Implications of God’s Passion for His Glory

The essence of Christian Hedonism (as Piper calls it) is that  that everything was made by God to give him glory, and thus (as his creatures) we are happiest when we are seeking to glorify God. In fact, all things derive their meaning by the way in which they magnify the glory of God.

That is easy enough to believe at first glance. When I first picked up God’s Passion for His Glory (half by Edwards, half by Piper), I read the summary of the book: all things exist for God’s glory. I agreed easily. But then in the introduction, Piper hits his readers with a list of implications.

I did not get very far down that list before I realized that I had it all wrong. I had God existing for me, and not me for him. I thought I knew what it meant that my purpose was to glorify God. But this list exposed how flimsy my theology was. It convicted me to read more, study more, and finally to go to seminary. I’m posting these here to provoke you to read the book, and to be thankful that we were made for him.

If man’s chief end is to glorify God by enjoying him for ever, then the following (all off these are taken from God’s Passion for His Glory) are true:  Continue at Jesse Johnson

Jonathan Edwards for the Digital Age

Virtually everyone these days is interested in reading Jonathan Edwards. Perry Miller put Edwards on the radar map of scholars back in the 1950s with the publication of his seminal biography of the New England pastor-theologian. Soon thereafter, Yale University Press began publishing a critical edition of The Works of Jonathan Edwards, which stands at 26 published volumes. Yale also became home to the leading Jonathan Edwards Center in the world. The Edwards Center published or republished a number of other works related to Edwards, including both primary sources and secondary studies. Yale also published what is now considered to be the standard scholarly biography of Edwards, George Marsden’s Jonathan Edwards: A Life (2003, pictured right).

For more casual readers of Edwards, in 1958 Banner of Truth reprinted a two-volume edition of The Works of Jonathan Edwards which was first published in 1834. Banner of Truth, Soli Deo Gloria, and other mostly reformed publishers made reprinted editions of Edwards’s writings widely available to pastors, seminarians, and armchair theologians. Authors such as Iain Murray, John Piper, Sam Storms, Sean Lucas, Stephen Nichols, Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney, and Kyle Strobel have also played a key role in introducing conservative evangelicals to Edwards and his legacy.

It has never been easier to read works by and about Edwards than in the digital age. Of course, many books are available in less-expensive electronic editions for e-readers such as Kindles and Nooks. Edwards’s most popular writings are available for free or cheap through Amazon and Google Books. These inexpensive electronic copies have been an asset to many readers. For example, in past years I’ve required students in Church History II to read Edwards’s Religious Affections and pointed them to a free edition from 1821 available on Google Books. Though the Google Books edition is dated, it was a free alternative to cash-strapped students who didn’t want to buy a physical edition of the book.    Continue at Nathan Finn

The Biblical and Systematic Theology of Jonathan Edwards

Every week Jeff Waddington, Dave Filson and I come together to record an episode of “East of Eden,” in which we discuss the biblical and systematic theology of Jonathan Edwards. We come together to give consideration of one of Edwards’ sermons or discourses–specifically as it relates to the history, structure and theology of that particular work. We also invite to the program various theologians and scholars who have contributed to Edwards’ studies. You can find the first ten episodes below:

• God’s Grand Design - In this episode of East of Eden, Dr. Sean Michael Lucas discusses his helpful new volume on the theological vision of Jonathan Edwards. In God’s Grand Design: The Theological Vision … Read more→

• The Pure in Heart Blessed - In 1730 Jonathan Edward preached a sermon on Matthew 5:8 in which he gave consideration to the redemptive blessing which God bestows upon the pure in heart, namely, an all … Read more→

• The Character of Paul an Example to Christians - In February 1740, at the heat of the first Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards preached The Character of Paul an Example to Christians. In this sermon on Philippians 3:11 Edwards unpacked Paul’s … Read more→     Continue at Nicholas T. Batzig

