the age of truth


There will be no new God, nor a new devil, and we shall never have a new Savior, nor a new atonement: why should we then be either attracted or alarmed by the error and nonsense which everywhere plead for a hearing because they are new?

What is their newness to us; we are not children, nor frequenters of playhouses? Truly, to children a new toy or a new play has immense attractions; but men care less about the age of a thing than about its intrinsic value.

To suppose that theology can be new is to imagine that the Lord himself is of yesterday. A doctrine which is said to have lately become true must of necessity be a lie. Falsehood has no beard, but truth is hoary with an age immeasurable. The old gospel is the only gospel. Pity is our only feeling towards those young preachers who cry, "See my new theology," in just the same spirit as little Mary says, "See my pretty new frock."

CHS

What Christians believe

Often in religious discussion one will hear “well, I believe that…” or “Christians believe…” as if believing a thing lent credence to it. The thought runs if I believe it, it must be valid; so we act and speak like what we believe is conclusive evidence for what must be true. Or the phrase is used to soften the edges of the rigid singularity of the gospel. Or it is employed as a cover for a less than adequate knowledge of what Scripture teaches. In reality, what we believe doesn’t matter (I expect hell will swallow much of what men glibly claim to believe).

The critical issue is what the Word of God says, and the necessary thing is whether our thoughts, our beliefs, align with what is contained in it. So in our telling the whole truth, let us direct all attention to the Scriptures themselves for therein is the gospel of the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, therein is life.

a fit, winsome word

"Wisdom is proved, not by the quantum of knowledge, but by its right application. Observe 'the Spirit of knowledge resting upon our Divine Master.' (Is xi.2) In condescending to the ignorance of the people; in commanding their respect; in silencing the gainsayers; in alluring sinners to himself - how did his wise tongue use knowledge aright! Thus did his great Apostle give to all the same knowledge, but wisely - not the same form or gradation. (I Cor. iii.2.) Instead of exasperating his Heathen congregation by an open protest, he supplied their acknowledged defect, by bringing before them the true God, 'whom they were ignorantly worshipping.' (Acts, xvii.23.) He pointed an arrow to Agrippa's conscience, by the kindly admission of his candour and intelligence. (Ib. xxvi.27-29.) This right use of knowledge distinguishes the 'workman approved of God, and that needeth not to be ashamed.' (2Tim. ii.15.) The want of it often gives out truth so loosely and unsuitably, as to open, rather than to shut, the mouth of the gainsayer; rather to bring discredit upon the truth, than conviction to the adversary. Specially will the tongue of the wise direct a right application of knowledge to those, who have newly entered the path of God May we not sometimes in our present stature, forget our former feeble infancy? If now we 'strike our roots as Lebanon,' was it not once with us only 'the least of all seeds?' (Hos. xiv.5. Matt. xiii.32.) Let our considerate instruction pluck the thorn out of their tender feet, 'lest that which is lamed be turned out of the way; but rather let it be healed,' (Heb. xii.13.)"

Bridges on Proverbs 15:2

a view of holiness edgewise

There is one church here, so I go to it. On Sunday mornings I quit the house and wander down the hill to the white frame church in the firs. On a big Sunday there might be twenty of us there; often I am the only person under sixty, and feel as though I'm on an archaeological tour of Soviet Russia. The members are of mixed denominations; the minister is a Congregationalist, and wears a white shirt. The man knows God. Once, in the middle of the long pastoral prayer of intercession for the whole world--for the gift of wisdom to its leaders, for hope and mercy to the grieving and pained, succor to the oppressed, and God's grace to all--in the middle of this he stopped, and burst out, "Lord, we bring you these same petitions every week." After a shocked pause, he continued reading the prayer. Because of this, I like him very much. "Good morning!" he says after the first hymn and invocation, startling me witless every time, and we all shout back, "Good morning!" . . .

