It's not you Xanga, it's me...

Over the past couple years, having led to be more involved locally, I've been blogging less here. Long story short, over the past few months, God has surprisingly and wonderfully (Isaiah 64:3a!) opened up an opportunity for me to lead a group of women in this study at our church...

Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically - official trailer from Media Gratiae on Vimeo.

(You can view the Introductory video as well as the complete Week 1 video (Beholding God: The Great Attraction, featuring A. W. Tozer) at http://beholdyourgod.org.)

I would appreciate your prayers for me as I prepare for and lead the study each week. (Sorry to be late in updating – we've just finished the third week of the study.) As I was recently rereading the last few chapters of Job, these verses in chapter 42 struck me:

7  After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8  Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9  So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job's prayer.

The LORD requires that we (I) speak of Him what is right. When we (I) don't, it provokes him to wrath – His anger burns against us (me)! Considering this rebuke was in regard to private conversations these three men had had with Job, we (I) cannot help but weigh soberly and fearfully what it means for any of us (for me) to speak of the LORD wrongly in public, including blogging and public teaching! No wonder James gives us (me) this stern warning:  Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness... (3:1).

I would also appreciate your prayers for each of the women, as well as myself – that we would not squander this opportunity, but make every effort and apply ourselves diligently, using the means God has provided.

My heart's desire is that the Spirit of God would descend in fire upon this study, so each one of us might enter into a more intimate knowledge of the one true God. Our Lord has told us that this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3). May none of us fall short of the blessed privileges Jesus Christ purchased for us at Calvary! I Peter 3:18  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.

We can and we should use means, but we must not ever put our trust in means or rely upon our own flesh. May the Spirit of the living God be pleased to fall afresh in power upon the means He has appointed, and may I not be rash and resort to the arm of flesh by interposing a "meddling finger"!

Means of grace are put into my hand, but the work is in the Lord's. Watching, praying, and believing do belong to me, and these I must be taught of God, or I shall never do them right; but all deliverance comes from Jesus Christ. And because he does the work, fights the battle, and brings victory, he is rightly called the Saviour. I must watch against the inroads of an enemy; and when he comes in sight, must wrestle well with prayer, and fight the fight of faith; but if I thrust my arm into the battle, Jesus will withdraw his own he will be all or nothing. And if I lay my hand upon the ark, to help to hold it up, as Uzza did, I shall be slain, as Uzza was.

The crime of Uzza is but little understood; some think it a slight one, and the punishment severe. But the same sin destroyed Uzza, which destroyeth every sinner, even unbelief. What slew his body, slayeth all the souls that perish. He could not trust the Lord wholly with his ark, but must have a meddling finger, called in the Bible margin, his rashness. Rash worm indeed to help a God to do his work! and thousands everywhere are guilty of this rashness, and perish by this Uzzaizing. Jesus Christ is jealous of his glory as Saviour: he will not share it with an other; and whoso takes it from him shall take it at his peril.

God forbid I resort to Uzzaizing and thrust forth a meddling finger and rob God of His glory!

"All attempts to promote Christianity by human power and human authority have invariably and necessarily failed... Christianity, when transfused from the book to the person, consists in spiritually enlightened minds and renewed hearts: and by no power can these by produced but that of 'the Spirit of the living God.' –– And even all the legitimate, zealous, scripturally directed efforts for the advancement of the great work, must prove inefficacious and fruitless, unless God give His influence with them." ~ Ralph Wardlaw, "Lectures on the Prophecies of Zechariah" (Stoke-on-Trent: Tentmaker Publications, reprinted 2002 & 2007), 101.

Zechariah 4:6 ... Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Today is the 41st anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring abortion a fundamental right. Yesterday on my other site (see here (Xanga) / here (WP)), I wrote about the Rev. James Haldane Stewart's 35 year effort to stir up God's people to pray for the Holy Spirit. The following is an excerpt from Stewart's "Hints for the General Union of Christians for Prayer, for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit," originally published in early 1821. Though Stewart's words were penned almost 200 years ago, they are fresh, vibrant, and timely today because Stewart viewed social problems through the lens of Scripture. As Christians, we can and we should attempt to protect unborn children, to aid mothers in crisis, and to enact just laws — and yet Stewart reminds us there is even more needed...

In the present day, a day which for obvious reasons, may be called a day of trouble, of rebuke and of blasphemy; and yet a day which, from the advance of true religion, shines with many a ray of bright hope and earnest expectation; —in such a day, in which hope and fear thus alternately prevail, one great question that ought to occupy the mind — How to overcome the evil, and to extend the good; how to confound the works of Satan, and to enlarge and establish the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many are the attempts now making for this purpose. Societies are in active operation to suppress vice, to reform our prisons, to afford a refuge for the destitute — to provide an asylum for the penitent — to educate the young — to circulate the Holy Scriptures — to evangelize the heathen — and to promote Christianity among the Jews. Each of these institutions has its peculiar excellence, but they are all limited in their object and in their effort. No one great and extensive plan has yet been adopted, which may, at the same time, effectually benefit ourselves, our families, our country, and the world at large.

