Happy Anniversary

Today Michelle and I have been married for 18 years. That is so hard to believe.

Before we began dating, a buddy of mine named Tom was looking for a girlfriend. He and I had started attending a Bible study and I had gotten to know Michelle some and we had actually become prayer partners. At the time, she had her eyes on some guy named Bill. Nevertheless, I told Tom that he ought to ask Michelle out. "Why?" he asked. "Because she will make someone a good wife some day" I answered.

Little did I know that I would be the lucky guy that would have the privilege of having her as my wife.

It was not long after that conversation with Tom that it occurred to me ("duh!") to ask Michelle out myself. Within two months of our first date, I asked her to marry me. Six months after that she became my bride.

We had no idea what the future would bring. If you would have told us the journey we would embark on we would have thought you were crazy. It has not been an easy road. There have been many tears but also a lot of laughs along the way.

All I know is that there is no one that I would rather have had by my side and no one better equipped to be my "help mate." God's grace is sufficient, but I believe that, if it were not for Michelle, there is no way that I could have survived the last 11 years of ministry. No way. She has been a constant source of encouragement and support. When I decided to quit (more than once!) she told me to carry on- and reminded me that God is faithful.

God brought us together because He knew that we would be the best team to accomplish the tasks that He had planned for us before the foundation of the world. And who knows what plans He has made for our future? Who knows what the years ahead will bring? If you could travel forward in time and tell me what lies ahead, I probably wouldn't believe you.

All I know is that I there is no one that I would rather have by my side than my bride.

Michelle I love you. You are beautiful. You are my support. Thank you.
Happy Anniversary.

L.L.

Penn on proselytization

I'm speechless. Watch this to the end.

ht: Matt Murphy

The Economics, Psychology and Theology of Gift Giving- The Gift Says More About the Giver

In the Washington Post (Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006) article, Did the Three Kings Bear Gift Receipts?, Kevin Hassett examines gift giving from an economist’s point of view.

He discovers that an economist would say that gift giving is a completely inefficient way of celebrating Christmas. They would claim that a person knows what they want better than you do, and they would point to studies which have confirmed that people prefer their own choice as opposed to the gifts they received anywhere from 10 to 33 percent. Thus, one could say that up to 33 percent of the money spent this Christmas season is money wasted. Using figures provided by the National Retail Foundation, that could mean an annual loss of $152 billion suffered by American consumers this year. Politicians argue tooth and nail how to save Americans $152 billion through tax breaks, etc., It seems that an economist would not be out of order to suggest the banning of gift giving as a responsible law to help American’s financial situations.

What economists, however, don’t take into account, however, is the psychology of gift giving. Hassett describes a study by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman published in 1990 explaining:

“Students at Simon Fraser University in Canada were given coffee mugs from the college bookstore and then asked whether they would sell the mugs at prices ranging from 25 cents to $9.25. A second group was asked whether they would buy a mug at the same prices. Those who received the gifts were possessive of their new treasures, and were coaxed into giving them up only at prices above $7.12. But those who did not receive the mugs as gifts found them unattractive and were willing to buy them only if they cost less than $3.12. The $4 difference is attributed to the psychological value of a gift. The recipient experienced a thrill when he or she received the mug, which became the apple of their eye. Those who were offered a chance to buy a mug experienced no such thrill.

Hassett concludes: First, you shouldn’t fret too much about the likely success of your gifts. College students are a noticeably unsentimental lot. If they become emotionally attached to mugs from the college bookstore, given to them in an experimental setting, imagine how much value a wife may attach to a gift from a beloved spouse, regardless of its exact nature.

Second…the frankincense and myrrh probably generated a textbook response in Mary and Joseph….like the mug-loving college students, Mary and Joseph must have been enormously attached to their presents. According to legend, the poor carpenter and his wife never sold the valuable gifts, despite the family’s financial needs. To this day, a case that purportedly contains the gifts of the magi is on display at a monastery in Greece. If the gifts truly were preserved for all time, it is probably because the human response to Christmas gifts has changed little since that first night.

I was listening to this article being discussed on Public Radio and found it quite intriguing, but the best part was when a caller called in to respond to the question- “what would you rather receive, a gift or money?” The caller ademately said that a gift is better because the gift says “I consider you worth spending time and effort on”- it shows that the giver cares. In fact, the caller stated, the gift says more about the giver than it does about the one who receives the gift.

What a great theological statement!

Let’s consider the gift we celebrate each Christmas- the gift of Christ. The gift of Christ, certainly does say something about those who receive Him- namely that we are sinners in need of a Savior! But it says much more about the Father who sent Him.

