Devotions and Summaries

Christopher Love on Grace

2007-07-11T20:37:00.000+08:00

This is a brief summary of my reading on the book "Grace, the truth, growth and different degrees" by Christopher Love, a Puritan in the 17th century.

On young people:

Youth is subject to pride, rashness, indiscretion, lustfulness, unsettledness of judgment (instability), vulnerability to sensual pleasures, tendency to despise the aged, impatience and bad temperance.

Advice to young people:

Avoid unnecessary familiarity with bad company
Wail your sinful environment
In youth remember your Creator
Keep your fervor till old age

Reminder for young people:

There is no place so good that you cannot sin. Adam sinned while in paradise.
There is no place so bad that you can be excused from the sin you commit. Christ showed perfect example in the worst of circumstances.

On Grace:

Weak in grace is not the same as no grace. God cherishes the least good He sees in us. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not snuff out.

Am I weak in grace? Here are characteristics of people weak in grace:

1. Much dependence upon the performance of my duties
2. No insights into the failings that cleave to my duties
3. Scrupulous conscience over matters of indifference. That is, to have a bound conscience when the Scriptures left it free due to the lack of the knowledge of liberty. Young converts tend to call more things sin than God ever did. Tender conscience is our duty but tormenting scrupulosity is our infirmity. Yet a weak Christian is better than no Christian and a weak conscience is better than a seared conscience.
4. Difficulty in balancing hearing, living, praying and working. An experienced Christian is regular in all these and does not let one jostle or hinder the others.
5. Respect of persons. Tendency to idolize some and despise others. Solid Christians love all good ministers and condemn none.
6. Easily seduced and led into errors
7. Acquainted only with common principles of religion, without futher search into the depth and mystery of religion.
8. Much affection without much solid judgement. More heat than light.
9. Difficulty to bear reproof.
10. Able to trust God for my soul but not for my body, to trust God for heaven but not for earthly providence.

Encouragement to those weak in grace:

Grace can grow if it is true, no matter how small.
Do not be content with the greatest measure of grace
Do not be discouraged with the least measure of grace

The strength of grace should NOT be measured with:

- the length of my profession as a Christian
- zeal and strength of gifts
- the availability and abundance of the means of grace

The strength of grace is NOT the same as:

- the perfection of grace
- the affections of a Christian
- the sense of Christian comfort

What then are the marks of strong grace?

1. Grounded in assurance and manifestation of the love of Christ
2. Able to comfort and exhort others
3. Understand profound mystery of religion
4. Engaged in strict exercises of religion such as fasting, watching, mortifications of sin, etc.
5. Deep faith in the accomplishment of God’s promises
6. Able to suffer for the truth
7. Able to govern one’s tongue
8. Able to trust God for physical things
9. Labor for purity and unity of the church

An excerpt on Inerrancy

2007-05-21T11:58:00.000+08:00

My Introduction

The content below is taken from chapter 3 of the essay Biblical Authority, Hermeneutics and Inerrancy by J.I.Packer. I will just give an overview of the first two chapters.

Chapter 1 expounds the principle of the authority of the Scripture as understood by the evangelicals, as a complex construction of 7 elements: Inspiration, Canonicity, Witness of the Spirit, Sufficiency and Clarity, Mystery of the Scripture, Obedience to intellectual and ethical rule of the Scripture.

The second chapter expounds on hermeneutics as consisting of 3 parts: exegesis, synthesis and application, revealing at the same time the presupposition behind each part, namely, the full humanity of inspired writing, the organic character of the Scripture, and the consistency of God in all ages respectively. This chapter also talks about how one’s hermeneutics is influenced by one’s doctrine of the Scripture like a exegetical spiral that moves upward. The paragraph below is taken from chapter 2 of the essay.

Thus he travels round the exegetical circle, or up the exegetical spiral. If his exegetical procedure is challenged, he defends it from his hermeneutic; if his hermeneutic is challenged, he defends it from his doctrine of biblical authority; and if his doctrine of biblical authority is challenged, he defends it from the texts. The circle thus appears as a one-way system: from texts to doctrine, from doctrine to hermeneutic, from hermeneutic to texts again.

So we cannot escape the fact that our view of the Scripture affects our hermeneutics and vice versa. Such realization is important if we are to do hermeneutics responsibly. What then are the presuppositions the historic evangelicals have? Here the author also freely admits what presuppositions bound the hermeneutics of the evangelicals. First, the exegete is bound to grammatico-historical method. This must be understood from the inspiration as expounded in chapter one. That is both the full humanity and the divine inspiration in the writing. So what the human writer means, God means. God might mean more, but no less. Secondly, the exegete is bound by the principle of harmony. That is that there is One Divine Author of the Scripture, so Scripture interprets Scripture, Scripture cannot be set against Scripture and finally, what is secondary or obscure must be interpreted in light of what is primary and clear.

I want to focus the content of this entry on inerrancy, but I have summarized the first two chapters above on authority (which includes another 7 huge topics) and hermeneutics (its meaning, scope, presuppositions and implications) because inerrancy cannot be separated from them. Hence I think the overview will set the context better when chapter 3 is read below.

Since it is not very long, and the content is quite a compact and precise one, I do not re-summarize but I just copy and paste here only the introduction paragraph of the essay, and then all the content of chapter 3 on inerrancy. I have not modified the content at all, except to add little subtitles highlighted in bold for better readability to catch the main points of the author.

Introductory Paragraph

The importance of reflecting on the relation between biblical authority and hermeneutics appears from the single consideration that biblical authority is an empty notion unless we know how to determine what the Bible means. It appears also from the fact that every hermeneutic implies a theology, just as every theology involves a hermeneutic, so that where a false hermeneutic operates the Bible will not in fact have authority, whatever is claimed to the contrary. The importance of reflecting on the question of biblical inerrancy in relation to these two subjects is that the evangelical view of both assumes it, and that any denial of it afflicts both with unsteadiness, inducing collapse. To show the link between these three matters is the main aim of the present essay.

3. Inerrancy

The Recent Attacks and Misunderstanding on Inerrancy

How does all this relate to the question of the inerrancy of Scripture? The concept has come under heavy fire in recent years, from professed evangelicals no less than from others. It has been dismissed as speculative, unnecessary, and unprofitable. It has been attacked as viciously rationalistic, in the sense of expressing a concern to show that one “has the answers” to all seeming contradictions and difficulties in the biblical text, and a belief that by showing this one can “prove” that the Bible is the Word of God. It has been accused of betokening the kind of exegetical arbitrariness which we ourselves have been censuring, in such matters as allegorizing, wresting prophetic scriptures unhistorically, and making the Bible teach science in the modern sense and with modern precision. It has been linked in the minds of some critics with the pietistic mistakes of supposing that if one’s approach to Scripture is reverent enough, no problem of interpretation will remain, so that he who adoringly proclaims an inerrant Bible will emerge an inerrant interpreter. In face of this array of misunderstandings (for such they all are) it is necessary to begin by stating explicitly what the assertion of inerrancy does and does not mean.

What Inerrancy Is and Is Not

Inerrancy is a word that has been in common use since only the last century, though the idea itself goes back through seventeenth century orthodoxy, the Reformers and the Schoolmen, to the Fathers, and, behind them, to our Lord’s own statements, “the scriptures cannot be broken,” “thy word is truth” (Jn 10:35; 17:17). The word has a negative form and a positive function. It is comparable with the four negative adverbs with which the Chalcedonian definition fenced the truth of the incarnation. Its function, like theirs, is not to explain anything in a positive way, but to safeguard a mystery by excluding current mistakes about it. It, like them, has obvious meaning only in the context of the particular debates that have caused it to be used; apart from that context, it, like they, may well seem esoteric and unhelpful. The idea it expresses—namely, that all Scripture assertions are true and trustworthy in all that they assert—is not a speculation, but is directly entailed by the fact of inspiration, which, as we saw, asserts direct identity between man’s word and God’s.

Logically, the function of the assertion of inerrancy has been to express a double commitment: first, an advance commitment to receive as truth from God all that Scripture is found on inspection actually to teach; second, a methodological commitment to interpret Scripture according to the principle of harmony which we analyzed above. It thus represents not so much a lapse into rationalism as a bulwark against rationalism—namely, that kind of rationalism which throws overboard the principle of harmony.

What it expresses is not an irreligious interest in “proving the Bible” but a retention of reverence for the sacred text which some were irreverently expounding as if it were in places self-contradictory and false. To assert biblical inerrancy is not, however, to prejudge any questions about the literary genre, range, and content of particular biblical passages; these things must in every case be determined inductively and a posteriori, by grammatico-historical exegesis. The assertion, in other words, does not function as an exegetical short cut! Nor does it imply a blanket claim to have up one’s sleeve a convincing solution, here and now, of all puzzling biblical phenomena of detail, or an expectation of not having to leave any of these problems open as one advances in one’s earthly pilgrimage of Bible study. He who asserts inerrancy with understanding expects, rather, to have to live with such problems all his days, perhaps in quite acute form, simply because he will not settle for anything less than a convincing harmonization, and declines to cut any knots by saying flatly that the Bible errs.

