worship

  • Jonathan Edwards and dullness: "So that it is to no purpose to resolve, except we depend on the grace of God."

    Once again, we're at the beginning of a new year, and once again there's a lot of talk about resolutions. Some of you may be familiar with Jonathan Edwards' "Resolutions." Edwards began keeping a diary in the midst of writing those resolutions, and he wrote the following at the beginning of  a new year:

    Jonathan Edwards Writing1722-23, Tuesday, Jan. 1. Have been dull for several days. Examined whether I have not been guilty of negligence to-day; and resolved, No.

    Wednesday, Jan. 2. Dull. I find, by experience, that, let me make resolutions, and do what I will, with never so many inventions, it is all nothing, and to no purpose at all, without the motions of the Spirit of God; for if the Spirit of God should be as much withdrawn from me always, as for the week past, notwithstanding all I do, I should not grow, but should languish, and miserably fade away. I perceive, if God should withdraw his Spirit a little more, I should not hesitate to break my resolutions, and should soon arrive at my old state. There is no dependence on myself. Our resolutions may be at the highest one day, and yet, the next day, we may be in a miserable dead condition, not at all like the same person who resolved. So that it is to no purpose to resolve, except we depend on the grace of God. For, if it were not for his mere grace, one might be a very good man one day, and a very wicked one the next... Source:  Jonathan Edwards' Works Volume One.


    Psalm 33:
    12  Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
    13  The LORD looks down from heaven;
    he sees all the children of man;
    14  from where he sits enthroned he looks out
    on all the inhabitants of the earth,
    15  he who fashions the hearts of them all
    and observes all their deeds.
    16  The king is not saved by his great army;
    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
    17  The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
    and by its great might it cannot rescue.
    18  Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
    on those who hope in his steadfast love,
    19  that he may deliver their soul from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

    Psalm 147:
    10  His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
    11  but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.

    O LORD our God, along with Jonathan Edwards, we confess that we often find ourselves spiritually dull! Apart from the motions of Your Spirit – without the divine sap flowing from the Vine to the branches – we are nothing, and we can do nothing! Show us that if left to our own devices, we would quickly and painfully discover every thought and intent of our hearts to be only evil continually. Show us that apart from the supply of the Spirit we would irreparably and irretrievably fall.

    Merciful and gracious God, in this new year of 2014, pour out grace upon grace on Your Church, that we may be a delight and a pleasure to You! Fill us with the fear of You, so that as as we seek to make resolutions according to Your will, and as we endeavor to walk in the good works You have ordained for us, we might put no confidence in our flesh, but rather hope in Your steadfast love and trust in Your Holy Spirit to equip us to do Your good pleasure through our risen and reigning Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, all to His glory alone (Heb. 13:20-21).

    There is no happiness or blessing for us apart from having You as our Help. May our boasting be in You continually! May we show our profession of You to be genuine and not lip service, and may we demonstrate we are Your holy nation and Your chosen people as we depend not upon ourselves but upon Your grace. Like Your servant David, may we learn to love, embrace, and call upon You as our strength for the praise of Your name.

    Psalm 18:
    1  I love you, O LORD, my strength.
    2  The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
    3  I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

     

    Psalm 146:
    1  Praise the LORD!
    Praise the LORD, O my soul!
    2  I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
    3  Put not your trust in princes,
    in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
    4  When his breath departs he returns to the earth;
    on that very day his plans perish.
    5  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the LORD his God,
    6  who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
    who keeps faith forever;
    7  who executes justice for the oppressed,
    who gives food to the hungry.
    The LORD sets the prisoners free;
    8  the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
    The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the LORD loves the righteous.
    9  The LORD watches over the sojourners;
    he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
    10  The LORD will reign forever,
    your God, O Zion, to all generations.
    Praise the LORD!

    Related:

    With the New Year Come New Resolutions, but How Can We Become Entirely New? (Lloyd-Jones)
    New Year’s resolutions? … not “without God’s help” (Jonathan Edwards)
    my best resolutions
    your resolution – “Divine Intervention” by Lecrae
    Blessed dependence ~ “Leaning upon her beloved”
    by my God I can leap over a wall (Psalm 18:29b)
    “I cannot consider myself to have been a believer (in the full sense of the word)”

     

  • Reformation Day reflections ~ A.W. Tozer "the doctrine of justification by faith has ... fallen into evil company..."