Jonathan Edwards on Righteous and Sinful Anger

I know that when the Bible says, “Be anger and do not sin” it is clearly teaching us that there is such a thing as righteous anger. It is referring to that just angry which is a response to the evil of sin in relationship to the holiness of God. I doubt very much that any of us have experienced any act of undiluted righteous anger. In the heart of the godliest saint there is always a principle of selfish desire mingled with holy desire. This is the apostle’s point in Romans 7, and it’s acknowledged to some extent by every believer who knows anything about the sinfulness of their soul. I remember being upset, several years ago, about the sinful actions of an individual in the fellowship of which I was a part. This person’s sin was affecting the congregation on the whole. I went to speak to a friend about what had happened. In the course of our conversation my friend said to me “It sounds like you’re angry because you’re taking this individual’s actions as a personal attack. Instead, you should be more concerned about their sin before the Lord. You should be concerned about their relationship with the Lord.” This rebuke was much needed in my life at that time. There is perhaps no better explanation of, and warning against, the subtlety of sinful anger and how we are cured us of it than that which we find in Jonathan Edwards’ Charity and its Fruits. There we read:

Charity or love, which is the sum of the Christian spirit, is directly, and in itself, contrary to the anger that is sinful; and, secondly, that the fruits of charity which are mentioned in the context, are all contrary to it.   Continue at Nicholas T. Batzig

Vital Union with Christ and Sanctification in Jonathan Edwards

One of the interesting connections Edwards makes on the topic of sanctification is found in his sermon on 2 Corinthians 5:8 delivered at David Brainerd’s funeral on October 12, 1747. There, in one section, Edwards connects sanctification within his broad (and glorious) worldview. Edwards makes the following points:

• Sanctification is the progressive emerging of Christ’s holiness in our lives through (a) our vision of Christ’s glory, and (b) our union with Christ by the Spirit.
• We see Christ’s glory partially now, therefore our transformation can only be incomplete in this life.
• We experience vital union with Christ partially now, therefore our holiness will never fully emerge in this life.
• In death we behold Christ’s full glory (beatific vision), and there our sanctification is complete (glorification).
• In death all hindrances to experiencing vital union with Christ are removed, and there our sanctification is complete (glorification).

It’s interesting how Edwards merges here two key themes of sanctification: (1) vital union with Christ in progressive sanctification, and (2) our sight of Christ’s glory in progressive sanctification. Those two realities are really one reality for Edwards. To see Christ’s glory is to experience unhindered union with Him. The beatific vision of Christ perfects our vital union with Christ. And it’s at that point his holiness will then flow unhindered in our lives, to our delight and to God’s glory.

All that may be a little more than we would wish to hear at a funeral sermon, but nevertheless it’s here in Edwards, and here it is in his own words (Works, 25:230–232):

III. The souls of true saints, when absent from the body, go to be with Jesus Christ, as they are brought into a most perfect conformity to, and union with him. Their spiritual conformity is begun while they are in the body; here beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, they are changed into the same image: but when they come to see him as he is, in heaven, then they become like him, in another manner. That perfect right will abolish all remains of deformity, disagreement and sinful unlikeness; as all darkness is abolished before the full blaze of the sun’s meridian light: it is impossible that the least degree of obscurity should remain before such light. So it is impossible the least degree of sin and spiritual deformity should remain, in such a view of the spiritual beauty and glory of Christ, as the saints enjoy in heaven when they see that Sun of righteousness without a cloud; they themselves shine forth as the sun, and shall be as little suns, without a spot.   Continue at Tony

See also: God’s Sovereignty and the Believer’s Growth in Grace

If I Were the Devil…

One of the most common—and frustrating—reasons I hear many Christians offer for not reading their Bibles is, “The Bible’s too hard to understand.” But there are tons of other excuses we make for how we approach (or rather, don’t) the Scriptures. Some pastors have seemingly given up preaching the BIble. Many Christians debate the extent of the Bible’s truthfulness and authority. On and on I could go. But where do these ideas come from, ultimately?