Extent of Inerrancy

It has been proposed to limit the confession of inerrancy to biblical doctrine as distinct from biblical history, or, more precisely, to doctrinally significant facts as opposed to other facts. But this is impossible: by what method of enquiry could one hope to determine which biblical facts have no doctrinal significance? Also, the proposal is unsound: for as students of history-writing now recognize, all facts presented by historians are, willy-nilly, interpreted facts, and if that is so, then the doctrine of inspiration, which posits that man’s witness to God in the Bible is identical with God’s witness of himself, obliges us to assign to all facts reported in Scripture the status of God-interpreted facts. It is true that careful distinctions must be drawn between the form and the content of the biblical revelation (i.e., between concepts used for making an assertion and the assertion itself); also, between the varying strengths of human affirmation (absolute certainty, non-committal reporting of sources, voicing of hopes, guesses, provisional beliefs, etc.). But the sole purpose of these distinctions is to help us discern how much the writers are actually, in the logical sense, asserting, i.e., asking their readers to accept as true. When this has become clear, our part is to accept the assertions as not simply human, but divine instruction, guaranteed to us by the veracity of God.

The Importance of Inerrancy

The significance of the confession of inerrancy in relation to the evangelical understanding of hermeneutics and biblical authority is now plain. By making explicit the identity of man’s witness to God and God’s witness to himself in the Bible, it undergirds the maxim that a harmonistic synthesis of the fruits of grammatico-historical exegesis is the sure and only way into God’s mind; and thus it establishes the further proposition, basic to sound theology in a fallen world, that if biblical teaching and my own thoughts clash, it is my thoughts that are wrong every time!

Furthermore, its insistence on the divine authority of all that the biblical writers assert safeguards, first, the identity of the Christ of faith with the Jesus of the gospels, the “Jesus of history,” and, second, the covenantal continuity and correspondence of God’s saving acts in history under both Testaments—the two foundation-principles apart from which the contents of the Bible cannot exert their due authority at any point. To the weaknesses of its hold on these principles the theological malaise of modern Protestantism is directly due. The fact is that inerrancy, as we have defined it, is not merely a truth, but an essential and fundamental truth. Surrender it, and neither the authority of the Bible nor the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and God’s grace in him, can remain intact.

10 Steps to Biblical Literacy by Michael D. Marlowe

2007-05-17T22:13:00.000+08:00

I thought this is an excellent procedure!

If any of you are thinking of practicing this, for step 2, you can find audio Bible here. The entire procedure, if followed strictly, takes about 3 years. One might not have to follow everything, but in overall this is a good recommendation to get familiar with the Scripture.

Here we go! The following content are taken from: http://www.bible-researcher.com/bible-study2.html

Ten Steps to Biblical Literacy
by Michael D. Marlowe

"I know I should read the Bible more often, but I just don't enjoy doing it: I get frustrated when I don't understand a verse, and I get bored reading verses I've already read and understand. It's such a chore." Few people would put it so bluntly as this. But if we were honest with ourselves, most of us would have to admit that such discouraging thoughts are frequent enough, and practically prevent us from reading the Bible at home. After all, who wants to do irksome chores in his free time? In this pamphlet we will take this problem by the horns in a very practical manner, so as to really help those who wish to improve their Bible-reading ways.

1. You must first of all choose a version to stick with. This is very important. Skipping around from version to version will continually distract and worry you, and you will never get anywhere. I recommend that you use a Bible version that is an essentially literal one, such as the English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New King James Version, or (if you can understand the old English in it) the good old King James Version. Whatever version you use should be one for which you can get audio tapes. Get an edition of the version that has the translators' notes and plenty of cross-references. This is important. Do not use a cheap edition that omits these notes and cross-references. Also get a set of tapes of the version for the whole Bible. The book and tapes will cost you about $150, but it will certainly be one of the best investments of your life.

2. Listen to the entire Bible on tape. Listen to an entire book at one sitting. Pay attention, but do not worry about understanding difficult parts, backing up the tape, and so forth: just let the tape play. If you do this every day you will have heard the entire Bible after just two months. When you are finished, do it again, and again. Three times in all. After six months you should be pretty well familiar with the contents of the whole Bible.

3. Now listen to the tape of Paul's epistle to the Romans while following along in your Bible. Do the entire epistle in one sitting. This will get you used to reading. Romans is the book to read at this point because it is the most important book of the Bible, and explains almost everything.

4. Now read the epistle to the Romans again without the tape. As you read, never skip a lexical note. Always read the notes. Do the whole book at one sitting.

5. Now read the epistle to the Romans again while looking up the first cross-reference in every chapter. Look up no more than one, or you will not be able to read the book in one sitting; and resist the temptation to go browsing as you look up the passages. Lightly cross out the references with a pencil as you look them up. The reason for this will be explained below. As you read, you will occasionally come across verses and phrases that you do not understand. Do not worry about it: just put a question mark next to the verse and continue reading.

6. Read the epistle again (including notes), this time looking up any cross-references given in the places where you put a question mark before. You will find that the passages referred to usually clear up your problem. Circle any references that prove helpful, and cross out the others. (If problems remain, don't trouble yourself about them: everyone has problems. If you continue to read other books of the Bible in this attentive manner you will find that most of the problems will just go away as you learn more. You will waste a tremendous amount of time if you try to figure them out now or if you go searching in commentaries.) Look up at least one reference for every chapter, whether you have a problem in it or not, and cross them out. This is a sort of game, which you may find silly at first, but it will greatly help you to maintain a high level of interest. It will keep the epistle interesting to you as often as you read it, because you will derive a slightly different or fuller meaning as you compare different passages every time you read it. By this time you have not only learned Romans well, but you have also learned and become accustomed to the method of profitable and interesting Bible reading which you should follow at all times.

7. Now begin to follow this daily routine:

(1) Begin by reading one of the Psalms, taking them in order.
(2) Then pray to God for understanding of his Word.
(3) Then read at least three chapters of the New Testament, from the beginning. While you are reading:
- Look up at least one cross-reference for each chapter. In this you should always prefer the references to Romans, because by looking them up you will be building on a good foundation which is already familiar to you. Cross out references as you go.
- Put a question mark next to verses you have problems with, and look up any cross-references for the verses. Circle references that prove helpful, and continue reading.
- Read every marginal note.
- When you are done reading, go back and find a pithy sentence which seems to sum up a good portion of the things you have just read. This will cause you to reflect briefly on the reading.

-Underline the sentence, and commit it to memory.
-Bring your memorized portion to mind several times until the next day. When you take up where you left off you will be ready to read, having kept the substance of the previous day's portion in your mind by means of the sentence you have memorized.

If you do these things you will find that you are not bored, and that, with the help of the cross-references, you are usually quite capable of understanding everything tolerably well. All will fall safely in place "theologically" if you keep referring to and remembering Romans as you go. You will also find that, by means of the memory work, what you have read will begin to fall into place in your life, because you will get in the habit of reflecting upon God's Word during the day, and you will be able to bring appropriate words of Scripture to mind at the time when they will be of real service to you and others.

8. When you are done with the New Testament, start on the Old Testament, from the beginning, proceeding in the same manner as outlined above. Pay special attention to cross-references to the New Testament. (It is a bad idea to spend months in the Old Testament without staying in touch with the New Testament.)

9. When you are finished with the Old Testament, read the New Testament again. You will be amazed at how much more you get out of the New Testament the second time, after having read the Old Testament.

10. When you have done all this, which should take at least three years, you will probably be among the more biblically literate in your congregation, and you will feel confident in offering comments at Bible study meetings. This is good, but take heed: You should regard comments upon Scripture as a form of teaching ministry, to be regulated by such chapters of Scripture as First Timothy 1 and 2, Second Timothy 2, and James 3. You will avoid the worst errors of interpretation by the method prescribed above, being anchored on Romans, and habitually comparing Scripture with Scripture by means of the cross-references. But if you aspire to become a truly reliable help to others, begin now to acquaint yourself with some standard commentaries. You should avoid the use of commentaries up to this point, because people too often get bogged down in them, and end up learning less that way than if they were to simply read the Scripture without comment. Good commentaries often give so much interesting and unexpected help in matters of detail that the reader will begin to feel that he should always read the commentary along with the Scripture, in order to avoid missing anything or getting things wrong; but the duty of reading the lengthy commentary soon becomes irksome, and the student leaves off reading his Bible because he has made it into such an intolerable burden. The truth is, a better grasp of the Scripture is to be had by the mere reading and re-reading of it than by the disciplined use of commentaries. But by now you should be familiar enough with Scripture that it would not be inappropriate to spend some time with commentaries which would otherwise be spent in simply reading the Scripture. I recommend that you begin with the classic and very edifying commentary of Matthew Henry. This commentary not only explains many things, but it will also serve you well as a model of godly practical teaching. Afterwards, for explanations in a more technical or exegetical vein, consult Notes on the Old and New Testaments by Rev. Albert Barnes, or the Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown. All of these are available in inexpensive reprints. Any one of them will give you more commentary than you will ever have the time to read; you should use them as reference books, like encyclopedias of biblical interpretation and application.

When you have obtained one of these commentaries, go through your Bible and find all those question marks you have made in the margins, and see what the learned commentator has to say about the passages. The next time you read a book of Scripture, refer to the commentary occasionally just to be sure that you are on the right track when you are unsure of your own understanding of a passage. Study the commentary thoroughly when you prepare a Scripture lesson for Sunday school, or if you are expected to take a leading part in Bible study meetings. If someone asks you a question about some passage, and you are not sure of the answer, refer to the commentary.

