harvestoc.net blog, Monday, February 8, 2010
Luke 4:14-44 'Fulfilled in Our Hearing' (7-Feb-2010 Morning Reading)
[click here to listen to the audio] (or right-click for more options)
[click here to read Luk 4:14-44 online]
· “in your hearing,” v21
· We, the listening congregation—not just people out there but us!—are the poor, the captives, the blind, the oppressed. Just like in the sermon on the mount—“blessed are the poor in spirit”—Jesus is speaking to our spiritual condition. This Scripture was fulfilled in their hearing
· And to us, in such a spiritual condition, Jesus announces good news and liberty and sight and liberty again—all in Himself. The Scripture that had been fulfilled in their hearing said that the Spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus, that Jesus was anointed and sent for this.
· This we can all gather from the sermon introduction, which Luke gives us, but we can guess at what the sermon as a whole was like by looking at that other similar sermon, the sermon on the mount
o Jesus exposes our desperate Spiritual need, Matthew 5:1-48
o Jesus turns us to God Himself as our hope, Matthew 6:1-18
o Jesus displays to us the great treasures of God that the Father is absolutely certain to lavish upon His children, Matthew 6:19-7:11
o Jesus warns us about coming to God in any other way than by building our spiritual house upon the rock of Christ’s teaching and entering through the narrow gate, for nothing else gives salvation and nothing else produces holiness, and without a holiness-producing salvation through Jesus alone, we will end up in Hell, Matthew 7:12-29
· What a wonderful sermon, what words of grace! And this is exactly what Jesus’ hearers said in v23, but they didn’t answer the call and they didn’t hear the warning.
o Like Herod, they heard good preaching gladly. Perhaps like Felix, they would have desired often to hear more.
o But like these men, Jesus’ hearers on this day enjoyed a good sermon and talked about how good it was, but they didn’t personally respond to it in faith
o And Jesus, instead of soaking up their praise about how good a sermon it was, pressed further on this issue of their need to believe in Him, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, Physician, heal yourself” and “no prophet is acceptable in his hometown”—you hear what He’s saying: you haven’t seen your need for healing, you haven’t come to me for healing, and so you’ve rejected me as prophet.
o I wonder, dear congregation: have you ever seen yourself as spiritually poor, enslaved, blind and helpless? Have you ever come to Jesus as the only One who can heal you? If not, you haven’t accepted Him as your prophet
· How can I say such a thing? On the authority of Jesus. On the authority of Jesus who, in the rest of this passage, we see casting out demons, and healing, in such a way that people are amazed at His words. Jesus’ words are words of grace for the wretched—not just because He is merciful and compassionate, but because He has authority and power to free us from every Spiritual and physical ill.
· No wonder that even in a desolate place in v42 the people sought Him and came to Him and clung to Him. For His ability to cure physical ill? No. Rather, to hear and to respond to the preaching of the good news of the kingdom of God. Let us also seek Him and come to Him and cling to Him to hear and respond to this good news.
[click here to read Luk 4:14-44 online]
Labels: Luke, Messages, Serial Readings
¶ 11:35 AM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Saturday, February 6, 2010
Don't Forget! Fellowship Meal and Lord's Supper Tomorrow!
The fellowship meal is immediately after morning worship, and the Lord's Supper is in the evening worship service.
Labels: Announcements, Lord's Supper
¶ 5:53 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
7-Feb-2010 Worship Plan
Lord’s Day Morning Worship
*Scripture calls us to worship – Hebrews 10:8-9
*Song – #522, My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
Scripture reading and explanation – Luke 4:14-44
*Song – #647, How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
The long Prayer
Preaching – Genesis 31
*Song – #691, It Is Well with My Soul
*God’s Blessing upon His people
Parting Song – #691, v4, “O Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight...”
Lord’s Day Evening Worship
*Scripture calls us to worship – 2 Corinthians 1:19-20
*Prayer for God’s help to worship Him
*Song – #94, How Firm a Foundation
*Song – (handout), Psalm 9 (tune: Immortal, Invisible)
The long Prayer
Preaching – Romans 12:1, pt2
The Lord’s Supper
*Song – (handout), Behold The Lamb
*God’s Blessing upon His people
Parting Song – (handout), Behold The Lamb, v4 “And so with thankfulness we rise to respond…”
* = congregation standing as able
Labels: Orders of Worship, Worship Services
¶ 4:47 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Thursday, February 4, 2010
Special Collection for the Bible League on February 21
Because salvation is entirely of God, as a congregation we rest our hope only upon what Jesus has done; and, as we tell others about the amazing news of the gospels we employ God's methods. If you've been around Harvest long, you've heard of these methods referred to as "the means of grace": Word, Sacrament, and Prayer. We wouldn't think of saying "that's all?" about these ordinances through which God exerts His glorious power in His glorious salvation.
Because we are excited about God's salvation by grace alone, and because that gets us excited about the means of grace, we are delighted to announce to you the following opportunity to help local churches around the world. The Bible League distributes Bibles, focusing upon the poorest communities; and, they do it through partnering with and building up the local church. They don't just hand out Bibles; they help people study them. And, they train up members of the local church so that they can keep doing it.
Please consider how much you might cheerfully set aside for this work. We plan to take a special collection for it on Lord's Day, the 21st of February.
Because we are excited about God's salvation by grace alone, and because that gets us excited about the means of grace, we are delighted to announce to you the following opportunity to help local churches around the world. The Bible League distributes Bibles, focusing upon the poorest communities; and, they do it through partnering with and building up the local church. They don't just hand out Bibles; they help people study them. And, they train up members of the local church so that they can keep doing it.
