All Creatures Great and Small

Meet Daisy (a/k/a defender of the backyard against the evil squirrel king and his band of pecan thieves), the newest addition to our family. She is proof positive that God has a sense of humor or that man has a warped sense of breeding.

The Bruised Reed

"A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory." (NKJV) Matthew 12:20.

I just finished The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes and highly recommend it to every believer battling sin and the sufferings of this world. The Bruised Reed is one of those books that every Christian should read a couple of times a year. Contrary to the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel that is all too common today, Sibbes declares that it is through our bruising that we are sanctified.

". . .God often works by contraries: when he means to give victory, he will allow us to be foiled at first; when he means to comfort, he will terrify first; when he means to justify, he will condemn us first; when he means to make us glorious, he will abuse us first. A Christian conquers, even when he is conquered. When he is conquered by some sins, he gets victory over others more dangerous, such as spiritual pride and security." Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed, The Banner of Truth Trust, p. 95.

Nevertheless, the author gives great encouragement by reminding us that although the reed may be bruised, Christ will not break it, and while the flax may only smolder, Christ will not quench it.

"Satan, as he slanders Christ to us, so he slanders us to ourselves. If you are not so much as smoking flax, then why do you not renounce your interest in Christ, and disclaim the covenant of grace? This you dare not do. Why do you not give yourself up wholly to other pleasures? This your spirit will not allow you to do. Where do these restless groanings and complaints come from? Lay your present state alongside the office of Christ to such, and do not despise the consolation of the Almightly nor refuse your own mercy. Cast yourself into the arms of Christ, and if you perish, perish there. If you do not, you are sure to perish. If mercy is to be found anywhere, it is there."Id. at 64-65.

C. H. Spurgeon wrote, 'Sibbes never wastes the student's time, he scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands.' Id. at vii. Hear hear! I submit that this seventeenth century puritan's work is much more edifying than anything that you will find written by any contemporary Christian author today.

The Haunting

As Charles Hodge once said (or at least I have heard it attributed to him), "It is not the ghost of Pelagius that I fear, but the ghost of semi-Pelagius." Unfortunately, Dr. Hodge, the ghost of both still haunt us today.

Shaking My Head at the Radio (Again)

The other day I was listening to the local "positive" radio station (Shh...don't call them "Christian") and I caught a song by Stellar Kart entitled "Me and Jesus." The following chorus really stood out to me:

"Someone loves you even when you don't think so don't you know you got Me and Jesus by your side through the fight you will never be alone on your own you got me and Jesus"

If you are a big fan of Stellar Kart, I apologize in advance. Perhaps these guys are really faithful to their friends and loved ones, but I know, unlike Jesus, that I am going to fail those I love the most. Moreover, I know that I can not begin to show the love Christ demonstrated on the cross and would never equate my commitment with his. Christ's glory will not be shared. In the end, Christ is the only true promise keeper.

God of Promise - Horton on Sanctification

"As Paul warns, we do not receive justification and forgiveness by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, and then go on to sanctification as a matter of personal achievement (Gal. 3:1-4). In the new covenant, all of the blessings have Christ and his obedience as the only ground qualifying us as heirs. Not some of the blessing, but all of the, are comprehended 'in Christ.' This spells the end of both legalism and antinomianism: none of the blessings are the result of our own achievement, and at the same time, those who inherit the blessing of justification are equally beneficiaries of regeneration and sanctification." Michael Horton, God of Promise. P. 76.

Are not justification and sanctification both driven by law/gospel?

"There are many things in the Christian life that are useful and assist us in our walk. Disciplines of prayer and Bible reading, fellowship with believers, evangelism, and social concern are habits that the individual and the church cannot live without. Yet the Word and the sacraments are distinguished from all else as means of grace. While prayer is, as the Heidelberg Catechism puts it, 'the chief part of gratitude,' it is something that moves from us to God, while in preached Word and sacraments, the movement is from God to us." Michael Horton, God of Promise. P. 162.

Why is it that we often more attached to the self-help books on the Christian book table than the means of grace that God has provided for our sanctification (e.g. the preached Word, the Lord's Supper, Baptism, prayer)?

God of Promise - Horton on the Sacraments

Two Extremes to be Avoided

"For the former [sacerdotal error], no real sacrament actually exists: baptism is regeneration, and the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. The sign is swallowed by the signified: it no longer exists, despite appearances to the contrary. For the latter [memorialist error] also, there really can be no sacrament, for all that is left is the bare sign itself. Baptism and the Lord'’s Supper may be occasions for a spiritual event by encouraging the participant'’s powers of reflection, self-examination, and pious memory, but they are not themselves regarded as the occasions of God'’s powerful witness and work." Michael Horton, God of Promise. P.157

The Real Presence

"The Reformed did not, therefore, deny the reality of the presence of Christ in the sacrament but strenuously affirmed the union - not transubstantiation or commingling - of the sign with the thing signified. . .Reformed theology does hold to the real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper but does not limit the supper to the elements themselves. . .'It is a great mistake to confuse the idea of 'presence' with that of nearness in space. . . 'Presence,' therefore, is not a question of space; it is relation.' This is the crux of the Reformed understanding of the eucharistic presence. As grace is not a question of substance but divine acceptance, the sacramental presence is not a question of space but of covenant ratification and assurance. It is here, at the font and the communion table, as well as in the pew as we hear the gospel preached, that the question is finally settled for us: God is present; he is near. And he comes in peace." Michael Horton, God of Promise. P.168, 170.

Christ Unites

"The Word, baptism, and the Lord'’s Supper form a single island of divinely created unity out of the world'’s divisive rivalries. Here is the one place where all are one in Christ. It'’s not the musical style that unites them, the socioeconomic or racial complexion of the community, the age or political orientation. Here, in the pew, at the font, and at the table, only one division really matters: Christ and idols." Michael Horton, God of Promise. P. 160.