It is my sincere hope and prayer that the program of "biblical literacy" described in this pamphlet will be of some good use to you. May the Lord Jesus Christ himself cause you to abound in all wisdom and understanding of his holy words, and help you to walk in them. To him be the glory!

Suffering and Joy

2006-04-23T10:11:00.000+08:00

Much of the summary here is direct quotation (instead of my paraphrase) from the book "Sharing in His Sufferings" by John Henry Jowett on Chapter 3 - The Sufferings of Christ.

“For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ” — 2 Corinthians 1:5

It is strange to put suffering and comfort together and even stranger when they are put together in the relation of cause and effect. But apostolic teaching is also the teaching of common experience. Apart from the Christian revelation, men have learned that suffering and joy are not mutually exclusive but related very closely.

But what are those “sufferings of Christ” in which fellowship we are to find our consolation? These sufferings emerge from participating in His holy purpose and ministry. And this is the range and richness of our Lord's redemptive mission: “He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.”

Now, the range of our possible sufferings is determined by the largeness of our heart. It is possible to evade a multitude of sorrows by the cultivation of an insignificant life. Indeed, if it is your ambition to avoid the troubles of life, the recipe is perfectly simple — cut the wings of every soaring purpose and cultivate a little life centered on yourself, with the fewest correspondences and relations.

By doing this you will escape a lot of life afflictions. Cultivate negations, and large tracts of the universe will cease to exist. For instance, cultivate deafness and you will not hear horrifying things. Cultivate blindness and you will not see ugly things. Stupefy a sense, and you shut out a world. And, therefore, it is literally true that if you want to get through the world with the smallest trouble you must reduce yourself to the smallest compass.

And, indeed, that is why so many people and even so many professedly Christian people get through life so easily, and with a minimum acquaintance with tribulation. It is because they have reduced their souls to a minimum such that their course through the years is not so much the transit of a man as the passage of an amoeba. They have no finely organized nervous system or they have deadened and arrested the growth of one nerve after another. They have cut the sensitive wires which bind the individual to the race so they are comfortably self-contained, and the shuddering sorrow of the world never disturbs their seclusion. Tiny souls can dodge through life; bigger souls are blocked on every side.

As soon as a man begins to enlarge his life, his resistances are multiplied. Let a man depart from petty selfish purpose and enthrone a world purpose, the Christ purpose, and his sufferings will be increased on every side. Every addition to spiritual ambition widens the exposure of the soul, and sharpens its perception of the world's infirmity and the sense of its own restraints.

How vast then was the spiritual ambition of the Savior which He Himself described in the gospels? That all-absorbing redemptive purpose was bound to introduce Him to ceaseless suffering.

First of all, there were His sufferings that came because of the very existence of a majestic purpose. Vast ambitions burn the soul and suck the very energies of the body into their own flame. There is not a man or woman of holy Christian passion today who is not “burning the candle at both ends.” They cannot help it. And the consequence is they experience the sufferings due to the limitations of the flesh. The body is too frail for the fiery spirit. And, therefore, do these passionate hearts suffer in the imprisonment of their own physical restraints. “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened!”

Secondly, there were His sufferings which came about because of passive indifference of men. I think these inflict a deeper wound than the antagonism of His positive foes. The fiery crusader can meet an active opponent and overthrow him, but what can he do with the indifferent who have not a spark of concern? If you are passionate about anything, the indifference of others will make you wonder and give you pain. That is the cry of a wounded spirit. They would not even turn aside to glance at the pearl of great price!

There is one sentence in James Gilmour's diary which was surely written in blood. It was written after years of labor. “In the shape of converts I have seen no result. I have not, as far as I am aware, seen any one who even wanted to be a Christian.” Surely that was “the fellowship of His sufferings!”

And thirdly, there were His sufferings which were came from the active antagonism of His foes. One man has no interest in your message; the other listens and rejects. One man scarcely lifts his eyes to look at you. The other stands up to you and declares you have a devil. Your aims are distorted, your spirit is misinterpreted; you are accused of assuming a benevolent purpose while you are seeking your own ends. And so it was with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” Hostilities were multiplied. “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”

Now all these sufferings are sufferings which we can partially share with our Lord. There are others of His sufferings, mysterious and awful, of which we may know little or nothing. Those secrets are yet enfolded in gross darkness; and all that we at present know is this — that out of the darkness, as from black subterranean depths, there flows “a river of water of life, clear as crystal,” medicinal, strong in gracious healing, and carrying the virtuous energies of moral and spiritual transformation. There is something here which we can never share. “It is finished.”

But the other sufferings I named we must and we shall share, if we share the largeness of His purpose, and in our own degree seek the moral and spiritual redemption of the race. There is a space left for your energies and mine, and therefore for your sufferings and mine: we can “fill up that which is lacking of the affliction of Christ.”

We turn the matter around now. “For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ.” If we have fellowship in the one, we shall have fellowship in the other. As said before, if we lessen our lives we should lessen our sorrows. It is now needful to add that if we lessen our lives we also lessen our joys. Deaden the sense of hearing and you escape the discords, but you also lose the harmonies. Drug your artistic sense, and you lose the pain of the ugly, but you also lose the inspiration of the lovely.

If by the enlargement of my life I let in human sorrow, I also let in divine consolation. A big, holy purpose makes me more sensitive toward the sin and hostility of man, but it also makes me more sensitive toward God. If the sufferings abound, “so our comfort aboundeth also.” If nothing is said more than this, this alone would suffice; if we suffer with Christ, Christ Himself becomes a great reality. When life is a picnic, we play with theology; when life becomes a campaign, we grope for a religion. It is one thing sounding when your boat is in the open sea; it is another thing sounding when the menacing rocks are on every side.

When we suffer with Christ, we come to know Christ, to come face to face with reality, and the idle superfluities drop away. “And our comfort also aboundeth through Christ.”

Our fellowship with His sorrows makes us receptive of His joys; “My joy shall be in you, and your joy shall be full.” Our fellowship in His battles makes us receptive of his peace; “My peace I give unto you.” There is no surer way of becoming sure of Christ than to follow the way of sacrificial life and service. It may bring us into a fiery furnace of suffering, but “in the midst of the fire” there shall be One “like unto the Son of God.”

Lose to Find

2006-04-15T09:32:00.000+08:00

Much of the summary here is direct quotation (instead of my paraphrase) from the book "Sharing in His Suffer ings" by John Henry Jowett because I find his expressions very meaningful.

“He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” — Matthew 10:39

The choice to follow Christ involves a perpetual state of war.

“Ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake.”
“Ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake.”
“When they persecute you in one city, flee ye into another.”
“A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
“He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.”
“I am not come to send peace, but a sword.”

When we are faced with this choice, what would be our response? What are we tempted to do?

Since our surrounding can be so hostile, our difficulties can be so huge, the hatred we invoke can be so intense, and we can call into being a mighty army of enemies, we easily pervert ourselves into the concept of self-preservation. Just take the path of the least resistance, keep our mouth shut and flow with the stream!

Worldly wisdom counsels us to live with the policy of silence (keep your lips closed), drifting (go with the crowd) and suction (take care of yourself). In this way, amidst all the sleeping hostilities, we try to find room to live a successful life.

The Lord reverses the counsel. He says the apparent 'finding' is in reality a terrible losing, and the apparent 'losing' for His sake is true finding.

What are the methods of the Lord?

It is not a policy of silence, but it is by expression that we win. “Whoever shall confess Me before men.” It is not a policy of drifting, but it is by endurance we win. “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” It is not a policy of self-preservation, but it is by self-sacrifice that we win. “He that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.”

This is the Master's secret, a life that is enriched and sustained by expression, endurance and self-sacrifice.

Let us apply the policy of silence in the domain of feelings. Feelings which are never expressed languish away and die. It is equally true of the noble and the base. Refuse expression to an unworthy passion and we slay it by suffocation. Love that is never told and expressed fades away into drowsiness.

Apply the policy of silence to the acquisition of a truth. A truth that is never proclaimed is never really known. Truth reserves her rarest beauties for the moment when she is being shared. If we retain her we only see her partially; if we give her away we see her “in new lights.” In the moment of communication she reveals an unsuspected wealth. The teacher gains more knowledge while he is giving away what he knows. Perhaps our Master intended to suggest that we never see the full glory of truth when we receive it; the full glory will break upon us only when we proclaim it.

The price of retention is expression. We must lose if we would find.

Take the second of the principles given us by our Lord — the purposes of life are not served by the policy of drifting, but by the ministry of resistance. Life is energized by endurance. Drifting may be the secret of easy living but we can never drift into any really worthy and permanent wealth.

We can never drift into rest. The only people who never find rest are the idle and the indolent. The preparative to rest is labor, and rest only reveals its rich and essential flavors to those who have toiled hard. Rest never visits the idle man, even though he has an easy chair in every room in the house. “Strive to enter into rest.”

We can never drift into joy. The only people who are strangers to joy are the people who shirk every difficulty, and never contend with a troublesome task. The fine juices of life are only tasted where there is a certain stress and strain, a certain pressure, a certain sense of burden and task. It is the fruit of conquest. “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”; that is the commanding issue of prolonged strife and resistance.