John Frame provides a wonderful meditation on God’s gift to us and what it teaches about Him in an article entitled The Wonder of God Over Us and With Us. Read it here.

Frame says: Christmas reveals in a wonderful way that God acts in time as well as above it. It shows us wonderfully how God relates to us, not only as a mysterious being from another realm, but as a person in our own time and place: interacting with us, hearing our prayers, guiding us step by step, chastising us with fatherly discipline, comforting us with the wonderful promises of the blessings of Christ. Truly He is Immanuel, the God who is really with us, who is nonetheless eternally the sovereign Lord of all.

Truly this bespeaks a very Merry Christmas!

Personal or Public Worship= Which is More Important?

What happens when someone argues that their own private times with God are more important than corporate gatherings of the church as a whole?

Each of us, I'm sure, have heard those who have questioned the necessity of corporate worship, thinking that it is less "spiritual" than their own private times of reading and meditation.

Well, R. Scott Clark, professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Westminster Seminary in California, has recently written saying that a strong case can be made from Scripture that public worship is more important than private.

He writes:

"We know precious little about God's clearly revealed requirements for private piety. What we have are clearly revealed requirements, in the typological revelation about attending to the divinely appointed feasts and other corporate gatherings...In the 18th and 19th centuries, however, the relation between the public and the private became reversed under the influence of pietism."

Clark argues that private practice of devotion and worship should be secondary to the public: "It is through the public reading and preaching of the Gospel that God has promised to bring his people to faith (Rom. 10). " He adds that communion and baptism are administered in public services. People are disciplined (or ought to be) for failing to attend to these public gatherings.

He continued:

"Remember, universal literacy is relatively new. Universal bible ownership is relatively new. That doesn’t mean that people couldn’t have recited passages or even whole books from memory but it means that, for much of world history, God’s people could not have had “devotions” in the way that we think of them.

Private piety and devotion is important. If we neglect private prayer and meditation on Scripture we deprive ourselves on important benefits and blessings. There is probably a correlation between private devotions and maturity but they are not the public means of grace. When it comes to piety, the private flows from the public. The latter is not the joint expression of a hundreds of private religious experiences. Whatever private religious experience we may (or may not) have our Christian life is grounded in the preaching of the Word, especially the gospel, the administration of the sacraments, and public prayers in the context of public worship services."

His full article can be found here.

For more help in this area, 9 Marks (a ministry out of Capital Hill Baptist) has wonderful resources on the importance of church membership and worship.

The Biblical Case for Homosexual Marriage...Not

Al Mohler does a critique of Newsweek's latest issue which makes a "religious case for homosexual marriage." Read his response here.

You might live in Radford if....

with apologies to Neal and Aleah.

Review of Pagan Christianity

There is no lack of junk out there being passed off as Christian scholarship. When a popular name is put behind it, it makes the stuff downright dangerous. George Barna is a name many Christians recognize and, so, assume that what he writes is trustworthy. Well, it appears that Barna has gone off the deep end and has been the subject of much criticism lately for his last work: "Pagan Christianity." Knowing that many have found this book to be "revolutionary" in their thinking of church, I figured I'd guide you to a helpful review/critique of it which points out its fundamental flaws. The review has several parts and I'm sorry that the author hasn't made it easier to go from one to the other- but they are worth your time and effort if you have heard of this book.

The first of the series of reviews is here.

Where have you been?

Well, glad you asked.

I've been setting up a new blog for the church planters in the Midwest area of our State Convention. If you are curious and want to see a few posts I've done there to the neglect of this blog, pay us a visit: Midwest CPN Blog

John Owen Communion With God- Part 10

John Owen, Communion with God Part 2, Chapter 3, Digression II

(Sunday mornings before our worship service, our church is studying our way through Owen's book. This series consists of the notes handed out for the class).

To read John Owen is to enter a rare world. Whenever I return to one of his works I find myself asking “Why do I spend time reading lesser literature?”
—Sinclair B. Ferguson


The sum of all true wisdom and knowledge may be reduced to these three heads:- 1) The knowledge of God, his nature and his properties. 2) The knowledge of ourselves in reference to the will of God concerning us. 3) Skill to walk in communion with God….In these three is summed up all true wisdom and knowledge; and not any of them is to any purpose to be obtained, or is manifested, but only in and by the Lord Christ.

