Legal vs. Evangelical Humiliation

VI. Gracious affections are attended with evangelical humiliation.

Evangelical humiliation is a sense that a Christian has of his own utter insufficiency, despicableness, and odiousness, with an answerable frame of heart.

There is a distinction to be made between a legal and evangelical humiliation. The former is what men may be the subjects of, while they are yet in a state of nature, and have no gracious affections; the latter is peculiar to true saints. The former is from the common influence of the Spirit of God, assisting natural principles, and especially natural conscience; the latter is from the special influences of the Spirit of God, implanting and exercising supernatural and divine principles: the former is from the mind’s being assisted to a greater sense of the things of religion as to their natural properties and qualities, and particularly of the natural perfections of God, such as His greatness, and terrible majesty, which were manifested to the congregation of Israel in giving the law at mount Sinai; the latter is from a sense of the transcendent beauty of divine things in their moral qualities. In the former, a sense of the awful greatness and natural perfections of God, and of the strictness of His law, convinces men that they are exceeding sinful and guilty and exposed to the wrath of God, as it will convince wicked men and devils at the day of judgment; but they do not see their own odiousness on account of sin; they do not see the hateful nature of sin; a sense of this is given in evangelical humiliation by a discovery of the beauty of God’s holiness and moral perfection. In a legal humiliation, men are made sensible that they are little and nothing before the great and terrible God, and that they are undone, and wholly insuffi cient to help themselves; as wicked men will be at the day of judgment: but they have not an answerable frame of heart, consisting in a disposition to abase themselves, and exalt God alone.

This disposition is given only in evangelical humiliation, by overcoming the heart and changing its inclination, by a discovery of God’s holy beauty. In a legal humiliation, the conscience is convinced, as the consciences of all will be most perfectly at the day of judgment; but because there is no spiritual understand-ing, the will is not bowed nor the inclination altered: this is done only in evangelical humiliation. In legal humiliation, men are brought to despair of helping themselves; in evangelical, they are brought voluntarily to deny and renounce themselves; in the former, they are subdued and forced to the ground; in the latter, they are brought sweetly to yield, and freely and with delight to prostrate themselves at the feet of God.

Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections, iii.vi

The Seal of the Spirit

That which is called the witness of the Spirit, Rom. vi., is elsewhere in the New Testament called the seal of the Spirit, 2 Cor. i. 22, Eph. i. 13, and iv. 30, alluding to the seal of princes, annexed to the instrument by which they advanced any of their subjects to some high honour and dignity or peculiar privilege in the kingdom, as a token of their special favour. Which is an evidence that the influence of the Spirit of the Prince of princes, in sealing His favourites, is far from being of a common kind; and that there is no effect of God’s Spirit whatsoever which is in its nature more divine; nothing more holy, peculiar, inimitable, and distinguishing of divinity. Nothing is more royal than the royal seal; nothing more sacred, that belongs to a prince, and more peculiarly denoting what belongs to him; it being the very end and design of it to be the most peculiar stamp and confirmation of the royal authority. It is the great note of distinction, whereby that which proceeds from the king, or belongs to him, may be known from every thing else.

Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections, iii.i

The Way of Obtaining Assurance

It is not God’s design that men should obtain assurance in any other way than by mortifying corruption, and increasing in grace, and obtaining the lively exercises of it. And although self-examination be a duty of great use and importance, and by no means to be neglected, it is not the principal means by which the saints do get satisfaction of their good estate. Assurance is not to be obtained so much by self-examination as by action. The Apostle Paul sought assurance chiefly this way, even by “for-getting the things that were behind, and reaching forth unto those things that were before, pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus; if by any means he might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”
And it was by this means chiefly that he obtained assurance: 1 Cor. ix. 26, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly.” He obtained assurance of winning the prize, more by running than by considering. The swiftness of his pace did more towards his assurance of a conquest than the strictness of his examination. Giving all diligence to grow in grace, by adding to faith, virtue, &c., is the direction that the Apostle Peter gives us for ” making our calling and election sure, and having an entrance ministered to us abundantly into Christ’s everlasting kingdom,” signifying to us, that without this, our eyes will be dim, and we shall be as men in the dark, that cannot plainly see things past or to come, either the forgiveness of our sins past, or our heavenly inheritance that is future and far off, 2 Pet. i. 5-11.*

Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections, iii.a

The Tender Mercies of the Wicked are Cruel, but the Lord’s Mercy is Good–Psalm 119 Devotional (Ayin)

ע Ayin

121 I have done justice and righteousness;
Do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Be surety for Your servant for good;
Do not let the proud oppress me.
123 My eyes fail from seeking Your salvation
And Your righteous word.
124 Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy,
And teach me Your statutes.
125 I am Your servant;
Give me understanding,
That I may know Your testimonies.
126 It is time for You to act, O Lord,
For they have regarded Your law as void.
127 Therefore I love Your commandments
More than gold, yes, than fine gold!
128 Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things
I consider to be right;
I hate every false way. Psalm 119, nkj

The Lord is good.  His mercy can be relied upon, but “The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel” Proverbs 12:10  The world oppresses and marginalizes, especially Christians that it sees as different and other.  In the midst of cruelty and oppression, the psalmist cries out to the Lord, where he knows he will find refuge.  Are you turning to the Lord with Life’s problems and hardships, or to something or someone else?  His hope is that the Lord will right all wrongs, especially violations of His law.  It is up to God to punish and not to us.  Leave that to Him.

The greatest blessing that the Lord gives to His people, is that He writes his law upon their hearts, His statutes and commandments.  Trouble in life is often caused by our own sin.  God’s grace teaches us to obey him more faithfully, so that we do not repeat the same sins that got us into trouble.  It is a grace from God.  Starting your day, pray and ask God to teach you His statutes, and go trusting that he will answer your prayer.

 

 

 

 

How to Tell if You are on your Way to Heaven

First, then, whosoever thou art that wouldest try this title to thy heavenly glory, thou mayest try it by this: if the

from Wikipedia

design of thy life be to glorify God, and promote their heavenly interest, then thou art one of those that are entitled to the heavenly inheritance; if thou drivest a trade for heaven, and if that the obtaining of heaven be the principal part of thy care and business, and the great design that thou drivest at in all thy actions, then by this thou mayest try thy title to heaven.  Apply now this home to thy soul, what trade and design art thou now driving in the world? Is it thy main business here to promote thy temporal or thine eternal state? Art thou more striving more after earth or heaven?  If thy design here be after riches, honor, or greatness in the world; and makest all thy actions subservient to thy design, then though art none of those that have a title to heaven.  But if it be the business of thy life, and the trade that thou drivest in the world to advance God’s glory, and thine eternal salvation, and dost care for no more of this world, than may tend to promote God’s glory, and thine eternal happiness; then thou mayest safely conclude that thy name is written in heaven, and that thou hast an interest in that kingdom.  It is the grand mistake of thousands of souls everywhere, that they pretend to seek after the kingdom of heaven, but they seek it only by the by, and their main design in the world is somewhat  else, as to grow rich, or great, or honourable here.  They do not make it their principal business, and their great design to secure their title to heaven; but they look upon heaven only as a reserve for them, when they can enjoy the world no longer.  And therefore they will have some glances, and some faint endeavors that way; but if ever we will enter into heaven, we must first of all seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness, Matthew 6:33. Luke 12:31.

John Gaspine, from a sermon preached at Ashpriors, Somerset, before the great ejection in 1662, Farewell Sermons, Solid Ground Christian Books, 2011.

Precious Promises: Zechariah Devotional, Part 10

Zechariah Devotional, Part 10

God’s promises sometimes seem far-fetched, especially when they are very different from what we see in our daily lives.  It is often hard to believe God’s promises when they so contradict what may seem to appear before our eyes.  In our passage (chapter 8), Zechariah received a word of encouragement from the Lord to His people.  Let us recall that in the previous century they had gone through some very tough times and been ransacked by wicked nations, but God’s promise for a future salvation brought a sustaining blessing that carried them through to those times ahead.

8 Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,

² Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.

³ Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.

