Required reading A lifting up for the downcast by William Bridge (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Sermon XI (A lifting up in case of unserviceableness).
My summary Today we read Bridges' eleventh sermon on Psalm 42:11.
In this sermon Bridges teaches us that sometimes the discouragements of the saints are drawn from their employments, work and service.
Firstly, Bridges positively affirms working for the Lord.
Then he defines service of God as: (i) special employment (which is various in kind); (ii) ordinary obedience to God's commands.
Next we see that a lack of employment for God is no source of discouragement for: (i) God may use you presently; (ii) a man may not be employed and go to heaven; (iii) you can rejoice in the employment of others.
Then, as usual, Bridges addresses objections. These include: (i) I lack abilities to work; (ii) I meet with so many difficulties in my work; (iii) I am most unserviceable; (iv) I have no success in my work; (v) I may be working in a way of judgement as Judas was; (vi) I meet with no success in my work according to my desire.
What grabbed me The distress that comes from a lack of 'success' in our work is all too common.
But Bridges gave good counsel: 'But wherein doth Christ comfort himself in this case of no success in his work amongst the Jews ? That we have in verse 4 : " Surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God." Whatever judgment men do make, it matters not much, for "my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God." I have done the work which God gave me to do, and therein I have approved myself unto God ; and therefore though I have laboured in vain and spent my strength for nought, yet I have comfort in my work, for my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God ; I have not lost my labour, for my work is with God. And thus may you also comfort yourself in the want of success ; true, I have laboured in vain as to others, but not in vain to myself; I have lost my labour as to others, but not as to my God ; for my reward is with God, and though I have spent my strength for nought in regard of men, yet my work is with my God ; and in all this work I have approved myself unto him ; and therefore whatever the success be, yet will not I be discouraged ; for my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.'
If you have been faithful in your labour for God, then you are a success in his eyes. Just as Christ was. And that's what counts.
Next week's reading Read Sermon XII (A lifting up in case of discouragements drawn from the condition itself). Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading Attributes of God by Charnock (Available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Continue Chapter 8 (A discourse upon God's knowledge) by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'III. The third thing is, How God knows all things?' (Yes, a long reading but the short one last week makes up for it). My summary This week we read Charnock's second main point about God's knowledge which is a lengthy reading showing what God knows.
Firstly we are taught that God knows himself for if he did not he would not be:
(i) perfect;
(ii) blessed;
(iii) able to create from nothing;
(iv) able to govern anything.
Secondly Charnock affirms that God knows all other things, whether they be possible, past, present or future. These are then dealt with in turn.
Concerning the things possible, God must know all things possible because:
(i) man knows things that are possible to him, though he will never effect them;
(ii) God knowing his own power, knows whatsoever is in his power to effect;
(iii) he knew those things which he has created before they were created.
Then after quickly demonstrating that God knows all things past, Charnock moves onto the fact that God knows all things present including:
(i) all creatures from the highest to the lowest;
(ii) all the actions of creatures;
(iii) all the thoughts of creatures;
(iv) all the evils and sins of creatures.
As for all things future, God must know them because:
(i) everything which is the object of God's knowledge without himself was once only future;
(ii) of the predictions of future things in the Bible;
(iii) some future things are known by men;
(iv) God knows his own decrees and will;
(v) if God did not know all future things, he would be mutable in his knowledge;
(vi) he knows all future contingencies. What grabbed me Naturally the last point about God's knowledge of the future led to a discussion of man's free will. If the future is already known then how can man have free will in his actions?
Charnock gave us a good statement of the usual Reformed understanding: 'But what if the foreknowledge of God, and the liberty of the will, cannot be fully reconciled by man? shall we therefore deny a perfection in God to support a liberty in ourselves? Shall we rather fasten ignorance upon God, and accuse him of blindness, to maintain our liberty ? That God does foreknow every thing, and yet that there is liberty in the rational creature, are both certain ; but how fully to reconcile them may surmount the understanding of man. Some truths the disciples were not capable of bearing in the days of Christ; and several truths our understandings cannot reach as long as the world does last; yet in the mean time we must, on the one hand, take heed of conceiving God ignorant, and, on the other hand, of imagining the creature necessitated; the one will render God imperfect, and the other will seem to render him unjust, in punishing man for that sin which he could not avoid, but was brought into by a fatal necessity. God is sufficient to render a reason of his own proceedings, and clear up all at the day of judgment; it is a part of man's curiosity, since the fall, to be prying into God's secrets, things too high for him; whereby he singes his own wings, and confounds his own understanding. It is a cursed affectation that runs in the blood of Adam's posterity, to know as God, though our first father smarted and ruined his posterity in that attempt: the ways and knowledge of God are as much 'above our thoughts and conceptions as the heavens are above the earth,' Isa. Iv. 9, and so sublime, that we cannot comprehend them in their true and just greatness; his designs are so mysterious, and the ways of his conduct so profound, that it is not possible to dive into them. The force of our understandings is below his infinite wisdom, and therefore we should adore him with an humble astonishment, and cry out with the apostle, 'Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!' Rom. xi. 33. Whenever we meet with depths that we cannot fathom, let us remember that he is God, and we his creatures; and not be guilty of so great extravagance as to think that a subject can pierce into all the secrets of a prince, or a work understand all the operations of the artificer. Let us only resolve not to fasten any thing on God that is unworthy of the perfection of his nature, and dishonourable to the glory of his majesty; nor imagine, that we can ever step out of the rank of creatures to the glory, of the Deity, to understand fully every thing in his nature.'
