Recommended Resources (books and more)

Martin Luther on John 6:44-45

~ pjwenzel ~ Leave a comment

We had a wonderful discussion on the “drawing” of the Holy Spirit today in class, and so I wanted to follow up with a quick post because I just came across what the great reformer Martin Luther had to say on the passage, and I thought it was really good.  Here’s what he said:

John 6:44-45 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. [45] It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me,”

As we mentioned in class, the drawing of men to God is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by the will of the Father (see John 6:45).  To be “taught of God” is to have God work in your heart to awaken you to the things of God and “implant” in you (to use MacArthur’s wording) a new desire – a desire that you would not otherwise have.

Luther says this, “He declares (in John 6:44), not only that the works and efforts of ‘free-will’ are unavailing, but that even the very word of the gospel (of which He is here speaking) is heard in vain, unless the Father Himself speaks within, and teaches, and draws.”

And commenting on Paul’s writing on the matter, Luther says, “Luther says, “Paul’s whole aim is to make grace necessary to all men, and if they could initiate something by themselves, they would not need grace…”free-will” it utterly laid low, and nothing good or upright is left to man; for he is declared to be unrighteous, ignorant of God, a despiser of God, turned away from Him and unprofitable in His sight.”

It is most difficult for us to take all of this in.  But Christ understood this because His own disciples were struggling with it.  Look at the bottom of the passage:

John 6:60-65 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” [61] But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? [62] Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? [63] It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. [64] But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) [65] And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

Jesus here explains the difficulty that they were having was because of the “flesh” (vs. 63) and that is why it takes the Spirit to discern what is spiritual.

The question we need to ask ourselves is this: if this is so difficult to submit to and comprehend as a believer who has the Spirit of God, what makes us think that we were at all capable of making a correct choice for God without any supernatural work of God in our hearts?  The answer is plain – just as we need God’s help in understanding His word, and in our sanctification process, we needed it even more in the process of salvation.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8

UPDATE:

Thanks to Parris Payden for sending along this little ditty by Luther from his (Luther’s, not Parris’) masterpiece The Bondage of the Will:

“I frankly confess that, for myself, even if it could be, I should not want “free-will” to be given me, nor anything to be left in my own hands to enable me to endeavour after salvation; not merely because in face of so many dangers, and adversities and assaults of devils, I could not stand my ground ; but because even were there no dangers. I should still be forced to labour with no guarantee of success.¦ But now that God has taken my salvation out of the control of my own will, and put it under the control of His, and promised to save me, not according to my working or running, but according to His own grace and mercy, I have the comfortable certainty that He is faithful and will not lie to me, and that He is also great and powerful, so that no devils or opposition can break Him or pluck me from Him. Furthermore, I have the comfortable certainty that I please God, not by reason of the merit of my works, but by reason of His merciful favour promised to me; so that, if I work too little, or badly, He does not impute it to me, but with fatherly compassion pardons me and makes me better. This is the glorying of all the saints in their God.” 

Additional Resources:

Monergism.com has a great selection of Scripture to help the believer walk through the “irresistible call” of God, along with the other Doctrine of Grace. Thank you Parris for sending this great resource along!

R.C. Sproul’s book ‘Chosen by God’ is the classic work on the topic of election and predestination for the layman.  This is the book that helped me initially understand this concept.

Job the Film

~ pjwenzel ~ Leave a comment

A few months ago I had the opportunity to watch this new film on Job.  Now, after waiting for several months, the movie finally became available for download in just the last few weeks.  The best way to describe the film is that it is powerful.  The style is poetry set against thematic illustrations and music.  The narrator and author is Pastor John Piper.

The main thrust of the movie captures the book of Job well: We can’t know the mind of God, but we know His ways are above ours, and that He works all things to good for those who love Him and are called according to His great and mighty purpose.  The hidden things of God are His own.  These truths are beautifully illustrated in Piper’s adaptation of the book.

I recommend taking some time to watch the movie.  It moved me greatly to reconsider the wisdom and awesome providence of the God we worship.

There is a trailer below, and the full movie can be found on itunes or here.

Jōb the Film from Chris Koelle on Vimeo.

Jonathan Edwards’ Advice to Young Converts

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Last night I found myself enjoying a classic Edwards letter – one to Ms. Deborah Hatheway, that eventually was distributed and is popularly termed ‘Advice to Young Converts‘ (Ms. Hatheway was a recent convert).  I thought you all might also enjoy taking a scan through this wonderful letter.

