and pulled by the desire to avoid criticism or receive praise. His daily agenda and schedule is determined not by love for the Lord but by trying to live up to other people’s demands. Instead of serving the Lord whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light, Mr Pleaser puts himself under the cruel, relentless, insatiable yoke of other people’s expectations.
I am sure that you will have frequent opportunity to meet these sad and sorry members of the Legalism family. (Sometimes, you only need to look in a mirror). If you do, I hope you will take them to the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I hope you will introduce them to Jesus who calls these weary and burdened souls to find perfect rest in Him. I hope you will show them how, through the cross, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for us.
May God use us to break up this needy family, and to build up the happy family of His free grace.
I’d like to introduce you to four members of the Legalism family that I’ve frequently run into in pastoral ministry. They are among the most miserable people that you can possibly meet.
Mrs Try-Harder is trying to reach heaven by her good works. You’ll know her if you meet her, because she talks so much about herself that you’ll hardly get a word in. You certainly won’t be asked any questions about your own life and interests. If you manage to speak about the Gospel of grace, and “Whiter than snow” salvation, she may go quiet for a while and smile in a sort of condescending way. But she soon manages to change the subject from God’s Works to her own again.
Mr Addition knows the law so well that he’s decided to add quite a few of his own. He is often motivated by a desire to see Christians live more godly lives and feels sorry that God left so many gaps and grey areas in matters of personal conduct. So, to help everyone else he has scoured past tradition to fill in the gaps and eliminate the grey areas. There are two things Mr Addition hates. He hates being asked, “Where does the Bible actually forbid this or require this?” And he hates people pointing out his own failures in areas the Bible is crystal clear on. He’s much happier talking about his own laws rather than God’s.
Mr Contract has had quite a sad upbringing. He was raised in a family that believed in grace, but which conducted relationships on the basis of law. If a sister did something for a brother, the brother knew that he would have to return the favor soon, or else he would be reminded of his debt (usually in the middle of an unrelated argument). No one seemed to do anything for anyone else out of sheer love, without expecting repayment. Long records were kept of how much each had done for, or given to, the other. And woe betide anyone who failed to repay in kind before the next argument. Unfortunately this quid pro quo, like for like, commercial contract spirit is often carried into adult relationships and even into their relationship with God. For example, Mr Contract finds it difficult to receive grace from God or gifts from others without thinking immediately about how to quickly repay and equalize the accounts. Don’t ask him to do anything for you, unless you are willing to do something in return, usually with a bit of interest. And never ask him to go above and beyond the call of duty. He knows his rights! Having grasped and enjoyed little of grace himself, he is not going to show it easily to others.
Mr Pleaser is a pastor. Yes, pastors can be legalists too. Sometimes they look awfully like Mrs Try-harder. Regrettably, they are sometimes influenced too much by Mr Addition, who always seems to have the loudest voice in the fellowship. And too often they do their work out of a sense of contractual duty, rather than out of love for Christ and His people. But most often, Mr Pleaser’s day is dictated by the expectations of others, a legalism as miserable as all the others. Instead of being motivated to serve God’s people by his own experience of divine grace and love, Mr Pleaser ends up being pushed and pulled by the desire to avoid criticism or receive praise. His daily agenda and schedule is determined not by love for the Lord but by trying to live up to other people’s demands. Instead of serving the Lord whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light, Mr Pleaser puts himself under the cruel, relentless, insatiable yoke of other people’s expectations.
I am sure that you will have frequent opportunity to meet these sad and sorry members of the Legalism family. (Sometimes, you only need to look in a mirror). If you do, I hope you will take them to the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I hope you will introduce them to Jesus who calls these weary and burdened souls to find perfect rest in Him. I hope you will show them how, through the cross, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for us.
May God use us to break up this needy family, and to build up the happy family of His free grace.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Lloyd-Jones on Self
How well the devil knows our human weakness! There is no method, therefore, that he more frequently uses . . . than just to play on this problem of self as it is present in every one of us. The ways in which he does so are almost endless. He works on self in order to encourage pride. He tries to make us proud of our gifts, our brains, our understanding, our knowledge . . .
Another form which this evil can take stems from the fact that various desires always tend to arise from self?the desire for importance, the desire for position . . . All this leads above everything else to a sprit of self-satisfaction . . .Furthermore this condition leads to selfishness and self-centredness. Self is always interested in itself. Everything revolves round this particular entity; and it becomes the centre of a constellation. That in turn leads to jealousy and envy . . .