The higher Christian churches--where, if anywhere, I belong--come at God with an unwarranted air of professionalism, with authority and pomp, as though they knew what they were doing, as though people in themselves were an appropriate set of creatures to have dealings with God. I often think of the set pieces of liturgy as certain words which people have successfully addressed to God without their getting killed. In the high churches they saunter through the liturgy like Mohawks along a strand of scaffolding who have long since forgotten their danger. If God were to blast such a service to bits, the congregation would be, I believe, genuinely shocked. But in the low churches you expect it any minute. This is the beginning of wisdom.

--Annie Dillard, Holy the Firm (Harper & Row, 1977)

.a valentine's story.

too many believers want to make the argument that God works in so many ways that, in the end (if their thoughts were all spilled out), Jesus isn't really necessary. sincerety, love, and good intention are the primary things - let all else come out in the wash as it will. God is love, so let Him love everyone into heaven. we want to swim in love till we drown - and we will drown. we'd rather drown than come to terms with the holiness of God.

in a perfect conversation with a teacher today, i mentioned i was reading the Quran and was asked why, incredulous; to know what it says, i said. so the conversation took off and ran straight into the deity of Christ: Jesus is, He must be, God. although God is Merciful and Gracious as the Quran emphasizes, He is also, and He must be, Holy, Righteous, Just, Equitable. so sin must be punished whether we repent or not, whether we believe in Him or not, whether we do good things or not, whether we think so or not. only a perfect being who had no sins for which to be punished could take the penalty for our sins and wash us clean.So God had to do the work of saving us Himself; He, and no other, was able to save us from our sinful and condemned condition.

the teacher, a nominal Muslim tending toward humanism, asked, "if God is perfect, why would He sacrifice Himself for men?" what a glorious question; what a fathomless answer. pray for our conversations in the days ahead. there's so much to say. the person of Christ appears to me more beautiful the more i share His work and sufficiency. the presence and necessity of the Holy Spirit is more strikingly marvelous and urgent. the infinite love of the Father is more incomprehensible.

The Evangelical church is nearly foundered by the misconceived doctrine that profession is faith and faith is assurance and assurance is eternal life. Familiar phrases such as “assurance of salvation,” “eternal security,” and “once saved, always saved” attempt to capture the biblical truth outlined by the Scriptures I John 5:13 and John 10:25-30, among others. Unfortunately, the attempt has had somewhat the same effect on the truth of the doctrine of assurance as exfoliation on a carapace – nothing is left to live by and the vestiges of substance tumble in the wind.

To the believer in Christ, such as I am, “the promises of the gospel and eternal life are assuredly mine, provided I have genuine faith. But I know [also] that there is... read more

read this and worship:
Leithart on the Temple of God in Christ

119:25-32
This is the true crescendo of worship which I do not doubt needs to be our familiar pattern of approaching and enjoying God. The writer here is full aware of the lowliness, the earthiness of his soul; having prayed earlier for open eyes, he is found now with his prayers answered "clinging to the dust," "melting from heaviness," accustomed to "the way of lying" – he knows his sinfulness – not as the self-righteous who deftly, redundantly spill accounts and acknowledgments of their sin to appear the more humble. But as one truly repentant, he declares his ways to the Lord. Spurgeon writes: “Nothing brings more ease and more life to a man than a frank acknowledgment of the evil which has caused [his] sorrow and lethargy. Such a declaration proves that the man knows his own condition, and is no longer blinded by pride. Our confessions are not meant... read more

What do I fear most? (since you asked). I fear what we all fear most – pitching head-long into nothing. Falling at last into the hands of God empty-handed. Not becoming what great men have become; becoming nothing – Ruled by melatonin, enslaved to convenient. I wait at the corner and watch ragged men scrape the streets with sticks and straws collecting the tailings from the city’s dig into the hole “materialism.” I read of great battles fought by great men with sharp and cunning words. And I wonder, what makes a man great; where does one go to buy words like that – words long and tempered with the truth? These are strong words and faithful wielded by practiced, skilled men. They parry and blow; I am awed. I have a stick, and I imitate them, blocking, striking, thrusting. I do not want to be a sweeper, but if I must be, let me sweep the mountains into the sea and make room for a highway clean and pure – a road for fighting men to march on 12 abreast, row on row and disciplined, eyes fixed on a certain goal. And I will be satisfied...