One thing that I love about Edwards is his ability to list off several very very practical ways of applying the principles of the Gospel of our everyday lives.  In his writing, he is intensely concerned with living a holy life.  I hope and pray that this short foray into the writings of Edwards will delight you, and cause you to search out the deeper things of Christ.  If you are interested in reading more of Edwards’ work, Yale has setup an online collection that is pretty comprehensive and can be found here.

Here below is the copy of that letter…

To Deborah Hatheway in Suffield.

A Copy of a Letter Sent to Deborah Hatheway a young woman belonging to Suffield; by the Revd Mr Edwards of Northampton.

Northampton June 3d AD 1741.

Dear Child, as you desired me to Send you in writing Some Directions, how to behave your Self in your Christian Course, I would now Answer your request. The remembrance of the Great things I have lately Seen at Suffield, and the Dear affection for those Persons, I have there Conversed with, that give good Evidences of a Saving work of God upon their hearts Inclines me to do any thing that lies in my power, to Contribute to the Spiritual Joy and Prosperity of Gods people there; and what I write to you, I would also Say to other young women there, that are your friends and Companions and the Children of God; & therefore Desire you would Communicate as you have opportunity.

1. I would advise you to keep up as Great a Strife and earnestness in Religion in all parts of it, as you wou’d do if you knew your Self to be in a State of Nature, and was Seeking Conversion. We advise persons under Convictions to be earnest, & violent for the kingdom of heaven, but when they have attained to Conversion they ought not to be less watchfull laborious and earnest in the whole work of Religion, but the more; for they are under infinitely greater obligations. for want of this many Persons in a few months after their Conversion have begun to loose the Sweet and lively Sence of things, & to grow Cold and flat and dark, & have pierced themselves thrô with many Sorrows, whereas if they had done as the Apostle did Phil: 3. 12 13 14 their path would have been as the Shining light, that Shines more & more unto the perfect Day.

2. Dont leave off Seeking Striving & praying for the Same things that we exhort unconverted persons to Strive for: & a degree of which you have had in Conversion. Thus pray that your Eyes may be open’d, that you may receive your Sight, that you may know your Self, & be bro’t to Gods foot, & that you may see the Glory of God & Christ & may be raised from the Dead: & have the Love of Christ Shed abroad in your heart, for those that have most of these things, had ned Still to pray for them: for there is So much blindness & hardness & Death Remaining, that they Still need to have that work of God wrought upon them further to enlighten & enliven them; that Shall be a bringing out of Darkness into Gods marvellous light. And a kind of new Conversion & Resurrection from the Dead. There are very few requests that are proper for a natural person, but that in Some Sense are proper for the Godly.

3. When you hear Sermons hear them for your Self: tho what is Spoken in them may be more especially Directed to the unconverted, or to those that in other respects are in different Circumstances from your Self. Yet let the Chief intent of your mind be, to Consider with your Self, in what respects is this that I hear Spoken, Applicable to me & what Improvement ought I to make of this for my own Souls good.

4. Thô God has forgiven & forgotten your past Sins, yet don’t forget them your Self: Often remember what a wretched bond Slave you was in Egypt, often bring to mind your particular acts of Sin before Conversion, as the Blessed Apostle Paul is often mentioning, his old blaspheming & persecuting & injuriousness, to the renewed humbling of his heart & acknowledging that he was the least of the Apostles, & not worthy to be called an Apostle, & the least of all Saints, & the Chief of all Sinners: and be often in Confessing your old Sins to God & let that text be often in your mind Ezek: 16 63. That thou mayest remember & be Confounded & never open thy mouth any more because of thy Shame when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done Saith the Lord God.

5. Remember that you have more cause a thousand times to lament & humble your Self for Sins that have been Since Conversion than before, because of the infinitely greater Obligations that are upon you to live to God. And look upon the faithfulness of marginal Christ, in unchangeably Continuing his loving favour, & the unspeakable & Saving fruits of his everlasting love, notwithstanding all your Great unworthiness Since your Conversion, to be as wonderfull as his Grace in Converting you.

6. Be greatly abased for your remaining Sin, & never think that you lie low enough for it but yet dont be at all discouraged or disheartned by it. For thô we are exceeding Sinfull yet we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous, the preciousness of whose blood, & the merit of whose righteousness & the Greatness of whose love & faithfulness does infinitely overtop the highest mountains of our Sins.