Please consider how much you might cheerfully set aside for this work. We plan to take a special collection for it on Lord's Day, the 21st of February.
Labels: Announcements, World Missions
¶ 8:04 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
3-Feb-10 Elders' Meeting Roundup
The elders met last night for the regular monthly meeting. The following are some of the items of interest:
- we began a new devotional series, since the meetings are no longer preceded by prayer meetings. First up is a study of the Scriptural office of elder using With a Shepherd's Heart: Reclaiming the Pastoral Office of Elder by John R. Sittema. We found the first chapter inspiring and challenging, and a good reminder of our calling. Please pray that God would bless this study not only to our increased faithfulness among His flock, but that we would also see fruit from it in the lives of the congregation.
- we considered a request from the Bible League that we would take an offering for their ministry. They distribute Bibles in foreign countries, focusing especially upon poor areas. An important part of the ministry is that they do this through the local church as part of a Bible study and discipleship program, and the training of teachers in the local church as well. We will be viewing a video about this ministry at the afterparty for the next couple weeks and receiving a special offering for the Bible League on February 21.
- we received a report that due in part to significant front-loaded expenses at the beginning of the year, giving in January fell significantly short of expenses
- we received a report that the emergency collection for Haiti was $555
- we were reminded of the dates for the General Assembly, and at the next meeting we will revisit the matter of delegating ruling elders
- we delegated elders Gary Vander Hart and Craig De Haan to represent Harvest at the February 13 Presbytery meeting, with elder Matt Van Essendelft as alternate
- we approved pulpit leave for James on the evening of February 14, to attend the particularization of a PCA church in Sioux Falls; and, all day on April 11, to attend a conference and to preach in the worship of his former congregation in Mississippi
- but the bulk of the meeting was spent thanking God for the work that he has been doing in specific families' lives, thinking carefully about how to continue in shepherding them, and then praying for God's wisdom, help, and blessing upon the whole thing. With God's help, we are taking this privilege and responsibility very seriously, so when an elder calls and would like to visit with you, please do your best not just to make time for the meeting but to come prepared to do serious thinking before God about the care of your souls and the souls of those who have been entrusted to you. Remember--our sufficiency for this is from God, indeed it is Jesus Himself, whose benefits are applied to us by His infinitely powerful Holy Spirit!
Labels: Announcements, Elders' Meetings
¶ 7:37 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Directory for Public Worship - Prayer after the Sermon, Baptism (Worship Wednesday)
On Worship Wednesdays, I read on the subject of worship and am currently doing so through The Directory of the Publick Worship of God, written by the Westminster Assembly. Although the link is to a copy with commentary by Rowland Ward, I'm reading the one in the back of my Westminster Directory, so I'm afraid there won't be notes here on what Ward says (The Ward and Muller book will probably make an appearance on future Worship Wednesdays). The following are a portion of my notes:
Of Prayer after the Sermon (p381-382)
A Blessing Pronounced If No Other Ordinances That Day
--
Of Baptism (p382-384)
Of Prayer after the Sermon (p381-382)
- Offer thanks for
- the various works of the Father, Son and Spirit
- especially the gospel itself and all of its benefits
- naming covenant blessings specific to this congregation and church
- Asking
- for continuation of faithful Word, Sacrament, and Discipline here
- God's blessing upon each of these
- specific application of those points made from the Scripture by the sermon
- for preparation for last things (death, return, judgment, etc.)
- for blessing upon church and land
A Blessing Pronounced If No Other Ordinances That Day
--
Of Baptism (p382-384)
- is not to be unnecessarily delayed
- administered only by a minister
- only in corporate worship
- after teaching that
- it is instituted by Jesus
- it is a seal of
- the covenant of grace
- our ingrafting into Christ
- our union with Him
- the water signifies both the blood of Jesus and the work of the Spirit
- the washing signifies cleansing (mortification and rising to newness of life)
- by the blood of Christ
- for the merit of Christ
- through the death and resurrection of Christ
- the promise is made to believers ad their seed
- Jesus admitted children into His presence and said that the kingdom belonged to them
- they are being received into the church and are obligated to renounce and fight against the devil, the world, and the flesh
- children of believers are already set apart to God b/c of their parent
- the inward grace and virtue of baptism are not tied to the moment of its administration
- [e.g. they may come much later]
- they continue through the whole of life
- no one is in danger of damnation simply for not receiving water baptism
- this is just a pattern; the minister may use his own liberty to tailor to the situation
- admonish all present
- look back to their baptism
- repent of any covenant-breaking with God
- stir up their faith to make right use of their baptism
- exhort parent
- consider mercy of God to him and his child
- instruct, nurture, discipline the child in the Lord
- with warning of the danger of wrath upon himself and child if negligent in this duty
- prayer (that God would provide in time the inward realities and true benefits)
- words of institution, concurrent with application of water
- prayer
- thanking for the various mercies
- that the Lord would make the baptism effectual to the recipient, teaching him by His Word and Spirit
Labels: Directory for Public Worship, Worship Wednesday
¶ 5:08 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Romans 12:1 pt1 'Gospel, Urgent, Dependent, and Possible Obedience' (31-Jan-2010 Evening Sermon)
[click here to listen to the audio] (or right-click for more options)
- The only true kind of obedience is Gospel obedience. Doctrine matters, because the acceptability of our service corresponds partly to the theology that is in our hearts as we serve.