    The doctrine of justification by faith –– a Biblical truth, and a blessed relief from sterile legalism and unavailing self-effort –– has in our time fallen into evil company and been interpreted by many in such manner as actually to bar men from the knowledge of God. The whole transaction of religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless. Faith may now be exercised without a jar to the moral life and without embarrassment to the Adamic ego. Christ may be "received" without creating any special love for Him in the soul of the receiver. The man is "saved," but he is not hungry nor thirsty after God. In fact he is specifically taught to be satisfied and encouraged to be content with little.

    The modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of His world; we Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of His Word. We have almost forgotten that God is a Person and, as such, can be cultivated as any person can. It is inherent in personality to be able to know other personalities, but full knowledge of one personality by another cannot be achieved in one encounter. It is only after long and loving mental intercourse that the full possibilities of both can be explored.

    All social intercourse between human beings is a response of personality to personality, grading upward from the most casual brush between man and man to the fullest, most intimate communion of which the human soul is capable. Religion, so far as it is genuine, is in essence the response of created personalities to the Creating Personality, God. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent.". . .

    To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily-satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart. St. Bernard stated this holy paradox in a musical quatrain that will be instantly understood by every worshipping soul:

    We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread,
    And long to feast upon Thee still;
    We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead
    And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.

    . . . How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of "accepting Christ" (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him we need nor more seek Him...

    . . . Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present, or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain.

    Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.

    ~ A.W. Tozer, excerpts from Chapter I, Following Hard after God in "The Pursuit of God," first published in 1948.

    * * *

    Psalm 63:8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

    Is your soul following hard after Him – or are you ensnared by the deadly foe complacency and tangled in the web of religious complexity?

    "Those who think they have grace enough give proof that they have little enough, or rather that they have none at all; because, wherever there is true grace, there is a desire of more grace, and a pressing towards the perfection of grace." ~ Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Philippians 3:13.

    O LORD our God, incline our hearts, souls, minds, and strength to follow hard after You, to cling to You, to hold fast to You, and not to let You go. God forbid we be too-easily-satisfied religionists at ease in Zion –– but rather may we be diligent to make our calling and election sure, and show ourselves to be Your purchased possession – children of the burning heart. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon us that we might be found in the company of the Shulamite woman:– zealously and jealously pursuing, panting, and pressing on for You with a holy violence!

    Song of Solomon 3:1  By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. 2  I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. 3  The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? 4  It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

    Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 

    "Note, They who would enter into the kingdom of heaven must strive to enter; that kingdom suffers a holy violence; self must be denied, the bent and bias, the frame and temper, of the mind must be altered; there are hard sufferings to be undergone, a force to be put upon the corrupt nature; we must run, and wrestle, and fight, and be in an agony, and all little enough to win such a prize, and to get over such opposition from without and from within. The violent take it by force. They who will have an interest in the great salvation are carried out towards it with a strong desire, will have it upon any terms, and not think them hard, nor quit their hold without a blessing, Gen. xxxii. 26. They who will make their calling and election sure must give diligence. The kingdom of heaven was never intended to indulge the ease of triflers, but to be the rest of them that labour. It is a blessed sight; Oh that we could see a greater number, not with an angry contention thrusting others out of the kingdom of heaven, but with a holy contention thrusting themselves into it!" ~ from Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Matthew 11.

     (Scripture quotations are taken from the KJV.)

    Related:

    What is a nominal Christian?
    Moderation in pursuing God? An answer from Jonathan Edwards
    Moderation in pursuing God? An answer from George Whitefield
    How’s your spiritual appetite? (Jonathan Edwards)
    consider … our ways, the great cloud of witnesses, Susanna Anthony
    Amazing Grace . . . upon Grace ~ the 240th anniversary
    Thank Him for a little grace, and ask Him for great grace ~ Spurgeon | letter 158 on assurance & joy

  • Christianity is a blessed drinking! Will you have puddle-water or rock-water?

