You Might As Well Burn Your Bible — John Owen

He that would utterly separate the Spirit from the word had as good burn his Bible. The bare letter of the New Testament will no more ingenerate faith and obedience in the souls of men, no more constitute a church-state among them who enjoy it, than the letter of the Old Testament doth so at this day among the Jews, 2 Cor. in. 6, 8. But blessed be God, who hath knit these things together towards his elect, in the bond of an everlasting covenant! Isa. lix. 21. Let men, therefore, cast themselves into what order they please, institute what forms of government and religious worship they think good; let them do it either by an attendance according unto the best of their understandings unto the letter of the Scripture, or else in an exercise of their own wills, wisdom, and invention, if the work of the Spirit of God be disowned or disclaimed by them, if there be not in them and upon them such a work of his as he is promised [for] by our Lord Jesus Christ, there is no church-state amongst them, nor as such is it to be owned or esteemed. And on the ministry and the church do all ordinary communications of grace from God depend.

On the Holy Spirit

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

Zeal In Religion is No Proof of Grace (or Against it)

When someone truly has the Holy Spirit, he loves to exercise devotion in prayer by attending church, reading, etc. But there is a counterfeit conversion from Satan that he gives in order to bring discredit to the people of God and lead souls astray. This is a type of false religion, and also leads people to have a great zeal in religious things. So that seeing someone spending a lot of time in church, in prayer, and another religious duties is *not* proof for *or* against a genuine work of the Spirit of God. However, if someone is not interested in services and devotions to the Lord, that indicates a lack of influence of the Holy Spirit.

Edwards, The Religious Affections pp 91-93:

It is no certain sign that the religious affections which persons have are such as have in them the nature of true religion, or that they have not, that they dispose persons to stere much time in religion, and to be zealously engaged in the external duties of worship.

This has, very unreasonably, of late been looked upon as an argument against the religious affections which some have had, that they spend so much time in reading, praying, singing, hear. ing sermons, and the like. It is plain from the Scripture that it the tendency of true grace to cause persons to delight in such religious exercises. True grace had this effect on Anna the pro. phetess: Luke ii. 37,

” She departed not from the temple, but

served God with fastings and prayers night and day.” And grace had this effect upon the primitive Christians in Jerusalem: Acts ii. 46. 47,

« And the continuing daily with one accord in the

temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God.” Grace made Daniel delight in the duty of prayer, and solemnly to attend it three times a day, as it also did David: Psal. Iv. 17,

“Evening, morning, and at noon will I pray.” Grace makes the saints delight in singing praises to God: Psal. cxxxv. 3,

“Sing

praises unto his name, for it is pleasant.” And exlvii. 1, ” Praise ye the Lord, for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely.” It also causes them to delight to hear the word of God preached: it makes the gospel a joyful sound to them, Psal. Ixxxix. 15, and makes the feet of those who publish these good tidings to be beautiful: Isa. li. 7, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth ровите ” рос і во то посе ста сво. сол в ува

and the ingrave l destredof the Lord al tre day cod a 0, One dial in the house Lot, and to inqude. try is.

I masa dine beauty of die Kord. bid aro inguino in is tag.

Perloser My soul longeth, yea, vound are tho for the course. ot pord- Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the sna the Lores for herself, where she may lay her young. even think low a, O Lord of hosts, my King and my Grads Blessed are ting alar divel in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Blessey thale man in whose heart are the ways of them, who passing Through the valley of Baca- go from strength to strength, every throufthem in Zion appeareth before God.* Vor. 10, A day my thy courts is better than a thousand.”

This is the nature of true grace. But yet, on the other hand, that persons are disposed to abound and to be zealously engaged in the external exercises of religion, and to spend much time in them, is no sure evidence of grace; because such a disposition is found in many that have no grace. So it was with the Israelites of old, whose services were abominable to God; they attended the “new moons, and Sabbaths, and calling of assemblies, and spread forth their hands, and made many prayers,” Isa. i. 12-15.

So it was with the Pharisees; they ” made long prayers, and fasted (wice a weck.” False religion may cause persons to be loud and earnest in prayer: Isa. Ivili. 4,

“Ye shall not fast as ye do this

day, to cause your voice to be heard on high.” That religion which is not spiritual and saving may cause men to delight in regious duties and ordinances: Isa. Ivili. 2, ” Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righte ousnes, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask in re he ordinances of justice; they take delight in approach ing a God” It may cause them to take delight in hearing the word of God preached, as it was with Ezekiels hearers: Ezek. mith ay, at And they come unto thee as the people comei. but hiy win before thee as my people, and they hear thy word, love surilmordothem: for ith their a obey they show much are thur heir heatt goeth after their coveroushes. And la, thou at uno them as a very lovely song of etousnes hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.” So it was with Herod; he heard John the Baptist gladly, Mark vi, 20. So it was with others of his hearers; “for a season they rejoiced in his light,” John v. 35.

