This quote about the Puritans struck me.  The Puritans were they way they were because they were so focused on God.  Reminds me of 2 Tim 2:4.

The Puritans were men whose minds derived a peculiar character from the daily contemplation of superior beings and eternal interests. Not content with acknowledging, in general terms, an overruling Providence, they habitually ascribed every event to the will of a Great Being, for whose power nothing was too vast, for whose inspection nothing was too minute.  To know Him, to serve Him, to enjoy Him, was with them the great end of existence…They recognized no title to superiority but His favor; and, confident of that favor, they despised all the accomplishments and all the dignities of the world.  If they were unacquainted with the works of philosophers and poets, they were deeply read in the oracles of God….The intensity of their feelings on one subject made them tranquil on every other…cleared their minds from every vulgar passion.

What do you set your mind on?  May you think of God more today.

Taken from Macaulay’s Milton, cited in Richard Ellsworth Day, The Shadow of the Broad Brim: The Life Story of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Heir of the Puritans, Chicago: The Judson Press, 1934, p. 118.

Two quotes from commentaries on Ecclesiastes that remind us that we have no second chances on life.  We only have one life to live, and we had better make it count:

…[There is a] need for us to work with all our power in this life since we will have no further opportunity for this sort of work after we have left our bodies. (commenting on Ecclesiastes 9:4-10)

We shall not be brought back again for a second chance to cooperate with God in doing His will on this side of eternity. (commenting on Ecc 3:22)

It is so easy to put things off.  We tell ourselves that we’ll start praying more tomorrow, we’ll read our Bibles tomorrow, we’ll go visit that unsaved neighbor tomorrow, we’ll work on that sin problem next time temptation comes up…  Friends, we’re running out of tomorrows!  One of these days will be our last on earth, and we can’t come back to do all those things we’ve postponed.  We are only promised today, and we must make the most of this day.  Let us be diligent to do today whatever God has asked us to do.  There won’t be opportunity after your last breath to make up for lost time.  Let’s be diligent about our time and opportunities!

See also James 4:13-14 and all the NT references to “today.”

I misplaced the source information, but I think the quote is from: J. Stafford Wright, “Ecclesiastes” in Expositor’s Bible Commentary Vol 5 (1991). {here}

A quote that is very appropriate:

No amount of emphasis on grace can justify taking liberties with God, for the very concept of grace demands gratitude, and gratitude cannot be casual.”

In other words, we cannot use the fact that we are saved by grace alone as a justification for becoming careless with God.

Under pre-Christian times,  one approached God based on the commands of the Law–”do this” and “don’t do this!”  With that kind of system, one had to be careful how he treated God, otherwise he might be punished by God for approaching God in an unacceptable way (cf. Nadab & Abihu, Aaron’s sons, Lev 10:1-3).

Now that we’re saved by grace alone regardless of our good or evil works (Eph 2:8-9), we might be tempted to treat God however we want since He cannot eternally condemn us or unsave us based upon our works.  But this is not the case!  Grace is not a license for us to do whatever we want with regards to God!  We cannot approach Him any old way we want.  He still is a holy God with standards that must be met.  Grace, rather, should drive us to humble gratitude for what God has done for us, and teach us willingly to obey what God has commanded of us.  True gratitude is thoughtful and careful to express itself rightly, not however it feels.  True gratitude is purposeful.

Quote from: Derek Kidner, Ecclesiastes (Intervarsity Press: 1984). {here}

A brief but poignant quote about prayer:

Prayer is not reciting a list as quickly as possible so as to rush once more into the round of daily life…

In other words, when you pray, don’t be in a hurry to just name off to God all the requests on your list so you can get back to the chores and busyness of daily life.  Prayer is about communication with God.  It is about talking to Him, not telling Him a bunch of things that He ought to do.  It is also about listening and meditating on His Word.  So, please set aside some day every day when you just talk with God.  Make it true communication.  Perhaps even spend a few minutes with God without asking for anything–no request list!  Just praise Him or thank Him; don’t ask.  Make your prayer life part of your relationship to God.

Quote from: J. Stafford Wright, “Ecclesiastes” in Expositor’s Bible Commentary Vol 5 (1991). {here}

This week, as you well know, is Passion Week.  This past Sunday was Palm Sunday, this coming Friday is Good Friday, and this coming Sunday is Resurrection Sunday (Easter).  That means that this week commemorates the last week of Jesus’ life before His crucifixion and resurrection.

One helpful thing to do this week as you remember these most significant events is to retrace what Jesus did on each of the days of His last week.  I just attended a seminar with one of my favorite college professors that dealt with this very topic, so my excitement with this remembrance scheme is quite timely.