These verses speak of God as a jealous God.  We may often be accustomed to think of jealousy as a negative personality trait or a form of insecurity, but there is a such thing as righteous jealousy.  A woman with a cheating husband has a right to be jealous for his affection.  And just as you would not want to mess with a mama grizzly bear’s cubs, so God’s tender affection for his chosen ones burns with hot fury against any who would come against us.  Israel may have been punished by the Lord’s fatherly hand by evil nations, but woe to those nations!  It would be better for them if they had never existed than to face the jealousy of God for his chosen ones.  He who was angered by Israel’s past sins will not be angry forever.  This applies to the Church, which is the “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16), today as much as it did in Zechariah’s day.  He will yet establish Zion.  God is jealous for His people and will never utterly forsake them, but will raise them in Christ and bless them forever.

As the Church of Jesus Christ, it seems like we are a dim light shining in an ocean of darkness.  So many churches have lost the last flicker that remained of their light, whether through compromising the pure word of God in order to conform to the world, or by outright closing their doors.  But God is jealous for His Church, which is Mt. Zion, the New Jerusalem. (Hebrews 12:22, Revelation 21:2.)  The Lord who has established her has promised to yet build her so that she continues to be the place of His presence with men. (Matt 16:18)  Though the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ is experiencing difficult times, there is a promise of future blessing to come.  Let this be a comfort and sustaining source of joy for us when we think about our place in this world as the mountain of God on earth, the place of His presence and glory.  Let us continue diligently in worshiping God and doing everything that Christ commanded, knowing that our God does not dwell in buildings made with hands, but in the hearts and praises of his people gathered in His name.

This mountain of God is to be called a “place of truth.”  The Church is where God’s truth is proclaimed and believed.  The word of God is central to her worship, and the Holy Scriptures are the sufficient standard and regulative norm of all of her activities.  We can be sure of God’s presence as long as the truth of his word is proclaimed among us.  Where His word if faithfully proclaimed, that is where He is.  Unto this mountain which is the “place of truth” we must gather and never forsake it.

This mountain of God is a holy place.  It is “set apart” for Him, which is the meaning of the word holy.  In the Church of Jesus Christ, common worldly ways of doing business do not hold sway, but only the commandments of the Lord administered through the offices He has appointed.  The Church is holy because it has been set apart by God for himself.  Just as the whole is holy, the individual members of the body are holy.

Do you think of yourself as set apart for God in day to day work and activities?  Although Christians must and do engage in lots of things that are very common ways of life even for non-Christians, like work, recreation, family ties, etc., yet the Christian is set apart for the Lord.  There should and must be a noticeable difference in the way that we do things versus the way the world does things.  This comes out especially in motives.  Whereas those of the world are looking out for their own self-interest as commonly understood, their safety and income, those belonging to the Lord are firstly and foremostly concerned with minding the things of God.  They are “set apart”, holy, and consecrated to Him so that nothing will entice them to do something contrary to the glory of God.  And, although we all fail deeply in many ways all the time, there is a high calling to holiness in Christ for all who are in him.  Let us be diligent to be holy, to be consecrated to God when we gather to worship as His church and also in whatever we do in life, for this is God’s work in us, to make of us this mountain his holy place.

⁴ Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

⁵ And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

⁶ Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.

God confronts the doubting spirit of His people.  They had been in a state of war and slavery for so many years that it was almost too much to imagine children playing in the streets and old men and women alive in the city.  It is hard to imagine such things when all the old people have died and the young children cannot be allowed to play outside.  The modern culture that surrounds us commonly looks down upon children and the elderly.  Yet despite what our modern culture would have us to believe, having children is a blessing from God, and so is living to an old age.   What is impossible for us to imagine is possible with God.  His miracles are far beyond any of our expectations.  There will come a day, God says, fulfilled by Christ for His Church, when peace will be won and victory so established that His kingdom reigns in majesty, symbolized here by the peaceful and unworried presence of children and old men.  While this prophesied blessing is partly fulfilled in the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth, especially in the churches where His word is purely preached and the sacraments administered with discipline, the full fulfillment must await the consummation, when Christ Jesus will return.  Every tear will dry from our eyes and all will experience God’s peace.  On that day, and we will not have to worry about any enemies harming us, and perfect peace and happiness will reign forever.

God’s gracious plan in Christ brings peace to us that we can now only taste a little and imagine, but someday we will dine on the full meal.  We can trust it because it is God himself who has promised, as unlike what we see before our own eyes as it may be.  We can work diligently building His holy Temple assured that He who has promised will bring it to pass in His own timing.  Thank God for this precious promise.  Let it sustain us in difficult times.