We never drift into strength. Drifting makes no muscle and the muscle is impoverished. The man who drifts with the stream appears to be conserving his strength, while in reality it is the man who appears to be expending strength to resist the stream who is really gaining it.

Take the third of the principles proclaimed by the Lord — Life is not enriched by selfishness, but by sacrifice. This is true concerning our influence upon one another. It seems ordained that life has to attain certain fervor of sacrifice before it can become contagious and multiply itself throughout the race. On the cold planes of calculation and selfishness life is unimpressive, and its products leave the general life unmoved.

The spirit of sacrifice not only impresses others, it fertilizes self. Our giving is our getting. “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

Here, then, are the gates to a rich and roomy individual life; not silence, but expression; not drifting, but endurance; not self-seeking, but sacrifice; for “he that findeth his life shall lose it, but he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.”

The principles are equally applicable to wider relationships — to families, to societies, to states, and to the Church.

The life of the Church is secured and enriched by expression. The Church never discovers the manifold wealth of her evangel until she begins to proclaim it to the varied and manifold needs of the race. Its adaptability to diverse circumstances brings strange corroboration to its truth. We can only apprehend it partially if we confine its application to our own needs. Set it in a different light, and it will reveal an unsuspected glory.

Take it among the primitive islanders of the South Pacific; take it among the keen and sinewy natives of Central Africa; take it among the half-awake and conservative people of China; take it among the alert, absorbent, and prospecting Japanese; and every new application will reveal a new adaptability of “the exceeding richness of His grace.”

We discover while we evangelize. Our torch emits new flame while we light the lamps of others. We get while we give.

The life of the Church is energized and enriched by endurance. The difficulties of home and foreign missionary work are gigantic. We are energized by our tasks. Our muscle is made by our resistances. The seasons of commanding difficulty have ever been the seasons of the Church's exuberant health. The forces of persecution have produced sterling muscle and inflexible resolve. Let us, therefore, look at difficulties as promises in the guise of tasks. Break them open, I say, and the treasure is yours.

And as for the third principle, the life of the Church becomes fruitful when it becomes sacrificial. When the church's life is lived on the plane of ease, and comfort, and bloodless service, she has no power to fertilize the dry and barren places of the earth. When the Church becomes sacrificial, she becomes impressive. The sacrificial things in history are the influential things today. It is the men and the women who give away their being, the bleeding folk, who are our present inheritance.

The finders have lost. The apparent losers are at the winning post! The sacrificial are the triumphant. “They loved not their lives unto the death, and they overcame by the blood of the Lamb.” A sacrificial Church would speedily conquer the world!

“He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.”

Prayer and God's Sovereignty

2006-01-30T17:03:00.000+08:00

This is my personal summary of Pastor Solomon's sharing on prayer & God's sovereignty on 28th January 2006. It is a good devotional material.

Scripture verses: Ezekiel 36:37, Matthew 6:8-9, 1 Timothy 4:7-8

Reformed theology believes in God's absolute sovereignty in everything. Does that negate the necessity of prayer life? Theoretically, many of us would say surely not, but practically we often walk out our life just to confirm that we believe it to be so.

So does the teaching of God's absolute sovereignty truly dampen a believer's prayer life since everything God has willed is final and will come to pass? Certainly not. It is the wrong understanding of the reformed doctrine that leads to such a prayer life crisis.

The Scriptures clearly teach the absolute sovereignty of God and the significance of prayer that has far-reaching impact. This is a profound antinomy. The God, who is sovereign and unchanging, desires our prayers to be determinant factors in the courses of life and events of history. Whenever God sets His promises, He requires us to ask of Him based on those promises. So in prayer, God does not change, but we change and conform to His will.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 is similar to Jesus' words in Matthew 7 that urge us to seek God with all of our heart. In Daniel 9, based on the words of God to Jeremiah regarding the 70-year captivity of Israel, Daniel acted on God’s promise by prayer and fasting to await God's deliverance as the period of exile was ending.

Therefore, far from being the disincentive to pray, we pray precisely because of God's sovereignty. This is the correct spiritual logic. God's sovereignty is the foundation of prayer and His promises are the content of our prayer.

There are certain things that God would give us without us asking for them. But there are things which God wants us to pray before He will give to us because He wants us to learn some important lessons, like acting in faith on His promises so that we can grow in our knowledge of Him. The unchanging God declares in His Word that the prayer of holy men is powerful. This is a wonderful paradox, where our prayer life needs to be integrated in our spiritual journey, with correct doctrinal understanding as its foundation.

The following are some hindrances to prayer that we need to learn to overcome:

1. Failure to understand the doctrine of the sovereignty of God rightly. It is not the doctrine that is wrong, but it is often the sinners' logic that understands the implication wrongly. The right understanding of the sovereignty of God is tightly related to the responsibility of men before Him.

2. Failure of the heart to obey it. Many people in fact understand doctrine of God's sovereignty and the significance of prayer correctly, but not many who understand are able to bring themselves to do it. This is because of the lack of love. We do not love others therefore we do not pray for them and are not often stricken with deep grief thinking of their eternal destiny. Sometimes we do not even love ourselves enough to pray for our own spiritual poverty, not to mention praying for others. Because our heart fails to love, we are not moved to pray.

3. Failure in acquiring the right experiences in prayer. Many people can talk about the dramatic and dynamic experiences they have in their prayers, but their experiences are not rooted in the Word of God, instead are so subjective to their own personal interpretation that their testimonies are often more damaging than beneficial to the hearers.

On the other hand, there are those schooled in the right doctrines but have empty prayer life. These people will become a laughing stock to others, and sooner or later, they will begin to doubt if they have believed in the right doctrines.

We need to acquire dynamic experiences of prayer that are rooted in the Word of God. Our experiences cannot become everything but they are important. They cannot replace doctrines, but doctrines that are not experienced personally will die in our life.

4. Failure to discipline ourselves in prayer. Like the law of gravity that we cannot resist, we have enemy within us that is so powerful and weaken us to do what we know we should do. This is where self-denial comes in. If we learn to deny ourselves until we get used to it, we can discipline ourselves and have victory over our flesh according to God's promises.

The School of Calvary

2005-12-11T11:47:00.000+08:00

“For to me, to live is Christ.” Phil.1:21

There are 3 key words in that sentence, "me", "live" and "Christ". "Live" is defined only in the union between the two extremes. Human finds life in union with the divine. The union of the two gives the resultant called life. Therefore, this is the only justified usage of the term "life".

Some say, to live is money, or pleasure, or fame. All these are merely uncertain things, sluggish sensations and ill-defined existence, or a galvanized spasm, which are not worthy of the name 'life'. These are illegitimate and degrading use of the term 'life'. To these, it can be said, "Thou art dead when thou livest."

The basic elements of a true life consist in love and reverence. Love without reverence is a carnal sentiment which is like a destructive fever. Reverence without love is a cold moonlight which is like a perpetual frost. However, true love kneels in reverence and true reverence yearns in love.

Where can we find this unity of love and reverence? It is in the school of Calvary where we meditate on the passion of Christ. Let it not be said that we are too busy to do so because if we look carefully in the way we use our time, we have wasted a great deal away, which we have no way to account for. To truly live, we need to find time for the highest of all exercises, in the meditation upon the eternal things of God. Love and reverence are not uncertain products of chance. They are sure and stately product of disciplined meditation. If our thought be steadily directed, love and reverence would follow in its train.

We cannot contemplate on Christ's passion without being filled with an awesome sense of reverence and love. In Calvary, we hear Christ's passion, "I love thee more ardently than thou hast loved thy sin." We know how much we have sinned and how much we have loved our sin, and how much we pursue it at all cost. But Christ's love for us is greater and has overcome our love for our sin, and in this eternal entrance we will begin to love Him. Then we will begin to live, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." "For to me, to live is Christ."

But let nobody suppose that such mystical union with Christ would drive men into fruitless reveries and idle dreams. The greatest saints have been those whose contemplative life became the fuel that drove them into rigorous lives of self-sacrifice. Thomas Boston said, "Learn the heavenly chemistry of extracting spiritual thing out of earthly things. ... When a soul is heavenly, it will even scrape jewels out of a dunghill."

All this means that a man in Christ can make his adverse environment ideal. He can make his disappointments his ministers, his adversities the King's witnesses, and his bereavements glorify his Lord. Wherever he lives, he lives Christ, who turns water of afflictions into wine of rejoicing.

Training into Contentment (Last lesson)

2005-11-13T11:50:00.000+08:00

Remember that all helps and rules in the world will not avail much to us unless we have quiet temper within our hearts. Nothing outside can make our heart constant and steady, but it is the grace within our soul that will do it.

Learn not to be more involved with the business of the world than what God has called you to. The nature of the things in this world is such that they have thorns and pricks in some way or another. Therefore, a man who voluntarily involves himself in more worldly things when there are simpler ways available to him should not complain if he is met with all kinds of thorns.

Be certain of God's call in everything you do, though it may be the least matter. Knowing God's will in all we do will give us assurance and comfort of His presence whatever befall us, as we know we are not doing things our way but we are in His way.