So the stony ground hearers heard the word with joy.

Experience shows that persons from false religion may be inclined to be exceeding abundant in the external exercises of re-ligion; yea, to give themselves up to them, and devote almost their whole time to them. Formerly a sort of people were very numerous in the Romish church, called recluses, who forsook the world, and utterly abandoned the society of mankind, and shut themselves up close in a narrow cell, with a vow never to stir out of it, nor to see the face of any of mankind any more (unless that they might be visited in case of sickness), to spend all their days in the exercise of devotion and converse with God. There were also in old time great multitudes called Hermits and An-chorites, that left the world to spend all their days in lonesome deserts, to give themselves up to religious contemplations and exercises of devotion; some sorts of them having no dwellings but the caves and vaults of the mountains, and no food but the spontaneous productions of the earth. I once lived for many months next door to a Jew (the houses adjoining one to another), and had much opportunity daily to observe him; who appeared to me the devoutest person that ever I saw in my life; a great part of his time being spent in acts of devotion, at his eastern window, which opened next to mine, seeming to be most earnestly engaged, not only in the daytime, but sometimes whole nights.

The Jewish Feast of Pentecost and Its Meaning for the Church

It was less than a week after Christ was ascended to heaven, where he was seated on the right hand of the Almighty. The apostles and perhaps others gathered on the first day of the week. The narrative is as follows:

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, 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 the 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.

Luke’s narrative in the Acts of the Apostles says that the disciples were gathered with one accord on the feast day of Pentecost. The feast of Pentecost was a Jewish festival marking the LORD’s giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai (Henry), on the 50th day after the Passover, which was the beginning of the Exodus from Egypt. This feast of Pentecost was that feast which Moses had explained to Pharaoh that the LORD had commanded his people to make in the desert. It was to be kept, not with unleavened bread as the Passover, but with leavened bread.  It was a festival of thanks for God’s provision, when the new grain of the harvest was to be baked into leavened loaves of bread and waived before the LORD, together with animal sacrifices (lambs, bull, rams, goat) for burnt offerings, a sin offering, and peace offerings.

Leviticus 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. 17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.n 18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord. 19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

This was the day on which the nation of Israel was constituted, in which it became a nation constitutionally and was sent out in the name of YHWH to travel to the land of Canaan and conquer in his name. What is the significance of this Jewish feast day to the Pentecost event that occurred in Acts 2? The Old Testament Pentecost is a foreshadowing of the New Testament Pentecost in several ways:

1. At Pentecost the Church of Jesus Christ was constituted as a holy nation unto the Lord.

Christ, in response to a question from some of his apostles as to when the restoration of the kingdom of Israel would be, commanded them to wait until Pentecost, when they would receive power from on high, Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Christ here taught his apostles, in his answer to their question, that there were be a re-ordering of the outward form of the spiritual nation of Israel, which they were to await. At Sinai the covenant of grace was expressed to the children of Israel in terms of God’s gracious deliverance of that nation from slavery in Egypt. Exodus 20:2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. In the New Testament there is a change of the order of things in keeping with the fulfillment of all the Messianic promises. Now the covenant of grace is expressed in more clear terms, since Christ is come and fulfilled the salvation which was promised, though the same covenant had always been the essence and root of the covenant that God made with Israel. In the Old Testament the grace of God in Jesus Christ which gathers his elect people of every nation was prefigured in the types and shadows that God had commanded through Moses, such as the priesthood and feast days when animal sacrifices would be offered for sin and as an offering procuring peace with God. Now at Pentecost the nation of Israel, having as a whole rejected the Messiah and crucified him, was being restored in a new form. Just as the law of Moses was what constituted the gaggle in the desert to be the restored people of Israel fresh out of bondage in Egypt, so the constituted Church of Jesus Christ was formed by the power of the Holy Spirit at the Pentecost event based on the constitution of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which though it had not yet been written down, had been received from his own mouth by those very apostles, in preparation for their task of proclaiming it to all the nations of the world. Significantly, proselytes v. 10 were among those gathered who heard the apostles speak in their tongues. That same spiritual people which had been reconstituted at Sinai in the terms of the law was reconstituted in a new form, now not restricted to ethnic Jews, based on the definitive revelation of God in the gospel. This gospel is the constitution of the Church of Jesus Christ, that which forms us together to be a people for God’s own peculiar possession.

