It’s been a while since I’ve done an article in the “great books series” but I thought I’d write one today after thumbing through a couple on my shelf on the subject of grace. Grace is a tough subject in terms of Christian theology because godly men and great scholars disagree on the intricacies of how we’re to live under it. Here are five books on the subject of grace, which actually offer some diversity of opinion…
One of the most common statements I hear from believers concerns the harshness of the spiritual battle we’re involved in. It’s a wrestling match… rather it’s all out bloody warfare to deal with our arch-enemy, Satan, and the tenacity of our own sinful flesh.
One of my favorite websites is The Daily Spurgeon where my friend Nick spends a lot of valuable time culling the pages of Spurgeons sermons and works to offer up a daily couple of paragraphs from one of history’s greatest preachers. Today, Spurgeon echoed something that has been on my mind lately about Loving the Brethren.
Basically, we can stand against what we interpret to be biblical error, we can expose falsities, and we can disagree strongly, but we ought to love the brethren and the sistren (my own word). I disagree with many modern movements and emphases and I’ll mention those errors in my teaching, but I love godly people who seek the glory of Christ. Just a thought. We ought to love each other even when we disagree – pretty simple.
I’m not an advocate of the “possibility thinking” or “positive thinking” theology when it comes to the depravity of man. It’s wrong. But I do believe in positive thinking. I mean, think of the alternative! Or don’t, stay positive. We often think of the classics as being more negative in tone, but I’m highly motivated by the positivity of Spurgeon in this post by the Daily Spurgeon. Just an excerpt…
He has spared your lives, he has given you health and strength, provided you with spirituals and temporals, he has made your heart leap for joy at the sound of his name, he has plucked you out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay, he has taken you out of the black bondage of the prince of darkness, and made you his sons and daughters; he has put the ring of his eternal love upon your finger, your feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. ~ Charles Spurgeon
Read the full post here.
Here’s the third installment. I’ve now moved to doing 2 pages from my moleskine instead of 1, so as not to overwhelm my subscribers.
The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority. ~ Ken Blanchard
Let us count that it is evermore our highest honor and our greatest glory, to lay aside all honor and all glory, and to win honor and glory out of shame and humiliation for Christ Jesus’ sake. ~ C. H. Spurgeon
I am inspired daily by @nickuva who runs the Daily Spurgeon web site. Today’s devo is in reference to how to judge a Pastor…
May I beg you carefully to judge every preacher, not by his gifts, not by his elocutionary powers, not by his status in society, not by the respectability of his congregation, not by the prettiness of his Church, the grandeur of the ceremonial, or the peculiar beauty of his vestments, but by this – does he preach the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation? If he does, your sitting under his ministry may prove to you the means of begetting faith in you; but if he does not, you cannot expect God’s blessing, for you are not using God’s ordinance, but the ordinance of man.
From a sermon entitled “The True Position Of Assurance,” delivered October 2, 1864.
Great advice!
W. A. Criswell defined teaching (from the pulpit) as “instructing a man in the will and ways of the Lord,” and preaching as “seeking to drive a man’s will God-ward.” There is a raging debate today over how much freedom people really have. A renewed fascination with Calvinism has brought this debate to the forefront. I’m not opening the whole can of worms here – just this one point. Preaching should be directed to the will of a person. Decisions count.
If you carry Calvinism as far as many, you’ll begin to say that there is no free will or free agency with man. This morning I read from Spurgeon’s evening sermon from December 27th, 1874 called Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth. Spurgeon never started a sermon softly. The second sentence declares “This every Christian minister must do if he would make full proof of his ministry, and if he would be clear of the blood of his hearers at the last great day.”
What Spurgeon said just moments later, however, issues a clarion call for addressing the will of our human hearers…
Remember, dear hearers, if the preacher does not push you to this–that you shall be converted, or he will know the reason why; if he does not drive you to this–that you shall either willfully reject, or cheerfully accept Christ, he has not yet known how rightly to handle the great ’sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’
We all do what we want every moment of the day. We make choices and decisions that impact eternity and preaching that does not appeal to the will of man fails to satisfy the expectations of the Great Commission. In case you wonder where I stand on the issue of God’s grace and His role in our salvation, I agree just as strongly with what Spurgeon said later in the same message:
The Lord alone must save you as a work of gratis mercy, not because you deserve it, but because he wills to do it to magnify his abundant love.
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The sovereignty of God is an ever-mysterious issue that we must struggle with and come to terms with as we seek to have an understanding of God’s role. Salvation is all of Him and not of us at all. But there is a receiving, an accepting of Him that must be decided in the human heart upon the call of one sent with the gospel.
Preach to change the mind. Preach to move the emotions. And preach to drive the will of man God-ward.
One of my favorite daily news feeds comes from The Daily Spurgeon. Today’s thought addressed something that Christians struggle with often. But usually, when someone comes to me with this question, they’re already on the right track. It is “Can I enjoy the world around me, though it is perishing?”
The Bible tells us to love not the world, neither the things that are in the world (1 John 2:16-17), but the “world” in view here is not the planet which God made to be good (according to Genesis). Rather it’s the demonically-managed system of false philosophies that dominates a sin-ridden society. So can we enjoy the world? Arts? Nature? Music? Things which God inspired? Yes. Spurgeon writes…
The Christian has joy as other men have in the common mercies of life. For him there are charms in music, excellence in painting, and beauty in sculpture; for him the hills have sermons of majesty, the rocks hymns of sublimity, and the valleys lessons of love. He can look upon all things with an eye as clear and joyous as another man’s; he can be glad both in God’s gifts and God’s works. He is not dead to the happiness of the household: around his hearth he finds
happy associations, without which life were drear indeed. His children fill his home with glee, his wife is his solace and delight, his friends are his comfort and refreshment. He accepts the comforts which soul and body can yield him according as God seeth it wise to afford them unto him; but he will tell you that in all these separately, yea, and in all of them added together, he doth not find such substantial delight as he doth in the person of his Lord Jesus. Brethren, there is a wine which no vineyard on earth ever yielded; there is a bread which even the corn-fields of Egypt could never bring forth. You and I have said, when we have beheld others finding their god in earthly comforts, “You may boast in gold, and silver, and raiment, but I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”
Yes, we can rejoice “in the Lord.” Always. Even on vacation! But our rejoicing is ultimately rooted in a secure knowledge of Jesus Christ. So it’s a joy that those outside the faith can never fully understand. If joy is rooted in appreciation, then God’s children find joy in everything for which they can appreciate the Creator’s touch. So rejoice today! Again I say, rejoice!
If you’ve never checked it out, Pulpit Magazine is an awesome site, authored primarily by John MacArthur and some other guys. Today, they posted this from Charles Spurgeon…
Calvinism. Predestination. Foreordination. Foreknowledge. Election. These are good, Bible words that have become the focus of a whole lot of debate. I used to be a Calvinist, but have come to define my own beliefs about God’s sovereignty without referencing the famous theologian. I still struggle with the issue of God’s sovereignty, and one of my great pet peeves is those who think they have it all figured out and neatly packaged in five nifty points.
I'm a Christian, a Pastor to Bethel Baptist Church in Bentonville, Arkansas, a husband to Angie, a Dad to Ella, and I also enjoy graphic and web design. I'm a huge fan of Chick-fil-A and have a little dog named Beau!
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