Walk by the principle of His Word in whatever work you are called to do. If you would subject yourself to the rule of His Word, all things would be subject to you because His Word is above all things. A man who moves out of his boundary loses his protection and will be faced with all kinds of danger, afflictions and discontent. But a man who keeps himself within the bound of God's Word would be kept safe and contented.

Exercise much faith. We may be able to go far with the use of reason alone to bring ourselves to contentment, but when we reach the limit of reason to do so, we should call the grace of faith to bring our hearts to rest. What reason cannot do, our faith can bring us to a higher level. Set faith at work, not only in the promises that all things would work together for the good of those who fear Him. But higher than that, exercise faith in God Himself and all His attributes. The more we exercise faith by resigning to God and His ways, the more quietness and peace we will receive.

Labor to be spiritually minded. Contemplate on the things above, not on the things below. A Christian's pursuit should be upward. A person who meditates and meddles only on earthly things would likely get into all kinds of discontent because earthly things have their grief and sorrow in one way or another. It is the things of heaven that can be enjoyed without sorrow. Conversation on heavenly things is the way to contentment.

Therefore, do not promise yourself too much great things as far as the things of the world are concerned. Those who look highly at the things of the world will easily meet with disappointment and fall into discontent. So, pursue as high as you can when heavenly things are concerned, but God would not want you to aim high at earthly glory. If God would raise your earthly estate, you would give thanks to Him but if not, there will not be any trouble.

Do not be so much discontented by the fancy of others. A lot of discontent in the world comes not because we do not have a thing in itself, but because we do not have it while others have it. For instance, we might not be so discontent with our state now if everyone else in the world is poorer than us, but with the same state we are discontent because of what we see others have while we have not. We should not allow our happiness to be defined by our imagination and feelings, or by the fancies of others.

If we feel immoderately afflicted by a worldly trouble, we will also be as immoderately elated when a worldly comfort come to us. So the certain rule is not to be too taken up by the comforts of the world when we have them and we will not be too troubled when we lose them. Inordinate sense of afflictions and comforts come because our hearts are inordinately set upon the world.

Following the point above then, walk a step further to labor your hearts to be mortified to the things of the world, to be dead to them. Paul said, “I die daily”, indicating that he has counted his death to the world his profession, such that he sees the things of the world as though he is a dead man. No crosses and troubles befall a dead man. Afflictions can break a living man but not a dead man. Let afflictions and mortifications that come to you then, find you a dead man, who is neither troubled nor afflicted by it. This is a mystery to many, to use the things of the world as though we use them not, to have them as though we have them not, and we do not account our happiness, joy and comfort to consist in these things. Our happiness consists in things of a different kind therefore we can be happy without the things of the world. Such is the deadness to the world Christians are called to labor towards.

Lastly, make good interpretation of God's dealing towards you. If we forget all other lessons, this one lesson will be well to remember. You will find it very tiring if your friend is always making a bad interpretation of your ways towards him, no matter what you do for him. It is wearying to deal with people who are always ready to make bad interpretation of your ways, to take it in an ill sense, and not willing to listen to you a word. It is very tedious to the Spirit of God if we constantly make bad interpretations of His ways towards us. When an affliction befalls you and you see that things could be worse, you surely can thank Him for preventing that and trust that He has His reason for allowing such and such afflictions to come to you. Perhaps He is shielding me from sin and temptation or perhaps He is preparing me for a greater task He has set ahead. Surely we can make good interpretations of God's ways towards us.

On the contrary, like the Israelites in the wilderness, we often interpret in a negative ways and reason thus that God has His hot displeasure against us and is just furthering evil intent towards us. This is the worst interpretation we can make of God's ways towards us. Sometimes whether consciously or subconsciously, we reason He is not willing to give us the best and is withholding good things from us. Will we make the worst interpretation when there can be better ones?

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says Love thinks no evil. It means that if there could be a positive way to interpret a person's way, love would choose to think that way rather than contemplate on all the negative interpretations.

Consider then, that God does not deal with you as you deal with Him. If He would make the worst interpretations of all your ways towards Him, it would be very ill with you. But consider how gracious He is, that He would call the feeblest Christians His saints on account of Christ. He remembers all our labor done for Him and would reward us and call us faithful servants, albeit we do them most imperfectly and weakly. He calls us upright in heart if we just have that willingness of heart to be upright, although in execution we often still fail miserably.

The world and all that is in it are in the sovereign rule of the Almighty God, therefore every discontent you have is ultimately rooted and unavoidably related to your dissatisfaction in His ways. Retain therefore, good thoughts of God, and that would be a sure way towards contentment because contentment is ultimately rooted in your thoughts towards God and His ways. (This can be taken as the essence and the summary of all the past lessons on contentment)

Parting Remarks for this lesson:

Contentment is a hard lesson but it is the most basic lesson of Christianity. The Scriptures say that if a man profess to be religious and yet bridle not his tongue, his religion is worthless. Therefore we will make no progress spiritually unless we move and labor in this direction. It is good to begin in this direction very early as many people who have been Christian for many decades still find themselves not proficient in this art of contentment. When we first begin, we might find it very difficult but may it not be said of us after twenty years of learning that we are still as unskilled in this most basic necessary lesson as we first begin.

Reasons for Discontentment

2005-10-16T21:05:00.000+08:00

One will say that it is just his natural sense of afflictions that emerges because of his circumstances. Are we not allowed to sense our afflictions honestly and must we kill our feelings? Surely we can have our sense of afflictions. But we need to examine our heart deeper in this matter because we tend to excuse ourselves under this cloak. If what we feel is only a natural sense of affliction, it should not cause us to lose our sense of God's mercies upon our lives or breed envy at others, but rather we should still be able to thank God's mercies in our afflictions. A natural sense of affliction also should not hinder us from the performance of our duties. If it does, it is definitely more than a mere sense of affliction but there is evil murmuring inside.

Some of us say that we can bear the hand of God but cannot bear it when it is others who afflict us. But we should rather see the hand of God above all things and realize that they are God's instruments. Moreover, it is better to bear wrong than to be wronged, because those who inflict upon others are in worse condition than those who are inflicted. So when others wrong us we should rather pity them than murmur.

Another reason we think we cannot bear our affliction is because it comes so unexpected. Yet we ought to question ourselves why we have not expected it since as Christians no affliction should come as a surprise for us as we have been instructed that they will befall us everywhere. Although we are not able to guess what particular affliction might come our way, yet in general our heart should be prepared. If an affliction catches us unawares, all the more we should sanctify God's name in it, now that it has come. It is the same as God's mercies. A lot of God's mercies come unexpected to us and we are not prepared to receive it. All the more we must be careful to set our heart to glorify Him in His mercies. Should our heart then be disturbed by unexpected afflictions as much as we rejoice in unexpected mercies? Remember both come from God so we should face them with the same attitude of thankfulness and submission.

We complain that our affliction is very great. Granted that it is great, still our sin is greater and we have not been punished as we deserve. We ought rather to be thankful that we are only afflicted and have not perished in hell. It might be great because of our disquiet and the pain would have been much less if our heart is quiet under it.

We think that our afflictions are greater than what others have. For one thing, it might not be our affliction in itself, but our discontent that makes it a great affliction. If our afflictions are truly greater than others, then we ought to thank God for the opportunity to glorify Him in our afflictions more than others. If others indeed are less afflicted than us, why should our eye be evil because God is gracious towards them? Do we dishonor God because He is generous? Indeed even this thought itself is an ignorant one. If all the afflictions in the world were to be heaped up together and each of us are given an equal share, we would have rather have the affliction we have now, because it would have been much lesser than if we have equal share of all the afflictions in the world. How blinding and vile is our self-centeredness!

Sometimes we think that we would be able to bear other kind of afflictions but not this one we have now. To this, we need to understand that we do not choose the rod but God chooses the rod which is most suitable for us. We ought to trust God for He knows which condition is most suitable to purge and purify us. Also, it is a Christian excellence to be fitted in all conditions. It would be laughable if a sailor says he is only skilled to manage the ship if the wind blows in certain direction. Therefore it is a shame for a Christian to say that he can only manage his heart in certain afflictions but not others. A Christian should be able to manage all kinds of wind that blow and manage his soul any way. We should be reminded also that God has prepared crowns of glories for all graces and would honor us for all the afflictions we bear for His glory. So we will be encouraged to remember that God will reward our faithfulness in our particular conditions.

Another complain of discontent is when one feels that he is not able to serve God much due to the limitation of his condition. This normally happens to those who are ill, to those of little talent, to servants or the poor who have to work hard to provide for their families. If a person truly desires to serve God and thus feel discouraged in this state, it is a good desire but there is a temptation to fall into self-pity and to murmur at God's disposal. The consolation is to understand that although our worldly calling is mean, a Christian has a general calling which is higher than the highest worldly calling. Every Christian belongs to the Body of Christ. It is better to be the meanest part of the Body, than to be the most honorable part which is cut off from the Body. As we are joined with Christ, we have life eternal but those with the best common graces who are cut off from Christ will wither and die soon.