7. When you engage in the Duty of Prayer or Come to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper or attend any other Duty of Divine worship, Come to Christ as Mary Magdalene did Luke 7. 37 38. Come & Cast your Self down at his feet & kiss ’em, and pour forth upon him the perfumed ointment of Divine love, out of a pure & broken heart, as She pour out her precious ointment out of her pure alabaster broken box.

8. Remember that Pride is the worst viper that is in the heart, the Greatest Disturber of the Souls peace & Sweet Communion with Christ, was the first Sin that ever was, & lies lowest in the foundation of Satans whole building, & is most Difficultly rooted out, & is the most hidden Secret & Deceitfull of all Lusts, & often Creeps in insensibly into the midst of Religion & Sometimes under the Disguise of Humility.

9. That you may pass a good Judgment of the frames that you are in, always look upon those the best Discourses, and the best Comforts, that have most of these two effects viz: those that make you lest, lowest, & most like a little Child, & Secondly, Those that do most engage & fix your heart in a full & firm Disposition to Deny your Self for God, & to Spend & be Spent for him.

10. If at any time you fall into any Doubt about the State of your Soul, under darkness & Dull frames of mind, tis proper to look over past Experience, but yet Dont Consume too much of your time & Strength in poring & puzling thoughts about old Experiences, that in Dull frames appear Dim & are very much out of Sight, at lest as to that which is the Cream & life & Sweetness of them: But rather apply your Self with all your might, to an earnest pursuit after renewed Experiences, New light, & new lively acts of faith & love. One new Discovery of the Glory of Christs face & the fountain of his Sweet grace & love will do more towards Scattering Clouds of Darkness & Doubting, in one minute: than Examining old experiences by the best mark that Can be given; a whole year.

11. When the Exercise of grace is at a low ebb, & Corruption prevails, & by that means fear prevails, Don’t desire to have fear Cast out any other way, than by the reviving & prevailing of love, for tis not agreable to the Method of Gods wise dispensations that it Should be Cast out any other way; for when love is asleep, the Saints need fear to restrain them from Sin & therefore it is So ordered, that at Such times fear Comes upon them, & that more or less as love Sinks. But when love is lively exercise, persons don’t need fear, & the prevailing of love in the heart, naturally tends to Cast out fear, as darkness in a room vanishes away as you let more & more of the pleasant beams of the Sun into it 1 John. 4 18.

12. You ought to be much in Exhorting & Counselling & warning others, especially at Such a Day as this: Heb: 10 25. & I would advise you especially, to be much in exhorting Children & young women your Equals, & when you exhort others that are men, I would advise you that you take opportunities for it, Chiefly when you are alone with them, or when only young persons are present. See 1 Tim: 2. 9, 11, 12.

13. When you Counsel & warn others, do it earnestly, affectionately & thoroughly. And when you are Speaking to your Equals, let your warnings be intermixed with Expressions of your Sense of your own unworthiness, & of the Sovereign grace that makes you differ, & if you Can with a good Conscience, Say how that you in your Self are more unworthy than they.

14. If you would Set up religious meetings of young women by your Selves, to be attended once marginal in a while, besides the other meetings that you attend I Should think it would be very proper & profitable.

15. Under Special Difficulties, or when in great need of or great longings after any particular mercies, for your Self or others; Set apart a Day of Secret fasting and Prayer alone; & let the Day be Spent not only in petitions for the mercies Desired, but in Searching your heart, & looking over your past life, & Confessing your Sins before God not as is wont to be done in Publick Prayer, but by a very particular rehearsal before God, of the Sins of your past life from your Childhood hitherto, before & after Conversion, with particular Circumstances & aggravations, also, very particularly & fully as possible, Spreading all the all the abominations of your heart before him.

16. Don’t let the adversaries of Religion have it to Say, that these Converts Don’t Carry themselves any better than others. See Mat: 5.47 What do ye more than others; how holily Should the Children of God, & the Redeemed & the beloved of the Son of God behave themselves, therefore walk as a Child of the light & of the Day & adorn the Doctrine of God your Saviour; & particularly be much in these things, that especially be Called Christian virtues, & make you like the Saints of God; be meek & lowly of heart & full of a pure heavenly & humble love to all & abound in deeds of love to others, & Self-denial for others, & let there be in your disposition to account others better than your Self.

