idolatry

  • The Day of Pentecost ... the first of a series (Martyn Lloyd-Jones on revival)

      
    "God is appearing for brother Huntington's support. There is evidently a work of grace beginning among his people. His old praying women, who belonged to Whitefield's day, say that so good appearances have not been seen in Boston since 1771. But our church is still dead, and still looking to an arm of flesh. We have not got enough yet. We shall have to receive more scourging before we shall be fit for any work. Of all creatures, some of us seemed the most unlikely to be selected to make such a stand in Boston. Whether the selection was of God or man, time must determine. Pray for us...

    "But the church, with a few exceptions, are still asleep...

    "Our congregation, gathered from all parts, with habits formed until cold preaching, present a cold spectacle, much unlike the congregation of Newark. They must be melted down into one mass by an electric shock from heaven. God send the shock in his own time!"

    ~ Excerpts from Edward Dorr Griffin's letters of Sept., 14, 1811, April 22, 1812, and May 2, 1812.

    As way of introduction to today's post...

    Some of you may know that just over three years ago God laid on my heart a burden to pray for revival. (For more on that, please see the second portion of my post here re: prayer.) For a few years prior to that time, I had became aware there was something lacking in the Church, and along with many, many others, I reacted out of my flesh, and I began to step onto the missional/emergent bandwagon. But then in His grace, God snatched me off and brought me to my senses, so I might be able to make a Biblical response to the current condition of the Church –– which can only occur as we go back to seek the face of God Himself (after all we are His people, His flock, His Church!) through prayer in conjunction with His inspired, infallible Word. As I did so, I began to discover those things which we are so apt to miss – but which are wholly vital to the welfare of God's Church: prayer and the ministry of the Word (e.g. ~ Acts 6:2; Luke 24:49; Isaiah 62 & 64:1-8; Acts 1:8; Acts 2; Joel 2:28-32; II Tim. 3:16-4:5; Eph. 4:9-16). So much of the western church today continues to operate in vain as we walk according to the imagination of our own hearts and disregard Biblical doctrine and Church history. Just like Israel, we keep trying to invent new things, rather than going back to the old paths!

    Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. (KJV)

    Isaiah 30:15  For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,
    “In returning and rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
    But you were unwilling, 16  and you said,
    “No! We will flee upon horses”;
    therefore you shall flee away;
    and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
    therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
    17  A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
    at the threat of five you shall flee,
    till you are left
    like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
    like a signal on a hill.

    In other words, so long as we continue to rely on ourselves, so long as we look to the arm of flesh, rather than confess our insufficiency and admit our neediness and look up to Almighty God and importunately plead with Him to have mercy upon us for His name's sake, and to send to us the supplies He alone can provide through His Holy Spirit –– we will remain hard, dead, cold, and wholly ineffectual, and a reproach to His name.

    Isaiah 8:19  And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20  To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21  They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22  And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
    Zechariah 10:1  Ask rain from the LORD
    in the season of the spring rain,
    from the LORD who makes the storm clouds,
    and he will give them showers of rain,
    to everyone the vegetation in the field.
    2  For the household gods utter nonsense,
    and the diviners see lies;
    they tell false dreams
    and give empty consolation.
    Therefore the people wander like sheep;
    they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.

    I realize the word "revival" is a loaded word, and I regret to say that there have been perpetuated some very sketchy and Biblically inaccurate and incorrect views of revival. Therefore, in order to give you more of an idea of what revival is and why I'm praying for revival, I present to you the following excerpt from Chapter 16 (What Happens in Revival) of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' book "Revival" (Wheaton: Crossway, 1987), 199-203, boldface mine. (The book was based on a series of sermons ML-J preached on revival in 1959, which was the 100th anniversary of the Welsh Revival.)

    * * *

    And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken:  for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name (Exod. 33.17).

       So far in this particular study we have considered what Moses prayed for, and why he prayed for it, and how he prayed for it. We come now to the point where God heard Moses, and gave him an answer, promising him that he would do the very thing for him and for the Children of Israel, which Moses had requested. So, our subject is, God having pity and mercy upon the Church, and sending his blessing. For, revival, after all, is nothing but God hearing the people and answering them by giving this manifestation of his glory, and his strength, and his power. And it is important, therefore, for us to understand, and to know something of what we should be anticipating and what we should be seeking in our prayers. And, of course, the way to discover that is to go back to the second chapter of Acts.