Our outward calling might be low in the eyes of men, but with respect to God as Christians we have calling like the angels in heaven and are joined with spiritual power and principalities. Those who serve God with mean outward calling can have more obedience than those who serve God with honorable outward calling. In glorious outward calling, there can be a lot of self-love like human reward, praises of men, riches that come with it. Therefore one with such calling will face more temptation of impure motivation. And God rewards us not according to our outward calling, but according to our faithfulness. Hence no matter how low and mean our outward calling is, there is nothing that hinders us from being rewarded among the most faithful ones.

Sometimes we think that we could bear afflictions but not this kind of unsettled state where there are persistent uncertainties in life's basic needs. Yet the Bible teaches us that a settled state on earth is vanity (Psalms 39:5). When our condition is unsettled, we are trained to rely on God for everything and this will bring us to a deeper understanding of our dependence upon Him. Christ teaches us to pray for our daily bread which means we are to remember God is our Provider and we are not to look for providence elsewhere through the anxiety to stock up our needs for the future. A settled condition has in itself a temptation to rely upon ourselves and to forget God's overruling providence in all things. We also should sanctify our understanding of providence. This is to understand that whether our outward stated is settled or unsettled, it is yet vanity that can be lost and will pass away, but as Christian, we are settled at far higher level in that our eternal life and glory have been guaranteed in Christ.

We say we find it very hard to bear afflictions because we are in better conditions before and have become used to it. If our former state is very good, we suffer a lot when it is taken away from us. Yet this is no ground for discontent or murmuring. Should our eyes be evil because God is formerly generous to us? Has He wronged us because He gives us so much in the past? We should not think that all such things must be given for us all our lives. In prosperity, we should be prepared for adversity. In health, we should be prepared for sickness. In times of God's comfort and mercy, we should be prepared for His withdrawing and trials. If we have prepared our hearts that way, our change of conditions would not be as grievous to us. A sailor would not say that he could bear storms if there have not been calms before, rather he would prepare for storms in times of calms. Yet let us draw comfort in this. If God gives us Christ, He gives us forever. If God gives us faith and humility and patience, He gives us forever. So let us not murmur regarding our outward discomfort. Whatever He gives us, He gives as a pledge of His love. So let us return all to Him as a pledge of our obedience.

Another reason of murmuring is our afflictions are not removed after we have labored long and hard through them. Yet we must ask ourselves, when we labor hard, what is the aim of our labor? Is it not to bring ourselves to full resignation of where God would set us? If so, why are we murmuring that our hard labor has not given us what we want? If not, we have not labored as Christians. A Christian does have outward calling to provide for his family and to fulfill other responsibilities, but his chief calling is to yield obedience to God. It is a greater testimony when our obedience to God costs us dear. If we are able to submit to God when it costs us pain and a lot of our outward comforts, our love for God is more clearly shown.

It is not sufficient that we should be outwardly quiet in bearing all our afflictions, but our spirit must be quiet too. Knowing all the reasoning for a discontent heart, we might be better equipped to labor to correct all the disorders of our hearts.

The Aggravation of Sin in Murmuring

2005-10-02T16:12:00.000+08:00

To murmur is a great evil, so to murmur in the midst of great mercies is an even greater evil. It is evil to turn against our brethren who have been instruments of peace and blessings in our lives. Therefore consider how evil it is when we murmur against God after we have enjoyed His mercies upon mercies, how terribly we sin against Him!

When we consider God's mercies we should think of both private and public mercies such as God's mercy to the Church and to the land. Just as it is evil to rejoice immediately in private comforts when the Church or the people are in afflictions, it is also very evil to murmur at lack of private comforts when God has poured forth public mercies abundantly. We should rather thank God that though we lack certain things we would have, yet things go well with the Church and the people. We should let our private discontent be swallowed up by public mercies. Similarly when the Church or the people are at a very bad state, it is wrong for us to give ourselves all liberty to enjoy ourselves. Such consideration should quiet our hearts before the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 says to be joyful in the day of prosperity but to consider in the day of adversity, because God has set the one over and against another. We have a lot of prosperity and also a lot of adversity, a lot of troubles and a lot of mercies. So we see both being appointed in our lives. We should use God's mercies to us to overcome our murmuring, or those mercies will become aggravation of our sin.

Remember that God's mercies are free. We all sit at God's table (His administration) where we feast on His mercy freely. Would we find fault with Him?

If your child complains to you for your provision, it is bad enough but you might still be willing to bear it. But if you invite a beggar outside into your house to enjoy your provision, instead of being thankful he begins to find fault because you have not given him everything that he wants, would you be able to bear it? So if God has raised us from a low into a higher position, like that poor beggar who is invited into a house, it is extremely evil that we begin to murmur that God has not given us everything we want.

Consider also how much we have crossed God in our sins. If God would cross us by way of sufferings, should we not rather quiet ourselves and bear them? If we have been exceedingly fruitful to God and His Church, we might to a certain extent expect God to come in encouraging ways to us. But if our conscience tells us that we have in countless ways neglected our duty before God and men, why would we be discontent that things are not serviceable to us?

It is a Christian's duty to observe what God's ways towards him. What is God about to do in my life? Is He about to give me comfort? Let me take His comfort and bless His name. Is He giving me mercies? Let me receive His mercies and bless His name. Is He about to break my heart and humble me? Let me submit willingly and bless His name. A Christian should join God in His work therefore a Christian's heart should turn in ways suitable according to God's working in his life. Will we then murmur and stand in opposition to God's working? The clearer God's revelation is to us and the greater His providence is in certain work He is preparing us to do, the greater is our sin if we continue to resist Him.

It is bad enough if we resist Him initially, but if we continue to resist Him by our discontent after a long time under afflictions, we are extremely stiff-necked. Hebrews 12:11 says that no discipline for the present is joyous, but grievous, but afterwards it shall yield the fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, our hearts should quiet and be able to bear it after sometime. It is a shame to us if we are still murmuring after being a Christian for a while.

The Evil of Murmuring

2005-09-25T13:59:00.000+08:00

We cannot perform a duty well before we first understand our lack in its performance. So it is good to be humbled in our lack of contentment that we might learn to labor to remove the repining spirit in our hearts.

Just as contentment is glorious, so the opposite of contentment, which is a murmuring heart, is full of corruption and disorder. If every bit of the cross causes us to become discontented and murmur, the condition of our spirit is indeed very vile and corrupted.

People who do not have sufficient medical understanding tend to think that a big external wound look very serious, but a doctor will know that it is internal wound like inflammation that is more serious and far harder to heal. So it is with our souls. We might think that our afflictions are grievous but our murmuring spirit is far more grievous however great our affliction is. A murmuring spirit is a very sinful heart, is the misery of miseries that we should feel more troubled about than the afflictions that befall us.

What then are the evil of murmurings?

It is contrary to the work of God.

The first work God does to bring a sinner home is to open his eyes to the evil of sin. Without that it is impossible for any soul to apply Jesus Christ to himself. How then can one murmur if God has worked in his heart and just a moment ago he saw the horror of his sin and wondered why he was not in hell? Why would sin not be my greatest burden?

The second work of God is to bring a soul to understand the excellencies of Jesus Christ. If I have known the highest glory, why would I complain of every little affliction?

The third work of God is to empower a soul to deny himself so that he can learn to die to the world and find life in Jesus Christ. Without death there is no life. Through the cross of Christ, a Christian has been crucified to the world and the world to himself. So he has died and his life is now in Christ. If God, by way of affliction, should take something of this world from me and I find myself willing to let go, it means my life is no longer glued to the world.

So what is this fretting and murmuring all about? It tells of our poor state and how far and contrary we are from the works of God.

Murmuring is also far below whatever is appropriate for a Christian. It is below a Christian in his relation to the Father, to Christ and to the Spirit of God. A Christian is a child of God, is a member of Christ's body, and the Church which is the Bride of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit. The meanest Christian is a lord of heaven and earth and has all things subjected unto him because God has made Christians kings unto Himself. How unbecoming it is for a person with such high dignity to be fretting and murmuring over lack of worldly comforts!

A Christian's profession is to die to the world so that he can receive and manifest the life of Christ. A Christian has been given the faith that overcomes the world. Hence a Christian who murmurs denies his profession and faith. Furthermore, a Christian has God's promises to hold him while others do not, therefore a Christian should be able to stand up better in trials which by God's will, is the common lot of humanity. God expects a Christian not only to be patient in sufferings but also to rejoice and triumph over them. We fare far below God's expectation if we cannot even reach quiet contentment. Indeed, many saints of the past have gone through great adversities and emerged victorious. As they are also part of us and like them we are also promised the same future glory and eternal hope in Christ, it is extremely beneath us to be discontent over every little affliction.

Luther said it is the ‘rhetoric Spirit of God’ to count every mercy as great and every cross as little. Therefore when we are afflicted, we are thankful that it is not a greater affliction and when we receive God's mercy, we think of how unworthy we are to obtain such great mercy. But it is the rhetoric spirit of the devil to do otherwise. It is of the devil to amplify every affliction and to discount every mercy. So we see how evil a murmuring spirit is and in fact it will undo all our prayers and unfit us for duty.

Not only will we get nothing by discontentment, it will further take away all the present comfort we already have. It makes our condition worse than what it initially is. With a discontented spirit, we will also carry ourselves in very foolish ways before God and men. Furthermore, all the potential future enjoyment will be destroyed by our discontented spirit before we receive them, such that when we finally receive them we will not be able to enjoy the sweetness of the blessings anymore.