Lengthy quote, but every word is worth including.
There are some things about God that are no go zones. And this is one of them.
Next week's reading
Continue Chapter 8 (A discourse upon God's knowledge) by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'V. I now proceed to the use.'
Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading Confessions by Augustine (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Books 1 and 2. My summary Now we begin Augustine's Confessions.
In Book I Augustine opens with praise of God, particularly concerning his omnipresence. Then he speaks of his infancy and early development based on his observations of infants. Then Augustine moves to speak of his boyhood and includes comments about his schooling - Latin he loved, Greek he hated. Interspersed amongst the account is praise for God and condemnation of his sinfulness and ignorance of God.
Then Book II speaks of his actions as a 16 year old. Augustine is particularly concerned to confess the sins of fornication and the theft of pears from a tree that he then wasted. What grabbed me
This is really good reading. Augustine's insights into the depravity of men and the majesty of God are stunning.
I liked this comment: 'Behold, O Lord God, yea, behold patiently as Thou art wont how carefully the sons of men observe the covenanted rules of letters and syllables received from those who spake before them, neglecting the eternal covenant of everlasting salvation received from Thee. Insomuch, that a teacher or learner of the hereditary laws of pronunciation will more offend men by speaking without the aspirate, of a “uman being,” in despite of the laws of grammar, than if he, a “human being,” hate a “human being” in despite of Thine. As if any enemy could be more hurtful than the hatred with which he is incensed against him; or could wound more deeply him whom he persecutes, than he wounds his own soul by his enmity. Assuredly no science of letters can be so innate as the record of conscience, “that he is doing to another what from another he would be loth to suffer.” How deep are Thy ways, O God, Thou only great, that sittest silent on high and by an unwearied law dispensing penal blindness to lawless desires. In quest of the fame of eloquence, a man standing before a human judge, surrounded by a human throng, declaiming against his enemy with fiercest hatred, will take heed most watchfully, lest, by an error of the tongue, he murder the word “human being”; but takes no heed, lest, through the fury of his spirit, he murder the real human being.'
People are concerned to speak according to the human rules of grammar, but are not concerned to speak according to the rules of God.
Next week's reading Read Books III and IV. Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading Tracts and Letters (Volume 3) by John Calvin (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Tract I (Canons and decrees of the council of Trent, with the antidote) by reading up to (but not including) the section beginning 'On the sixth session of the Council of Trent' (which is Calvin's antidote to the sixth session).
My summary We now read the decrees of the fifth session. The first decree concerns original sin, regeneration through baptism (including infants) and that there is no sin in those regenerated. The second decree concerns the appointment of clergy.
This is followed by Calvin's antidote to the fifth session. Regarding the first decree, Calvin has no problem with their doctrine of original sin, but does object to their teaching that the regenerate do not sin: 'Accordingly, sin truly remains in us, and is not instantly in one day extinguished by baptism, but as the guilt is effaced it is null in regard to imputation.' As for the second decree on Roman Catholic clergy, Calvin points out that the Council 'leaves men who are unlearned and utterly unfit in possession of the place which they have usurped by fraud, injustice, and sacrilege...'
Then we read the decrees and canons of the sixth session which are on the subject of justification. They clearly condemn Protestant teaching.
Not surprisingly, we did not have time for Calvin's lengthy antidote to the decrees on justification. All of next week's reading will be devoted to it.
What grabbed me After reading the sixth session on justification, no honest person could claim that Roman Catholicism and Protestantism teach the same way of salvation.
Just one sample: 'IX. Whosoever shall say that the wicked is justified by faith alone, in such a sense that nothing else is required in the way of co-operation to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is in no respect necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will, let him be anathema.'
It doesn't get much clearer than that.