What is Repentance?

“Mainly, it is aqua fortis, which breaks in two what was once one.  Secondly, it is jalap powder, which purges the wound.  Thirdly, it is a tincture of myrrh, which heals the wound completely, and does not cover it with dead flesh.”

Iefan, Ticlai, in response to the question, “What is repentance?”

Jones and Morgan, The Calvinistic Methodist Fathers of Wales, vol. II, 167.

An Endless Supply of God’s Spirit: Zechariah Devotional, Part 6

In this chapter of the book of Zechariah, the prophet receives another word-picture from the Lord, given by an angel.  Remember that the Jewish people had been restored to Jerusalem, brought back from captivity in Babylon by the decree of Emperor Cyrus of Persia, whom God had stirred up to support this good work.  The work of rebuilding the destroyed temple had begun, but the building project languished in an incomplete state.  The people of God had grown tired and disinterested in the project, and enemy nations living nearby had taken advantage of the situation to stymy the project, persuading King Artaxerxes to order the construction to stop (Ezra 4:23.)  The future looked bleak for finishing what had been started (the rebuilding of the temple,) but God had more messages of hope to give to his people to motivate them with encouragement to rebuild and to trust in Him to provide necessary materials and undo obstacles.  This chapter gives us encouragement that our hope is not in our own efforts or abilities, but that we may labor in hope that God will complete that which He has started.

Zechariah chapter 4

¹And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.

² And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:

³ And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

⁴ So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

⁵ Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

⁶ Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁷ Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

Zechariah had fallen asleep.  The Angel woke him up to give him another prophetic revelation of what God had planned for His people.  How often is it that we receive God’s words of comfort and are lulled to sleep by it instead of paying careful attention and actively applying it to our hearts and lives[i]?  Yet God’s messenger the angel is gracious and patient to wake Zechariah out of his sleep with even more comforting words of hope, of what God has in store for his people.  God is gracious to awaken his people by continuing to prompt them, despite their sleepiness.  In the time of Zechariah, the center of God’s presence among his people was located in Jerusalem.  The Church of God at the time was located there, symbolized in the vision God gave to Zechariah by one golden lampstand with seven lamps burning on it.  This was something that was commanded to be used in the temple of old, which must have seemed to Zechariah to be but a faint memory of past glory after all those years in Babylon, but the angel shows it to him to give him hope that the temple will be rebuilt and that God will be worshiped as in old times.  The lamps’ supply of oil would never go out because it is supplied by God Himself, “by my Spirit”, and not by the efforts of men.  Although the people of God may seem lazy and distracted at times to do the hard work of building the temple of the Lord, God Himself will sustain her through a supply of his own Spirit.  He has mysterious ways of keeping the spiritual life of his chosen people aflame by his Spirit.

Today, in the new covenant, the Church of God is no longer depicted by only one lampstand, but by seven lampstands (Revelation 1:20), symbolizing the dispersion of the worship of God in many locations over the entire world.  (Seven is the number of perfection and completeness in the Bible.)  The Church of God is no longer confined to one location in Jerusalem, but is spread out over the entire world.  Though the building of God’s Church through evangelism and discipleship may seem like a futile and useless effort to the eyes of human understanding, God promises to bless His people still.  We may seem small and insignificant in the eyes of the world and ready to die out at any moment.  But the One who gives the life of the Spirit to His Church is the One who gives it a continual supply of His Spirit that will never go out.  Our faith as Christians, and as the Church of Christ, is not in our ability to build the Church, but in the promise of Him who said, “Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18  The Church of Jesus Christ will never end, and it will be completed, through God working in it by a never-ending supply of his Holy Spirit.

⁸ Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

⁹ The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.

¹⁰ For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

¹¹ Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?

¹² And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?