    It is a truism to say that every revival of religion that the Church has ever known has been, in a sense, a kind of repetition of what happened on the day of Pentecost, that it has been a return to that origin, to that beginning, that it has been a reviving. Today there is a great deal of very loose and dangerous talk and writing about what happened on the day of Pentecost. People go accepting uncritically the explanation that what happened on the day of Pentecost was once and for all and never to be repeated.

       Now, it is important that we should examine that because, if that is really true, it is very wrong to pray for revival. But, of course, it is just not true. There is only one sense in which what happened on the day of Pentecost cannot be repeated and that is simply that it did happen to be the first of a series. And, of course, you cannot repeat the first. But the fact that you cannot repeat the first does not mean for a moment that what happened on the first occasion cannot happen again. And every revival of religion, I say, is really a repetition of what happened on the day of Pentecost. It is really almost incredible that people should go on saying that what happened at Pentecost was once and for all. Because if you go to Acts 11, and look there at Peter making his defence to the other Apostles for having baptised the Gentile Cornelius and his household, you will see that what he said was,

    12  And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house: 13  And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14  Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. 15  And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. (Acts 11.12-15).

      
       You notice what he says. He says that the Holy Ghost fell on Cornelius, and his household, 'as on us at the beginning'. He said, 'The same thing happened to them, as happened to us on the day of Pentecost.' In other words, the baptism of the Holy Ghost took place on the day of Pentecost, but it also took place later upon Cornelius, and his household. That is exactly Peter's argument: 'Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift' – the same gift, you see – 'as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?' And he repeats the same argument again in Acts 15.

       So, then, I do trust we are clear about this, and see that we really must cease to say that what happened on the day of Pentecost happened once and for all. It did not, it was simply the first of a series. I am ready to admit that you cannot repeat 'the first'. But that is nothing; what matters is the thing that happened. And the thing that happened at Pentecost happened later in exactly the same way, while Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his household. The Holy Ghost fell upon them, as he had fallen upon these people in the upper room, there in Jerusalem. And, of course, that is exactly what happens in every revival.

       There is indeed even further evidence which I can adduce for you. You will find in Acts 4 that the same thing happened even a few days after the day of Pentecost, to the apostles and to others. There, after they had been prohibited to preach any longer in the name of Jesus Christ, they went back to the gathered Christians and they all prayed together. Then we are told in verse 31, 'And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.' That is exactly the term used in the second chapter. The term baptism is not used in the second chapter, but it means the baptism. Our Lord had said, 'Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem' (Luke 24.49), and had commanded them that 'they should not depart form Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence' (Acts 1.4-5). So what happened on the day of Pentecost was the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It is described in Acts 4, they were filled again with the Holy Ghost. It was not anything that they did, it was that which happened to them. All they did was to pray, then God poured out his Spirit upon them again, and filled them until they were overflowing: 'They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness', (Acts 4.31).

       Now, that is precisely what happens in revival. It is God pouring forth his Spirit, filling his people again. It is not that which is talked of in Ephesians 5.18, which is the command to us, 'Go on being filled with the Spirit.' That is something you and I do, but this is something that is done to us. It is the Spirit falling upon us, being poured out upon us. These are the terms: 'I will pour forth my Spirit.' God alone can do that. But it is you and I who are responsible for going on being filled with the Spirit. We must not grieve the Spirit, we must not quench the Spirit, we must give obedience to the Spirit. And as long as we do that, we shall go on being filled with the Spirit. But this is different, this is the Spirit being poured out upon us until we are filled to overflowing, the Spirit being shed forth – these things are the terms. But so much of the modern teaching never uses these scriptural terms at all. You never find them talking or writing about the Spirit being poured forth, or shed forth, these terms are never mentioned. No, and that is because of the theory, that what happened on the day of Pentecost happened once and for all. There is not a word in Scripture to say that. Indeed, as I have shown you, the Scripture shows quite clearly and explicitly the exact opposite: 'The Spirit fell on them even as on us at the beginning.' Let us be careful that we do not quench the Spirit in the interest of some theory or in a fear of certain freak religious bodies.