2. At Pentecost the Church of Jesus Christ experienced her first harvest.

Pentecost in the Old Testament was a feast day to give thanks to God for the harvest that had been partially gathered in. It was an acknowledgement of the mercy of God in providing food for the Israelites to eat, of confessing sins committed despite his grace, and procuring his continued favor and blessing. In Acts 2, Pentecost was the first harvest, when around 120 souls (Ewart) received the initial harvest of three thousand souls added to the Church in one distinct blast of the rushing mighty wind which is the Holy Spirit. Imagine one of our little churches growing by a factor of 30 in one day! As amazing as that first harvest was, he is still at work today. It is the Holy Spirit that brings in the harvest of souls, as our Lord had said that the fields were white for harvest. Myriads of people the whole world over are still coming to Christ, despite the all the contempt the world can muster. The harvest continues, wherever the Holy Spirit draws people from every nation under heaven, where the good news of forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God is preached by his appointed emissaries. He feeds us daily of his word, through the Scriptures read and preached. Let us give thanks to God for the harvest of souls that continues to come into the Church of Jesus Christ, for his continual provision of spiritual nourishment, and pray that God will continue to bless this earth with showers of gentle dew preparing the hearts of people all over the world to hear and heed the good news, to repent of their sins and lay hold upon eternal life in Jesus Christ.

3. At Pentecost the Church of Jesus Christ was sent forth to conquer the nations by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The nation of Israel was constituted on Sinai as a conquering nation. It was to travel the long journey from Sinai to the land of Canaan and there wrest the land from its previous inhabitants by the power of the sword and shield. Observance of the feasts is connected with the conquering of the promised land. In Exodus 23 the feast of Pentecost is referred to as the feast of harvest.

Exodus 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God.
18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. 19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his other’s milk. 20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. 23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. 24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. 25 And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. 27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. 28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

The command to conquer Canaan has been expanded to include the entire world. That nation gathered at Sinai was reconstituted in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, but no longer are the weapons of its warfare carnal. No longer conquering by sword and shield, the Church of Jesus Christ, which is the New Israel, is commanded to subdue the nations, bringing them to loyal obedience to the King of Kings Jesus Christ by the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. That word is nothing else but the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of forgiveness of sins and new life toward God, the covenant of grace which declares freely to all persons of every nation that eternal life is assured them if they will repent of their sins and bow the knee to Jesus Christ our King who sent us to declare his reign.  And our success is as assured as it is promised, for the power that conquers is not of our own strength, but of that same rushing mighty wind that brought 3,000 souls to loving subjection to King Jesus on that feast day of Pentecost. If the Holy Spirit be for us, who can be against us? Let us go forth boldly as the Church of Jesus Christ, knowing that victory is assured by him who said, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:20b

The Holy Spirit in the Church Today

The Holy Spirit fills and animates the body of Christ, regenerating her and sanctifying her, filling her with the fullness of Christ and growing her up to his stature.  The Holy Spirit works conviction of sin, faith, and repentance unto life individually and corporately.  He is particularly responsible for any success in all the work of the church.

Pastor Mark, Do Reformed Churches Really Neglect the Holy Spirit?

In a recent post entitled, Is the Trinity Father, Son, and Holy Bible?, Seattle Pastor Mark Driscoll writes, “In Reformed churches, you won’t hear a lot about the Spirit, as they tend to attribute much of his work to the gospel and the sovereignty of God.  So when lives are changed, the explanation is that what happened was because of the gospel without much reference to the Spirit’s application of it.”

Now I don’t know what experience Pastor Mark has in Reformed churches, but I would like to point out a couple things.

1. According to Reformed theology, as preached in Reformed churches, the primary means of sanctification is the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit, secretly communicating, persuading, and applying the word to believers.  At our congregation, I pray every Sunday in a specific purposeful prayer before the sermon that the Holy Spirit would work in us to make us more holy through the word.  This is known as the prayer of illumination, and has been a staple of Reformed worship ever since Calvin published La Forme de Prières et Chants Ecclélsiastiques, (1542) aka. the Genevan Liturgy.  And when we pray for the Spirit to illuminate us, we mean it, and we expect it, as I’m sure most Reformed churches do.  I usually preface it with a pithy exhortation reminding us how absolutely necessary the Spirit’s work is for us to benefit from His word.  So much for not talking much about the Spirit!

2.  According to Reformed believers, the Spirit’s greatest miracle is in the regeneration or New Birth of a sinner.  It is His own sovereign, particular, and peculiar work from start to finish.  Reformed preachers, myself included, tend to make the Spirit’s work in regeneration a specific point of emphasis.  As it should be.

There, now I feel much better.  Now, do you think that the Reformed tend not to emphasize the Holy Spirit?