    Exodus 17:1  And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 2  Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3  And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 4  And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6  Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7  And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

    I was recently reading in Exodus 17 along with Matthew Henry's commentary, and was actually looking ahead and looking forward to reading the last portion of the chapter, with Moses, Aaron and Hur, with its application to prayer, but I found myself rereading and reflecting on the first portion, and these words struck me:

    thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.

    Christianity is a blessed drinking!

    "that the people may drink" -- Consider that! Consider Him! Who are we fallen mortals to deserve a single drop from a holy, eternal God? Ah! But the Rock was struck for us! Jesus Christ became sin for us. He was struck in our place, to bear the wrath of God which we deserved, so all who believe on Him might receive His perfect righteousness and be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ received the Holy Spirit without measure; He has been anointed with the oil of gladness above His companions! Christian, consider that our God is concerned about our supply, and how wholly dependent we are on Him for every single drink.

    "that the people may drink!" – Consider the Creator God who sits upon the circle of the earth and who dwells in Light Inaccessible: He is ready and able and desiring to pour out of His fullness grace upon grace to poor, wretched, miserable sinners like us through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ! What unfathomable kindness He demonstrates toward us!

    "there shall come water out of HIM!" – Just like these Israelites, we have no other recourse –– no other true and living supply is anywhere to be found. Any and all other sources will leave us thirsty and shriveling up –– but as we drink of Christ, we shall "never thirst." Though earthly supplies abound and seek to allure us with their siren songs, not one can truthfully make such an audacious claim.

    My dear friends, if you remember nothing else from my blogging here, my prayer is that you might be enabled to remember this:

    Christianity is a drinking! –– It is a blessed drinking of Jesus Christ for eternal life, unadulterated truth, full satisfaction, unrivaled love, unwavering faithfulness, holy pleasures, incomparable happiness, everlasting consolation, matchless beauty, unparalleled strength, purest refreshment, faultless contentment, perfect peace, Sabbath rest, and exceeding joy! ~ John 7:37-39, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 36:7-9, Psalm 65:3-5, Isaiah 55:1-9, John 4:1-26, Psalm 146, etc.... and oh, yes, we can't forget the Song of Solomon... and please don't demean the Lord Jesus Christ or His Holy Word by seeing that book as merely a treatise on human marriage and human sexuality!

    the hidden Drink

    The devil hides the truth from our eyes that Christianity is a blessed drinking, does he not? Remember he is a liar and the father of lies. He wants us to believe that the life in Christ is anything but all-satisfying and all-surpassing pleasure to our souls. He wants Christ's yoke to appear bitter, heavy, and oppressive –– while Christ Himself tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden light, and in Him we will find everlasting rest and true freedom for our souls. We too easily forget the Scripture references which liken our union with Christ to the great supper, a marriage feast, a banqueting table, a homecoming celebration, a banner of love, a river of life, etc.!

    Isaiah 25:6  And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

    Joel 3:18  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

    And, in God's mysterious and inscrutable workings, God Himself hides this truth from us as well ~ Matt. 11:25-27. There is no revealing of what is hidden apart from the gracious working of His Holy Spirit (e.g. - see I Cor. 2; II Cor. 4:6).

    When it's hid from our eyes, it's hid from our hearts! As our pastor has continued preaching through the book of Colossians, I've continued to consider those words "riches" and "treasures" found in chapters 1 and 2 (Col. 1:27; 2:2-3, and elsewhere in the Scripture ~ Eph. 1:7, 18; 3:8) ... and then was reminded of this spiritual reality: "in whom are HID..." (Col. 2:3  In whom [Christ] are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.). No wonder the apostle Paul prayed for the eyes of our hearts to be opened and enlightened so we might taste and see and savor the treasure of this holy, all-surpassing, all-satisfying, thirst-slaking Drink! (Eph. 1:18) And we need to do so likewise! I pray that for myself, and I pray that for you as well  –– so we might be able to sing with Isaac Watts in this life, in the here and now...

    Religion never was designed,
    To make our pleasures less...

    The men of grace have found,
    Glory begun below.
    Celestial fruits on earthly ground
    Celestial fruits on earthly ground
    From faith and hope may grow,
    From faith and hope may grow.

