February 11, 2013

• a Calvinist, a Wesley bobblehead, the holy catholic Church & the communion of saints

  For just over a couple weeks now, I've been out of state helping out a relative. Prior to leaving home, one of my friends shared with me Psalm 86:6 in the ESV. I didn't remember reading it before in that translation:

  "Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace."

  How wonderfully the LORD has listened to and heard my plea, and poured out grace upon grace! One of the ways God has poured out His grace while I've been away from home is through my being warmly welcomed into the fold of a local church here.

  Many of you know I love the doctrines of grace, i.e. - Calvinistic doctrine. And I confess I struggle at times with being gracious and humble about the doctrines of grace! Well, this particular church is of the Wesleyan persuasion... (I want to clarify that this congregation is not at all a part of that modern, specious imitation which denies the great doctrines of the Bible, and turns its back on the wonderful heritage of blood, sweat, tears, and the work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope which was found in the lives and the ministries of John and Charles Wesley.)

  During one of the weeks I've been here, a visiting preacher presented the local pastor with a John Wesley bobblehead... no kidding.

  Gotta share this video I found from the Asbury Seminary Bookstore...

  
  
  John Wesley BobbleHead on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB2uqLY9eRw
  

  I was aware of the doctrinal differences going in, but I still felt strongly that I should visit this particular church  ... and I can't express to you the multiple blessings, the grace upon grace that God has had in store for me through this congregation. And I can't imagine how much poorer I would have been had I not stepped through those church doors. I've been humbled as I experienced anew and afresh what it means to be part of "the communion of saints." In God's inscrutable and mysterious ways, we know that God Himself sets the members in the Body as HE wills –– members who hold to Calvinistic doctrine as well as members who hold to Wesleyan Arminian doctrine:

  I Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.

  15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
  

  
  
  My first Sunday in worship, after already having been blessed through some spiritual conversation and prayer with some of the members, not long into the service, I had to turn in my Bible to David's words from Psalm 31, and I basked in them as I was basking in God's goodness and mercy to me following me all the days of my life, and bringing me to this particular place:

  Psalm 31:21 Blessed be the LORD, For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city.
  

  I had felt myself to be somewhat a stranger in a strong city. Though I was with family, I was away from my family at home, and away from my Christian brothers and sisters at home, and yet the LORD took me in through this particular assembly of His saints, a group of poor and needy sinners, who along with the Wesleys, along with John Calvin, and along with myself are wholly leaning on Jesus' name and are saved by grace through faith by the New Covenant in the Lamb's precious blood.

  Psalm 50:5 "Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice."
  

  Every week, this congregation reads through the Apostles' Creed. My times of fellowship with them have helped me to know in greater measure what it means when we say that . . .

  "We believe in ... the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints..."
  

  In Proverbs 8, we read how the Godhead delighted in one another, and yet the Father, Son, and Spirit also delight in the sons of men, particularly in those whom God chose in Christ before the foundation of the world. (HT for the reference to Proverbs 8:30-31 from Dafydd Morris' message "Why Should Jesus Send His Spirit? Part 2," available at http://www.reformationandrevival.org/pastconferenceaddresses.html)

  Proverbs 8:30-31
  Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
  And I was daily His delight,
  Rejoicing always before Him,
  Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
  And my delight was with the sons of men.

  Here's a portion of Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on this passage:

  His [God's] gracious concern he had for mankind, 31. Wisdom rejoiced, not so much in the rich products of the earth, or the treasures hid in the bowels of it, as in the habitable parts of it, for her delights were with the sons of men; not only in the creation of man is it spoken with a particular air of pleasure (Gen. i. 26), Let us make man, but in the redemption and salvation of man. The Son of God was ordained, before the world, to that great work, 1 Pet. i. 20. A remnant of the sons of men were given him to be brought, through his grace, to his glory, and these were those in whom his delights were. His church was the habitable part of his earth, made habitable for him, that the Lord God might dwell even among those that had been rebellious; and this he rejoiced in, in the prospect of seeing his seed. Though he foresaw all the difficulties he was to meet with in his work, the services and sufferings he was to go through, yet, because it would issue in the glory of his Father and the salvation of those sons of men that were given him, he looked forward upon it with the greatest satisfaction imaginable, in which we have all the encouragement we can desire to come to him and rely upon him for all the benefits designed us by his glorious undertaking.

  Just as the Lord Jesus delights in all the saints, those who belong to Christ must do likewise. How can we do any less since we are united to Christ and have Christ's very nature indwelling us through the gift of His Holy Spirit?

  Psalm 16:1 Preserve me, O God: for in You I put my trust.
  2 O my soul, You have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord,
  My goodness is nothing apart from You" ––
  3 And to the saints that are in the earth,
  They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight."
  