- No believer ever in this life grows out of the need for being urged on and pleaded with for this obedience.
- No believer ever in this life grows out of absolute dependence upon the pity of God. Every single day, we cannot obey except by the compassion of God.
- This kind of obedience is commanded to 'brothers', because it is only possible for those who have already been born again and justified. In fact, for them, it is not only possible but they are guaranteed to spend eternity doing this perfectly.
Labels: Messages, Romans, Sermons
¶ 2:11 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jeremiah 33:14-26 God's Promises Absolutely Certain in Jesus (31-Jan-2010 Evening Reading)
[click here to listen to the audio] (or right-click for more options)
[click here to read Jeremiah 33:14-26 online]
[click here to read Jeremiah 33:14-26 online]
Labels: Jeremiah, Messages, Serial Readings
¶ 1:58 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Genesis 30:25-43 'Get Rich Quick in Jesus' (31-Jan-2010 Morning Sermon)
[click here to listen to the audio] (or right-click for more options)
- God can bless us who are trapped in their circumstances
- God can bless us who face hostile opposition
- God can bless us who at times insanely think that we are contributing to the blessing
- God does all of this blessing for Jesus' sake and by Jesus' power
Labels: Genesis, Messages, Sermons
¶ 1:53 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Luke 3:21-4:13 'The Active Obedience of Jesus' (31-Jan-2010 Morning Reading)
[click here to listen to the audio] (or right-click for more options)
- In His baptism, Jesus identifies with us in our sin, and without becoming a sinner Himself
- Jesus has perfectly pleased God in His entire life leading up to His ministry
- Jesus is fully qualified to represent before God every single one of Adam's children
- As our champion, Jesus succeeds where Adam failed; He crushes Satan's head not just at the cross, but in every temptation throughout His entire life
Labels: Luke, Messages, Serial Readings
¶ 11:59 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Whitefield (Dallimore) - Vol 1, Pt 2, Ch 7 'Lasting Results' (Timeless Tuesday)
On Timeless Tuesdays, I read on the subject of church history and am currently doing so through George Whitefield by Arnold Dallimore. The following are a portion of my notes, for my reference and your additional edification:
7 - Lasting Results
7 - Lasting Results
- GW was popular and effective with all classes (p132)
- the result was his being under constant scrutiny and having no private life (p132-133)
- as his popularity grew, he guarded against pride by thinking often of the judgment seat of Christ and standing before Him--that he might not be moved by what he appears before men but rather by what he appears as before God (p134) -- [God help me to do this!]
- [of course] his doctrinal conviction and uncompromising preaching brought opposition from within the clergy and the church itself (p134-135)
- though he didn't do what we would call today "altar calls" he applied the gospel clearly and pointedly in preaching and many of those awakened during the preaching were later converted (p136)
- this often came as a result, partly, of their seeking him out for private pastoral counseling with the spiritual questions and concerns that arose in their hearts (p136-7)
- "He directed the needy soul to the Gospel promises and told him to plead them before God, and, on the basis of them, to seek the assurance that this Divine work was accomplished within his heart" (p137)
- He wouldn't just give credit to all claims of conversion. "He chose to wait until conversion had been manifested by months of a transformed life, and his attitude is well expressed in his words, 'Only the judgment morning will reveal who the converts really are'." (p137)
- the clergy/church characterized those who responded to Whitefield's ministry as fanatics, and wouldn't accept them or help them grow in Christian maturity, so Whitefield began organizing them into religious societies (p137-8)
- as his ship went port to port as he was leaving for Georgia, he began preaching extemporaneously for the first time--a skill and practice that would be needed for the rest of his life (p140)
- seeing the challenges ahead, he prayed "God give me a deep humility, a well-guided zeal, a burning love, and a single eye, and then let men or devils do their worst!" (p140)
Labels: Timeless Tuesday (History), Whitefield (Dallimore)
¶ 11:17 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Reformed Pastor (Baxter) - ch1 sec1 "The Nature of Taking Heed to Ourselves" (Ministry Monday)
On Ministry Mondays, I read on the subject of pastoral ministry and am currently doing so through The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter. The following are a portion of my notes, for my reference and your additional edification:
Chapter 1 - The Oversight of Ourselves
Section 1 - The Nature of This Oversight
What does it mean to take heed to ourselves?
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood." Acts 20.28
Section 1 - The Nature of This Oversight
What does it mean to take heed to ourselves?
- first, it means that we ourselves must see our need for the grace of God in Christ, must ourselves believe the gospel and depend wholly upon Christ, ourselves must fly in repentance from sin to Jesus, must ourselves be saved!