17. Don’t talk of things of Religion & matters of Experience with an air of lightness and laughter which is too much the manner in many Places.

18. In all your Course, walk with God & follow Christ as a little poor helpless Child, taking hold of Christs hand, keeping your Eye on the mark of the wound on his hands & Side, whence came the blood that Cleanses you from Sin & hiding your nakedness under the Skirt of the white Shining Robe of his Righteousness.

19. Pray much for the Church of God & especially that he would Carry on his Glorious work that he has now begun; & be much in Prayer for the Ministers of Christ, & particularly I would beg a Special interest in your Prayers, & the Prayers of your Christian Companions, both when your alone & when you are together for your affectionate friend, that Rejoyces over you, & desires to be your Servant In Jesus Christ.

Jonathan Edwards

Posture and Worship from the Heart

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Many of us gathered yesterday for a time of great fellowship, Bible study, and worship through song.  I know that for many of you this was a very enjoyable time, and I also relished the time together.  So in light of that wonderful time of worship and study, I wanted to pass along an article I read today that was convicting and insightful regarding how we worship and where are hearts ought to be.

1 Samuel 16:7 says this, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.'”

With Arms High and Heart Abandoned – Why Posture Matters by Stephen Miller

I was Michael Jordan’s biggest fan. I regularly wrote him to ask for his autograph and invite him to my birthday parties. I was convinced I would one day be great like him, so finally after much pleading, my parents sent me to basketball camp when I was a pre-teen.

I hated it. It was nothing but drills on proper free throw techniques. Coach would shout, “Bend your knees. Follow through. MILLER! BEND YOUR KNEES! FOLLOW THROUGH!” I was not a natural born athlete and it felt awkward. Eventually I realized that I would never be the next Air Jordan, but I did get to a point that shooting with the proper posture didn’t feel so uncomfortably awkward – it felt natural.

Posture matters.

When a young man meets a young woman that he wants to impress, he stands up straight, shoulders back, gut sucked in. He maintains eye-contact and a smile. When he wants to propose, he gets down on one knee. When he has messed up royally and needs to apologize, it’s two knees.

If that man has a gun pointed at him, his hands are raised in surrender. If that man’s children want him to hold them or want to lavish him with childlike adoration, they raise their arms to him.

Paul writes in 1 Tim. 2:8, “I desire then that in every place [people] should pray, lifting holy hands…” He is referring back to many passages in the Old Testament where over and over, people were encouraged to pray and worship using specific postures – in this instance, the raising of hands.

King David, the innovator of music in corporate worship, wrote hundreds of songs for the purpose of engaging the mind, heart and body in worship. He understood that posture is an outward expression of an inward reality. Our body naturally acts the way our hearts feel. So we see encouragements throughout scripture to bow humbly, raise hands joyfully, shout and sing loudly, clap hands and even dance before the Lord. This must have felt very awkward to the people of the day, who had never seen anything like this before.

Similarly, we have been shaped by our past cultural experiences and may be tempted to forego these postures to avoid feeling awkward or uncomfortable, saying, “That’s for other people. I was raised (whatever denomination) and we never did that.” In doing so, we are failing to realize that our posture is shaped by our heart.

We raise our hands because we are growing more fully consumed with adoration of our God. We bow before God because we are becoming more fully immersed in a deep sense of humble, reverential awe. As we experience the inward heart-reality of worshiping God with all we are, it will undoubtedly work itself outward because our bodies naturally express what is happening in our hearts.

At sporting events, when a person’s team scores, he jumps up in the air, pumps his fists and shouts as loudly as he can. When the ref makes a bad call, he throws his hands up in frustration and boos vigorously. His heart is caught up in the experience of the moment, which causes his body to express itself outwardly.

That is why robotically going through the outward motions of worship without actually worshiping is not God’s desire for us – it only addresses the symptom rather than the actual problem. The fruit of our outward expressiveness reveals the root of our hearts.

Certainly there are moments to stand still in silence before the Lord – that in itself is a posture of worship. However, if we consistently find ourselves in corporate worship with our arms folded, simply mouthing the words with a blank look on our face, it may be an indicator that we are not experiencing an inward heart of adoration, wonder and awe that is characteristic of true, spiritual worship. But rather than forcing our hands in the air, we should ask God to draw us nearer to him and seek how he desires to be worshiped. We should plead with him to captivate our hearts and reveal any sin that might be keeping us from seeing and savoring him with all we are.