Next week's reading Continue Tract I (Canons and decrees of the council of Trent, with the antidote) by reading up to (but not including) the section beginning 'Antidote to the Canons of the Council of Trent' (page 147 in the Banner edition). Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading The Works Volume 1 by Richard Sibbes (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Sibbes Works Vol 1 by continuing 'The soul's conflict with itself' and reading Chapters 22 (Of sorrow for sin...), 23 (Other spiritual causes of the soul's trouble discovered and removed), 24 (Of outward troubles...), 25 (Of the defects of gifts...), 26 (Of divine reasons) and 27 (In our worst condition...). My summary
We continue Sibbes' exposition of Psalm 42:11, 'Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God'.
In Chapter 22 Sibbes answers the case of one that is not sorrowful for sin and so fears that he cannot be comforted.
Chapter 23 looks at another spiritual cause of trouble: the inward conflict betwixt grace and corruption. This is followed by answers to objections that one cannot be comforted because of:
(i) strong inclinations to sin;
(ii) great impediments and many discouragements;
(iii) a corrupt heart;
(iv) many wants and defects;
(v) God's pure eyes not enduring his services.
Then Chapter 24 examines how to overcome outward evils that deprive us of the comforts of nature or bring such misery upon our nature or condition that hinders our well-being in this world.
Chapter 25 looks at the disquieting that results from a Christian seeing himself unfurnished with those gifts that are fit for the calling of a saint.
In Chapter 26 we are taught of the divine reasons for trust in a believer and the praise the believer gives to God.
And Chapter 27 asserts that in our worst condition we still have cause to praise God.
What grabbed me Sibbes gives us some great teaching on how to be truly happy: 'God is glorified in making us happy, and we enjoying happiness, must glorify God. Although God condescend so low unto us, as not only to allow us, but to enjoin us to look to our own freedom from misery, and enjoyment of happiness, yet a soul thoroughly seasoned with grace, mounteth higher, and is carried with pure respects to advance God's glory ; yea, sometimes so far as to forget its own happiness. It respects itself for God, rather than God for itself. A heavenly soul is never satisfied, until it be as near God as is attainable. And the nearer a creature comes to God, the more it is emptied of itself, and all self-aims. Our happiness is more in him, than in ourselves. We seek ourselves most when we deny ourselves most. And the more we labour to advance God, the more we advance our condition in him. '
Seek God's glory and the pleasant side effect is that you end up happy! (Sounds rather like John Piper).
Next week's reading Continue Sibbes Works Vol 1 by continuing 'The soul's conflict with itself' and reading Chapters 28 (Divers qualities...), 29 (Of God's manifold...), 30 (Of God...) and 31 (Means of proving...). Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
I've decided that the next Wednesday Worker will be 'Hints and helps in pastoral theology' by William S Plumer (Available from Amazon or free here).
By my calculations we'll finish our current Wednesday Worker title, 'The ministry of the word' by William M. Taylor, sometime in August 2011 and so we'll start our new title then.
Required reading Heaven on earth by Thomas Brooks (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 6 (Shewing the difference between a true and a counterfeit assurance, between sound assurance and presumption).
My summary Now we read a new chapter 'showing the difference between a true and a counterfeit assurance'.
Firstly we are taught that a sound and well-grounded assurance: (i) is attended with a deep admiration of God's transcendent love and favour to the soul in the Lord Jesus; (ii) doth always beget in the soul an earnest and an impatient longing after a further, a clearer, and fuller enjoyment of God and Christ; (iii) is usually strongly assaulted by Satan on all sides; (iv) makes a man as bold as a lion; (v) makes a Christian very studious and laborious to make others happy; (vi) will exceedingly arm and strengthen the Christian against all wickedness and baseness; (vii) is always attended with three fair handmaids (love, humility, joy); (viii) sometimes springs from the testimony and witness of the Spirit of God.
Then Brooks gives us further differences, particularly concerning the witness of God to the believer: (i) the Spirit of Christ doth not witness by any outward voice but by an inward, secret, glorious and unspeakable way; (ii) the testimony and witness of the Spirit of Christ is only gained and enjoyed in holy and heavenly ways; (iii) the testimony and witness of the Spirit of Christ is a clear, a full, a satisfying testimony and witness; (iv) though the Spirit be a witnessing Spirit, yet he doth not always witness to believers their adoption, their interest in Christ; (v) the testimony and witness of the Spirit is a sure testimony; (vi) the testimony of God is always accompanied with the testimony of our own; (vii) the witness of the Spirit is ever according to the word; (viii) it is a holy witness; (ix) assurance is a jewel, a pearl of that price, that God only bestows it upon renewed hearts.