- "God never saved any man for being a preacher, nor because he was an able preacher" (p54)
- shall we not test and see whether we have gospel-transformed hearts, whether we see and love God in all of His works? (p58)
- second, we should consider not only whether we are saved, but if we are living and thriving and active and growing in grace
- this isn't simply for our sake as much as for those to whom we minister--shall they not have a minister who is vigorous in grace (p61)
- "be also careful that your graces are kept in vigorous and lively exercise, and that you preach to yourselves the sermons which you study, before you preach them to others" (p61)
- before we present ourselves before others to minister to them, "go then specially to God for life: read some rousing, awakening book, or meditate on the weight of the subject of which you are to speak, and on the great necessity of your people's souls" (p62-63)
- third, make sure that your living reflects all of your preaching
- do, yourself, whatever you command from Scripture (p65)
- "overcome them with kindness and patience and gentleness [...] speak not stoutly or disrespectfully to any one; but be courteous to the meanest, as to your equal in Christ. A kind and winning carriage is a cheap way of doing men good." (p66)
- do much good
- "Go to the poor, and see what they want, and show your compassion at once to their soul and body. Buy them a catechism, and other small books that are likely to do them good, and make the promise to read them with care and attention. Stretch your purse to the utmost, and do all the good you can." (p66)
- fourth, don't do anything that you condemn from Scripture (p67)
- finally, study much, be well-informed, know your flock, be diligent in the skill and preparation of your calling (p68-69)
- "what skill is necessary to make the truth plain; to convince the hearers, to let irresistible light in to their consciences, and to keep it there, and drive all home; to screw the truth into their minds, and work Christ into their affections; to meet every objection, and clearly to resolve it; to drive sinners to a stand, and make them see that there is no hope, but that they must unavoidable either be converted or condemned" (p70, emphasis mine)
- what skill and diligence and care is needed for preaching well, defending truth well, and pastoring individually well!
- wonderful word against excusing ministerial laziness with the idea that it is a form of dependence upon the Spirit: "O that men should dare, by their laziness, to 'quench the Spirit,' and then pretend the Spirit for the doing of it! 'O outrageous, shameful and unnatural deed!'" (p71)
Labels: Ministry Monday, Reformed Pastor (Baxter)
¶ 10:56 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
A Couple of Community Announcements
The following were passed along this week:
andWednesday, February 10, 20105:00-7:00 PMSoup SupperatAmerican Reformed Church407 Albany Avenue SEOrange City, IA(Fellowship Hall)Hosted by theARC Church Life and Fellowship Commission.The menu will be soup, sandwiches, desserts and drink.A freewill donation will be received.
The 2nd Annual Women of God Conference "Lord. Lord!" will be heldon April 16 and 17 at the New Life Reformed Church in Sioux Center.All women age 18-99 are invited to come! Come for worship, 3 inspiring speakers, beautiful artistry and 3 excellent meals.Also attend 3 of the 12 compelling workshops - including cooking, women's emotional and physical health, photography, books, growing good and godly kids, letting go and spirituality.Hear what Life 96.5 KNWC announcers Suzanne Lynn and Luane Christensen have to say about being stretched by God, and what Pastor Aaron Baart says to 'women only."Or join the 'choir room' and sing your hearts out with other women of the community. Relax. Enjoy. Be inspired and encouraged and fed at this warm and informal event for women.Cost for the entire conference is $30 before April 1. All proceeds go to The Bridge. The brochure will be posted online at www.thebridgehousing.org on Feb 12. Online registration will also open on the 12th.Check your churches for brochures and forms by Feb. 21. Register early - the conference is limited to the first 300 registrants! Questions please call The Bridge at 712.707.9922.
Labels: Announcements
¶ 6:06 AM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Saturday, January 30, 2010
Gospel Mystery of Sanctification (Marshall) - Direction 2 (Sanctification Saturday)
On Sanctification Saturdays, I read on the subject of growing in grace, and today I'm beginning Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Walter Marshall. The following are notes that I took from today's reading:
[it should be noted that Marshall's language is unusually rich, which means both that I will be covering ground more slowly and that merely reading my notes will provide even less than usual of the benefit of reading the text itself]
[it should be noted that Marshall's language is unusually rich, which means both that I will be covering ground more slowly and that merely reading my notes will provide even less than usual of the benefit of reading the text itself]
- Endowments and qualifications necessary for practice of the law (p11)
- hearts that desire to do so
- assurance of peace with God
- sure hope of infinite future joy
- certainty of sufficient strength both for willing and for doing
- hearts that desire to do so
- we cant have any of the other three without this one (p12)
- this is as opposed to zeal for righteousness that is not according to knowledge (p12)
- "because the chief of all the commandments is to love the Lord with our whole heart, might, and soul; to love everything that is in Him; to love His will, and all His ways, and to like them as good" it is literally impossible truly to obey Him as long as aversion or even indifference remains in us (p13)
- fantastic quote: "If it were true obedience (as some would have it) to love our duty only as a market man loves foul ways to the market, or as a sick man loves an unpleasant medicinal potion, or as a captive slave loves his hard work for fear of a greater evil; then it might be performed with averseness, or want of inclination; but we must love it, as the market man gain, as the sick man health, as pleasant meat and drink, as the captive liberty." (p13)