Dr. Doug Bookman’s basic Passion Week chronology, which I 99.9% agree with, is:

Sunday: Triumphal Entry
Monday: Cleansing & Controlling the Temple
Tuesday: Confronting Enemies, Olivet Discourse
Wednesday: Silent day
Thursday: Passover, Arrest, Trials
Friday: Crucifixion
Saturday: Body in Tomb
Sunday: Resurrection

{Here} is someone’s chronology chart which agrees with the above.  Other very helpful charts are {here}, {here},  and {here}, with only minor differences. [I cannot fully endorse any of these since I have not fully reviewed them, but a cursory review of them seemed satisfactory.]

Thus, I think it would be most appropriate to read the corresponding Gospel accounts of these events on each day of this week to powerfully remind ourselves of our Lord’s death and resurrection for you and me.  I have been intending to prepare a list of readings for two years now, but still haven’t gotten around to it…  However, a very good friend’s blog post and list is {here}.

Below is a list of audio sermons you can listen to by Dr. Bookman wherein he amazingly communicates the chronology of the Passion Week: {here} [11.22-11.24.02], {here}, {here} [2.21-2.22.09], and {here} [10.24-10.26.08].  Dr. Bookman is definitely one of my favorite and most influential teachers ever.  He will make your reading of the Gospels come alive!  I really encourage you to take the time to download and listen to the sermons to which I have linked.

Bishop Ryle always has poignant things to say.  This quote arrested my attention the other day:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments….You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 14:15, 15:14).  Plainer words than these it would be difficult to find, and woe to those who neglect them!  Surely that man must be in an unhealthy state of soul who can think of all that Jesus suffered, and yet cling to those sins for which that suffering was undergone.  It was sin that wove the crown of thorns; it was sin that pierced our Lord’s hands, and feet, and side; it was sin that brought Him to Gethsemane and Calvary, to the cross, and to the grave.  Cold must our hearts be if we do not hate sin and labor to get rid of it, though we may have to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye in doing it.

Sin certainly is appealing, but can we honestly sin when we are thinking of what Christ did to redeem us from that sin?  Yes it will hurt us to rid our lives of hardened sins that we like so much, but for the love of the Savior, is that too much to ask of us?  Can we really continue in habitual sin, knowing how great a cost Christ paid to win us?  God help us not to do so!

Quotation taken from J.C. Ryle’s amazing book Holiness {here}.

Chapter 12 “The Discipline of Watching”

We know that we are sinners.  We want to live godly lives.  But sin is so powerful.  We must constantly be on guard against sin, watching for it to rear its ugly head, so that through the power of the Spirit and the Scriptures we can defeat that temptation.

We must know our enemy.  Our enemy is us, though!  Our sin nature is our greatest enemy and it is in us!!  This means that we must know ourselves.  We must study our weaknesses.

If you know you are weak in a particular sin in particular circumstances, then make a commitment never to allow yourself to be in that situation so that you can be tempted.  Don’t let yourself be alone with the computer if you struggle with pornography.  Don’t buy lots of sweets if you struggle with gluttony.  Set up boundaries for yourself so that you can avoid temptation.

“Having identified our own areas of vulnerability, we should make definite commitments regarding them, pray about them, and memorize specific verses of Scripture that will strengthen us against those temptations.”

“We must be alert for those particular sins as they seek to assert themselves.”

Material including all quotations taken from:
The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2006). {here}

This is part of a series of posts {here}.

Chapter 11 “The Discipline of Choices” Pt.4

Struggle

“Mortification involves a struggle between what we know to be right (our convictions) and what we desire to do.”

“Mortification is going to involve struggle.”  “It is always emotionally painful to say no to those desires, especially when they represent recurring sin patterns, because those desires run deep and strong.  They cry out for fulfillment.”

Difficulty & Failure

“We must also realize that the discipline of mortification will be attended by a certain amount of failure.  In fact, as we initially begin to mortify a particular sin, we will often fail more than we succeed.  This is where we need to realize that we stand before God on the basis of His grace rather than on our performance.”

“We must, however, keep going back to His grace.  Only the grace of God revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ will give us the courage to get up again and keep on going even after we have failed for the umpteenth time.”

Material including all quotations taken from:
The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2006). {here}

This is part of a series of posts {here}.

Chapter 11 “The Discipline of Choices” Pt.3

Dawson Trotman (founder of The Navigators): “You are going to be what you are now becoming.”

“Mortification (putting to death of sin) is our responsibility.  This is something we must do.  It is not something we turn over to God.”

“To mortify a sin means to subdue it, to deprive it of its power, to break the habit pattern we have developed of continually giving in to the temptation of that particular sin.  The goal of mortification is to weaken the habits of sin so that we do make the right choices.”