To the extent that we are governed by self we are sensitive, and as such we can be easily hurt, easily depressed, and discouraged. Self is always watching for insults and slights. It is always hypersensitive. It is delicate, it is sensitized to everything; the slightest speck troubles it and alarms it. Self is totalitarian; it demands everything, and it is irritated and hurt if it does not get everything. As a consequence it becomes a most fruitful cause of quarrels and divisions and unhappiness . . .
If you have a great brain, it is no credit to you, you were born with it. If you have a wonderful singing voice, you have not produced it, it was given you. What are you boasting about? All that you have is not the result of your action and activity; it is something with which God has endowed you . . .
Paul always kept the grace of God in view; it kept him humble; it kept his spirit sweet; it kept him from the horrible sin of self and of pride and self-importance. Christians have nothing to boast of. We are what we are entirely as the result of the grace of God.
Another form which this evil can take stems from the fact that various desires always tend to arise from self?the desire for importance, the desire for position . . . All this leads above everything else to a sprit of self-satisfaction . . .Furthermore this condition leads to selfishness and self-centredness. Self is always interested in itself. Everything revolves round this particular entity; and it becomes the centre of a constellation. That in turn leads to jealousy and envy . . .
To the extent that we are governed by self we are sensitive, and as such we can be easily hurt, easily depressed, and discouraged. Self is always watching for insults and slights. It is always hypersensitive. It is delicate, it is sensitized to everything; the slightest speck troubles it and alarms it. Self is totalitarian; it demands everything, and it is irritated and hurt if it does not get everything. As a consequence it becomes a most fruitful cause of quarrels and divisions and unhappiness . . .
If you have a great brain, it is no credit to you, you were born with it. If you have a wonderful singing voice, you have not produced it, it was given you. What are you boasting about? All that you have is not the result of your action and activity; it is something with which God has endowed you . . .
Paul always kept the grace of God in view; it kept him humble; it kept his spirit sweet; it kept him from the horrible sin of self and of pride and self-importance. Christians have nothing to boast of. We are what we are entirely as the result of the grace of God.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Spurgeon on God's Shaping of Character
Is it not a curious thing that whenever God means to make a man great, He always first breaks him in pieces? There was a man whom the Lord meant to make into a prince. How did He do it? Why, He met him one night and wrestled with him! You always hear about Jacob?s wrestling. Well, I dare say he did, but it was not Jacob who was the principal wres- tler??There wrestled a man with Him until the breaking of the day.? God touched the hollow of Jacob?s thigh and put it out of joint before He called him ?Israel,? that is, ?a Prince of God.? The wrestling was to take all his strength out of him and when his strength was gone, then God called him a prince. Now, David was to be king over all Israel. What was the way to Jerusalem for David? What was the way to the throne? Well, it was round by the cave of Adullam. He must go there and be an outlaw and an outcast, for that was the way by which he would be made king. Have none of you ever no- ticed, in your own lives, that whenever God is going to give you an enlargement and bring you out to a larger sphere of service, or a higher platform of spiritual life, you always get thrown down? That is His usual way of working! He makes you hungry before He feeds you! He strips you before He robes you! He makes nothing of you before He makes something of you! This was the way with David. He is to be king in Jerusalem, but He must go to the throne by the way of the cave. Now, are any of you here going to Heaven, or going to a more heavenly state of sanctification, or going to a greater sphere of usefulness? Do not wonder if you go by the way of the cave. Why is that?
It is, first, because if God would make you greatly useful, He must teach you how to pray! The man who is a great preacher and yet cannot pray, will come to a bad end. A woman who cannot pray and yet is noted for the conducting of Bible classes, has already come to a bad end. If you can be great without prayer, your greatness will be your ruin! If God means to bless you greatly, He will make you pray greatly, as He does David who says in this part of his preparation for coming to his throne, ?I cried unto the Lord with my voice: with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication.?
Next, the man whom God would greatly honor must always believe in God when he is at his wits? end. ?When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path.? Are you never at your wits? end? God has not sent you to do business in great waters, for, if He has, you will reel to and fro and be at your wits? end, in a great storm, before long! Oh, it is easy to trust when you can trust yourself, but when you cannot trust yourself?when you are dead beat, when your spirit sinks below zero in the chill of utter despair?then is the time to trust in God. If that is your case, you have the marks of a man who can lead God?s people and be a comforter of others.
