Give Me The Wings of Faith

Give me the wings of faith to rise

Within the veil, and see

The saints above, how great their joys,

How bright their glories be.

Once they were mourning here below,

And wet their couch with tears:

They wrestled hard, as we do now,

With sins, and doubts, and fears.

I ask them whence their victory came:

They, with united breath,

Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,

Their triumph to His death.

--Isaac Watts

What is Sustaining Grace?

What is Sustaining Grace?

Not grace to bar what is not bliss
Nor flight from all distress, but this,
The grace that orders our trouble and pain
And then in the darkness is there to sustain.

--Piper

Expectations, Marriage, and Sanctification

I have spent a little time thinking through expectations in marriage over the last few months and have been served by a conversation with a wiser friend. The thought that initially challenged me was that biblical expectations are the only ones which will serve the other in marriage. For one to expect something other than what the Bible describes is to be unloving. So to study passages on marriage and husbands and wives is to serve one's husband or wife. Below I seek to build on this simple idea.

Armed with biblical expectations, a spouse is prepared, not to bash the other with them, but to encourage, point, and lead the other toward them. A husband should want to be like Christ, the perfect man. For a wife to expect something which is inconsistent with the ideal (Christ) is to be unloving and unserving of him. What husband wouldn't want to be like Christ, to love his wife like Christ loves the church?

Generally, Christians understand that sanctification (here the husband becoming like Christ) is a process for which "God's method . . . is neither activism (self-reliant activity) nor apathy (God-reliant passivity), but God-dependent effort (2 Cor. 7:1; Phil. 3:10-14; Heb. 12:14)" (Packer, Concise Theology, 170). A loving wife aligns herself under the biblical expectations by understanding the gospel, sanctification, the role of her husband, and then pointing him patiently toward the ideal man--Christ.

[It is worth meditating on the fact that Christ was not a husband, yet his relationship to the church is the reality which the husband is to picture. For husbands are, after all, to love their wives as Christ loved the church.]

Likewise, for a husband to serve his wife by having the most loving expectations possible, he must know the biblical ideal (thinking of Proverbs 31, etc.). For him to expect something which is inconsistent with the ideal is to be unloving and unserving of her. Some might think to expect this ideal of a wife is not helpful and likely only overwhelming for her. To expect this is not unhelpful, but it can be (and sometimes is) done in an unhelpful way, just as expecting one's husband to be like Christ is not unhelpful--but expecting him to be like Christ right now, right away can be unhelpful. Here is my point: No wife would expect her husband to be like Christ immediately after marriage, yet some husbands expect their wives to be like the Proverbs 31 woman immediately after marriage. These clearly sinful (and all too common) expectations flow from a failure to understand sanctification and then apply it in both instances.

Progressive sanctification, the work of God's free but costly grace, requires time. Scripture itself understands this. Note the woman in Proverbs 31 had raised kids. Put simply, she was not a young wife. She was certainly not 24. The grace of God had been at work in her through the experience of mothering for years. In the context of the unique roles of wife and mother and through years of exerting herself in sustained obedience and God-dependent effort within that context, the young, godly wife has become the ideal wife of Proverbs 31. No short cuts on the road of sanctification are allowed.

Christians must understand sanctification is a process and time is required. For it is over time alone that sustained obedience and God-dependent effort can happen. May this understanding of sanctification be lovingly applied to both the husband as he seeks to be like Christ and the wife as she seeks to be like the woman described in Proverbs 31 and elsewhere. More to my point, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way and, if Christ has begun a good work in her, expect great things from Him (I Peter 3:7; Phil. 1:6).

A Better Word

Do this and live, the law demands,

But gives us neither feet nor hands,

A better word God's grace does bring,

It bids me fly and gives me wings.

--John Bunyan--

First Hire

Your first hire in a church (after a pastor/paid elder) should be a church administrator, not a _______. Hire an administrator first!

Sing Spiritually

While reading Bible Baptist Church's statement on music philosophy, I came across this excellent reminder.

Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward you when He cometh in the clouds of heaven.

--John Wesley, Select Hymns (1791), taken from the Introduction

Thought on Preparation and Preaching from Dever

Definition: a sermon on a portion of Scripture in which the point(s) of the passage is the point(s) of the message.

Goal: the Word of God in the context of the people of God.

Read the text and not questions I have--what people will be asking of the text--then address those questions.

Say what you think the text says--then have a conversation with some commentaries.

Mark always asks the preacher (where he will be that Sunday) what the text will be. That passage becomes the source of his Bible reading--which is thus more corporate than individual. This also serves to prepare his heart for the preaching of God's Word.

Always include the gospel (contra Keller).