Also, we should not forget the fact that murmuring greatly incurs God's wrath and judgment. From God's dealing with the Israelites in the Old Testament, we are warned sufficiently that God is highly provoked by murmuring attitude. God is unchanging and eternal hence one instance is an example for all ages to take heed. There is also a great deal of curse in a murmuring spirit and so long as it prevails upon the wicked, it is part of God's judgment. Murmuring reflects the spirit of the devil, the proudest creature and unclean spirit that goes up and down without ever finding rest.

As God has subjected humanity to trials and afflictions, we would have disquiet for the rest of our lives if we continue with our murmuring spirit. If at one instance of discontentment we would not be humbled, we will necessarily find ourselves in discontentment again when we meet our next cross. But if we learn to humble ourselves under God's administration and to overcome our discontentment by our submission to Him, the days of our lives will be sweet albeit the difficulties we go through.

The Glory of Christian Contentment

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Certainly our contentment does not consist in getting the thing we desire, but in God's fashioning our spirits to our conditions. A man might possess many things but does not enjoy them, but when God's blessings are upon a man and all that he has, he is able to enjoy all that he has. It is God who fashions our heart to make it suitable to our condition and hence enables us to enjoy whatever we have.

A man will have more contentment by having comfort in not having what he wants, than by having what he desires in a discontented way.

If I would be content by getting what I desire, then my contentment is dependent on creatures and would easily be disturbed. But if I am content being in God, my contentment is derived from my enjoyment of God and it is firm and secure. If I get more things, my outward position might be better off but by contentment my inner being is better off. Hence contentment is a better lot compared to the thing I would like to have as my outward comfort.

If I become content by having my wants met, my contentment arises from self-love. If I am content in the hand of God, my contentment arises from the love of God. If my contentment is in worldly things, I might be content in a particular situation, but soon I will become discontent again when I am in another situation or when more desires come in my heart. Contentment in God, on the other hand, makes us prepared to be contented in all conditions. The heart is always singing praises to God therefore it is Heaven on earth. In fact, in some respect it is better than heaven itself.

In heaven, there are no temptations and sufferings, but all things encourage us to praise God. On earth, we are faced with all kinds of hindrances to worship God, so if our heart still sing praises in all our difficulties, it is a very valuable treasure that shines forth God's glory. This is the kind of honor that God does not have in heaven, i.e. praises to Him in the midst of trials and difficulties. Therefore we should see how privileged we are to be in this position and we should be willing to live on earth as long as God wills us to. Be content then with your contented spirit, for this is a rich portion which God has allotted to you. This is the glory of Christian contentment.

There is another paradox in the glory of contentment. If I can be contented without having the good which I desire because I am able to submit it to God, the good will be given to me or God will make it up to me in other ways which will enable me to enjoy the good of it, or something better, such that I lack nothing good. No comfort will I be without, for God will give all things to me. This calls us into a blessed understanding where we can have higher enjoyment, i.e. the enjoyment of the essence beyond the phenomena.

Consider the things I have which others lack. Am I able to enjoy them as much as I should? Then consider the things others have that I lack. Am I able to bring my spirit to quietness and to rest contented in lacking what others have? If so, I have all the blessings they have.

Lastly, the glory of contentment consists in partaking of divine nature. The name of God, El-Shaddai, means God is All-Sufficient in Himself. If the world were to be annihilated and all the creatures were gone, God will still remain the same blessed God as He is now and would not be worse off because all were gone. Similarly, a contented heart would have enough inwardly and remain rested when all is gone because God is his portion. In this way, a contented heart reflects the All-Sufficient attribute of God.

The Marvel of God's Providence

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We come to sweet contentment when we develop a right understanding of God's providence.

1. His providence is universal and extends to every little detail of life. It brings great comfort to know that everything that befalls us has the stamp of God's sovereignty upon it and nothing is out of His control.

2. His providence is a strong effectual power that would accomplish its course and will not be altered just because it goes against our will. Knowing that God’s providence is not a weak will that gets shaken by our complaints, but will work powerfully towards its appointed end, we learn to be quiet and submissive.

3. His providence is the manifestation of His infinite wisdom in working all things together for a united purpose. We will be awed by the majesty of God to see that God's providence in so many things are not working in isolation, but like so many wheels that are rotating in dependence of one another, He causes so many things to be dependent on one another and yet there is a grand design behind them all. We will do well to remember that when we are crossed by one particular instance of God's providence and we murmur against it, we are actually going against Him in many other thousand things He purposes to bring to pass.

Many people have no peace in God's providence because they are stranger to God's ways. When we enter the house of a stranger we might feel discomfort with a lot of things we see but when we get to know the person well as a good friend we can relax in his house. We can rest in His providence if we are acquainted with His ways.

What then are God's ways?

1. It is God's will to subject humanity universally to trials and afflictions that they might learn what is profitable for their souls. When we understand this, we do not question much when such and such befalls us but take it as a matter of fact, as the natural course in a human’s life.

2. God often brings the greatest mercy out of the greatest afflictions. Godly hearts can come to this understanding by faith and hence find the comfort and courage to face whatever they go through. Therefore instead of thinking that God has forsaken them, they will thank God for the trials that are forerunners of the promised future glory.

3. The mystery of God's wisdom is contained in paradoxes. God brings everything out of nothing in His work of creation. So He reveals Himself as the Creator. But God brings the greatest good out of the greatest evil in His work of salvation. Thus He reveals Himself as the Savior. He not only overcomes evil, but far beyond that He makes evil work towards good. So He brings joy out of sorrow, life out of death, prosperity out of adversity, and yes, sin for the furtherance of His grace. This is the art of arts, the knowledge of all knowledge, the wisdom of all wisdom, which commands our submission, worship and praise. Alas, very few people understand this and hence are not able to give God His due glory and vex themselves with a lot of unnecessary troubles. But God grants the mercy of His revelation to the godly hearts so that they can see God's wisdom in their sufferings and understand and enjoy deeper the true meaning of life.

Be the Student of Your Own Heart

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What gain do we have if we know our hearts well?

Scholars have their books which they study diligently. All subjects of study have their books. But as a Christian, next to the Bible, we need to study the book of our own hearts.

1. We will know where our discontent lies. Those who are strangers of their own hearts are powerfully discontented because they do not know the cause of it and they do not know how to quiet it. If we know our hearts well, we will soon find the cause of the disquiets and quickly able to calm it down.

2. We will know what best suit our condition. Carnal men will vex at every affliction that befalls them because they do not know their spirits, so they do not know how much they need them to cure the disorders of their own heart. But those who know their heart conditions well will affirm the value of suffering should God allow it for their sanctification.

3. We will know what we can handle. A person who does not know his own heart does not know what he can handle, and therefore will greedily hold for more things than he is able to manage. But a heart comes to contentment when he realizes that it is good that certain things are denied or taken away from him because he knows he is not able to manage such conditions.

With relation to our hearts, we need to develop a right and balanced view of possessions.

Many people only look at the glitters of riches but are not equipped with the knowledge of the burden that comes with it. Just as we need a strong brain to take a strong wine, we need a strong spirit to bear the burden of prosperity so that we will not do ourselves hurt.

If we do not know the grief and burden of riches, we will not be able to handle them wisely and in our ignorance we will subject our souls to a lot of perils. We should question ourselves if we have the spiritual character to handle them. A man with understanding will thank God for His mercy for keeping from him what he cannot handle.

1. Those who set their hearts to be rich pierce themselves with many sorrows. A lot of people appear happy outside but we do not know what troubles them inside, unless we are in their shoes. The riches of the world come with their own sorrows and cares and we will do well to take note of this.

2. There is danger in a rich condition. Those who are prosperous are subject to a lot of temptation which others do not face. Those on higher position will be more easily drowned into perdition, as history testifies. The Scriptures say how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Such reality should be in our consideration when we think of riches.

Quoting from Matthew Henry as a summary, “There is a burden of care in getting riches, fear in keeping them, temptation in using them, guilt in abusing them, sorrow in losing them, and a burden of account at last to be given up about them.”

Being acquainted with the condition of our hearts, and knowng the burden of riches then, we will come to an understanding of how dreadful it is if God gives us up to our own heart desires.

The worst judgment is not physical, but spiritual judgment. It is more fearful than any other judgment. It is the most horrifying thing mif God gives you up to your own lusts and desires. One will not want to be rich if he has to be sick in exchange of his riches. So health is a greater mercy than wealth. And the soul is an infinitely far greater mercy than health. Therefore it is a great mistake to wail over worldly losses if that should save our souls. When we come to this understanding, we will thank God for His afflictions and rest content in His loving dealings towards us.

The One Thing Needful

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What is the one thing needful? We will come to this understanding when we can position ourselves and our possessions according to the Truth.

1. Positioning ourselves

We have a temporal life but an eternal spirit. Knowing this, we realize that this world is not our home. We will surely be easily discontented if we take this world as our home. A person on his far journey will not complain much when things are not the way he wishes it to be like, because it is not his home. But he knows he is a pilgrim, a passer-by, who only enjoys the good of the journey as the passing things but his mind is fixed on the hope of reaching home.