God wants our hearts, not just our arms raised or our knees bent. He wants more than just our shouts or our songs. He wants more than just our theological intellects. He wants all of us.

As he gets all of us, our bodies will always naturally follow. It may be awkward at first, but Jesus sees the beauty in the sloppiness of total abandon. Don’t worry about how you look when you worship. Just go for it with all your heart.

How have your past experiences shaped how you view posture in worship?

Have you ever had moments where you realized you were going through the motions of worship without the heart behind it?

Have you had moments in corporate worship where you have wanted to worship more expressively, but felt like you couldn’t? That something was holding you back?

You can find the original story here.

Ryle on Sanctification

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JC Ryle is one of my favorite preachers from the 19th century. In his book ‘Holiness’ he addresses the christian life in many aspects; here are chapter two’s best quotes on Sanctification:

Others are so much afraid of ‘works’ being made a part of justification that they can hardly find any place at all for ‘works’ in their religion.

Sanctification is that inward spiritual work which the Lord Jesus Christ works in a man by the Holy Ghost, when He calls him to be a true believer. He not only washes him from his sins in His own blood, but He also separates him from his natural love of sin and the world, puts a new principle in his heart and makes him practically godly in life.

The faith which has not a sanctifying influence on the character is no better than the faith of devils. It is a ‘dead faith, because it is alone’. It is not the first of God. It is not the faith of God’s elect. In short, where there is no sanctification of life, there is no real faith in Christ.

Sanctification, again, is the outcome and inseparable consequence of regeneration.

Sanctification, again, is the only certain evidence of that indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is essential to salvation.

…so we may know the Spirit is in a man by the effects He produces in the man’s conduct.

Sanctification, again, is a thing which depends greatly on a diligent use of scriptural means. When I speak of ‘means’, I have in view Bible reading, private prayer, regular attendance on public worship, regular hearing of God’s Word and regular reception of the Lord’s Supper. I lay it down as a simple matter of fact, that no one who is careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in sanctification.

A true Christian is one who has not only peace of conscience, but war within.

He that supposes works are of no importance because they cannot justify us, is a very ignorant Christian.

The notion of a purgatory after death, which shall turn sinners into saints, is a lying invention of man, and is nowhere taught in the Bible. We must be saints before we die, if we are to be saints afterwards in glory.

True sanctification does not consist in temporary religious feelings.

Many, it may be feared, appear moved and touched and roused under the preaching of the gospel while in reality their hearts are not changed at all.

‘One Night with the King’ – Movie on Esther

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I mentioned on Sunday how the movie ‘One Night with the King‘ was one of my favorite Bible-time movies.  You can watch the entire movie for free online at Hulu – here’s the link.  

The movie begins with the disobedience of Saul (1 Samuel 15:9-11) and how that allowed the Agagites to continue living, and how that eventually produced a problem for Esther.

The movie has a few violent scenes, some more mature themes (as does the book of Esther itself), but it is remarkably clean and a terrific film.

 

Spurgeon’s Good Friday Prayer

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Kudos to Parris for passing this one along…magnificent prayer by C.H. Spurgeon

A GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER FROM CHARLES SPURGEON

Great God,
there was a time when we dreaded the thought of coming near to You,
for we were guilty and You were angry with us,
but now we will praise You
because Your anger is turned away and You comfort us.

Yes, and the very throne which once was a place of dread
has now become the place of shelter. I flee to You to hide me.

O bring us, we pray You, now near to Yourself.
Let us bathe ourselves in communion with our God.
Blessed be the love which chose us before the world began.
We can never sufficiently adore You for Your sovereignty,
the sovereignty of love which saw us in the ruins of the Fall,
yet loved us anyway.

We also bless You, O God, as the God of our redemption,
for You have so loved us as to give even Your dear Son for us.
He gave Himself, His very life for us
that He might redeem us from all iniquity and separate us unto Himself
to be His peculiar people, zealous for good works.

Never can we sufficiently adore free grace and undying love.
The wonders of Calvary never cease to be wonders,
they are growing more marvelous in our esteem
as we think of Him who washed us from our sins in His own blood.
Nor can we cease to praise the God of our regeneration
who found us dead and made us live,
found us at enmity and reconciled us,
found us loving the things of this world
and lifted us out of the muck and mire of selfishness and worldliness
in the love of divine everlasting things.