Mark noted that Mark Twain said, "The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug."

A sermon should not be able to be preached anywhere at anytime.

Conclusion is a wedge. The weight is all on a point--to be driven into their soul.

In regards to illustrations, two thoughts: (1) work hard to say something worth while and (2) they can communicate a lightness not becoming of the message.

How Sweet And Aweful Is The Place

How sweet and aweful is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores!

Here every bowel of our God
With soft compassion rolls;
Here peace and pardon bought with blood
Is food for dying souls.

While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
“Lord, why was I a guest?

“Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?”

’Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O our God!
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May with one voice, and heart and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.

--Isaac Watts

"Lord, why was I a guest?"

The Whole Effulgence

I could write Charles Bridges quotes all day. If you haven't read The Christian Ministry, please do. It is a joy. He has the flavor of the Puritans, but like Ryle is readable and markedly devotional. And to help you down this trail, here is his opening sentence:



"The Church is the mirror, that reflects the whole effulgence of the Divine character."

From Dr. Lovitt's Last Letter

T'AI-YUAN-FU, June 28, 1900.

DEAR FRIEND--We do not know whom you may be, but we thought it well to leave this letter in the hands of a trusty native to give to the first foreigner who might come along . . . .
We would like our dear home ones to know we are being marvellously sustained by the Lord. He is precious to each of us. The children seem to have no fear. We cannot but hope for deliverance (hope dies hard), and our God is well able to do all things--even to save us from the most impossible surroundings when hope is gone. Our trust is in Him entirely and alone. We at the same time are seeking to do all that is in our power, and asking guidance at every step. . . .
There is not much time. We are ready.

ARNOLD E. LOVITT, M.R.C.S

--from Last Letters and Further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission, p48.

The Cross and Christian Preaching

"If you get into a valley (say in Leviticus) and can't see the cross, keep working because the cross is always in view."

--Dever

Who should a church support?

"A church should support workers who are strategic, excellent, and known."



--Andy Johnson

Whitsitt 1205 -- 50 Years Later

I just had a most amazing meeting. Sitting at my desk reading some Last Letters from martyred missionaries of the China Inland Mission, I heard a knock on the door and a elderly man opened the door and entered. John Griggs, who trained as Southern 50 years ago and who was returning for the first time, used to live in my room. Mr. Griggs is now the Director of Prayer and Missions at First Baptist Church in Morristown, TN. But 50 years ago he lived in my room--watching the library being built out the window (which was completed in 1959). He had served for decades as a missionary in Zambia (not sure if I remember that right). He challenged me with the importance of repentance in salvation, indigenous missisonary work, and seeking the will of God by (1) dying to self, (2) enthroning Jesus as Lord, (3) putting my hand in the hand of my heavenly father as a little child, (4) reading my Bible, and (5) listening to God and obeying Him. These were all on a yellow magnet he gave me before gently and kindly talking through them in an extended challenge to me as a young man. Mr. Griggs then began praying for me without introduction. We took a few pictures--he of me and I of him--then he left to continue revisiting Southern.

Thoughts on this special meeting:
(1) He knew the Bible and was bold to challenge me to know the Bible. He challenged me to rise early and seek God through his Word. His prayer for me was about 75% words of Christ.
(2) God has been faithful to use means like a little room on a quiet campus to raise up countless men [one must wonder about the men who have lived here between Mr. Griggs and I] to preach the gospel. May I be among the faithful to have been blessed with time in Whitsitt 1205.
(3) Mr. Griggs seemed very much like me--though he is an older man now. He met his wife here and talked about the 'Valley of Decision'. As I told him of my engagement, he was quite pleased.
(4) Praise God Southern still holds to the doctrine Mr. Griggs was clearly taught here. Praise God Mr. Griggs still holds and shares that same message.
(5) 'Father, please help Mr. Griggs to finish well. Thank you for his life and its example to me. Father, help me to be faithful to you. Don't let me go astray from you. Use me as you see fit. Thank you for the means of biography in my perseverance in the faith. Bless Mr. Griggs as he continues to remember your kindness to him through Southern. Amen.'

Sing (and when you do, sing about heaven a lot)

A unique way in which confidence in the Christian life can come is through congregations singing many hymns about heaven. To sing with others about our glorious future with God has three immediate affects on me: (1) God seems really big and lovely, (2) death seems really small, and thus (3) laying my life down for others through missionary labor seems reasonable.

Church 'Growth': Stepping Over Graves

"The victories of the Church are won by stepping over the graves of her members."

--Krapf in Last Letters and Further Records of Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission, p94

Tracts Worth Reading (esp. for Christians)

Discouraged with hard situations right now? with how things appear to be unfolding in your life? Perhaps a journey into the world of apocalyptic literature might be the means God has for you to be encouraged in the present--looking to the future.

