Thoughts and Meditations

Personal comments made by David F. Reagan unless otherwise stated

December 28, 2006

No Shame to be Small - “Most churches are small. In America, for example, fifty percent of churches average fewer than 75 attendees on any given Sunday, and only 5 percent attract more than 350, according to Barna’s surveys. These statistics are not denied; it’s their interpretation that is in question. Church growth gurus use these figures to prove that the church has lost its edge—it is not making a significant impact on society. But is this the case? David Wells shares his thoughts,  

“‘A century ago, in 1890… the average Protestant church had only 91.5 members, not all of whom would have been in attendance on any given Sunday; a century before that, in 1776, the average Methodist congregation had 75.7 members. It seems to be the case that our churches today are about the same size as they have always been, on average, and the supposition that we are now experiencing drastic shrinkage needs to be clearly justified before it can be allowed to become the premise for new and radical strategies.’” –from This Little Church Went to Market by Gary Gilley (p.40). Read 1Samuel 14:6; 2Corinthians 10:12.

Ezekiel’s Temple - In his prophecy “of the Messianic salvation, Ezekiel pictures a future sacrificial service with so many details and such exact and particular statements and measurements that it seems scarcely possible to understand it all as simply symbolic and spiritual. The difficulty then is that, in spite of the instruction in Hebrews (Hebrews 10:10, 14; 8:13; 7:18), there will then be a service of sacrifices after the completed work on Golgotha; and that this will include burnt offerings, meat offerings, thank offerings, and sin offerings, a priesthood, and a holding of special feasts (Passover, Tabernacles: Ezekiel 45:21; Zechariah 14:16).  

“It is possible to resolve this difficulty by regarding these offerings as holding much the same status as Baptism and the Supper in this present time, this is, as tokens of remembrance, as representations of the now accomplished work of redemption. They will be symbolic pictures looking backward, just as the Old Testament offerings, done away by the Cross, looked forward, to a foreseen but then still future work of redemption, which at that time was not yet accomplished but which would be carried out in due time, even ‘when the fullness of times is come’ (Galatians 4:4).” –from From Eternity to Eternity by Erich Sauer (p.38-39).  

December 27, 2006

Power of the Written Word – “Julius Hickerson was a promising young doctor who could have enjoyed a comfortable life in the United States, but he felt God’s call to serve as a missionary in Colombia, ministering to souls as well as bodies. His friends and associates thought he was crazy, and he himself must have wondered when, after two years, he could point to few visible results of his labor. It ended in tragedy as he was killed in a plane crash attempting to take supplies to a remote village. 

“But in the wreckage some natives found a well-marked Bible in their language, and they began to read it. They told others what they had read, and before long churches were started. The Southern Baptists, unaware of what had taken place, sent a missionary back into the area, and he discovered the place fully evangelized. When the missionary asked how it had happened, the Colombians showed him a Bible. On the inside of the cover was a name—Julius Hickerson. The written Word of God will not return empty.” –from The Trivialization of God by Donald W. McCullough (p.124-125). Read Isaiah 55:11; Hebrews 4:12.  

Topics: Scripture, Missions, Power of the Word 

Beauty of Holiness – God’s holiness “is his glory and beauty. Holiness is the honor of the creature; sanctification and honor are linked together (1Thessalonians 4:4); much more is it the honor of God; it is the image of God in the creature (Ephesians 4:24). When we take the picture of a man, we draw the most beautiful part, the face, which is a member of the greatest excellency. When God would be drawn to the life, as much as can be, in the spirit of his creatures, he is drawn in this attribute, as being the most beautiful perfection of God, and most valuable with him. Power is his hand and arm; omniscience his eye; mercy, his bowels; eternity, his duration; his holiness is his beauty (2Chronicles 20:21); --‘should praise the beauty of holiness.’ 