1) God, by the work of creation, by the creation itself, did reveal himself in many of his properties unto his creatures capable of his knowledge;- his power, his goodness, his wisdom, his all-sufficiency, are thereby known (see Romans 1:19-21). But yet there are some properties of God which all the works of creation cannot in any measure reveal or make known;- such as his patience, long-suffering, and forbearance. For all things being made good (Gen. 1:31), there could be no place for the exercise of any of these properties, or manifestation of them. The whole fabric of heaven and earth considered in itself, as at first created, will not discover any such thing as patience and forbearance in God; which yet are eminent properties of his nature, as himself proclaims and declares (Exodus 34:6,7).

Wherefore the Lord goes further; and by the works of his providence, in preserving and ruling the world which he made, discovers and reveals these properties also. For whereas by cursing the earth, and filling all the elements oftentimes with signs of his anger and indignation, he hath, as the apostle tells us, Rom. 1:18, “revealed from heaven his wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men;” yet not proceeding immediately to destroy all things, he hath manifested his patience and forbearance to all. See Acts 14:16,17.

There are some of the most eminent and glorious properties of God that there is not the least glimpse to be attained of out of the Lord Christ, but only by and in him; and some that comparatively we have no light of but in him; and of all the rest no true light but by him:

A) Of the first sort, whereof not the least guess and imagination can enter into the heart of man but only by Christ, are love and pardoning mercy:-
a. Love; I mean love unto sinners. Without this, man is of all creatures most miserable; and there is not the least glimpse of it that can possibly be discovered but in Christ. The Holy Spirit tells us in 1 John 4:8 that “God is love.”

But how do we know this?

He tells us, verse 9- “In this was manifested the love of God, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”

Where now is the wise, where is the scribe, where is the disputer of this world, with all their wisdom? ….That wisdom which cannot teach me that God is love, shall ever pass for folly.

b. Pardoning mercy or grace. Without this, even love would be fruitless. Pardoning mercy is God’s free, gracious acceptance of a sinner upon satisfaction made to his justice in the blood of Jesus; nor is any discovery of it, but as relating to the satisfaction of justice, consistent with the glory of God. Romans 3:25, Ephesians 1:6,7

Had not God set forth the Lord Christ, all the angels in heaven and men on earth could not have apprehended that there had been any such thing in the nature of God as this grace of pardoning mercy.

And these are the properties of God whereby he will be known, whereof there is not the least glimpse to be obtained but by and in Christ; and whoever knows him not by these, knows him not at all. They know an idol, and not the only true God. He that hath not the Son, the same hath not the Father 1 John 2:23; and not to have God as a Father, is not to have him at all; and he is known as a Father only as he is love, and full of pardoning mercy in Christ.


Our Discussion this morning centered on:

The concept that this world, with all its tragedies, is the "best of all possible worlds.”

And the question: “Is the God of Islam the God of Christianity?”

John Owen Communion With God- Part 9

(Sunday mornings before our worship service, our church is studying our way through Owen's book. This series consists of the notes handed out for the class).

To read John Owen is to enter a rare world. Whenever I return to one of his works I find myself asking “Why do I spend time reading lesser literature?”
—Sinclair B. Ferguson

John Owen, Communion with God Part 2, Chapter 3 Contd. (part 2)

The fact that Jesus is both God and man makes him able to be a source of grace to us.

1) He was fit to suffer the punishment that was due to us.

Had he not been man, he could not have suffered;- had he not been God, his suffering could not have availed either himself or us, - he had not satisfied; the suffering of a mere man could not bear any proportion to that which in any respect was infinite. Had the great and righteous God gathered together all the sins that had been committed by his elect from the foundation of the world, and searched the bosoms of all that were to come to the end of the world, and taken them all, from the sin of their nature to the least deviation from the rectitude of his most holy law, and the highest provocation of their regenerate and unregenerate condition, and laid them on a mere holy, innocent, creature; O how they would have overwhelmed him and buried him forever out of the presence of God’s love!

That is why the writer of Hebrews describes Jesus before He speaks of the purging of our sins. He is the Son and heir of all things, by whom the world, the brightness of the Father’s glory- He did it, He alone could do it.

2) Thus he is an endless, bottomless fountain of grace to all who believe. The Father committed the fullness of grace to Christ and all grace becomes to be his.

The real communication of grace is by Christ sending the Holy Spirit to regenerate us, and to create in us all the daily supplies of grace that we partake of.