       Having cleared that point, let us go on to consider what happens when this takes place. 'What is revival?' says somebody. 'Why are you concerned about this? Why do you go on urging us to pray for it?' The answer is this, above everything else, is what is needed today. When will the Christian Church come to realise that? The feast of Pentecost, our Whitsuntide, is in particular the festival of the Church. Oh, is there any tragedy comparable to the failure of the Church to realise that this is her need, and that this is her only hope? But the Church does not realise it. It is tragic to see different branches of the Church getting together in conferences and assemblies to investigate the situation and to discover the problem of the Church. They are investigating the situation, the problem confronting the church. 'Here are the facts,' they say, 'now then, what are we to do?'

       And what do they suggest? Has there been a great call to prayer and fasting and humiliation? A crying out to God to have mercy, and to baptize us afresh with the Holy Ghost? Is that what is done? No, I think what you will find is that they will appoint special commissions. One group has appointed eight special commissions to enquire into the situation: if it were not so tragic it would indeed be almost laughable. Of course, that is what the politicians do, and that is what a businessman does, and in those realms it is absolutely right. it is the obvious commonsense thing to do. But in the name of God, I ask, is it not tragic that the Christian Church should be doing that? With the world as it is today – commissions to investigate, commissions of enquiry! And, indeed, in one case there is a commission even to report on what the Christian faith is, and how it is to be expressed. With the world on fire, with hell let loose, the Christian Church is trying to discover what her message is. She is seeking for some way of meeting the situation.

       It is true of all sections of the Christian Church. They are all in exactly the same condition. Not a word about the need for the power. Not a call to prayer and humiliation and to agony in the presence of God. The Church does everything except that which the Lord himself commanded the early Church to do. 'Ah,' but the Church says, 'you know, the conditions are different now. This is the twentieth century.' I would insult you by giving you an answer to that. The twentieth century has nothing to do with the situation at all. Man in sin does not change. But, my friends, we are talking about the power of God. And when we are talking about the power of God, to talk about superficial changes in men is not only an irrelevance, it is non-sensical. The world, I say, has always been the same. Look at the position in the book of Acts. Can you imagine any more hopeless position than that? There we find just a handful of people, and they are very ordinary men. They are described later as illiterate and ignorant men. The Lord of glory goes back to heaven, and he leaves his cause and his interest in the hands of these man. The Jews are all against them, as they had been against him. The Gentiles are all pagans. That is the position. A handful of people in an entirely hostile and gainsaying world. Nothing could have been worse than that. Nothing could have been more difficult. But you remember what happened when the Holy Ghost came down upon them. They were like lions, mighty in power, and within three centuries, this little sect became the official religion of the great Roman Empire. How did it happen? Did they hold commissions of enquiry and investigation? Nonsense. They just went on praying, waiting for the promise, the gift of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

       And so it has been through the ages. Again I could take you over the history. Was it not like that at the Protestant Reformation? What hope had that one man Martin Luther, just an unknown monk? Who was he to stand up against all the Church, and fifteen centuries almost, or at least a good twelve to thirteen centuries of tradition in the opposite direction? It seems a sheer impertinence for this one man to get up and say, "I alone am right, and you are all wrong.' That is what would be said about him today. And yet, you see, he was a man with whom the Spirit of God had been dealing. And though he was only one man, he stood, and stood alone, and the Holy Ghost honored him. The Protestant Reformation came in, and has continued, and it has always been the same.

    * * *

    Holy Spirit, melt us down into one mass by an electric shock from heaven.
    God send the shock in Your own time!

    Please note (Updated 2/12/2013): Thanks to the MLJ Trust (http://www.mljtrust.org/), you can find and listen to the entire sermon from which this book excerpt was taken, along with 1600 sermons by the late Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones by clicking here:  http://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/. The sermon I cited here is titled "The Power of Pentecost," which is 16th sermon in the series of sermons on revival ML-J preached in 1959 and can be found here: http://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/the-power-of-pentecost/. You can access the rest of ML-J's sermons on revival here:  http://www.mljtrust.org/collections/revival/.

    You can also access a weekly podcast of one of ML-J's sermons at http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/living-grace/listen/. They're currently broadcasting ML-J's sermons on the book of Ephesians.

    If the Lord has given you a burden to pray for reformation and revival in the Church, I invite you to visit tent of meeting, my blog devoted to prayer for revival.