“In Psalm 27:4, David desires ‘to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple;’ that is, the holiness of God manifested in his hatred of sin in the daily sacrifices. Holiness was the beauty of the temple (Isaiah 64:11); holy and beautiful house are joined together; much more the beauty of God that dwelt in the sanctuary. This renders him lovely to all his innocent creatures, though formidable to the guilty ones. A heathen philosopher could call it the beauty of the Divine essence, and say, that God was not so happy by an eternity of life, as by an excellency of virtue.” –from Existence and Attributes of God: Volume Two by Stephen Charnock (p.112-113).  

Topics: Holiness, Beauty

December 26, 2006

Rejoice in Your Position – “In Luke 10 we have the account of the seventy’s going out to witness for the Lord. They came back rejoicing in the many experiences they had encountered. They had even cast demons out of others. As they became more and more excited, Jesus did not seem to be joining in with them. Instead, He told them that, if they were going to rejoice over experiences, He had reason to rejoice more than all of them. ‘I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven… Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven’ (Luke 10:17-20).  

“Jesus is telling us to rejoice in who we are, not in what we do. Rejoice in your position, not necessarily in your practice. Your practice can change, your position cannot. Know your position. Any football coach will tell his players that as he works with the team. ‘Know your position,’ a coach will yell. When we all learn and practice our position, then we can work as a team for God’s glory. 

“Nobody spent more time clarifying the doctrine of our position in Christ than did the apostle Paul. In fact, he pens the phrase in Christ 130 times in the 13 epistles that he wrote. He used that phrase more than any other, knowing both its importance and the problem Christians would have if they were shaky on the subject.” –from The God You Can Know by Dan DeHaan (p.100).  

Topics: Joy, Rejoicing, Position in Christ 

Unjust Justice – “Suppose a farmer discovers three boys drowning in his pond where he had placed signs forbidding swimming. Further, noting their blatant disobedience he says to himself, ‘They have violated the warning and have broken the law, and they have brought these deserved consequences on themselves.’ Thus far he is manifesting his sense of justice. But if the farmer proceeds to say, ‘I will make no attempt to rescue them,’ we would immediately perceive that something is lacking in his love. And suppose by some inexplicable whim he should declare: ‘even though the boys are drowning as a consequence of their own disobedience, nonetheless, out of the goodness of my heart I will save one of them and let the other two drown.’ In such a case we should surely consider his love to be partial and imperfect. 

“Certainly this is not the picture of the God of the Bible, who ‘so loved the world’ (John 3:16) and sent His Son to be a sacrifice not only for the sins of some ‘but also for the sins of the whole world’ (1John 2:2); whose Son ‘died for the ungodly’ (Romans 5:6) and not just for the elect. Indeed, the God of the Bible wants all men to be saved and ‘and to come unto the knowledge of the truth’ (1Timothy 2:4).” –from Chosen But Free by Norman Geisler (p.50).  

December 22, 2006

In Self Defense – As a young man, “Basil Manly [a prominent nineteenth century Baptist preacher] defended his honor and won his place as a Southern gentleman at the South Carolina College. On December 3, 1821, Dr. Thomas Cooper, the Jeffersonian republican and British expatriate, prepared to preside over the first commencement exercises under his administration as president of the South Carolina College. At the final meeting before the graduates marched to the ceremonies, Manly, the valedictorian, was attacked by a jealous rival, who had been close to the first rank. The resentful student at first attempted to argue with Manly, but was met with a coolness that only made him more angry. He then rushed at Manly with a dirk, aimed at his chest. Manly warded off the knife and defended himself.  

“As his brother, Governor Charles Manly, later told it, Manly struck his assailant in the face and, ‘flew upon him like a raging tiger, seizing him by the throat with both hands, bore him to the ground, throwing himself heavily upon his body where the fellow could neither kick not “holler”’ The assailant’s friends tried to pull Manly off, ‘but some of the by-standers interfered, declaring that [Basil] had been cowardly attacked without provocation and that he should have his satisfaction.’ Soon the assailant dropped his knife, but it seemed that Manly was going to choke him to death. Others moved in to pull him off, although with difficulty, as Manly’s fingers were ‘literally buried in his throat.’ The attacker was taken away, Manly resumed his place, amidst cheers from the graduates, who all ‘threw up their hats and swore it was the best fight they had ever seen a Baptist preacher make.’” –from Chaplain to the Confederacy by A. James Fuller (p.26-27).  