Next, in order to greater usefulness, many a man of God must be taught to stand alone. ?I looked on my right hand, and behold, but there was no man that would know me.? If you need men to help you, you may make a very decent fol- lower. But if you need no man and can stand alone, God being your Helper, you shall be helped to be a leader. Oh, it was a grand thing when Luther stepped out from the ranks of Rome! There were many good men round him who said, ?Be quiet, Martin. You will get burnt if you do not hold your tongue! Let us keep where we are, in the Church of Rome, even if we have to swallow down great lumps of dirt. We can believe the Gospel and still remain where we are.? But Luther knew that he must defy Antichrist and declare the pure Gospel of the blessed God! And he must stand alone for the Truth of God even if there were as many devils against him as there were tiles on the housetops at Worms! That is the kind of man whom God blesses! I would to God that many a young man here might have the courage to feel, in his particular position, ?I can stand alone, if need be. I am glad to have my master and my fellow workmen with me, but if nobody will go to Heaven with me, I will say farewell to them and go to Heaven alone through the Grace of God?s dear Son.?
Once more, the man whom God will bless must be the man who delights in God alone. David says, ?I cried unto You, O Lord: I said, You are my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.? Oh, to have God as our refuge and to make God our portion! ?You will lose your job! You will lose your income. You will lose the approbation of your fellow men.? ?Ah,? says the Believer, ?but I shall not lose my Portion, for God is my Portion! He is job, and income, and every- thing to me?and I will hold by Him, come what may.? If you have learned to ?delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart.? Now you are come into such a state that God can use you and make much of you?but until you make much of God, He never will make much of you! God deliver us from having our portion in this life, for, if we have, we are not among His people at all!
He whom God would use must be taught sympathy with God?s poor people. Hence we get these words of David, in the sixth verse, ?I am brought very low.? Mr. Greatheart, though he must be strong to kill Giant Grim and any others of the giants that infest the Pilgrim path, must be a man who has gone that road himself if he is to be a leader of others. If the Lord means to bless you, my Brother, and to make you very useful in His Church, depend upon it, He will try you. Half, perhaps nine-tenths of the trials of God?s ministers are not sent to them on their own account. They are sent for the good of other people. Many a child of God who goes very smoothly to Heaven, does very little for others. But another of the Lord?s children who has all the ins and outs and changes of an experienced Believer?s life, has them only that he may be better fitted to help others! That he may be able to sit down and weep with them that weep, or to stand up and rejoice with them that rejoice.
So then, dear Brothers who have got into the cave, and you, my Sisters, who have deep spiritual exercises, I want to comfort you by showing you that this is God?s way of making something of you. He is digging you out! You are like an old ditch?you cannot hold any more?and God is digging you out to make more room for more Grace. That spade will cut sharply and dig up sod after sod, and throw it to one side. The very thing you would like to keep shall be cast away and you shall be hollowed out, and dug out, that the word of Elisha may be fulfilled, ?Make this valley full of ditches. For thus says the Lord, You shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water.? You are to be tried, my Friend, that God may be glorified in you!
Lastly, if God means to use you, you must get to be full of praise. Listen to what David says, ?Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name: the righteous shall compass me about; for You shall deal bountifully with me.? May God give to my Brothers and Sisters here, who are being tried for their good and afflicted for their promotion, Grace to begin to praise Him! It is the singers that go before?they who can praise best shall be fit to lead others in the work. Do not set me to follow a gloomy leader. Oh, no, dear Sirs, we cannot work to the tune of ?The Dead March in Saul?! Our soldiers would never have won Waterloo if that had been the music for the day of battle! No, no! Give us a rejoicer??Sing unto the Lord who has triumphed gloriously; praise His great name again and again.? Draw the sword and strike home! If you are of a cheerful spirit, glad in the Lord and joyous after all your trials and afflictions, and if you can rejoice more because you have been brought so low, then God is making something of you and He will yet use you to lead His people to greater works of Grace!
It is, first, because if God would make you greatly useful, He must teach you how to pray! The man who is a great preacher and yet cannot pray, will come to a bad end. A woman who cannot pray and yet is noted for the conducting of Bible classes, has already come to a bad end. If you can be great without prayer, your greatness will be your ruin! If God means to bless you greatly, He will make you pray greatly, as He does David who says in this part of his preparation for coming to his throne, ?I cried unto the Lord with my voice: with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication.?