    The hill of Zion yields
    A thousand sacred sweets
    Before we reach the heav’nly fields,
    Before we reach the heav’nly fields,
    Or walk the golden streets,
    Or walk the golden streets.

    (From Isaac Watts' "We're Marching to Zion")

    In his exposition of Colossians ¹, John Davenant writes of the word hidden...

    By which word is intimated, that what is precious and magnificent in Christ, or the Gospel of Christ, is not conspicuous, or directly meets the eyes of carnal men; but is so concealed, that it is discovered only by those to whom God has given a quick sight, i.e.  spiritual eyes to see. So Christ himself said, Matt xi. 25.  I thank thee, O Father, that thou hast hidden, &c. (360)

    In making application of that truth, Davenant exhorts us to ...

    ... labour and toil in acquiring this treasure,. For this treasure is not placed in open view, it is hidden. We must not confide in our own industry or discernment; but diligently intreat God, that he would quicken our sight, and permit this hidden treasure to be seen by us: Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law, Ps. cxix.18. (361)

    For what are you laboring and toiling? Are you pleading with God to quicken your sight so you might begin to behold in greater measure the treasure that Christ is, so you might esteem Him and glory in Him as you ought, and savor and enjoy Him as He intends? May we not be in the position of the older son who dutifully served in his father's house for years, and yet lacked the understanding that all that his father had was already his:  sadly, he never knew there was a feast available for him! Or, as John Elias put it:

    There are many in the church that never had a kid - that never had a small portion of spiritual food to make merry - that know nothing of the spiritual feasts that are enjoyed on the return of prodigals!

    May God be merciful and gracious to us, and quicken our sight and open our eyes to this treasure, so we might not be found wanting and guilty of the sin Israel was committing in the days of Jeremiah.

    Jeremiah 2:13  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

    Have you ever considered that your forsaking Christ and drinking elsewhere is evil in the sight of God? As we forsake Him and hew out broken cisterns, we are not only robbing God of due glory, but we are also robbing our own souls of the wellspring of true joy and abundant life. May God have mercy upon us and enhance our hunger and thirst for Him alone... and show us the great folly and the evil in forsaking Him and drinking anywhere else. May God diminish our desire for "puddle water," so we might drink deeper and deeper of the "rock-water" –– God's spiritual delights.

    Are you drinking puddle-water or rock-water?

    From Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Exodus 17...

    "Let this [example in Exodus 17] direct us to live in a dependence... Upon Christ's grace: That rock was Christ, 1 Cor. x. 4. The graces and comforts of the Spirit are compared to rivers of living water, John vii. 38, 39; iv. 14. These flow from Christ, who is the rock smitten by the law of Moses, for he was made under the law. Nothing will supply the needs, and satisfy the desires, of a soul, but water out of this rock, this fountain opened.

    The pleasures of sense are puddle-water;...

    spiritual delights are rock-water, so pure, so clear, so refreshing--rivers of pleasure."

    May God open our eyes to the spiritual reality that anything or anyone else apart from Christ is but puddle-water, so we might fly to His bosom to drink of the rock-water!

    The Scottish divine Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661) repeatedly drank of that rock-water. He drank abundantly of Jesus Christ . . . even as he was banished and exiled from his flock in Anwoth for a period of almost two years in Aberdeen. Rutherford's letters written from Aberdeen are the testimony of a soul overflowing with Living Water. For example, in Letter LXXVI.—To Robert Gordon of Knockbrex, he writes:

    "How blind are my adversaries,
    who sent me to a banqueting-house,
    to a house of wine,
    to the lovely feasts of my lovely Lord Jesus,
    and not to a prison, or place of exile!"

    After this, Rutherford's exultation in Christ arises even higher!

    "Why should I smother my Husband’s honesty, or sin against
    His love, or be a niggard in giving out to others what I get for nothing?"

    That type of drinking is nothing less than that which the Lord Jesus Christ describes in John 7:

    37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

    Many of you may have professed a belief in Jesus Christ...
    Many of you may have thought you came to Jesus Christ...

    BUT...