Symbolism of the Color White – “In the color symbolism of the Old Testament service of God white is the chief and characteristic color of priesthood. The garments of the priests were white, white were the working clothes of the Levites. White was also the chief color of the high priestly clothing. For white is the color of light and purity, the floor of feasting and joy, the symbolic color of the world of blessed spirits, and the priesthood stood in special relation to that world beyond. It served the Lord of spirits, was to set forth and restore union with Him, should serve Him in holiness and purity, clearness and true light, and by its mediatorial service be a bridge leading to fellowship with Him and so to blessedness and joy. Therefore there could be nothing more suitable than that white should be prophetically the chief color symbol of priestly service.” –from From Eternity to Eternity by Erich Sauer (p.35).

December 21, 2006

In Word and in Deed – “Gerherd Ebeling, in a lecture on Martin Luther delivered to all the faculties of the University of Zurich, asked, ‘Why did Luther’s Reformation, in contrast to all prior attempts at reformation, become a reformation in deed and not just in words?’ His provocative answer was, ‘Luther’s Reformation became a reformation in deed and not just in words because Luther trusted only in the Word and not at all in deeds.’” –from The Trivialization of God by Donald W. McCullough (p.124).

Swearing by His Holiness – God reserves a special place among His many attributes for His holiness. “He singles it out to swear by (Psalm 89:35): ‘Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David:’ and (Amos 4:2), ‘The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness:’ he twice swears by his holiness; once by his power (Isaiah 62:8); once by all, when he swears by his name (Jeremiah 44:26). He lays here his holiness to pledge for the assurance of his promise, as the attribute most dear to him, most valued by him, as though no other could give an assurance parallel to it in this concern of an everlasting redemption which is there spoken of: he that swears, swears by a greater than himself; God having no greater than himself, swears by himself: and swearing here by his holiness, seems to equal that single one to all his other attributes, as if he were more concerned in the honor of it, than of all the rest.” –from Existence and Attributes of God: Volume 2 by Stephen Charnock (p.112).

December 19, 2006

To Worship God – To worship means to tell God His worth. ‘Doesn’t He already know?’ we might ask. Yes, He knows, but it is in the act of worship that He reveals Himself to us. It is also in the act of worship that we become what we worship. We can talk about becoming like Jesus Christ all our lives, but until we worship Him aright, we will stay basically the same. The twenty-four elders cried out, ‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power’ (Revelation 4:11). When men seek glory, honor, and power, it causes war, divisions, divorce, and disharmony. No worshipper of Jesus Christ ever desires to rob God of His glory. 

“Get alone often just to sit and tell the Lord what He is worth to you. My wife does that though writing letters to the Lord. I enjoy worshipping through hymns in a hymnbook or through the Psalms. Others I know have what is called a ‘Praise Page’ in their devotional notebooks. It is a page on which God’s worth and many of His attributes are listed. The point is clear. Worship is mandatory.” –from The God You Can Know by Dan DeHaan (p.93). 

December 18, 2006

A. W. Tozer’s View on the Sovereignty of God – “Here is my view: God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make but that he should be free to make it. If in His absolute freedom God has willed to give man limited freedom, who is there to stay His hand and say, ‘What doest thou?’ Man’s will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so.” –from The Knowledge of the Holy (p.118). 

Both Justice and Mercy – “The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ was an appalling alternative. Was it inevitable? Could not its blood, and groans, and agonies, have been spared? Might not a God of infinite power have pardoned, sanctified and saved you, by an act of His own absolute sovereignty, and irrespective of any other consideration? To these, and all similar inquiries, inspiration responds definitely: ‘God is faithful. He cannot deny Himself’ (2Timothy 2:13). Justice is a constituent part of His nature. Could He have remained faithful, and permitted sin to pass with impunity? Not to have rebuked and punished transgression, He must have ‘denied Himself.’ But God ‘cannot deny Himself.’ 