What grabbed me Brooks gave us a good picture of how Satan reacts to the assured Christian: 'Assurance makes a paradise in believers' souls, and this makes Satan to roar and rage. Assurance fits a man to do God the greatest service and Satan the greatest disservice, and this makes him mad against the soul. Assurance makes a saint to be too hard for Satan at all weapons, yea, to lead that ' son of the morning ' captive, to spoil him of all his hurting power, to bind him in chains, and to triumph over him ; and this makes his hell a great deal hotter, Rom. viii. 32-39. And therefore never wonder at Satan's assaulting your assurance, but expect it and look for it. The jailor is quiet when his prisoner is in bolts, but if he be escaped then he pursues him with hue and cry. So long as the soul is in bolts and bondage under Satan, Satan is quiet and is not so apt to molest and vex it ; but when once a soul is made free, and assured of his freedom by Christ, John viii. 36, then says Satan, as once Pharaoh did, ' I will arise, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil ; my lust shall be satisfied upon them ; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them,' Exodus xv. 9. The experience of all assured saints doth abundantly confirm this. Israel going into Egypt had no enemies, no opposition, but travelling into Canaan they were never free.'
If you are assured of your salvation, then expect Satan to be unhappy with you!
Next week's reading Read Chapter 7 (Containing answers to several special questions about assurance).
Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading
Ministry of the word by William Taylor (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Lecture III (The preparation of the preacher continued). My summary
In Lecture III Taylor continues to teach us about the preparation of the preacher.
Firstly we are encouraged to give an important place to the study of the works of standard authors by:
(i) reading the great books;
(ii) reading with care and attention;
(iii) reading with meditation;
(iv) comparing notes on your reading with a brother;
(v) talking to yourself about the subject with your pen.
Secondly Taylor insists on the free and constant use of the pen in the work of original composition by:
(i) aiming at a style which will present your thoughts forcibly, clearly and eloquently to the minds of your hearers;
(ii) seeking the best words and putting them in the best places;
(iii) not being allured by high-sounding adjectives;
(iv) taking heed of circumlocution.
Thirdly Taylor encourages the acquirement of facility and distinctness in public speaking by;
(i) seeking distinctness of articulation;
(ii) not being too rapid in your utterance;
(iii) cultivating the art of appropriate emphasis;
(iv) reading frequently aloud.
Fourthly we are told that we must have common sense. That is, an intuitive perception of the fitness of things so that he who is endowed with it will always do that which is appropriate to the circumstances.
What grabbed me
Again, I liked the encouragement to read widely: 'If the minister is to be a leader of men, he must keep ahead of them, or at least abreast with them in ordinary intelligence, for, if they detect him blundering in matters of history, philosophy, or literature, or if they discover that he is comparatively ignorant in these departments, they will have little respect for his opinions and small confidence in his judgment, even when he is speaking to them of things that lie within his proper province.
But, over and above this negative advantage, the effort to master the writings of great thinkers will strengthen your own minds, while the truths which they proclaim, will suggest to you trains of thought which otherwise might never have occurred to you. Absolute originality, nowadays, is all but an impossibility. The most we can hope for is that we shall be able to give freshness and point to our own thinking, as we go over the subjects on which men have exercised their intellects from the beginning until now; and, for my part, I know no method by which that can be secured more thoroughly than by the wise use of good books.'
Don't know where to start? I have been steadily working my way through the Great Books of the Western World published by Britannica (Available from Amazon) and finding them most helpful.
Next week's reading Read Lecture IV (The theme and range of the pulpit).
Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
Required reading A lifting up for the downcast by William Bridge (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Sermon X (A lifting up in case of affliction). My summary Today we read Bridges' tenth sermon on Psalm 42:11.
In this sermon Bridges teaches us that sometimes the discouragements of the saints are drawn from their outward afflictions and relations.
Yet Bridges suggests there is no need for discouragement because the afflictions:
(i) are part of Christ's purchase for you;
(ii) are the gift of God;
(iii) are but seeming evils;
(iv) come from divine love;
(v) come with much supporting grace;
(vi) benefit you.
Next Bridges answers possible objections the readers might have as to why their particular affliction is a good reason for discouragement.
Then Bridges encourages you to:
(i) remember much your fellowship with Christ in his sufferings;
(ii) labour more and more to be strangers to the world and to be acquainted with the ways of God under affliction;
(iii) consider what Christ hath borne and left you to bear;
(iv) consider what abundance of good you and others get by your afflictions.
What grabbed me Wise advice: 'Whenever any affliction comes, do not stand poring on the evil of it, but be sure that you look as well and as much upon what is with you, as upon what is against you: there is no mercy which you can lose, but hath some burden with it: there is no misery that can befal you, but hath some mercy with it. When men lose a mercy, they only consider the sweetness of a mercy lost, and not the burden that they do lose withal.'
Mercies do come with burdens and when they are removed the burdens associated with them are removed.
The classic example being money. If you don't have it, greed can be significantly diminished.
Next week's reading
Read Sermon XI (A lifting up in case of unserviceableness). Now it's your turn Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