According to J.I. Packer, from no less a source than the Devil himself. I love the way Packer addresses this in his foreword to Knowing Scripture:

If I were the devil (please, no comment), one of my first aims would be to stop folk from digging into the Bible. Knowing that it is the Word of God, teaching people to know and love and serve the God of the Word, I should do all I could to surround it with the spiritual equivalent of pits, thorn hedges and traps, to frighten people off. With smug conceit, no doubt, as if receiving a compliment, I should acknowledge that wise old Jonathan Edwards (1703- 1758) had me absolutely pegged when he wrote:   Continue at Aaron Armstrong

Calvinism & Evangelism

“We must have the heathen converted; God has myriads of His elect among them, we must go and search for them somehow or other.” – C. H. Spurgeon

 

Some say that Calvinism kills all zeal for evangelism. History, of course, tells us a very different story. Someone sent me the following few paragraphs:

As Mitch Cervinka explains: One needs only examine Protestant history to see that Calvinists have been on the forefront of evangelism and missions. George Whitefield was outspoken in affirming all five points of Calvinism, yet he was one of the most zealous and effective evangelists of the Great Awakening. Wherever he traveled, both in England and America, people would turn out by the thousands to hear him preach in the open fields. 

The modern missionary movement began in 1792 when the Calvinistic Baptist, William Carey, left England to minister the gospel in India. With the help of William Ward and Joshua Marshman, he founded 26 churches and 126 schools, and translated the Bible into 44 languages including Sanskrit.  Continue at John Samson

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, February 2012

The February edition of Tabletalk is out. This month’s issue examines what Jonathan Edwards called charity as described by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:1–13. This passage rings familiar to many people on account of its frequent use (or misuse) in wedding ceremonies and other occasions demanding a proclamation of love. Yet the truth of Christian love as laid out in 1 Corinthians 13 reaches far beyond these settings. Contributors include R.C. Sproul along with Joel Beeke, D.A. Carson, Michael Haykin, Joe Holland, Steven J. Lawson, Keith Mathison, Ray Ortlund, John R. Sittema, R.C. Sproul Jr., and Cal Thomas.

We do not post all of the feature articles or the daily devotionals from the issue, so you’ll have to subscribe to get those. But for now, here are links to a few select columns and articles from this month:

• True Love by Burk Parsons
• For Glory and Beauty by R.C. Sproul
• Love’s Shroud by Ray Ortlund
• Smart is Not a Fruit by R.C. Sproul Jr.
• Theology and Doxology by Michael Haykin
• Soft Hearts, Solid Spines by Joe Holland
• Repairing the Ruins: An Interview with Cal Thomas
• A Child’s (Mis)understanding by Keith Mathison

---

If you have not yet subscribed to Tabletalk, now is the perfect time. It’s only $23 for a year, and $20 to renew. You save even more if you get a 2- or 3-year subscription (as little as $1.36 per issue). We offer special discounts for churches or businesses who want multiple copies of each issue.

Get your subscription to Tabletalk today by calling one of Ligonier Ministries’ resource consultants at 800-435-4343 (8am-8pm ET, Mon-Fri) or by subscribing online.

Jonathan Edwards and Broken Resolutions

As we discussed last week, the seventy Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards exemplify an eternal and God-glorifying perspective that all believers ought to emulate.

But let’s be honest. A list of spiritual goals compiled by one of church history’s greatest heroes can be a bit intimidating, especially when there are seventy of them. When we make similar resolutions — and later fail to keep them — it can be downright discouraging to compare ourselves to someone like Jonathan Edwards.

Well, here’s a nugget of encouragement for you. Even a notable Puritan theologian like Edwards struggled to keep his resolutions.

As historian George Marsden explains about Edwards:

It was one thing to make such a thorough and impressive list of resolutions; it was another to keep them. This we know from his diary, in which he reported his efforts fairly regularly for the next year or two. Although he noted the spiritual highs that he later recalled, his diary also records many days of lows, “decays,” and lengthy times of inability to focus on spiritual things.  (A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards, 24)

Here is one such example from Edwards’s Diary:

The last week I was sunk so low, that I fear it will be a long time before I am recovered. I fell exceedingly low in the weekly account [regarding keeping my resolutions]. I find my heart so deceitful, that I am almost discouraged from making any more resolutions. — Wherein have I been negligent in the week past; and how could I have done better, to help the dreadful low estate in which I am sunk?