- our hearts need more than to be free to either good or evil; they need to be inclined hard after the good (p13)
- we need such a heart, because we were already bent the opposite way (p14)
- a new heart is both required by and promised by God to His people (p14)
- assurance of peace with God
- we cannot contribute any of our own good to reconciliation with God because we must have that peace completely before we are even able to do good! (p14)
- if with all his advantages Adam fell, then at minimum we need better advantages than he (p15)
- "Those that know their natural deadness under the power of sin and Satan, are fully convinced, that if God leave them to their own hearts they can do nothing but sin; and that they can do no good work, except it please God, of His great love and mercy, to work it out in them" but how can we hope for this unless we hope that God has already been reconciled? (p15)
- it will be impossible to be entirely submitted to God if we yet have any slavish fear (p15)
- we cannot love God's justice if we suspect that this justice may yet damn us (p16)
- the clear witness of the entire Bible is that salvation and redemption precede true obedience (proofs on pp16-17)
- sure hope of infinite future joy
- if we love God truly, we must know that in death we will continue to have Him, or we will be unwilling to submit to death (p17-18)
- God Himself frequently appeals to our future joy as a right incentive to true obedience (p18)
- certainty and longing for this happiness will necessarily issue in pursuit of the holiness in which we know that we will enjoy the happiness (p18)
- certainty of sufficient strength both for willing and for doing
- if we are willing to try to keep the law without assurance of some infinite external power, we show that we do not rightly estimate either our own weakness or the impossibility of true and full keeping of the law by Adam's children (p19)
- but in Scripture God does in fact continually encourage His people that in Him they will have sufficient strength (pile of proofs on p20)
Labels: Gospel Mystery of Sanctification (Marshall), Sanctification Saturday
¶ 9:49 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
31 January 2010 Worship Plan
Lord’s Day Morning Worship
*Scripture calls us to worship – Hebrews 10:6-7
*Song – #524, Thy Works, Not Mine, O Christ
Scripture reading and explanation – Luke 3:21-4:13
*Song – #520, Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness
The long Prayer
Preaching – Genesis 30:25-43
*Song – #521, My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
*God’s Blessing upon His people
Parting Song -- #521, v4, “When He shall come with trumpet sound…”
Lord’s Day Evening Worship
*Scripture calls us to worship – 2 Corinthians 1:3
*Prayer for God’s help to worship Him
*Song – #6, O Come, My Soul, Bless Thou the Lord
*Song – #311, Hail to the Lord’s Anointed
The long Prayer
The long Prayer
Preaching – Romans 12:1, pt1
*God’s Blessing upon His people
Parting Song -- #732, Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow
* = congregation standing as able
Labels: Orders of Worship, Worship Services
¶ 5:44 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Friday, January 29, 2010
Family Religion by Matthew Henry - A Church in the House (Family Friday)
On Family Fridays, I read on the subject of the family, and today I continue in Family Religion by Matthew Henry. The following are notes that I took from today's reading of the first section/sermon, "A Church in the House":
The texts for this sermon are 1 Cor 16:9 and those like it that refer to the members of certain households as "the church in their house."
The main point of the sermon is "'That the families of Christians should be little churches', or thus, 'That wherever we have a house, God should have a church in it.'" (p29)
Henry quickly adds, "Not that I would have these family churches set up and kept up in competition with, much less in contradiction to, public religious assemblies, which ought always to have the preference [...] these family churches (which are but figuratively so) must be erected and maintained in subordination to those more sacred and solemn establishments" (p29).
The texts for this sermon are 1 Cor 16:9 and those like it that refer to the members of certain households as "the church in their house."
The main point of the sermon is "'That the families of Christians should be little churches', or thus, 'That wherever we have a house, God should have a church in it.'" (p29)
Henry quickly adds, "Not that I would have these family churches set up and kept up in competition with, much less in contradiction to, public religious assemblies, which ought always to have the preference [...] these family churches (which are but figuratively so) must be erected and maintained in subordination to those more sacred and solemn establishments" (p29).
I. What Is a Church in the House?
a. A Family Devoted to God
i. Everyone in the family must be wholly set apart for and dedicated to God (p30-31)
ii. Even our baptisms testify that this is required of us (p31)
iii. “It is a good thing when a man has a house of his own, thus to convert it into a church, by dedicating it to the service and honour of God, that it may be a Bethel, a house of God, and not a Bethaven, a house of vanity and iniquity. Every good Christian who is a householder, no doubt doth this habitually and virtually; having first given his own self to the Lord, he freely surrenders all he has to Him” (p31-32)
b. A Society Employed for God: not just consecration but actual godly employments (p32)
i. Keep up Family Doctrine: how can we profess to own the truth if we do not know it and grow in that knowledge? (p33)
1. Read the Scriptures to your families (p33)
a. “requiring their attendance” (p33)
b. requiring “their attention to it” (p33)
c. “inquiring sometimes whether they understand what you read” (p33)
d. It is only relatively recent that the Scriptures have become so available; how ungrateful and dull we are if we don’t make considerable use of them! (p34)
2. You Must Also Catechize Your Children (p35)
a. “Oblige them to learn some good catechism by heart” (p35)
b. oblige them “to keep it in remembrance” (p35)
c. “help them to understand it, as they become capable” (p35)
