Tweeting Before There Was Twitter

There is nothing new under the sun, including the latest craze over Twitter.  You may be surprised to know that people were tweeting before there was Twitter.  Of course they didn’t call it tweeting, it was called journaling.  I have been reminded of this lately in my reading of Andrew Bonar’s The Life of Robert Murray M’Cheyne.

Be challenged and blessed by the following journal entries of M’Cheyne:

June 27, 1832-“Life of David Brainerd.  Most wonderful man!  What conflicts, what depressions, desertions, strength, advancement, victories, within they torn bosom!  I cannot express what I think when I think of thee.  To-night, more set upon missionary enterprise than ever.”

July 19, 1836-“Died, this day, W. M’Cheyne, my cousin-german, Relief minister, Kelso.  O how I repent of our vain controversies on Establishments when we last met, and that we spoke so little of Jesus!  O that we had spoken more one to another!  Lord, teach me to be always speaking as dying to dying.”

April 9, 1837-“Evening.-A very pleasant quietness.  Study of the Epistle to the Hebrews.  Came to a more intelligent view of the first six chapters than ever before.  Much refreshed by John Newton; instructed by Edwards.  Help and freedom in prayer.  Lord, what a happy season is a Sabbath evening!  What will Heaven be!”

April 16, 1837-“Sabbath Evening.-Much prayer and peace.  Reading the Bible only.”

June 2, 1837-“Much peace and rest to-night.  Much broken under a sense of my exceeding wickedness, which no eye can see but thine.  Much persuasion of the sufficiency of Christ, and of the constancy of his love.  O how sweet to work all day for God, and then to lie down at night under his smiles.”

Sept. 28, 1837-“Devoted chief part of Friday to fasting.  Humbled and refreshed.”

What a rich blessing it is to have these journal entries from a man who sought so hard after God.  May the Lord help us to commit to the discipline of journaling and thereby encourage another generation of Christian pilgrims.

Thabiti Anyabwile on Transforming Work of Spirit

“Because of the rudeness and weakness that is in us, we must allow ourselves to be governed by God’s Spirit, which is the chief key by which the gate of paradise is opened to us.” – John Calvin, Sermons on Ephesians, 1562

Our Reformation forebears understood clearly that the church constantly needed reforming according to the Word of God.  Their rallying cry became “Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda” (“the church reformed, always reforming”).  Reformation was their goal and their strategy, all in accord with the plumb line of God’s infallible Word.

In our day, however, the Reformers’ rallying cry has faded into a distant and indistinguishable whisper.  On the one hand, many exhibit zeal for reforming the church, but not according to the Word of God.  They appear to prefer business techniques, psychology, and cultural trends as standards of reform over the Word of God.  They are zealous, but not according to knowledge.  Then there are those who seem to think the church is not in need of reform at all.  Many are indifferent to the cancerous infections of worldliness and doctrinal drift.  Where the Reformers would have taken up arms, today some church leaders and Christians shrug in disinterest and carry on without recognizing the great eclipse of biblical truth that is taking place among us.

What the church needs today is a recovery of the vision and zeal of men like Calvin – a vision and zeal informed from first to last by the loftiness, centrality, authority, and glory of God’s Word… What we seem to be missing, which Calvin comprehended, is a firm commitment to the necessity of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of sinners, as well as a deep dependence upon the ongoing work of the Spirit in the Christian life and the church…

It is really no wonder, then, that evangelism and gospel preaching appear to be largely non-existent and ineffective in some quarters today.  Instead, outreach and preaching seem to be designed around the persuasiveness of the preacher and emotional appeal rather than the sovereign and secret working of the Holy Spirit.  We desperately need to recover a biblical view of conversion and the Holy Spirit’s sovereign working in saving sinners so that we might free ourselves from the tyranny of methodological pragmatism and faddish trends.”