Sound familiar?  Keep Reading >>>

What Nazis & the Bible Agree is the Worst Resolution You Can Make

I plant my flag firmly on the side of those who believe Christians may make resolutions. As a tadpole seminoid I was inspired by the audacity and convictions of Jonathan Edwards’ famed 70 Resolutions. My heart thumps in time with over-the-top commitments like #22:

“Resolved: to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.”

But there is something I have learned from the Bible, history, research, and experience: the absolute worst resolution you could ever make at any time in your life.  It’s a truth the Nazis and the Bible agree on. And the sting in the tail is that it is probably the resolution you made this very New Year’s Day.

The only resolution you should never make is one that you won’t keep.

Let’s call resolutions what the Bible calls them: vows. And if there is one thing we know from the Bible about vows is they aren’t to be taken lightly. Just ask Jephthah’s daughter. Solomon’s ominous wisdom hangs over New Year’s day: Keep Reading >>>

Comparing the Confessions

For those who would like to examine the differences between the 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith and the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, a very helpful tabular comparison can be found at this link. 

HT: Effectual Grace

Keep the Presence of God

On vacation, I kept a copy of Jonathan Edwards’ sermons on my bedside table as a way of going to sleep with a God-centered mind. One of those sermons was called “Keeping the Presence of God.” It was preached on a colony-wide fast day in April 1742. The second wave of the First Great Awakening had crested in the vicinity, and Edwards was seeing both the good and bad fallout of revival. He saw spiritual dangers lurking everywhere. In the next year, as he preached his famous series on the religious affections, he would become the most careful analyst and student of human hearts that had been wakened in the revival. What he saw in those hearts was mixed.

 So in this sermon, “Keeping the Presence of God,” his aim was to stir up awakened Christians to be vigilant that their exuberance not become pride. He exhorted them to give themselves to watchfulness and prayer so as to remain broken, humble, and happy in the good work of God in their lives.

Oh, how different is the path of Christian maturity pointed out by Edwards f rom the path most Christians walk today. There is a kind of cavalier attitude toward our security today. There is little trembling, little vigilance, earnestness, caution, and watchfulness over our souls. There is a kind of casual, slack, careless attitude toward the possibilit y that we might make shipwreck of our faith and fail to lay hold on eternal life. We have the notion that security is a kind of mechanical, automatic thing. We prayed once to receive Jesus. We are safe and there is no place for “working out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). That is not what Edwards saw in the Bible.   Keep Reading  >>>

IMAGE

3 Statements on Assurance of Salvation

Today I would like to make 3 statements about a subject that is always relevant to Christians: assurance of salvation. This is an area of great confusion for many believers and an area that can lead to great discouragement. I am going to make 3 statements about assurance and then, Lord willing, follow up tomorrow with a word about the true basis for assurance.

It is possible and even normal for the Christian to experience assurance of salvation.

John MacArthur calls assurance of salvation “the birthright and privilege of every true believer in Christ.” This assurance is not only possible but should be the normal experience for any believer in Christ. Romans 8:16 teaches that assurance of salvation is part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” Hear what Matthew Henry says about this verse: “Those that are sanctified have God’s Spirit witnessing with their spirits, which is to be understood not of any immediate extraordinary revelation, but an ordinary work of the Spirit, in and by the means of comfort, speaking peace to the soul. This testimony is always agreeable to the written word, and is therefore always grounded upon sanctification; for the Spirit in the heart cannot contradict the Spirit in the word.” 2 Peter 1:10 goes so far as to command us to pursue this assurance. “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” Keep Reading...

7 Theses on “Celebrity Pastors”

Over the past months there has been a good deal of back and forth on the blogs (good blogs from people I respect) about the dangers of “celebrity pastors.” As is often the case with these matters, there are many legitimate concerns to be made and many overreactions to avoid.

So, in no particular order, here are seven theses to keep in mind.