This, then, is that which I intend by this fullness of grace that is in Christ, from when we have both our beginning and all our supplies; which makes him, as he is the Alpha and Omega of His church, the beginner and finisher of our faith, excellent and desirable to our souls:- Upon the payment of the great price of his blood, and full acquitment on the satisfaction he made; all grace whatever becomes, in a moral sense, his, at his disposal; and he bestows it on, or works it in the hearts o his by the Holy Spirit, according as, in His infinite wisdom, he sees it needful. How glorious is He to the soul on this consideration! That is most excellent to us which suits us in a wanting condition, - that which give bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, mercy to the perishing. All our reliefs are thus in our Beloved. Here is the life of our souls, the joy of our hearts, our relief against sin and deliverance from the wrath to come.

3) Thus, He is able to be the mediator between us and God- being one with God and one with us, and one in Himself in this oneness.

Herein shines out the infinitely glorious wisdom of God; which we may better admire than express.

What poor, low, perishing things do we spend our contemplations on! Were we to have no advantage by this astonishing dispensation, yet its excellency, glory, beauty, depths, deserve the flower of our iniquities, the vigor of our spirits, the substance of our time; but when, withal our life, our peace, our joy, our inheritance, our eternity, our all, lies herein, shall not the thoughts of it always dwell in our hearts, always refresh and delight our souls?

4) He is excellent and glorious in that He is exalted and invested with all authority.

Acts 2:36

Psalm 2:6

Heb. 2:7-9

Matthew 28:18

John 17:2

Micah 5:4

Psalm 45:5

Oh, how glorious is he in his authority over his enemies! In the world he terrifies, frightens, awes, convinces, bruises their hearts and consciences,- fills them with fear, terror, disquietment, until they yield him feigned obedience and sometimes with outward judgments bruises, breaks, turns the wheel upon them,- stains all his vesture with their blood,- fills the earth with their carcasses: and at last will gather them all together, beast, false prophet, nations, etc. and cast them into that lake that burns with fire and brimstone. Psalm 110:6; Rev. 19:20

Eph. 1:20-22

Phil. 2:9

And what a little portion of his glory is it that we have pointed to! This is the Beloved of the church, - its head, its husband; this is he with whom we have communion.

His head is his government, authority and kingdom. Hence it is said, “A crown of pure gold was on his head,” Psalm 21:3

1) It is a glorious kingdom; he is full of glory and majesty, and in his majesty he rides “prosperously,” Psalm 45:3,4. “His glory is great in the salvation of God: honor and majesty are laid upon him: he is made blessed forever and ever,” Psalm 21:5,6. It is a heavenly, a spiritual, a universal, an unshaken kingdom; all which render it glorious.

2) It is a durable kingdom. “His throne is forever and ever” Psalm 24:6. “Of the increase of his government there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever,” Isaiah 9:7 “His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom” Dan. 7:27

Cheetos Pet

Just for fun:

Dinesh D'Souza interview

Check out this interview Dinesh D'Souza and then go get his book. He is a Christian apologist answering atheist critics. Below is an excerpt:

You write that "sex is the primary reason most contemporary atheists have chosen to break with Christianity." What do you mean?

Atheists spend a lot of time thinking about the motives for belief. Why do religious people believe these ridiculous things? When you turn the tables on atheists and ask them why they don't believe, they will answer, "Because we don't have enough evidence. We don't believe because there's no proof." But if you think about it, this is an inadequate explanation, because if you truly believe that there is no proof for God, then you're not going to bother with the matter. You're just going to live your life as if God isn't there.

I don't believe in unicorns, so I just go about my life as if there are no unicorns. You'll notice that I haven't written any books called The End of the Unicorn, Unicorns Are Not Great, or The Unicorn Delusion, and I don't spend my time obsessing about unicorns. What I'm getting at is that you have these people out there who don't believe that God exists, but who are actively attempting to eliminate religion from society, setting up atheist video shows, and having atheist conferences. There has to be more going on here than mere unbelief.

If you really look at the motivations of contemporary atheists, you'll find that they don't even really reject Christian theology. It's not as if the atheist objects to the resurrection or the parting of the sea; rather, it is Christian morality to which atheists object, particularly Christian moral prohibitions in the area of sex. The atheist looks at all of Christianity's "thou shalt nots"—homosexuality is bad; divorce is bad; adultery is bad; premarital sex is bad—and then looks at his own life and says, "If these things are really bad, then I'm a bad guy. But I'm not a bad guy; I'm a great guy. I must thus reinterpret or (preferably) abolish all of these accusatory teachings that are putting me in a bad light."

