“ The contented man holds still, likened to pouring a drink into a glass. “If we would be vessels to receive God’s mercy, and would have the Lord pour His mercy into us, we must have quiet, still hearts. We must not have hearts hurrying up and down in trouble, discontent and vexing, but still and quiet hearts, if we receive mercy from the Lord. ”
Jeremiah Burroughs, “The rare jewel of Christian contentment”
Chapter 7, “The excellence of contentment,” page 124
“ Grace gives a man an eye, a piercing eye to pierce into the counsel of God, those eternal counsels of God for good to him, even in his afflictions… Now this is a mystery to a carnal heart. …Grace instructs men in that mystery, grace enables men to see love in the very frown of God’s face, and so comes to receive contentment. ”
Jeremiah Burroughs, “The rare jewel of Christian contentment,” page 60
“ My brethren, when God first began to love you, He gave you all that He ever meant to give you in the lump, and eternity of time is that in which He is retailing of it out. ”
Thmas Goodwin
“ Hating sin
Work in your hearts a hatred of sin… If a man had killed your friend, or father, or mother, how you would hate him! You would not endure the sight of him, but follow the law upon him.
Send out the avenger of blood with a hue and cry after your sin; bring it before God’s judgment seat, arraign it, accuse it, spit on it, condemn it and yourself for it, take it to the cross, nail it there. If it cry “I thirst,” give it vinegar, stretch the body of sins upon his cross, stretch every vein of it, make the heart strings crack; and then when it hangs there, triumph over the dying of it, show it no pity; laugh at its destruction. Say, “You have been a bloody sin to me and my husband, hang there and rot.”
And when you are tempted to sin, and are very thirsty after the pleasure of it, say of that opportunity to enjoy it, “It is the price of Christ’s blood,” and pour it upon the ground. …
Shall I live upon that which was Christ’s death? Shall I please myself in that which was his pain? Shall I be so dishonest, so unkind, as to enjoy the pleasure for which he endured the smart? ”
Thomas Goodwin (1600—1679), Christ the Mediator in The Works of Thomas Goodwin (RHB), 5:294.
“ May an arrow dipped in the blood of Christ reach every unconverted sinner’s heart! ”
George Whitefield
“ Moses, this bush represents my people; as this bush is burning with fire, so are my children to burn with affliction. But I am in the bush. If the bush burns, I will burn with it. I will be with them in the furnace. I will be with them in the water, and though the water comes over them, it shall not overflow them. ”
George Whitefield sermon, “The marks of a true Christian”
Clinging to Him
This year, I am using the Robert Murray McCheyne Bible reading plan along with D. A. Carson’s book, “For the love of God,” devotions connected to the McCheyne readings.
I am in the opening chapters of Jeremiah dealing with God’s reasons for sending Israel and Judah into exile. Amidst these chapters are incredible stimulation to stand firm in the Lord.
Jeremiah 13:11 says, “For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.”
In God’s incredible love and mercy, He makes His people cling to Him. We cling to Him that we might be for Him a people, name, praise, and glory for Him. So, God’s purpose for my life is to rejoice in clinging to Him. My daily response is to listen to Him, or obey His commands and leadings of the Holy Spirit. Friday, I heard a great line from Randy Alcorn—never postpone obedience. Listening to the Lord requires prompt obedience.
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Spurgeon, with his wonderful God-given combination of confidence in God and tender compassion for his sheep, put it like this:
I am occupied in my small way, as Mr. Great-heart was employed in Bunyan’s day. I do not compare myself with that champion, but I am in the same line of business. I am engaged in personally-conducted tours to Heaven; and I have with me, at the present time, dear Old Father Honest: I am glad he is still alive and active. And there is Christiana, and there are her children. It is my business, as best I can, to kill dragons, and cut off giants’ heads, and lead on the timid and trembling. I am often afraid of losing some of the weaklings. I have the heart-ache for them; but, by God’s grace, and your kind and generous help in looking after one another, I hope we shall all travel safely to the river’s edge. Oh, how many have I had to part with there! I have stood on the brink, and I have heard them singing in the midst of the stream, and I have almost seen the shining ones lead them up the hill, and through the gates, into the Celestial City.
”
Charles H. Spurgeon’s Autobiography, II, page 131
“ All of Christ is accepted by the sincere convert. He loves not only the wages but the work of Christ, not only the benefits but the burden of Christ. He is willing not only to tread out the corn, but to draw under the yoke. He takes up the commands of Christ, yea, the cross of Christ. The unsound convert takes Christ by halves. He is all for the salvation of Christ, but he is not for sanctification. He is for the privilages, but does not appropriate the person of Christ…. ”
Joseph Alleine, Puritan, 1664-1668
Dangers of altar call, Martyn Lloyd Jones
We are to preach the Word, and if we do it properly, there will be a call to a decision that comes in the message, and then we leave it to the Spirit to act upon people.
Early in the 1970s Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones was the speaker at a ministers’ conference in the USA and at a question session was asked the following question:
Q During recent years, especially in England, among evangelicals of the Reformed faith, there has been a rising criticism of the invitation system as used by Billy Graham and others. Does Scripture justify the use of such public invitations or not?
A. Well, it is difficult to answer this in a brief compass without being misunderstood. Let me answer it like this: The history of this invitation system is one with which you people ought to be more familiar than anyone else, because it began in America. It began in the 1820s; the real originator of it was Charles G. Finney. It led to a great controversy. Asahel Nettleton, a great Calvinist and successful evangelist, never issued an “altar call” nor asked people to come to the “anxious seat.” These new methods in the 182Os and were condemned for many reasons by all who took the Reformed position.
One reason is that there is no evidence that this was done in New Testament times, because then they trusted to the power of the Spirit. Peter preaching on the Day of Pentecost under the power of the Spirit, for instance, had no need to call people forward in decision because, as you remember, the people were so moved and affected by the power of the Word and Spirit that they actually interrupted the preacher, crying out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” That has been the traditional Reformed attitude towards this particular matter. The moment you begin to introduce this other element, you are bringing a psychological element. The invitation should be in the message. We believe the Spirit applies the message, so we trust in the power of the Spirit. I personally agree with what has been said in the question. I have never called people forward at the end for this reason; there is a grave danger of people coming forward before they are ready to come forward. We do believe in the work of the Spirit, that He convicts and converts, and He will do His work. There is a danger in bringing people to a “birth,” as it were, before they are ready for it.
The Puritans in particular were afraid of what they would call “a temporary faith” or “a false profession.” There was a great Puritan, Thomas Shepard, who published a famous series of sermons on The Ten Virgins. The great point of that book was to deal with this problem of a false profession. The foolish virgins thought they were all right. This is a very great danger.
I can sum it up by putting it like this: I feel that this pressure which is put upon people to come forward in decision ultimately is due to a lack of faith in the work and operation of the Holy Spirit. We are to preach the Word, and if we do it properly, there will be a call to a decision that comes in the message, and then we leave it to the Spirit to act upon people. And of course He does. Some may come immediately at the close of the service to see the minister.
I think there should always be an indication that the minister will be glad to see anybody who wants to put questions to him or wants further help. But that is a very different thing from putting pressure upon people to come forward.
I feel it is wrong to put pressure directly on the will. The order in Scripture seems to be this - the truth is presented to the mind, which moves the heart, and that in turn moves the will.