    Related posts:

    Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Scripture quotations included in the excerpt from ML-J and others marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Greco_006.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0
    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vesimyllyn_vett%C3%A4.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0 / {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}

  • The Dangerous Tendency of Delay (Andrew Fuller)

    Andrew Fuller passed into glory on this day in 1815. Fuller, a Calvinist pastor, was instrumental in correcting the errors of hypercalvinism (which had led to a squashing of the missionary enterprise). As a result, the modern missionary movement was unleashed in the late 18th century, beginning with William Carey. The following is an excerpt from Fuller's sermon, "The Instances, the Evil Nature, and the Dangerous Tendency of Delay, in the Concerns of Religion,"  given on April 27, 1791:

    "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." — Hag. i. 2. [KJV]......

    We see many things that should be done; but there are difficulties in the way, and we wait for the removal of these difficulties. We are very apt to indulge a kind of prudent caution, (as we call it,) which foresees and magnifies difficulties beyond what they really are. It is granted there may be such things in the way of an undertaking as may render it impracticable; and, in that case, it is our duty for the present to stand still; but it becomes us to beware lest we account that impracticable which only requires such a degree of exertion as we are not inclined to give it. Perhaps the work requires expense; and Covetousness says, Wait a little longer, till I have gained so and so in trade, till I have rendered my circumstances respectable, and settled my children comfortably in the world. But is not this like ceiling our own houses, while the house of God lies waste? Perhaps it requires concurrence; and we wait for every body to be of a mind, which is never to be expected. He who through a dread of opposition and reproach desists from known duty is in danger of being found among the "fearful, the unbelieving, and the abominable."

    Had Luther and his contemporaries acted upon this principle, they had never gone about the glorious work of the Reformation. When he saw the abominations of popery, he might have said, These things ought not to be; but what can I do? If the chief priests and rulers in different nations would but unite, something might be effected; but what can I do, an individual, and a poor man? I may render myself an object of persecution, or, which is worse, of universal contempt; and what good end will be answered by it? Had Luther reasoned thus -- had he fancied that, because princes and prelates were not the first to engage in the good work, therefore the time was not come to build the house of the Lord -- the house of the Lord, for any thing he had done, might have lain waste to this day.

    Instead of waiting for the removal of difficulties, we ought, in many cases, to consider them as purposely laid in our way, in order to try the sincerity of our religion. He who had all power in heaven and earth could not only have sent forth his apostles into all the world, but have so ordered it that all the world should treat them with kindness, and aid them in their mission; but, instead of that, he told them to lay their accounts with persecution and the loss of all things. This was no doubt to try their sincerity; and the difficulties laid in our way are equally designed to try ours.

    * * *

    How has the Lord been calling you to build His house?

    What difficulties have been laid in your way?

    What excuses have you been giving to delay obeying the Lord's will for you?

    Have you been more consumed about the state of your own house than the Lord's house?

    Do you have any burden at all for the Lord's house to be rebuilt?

    Years ago we sat under a pastor who exhorted us with these words:

    "Delayed obedience is disobedience."


    So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
    (James 4:17)

    May God give each of us grace to examine ourselves rightly. May we soberly consider our ways, and may we tremble as we consider that any sinful delay on our part not only robs God of glory but also robs Him of His pleasure...

    Haggai 1:1  In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2  “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” 3  Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4  “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5  Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 6  You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

    7  “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 8  Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD.  9  You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10  Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11  And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

    Our Lord's commandments are not burdensome (I John 5:3). Our God is not a hard taskmaster, but for each and every commandment, our God has promised to richly and fully provide all we need to obey His commandments.

    Philippians 2:12  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.


    I Thessalonians 5:23  Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24  He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

    HT: http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/fuller.a.sermon.delay.html for the text of Fuller's "Delay..."

    Related posts:

    Related resources:

    Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Work found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andrew_Fuller.jpg / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Public domain

  • The Song of the Speckled Bird (Rejoicing in God's sovereign goodness to the senseless)



    Jeremiah 12:9: Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird...

    Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Jeremiah 12:

    "Some make her a speckled, pied, or motley bird, upon the account of their mixing the superstitious customs and usages of the heathen with divine institutions in the worship of God; they were fond of a party-coloured religion, and thought it made them fine, when really it made them odious. God's turtle-dove is no speckled bird."


    Matthew 6:22  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

    24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

    Hosea 7:11 (NKJV)
    Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense—

    Hosea 7:11  Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. 12  When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. 13  Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me. 14  And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me. 15  Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me. 16  They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

    The Song of the Speckled Bird
    (Rejoicing in God's sovereign goodness to the senseless)

    Your holy name I have despised
    Constrain me, make me single-eyed

    I have lusted, sinful pride
    In the earthly took delight

    Affections unsettled, unsanctified
    Lust conceived, the wandering eye

    Though ransomed from a futile life,
    A speckled bird, unfaithful bride!