    Have you believed on Him in the sense in which Jesus speaks?
    Have you come to Him in the sense in which Jesus speaks?
    Have you drunk of Him in the sense in which Jesus speaks?
    Have you believed on Him after the manner of Samuel Rutherford?
    Have you drunk of Jesus Christ after the manner of Samuel Rutherford?
    Are rivers of living water flowing out of you?
    Are you drinking puddle-water or rock-water?

    (My friends, after reading Rutherford's words, need you ask me why I repeatedly urge you to be reading Church history and Christian biography in addition to the Bible?!)

    Is your drinking superlative: are you drinking abundantly / drunk with love / tipsy?

    At the end of Song of Solomon 5:1, we read this exhortation from the Beloved:

     drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. (KJV)

    Eat, friends, drink,
    and be drunk with love!     (ESV)

    "Drink" and "drink" in the KJV, and "drink" and "drunk" in the ESV. There's a repetition there, so of course, that's important. But there's something else to notice:  those two words are actually two different Hebrew words (information below taken from Strong's Concordance).

    The first word is shathah (8354) shaw-thaw' :  a primitive root; to imbibe (literally or figuratively):--X assuredly, banquet, X certainly, drink(-er, -ing), drunk (X -ard), surely.

    The second word intrigued and excited me:  shakar (7937) shaw-kar':  a primitive root; to become tipsy; in a qualified sense, to satiate with a stimulating drink or (figuratively) influence:--(be filled with) drink (abundantly), (be, make) drunk(-en), be merry. (Superlative of 8248, which is shaqah  shaw-kaw' a primitive root; to quaff, i.e. (causatively) to irrigate or furnish a potion to:--cause to (give, give to, let, make to) drink, drown, moisten, water.

    My emphasis here is that Jesus is calling on His own not to drink of Him in a superficial, surface, shallow, or cursory sense –– but rather in an intensive, ever-deepening, and fuller and fuller sense –– i.e. - in a superlative way! When it comes to Christ and the things of Christ, let us do nothing halfway or in a mediocre manner! Can we say He is our Beloved if our drinking is lethargic and careless and half-hearted?

    Are we drinking of Christ in such a way that we might be considered "drunk with love?" Are we "tipsy," if you will excuse the word –– but when it comes to Christ, is there any restriction on how much, how zealously, or how fervently we should be drinking of Him?

    Is that not what was happening to the 120 disciples on the day of Pentecost when they were accused by some of being drunk with new wine (Acts 2:13)? Would anyone accuse you (would anyone accuse me) of being drunk with new wine in terms of your (my) affections toward the Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel? In response to the accusation of drunkenness, Peter explained that the bride of Christ had indeed drunk deeply, and she had indeed become drunk – but not as the world knows drunkenness!

    14  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judæa, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.



    Should there be any call for moderation in this spiritual drinking? God forbid! And yet in contrast, how often are we found with higher affections for the puddle-water than the rock-water?! God forgive us for Jesus' sake!

    "Persons need not and ought not to set any bounds to their spiritual and gracious appetites." ~ Jonathan Edwards

    Do we see our great lack in contrast to that of the early Church? Is Graham Scroggie's 20th century assessment not valid today?

    "So many Christians live on the right side of Easter but on the wrong side of Pentecost."

    If we were to honestly look at ourselves, must we not say with Oswald Chambers:

    "But I knew that if what I had was all the Christianity there was, the thing was a fraud."

    O! For grace that we might get down on our knees and pray for the Holy Spirit to descend and to baptize us afresh... not that we should be drunk with wine, but rather that we might be drunk with Christ's love, filled to overflowing with His Spirit!

    We might render the Scripture in Song of Solomon as if the heavenly Bridegroom were wooing and exhorting His bride with words such as:

    My bride, don't be deceived. Don't be satisfied with what you've already drunk of Me, but press in and press on and press ever-upward to know Me –– to experience a more abundant drinking of Me! O! My friends, don't be sluggish in your drinking of Me! I long for you to be diligent in your drinking of My rock-water, so you might drunk with My love, and come to see the puddle-water for what it really is! Show your profession of faith to be genuine –– drink! drink abundantly! drink superlatively! drink to the full! be drunk with love! –– so that rivers of living water bubble up from within you, and overflow out of you into a dry and thirsty world! So shall you be My witnesses!