How does one do that? One way is liberal Christianity—you simply reinterpret Christian teachings as if they don't really mean what they say. The better way, of course, is to ask where morality comes from. Well, it comes from one of two places. It either comes from ourselves—these are the rules that we make up as we go along—or it comes from some transcendent source. To get rid of God, then, is to remove the shadow of moral judgment. This doesn't mean that you completely eliminate morality, but it does mean that you reduce morality to a tool that human societies construct for their own advantages. It means that morality can change, and that old rules can be set aside. You can see why this would be a very attractive proposition for the guy who wants to live his life unmolested by the injunctions and prohibitions of Christian morality.

The Seeker Service at First Baptist

The Porpoise Driven Life

What's sad is that I can see someone actually producing something like this.

How much is enough?

Today, the 9 Marks blog "Church Matters" put forth the following question asked by a reader:

"At what point in the process should a prospective pastor ask about the financial package to be offered by the church? I don't want to come across as though that is all I am concerned about, yet I have a family to support and consider in the decision of whether or not this will be a fit for us. I understand that if this is where God has called us He will provide, but I also do not want to wait until it comes to a vote in the church to find out the package will not support my family and end up wasting the church's time and ours."

I posted a response and to see it along with the others, go here.

John Owen Communion With God part 8

(Sunday mornings before our worship service, our church is studying our way through Owen's book. This series consists of the notes handed out for the class).

To read John Owen is to enter a rare world. Whenever I return to one of his works I find myself asking “Why do I spend time reading lesser literature?”
—Sinclair B. Ferguson

Part 2, Chapter 3 continued:

Let our souls be persuaded of his sincerity and willingness in giving himself, in all that he is, as mediator unto us, to be ours; and let our hearts give up themselves unto him. Let us tell him that we will be for him, and not for another: let him know it from us; he delights to hear it, yea, he says, “Sweet is our voice, and our countenance is comely;”- and we shall not fail in the issue of sweet refreshment with him.

To strengthen our hearts in the giving of ourselves to Jesus as our husband, we will look at some of the personal excellencies of Him.

1. He is excellent and desirable in His Deity and the glory that comes from it.

He is “Jehovah our Righteousness” Jer. 23:6. John says “We have seen His glory, the glory of the only-begotten Son of God” John 1:14.

The choicest saints have been afraid and amazed t the beauty of an angel; and the stoutest sinners have trembled at the glory of one of those creatures in a low appearance, representing but the back parts of their glory, who yet themselves, in their highest advancement, do cover their faces at the presence of our Beloved, as conscious to themselves of their utter disability to bear the rays of His glory, Isa. 6:2; John 12:39-41. He is “the fellow of the Lord of hosts,” Zech. 13:7.

If anyone should ask, now, what is in the Lord Jesus, our beloved, more than in other beloveds, that should make him so desirable, and amiable, and worthy of acceptation? What is he more than others? I ask, What is a king more than a beggar? Much every way. Alas! This is nothing; they were born alike, must die alike, and after that is the judgment. What is an angel more than a worm? A worm is a creature, and an angel is no more; he hath made one to creep on the earth, - made also the other to dwell in heaven. There is still a proportion between these, they agree in something; but what are all the nothings of the world to the God infinitely blessed for evermore? Shall the dust of the balance, or the drop of the bucket be laid in the scale against him? This is he of whom the sinners in Zion are afraid, and cry, “Who amongst us shall dwell with the devouring fire, who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”

Observe- the endless, bottomless, boundless grace and compassion that is in him who is thus our husband, as he is the God of Zion. It is not the grace of a creature, nor all the grace that can possibly at once dwell in a created nature that will serve our turn ..If, now, there be grace enough for sinners in an all-sufficient God, it is in Christ; and, indeed, in any other there cannot be enough. The Lord gives this reason for the peace and confidence of sinners, Isa. 54:4,5, “Thou shalt not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame.” But how can this be? So much sin, and not ashamed! So much guilt and not confounded! “Thy Maker,” saith he, “is thine husband; the LORD of hosts in his name; and they Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.” This is the bottom of all peace, confidence and consolation,- the grace and mercy of our Maker, of the God of the whole earth.

And on this ground it is that if all the world should (if I may so say) set themselves to drink free grace, mercy and pardon, drawing water continually from the wells of salvation; if they should set themselves to draw from one single promise, an angel standing by and crying, “Drink, O friends, yea, drink abundantly, take so much grace and pardon as shall be abundantly sufficient for the world of sin which is in every one of you;”- they would not be able to sink the grace of the promise in one hair’s breath. There is enough for millions of worlds, if they were; because it flows into it from an infinite, bottomless fountain. “Fear not, O worm Jacob, I am God, and not man,” is the bottom of the sinner’s consolation.