December 15, 2006

Moved to Thankfulness – “The mercies of God make the heart thankful. ‘What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation’ (Psalm 116:12-13). David alludes to the people of Israel, who at their peace-offerings used to take a cup in their hands, and give thanks to God for deliverances. Every mercy is an alms of free grace; and this enlarges the soul in gratitude. A good Christian is not a grave to bury God’s mercies, but a temple to sing His praises. If every bird in its kind, as Ambrose says, chirps forth thankfulness to its Maker, much more will an ingenuous Christian, whose life is enriched and perfumed with mercy.” –from All Things for Good by Thomas Watson (p.18-19). 

Free Will Not Against Predestination – “Let’s again illustrate the harmony of predetermination and free choice. Suppose you cannot watch your favorite sports event live on TV. So you videotape it. When you watch it later, the entire game and every play in it are absolutely determined and can never be changed. No matter how many times you rerun it, the final score, as well as every aspect of every play, will always be the same. Yet when the game happened, every event was freely chosen. No one was forced to play. Therefore, the same event was both determined and free at the same time. 

December 14, 2006

Gladly Accepting God’s Call – J. B. Jeter (1802-1880) served as a prominent Baptist pastor and author in the State of Virginia. In his Recollections of a Long Life (p.60), he gave this testimony of his call into the ministry: “I continued to preach from time to time, as opportunities offered, sometimes with freedom and pleasure, and not unfrequently with confusion and shame. I glided into the ministry without carefully inquiring whether I had been divinely called to it. After some months my mind became quite anxious on the subject. I feared that I had run before I was called. My call, if call I had, seemed to differ widely from that of many of the old preachers. They represented, or seemed to represent, that they had been constrained to enter the ministry sorely against their wills. The words of the apostles were often on their lips: ‘necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!’ [1Corinthians 9:16]. 

“Unfortunately for me, as I supposed, I had a wish to preach the gospel. Of all enjoyments, preaching seemed to me to be the most desirable and the most honorable. I preferred being a preacher—poor, despised, and persecuted—to being a king or an emperor. I might have found in the context of the oft-quoted scripture a corrective of my error. The apostle adds to the threatened woe of failing to preach the gospel the promised reward of preaching it cheerfully: ‘if I do this thing [preach the gospel] willingly, I have a reward.’ Neglecting to examine the passage in its connection, I missed the instruction which it contained. It was several years before my mind was entirely relieved of its doubts and anxieties by the words of Paul: ‘If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work’ [1Timothy 3:1].” 

December 13, 2006

Worldliness in the Church – “The Church Jesus called out of this world to be separated unto Himself has, to a great extent, forgotten her reason for existence. Her loss of balance is seen in the current absence of holiness, spiritual reality and concern for the lost. Substituted for the life she once knew are teaching and reaching for prosperity, politics, and social involvement. ‘Evangelical Christianity,’ commented Tozer prophetically before his death, ‘is now tragically below the New Testament standard. Worldliness is an accepted fact of our way of life. Our religious mood is social instead of spiritual.’

“The further our leaders wander from the Lord, the more they turn to the ways of the world. One church in Dallas spent several million dollars to construct a gymnasium ‘to keep our young people interested in church.’ Many churches have become like secular clubs with softball teams, golf lessons, schools and exercise classes to keep people coming to their buildings and giving them their tithes. Some churches have gone so far from the Lord that they sponsor yoga and meditation courses—Western adaptations of Hindu religious exercises.” –from Revolution in World Missions by K. P. Yohannan (p.121). 