Consider these often controversial and rarely read portions of your Bible as tracts for hard times.

Press on.

The Means of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is a means to keep God's people persevering. It is a gigantic means.

--Brian Vickers

"The Greatest Love Is Rarely Merely Spontaneous"

I must be purposeful in my loving of others. This looks like church membership. This looks like covenanting to love and serve. Commitment and planning are needed. As I've pursued Suemi, I've learned this. I have to purpose to show love to her. I may want to, but little just happens when one is as passive as me. And the covenant of marriage brings clarity to my thinking as I consider the church covenant. Covenantal relationships are the context for deep, meaningful love of others. Spontaneity is over valued. Faithful resolve is under valued. May I be a young man like Jonathon Edwards who saw resolve and commitment as the context for love.

Principles on Worship

I would echo again and again the principles of mere and enhancing in relation to form. Mere and enhancing.

Worship: A Simple Definition

Peterson provides a simple and useful definition of worship.



Worship "is essentially an engagement with [God] on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible."



--Peterson, Engaging with God, 20

Christ's Training School

"The sphere of every day experience is Christ's training school for bringing forth the highest aspects of Christian character."

--said to be evident from the suffer of missionary to China and martyr William Cooper (martyred probably July 1, 1900) by Walter B. Sloan, Martyred Missionaries, 156. Mr. Cooper was called after reading a copy of a Spurgeon sermon entitled "The Divine Call for Missionaries."

Busyness

If you know me well, you know I am passive. This is a characteristic which looks like the sin of procrastination often. C.J. Mahaney is writing a series on just that--procrastination. This is a sin with which I have often fallen into and desire to more faithfully fight.

C.J. soberingly reminds me:

• Busyness does not mean I am diligent
• Busyness does not mean I am faithful
• Busyness does not mean I am fruitful

Quoting a helpful article in the Journal of Biblical Counseling, he describes me too well:

• If my task is not due anytime soon, put it off.
• If the task is due tomorrow, cast aside all other responsibilities and focus on this one task.
• And after accomplishing a large task, take a break and reward yourself.

May God give grace as I seek to trust Him and work hard. And press on to know Him.

Mere Watering

Much of pastoral labor is water into the ground--no clue if 'working' or 'helping.'

From Fundamentalism to the CHBC Internship

In my closing paper on the internship, I described the experience like this:

"I've stepped into a larger pack running the same race and have been very heartened by their presence."

Demerited Favor

Grace is demerited favor. It is more than unmerited favor. Grace reaches beyond neutral, into the debt side, and then bestows the gift.



So is there only grace in the redemptive context? Is Genesis 3:15 the first display of grace?





--thoughts from Hermeneutics class with Brian Vickers

Illustrative Preaching

The preacher is to reflect the doctrine of revelation. He is to illustrate how God communicates to his people. So preaching as conversation would seem to fall short of this understanding.

Bridges Is Golden Again and Again

Another amazing quote by Bridges:



"Difficulties heaped upon difficulties can never rise to the level of the promise of God."



--The Christian Ministry, 175

Means and the Spirit's Glory

"The use of means honours the work of the Spirit. But dependence upon means obscures his glory, and therefore issues in unprofitableness."

--Bridges, The Christian Ministry, 177

Definitions Are Vital

Defining a church is crucial in defining the role of the leader of that church.

Regeneration and Membership

With church membership, you are looking for a wise and balanced way to determine regenerate church membership. A church is striving to find a wise medium. A church is not to do everything to make sure a member is regenerate.

Lessons Learned at CHBC

This break I plan on reviewing my papers from the internship at CHBC and journaling things that stike me--particularly things I noted during discussions with Mark. Also, I am posting thoughts from class lectures this past fall here at SBTS.


I know the reminders will serve me well. I need to be reminded constantly.

The Fear of Man

Don't buy the lie that your fear of man is circumstancial

and

remember the fear of man can't be fought alone.

Not Like A Mushroom—But Like An Oak.

"Remember, the growth of a believer is not like a mushroom—but like an oak, which increases slowly indeed—but surely.

Many suns, showers, and frosts, pass upon it before it comes to perfection. And in winter, when it seems to be dead—it is gathering strength at the root.

Be humble, watchful, and diligent in the means, and endeavor to look through all, and fix your eye upon Jesus—and all shall be well."

—John Newton, Letters of John Newton (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth: 2007)

If you don't receive a daily e-mail from First Importance, I would recommend you consider it. This blog will e-mail you a short gospel quote daily--though I don't read them everyday, I always benefit from them when I do.