This infiniteness of grace, in respect of its spring and fountain, will answer all objections that might hinder our souls from drawing nigh to communion with him, and from a free embracing of him. Will not this suit us in all our distresses? What is our finite guilt before it? Show me the sinner that can spread his iniquities to the dimensions (if I may so say) of this grace. Here is mercy enough for the greatest, the oldest, the stubbornest transgressor.

Consider, hence, his eternal, free, unchangeable love…”As the Father hath loved me, so hath I loved you,” John 15:9.

1) It is eternal: He himself is, “yesterday, to-day, and forever,” Heb. 13:8; and so is His love.
2) Unchangeable. Our love is like ourselves; as we are, so are our affections: so is the love of Christ like Himself. He is the LORD, and he changeth not: and therefore we are not consumed. Whom He loves, He loves to the end. His love is such as never had beginning, and never shall have ending.
3) It is also fruitful- fruitful in all its gracious issues and effects. The love of Christ, being the love of God, is effectual and fruitful in producing all the good things which he willeth unto his beloved. He loves life, grace, and holiness into us; he loves us also into covenant, loves us into heaven. Love in him is properly to will good to anyone: whatever good Christ by his love wills to any, that wiling is operative of that good.

These three qualifications of the love of Christ make it exceedingly eminent,and him exceeding desirable. How many millions of sins, in every one of the elect, every one whereof were enough to condemn them all, hath this love overcome! What mountains of unbelief doth it remove!

2. He is desirable and worthy of our acceptance when we also consider His humanity. Even there, when we see Him in comparison to us, He is exceedingly desirable. It is desirable in its a) freedom from sin; 2) its fullness of grace.

1) He was free from sin;- the Lamb of God, without spot, and without blemish; the male of the flock, to be offered unto God…sanctified persons, whose stains are in any measure washed away, are exceeding fair in the eye of Christ Himself, how fair, then, is he who never had the least spot or stain!

Communion With God, Part 7

John Owen, Communion with God Part 2, Chapter 3



(Sunday mornings before our worship service, our church is studying our way through Owen's book. This series consists of the notes handed out for the class).

To read John Owen is to enter a rare world. Whenever I return to one of his works I find myself asking “Why do I spend time reading lesser literature?”
—Sinclair B. Ferguson

In chapter 2, Owen made the case for our communion with Jesus and now, in chapter 3, he discusses the way that we hold communion with Christ and he says that the Scriptures present our relationship to Jesus as a marital relationship- He is married to us, and we are married to Him and this is what gives us fellowship with him.

Isaiah 54:5 tells us: “For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts in his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.” This is why the church will not be ashamed or confounded in the midst of her troubles and trials, she is married to her Maker, and her Redeemer is her husband. Isaiah 61:10 says: “As a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” And Isaiah 62:5 says: “As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”

And just as those who are getting married are full of gladness, so it is with Jesus and His saints in this relationship with them.

To that purpose we have His engagement. He says to us in Hosea 2:19,20: “I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness.” And it is the main goal of the ministry of the gospel to press upon people to give themselves over to Jesus Christ as He reveals his kindness in this engagement. That is why Paul tells the Corinthians in 2 Cor. 11:2, that he had “I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.”

And this is the relationship wherein the Lord Jesus is exceedingly delighted, and invites others to behold Him in this, His glory. He calls us to consider Him as One who is betrothing and espousing His church to Himself.

And when we look upon Him, we will find on Him two things:

1- Honor. It is the day of His coronation, and His spouse is the crown wherewith He is crowned. Just as Christ is a diadem of and crown of glory to Zion (Isaiah 28:5), so Zion also is a diadem and a crown to Him: “For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”
2- Delight. The day that He takes poor sinful souls to Himself, is a day of gladness of His heart. Zeph. 3:17 says that “He rejoiceth with joy, He joys with singing.”

It is the gladness of the heart of Christ, the joy of His soul, to take poor sinners into this relation with Himself. He rejoiced in the thoughts of it from eternity, Prov. 8:31; and always expresseth the greatest willingness to undergo the hard task required thereunto, Psalm 40:7,8; Heb. 10:7; yea, He was pained as a woman in travail, until He had accomplished it, Luke 12:50. Because He loved his church, He gave Himself for it, Eph. 5:25, despising the shame, and enduring the cross, Heb. 12:2, that He might enjoy His bride, - that He might be for her, and she for Him, and not for another, Hosea 3:3. This is joy, when He is thus crowned by His mother. It is believers that are mother and brother of this Solomon, Matt. 12:49,50. They crown Him in the day of His espousals, giving themselves to Him, and becoming His glory, 2 Cor. 8:23.
Thus He sets out His whole communion with His church under this allusion and that most frequently. The time of His taking the church unto Himself is the day of His marriage; and the church is His bride, His wife, Rev. 19:7,8. The entertainment He makes for His saints is a wedding supper, Matt. 22:3. The graces of His church are the ornaments of His queen, Ps. 45:9-14; and the fellowship He hath with His saints is as that which those who are mutually beloved in a conjugal relation do hold, Cant. 1. Hence Paul, in describing these two, makes sudden and insensible transitions from one to the other,- Eph. 5, from verse 22 unto verse 32; concluding the whole with an application unto Christ and the church.