Detour Around the Wrath of God – “Today we say very little to arouse or offend the calloused and careless churchgoers among us. When John Wesley preached, he would hang the people’s consciences over hell itself until someone would cry out in the service. Then he knew it was time to move on to God’s grace. He had his hearers sweating for grace, and what relief when it arrived! Today, all of God’s other characteristics are seen lightly because the wrath of God is not an issue. We find no sweating saints or sinners today. We are increasingly wrapped up with how the sermon affects ‘us’ instead of ‘what does God think about this.’ 

December 12, 2006

Let it Loose – “Charles Spurgeon once said, ‘The way you defend the Bible is the same way you defend a lion. You just let is loose.’ As the vehicle for the living Word of God, the Bible has within itself the power for creation and redemption. 

“During my years as a pastor, I often witnessed this power at work in people’s lives. A woman once came to me, for example, and requested baptism. I asked her why she wanted to take this step, and she explained that she was a student at the University of California, majoring in Political Science. She had been a Marxist, but for one of her classes had to write a paper on Christianity. So, to be fair, she read the New Testament and it had changed her forever. She met Jesus Christ, who proved to far more radical than Karl Marx.” –from The Trivialization of God by Donald W. McCullough (p.123). 

Peak of God’s Perfections – In Existence and Attributes of God (p.112), Stephen Charnock says of the divine attribute of holiness: “If any, this attribute hath an excellency above his other perfections. There are some attributes of God we prefer, because of our interest in them, and the relation they bear to us: as we esteem his goodness before his power, and his mercy whereby he relieves us, before his justice whereby he punisheth us; as there are some we more delight in, because of the goodness we receive by them; so there are some that God delights to honor, because of their excellency. 

December 11, 2006

Go For Souls – “Real Christian mission always is aware there is eternal hell to shun and heaven to gain. We need to restore the balanced vision General William Booth had when he started the Salvation Army. He had an unbelievable compassion for winning lost souls to Christ. His own words tell the story of what he envisioned for the movement: ‘Go for souls, and go for the worst.’” –from Revolution in World Missions by K. P. Yohannan (p.121-122).

That is God’s Money – I. B. Kimbrough was born in Tennessee in 1826 and became a Baptist preacher in that state until he moved to Texas in 1879. There, he served the Lord until his death in 1902. In later years, he gave the following record of an incident he had in Tennessee when he traveled and raised money for the Carson-Newman College, a Baptist training ground for preachers. As he traveled through a secluded forest, he was met by two men who held their guns on him and insisted that he dismount from his horse and hand over all his money. 

“After dismounting, he laid his money in two piles, then turning to the highwaymen he said: ‘Gentlemen, this small pile of money is mine: you are at liberty to rob me of that; the larger pile is God’s money, and I dare you to touch it. I collected it for the young preachers of the state who are struggling for an education at Carson and Newman College.’” The robbers then inquired of his work. He told them that he was a Baptist preacher and explained his mission. The older robber told him, “We will not take either your money or the money of the young preachers.” 

Kimbrough then told the men, “Young men, you are in a bad business. I believe you ought to give it up. In the meantime, I will be grateful if you will help me in the work in which I am engaged.” We do not know whether or not the men gave up their occupation, but before they rode off on their horses, they each gave him $5.00 for his offering. –from This Day in Baptist History (p.261-262).

December 8, 2006

God’s Secretaries – In his book called God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible (p.184), John Nicolson explains his use of this title: “Those who originally wrote the words of the Bible had been God’s secretaries, as loyal, as self-suppressing, as utterly disposed to the uses of the divine will as those royal secretaries, the Cecils, had so conspicuously been to Elizabeth and James. Self-abnegation in the service of greatness was the ideal. 

“Secretaryship is one of the great shaping forces behind the King James Bible. There is no authorship involved here. Authorship is egotistical, an assumption that you might have something new worth saying. You don’t. Every iota of the Bible counts but without it you count for nothing. The secretary knows that. Like Robert Cecil, he can be clever, canny, resourceful and energetic but, for all the frustrations, he does not distort the source of his authority. A secretary, whether of God or of a king, is in a position of dependent power. He has no authority without hesitation or compromise. He is nothing without his master but everything through him. Loyalty is power and submission control. For this reason, biblical translation, like royal service, could only be utterly faithful. Without faithfulness, it became meaningless.”