Above Excerpted from Chapter 10, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology, edited by Burk Parsons with contributions by Iain Murray, Derek Thomas, Sinclair Ferguson, Steven Lawson, W. Robert Godfrey, Phillip Johnson, Eric Alexander, John MacArthur, Thomas Ascol, Jay Adams, Phillip Ryken, Michael Horton, Jerry Bridges, et al.   A thoroughly enjoyable and edifying work, it went back into my library leaving me greatly challenged and bowing in worship.

The Reformation Gospel

In reflection and celebration of the Protestant Reformation in October, this past Sunday I preached “The Five-Solas of the Reformation Gospel.” You can listen to its recorded message here or read the transcript here.

The 95 Theses by Martin Luther (91-95)

Theses 91 to 95:

91. Now if pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope all these questions would easily be disposed of; nay, they would not arise.

92. And so let all those prophets depart who say to Christ’s people ‘Peace, peace’ and there is no peace.

93. And farewell to all those prophets who say to Christ’s people ‘the cross, the cross’ and there is no cross.

94. Christians are to be exhorted to endeavour to follow Christ, their head, through pains, deaths, and hells.

95. And so let them trust to ender heaven rather through many tribulations than through the false confidence of peace.

The 95 Theses by Martin Luther (86-90)

Theses 86 to 90:

86. The pope’s riches at this day far exceed the wealth of the riches millionaires, cannot he therefore build one single basilica of St. Peter out of his own money, rather than out of the money of the faithful poor?

87. What does the pope remit or dispense to those who through perfect contrition have the right to plenary remission and dispensation?

88. What greater good would be gained by the Church if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he does once a day; i.e. distribute these remissions and dispensations to any of the faithful?

89. If the pope by means of his pardons now seeks the salvation of souls rather than payment, why does he suspend letters and pardons formerly granted, since they are equally efficacious?

90. To suppress these careful arguments of the laity merely by papal authority, instead of clearing them up by a reasoned reply, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of the enemy and to render Christians unhappy.

The 95 Theses by Martin Luther (81-85)

Theses 81 to 85:

81. This wanton preaching of pardons makes it hard even for learned men to defend the honour of the pope against calumny, or at least against the shrewd questions of the laity.

82. They ask: Why does not the pope empty purgatory on account of most holy charity and the great need of souls, the most righteous of causes, seeing that he redeems as infinite number of souls on account of sordid money, given for the erection of a basilica, which is a most trivial cause?

83. Why do requiems and anniversaries of the departed continue, and why does he not return the benefactions offered on their behalf, or suffer them to be taken back, since it is now wrong to pray for the redeemed?

84. What is this piety of God and the pope, in allowing the impious and hostile to secure, on payment of money, a pious soul, in friendship with God, while they do not redeem of free charity a soul that is of itself pious and beloved, on account of its need?

85. The penitential canons have long been repealed and are dead in effect and by disuse. Why then are dispensations from them still conceded by indulgences, for payment, as if they were still in full force?

The 95 Theses by Martin Luther (75-80)

Theses 75 to 80:

75. To hold that papal pardons are of such power that they could absolve even a man who (to assume the impossible) had violated the mother of God is to rave like a lunatic.

76. We say, on the contrary, that papal pardons cannot take away the least of venial sins, as regards guilt.

77. To say that not even if Saint Peter were pope could he give greater graces, is a blasphemy against Saint Peter and the pope.

78. We say, as against this, that any pope, even Saint Peter, has greater graces than these, to wit, the Gospel, virtues, graces of administrations [or of healings], etc. as in 1 Corinthians 12.

79. It is blasphemy to say that the cross adorned with the papal arms is as effectual as the cross of Christ.

80. Bishops, curates and theologians who allow such teaching to be preached to the people will have to render an account.

The 95 Theses by Martin Luther (69-74)

Theses 69 to 74:

69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of the apostolic pardons with all reverence.

70. But still more are they bound to apply their eyes and ears to the task of making sure that they do not preach the figments of their own imagination instead of the pope’s commission.