So how is it that we hold communion with Jesus in this type of marital relationship?

It can be reduced to two heads: 1) A mutual resignation of themselves one to the other; 2) Mutual, consequential affections.

1) There is a mutual resignation.

Christ makes Himself over to the soul, to be his, as to all the love, care, and tenderness of a husband; and the soul gives up itself wholly unto the Lord Christ, to be His, as to all loving, tender obedience. And herein is the main of Christ’s and the saints espousals. This, in the prophet, is set out under a parable of himself and a harlot, Hosea 3:3, “Thou shalt abide for me,” saith he unto her, “thou shalt not be for another, and I will be for thee.” “Poor harlot,” saith the Lord Christ, “I have bought thee unto myself with the price of mine own blood; and now, this is that which we will consent unto, - I WILL BE FOR THEE, AND THOU SHALT BE FOR ME, and not for another.

First, Christ gives Himself to the soul, with all His excellencies, righteousness, preciousness, graces, and eminencies, to be its Savior, head, and husband forever to dwell with it in this marital relationship. Christ looks upon the souls of the saints and sees them as very beautiful, Ezek. 16:14: “your beauty…was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you.”

Because He is righteousness, He is “The LORD our Righteousness,” Jer. 23:6. Because He is the wisdom of God, and the power of God, He is “made unto us wisdom,” etc., 1 Cor. 1:30. Thus, “the branch of the LORD is beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth is excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel,” Isa. 4:2. This is the first thing on the part of Christ, the free donation and bestowing of Himself upon us to be our Christ, our Beloved, as to all the ends and purposes of love, mercy, grace, and glory; whereunto in His mediation He is designed, in a marriage covenant never to be broken. This is the sum of what is intended:- The Lord Jesus Christ, fitted and prepared, by the accomplishment and furniture of His person as mediator, and the large purchase of grace and glory which He hath made, to be a husband to His saints, His church, tenders Himself in the promises of the gospel to them in all His desireableness; convinces them of His good-will toward them, and His all-sufficiency for a supply of their wants; and upon their consent to accept of Him, - which is all He requires or expects at their hands- He engageth Himself in a marriage covenant to be theirs for ever.

Secondly. On the part of the saints, it is their free, willing consent to receive, embrace, and submit unto the Lord Jesus, as their husband, Lord, and Savior,- to abide with Him, subject their souls unto Him and to be ruled by Him for ever.

Communion With God Part 6

John Owen’s Communion With God- Part 6

(Sunday mornings before our worship service, our church is studying our way through Owen's book. This series consists of the notes handed out for the class).

To read John Owen is to enter a rare world. Whenever I return to one of his works I find myself asking “Why do I spend time reading lesser literature?”
—Sinclair B. Ferguson

Part 2, Chapter 1

Having discussed our communion with the Father, Owen now moves on to considering our communion with the Son. His goal in this chapter is to: 1) declare that we have fellowship with the Son of God, 2) show what that fellowship or communion consists of.

To demonstrate that we do, indeed, have fellowship with the Son, Owen takes us to:

• 1 Cor. 1:9- “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” We are called of God the Father, as the Father, in pursuit of his love, to communion with the Son, as our Lord.

• Rev. 3:20- “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and him with me.” Certainly this is fellowship, or I know not what is. Christ will eat with believers: he refreshes himself with his own graces in them, by his Spirit bestowed on them.

Understanding that we do enjoy fellowship with Jesus Christ, the question posed is “in what sense do we particularly fellowship with Jesus.” In other words, Owen has made the case that we enjoy “love” peculiarly from the Father and love is what we are to return particularly to Him.

So what is it that we particularly receive from Christ? It is grace.

John 1:14, 16-17: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth….And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

We have communion with him in grace; we receive from him all manner of grace whatever; and therein have we fellowship with him.