d. “If this good work be not kept going forward, it will of itself go backward.” (p36)
e. “Public catechizing will turn to little account without family catechizing.” (p36)
f. “As mothers are children’s best nurses, so parents are, or should be, their best teachers.” (p36)
g. Children are already having their life-long characters shaped and can already (and are obligated already to) honor God (p37)
h. “they are made for eternity. Every child you have has a precious and immortal soul, that must be forever either in heaven or hell, according as it is prepared in this present state; and perhaps it must remove to that world of spirits very shortly” (p37)
i. “I know you cannot give grace to your children, nor is religious conversation [conversion] the constant consequence of a religious education […] but if you make conscience of doing your duty [… you] may comfortably leave the issue and success with God.” (p38)
ii. Keep up Family Worship (p38)
1. Family Prayer (p38)
a. Acknowledge Your Dependence upon God (p39)
i. God has founded your family by ordaining the family as an institution in the first place (p39)
ii. God has founded your specific family by the specific providence by which He brought it into being (p39)
iii. God is especially the God of all of the families of Israel (p39)
iv. Christ is Head of every church, even the one in your house (p3)
b. Confess Your Sins against God
i. “How sad is the condition of those families that sin together, and never pray together!” (p39)
ii. “even religious families, that are not polluted with gross and scandalous sins, yet have need to join every day in solemn acts and expressions of repentance before God for their sins of daily infirmity:” (p40)
1. Wasting words (p40)
2. Useless and even negative interaction (p40)
3. Constantly poor performance of and even neglect of our duties (p40)
4. Spurring each other on to sin instead of to good works (p40)
iii. “In many things we all offend God, and one another; and a penitent confession of it in prayer together will be the most effectual way of reconciling ourselves both to God, and to one another.” (p40)
c. Offer up Family Thanksgivings
i. Since we enjoy together so many mercies (such as protection, preservation, health, food, successes, peace), “Shall not the God of your mercies, your family mercies, be the God of your praises, your family praises, and that daily”? (p40-41)
ii. When a family gathers safely, “it is so reasonable, and (as I may say) so natural, for them to join together in solemn thanksgivings to their great Protector, that I wonder how any who believe in a God, and a providence, can omit it.” (p41)
d. Present Your Family Petitions (p41)
i. Ask basic provision
ii. Ask help in all of your family’s employments
iii. Cast all cares upon Him
iv. Seek all comforts from Him
v. Ask for Him to bless all trials to your family and to remove all trials from your family
vi. “you pray for them; it is well, but it is not enough; you must pray with them” (p42)
vii. Pray against your specific family’s specific temptations (p42):
1. “Busy families are in temptation to worldliness and neglect of religious duties;
2. Mixed families are in temptation to discord and mutual jealousies
3. Decaying families [families whose earthly welfare is under stress or diminishing] are in temptation to distrust, discontent, and indirect courses to help themselves” (p42)
viii. Blessings that we hope to enjoy together as a family ought to be asked for together as a family (p42)
e. Make Family Intercessions for Others Also (p42)
i. For extended Family (p43)
ii. For the country—“in the public peace likewise we and our families have peace” (p43)
iii. For God’s church everywhere, particularly where she suffers (p43)
2. Sing Psalms in Your Families
a. Every day and especially on the Lord’s Day (p43)
b. “It will warm and quicken you, refresh and comfort you; and perhaps, if you have little children in your houses, they will sooner take notice of it than of any other part of your family devotion” (p43-44)
iii. Keep up Family Discipline: “every man should bear rule in his own house (Esther 1:22). And since that as well as other power is of God, it ought to be employed for God; and they who so rule must be just, ruling in His fear […] you must use [your authority] for God’s honour, by it to engage them as far as you can, to do the will of God” (p44)
1. Countenance Every Thing That Is Good (p44)
a. “It is as much your duty to commend and encourage those in your family who do well as to reprove and admonish those who do amiss” (p44)
b. “say with the apostle, ‘Now I praise you’ (1Cor 11:2)” (p45)
i. “Smile upon them” whenever they are doing right (p45)
ii. Commend them as soon as possible (p45)
iii. Show that you are well pleased (p45)
iv. “Do not despise the day of small things” (p45)
v. “let them have the praise of it, for you have the comfort of it, and God must have all the glory” (p45)
2. Discountenance Every Thing That Is Evil (p45)
a. “Use your authority for the preventing of sin and the suppressing of every root of bitterness” (p45)
b. “Frown upon everything that brings sin into your families, and introduces any ill words, or ill practices:
i. Pride
ii. Passion
iii. Strife
iv. Contention
v. Idleness
vi. Intemperance
vii. Lying
viii. Slandering
ix. These are sins which you must not connive at, nor suffer to go without a rebuke” (p45)
c. “with holy zeal and resolution, and the meekness of wisdom, keep good order in your families, and set no wicked thing before their eyes, but witness against it” (p46)
II. Why Have a Church in Your House? (p46)
a. God will come to dwell with you (p46)
i. God “has said concerning the church, ‘This is My rest for ever, here will I dwell.’” (p46)
ii. “This presence and blessing of God will make your relations comfortable, your affairs successful, your enjoyments sweet” (p47)
iii. Furnish your house as a place for the dwelling of God; “set up and keep up for Him a throne and an altar, that from the altar you and yours may ‘give glory to Him’, and from the throne He may give law to you and yours” (p47)
b. God will be your sanctuary (p47)
i. “The way to be safe in your houses, is to keep up religion and the fear of God in your houses; so shall you dwell on high, and the place of your defence ‘shall be the munition of rocks’ (Isa. 33:16)” (p47)
ii. The saints in glory are happier but not safer!
