Required reading Attributes of God by Charnock (available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) -Commence Chapter 2 (Practical atheism) by reading up to the paragraph commencing 'Thus much for the general.' My summary Now Charnock looks at what it is to be a practical atheist - one who shows his atheism by his actions.
In today's reading we are taught six general propositions about practical atheism:
(i) Actions are a greater discovery of a principle of worth;
(ii) All sin is founded in a secret atheism;
(iii) Sin implies that God is unworthy of being;
(iv) Every sin in its own nature would render God a foolish and impure being;
(v) Sin in its own nature endeavours to render God the most miserable being;
(vi) Men sometimes in some circumstances do wish the not being of God.
What grabbed me A truly excellent section.
So humbling to recognise what our sin says about God: 'We deny his sovereignty when we violate his laws; we disgrace his holiness when we cast our filth before his face; we disparage his wisdom when we set up another rule as the guide of our actions than that law he hath fixed; we slight his sufficiency when we prefer a satisfactions than that law he hath fixed; we slight his sufficiency when we prefer a satisfaction in sin before a happiness in him alone; and his goodness, when we judge it not strong enough to attract us to him. Every sin invades the rights of God, and strips him of one or other of his perfections. It is such a vilifying of God as if he were not God; as if he were not the supreme Creator and Benefactor of the world; as if we had not our being from him; as if the air we breathed in, the food we lived by, were our own by right of supremacy, not of donation. For a subject to slight his sovereign, is to slight his royalty; or a servant his master, is to deny his superiority.'
Every time I sin, I deny God. O that the Lord would help my actions match what my mouth proclaims.
Next week's reading
Continue Chapter 2 (Practical atheism) by reading up to the paragraph commencing 'Secondly, Man naturally owns any other rule rather than that of God's prescribing'.
Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading The life of John Knox by Thomas M'Crie (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Period 6 by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'In the month of May, the queen sent for Knox to Lochlevin.' My summary Knox continues to try and elicit support from the queen for the Reformers. But she persists in trying to play to both sides.
A good portion of today's reading is also taken up with relating a debate between the Reformers and the Papists concerning the Lord's Supper.
What grabbed me Now here's a minister who doesn't know when to stop: 'In this church, Knox had, since 1560, performed all the parts of ministerial duty, without any other assistant but John Cairns, who acted as reader. He preached twice every Sabbath, and thrice on other days of the week. He met regularly once every week with the kirk-session for discipline, and with the assembly of the neighbourhood, for the exercise on the Scriptures. He attended, besides, the meetings of the provincial Synod and General Assembly; and at almost every meeting at the last mentioned court, he received an appointment to visit and preach in some distant part of the country. These labours must have been oppressive to a constitution which was already much impaired; especially as he did not indulge in extemporaneous effusions, but devoted a part of every day to study. His parish were sensible of this; and in April 1562, the Town Council came to an unanimous resolution to solicit John Craig, the minister of Canongate, or HolyroodHouse, to undertake the half of the charge.'
Thankfully his church was good to him - some churches would simply add to the poor minister's load until he snapped.
Next week's reading Conclude Period 6. Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading Tracts and Letters (Volume 2) by John Calvin (Available from Amazon or free here). Commence the Catechism of the Church of Geneva by reading up to, but not including, the section entitled 'Of Prayer'.
My summary Today we begin our first tract in Volume 2: Calvin's catechism.
Firstly we read Calvin's reasons for writing the Catechism: (i) he recognises their usefulness; (ii) he was asked to write it.
Then we read the first section of the catechism entitled 'Of Faith' which is basically an exposition of the Apostle's Creed.
Next we read the section entitled 'Of the Law, that is, the ten commandments of God' which is an exposition of the Decalogue. What grabbed me Interesting type of Catechism. Reads more like a dialogue then a list of questions and answers that you would memorise.
Was surprised to read Calvin's understanding of the fourth commandment: 'M. Let us now see how far this command has reference to us.
S. In regard to the ceremony, I hold that it was abolished, as the reality existed in Christ. (Col. ii. 17.)
M. How?
S. Because, by virtue of his death, our old man is crucified, and we are raised up to newness of life. (Rom. vi. 6.)
M. What of the commandment then remains for us ?
S. Not to neglect the holy ordinances which contribute to the spiritual polity of the Church; especially to frequent sacred assemblies, to hear the word of God, to celebrate the sacraments, and engage in the regular prayers, as enjoined.
M. But does the figure give us nothing more?
S. Yes, indeed. We must give heed to the thing meant by it; namely, that being engrafted into the body of Christ, and made his members, we cease from our own works, and so resign ourselves to the government of God.'