Love Removes the Torment of Fear – “To know that love is of God and to enter into the secret place leaning upon the arm of the Beloved—this and only this can cast out fear. Let a man become convinced that nothing can harm him and instantly for him all fear goes out of the universe. The nervous reflex, the natural revulsion to physical pain may be felt sometimes, but the deep torment of fear is gone forever. God is love and God is sovereign. His love disposes Him to desire our everlasting welfare and His sovereignty enables Him to secure it. Nothing can hurt a good man. 

            The body they may kill:

            God’s truth abideth still,

            His kingdom is forever.

                        Martin Luther”

 --from The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer (p.106).

December 7, 2006

Importance of the Cross – The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is associated indissolubly with all your highest conceptions of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and is interwoven with every emotion of gratitude and love that swells your bosom, or gives joy to your heart. Not, indeed, the literal cross. It is not to this, much less any material representation of it, to which you look with so much feeling. 

“By the cross, is meant, not wood, nor silver, nor gold, but the great satisfaction to divine justice, by the Son of God, in behalf of sinners; the glorious offering, which was the object of Messiah’s mission; and which Jehovah was graciously pleased to approve and accept. The cross is but the symbol. It was the offering itself which gave it significance, and by which it has become forever associated with all those blessings which so expand themselves from everlasting to everlasting; whose depths reach those that have sunk lowest into the abyss of crime and misery; and whose heights throw a radiance even upon the throne and crown of the eternal God Himself.” –from The Cross by R.B.C. Howell (p.1-2). 

Entertaining Godliness to Death – “Too many Christians, just like their unsaved counterparts, are impressed by appearances rather than structure; are seeking thrills and excitement rather than substance; are more apt to respond to emotional manipulation than to rational discourse. How does a church compete in this rather crowded marketplace? If entertainment has become the standard way of life (as some are suggesting) then how can the churches vie unless they become a bastion of entertainment? 

December 6, 2006

Two Kinds of Blessings – In All Things For Good (p.15), Thomas Watson expounds on Romans 8:28. “The goodness of God works for good, as it ushers in all blessings. The favours we receive are the silver streams which flow from the fountain of God’s goodness. This divine attribute of goodness brings in two sorts of blessings.

·         “Common blessings: all partake of these, the bad as well as the good. The sweet dew falls upon the thistle as well as the rose [Matthew 5:45; Acts 14:17].

·         “Crowning blessings: these only the godly partake of. Who ‘crowneth thee with lovingkindness’ (Psalm 103:4). Thus the blessed attributes of God work for good to the saints.” Read Psalm 65:11.

 Christ is Also God – Tertullian of Carthage lived from about 150AD to 212AD. He was a Christian author who wrote many books on Bible doctrines. “Tertullian said of Jesus, ‘Christ is also God’ because ‘that which has come forth from God [in the virgin birth] is at once God and the Son of God, and the two are one… in His birth, God and man united.’ Jesus is ‘both Man and God, the Son of Man and the Son of God.’ He wrote of Jesus that, ‘He is God, and man… We have here a dual condition – not fused but united – in one person, Jesus as God and man.’ ” –from AMG’s Encyclopedia of World Religions, Cults and the Occult (p.19).

December 5, 2006

God’s Talk is Action – “The first verses of the Bible tell us that God spoke the universe into being. God said, ‘Let there be light [Genesis 1:3],’ and nothing sat up and became something, darkness blazed into luminescent brilliance. ‘God said… God said… God said…’—the phrase is repeated again and again in the creation story, as if to leave no doubt that God’s Word alone brought all things into existence. You would never say to God, ‘a little less talk and a lot more action,’ for God’s talk is the action. The psalmist proclaims that the entire universe was formed by the very breath of God’s mouth [Psalm 33:6].” –from The Trivialization of God by Donald W. McCullough (p.120).  