iii. “Wherever we encamp, ‘under the banner of Christ’, the angels of God will ‘encamp round about us.’” (p48)
iv. “turn [your houses] into churches, and then they shall be taken under the special protection of Him who keeps Israel, ‘and neither slumbers nor sleeps’; and if any damage come to them it shall be made up in grace and glory.” (p48)
c. To keep Satan out (p49)
i. “If religion does not rule in your families, sin and wickedness will rule there.” (p49)
ii. “If the unclean spirit find the house in this sense empty, empty of good, though it be ‘swept and garnished, he takes to himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there’ (Matt. 12:44-5).” (p49)
iii. “Where no fear of God is, no reading, no praying, no devotion, what can one expect but all that is bad? Where there is impiety, there will be immorality; they who ‘restrain prayer, cast off fear’ (Job 15:4).” (p50)
d. For the enjoyment of your family (p50)
i. The home will be a place of joy (p50)
ii. The family will be a circle of love (p50)
iii. The household’s efforts will be a factory of success: “though they may not in everything issue to our mind, yet we may by faith foresee that they will at last issue to our good.” (p51)
iv. We will have comfort in every sorrow. “They that pray constantly when they are well, may pray comfortably when they are sick.” (p51)
e. So that you leave a good legacy (p51)
i. “it may be hoped they will be praising God for you, and praising God like you, here on earth, when you are praising Him in heaven.” (p51)
ii. An inheritance of godliness is worth infinitely more than an opulent estate [and congress can’t tax it!] (p52)
iii. “we should make known the ways of God to our children, that they may arise and declare them to their children (Ps. 78:6) and religion may become an heirloom in our families” (p52)
iv. “it is requisite that it be done from a higher and better principle than purely to keep up the custom of the family, yet better so than not at all: and the form of godliness may by the grace of God at length prove the happy vehicle of its power” (p52)
f. For the prosperity of the church
i. “a church in the house will contribute very much to the prosperity of the church of God in the nation” (p53)
ii. “if there were a church in every house, there would be such a church in our land as would make it a praise throughout the whole earth.” (p53)
iii. “We cannot better serve our country than by keeping up religion in our families.” (p53)
iv. It will significantly improve our use of the public means of grace
1. “let families be well catechized, and then the public preaching of the word will be the more profitable, and the more successful” (p53)
2. “if every family were a praying family, public prayers would be the better joined in, more intelligently, and more affectionately” (p53)
3. “and public reproofs and admonitions would be as a nail in a sure place, if masters of families would second them with their family discipline, and so clench those nails” (p54)
III. How to Have a Church in Your House (p54)
a. Begin a good work
i. “first set up Christ upon the throne in your hearts, and then set up a church for Christ in your house” (p54)
ii. “let those who have houses of the greatest care and business, reckon family religion their best employment, and not neglect the one thing needful” (p55)
iii. “Put on resolution, and you may set up this tabernacle tonight, before tomorrow” (p55)
iv. “Many objections your own corrupt hearts will make against building these churches, but they will all appear frivolous and trifling to a pious mind that is steadfastly resolved for God and godliness; you will never go on in your way to heaven, if you will be frightened by lions in the street” [making reference to several proverbs] (p56)
v. “Be not loath to begin a new custom, if it be a good custom, especially if it be a duty (as certainly this is) which while you continue in the neglect of, you live in sin for omissions are sins and must come into judgment” (p56)
vi. “Begin this day; let this be the day of your laying the foundation of the Lord’s temple in your house” (p56)
vii. “I am loath to leave you unresolved, or but almost persuaded; I beg of you, for God’s sake, for Christ’s sake, for your own precious soul’s sake, and for the children’s sake of your own bodies, that you will live no longer in the neglect of so great, and necessary and comfortable a duty as this of family worship.” (p57)
viii. “you get no good by this sermon [… if after…] it you continue in the neglect of family religion” (p57)
b. Revive a good work (p57)
i. This section addresses those who used to do this by have slacked off
ii. “you are so eager in your worldly pursuits, that you have neither hearts nor time for religious exercises. You began at first frequently to omit the service, and a small matter served for an excuse to put it by, and so by degrees it came to nothing” (p57)
iii. “has not sin got ground in your hearts and in your houses?” (p58)
iv. “are you not grown less frequent and less fervent in your closet devotions too?” (p58)
v. “repair the altar of the Lord, and begin again the daily sacrifice” (p58)
c. Maintain a good work (p58)
i. Don’t “grow customary in your accustomed services, and bring the ‘torn and the blind, the lame and the sick’” (p58)
ii. “you put it off with a small and considerable scantling of your day, and that the gregs and refuse of it. You can spare no time at all for it in the morning, nor any in the evening, till you are half asleep.” (p59)
iii. “it is done so slightly, in so much haste, and with so little reverence, that it makes no impression upon yourselves or your families” (p59)
iv. “Go and religion have in effect no place in your hearts or houses, if they have not the innermost and uppermost place” (p59)
d. Adorn your practice (p60)—i.e. live completely that which you are on your knees
e. Do not procrastinate (p60)
f. Always take the church with you (p61)
i. Do it wherever you go (p61)
ii. If you must leave for a while, make sure it continues in your absence (p61-62)
g. Be whole-hearted (p62)—it must be real in your life personally; if it is not your pleasure, how can you expect it to become your family’s?
h. Remember that you are never alone (p62)—even single people have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit with them at all times and may use their singleness as an occasion for much more private worship (p62-63)
i. Let spiritual concerns govern family choices, deciding… (p63)
i. Where you live (p63)
ii. Whom you marry (p63)
iii. What you learn and where you learn it (p63)
iv. Where you work (p63)
j. Let Christian families uphold one another … “Religious families should greet one another, visit one another, love one another, pray for one another, and as becomes households of faith, do all the good they can one to another; forasmuch as they all meet daily at the same throne of grace, and hope to meet shortly at the same throne of glory” (p63-64)
k. Enjoy God “Make it to appear by your holy cheerfulness that you find God a good Master; wisdoms ways pleasantness, and her paths peace; and that you see no reason to evny those who spend their days in carnal mirth, for you are acquainted with better pleasures than to which they can pretend.” (p64)
Labels: Family Friday, Family Religion (Henry), Family Worship
¶ 8:58 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Thursday, January 28, 2010
Just War (Theology Thursday)
Today is Theology Thursday, but I took a break from Hodge, because I needed to read on the topic of "Just War" for tonight and didn't have anywhere else to squeeze it in. The following are some brief notes from what I found. Where there is repetition from an earlier writer, I haven't necessarily noted the idea again.