All our help must come from You.
Give back to the church its love, its confidence,
its holy daring, its consecration,
its generousness, its holiness.
Give back all it ever had and give it much more.
Take every member and wash his feet, sweet Lord, most tenderly,
and set us with clean feet in a clean road,
with a clean heart to guide them, and bless us as You will in a divine fashion.

Bless us, our Father,
and let all the churches of Jesus Christ partake of care and tenderness.
Walking among the golden candlesticks trim every lamp and make every light,
even though it burns feebly now, to shine out gloriously through Your care.

Now bless the sinners. Lord, convert them.
O God, save men, save this great city, this wicked city, this slumbering dead city.
Lord, arouse it, arouse it by any means, that it may turn to its God.
Lord save sinners all the world over, and let Your precious Word be fulfilled.
And now to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Tabernacle: Visual Theology

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A few months back I posted some information about the Temple Complex, so when I saw that Pastor Tim Challies had released an info-graphic on the Tabernacle, it occurred to me that you all would like to check this out.

The Picture is part of a series called ‘Visual Theology’ and is really helpful for understanding some of the great truths of God and Scripture.

Click Here to download the picture or see below.  Enjoy!

PJW

Passover Parallels to Christ

~ pjwenzel ~ 1 Comment

Today we talked a little about the parallels between the Passover celebration and the things that Christ accomplished during His time here on earth.  Using Exodus 12, I have gone through and extracted some of these parallels for you to take a peak at:

Passover Parallels – Exodus 12

12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish – Jesus was called the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus lived a sinless life, He was without blemish and He made atonement for our sins.

12:7 Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. – Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, shed His blood on the cross for us, and it is this blood of the lamb that separates the Christian from the unbeliever just as the blood on the doorpost separated the Israelites from the Egyptians, the elect from the reprobate.  It is the blood of Christ that will separate us when Christ comes back and the world is judged.  We don’t have a righteousness of our own, but are clothed in the righteousness of Christ that will allow us to stand before the throne of God on that day.

12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. – The blood of the lamb that is a sign to the Lord’s angel not to kill the first born in that house is a foreshadowing of how the blood of Jesus saves us from the judgment of God (Heb. 10:19-22; Eph. 2:13; Rom. 3:25) and our just end (eternal death/separation from God).  2 Cor. 5:21 tells us that Christ became sin for us that we might not taste God’s wrath.  And Romans 3:25 might say it best, “whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

12:14 This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. – The Passover was celebrated even during the time of Christ. Just as the Passover is a sign of God’s deliverance for the Israelites, the Lord’s Super is a sign and remembrance of the deliverance Christ provided. During the ministry of Christ here on Earth, Passover was celebrated three times (John 2:13, 6:4, and 11:55) indicating that His ministry lasted about three years.

12:22 Take a bunch of hyssop – while Christ was on the cross He was given wine and vinegar on a hyssop branch (John 19:29).

12:46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. – None of the bones of Jesus were broken, though it was customary that the legs of a man would be broken on the cross, this did not occur with Jesus (Ps. 34:20; Num. 9:12; John 19:36)

Pastor John Sittma notes that, “Passover was both a family and communal feast.  The lamb chosen ‘for the nation’ was staked out in the temple courtyard on Passover at 9am, and slaughtered publicly at 3pm.  So was Jesus – nailed to the cross at 9am, He died at 3pm, just as the four-footed beast died in a liturgy that concluded, ‘it is finished.’[i]

[i] Tabletalk Magazine, April 2011, ‘Meeting Jesus at an Old Testament Feast.’

Getting to Know Jonathan Edwards

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This week we’ll be learning about Jacob’s Ladder, and how Christ fulfilled the dream that Jacob had had hundreds of years before He stepped foot on earth.  The man who probably best described this vision and its full meaning, was Jonathan Edwards.

Most modern Christians have never studied much of what Edwards had to say, or who he was.  So I thought it would be helpful to provide a brief sketch of who this brilliant man was, so that you may more fully appreciate what he has to teach us in our study through the book of John.  To do this, I’m going to post below some excerpts from a few sources, but mostly from John Piper’s short Biography of the man which can be found by clicking here.