No mention of the Lord's day as a direct correlation with the Sabbath. Looks like Calvin wasn't a Sabbatarian.
Next week's reading Conclude the Catechism of the Church of Geneva.
Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading Knots Untied by JC Ryle (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 16 (Divers and strange doctrines). My summary Now Ryle cautions us against false doctrine.
Firstly, we see the Bible broad warning: "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines."
Secondly, we see the Bible's valuable prescription: "It is good that the heart be established with grace, not with meats." Ryle shows us how Paul places opposite to one another "meats" and "grace" - ceremonialism and the gospel - ritualism and the free love of God in Jesus Christ.
Lastly, we see the Bible's instructive fact: Meats "have not profited them which have been occupied therein."
What grabbed me Ryle gave us a good warning about the constant use of false doctrine by Satan: 'That old enemy of mankind, the devil, has no more subtle device for ruining souls than that of spreading false doctrine. "A murderer and a liar from the beginning," he never ceases going to and fro in the earth, "seeking whom he may devour." Outside the Church he is ever persuading men to maintain barbarous customs and destructive superstitions. Human sacrifice to idols, gross, revolting, cruel, disgusting worship of abominable false deities, persecution, slavery, cannibalism, child-murder, devastating religious wars, all these are a part of Satan s handiwork, and the fruit of his suggestions. Like a pirate, his object is to "sink, burn, and destroy." Inside the Church he is ever labouring to sow heresies, to propagate errors, to foster departures from the faith. If he cannot prevent the waters flowing from the Fountain of Life, he tries hard to poison them. If he cannot destroy the medicine of the Gospel, he strives to adulterate and corrupt it. No wonder that he is called "Apollyon, the destroyer."'
Satan is active outside and inside the church, so arm yourself with the Scriptures wherever you go.
Next week's reading Read Chapter 17 (Fallibility of ministers).
Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading Desiring God by John Piper (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 9 (Missions).
My summary Today we are encouraged to seek joy by being missionaries to the lost.
Three paragraphs at the close of the chapter make a nice summary of the entire chapter: 'These, then, are two great incentives from Jesus to become a World Christian and to dedicate yourself to the cause of Frontier Missions as the twentieth century comes to a close.
(1) Every impossibility with men is possible with God (Mark 10 :27) . The conversion of hardened sinners will be the work of God and will accord with his sovereign plan. We need not fear or fret over our weakness. The battle is the Lord's and he will give the victory.
(2) Christ promises to work for us and to be for us so much that when our missionary life is over, we will not be able to say we've sacrificed anything (Mark 10:29-30). When we follow his missionary prescription, we discover that even the painful side-effects work to improve our condition. Our spiritual health, our joy, improves a hundredfold. And when we die, we do not die. We gain eternal life.'
What grabbed me Great chapter on the joy of missions: 'If your greatest joy is to experience the infilling grace of God overflowing from you for the good of others, then the best news in all the world is that God will do the impossible through you for the salvation of the hidden peoples. "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."'
Last night my wife and I welcomed into the world our second child, a little girl. What a joy to be used by God to bring such a treasure into the world!
How fitting that today Piper reminds me of another great joy: being used by God to see people born again!
Next week's reading Read Chapter 10 (Suffering).
Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading An all-round ministry by CH Spurgeon (Available from Amazon or free here) - Commence Chapter 5 (A new departure) by reading up to the paragraph beginning, 'Perhaps I have spoken at too great length upon the former part of my subject; I now propose to dwell upon the necessity of renewing grace.'
My summary Spurgeon now gives us a chapter on the importance of returning to our first love after experiencing a 'running down'.
This week he suggests some causes of the minister's running down: (i) the evaporation of youthful vigour; (ii) cessation of early success; (iii) natural wear and tear of an active life; (iv) duty becoming routine work; (v) want of association with others of warm heart and kindred spirit; (vi) mental decline; (vii) spiritual dry rot.
Then Spurgeon outlines some signs that a minister is running down: (i) by amusing himself with hobbies instead of preaching the gospel; (ii) giving himself solely to expound prophecy; (iii) having no principles left; (iv) falling into actual doctrinal error.