Update, 29-Jan: I've added some clarification in italics in the notes on Aquinas.
Thomas Aquinas, "Of War (Four Articles)" in the Summa Theologica (Benziger Bros. edition 1947)
Hodge in Systematic Theology, Part 3, ch19, sec. 10
Update, 29-Jan: I've added some clarification in italics in the notes on Aquinas.
Thomas Aquinas, "Of War (Four Articles)" in the Summa Theologica (Benziger Bros. edition 1947)
- repentance for soldiers did not include renouncing war or soldiering (Lk 3:14)
- if those in authority bear the sword to punish evildoers (Rom 13:4), this cannot mean merely internal ones
- those who wield authority from God, in Psalm 82, are commanded to rescue the poor and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner (Ps 82:4)
- three things are necessary for the war to be just
- proper authority (a sovereign state) to wage
- a just cause (either to stop sin or to properly avenge it and restore)
- proper motive (desire for peace, justice, or propagate good)
- [I don't know if "propagate good" actually adds to the other two. Exactly what "good" might we wish to propagate through war beyond peace and justice? It seems to me an easy way of justifying needless wars. As for judging motive before we go to war, it makes it rather complicated if we have a couple hundred million motives to examine. HOWEVER, every single one of us to God for our own part, even if that part is silent approval--even if my entire nation is engaged in a just war, if I myself participate in it unjustly from the heart, I will answer at the bar of God for that.]
- "Indeed, if they rightly punish those robbers whose harmful acts have affected only a few, will they allow a whole country to be afflicted and devastated by robberies with impunity?" (F L Battles translation, p1499)
- the same reasons for waging war that existed in the OT continue today
- there is nothing in the NT that prohibits states from protecting/defending their citizens
- the purpose of the NT was not to describe how to establish civil government
- again, the heart motive of the magistrate is important
- "Let them also (as Augustine says) have pity on the common nature in the one whose special fault they are punishing." (p1500)
- war should be a last resort, and engaged only out of a concern for the people
- "Christ did not take away, but confirmed, the authority of the magistrate" (p113)
- the faiths of military men are commended in Mt 8:10, Ac 10:1
- Paul was ok with having a military guard in Ac 23
- War is always unjust on at least one side (Ja 4:1), but it is frequently lawful
Hodge in Systematic Theology, Part 3, ch19, sec. 10
- "the right to self-defence belongs to nations as well as to individuals" (p365)
- "Nations also have the right to defend their own existence. If that be endangered by the conduct of other nations, they have the natural right of self-protection." (p365)
- this doesn't necessarily mean that the other must strike the first blow, just as we don't wait to actually be struck by a murderer before beginning to defend ourselves
- "what a man may not do in the protection of his own rights, and on the plea of self-defence, a nation may not do. A nation therefore is bound to exercise great forbearance, and to adopt every other available means of redressing wrongs, before it plunges itself and others into all the demoralizing miseries of war." (p366)
- we worship the same God as the patriarchs and prophets
- without some new prohibition, we should not think what was permissible in the OT is no longer so
- "human life is God's loan to His creatures [...] It is therefore simply a question of revealed testimony, whether God has, in any cases, deputized to man, or to society, the authority to take life." (p402)
- war only permissible when "necessary for the defence of just and vital rights" (p403)
- passivity only invites more aggression, and "the very fact [...] that agressive war is such an enormous crime only makes it more clear that the injured party" may do whatever is necessary to force the aggressor to return to doing justice (p403)
- Heb 11:34 says that being mighty in war may be an act of the same faith that Christians are now commanded to exercise
- "Aggressive war is wholesale murder; and when the government sends out its army to repel and chastise the invader, it does but inflict summary execution on the murderer caught in the act." (p404)
- "If there were no sin there would be no war" (p179)
- "Love is not inconsistent with the infliction of punishment for wrong." (p179)
- "Love is first of all love to God." (p179)
- in essence, a just war is one that is actually fought out of love to God first and also to men
- "war is never just when it is the instrument of hate." (p179)
- when Matthew 5 teaches us to love our enemies, it includes by taking the perfection of God our Father as the pattern for the perfection to which we strive... when God wages war--something with which He is not yet done--is He unjust?
Labels: Theology Thursday
¶ 6:37 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Amazing Grace: from Glory-Suppressors to Glory-Exulters
John Currid has posted a great illustration of what I weakly demonstrated as the point of Romans 11:36 as the conclusion to the argument begun in Romans 1:18-23.
Click the link; think of how amazed Newton must have been, and how amazed you an I should be at the grace of God to US, considering the greatness of OUR SIN
Think of what it will be like, when we finally see and appreciate Him as He is, to consider that we had pushed down and despised His infinite glory, and that He chose to display that glory by actually enabling us to delight infinitely in Him forever.
How can it be that we are not more amazed by grace? We simply do not feel the filth of our sin or the weight of our guilt.
Click the link; think of how amazed Newton must have been, and how amazed you an I should be at the grace of God to US, considering the greatness of OUR SIN
Think of what it will be like, when we finally see and appreciate Him as He is, to consider that we had pushed down and despised His infinite glory, and that He chose to display that glory by actually enabling us to delight infinitely in Him forever.
How can it be that we are not more amazed by grace? We simply do not feel the filth of our sin or the weight of our guilt.
Labels: Best of the Web, Sermon Follow-Up
¶ 11:38 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