Secondly, we are not only strangers in this world but we are also living in the midst of great spiritual battle. If we are living with the mentality of a soldier in battle, we will not be demanding things as though it is the time of peace.

Positioning ourselves as a pilgrim and a soldier in relation to this temporal world, we will know the one thing needful. It is to care for our soul and eternal salvation. If we know the one thing needful, we will not be so easily shaken by the cares and difficulties of this life.

2. Positioning possessions

As the book of Ecclesiastes says, vanities of vanities, all are vanities. What profit hath a man of all his labor under the sun? One generation passes away and another comes, but the earth abides where it is. The sun rises and the sun falls, and hurries back to where it rises. All things are wearisome and man cannot understand it, the eye is not satisfied with seeing and the ear is not satisfied with hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun.

This is a profound revelation of the position of temporal world in relation to human beings. It speaks of the desperate state of humanity which keeps pursuing worldly things fulfill their empty hearts and end up in disappointment because the nature of the worldly things have not thus the capacity to fulfill them. This cycle repeats one generation after another but mankind forgets, never learns from history and commits the mistake all over again. So the state remains. What is the relationship between worldly things and human beings?

In themselves, all creatures are vanities. A right understanding of this will purge out a lot of vain lusts within our hearts.

The good of worldly things are not in themselves, but in as far as they have reference to God, the supreme Good of all. The good in creatures consists in the enjoyment of God in them, the honoring of God in them, and how they lead us to a deeper understanding of God’s goodness and mercy. In summary, they are meant to lead us to know God and enjoy God Himself. So if we can enjoy God, we have a true, unshakable and sanctified enjoyment which is not dependent on creatures. We enjoy God in creatures, not enjoy creatures in themselves. This enjoyment is in Truth, and we are set free when we enjoy life this way.

A carnal heart has not learnt this and will thus be perplexed when he loses his estate, but a godly heart rejoices in sufferings and losses when he can see that he still has as much of God as he had before.

The ABC of Christianity - Self Denial

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Self-denial is the ABC of Christianity. It is the most basic lesson to learn if we are to live as Christians at all. If we do not learn this well, we can hardly progress and grow as Christians. If we strike something soft it will make no noise but if we strike something hard it will makes much noise. So if a man is full of self-love he will repine and rebel when things do not go his way, but one who has learnt self-denial will resign to the will of God.

How do we learn self-denial then? We learn self-denial by developing a right understanding of our position before the Almighty God. All is but grace.

1. We know that we are nothing. So it does not matter what we suffer, because we are nothing. We are nothing, yet God sets His eyes on us. We should rather be thankful than repine.

2. We know that we deserve nothing. If we deserve something, we naturally will be troubled if our rights are taken away from us. But if we know that we deserve nothing, we will be quiet whatever befalls us.

3. I can do nothing. We are not indispensable. If we know how little use we are of God, and how easily He can accomplish anything through any other means, we will have less discontent. If God were to annihilate me, if I were to perish, I will be no loss to anyone. Since I do so little, why do I complain that I am cut short of many things and why do I still demand so many things?

4. I am worse than nothing. Indeed, my heart is not only empty but so corrupt that good things received will be damaged in my hands if it had not been God’s mercy to preserve them and His grace to enable me to use them properly. The moment God withdraws His hands I will not even be able to make good use of anything. Since I am not only an empty vessel but a pitcher full of poison and all I deserve is Hell, why do I complain that I lack all the outward comforts?

A man who is little in his own eyes will see all his afflictions as very little but a man who is big in his own eyes will see every little affliction as great. Christ is our perfect example of self-denial. He was silent and submissive in all his sufferings. He was the most contented man in the world. A person who has learnt self-denial will find contentment because he no longer trusts himself, so he does not seek or wish for his own ends, but finds great satisfaction in all God's ways. Hence his heart is enlarged and his comfort is multiplied as he makes God's ends to be his own ends.

He can break through the greatest afflictions in the world because he stands on the highest plane to see God's wisdom in all things while the world is confused and perplexed. So as Christ who broke forth with joy and praised God in His lowest time in ministry, he also rejoices, “Yea, Father, for this is Thy good pleasure.” (Luke 10:21)

What Is Christian Contentment

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‘I have learned, in whatsoever state I am,

therewith to be content.’ Philippians 4:11

‘But godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6

My Summary Statement: Through faith in God that is based on the right understanding of God's Word, contentment is resting in God’s eternal will, which encompasses His predestination and particular providence in this life.

What It Is and What It Is Not

1. It is not an outward, but an inward quietness. Many might be quiet and calm outside but inwardly are filled with all kinds of vexations and unrest.

2. It needs to be learned and it is an art that can be mastered well.

3. Contentment does not mean we desensitize ourselves from the sense of afflictions. The cross we must bear is still to be taken as a cross, not as nothing. But we bear it with faith.

4. We should not murmur and repine against God in unbelief, but with faith in His love and care for us, we can lawfully pour out all our complaints to Him.

The Fruits of Contentment

1. The love of God’s Word is to be so cultivated in our hearts that we will hold it dearly even when it purges and divides our soul and spirit so sharply within. But we will not allow outward cares and worldly pursuits to come in and cause contention therein.

2. We should prize our duty before God so highly that we would not allow ourselves to be laxed when cluttered with a lot of cares. At all times, we would still fulfill our responsibilities before God, ourselves and men with all of our hearts.

3. When outward things do not seem to support our hopes and desires, we would not sink into faithless discouragement, or take things into our own hands or shriek, vent and rebel before God. But with the eyes of faith, we trust in God's wisdom and particular guidance upon our lives.

The Mystery of Christian Contentment

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True contentment does not come from ignorance or strength of natural reason, but from sanctified judgment.

Therefore true contentment is not passivity or lack of sense but is active in the service of God and will rise strongly when God is dishonored. This differentiates the contentment of the ungodly and godly men.

Christian contentment is a paradoxical thing. He is the most contented person but also the most unsatisfied person in the world. He is content with the most little he has which comes from God, but the whole world cannot satisfy him because only God can fill him.

He gets to contentment not by adding what he has, but by subtracting his desires as far as worldly things are concerned. In this way there is no big gap, but his heart is proportionate to his circumstances so he is content.

A Christian focuses on his duty in the particular circumstances rather than his desire for another circumstance. He focuses on the burden of sin, rather than the burden of his afflictions. His heart is content towards God’s disposal but he knows that much can be improved in his duty towards God.

By God's grace, Christians has the power to perform miracle to turn afflictions into mercies, as Christ turns water into wine. Christian melts his will into God's will. Christian comes to contentment by purging out the lusts within.

A Christian has enough within him to make up for all the wants outside. Progresses are made by the promises of God alone and nothing else. A Christian repairs his broken heart and his despairs by the promises of God. A godly man can be satisfied from inside. He might lack all the outward comforts, but he enjoys the deep peace in his own conscience. He might lack honor outside, but inside his conscience is witnessing for him, and that is like a thousand witnesses. Whatever he lacks then, the Kingdom of God is within him. He already has the Heaven inside of him before he gets there.

A carnal man has little contentment in his own spirit and a bad conscience always wants to look for things outside, never feels at home with himself. A person who complains much is one who is empty within. A person with a lot of grace inside will not make much noise. If I am no burden to myself, if all is quiet within me, then no burden will be too heavy for me to bear.

Contentment is Based on A Right Understanding of God's Mercy and Promises

1. God's Providence is an expression of His mercy

- God's providence is a token of God's love
- God's providence for Christians is not general, but special and sanctified
- God's providence on earth is a forerunner of eternal mercies

2. God's Promise as the Basis for Contentment

A Christian contentment is based on the promises of God. For example, the Bible says, “No pestilence shall befall thee”. How do we understand this promise and respond to it since bad things do happen to godly people?

The promise is true and does include protection of all sorts, so when bad things happen it could be a lack of faith where the people of God do not reach the faith level for that promise. Nevertheless, the nature of the promise implies the following:

- God still reserves the right to chastise you.
- God has the liberty to further His higher ends, like making it a stumbling block for the wicked, and to show us His ways are unsearchable (this is God’s revelation of Himself)
- Protection is in many levels. We need to understand that spiritual one surpasses physical one.

How should I respond to such promise?

- At least the evil of the pestilence will not befall me (all experiences are sanctified for my good)
- Whatever God takes away, God will make it up to me in greater things
- I must pay attention as there is deep lesson to be learnt when God allows things to befall me and I should examine intently to find its meaning
- By reasoning through the Word of God, I will find satisfaction to my soul and find deep comforts and healing in the midst of my afflictions
- I should understand that the New Covenant surpasses the Old Covenant. Promises have more outward fulfillment in the Old Testament which is but a shadow of the essence of God’s promises, but in the New Testament we have come to the Kingdom of grace which is above the physical realm. We rely not so much on the outward appearance of things but God’s eternal promises to us in Christ which are yes and Amen.

3. The future glory takes away all discontent

A Christian can look at the future glory and makes it present by faith. A carnal heart has no contentment but by what he sees in this world, but a godly heart has contentment when he sees things laid up for him in the highest heavens.

Finally, a carnal heart responds to discontent by complaints, anger and bitterness, but a godly heart responds by pouring out his despairs to God and will return joyful and peaceful after prayer.