    Aimless conduct, fleshly flight
    Deadly journey: woe and blight

    Played the harlot, Your will defied
    Discarded the Truth, ingested lies

    Silly, senseless dove – wise in mine own eyes
    Without heart, like the uncircumcised

    Foolish fancies, profane flight
    Cherished darkness, spurned the Light

    My way corrupt, my feet did slide
    Forsook Your glory for pig sty

    Turn me, draw me to Your side
    Be merciful to me, be kind

    Will You leave the ninety-nine
    Awake, arise, and visit this vine!

    Lord, rescue me, hear my cries!
    Wash me in Your crimson tide!

    Broken hearted, mournful sighs:
    I must have Thee! – Jesus Christ!

    Blessed is the wife You chastise
    In my darkness, You shall be Light

    Though I have fallen, I shall arise
    My Redeemer has fully justified

    I have an Advocate, Jesus Christ
    In steadfast love, You do delight

    To Your Fount, I come – I swiftly fly!
    O! Wash me, Lamb of God, or I die!

    You alone are my flawless Surety
    Forgive me, cleanse me from my impurity

    To my wounds, Your balm apply
    Shine Your face, my soul revive

    Behold my mouth opened wide
    True Bread, fill me, or I die!

    For You alone I pant and cry
    Who else has the words of life?

    Came to my senses, yet 'twas not I
    Sovereign grace drew me, opened my eyes

    Apart from mercy, I was bound and chained
    But Your Spirit breathed, Your love constrained

    Through the impulse Sovereign and Divine
    You compelled and called me: "You are Mine!"

    "The thief has come to steal, kill, and destroy
    To deceive and hinder from true Joy"

    "Come to My feast, the supper Divine
    Leave your husks, return, My ransomed bride!"

    "Eat My manna and drink My wine
    Feed on Me and be satisfied!"

    Psalm 110:3  Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

    II Corinthians 5:14: For the love of Christ constraineth us...

    Luke 15:11 He also said: "A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.' So he distributed the assets to them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living. 14 After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing. 15 Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to eat his fill from the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him any. 17 When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I'll get up, go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. 19 I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands. 20 So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 "But the father told his slaves, 'Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let's celebrate with a feast, 24 because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' So they began to celebrate. (HCSB)

    I John 1:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4  And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 5  This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6  If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

    2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

    Micah 7:8  Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. 9  I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness...

    18  Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19  He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 20  Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

    Matthew 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted... 6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

    I Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

    17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (NKJV)

    Romans 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

    Related:

    Advent #3 WHY HAS JESUS COME? not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance
    Blessed Be God for His Kindness Which Leads Us to Repentance
    Letter 25 on assurance and fighting for joy (a strong craving ≠ His joy)
    Jesus' yoke --> fullness of joy (Letter 31 on assurance & fighting for joy)
    true repentance leads to joy (Letter 37 on assurance & fighting for joy)
    Prevail | apart from sovereign grace
    postcards from England: "Flower in the Crannied Wall" (Tennyson)
    don't waste your new year ~ teach us, satisfy us, make us glad (Psalm 90:12-15)
    Ash Wednesday: Do you despise yourself? | Job 42
    What is Biblical mourning? (Ash Wednesday)
    Biblical mourning, assurance and false guilt
    Christian, are you bearing fruit in keeping with repentance?
    Dearest idol, how can I find rest
    Things to Look for in a Church: Humility before God leading to confession, repentance & fruits worthy of repentance

    Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

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

    Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.  Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

    Work found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spotted_Dove_(Streptopelia_chinensis)_on_a_Kapok_(Ceiba_pentandra)_tree_in_Kolkata_W_IMG_3476.jpg / CC BY-SA 3.0

naphtali_deer

About me...

Christian hedonist in training. Pressing on to know more and more of the joy of the LORD. Pleading with God to rend the heavens and revive and refresh my own soul, as well as His Church, to His praise, honor and glory.

Thank God. He can make men and women in middle life sing again with a joy that has been chastened by a memory of their past failures. ~ Alan Redpath

My other websites

tent of meeting: Prayer for reformation & revival

(See also Zechariah821. Zechariah821 is a mirror site of tent of meeting, found on WordPress)

deerlifetrumpet: Encouragement for those seeking reformation & revival in the Church

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