What grabbed me A really good point was made about some minister's tendency to enjoy preaching on prophecy a bit too much: 'I have known certain brethren give themselves solely to expound prophecy. Now, a man full of the life of God may expound prophecy as much as he likes; but there are some who, having lost their love of the gospel, try to win back what little popularity they once had by taking up with guesses at the future. They may be quite, sure that, if they cannot profit men by bringing them to the manger and the cross, they will make a complete failure of it if they handle the seals and the vials. Did you ever notice, in Calvin's Commentaries, that there is no exposition of the Book of Revelation? Why not? He said, "I have not expounded that Book because I do not understand it." When I hear a man say, "I have found much in Matthew which does not belong to the Church, I have outgrown much of the Romans and Galatians, and I cannot enjoy the Psalms, for they do not rise to the perfection of my experience; I want something more elevated and spiritual, more abstruse and wonderful;" I conclude that this brother is spinning his last hank, and spending his last pennyworth of sense...Speculation is an index of the spiritual poverty of the man who surrenders himself to it. His flour has all been used, so he tries plaster of Paris; he has no more gold or silver, so he coins the baser metals. He cannot prophesy after the measure of faith, so he exercises his immeasurable imagination. His own experience does not serve him with topics for his ministry, and therefore he takes airy flights into regions of which he knows nothing.'
If your fascination with eschatology exceeds your fascination with the gospel, you're in trouble.
Next week's reading Conclude Chapter 5 (A new departure). Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading Ten virgins by Thomas Shepard (Available from Amazon or free here). Read Chapter 22 of Part 1 and Chapters 1 & 2 of Part 2.
My summary In the last chapter of Part 1 we are shown that true saving grace in the hearts of believers can never fail.
Then Part 2 begins to look at the carnal security of virgin churches.
In Chapter 1 Shepard teaches us that in the last days carnal security is the universal sign of virgin churches, because: (i) in virgin churches there are the strongest provocations to this sin of security; (ii) virgin churches are the more easily overcome by this sin than by any other.
Next in Chapter 2 we see carnal carnal security comes by degrees: (i) in regard of the quickness and power of the life of the conscience; (ii) because the Lord never departs from men but by degrees; (iii) because this is the most ready way and method for sin and Satan to bring the soul into a deep sleep.
What grabbed me I enjoyed Shepard's description of the sleeper in carnal security: 'In sleep all the senses are bound up, the outward senses especially; the eye watches not, the ears hear not, the tongue tastes not, the body feels not; so this is an ingredient in carnal security, it binds up all the senses as it did the prophet Jonah's in the storm ; when misery was upon him, he heard not, he saw not, felt not ; so when misery, outward or spiritual, is upon a man, he that had quick senses before, his eye sees not, watches not; Christians neglect their watchfulness for their friends, the Lord and his Spirit, and coming; nor watch against their enemies that daily besiege them ; the ear hears not the voice of the ministry, the voice of providences, the voice of the Spirit within ; the soul smells not, tastes not the sweet of any promise, any ordinance, no, nor of the grace of the Lord himself; hence it commends them not ; nay, the soul feels nothing, no evil, no good the Lord doth him ; that look as the Lord there said, (Is. xxix. 9, 10) The Lord hath poured upon you a spirit of sleep, and has closed your eyes ' so that the Lord closes up all the senses, that a man is now stupid, when he is fallen asleep in security.'
If you no longer feel the sinfulness of sin and no longer watch for the Lord, then you are probably asleep in carnal security.
Next week's reading Read Chapters 3, 4 & 5 of Part 2.
Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading The life of John Knox by Thomas M'Crie (Available from Amazon or free here) - Commence Period 6 by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'This interview excited great speculation, and different conjectures were formed as to its probable consequences.' My summary Knox now continues reform in Scotland with the composition of some documents (a 'Protestant Confession of Faith', the 'First Book of Discipline') and attendance at the first General Assembly. Although this period is also sadly marked with the death of his wife.
Then Roman Catholicism rears her head again through the preparation of a French army to invade Scotland and the arrival of the queen of Scotland back from her Catholic education in France.
We then see Knox meet the queen to defend Protestantism and we are actually given much of the dialogue.
What grabbed me Great to hear Knox speaking with the queen; particularly his challenging her adherence to Roman Catholicism: 'But the queen, who was determined to avoid all discussion of the articles of her creed, interrupted him by saying, that she was unable to contend with him in argument, but if she had those present whom she had heard, they would answer him. '"Madam," replied the Reformer fervently, " would to God that the learnedest Papist in Europe, and he whom you would best believe, were present with your Grace to sustain the argument, and that you would wait patiently to hear the matter reasoned to the end I for then, I doubt not, madam, but you would hear the vanity of the Papistical religion, and how little ground it hath in the word of God." " Well," said she, " you may perchance get that sooner than you believe." " Assuredly, if ever I get that in my life, I get it sooner than I believe ; for the ignorant Papist cannot patiently reason, and the learned and crafty Papist will never come, in your audience, madam, to have the ground of their religion searched out. When you shall let me see the contrary, I shall grant mysef to have been deceived in that point."'
The man is afraid of no man!
Next week's reading Continue Period 6 by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'In the month of May, the queen sent for Knox to Lochlevin.' Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