Glory in the Holiness of God – “The holiness of God is his glory, as his grace is his riches: holiness is his crown, and his mercy is his treasure. This is the blessedness and nobleness of his nature; it renders him glorious in himself, and glorious to his creatures, that understand any thing of this lovely perfection. Holiness is a glorious perfection belonging to the nature of God. Hence he is in Scripture styled often the Holy One, the Holy One of Jacob, the Holy One of Israel; and oftener entitled Holy, then Almighty, and set forth by this part of his dignity more than by any other. This is more affixed as an epithet to his name than any other: you never find it expressed, His mighty name, or His wise name; but His great name, and most of all, His holy name. This is his greatest title of honor; in this doth the majesty and venerableness of his name appear.” –from Existence and Attributes of God: Volume 2 by Stephen Charnock (p.110).

December 4, 2006

God is Love – “God not only gives love, but He is love itself. His love is not just another characteristic, as we find among men, but it is His very nature. There is no condition put on that love. He does not love us ‘if’ we love Him. He does not love us ‘because’ we love Him. His love is spontaneous. ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love’ (Jeremiah 31:3). God’s love is not fickle. He does not turn off His love to teach us a lesson. It is eternal as He is eternal. His enduring love—even a child can comprehend it.  

“Robert McCheyne wrote: ‘Some of you are longing to be able to love God. Come into His love, then. Consent to be loved by Him, though worthless in yourself. It is better to be loved by Him than to love, and it is the only way to learn to love Him. When the light of the sun falls upon the moon, it finds the moon dark and unlovely; but the moon reflects the light, and casts it back again. So let the love of God shine into your breast, and you will cast it back again. The love of Christ constraineth us [2Corinthians 5:14]. “We love him, because he first loved us” [1John 4:19]. The only cure for a cold heart is to look at the heart of Jesus.’” –from The God You Can Know by Dan DeHaan (p.61).  

Drenched in the Word – In God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible (p.182), Adam Nicolson describes the extent to which the people of England in 1611 were saturated with the words of the Bible: “There can never have been a time in which Englishmen were so thoroughly drenched in the word. James I used to sleep, in was said, with Lancelot Andrewes’s sermons under his pillow. Andrewes himself could speak for an hour, to an enraptured audience, on the multiple significances of a single word… Laurence Chaderton, the moderate Puritan leader, once paused after two hours of a Cambridge sermon. The entire congregation stood up and shouted, ‘For God’s sake go on!’ He gave them another hour…  

“At moments of intensity and crisis, the natural direction a man’s thoughts took would not be, as it now might, towards the inarticulate, drowning in the struggle to express the extremities of experience in a language that seems scarcely adequate or sufficient for the task, but to the words of scripture from which they had all drawn their sense of reality, their sense of how the world was, for their entire conscious lives. In a sense that almost no one now understands, the words of the Bible were the ultimate and encompassing truth itself. That depth of belief in the sufficiency of language is also one of the shaping forces of the King James Bible.”

December 1, 2006

Proof of the Presence of Christ – “Among the Anabaptist martyrs worthy of our remembrance is one Thomas Hawkes, who, with six others, was condemned to death on February 9, 1555… A short while before Hawkes’s death, a group of his friends promised to pray for him in the dread hour of trial and asked for a sign if he realized that Christ was with him in the torture. He agreed with their request and decided that he would life up his hands in token that he was at peace. 

“The day of his execution—June 25, 1555—arrived, and Hawkes was led away to the stake by Lord Rich where Hawkes would become a fiery sacrifice on the altar of religious prejudice. When he came to the post where he would be burned, a heavy chain was thrown around his waist, and he was secured. After bearing witness to those close at hand, he poured out his heart to God in prayer, and the fire was kindled. The sun shown brightly on those assembled to see him die, but a group of friends stood praying and straining eager eyes for the gesture of victory.