2 Cor. 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

2 Thessalonians 3:17-18 “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”

Grace is a word that can be used in various ways. For the most part, it can be referred to under one of the following three heads:

1. Grace of personal presence and attractiveness. This in Christ is the matter of half the book of Song of Solomon; and it is also mentioned in Psalm 45:2 “You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips…”

He is beyond comparison, more beautiful and gracious than any here below

2. Grace of free favor and acceptance. It is by this grace that we are saved.
3. The fruits of the Spirit. The sanctifying and renewing of our natures, enabling unto good, and preventing from evil, are so termed. Thus the Lord tells Paul that His grace was sufficient for him – that is, the assistance against temptation which was given him.

These last two graces are “purchased grace,” having been purchased by him for us; and our communion with Him in these two graces are termed “a fellowship in his sufferings, and the power of his resurrection,” Phil. 3:10.

Considering the grace of personal presence and attractiveness, the grace of Jesus consists of 3 things: 1) His fitness to save due to the uniting of the natures of God and man in Him; 2) His fullness to save, from the grace of communion; 3) His excellency to endear from his complete suitableness to all the wants of the souls of men.

1) His fitness to save comes from the grace of His union.

The uniting of the natures of God and man in one person made him fit to be a Savior to the uttermost. He lays His hand upon God, by partaking of His nature, Zech. 13:7; and He lays His hand upon us by partaking of our nature, Heb. 2:14, 16: and so becomes a days-man or umpire between both. By this means He fills up all the distance that was made by sin between God and us; and we who were far off are made nigh to Him. Upon this account it was that He had room enough in His breast to receive, and power enough in His spirit to bear all the wrath that was prepared for us. p. 51

2) His fullness to save, from the grace of communion or the effects of his union, which are free; and consequences of it…”He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him,” Heb. 7:25; having all fullness unto this end communicated unto Him: “for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell,” Col. 1:19; and he received not “the Spirit by measure,” John 3:34. And from this fullness He makes out a suitable supply unto all that are his “grace for grace,” John 1:16. Had it been given to Him by measure, we had exhausted it.

3) His excellency to endear, from his complete suitableness to all the wants of the souls of men. There is no man whatever, that hath any want of the souls of men. There is no man whatever, that hath any want in reference unto the things of God, but Christ be unto him that which he wants: I speak of those who are given him of his Father. Is he dead? Christ is life. Is he weak? Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Hath he the sense of guilt upon him? Christ is complete righteousness, - “The Lord our Righteousness.” Many poor creatures are sensible of their wants, but know not where their remedy lies. Indeed, whether it be life or light, power or joy, all is wrapped up in him.

This, then, for the present, may suffice in general to be spoken of the personal grace of the Lord Christ:- He hath the fitness to save, having pity and ability, tenderness and power, to carry that work to the uttermost; and a fullness to save, of redemption and sanctification of all our souls: whereby he becomes exceedingly desirable, yea, altogether lovely; as afterward will appear in particular. And as to this, in the first place, the saints have distinct fellowship with the Lord Christ.

In what condition soever you may be, compare a little what you aim at, or what you do, with what you have already heard of Jesus Christ: if any thing you design be like to him, if any thing you desire be equal to him, let him be rejected as one that hath neither form nor comeliness in him; but if, indeed, all your ways be but vanity and vexation of spirit, in comparison of him, why do you spend your “money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not?”

Use 1: You that are yet in the flower of your days, full of health and strength, and, with all the vigour of your spirits, do pursue some one thing, some another, consider, I pray, what are all your beloveds to this Beloved? What have you gotten by the? Let us see the peace, quietness, assurance of everlasting blessedness that they have given you? Their paths are crooked paths, whoe’er goes in them shall not know peace. Behold here a fit object for your choicest affections, - one in whom you may find rest to your souls, - one in whom there is nothing will grieve and trouble you to eternity. Behold, he stands at the door of your souls, and knocks: O reject him not, lest you seek him and find him not. Pray study him a little; you love him not, because you know him not. Why doth one of you spend his time in idleness and folly, and wasting of precious time, - perhaps debauchedly? Why doth another associate and assemble himself with them that scoff at religion and the things of God? Merely because you know not our dear Lord Jesus. Oh, when he shall reveal himself to you, and tell you he is Jesus whom you have slighted and refused, how will it break your hearts, and make you mourn like a dove, that you have neglected him!

Use 2: You that are, perhaps, seeking earnestly after a righteousness, and are religious persons, consider a little with yourselves,- hath Christ his due place in your hearts? Is he your all? Does he dwell in your thoughts? Do you know him in his excellency and desirableness? Do you indeed account all things all things “loss and dung” for his exceeding excellency? Or rather, do you prefer almost any thing in the world before it?