  Having been born again of incorruptible seed, along with our Savior, we too must delight in, rejoice in, love, and extend goodness to all the saints. How can we not? Are we not all one family? Have we not all been redeemed with the same precious blood of the Lamb of God, made alive from the dead through the operation of the same Spirit, and adopted by the same heavenly Father into the family of God?

  Ephesians 4:4  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

  Once again, here are Matthew Henry's words on those verses in Psalm 16 (boldface mine):

  3. If God be ours, we must, for his sake, extend our goodness to those that are his, to the saints in the earth; for what is done to them he is pleased to take as done to himself, having constituted them his receivers. Note, (1.) There are saints in the earth; and saints on earth we must all be, or we shall never be saints in heaven. Those that are renewed by the grace of God, and devoted to the glory of God, are saints on earth. (2.) The saints in the earth are excellent ones, great, mighty, magnificent ones, and yet some of them so poor in the world that they need to have David's goodness extended to them. God makes them excellent by the grace he gives them. The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour, and then he accounts them excellent. They are precious in his sight and honourable; they are his jewels, his peculiar treasure. Their God is their glory, and a diadem of beauty to them. (3.) All that have taken the Lord for their God delight in his saints as excellent ones, because they bear his image, and because he loves them. David, though a king, was a companion of all that feared God (Ps. cxix. 63), even the meanest, which was a sign that his delight was in them. (4.) It is not enough for us to delight in the saints, but, as there is occasion, our goodness must extend to them; we must be ready to show them the kindness they need, distribute to their necessities, and abound in the labour of love to them. This is applicable to Christ. The salvation he wrought out for us was no gain to God, for our ruin would have been no loss to him; but the goodness and benefit of it extend to us men, in whom he delighteth, Prov. viii. 31. For their sakes, says he, I sanctify myself, John xvii. 19. Christ delights even in the saints on earth, notwithstanding their weaknesses and manifold infirmities, which is a good reason why we should.

  Valentine's Day is coming up in just a few days, and I'd like to close with some of the apostle John's words from chapters 3-5 of his first epistle. These are some of the toughest and most challenging words in all the Scripture when it comes to Christ's commandment that we love one another as He has loved us (John 13:31-35; see also John 17:20-26). John's words serve to demolish any and all lame and feeble excuses we (I) might raise, and they turn all our (my) puny, fleshly, and fluffy conceptions of what love is on their heads. Love all the saints! Rejoice in all the saints! Delight in all the saints! Show goodness to all the saints! How?! Wholly impossible with man! Wholly impossible with Karen! But possible with God! Our God is the God all the saints! And our God is the One who works in us to will and to do His good pleasure. And what is God's good pleasure:  that we love and delight in and rejoice in and extend goodness to the saints –– all the saints. May the resurrection power of Christ work in us to keep His commandments. Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

  I John 3:10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

  13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

  16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

  18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment...

  I John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another...

  20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?  21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also...

  I John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
  

  * * *

  Thank You and bless You, LORD, for listening to and answering my pleas for grace and showing me grace through Your Body. Thank You for encouraging my heart and knitting me together in love with these dear saints. I continue to find that Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds, Your mercies are new every morning, and Your grace abounds to this chief of sinners, and along with David Brainerd, You never fail to raise up friends in every place You have called me in Your perfect way and in Your appointed time:

  "O how kind has God been to me! how has he raised up friends in every place, where his providence has called me! Friends are a great comfort; and it is God that gives them; it is he makes them friendly to me. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.'"

  God of grace, continue to grant me grace upon grace so I might treasure and hold a catholic Spirit, and delight in, rejoice in, love, and extend goodness to all the saints, just as you treat me... not as my sins deserve!

  ---

  Related:

  • Reasons for Thanksgiving - part 6: Christian friends
  • we are a wilderness and a desolation today (lack of love in the Church | Isaiah 64:10-11)
  • "Lord, please send a brother or sister to help me." (The Good Samaritan parable redux)
  • May the mind and word of Christ dwell in us so we might arise as one man
  • forgive us for dividing Your Son, our Lord
  • ALL God's people singing, "He reigns" (Letter 28 on assurance & joy)
  • Behold, how good and pleasant it is when we dwell in unity!
  • I can't keep walking on eggshells here (more on Revelife, Calvinism, the Body of Christ and self)
  • an "ici" good-bye | a lesson in warm catholicity
  • Lent IV.-"If you love Me you will love the church"
  • a prayer for my sister in Christ
  • Do you love the saints . . . ALL the saints? (reflections on church hurts)

  Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.

  Photo credit: Image grabbed from the YouTube video, found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB2uqLY9eRw

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