1. Celebrity is not a terribly helpful word. A celebrity is simply someone who is well known and easily recognizable. So in one sense, there are celebrity pastors. But “celebrity” often carries negative connotations, especially in Christian circles. A celebrity is someone who is famous for no substantial reason. We hear “celebrity” and think “vain,” “status-seeker,” “important for superficial reasons.” Unless this is what we want to say about some well-known Christians (and maybe it is), we should avoid calling them “celebrity pastors.” Both were famous and influential in their own circles, but there was a difference between Macho Man Randy Savage and Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Keep Reading...

How To Know What Real Revival Looks Like

In 1972 I heard J. I. Packer lecture at my seminary. One simple sentence of his has echoed in my mind ever since: “Do not neglect the revival dimension in your ministry.” Revival is powerfully Christ-exalting. That is what I desire. And I am guessing that you, as you follow The Resurgence, feel the same passion.

What is a true revival?

But how can we distinguish true revival from false? Not everything labeled “revival” can be trusted and welcomed. Fortunately, we have guidance from a master theologian, Jonathan Edwards, who studied the Bible profoundly and experienced revival personally. Keep Reading>>>

Can the Unregenerate Heal the Sick?

 

Have you ever wondered how the unregenerate could say to Jesus on the judgment day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” (Matthew 7:22). Could this power have been real, and from God, and yet not be a sign of new birth? I think so.

Consider the way Jonathan Edwards describes how the Holy Spirit works differently in the godly and the ungodly.

There is this difference; the Spirit of God in acting in the soul of a godly man, exerts and communicates himself there in his own proper nature. Holiness is the proper nature of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit operates in the minds of the godly, by uniting himself to them, and living in them, and exerting his own nature in the exercise of their faculties.
The Spirit of God may act upon a creature, and yet not in acting communicate himself. The Spirit of God may act upon inanimate creatures; as “The Spirit moved upon the face of the waters,” in the beginning of the creation [Genesis 1:2]: so the Spirit of God may act upon the minds of men, many ways, and communicate himself no more than when he acts upon an inanimate creature.
For instance, he may excite thoughts in them, may assist their natural reason and understanding, or may assist other natural principles, and this without any union with the soul, but may act, as it were, as upon an external object. But as he acts in his holy influences, and spiritual operations, he acts in a way of peculiar communication of himself; so that the subject is thence denominated “spiritual.” (from “A Divine and Supernatural Light”)

In other words, God could enable a person to heal the sick or cast out a demon in the same way God makes the wind blow or the waves be still, but without communicating any of his peculiar holiness. This is why supernatural phenomena are of secondary importance in discerning the hand of God. Christ-exalting, self-abasing holiness is primary. DG

The Christian Doctrine of Hell

And now, who is responsible for this God-dishonoring doctrine? And what is his purpose? The promulgator of it is Satan himself; and his purpose in introducing it has been to frighten the people away from studying the Bible and to make them hate God.

— Joseph Franklin Rutherford, Watchtower Society's Second President [1]

How can Christians possibly project a deity of such cruelty and vindictiveness whose ways include inflicting everlasting torture upon his creatures, however sinful they may have been? Surely a God who would do such a thing is more nearly like Satan than like God, at least by any ordinary moral standards, and by the gospel itself.

— Clark Pinnock, Professor and Noted Evangelical Author [2]

Christians through the centuries have affirmed that those who do not accept God's offer of salvation in Christ will suffer conscious, everlasting torment. Denial of this teaching has, until recently, been limited almost exclusively to cultic or quasi-cultic groups. For example, the Jehovah's Witnesses vociferously reject the orthodox teaching on hell, denouncing it as an error of apostate Christendom. They teach that the wicked will be "annihilated" rather than suffer eternal torment. Likewise, Herbert Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God, Christian Science, Mormonism, and the New Age movement all repudiate the orthodox doctrine. Besides these undeniably cultic groups, the Seventh-day Adventists also reject the historic doctrine in favor of annihilation. [3] While Seventh-day Adventism may not be a cult in the technical theological sense of the term I am using here, [4] they nonetheless have been perceived commonly as a "fringe" group by orthodox Christians. [5] Read all the articles HERE

We ought to be Ashamed we are no more Affected with the Gospel.

The Distinction of Natural and Moral Necessity and Inability