Chuck Colson says this about Edwards, “The western church – much of it drifting, enculturated, and infected with cheap grace – desperately needs to hear Edwards’ challenge. . . . It is my belief that the prayers and work of those who love and obey Christ in our world may yet prevail as they keep the message of such a man as Jonathan Edwards.”

Edwards was an 18th Century puritan preacher who is perhaps best known for his sermon “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.” Many of you were probably made to read this sermon in high school – even if you went to a secular school.  Edwards is often demonized as a puritan who was himself angry at sinners, and concentrated most of his preaching powers on scaring people into the kingdom of heaven.  The truth, as is often the case, couldn’t be further from this ill-conceived caricature.

As John Piper says, “Most of us don’t know that he is considered now by secular and evangelical historians alike to be the greatest Protestant thinker America has ever produced. Scarcely has anything more insightful been written on the problem of God’s sovereignty and man’s accountability than his book, The Freedom of the Will.”

In his book, ‘The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards’, Steven Lawson notes that, “All Christian writing is influenced, to one extent or another, by the theological foundations upon which the author stands. Edwards’ writings, including his ‘Resolutions,’ rested squarely upon ‘Reformed theology in its English Puritan form.’ This theological system, which emphasized God’s glory and absolute sovereignty,’ provided a structural framework for Edwards’ thought.’ In short, Edwards was a ‘convinced Calvinist’; he had drunk deeply from the wells of Scripture and had tasted the supreme authority of God to his soul’s satisfaction.”

The influence that Edwards had on America, and the cause of Christ here in the relatively young colonies was profound.  As Piper says, “Does any of us know what an incredible thing it is that this man, who was a small-town pastor for 23 years in a church of 600 people, a missionary to Indians for 7 years, who reared 11 faithful children, who worked without the help of electric light, or word-processors or quick correspondence, or even sufficient paper to write on, who lived only until he was 54, and who died with a library of 300 books – that this man led one of the greatest awakenings of modern times, wrote theological books that have ministered for 200 years and did more for the modern missionary movement than anyone of his generation?”

For current leaders like Piper, Edwards has been a great source of inspiration.  “Alongside the Bible, Edwards became the compass of my theological studies. Not that he has anything like the authority of Scripture, but that he is a master of that Scripture, and a precious friend and teacher”, Piper says.

Piper describes the balance between studying the Bible and practical living as portayed by Edwards:

Edwards did not pursue a passion for God because it was icing on the cake of faith. For him faith was grounded in a sense of God which was more than what reason alone could deliver. He said,

A true sense of the glory of God is that which can never be obtained by speculative [reasoning]; and if men convince themselves by argument that God is holy, that never will give a sense of his amiable and glorious holiness. If they argue that he is very merciful, that will not give a sense of his glorious grace and mercy. It must be a more immediate, sensible discovery that must give the mind a real sense of the excellency and beauty of God. (Works, II, 906)

In other words, it is to no avail merely to believe that God is holy and merciful. For that belief to be of any saving value, we must “sense” God’s holiness and mercy. That is, we must have a true delight in it for what it is in itself. Otherwise the knowledge is no different than what the devils have.

Does this mean that all his study and thinking was in vain? No indeed. Why? Because he says, “The more you have of a rational knowledge of divine things, the more opportunity will there be, when the Spirit shall be breathed into your heart, to see the excellency of these things, and to taste the sweetness of them.” (Works, II, 162, see p.16)

But the goal of all is this spiritual taste, not just knowing God but delighting in him, savoring him, relishing him. And so for all his intellectual might, Edwards was the farthest thing from a cool, detached, neutral, disinterested academician.

As we continue to learn and to study together, I hope you will continue to grow by reading and meditating upon the Word of God, but will also take some time to reflect upon the great lessons we’ve learned from men like Jonathan Edwards.

To ready more about this great Godly man, see below for some resources:

‘The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards’ – Steve Lawson’s short Edwards Biography

‘Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography’ – Biography by Ian Murray

‘The Freedom of the Will’ – Edwards’ most famous book on Election

‘Religious Affections’ – The book that probably most influenced Piper’s view of God and what it means to be joyful in God.

‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’ – famous sermon by Edwards on the need for repentance and salvation by Jesus Christ

‘The Spirit of Revival’ – Longish article by RC Sproul on the marks that identified the revival that Edwards lead in the 18th Century.