¹³ And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

¹⁴ Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

It is easy to think little of small beginnings.  Though the Church of Jesus Christ, as we see it in the world, may seem to be relatively few in number and weak in comparison to all of the forces of evil in the world that combat it, the One through whom God has started the work will also finish it.  Zerubbabel is the King of Judah and ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 1:12)  He came out of captivity in Babylon with the nation of the Jews to rule as God’s anointed.  He is a picture and foreshadowing of King Jesus, the Christ (anointed One) and Ruler of God’s people.  God promises that the temple will be rebuilt completely within Zerubbabel’s reign.  Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.  What has been started through Him will be completed by Him.  God places one olive tree on either side of the lampstand pictured to Zechariah, symbolizing His endless provision of oil to the lampstand.  These are trees planted by the Lord, two “anointed” ones.  The two trees most likely are symbols of the two prophets that God sent to Judah during this time of rebuilding: Zechariah and Haggai, to encourage the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 5:1.)  Through his Spirit, God anoints and appoints the ministry of the word to bring his gracious words of comfort and grace to his people.  The Church of Jesus Christ is the “pillar and ground of truth” in the world (1 Timothy 3:15.)  By means of his Spirit, he supplies her with life, and the offices necessary for her nourishment, especially the gospel ministry.  Let us never forget where the life and strength of the Church comes from when we grow weary and are tempted to think that it is completely insignificant.  Through His holy Church God is accomplishing His purposes in the world to save many souls and make disciples of Christ for His everlasting glory.  He will accomplish His purposes despite the opposition of the world.  As the Church of Jesus Christ, this is our comfort and hope.

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[i] Cf. Matthew Henry’s commentary.

Pastoral Letter — Oct 27, 2013

From Pastor Riley, to the members and friends of Hope Congregational Church,

Greetings in the name of Him who is reforming His Church, bringing her to greater conformity to His will!

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer.  Temperatures are dropping.  Perhaps spending more time indoors than we normally do in the summer months will give us time to reflect on some important topics.  The one I would like to focus on at the moment is Reformation.  Reformation is a work of God found in the Scriptures, when He conforms and reforms His Church to His will as expressed in His holy word.  In the days of Hezekiah the King there was a mighty reformation, a time of revival and smashing the idols that people had been following instead of God.  We see the same thing occur under the reign of Josiah after the book of the law was rediscovered.  There are times of blessing when the word of God is rediscovered, ignorance is uprooted, and idols are smashed for the glory of God and the blessing of His Church.

On October 31, 1517 such a work of God began through the humble protest of a conscientious monk and Bible professor at Wittenberg University named Martin Luther.  In the middle ages Christianity had overtaken Europe, although North Africa and Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), once important centers of the Christian faith, had for the most part been overrun by Islam through successive conquests.  In the Middle Ages Bibles were scarce, and if available, it was only available in the Latin Vulgate translation.  As a result, many superstitions and errors had developed to cloud and obscure the gospel of Jesus Christ based on some key mistranslated passages in the Vulgate.  A general ignorance prevailed over Christian people, who generally did not have access to the Bible and heard homilies in Latin every Sunday, a language they could not understand.  Due to the interest of Renaissance scholarship, the original Hebrew and Greek Scriptures became more widely available in western Europe for the first time.  God used these events to bring about a reform movement back to the source of truth, the Holy Scriptures, and to restore the purity of the gospel in the tenets of the Reformation: upon the Scriptures alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, for God’s glory alone.  On Sunday, November 3^rd, in the afternoon following a potluck at church, you will have an opportunity to learn more.  I would like to invite everyone, including friends, relatives and neighbors to our first ever Reformation History talk.

Church History is important to the body of Christ.  It is our history, as God’s people.  It lets us know where we’ve come from, gives us an opportunity to praise God for what He has done, warns us of the errors of the past (which tend to keep reappearing under new names), and gives us hope that the God of our fathers is the same God who leads us today.  As we follow Him, in thankfulness for what He has done in history, let us also remember that as His Church we are to be ever increasing in our knowledge and application of what He requires of us.  A watchword of the 16^th century Reformation was, Semper Reformanda – “always reforming”, (from Latin.)  God has helped us until now, but we always have room for improvement.  The correct attitude toward obedience to God as His church is to always be willing to change in ways (and only in those specific ways) that God requires of us in His word, the Holy Bible.  Just as individual Christians are to be brought more and more into conformity to Christ, so it is with His Church made up of them.  May God continue to richly bless us and reform us in accordance with His word.

Three Things I Need to Say

A man apologizes to his former church, for leaving. He’s learned some important things about the Christian’s relation to the church.