“Without a purpose to obey all of God’s Word, isolated attempts to mortify a particular sin are of no avail.  An attitude of universal obedience in every area of life is essential.”

“See sin for what is really is—a rebellion against God, a breaking of His law, a despising of His authority, a grieving of His heart.  This is where mortification actually begins, with a right attitude toward sin.”

“All sin is desired, or perhaps the perceived benefits of the sin are desired, before it is acted upon.”

“Our desires are never satisfied.”

Material including all quotations taken from:
The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2006). {here}

This is part of a series of posts {here}.

This article is somewhat lengthy, so if you don’t read it all,  that is fine.  Here’s the point, though: Pornography is a great evil.  Don’t start it!  If you are already struggling with it, get out of it!  A great free service from OpenDNS.com offers pornography-blocking.  Please read further to find out more.

One of the great paradoxes of the Christian life is that God has called us to be holy, but He has permitted the sin nature to continue to reside in us, though having had its power broken (Rom 6:6).  So we experience times where we obey God well and times where we disobey God by sinning.  There is always that tension in the Christian life between the two natures as we seek to “put to death” and “put off” the one and “put on” the other.  Yet that is the lot God has given to us–to wage war in this matter.

What further complicates matters is the fact that our bodies through both physical (hormones, etc.) and “spiritual” (sin nature) means tries to get us to sin constantly.  The drive we have to sexual immorality is a prime example of this.  So, it is hard to fight this particular beast.  God has called us innumerable times in the New Testament to not engage in any kind of sexual immorality, and yet our bodies and fallen nature try to convince us that sexual immorality is so great and feels so good.  To make matters worse, the world we live in constantly promotes it as well!  “It is only natural,” says the world; “you shouldn’t fight it!”  But God asks us to fight it.

Pornography is a great evil.  It often leads to self-stimulation/self-gratification, and it will ultimately lead to committing sexual immorality with another person if it continues to be indulged.  It will usually lead to “treating your marriage partner pornographically,” as one of my wisest professors in college has observed.  It leads to the objectification of men and women.  One who engages regularly in pornography loses the understanding that persons of the opposite sex are real people, not just objects for my pleasure.  It enforces the idea that love is a physical feeling, not an attitude of self-sacrifice.  It makes us concentrate on ourselves, not on other people as the NT urges us to do.

The path down pornography’s way is a slippery slope that is easy to descend, but incredibly difficult to come back out from.  It only leads to further engagement in pornography,  and it will ultimately lead to other kinds of sexual immorality.  It is a way of futility because it will never ultimately satisfy.  One always wants more.  He can never find the “perfect” picture or movie to satisfy himself.  Once the habit of pornography is built, where one indulges sexual temptation every time it comes about, it can only be broken with great pains and difficulties.  The images, sounds, and movies that you feed yourself remain in your mind forever.  They surface in your mind’s eye constantly, even during prayer or conversation with others.  Once you put these things into your mind, you can never get them out.  You must always live with them.  They tend to bring feelings of guilt and can corrupt friendship relationships with those of the opposite sex.

So, the bottom line is: “Watch your beginnings.”  Don’t start down the path of pornography.  You will save yourself so much grief and difficulty if you never begin.  Please, for God’s sake, don’t start in pornography!  If you have already started down that path, then you must take much more drastic measures to rid yourself of that wickedness.  It is like cancer.  It continues to grow if you do not fight it.  If you have already started, please, for your sake, for God’s sake, for your marriage partner’s sake, for your children’s sake, for your friends’ sake, for your future’s sake, get out of it!!  It can only destroy!  Please, pray about it, confess your sins to God, ask for God’s help in fighting it, find friends to keep you accountable, tape verses on your computer screen, memorize Scripture’s commands about not engaging in sexual immorality.  Fight it!  God is always faithful to forgive (1 Jn 1:9),  and He will always help those who earnestly seek His help to get out of sinful habits.

Thankfully, there is another way to help you fight.  A service at OpenDNS.com {here} has, among other things, a wonderful pornography-blocking option.  It is free and very effective.  It can block out all pornographic and/or suggestive content.  It can be customized to display verses and a photo (like of your wife/husband or kids or a cross, etc.) on the pages that it blocks.  It requires no software to install,  and it is very easy to set up.  It can be used on individual computers or an entire network.  Please, consider using it!  It can be a first defensive step in your fight against the beast of pornography.  Please check it out.  You can also use a Firefox Add On called “BlockSite” for basic blocking purposes {here}.

However you end up fighting it, please stick to your guns and with the indwelling Spirit of God’s help,  fight this beast all your life!  Do not give in, even upon occasion.  Fight it always!  It will be well worth your struggle, I promise.