71. If any one speaks against the truth of the apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed.

72. But blessed be he that strives against the wanton and disorderly preaching of the sellers of pardons.

73. As the pope justly inveighs against those who by any device contrive the detriment of the business of pardons.

74. So much the more he intends to inveigh against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the detriment of holy charity and truth.

The Heart of Reformed Christianity

Since the inception of our church-plant, I’ve been giving a special Reformation message every year on the last Lord’s Day of October. Our first year, I gave an address called “Martin Luther, A Mighty Reformer.” Our second year, “The Influences of John Calvin on Today’s Churches.” However, this year I decided to devote the whole month of October on the theme of Reformation. Hence, I spent the first two Lord’s Days on the Lord’s Table from a biblical, theological, and historical perspective, and not to mention what all that implies in relation to the Reformed Christianity. And last Lord’s Day, I gave an exposition from Psalm 115 on “The Heart of Reformed Christianity.” If you like, you can listen here. The Lord willing, this Lord’s Day, on the five solas of Reformation gospel.

I do this because I want the congregation I shepherd to appreciate our rich Christian heritage. I’m always concerned when people say that they’ve discovered “a new way” of doing church – e.g., everything from the order of service (or lack of) to vacuous substance of songs, to even the way ministers dress. In the name of “being culturally relevant,” there is a huge gap of disconnection from the past. It’s a shame that we have a generation that has never of Luther, Calvin and Knox, let alone how the Protestant Reformation came about (besides the obvious that it is God who did it). Isn’t it any wonder that people typically say that the only difference between the Protestants and Catholics is that the former do not pray to Mary (as if that is a light issue)? However, my pastoral goal is not for our congregation to merely appreciate God’s providence of the past but God himself. The goal of Reformed theology does not end with understanding and embracing the five-points of Calvinism. Hence, it is not the end; rather, it is a means to an end, namely to the praise of God’s glory.

In my exposition of Psalm 115, I offered four emphasis on the heart of Reformed (Biblical) Christianity:

1. Giving God the glory (v. 1), which is the heart of Reformed Christianity.
2. The sovereignty of God (v. 3b). That is, God is under no condition to answer man.
3. The transcendent attributes of God (vv. 3a, 4-7). These characteristics reveal the otherness of God. One of the great mistakes the church can make is to shift the paradigm from God’s incommunicable attributes to communicable attributes, in order to somehow make man relate to God. But the whole point of the otherness of God is that he is “otherly,” that is man cannot relate to God. I understand the tension between the transcendent and immanent aspects of God. However, the pendulum needs to swing to get us out of our overly obsession with the exclusive idea that God is only love. I believe the psalmist does an excellent job in forcing the readers to make several compare and contrast between man-made gods/idols to Yahweh. It is a powerful illustration.
4. Trust and worship (vv. 8-18). As stated, the goal of Reformed theology is worshiping the true and the living God. A true Calvinist is not only serious about developing a strong mind but also cultivating a passionate heart for the glory of God. The man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

What is interesting to note is its chiasmic literary structure of this psalm, namely its theological themes. Although the overall genre is poetic and often used in liturgical services (it is, especially, effective in congregational reading and response), it is powerfully didactical. Indeed, “All Scripture is inspired by God (including Psalm 115) and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

The 95 Theses by Martin Luther (62-68)

Theses 62 to 68:

62. The true measure fo the Church is the sacrosanct Gospel of the glory and grace of God.

63. But this is deservedly most hated, since it makes the first last.

64. Whereas the treasure of indulgences is deservedly most popular, since it makes the last first.

65. Thus the Gospel treasures are nets, with which of old they finished for men of riches.

66. The treasures of indulgences are nets, with which they now fish for the riches of men.

67. Indulgences, according to the declarations of those who preach them, are the greatest graces; but ‘greatest’ is to be understood to refer to them as producers of revenue.

68. They are in fact of little account as compared with the grace of God and the piety of the cross.