    Are we striving to drink abundantly of Jesus Christ, to be drunk with His love? Are we seeking to be found drinking of Christ in a superlative manner – or are we in mad pursuit of puddle-water? Have we ever drunk of that rock-water, of Jesus Christ, in such a way that during manifold trials and temptations (exiled like Rutherford or in prison like Paul & Silas), we have found there are rivers of living water rejoicing our souls, causing us to be filled up and bubbling over with joy unspeakable and full of glory? (See I Peter 1:3-9.)

    "Does not a person who rejoices in the Lord and sings to Him exuberantly seem like a person who is drunk? I like this kind of intoxication. The Spirit of God is both drink and light” ~ Saint Augustine

    our drinking is for the praise of God and the joy of the nations

    Reading John 7:37-39, we have seen how Jesus Christ Himself equated believing with coming and with drinking (see also John 6), but not merely drinking, but a quality of drinking that causes us to be overflowing with the Holy Ghost! We must remember that God's people are always blessed to be a blessing. Our drinking of Christ is intended not only for our own soul's benefit, but also for the benefit others. Freely we have received, freely we are to give...

    If we are hewing broken cisterns, if we drinking of dead puddle-water –– what life can flow out to dead world?

    If we are hewing broken cisterns, if we are drinking of dead puddle-water –– how can the good news of great joy flow out of us to a lost world?

    In contrast, should we not find ourselves in the position of the Psalmist (Psalm 45)?

    1  My heart is inditing a good matter:
     I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:
    my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
     2  Thou art fairer than the children of men:
    grace is poured into thy lips:
    therefore God hath blessed thee for ever...
    17  I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations:
    therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.     (KJV)

    1  My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
    I address my verses to the king;
    my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
    2  You are the most handsome of the sons of men;
    grace is poured upon your lips;
    therefore God has blessed you forever...
    17  I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
    therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.     (ESV)

    In verse 1, the Hebrew word for "inditing" or "overflows" means to gush. That's exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ was speaking of in John 7! Just as the Father sent Jesus into this world, Jesus sends us out to be His witnesses in this world –– but we can only gush the Gospel through the power of His Holy Spirit (Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:5-8). We read in Psalm 4 how the world is crying out, "Who will show us any good?" As we are seeking to be drinking more and more deeply of Christ, we can trust that God's Spirit will fill us so we might overflow with the Gospel of Jesus Christ –– the Good News of great joy for all the peoples.
    Isaiah 52:7  How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

    If you look through the Bible, you'll find this testimony to the nations is expected as part of the supernatural outflow of the people of God. Once again in Psalm 40, notice the progression... the new song is given by God, praise is offered up to God, and testimony is presented to the nations.

    1  I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 3  And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

    1  I waited patiently for the LORD;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
    2  He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
    out of the miry bog,
    and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
    3  He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
    Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the LORD.

    (See also Psalms 67 & 96; Isaiah 55:1-9; Isaiah 60 and 61.)

    O! that God might quicken our sight, sanctify our thirst, and pour out upon His Church a fresh effusion of His Holy Spirit, so we might be filled with praise to our God, and be considered drunk with wine, as were the 120 on the Day of Pentecost... that we might show ourselves to be the bride of Christ, crying out with all sincerity by the power of the Holy Spirit of God this invitation to all the nations:

    Revelation 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

     ¹ "Colossians (Geneva Series of Commentaries)," (Banner of Truth Trust: Edinburgh, 2005, 2009; reprinted from the English translation by Josiah Allport, 1831).

     ² "John Elias: Life, Letters and Essays" by Edward Morgan (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1973, revised edition published in one volume), 139. (Please see my post here.)

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

    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. All rights reserved.

    Photo credits:

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puddles_-_Isles_Lane_-_geograph.org.uk_-_963869.jpg from http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/963869 / Attribution: Sarah Smith / CC BY-SA 2.0.

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foster_Bible_Pictures_0066-1_Moses_Has_Struck_the_Rock_with_His_Rod,_and_Water_Is_Coming_Out.jpg /  PD

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Greco_006.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0.

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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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