Next, the man whom God would greatly honor must always believe in God when he is at his wits? end. ?When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path.? Are you never at your wits? end? God has not sent you to do business in great waters, for, if He has, you will reel to and fro and be at your wits? end, in a great storm, before long! Oh, it is easy to trust when you can trust yourself, but when you cannot trust yourself?when you are dead beat, when your spirit sinks below zero in the chill of utter despair?then is the time to trust in God. If that is your case, you have the marks of a man who can lead God?s people and be a comforter of others.
Next, in order to greater usefulness, many a man of God must be taught to stand alone. ?I looked on my right hand, and behold, but there was no man that would know me.? If you need men to help you, you may make a very decent fol- lower. But if you need no man and can stand alone, God being your Helper, you shall be helped to be a leader. Oh, it was a grand thing when Luther stepped out from the ranks of Rome! There were many good men round him who said, ?Be quiet, Martin. You will get burnt if you do not hold your tongue! Let us keep where we are, in the Church of Rome, even if we have to swallow down great lumps of dirt. We can believe the Gospel and still remain where we are.? But Luther knew that he must defy Antichrist and declare the pure Gospel of the blessed God! And he must stand alone for the Truth of God even if there were as many devils against him as there were tiles on the housetops at Worms! That is the kind of man whom God blesses! I would to God that many a young man here might have the courage to feel, in his particular position, ?I can stand alone, if need be. I am glad to have my master and my fellow workmen with me, but if nobody will go to Heaven with me, I will say farewell to them and go to Heaven alone through the Grace of God?s dear Son.?
Once more, the man whom God will bless must be the man who delights in God alone. David says, ?I cried unto You, O Lord: I said, You are my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.? Oh, to have God as our refuge and to make God our portion! ?You will lose your job! You will lose your income. You will lose the approbation of your fellow men.? ?Ah,? says the Believer, ?but I shall not lose my Portion, for God is my Portion! He is job, and income, and every- thing to me?and I will hold by Him, come what may.? If you have learned to ?delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart.? Now you are come into such a state that God can use you and make much of you?but until you make much of God, He never will make much of you! God deliver us from having our portion in this life, for, if we have, we are not among His people at all!
He whom God would use must be taught sympathy with God?s poor people. Hence we get these words of David, in the sixth verse, ?I am brought very low.? Mr. Greatheart, though he must be strong to kill Giant Grim and any others of the giants that infest the Pilgrim path, must be a man who has gone that road himself if he is to be a leader of others. If the Lord means to bless you, my Brother, and to make you very useful in His Church, depend upon it, He will try you. Half, perhaps nine-tenths of the trials of God?s ministers are not sent to them on their own account. They are sent for the good of other people. Many a child of God who goes very smoothly to Heaven, does very little for others. But another of the Lord?s children who has all the ins and outs and changes of an experienced Believer?s life, has them only that he may be better fitted to help others! That he may be able to sit down and weep with them that weep, or to stand up and rejoice with them that rejoice.
So then, dear Brothers who have got into the cave, and you, my Sisters, who have deep spiritual exercises, I want to comfort you by showing you that this is God?s way of making something of you. He is digging you out! You are like an old ditch?you cannot hold any more?and God is digging you out to make more room for more Grace. That spade will cut sharply and dig up sod after sod, and throw it to one side. The very thing you would like to keep shall be cast away and you shall be hollowed out, and dug out, that the word of Elisha may be fulfilled, ?Make this valley full of ditches. For thus says the Lord, You shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water.? You are to be tried, my Friend, that God may be glorified in you!
Lastly, if God means to use you, you must get to be full of praise. Listen to what David says, ?Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name: the righteous shall compass me about; for You shall deal bountifully with me.? May God give to my Brothers and Sisters here, who are being tried for their good and afflicted for their promotion, Grace to begin to praise Him! It is the singers that go before?they who can praise best shall be fit to lead others in the work. Do not set me to follow a gloomy leader. Oh, no, dear Sirs, we cannot work to the tune of ?The Dead March in Saul?! Our soldiers would never have won Waterloo if that had been the music for the day of battle! No, no! Give us a rejoicer??Sing unto the Lord who has triumphed gloriously; praise His great name again and again.? Draw the sword and strike home! If you are of a cheerful spirit, glad in the Lord and joyous after all your trials and afflictions, and if you can rejoice more because you have been brought so low, then God is making something of you and He will yet use you to lead His people to greater works of Grace!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
John Piper on Grace
The assistance we need, above all physical healing and all financial security and all employment successes and all career guidance and all relational harmony, is the divine assistance to see and to savour the glory of God in Christ.
AHFG p63
AHFG p63
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