The aim of this paper is humbly to suggest such a plan, not to disparage other benevolent attempts, but to give life, and vigour, and energy, to them all. The plan is this:—TO UNITE ALL SINCERE CHRISTIANS IN EARNEST PRAYER FOR THE GENERAL OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. This will meet the full extent of both of our wants and of our desires.

The limits of this paper require brevity; but if the Scriptures are examined, the following truths will be clearly seen; viz. That no human effort is of itself sufficient to change the heart of man, or to build the spiritual temple of the Lord. God employs men as instruments, but he is himself the great agent. Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but God only giveth the increase. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts...¹

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, though we walk in the flesh, let us remember that the warfare we wage is not according to the flesh. How often do we become engaged in benevolent attempts and rely on ourselves — and end up neglecting to seek the face of God for the supply of the Spirit? May the attempts of God's people be many, but at the same time, may we earnestly plead with God to pour out His Spirit to give "life, and vigour, and energy to them all."

Yesterday (January 11) was the anniversary of the homegoing of the Welsh Calvinistic minister William Williams Pantycelyn (1717-1791). You may be familiar with Williams' hymn "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah," which was originally penned in the Welsh language. Williams also wrote hymns in English. All of his hymns meld Biblical doctrine with vibrant Christian experience.

As I was looking through Willliams' "Hosannah to the Son of David" (his first collection of English hymns, published in 1759), the hymn "Breathing after God" caught my eye. I thought the hymn was a wonderful prayer for the beginning of a new year, and that verse 2 was a fitting complement to my last post on Jonathan Edwards, spiritual dullness, and resolutions.

HYMN XL. (from "Hosannah to the Son of David")
Breathing after GOD.

1 LORD, do descend and visit me,
I cannot bear the loss;
All the creation does afford
But vanity and dross.

2 My spirit follows after Thee,
Renew'd by special grace,
And cannot, will not, thus inclin'd,
Renew its former chase.

3 LORD, why hast Thou created me?
My mind, to what employ?
Why passions planted in my soul,
But Thee I might enjoy?

4 O Holy, Holy, Holy LORD,
Be my companion still,
That so each corner or my heart,
May have its plenteous fill.

5 Then all I leave, I all resign
That flesh and blood approve,
All earthly objects of delight,
And only for Thy love.

Though we as Christians may resolve to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, Williams is right to remind us that our spirits need to be renewed by God's "special grace," because distractions, excuses, and temptations abound so we might break our resolutions and renew our former chase!

Luke 9:57  As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58  And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59  To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60  And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61  Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62  Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

These things are written as examples to us. Let us take heed, lest we fall. The writer to the Hebrews warns us not to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (see Hebrews 3). If left to our own selves, given our treacherous hearts, soon enough we will find ourselves drifting, hardening our hearts, and looking back rather than following Jesus. Isaiah reminds us that "even youths shall grow faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted..." -- so, my friends, what hope is there for a 55 year old woman like myself! –– what hope is there for any one of us!?

BUT
they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
HE does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
HE gives power to the faint,
and to HIM who has no might HE increases strength.

(~ Isaiah 40:30-31, 28-29, emphasis mine)

Gracious and merciful God, renew us by Your special grace, so we might be fit for Your Kingdom. We grow faint and weary, but You do not! As Your sheep, we are prone to wander, but as our Shepherd, Your covenant love is steadfast! Almighty and everlasting God, for the sake of Your beloved Son, grant Your children power and increase our strength through Your Holy Spirit. May we comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to experientially know the love of Christ that passes knowledge, that we might be filled with all Your fullness, so Your love is not merely a theological construct to us, but serves as a constraining power, so our love and our desire for You and Your Kingdom might increase, that we might come to know and to treasure Jesus Christ as the pearl of great price and as our exceeding joy, and, in turn, see the "vanity and dross" of all else, and "leave" and "resign ... all earthly objects of delight," so our souls might freely breathe and gladly pant after You as the deer pants for the water brooks, and we might cling to, enjoy, and follow hard after the Lamb wherever You go in 2014, for Your Glory! Amen.

Related:

Pressing on in the New Year
One week into 2009: a prayer to press on & manifest Jesus (Charles Wesley)
New Year’s resolutions? … not “without God’s help” (Jonathan Edwards)
dedication 2010 (reflections on God’s Word & God’s grace)
dedication 2010 (addendum): may He temper my tongue with love
my best resolutions
Sacrifice
A New Year’s Eben-ezer (Morning by morning I do awake … O! the mystery of sovereign grace)
Amazing Grace . . . upon Grace ~ the 240th anniversary
“… since thou hast been thus gracious …” ~ Susanna Anthony and grace upon grace
Jonathan Edwards and dullness: “So that it is to no purpose to resolve, except we depend on the grace of God.”

For more on William Williams, please read Martyn Lloyd-Jones' 1968 address to the Puritan Conference: William Williams and Welsh Calvinistic Methodism.