Three pungent, salty and needed sermons for the church today by Jonathan Edwards

It is sad when people study the 18th Century preacher Jonathan Edwards and only learn about abstract things. At the heart of the Edwards' worldview was a Sovereign God who saves sinners, people who are utterly unable to save themselves. It is ridiculous to talk about the beautiful theological mind of this theologian-preacher while missing this central and major point. Anyone who makes such a bold stand for apostolic doctrine will not be popular. For those people who look to Jonathan Edwards as an example, may we never downplay this aspect of his ministry which was his emphasis on the sovereignty of God in salvation and the spiritual ruin of sinful man's condition apart from God.

I would like to recommend three sermons for people to read, for those who want to learn more about Calvinistic gospel doctrine. Also we all need to be refreshed in those old fashioned but biblical truths.

These three sermons are:

1). The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners

2). The Excellency of Christ

3). Ruth's Resolution

These are all found in the Works (Volume 1, pp 664-689).

These are a few brief pages of salty gospel doctrines in these sermons and they are like "smelling salts". What do "smelling salts" accomplish? They wake up the sleeping or fainted person! True gospel doctrine does just that; it awakens the church from her slumber and surely this is needed urgently today!

Romans 3:19 "That every mouth may be stopped".

We must not forget the Calvinistic basics!

For most Christians who enter into a biblical path in pursuit of solid doctrine, they often encounter the acronym TULIP. This can also be labelled the five points of Calvinism and it stands for:

T = total depravity
U = unconditional election
L = limited atonement
I = irresistible grace
P = perseverance of the saints

This is a summary in the English speaking world for the theology of the Synod of Dort which sought to handle the claims of the false teaching of Arminius. Arminian thinking today has spread like a worldwide plague through the church. This is because it packages Christianity in a way that is appealing to the natural man but Arminianism is not a biblical system.

While it is true that Reformed doctrine is far more than the so-called five points of Calvinism, we must not forget these five points. We must catechise our children and teach them to the next generation. We must teach the church about them also. When they are rightly understood their biblical truth will enable the church to resist Arminianism in the guise of Calvinism. One of the challenges of the growth of reformed doctrine is that some people claim to hold to reformed doctrine while their practice is more akin to Arminian teaching.

When the concern of the church is to start with man, the tables have turned. It is not unbiblical for a church to ask how we can reach the lost. However, when we give the lost what they want in order to reach them, then we can be in danger of losing our focus on the living God. In the Book of Acts, the apostles never sought the use of worldly methods to win souls. They did not hire the local theatres and use Greek dramas to draw a crowd.

For those who would like further reading, may I recommend James White "The Potter's Freedom" or Boettner "The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination".

The church has to maintain her purity of doctrine. Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet".

Is it possible to have the imputed righteousness of Christ as a Christian and yet displease the Lord?

Recently I attended a conference in the Southern part of the USA and there was a panel of ministers discussing some very helpful topics. The panel included Doug Kelly and others. One of the questions posed was the title of this blog post. It is clear that there are a raft of unclear parties in the church regarding the difference between justification and sanctification and this panel sought to clarify some things. There has been a real growth in Calvinistic thought in recent decades on both sides of the Atlantic and yet not everyone thinks things through as clearly and accurately as they should.

In Romans chapter 4 Paul the apostle teaches that those who are justified by faith, have the very righteousness of Christ Jesus imputed (or credited) to them. Romans 4:23-25 "But the words 'it was counted to him' were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification". What a precious gift to know that we cannot be lost and that we are saved on the merits of Christ alone!

However, this can be pushed to unbiblical extremes so that some Christians think that on the basis of imputed righteousness that they cannot displease the Lord and that they can live presumptuously with little thought given, that real obedience is expected by the Lord for those who are professing Christians. There can be a resistance to the idea that the moral law is binding, a push back on any idea that the Lord expects them to uphold the Christian Sabbath or that they will give an account of their lives to the Lord (Romans 14:12). This is to misunderstand the teaching of the gospel.

Let me clarify first that Christians can certainly displease the Lord and incur his chastisement by them doing so.

1. "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).

2. "Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:30).

3. "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives" (Hebrews 12:6).

The Scripture is clear. The answer to the question posed in this blog title is a categorical "yes". Therefore, may we all amend our thinking and seek how we may please our heavenly Father as revealed in the Scripture and seek to live accordingly for the glory of God. We cannot change the past, but we can be renewed in our repentance and faith and follow the apostle Paul's teaching in 2 Corinthians 5:9 "So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him".

Dr Guy Prentiss Waters explaining how and why the Book of Acts ends the way it does.

Dr Guy Waters is a fine lecturer of the New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson in the USA. He has recently completed a fine commentary on Acts (published by EP) and he has given an excellent lecture explaining why the Book of Acts ends in the way it does.

For many, we wonder why it seems to end quite abruptly and some have deemed that Acts 29 is to be completed by the church. However, Dr Waters gives a fine and satisfying lecture on this intriguing, but theologically vital question. Why does Luke finish the Book of Acts in the way he does?

To get the answer listen to his lecture at this link: http://www.rts.edu/Site/RTSNearYou/Jackson/Audio/2014/C-2446%20Rev.%20Guy%20P.%20Waters%20-%20With%20a%20Whimper%20or%20a%20Bang%20-%20Acts%2028%2017-31%20Convocation%208-20-2014.MP3

Godliness with contentment is great gain ... Part 2.

In thinking about my previous blog post on "Godliness with contentment is great gain", a further thought has come to me. This is something that is crucial to biblical contentment and yet it is far too little spoken of. It is the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 9:23-24.

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it".

Here are several aspects of Christian discipleship which we must consider, meditate upon and pray about.

1. "Deny himself": As Jesus prayed "Not my will be yours be done"; is that how you pray and seek to live as a Christian?

2. "Let him take up his cross daily". The cross is the place of death, it is the place where your will and God's will meet. Taking up our cross is the opposite of the world's message and sometimes the message in the church. Jesus did not come to offer flowery beds of ease and worldly pursuits.

3. "And follow me". Christ centred living is more than reading books about Christ, it is being truly obedient to him as revealed in the Word of God and when you have a sense that the Lord maybe leading you, it is to seek counsel from godly elders who will instruct you in the truth.

4. Refusing to save your life, but instead losing it. This takes faith to be what Kenneth MacRae described of the apostle Paul, to be an "out and out man". This is what all Christians should be, 100% committed to the Lord, within the limits of their station in life.

Godliness and also true biblical contentment cannot be found without the true application of taking up our cross daily, denying ourselves and following the Lord. To pursue contentment on its own, could become if we are not careful, a selfish desire to pursue personal "happiness" but only with a thin Christian veneer. Such an approach to life will not provide lasting spiritual satisfaction, neither will it please the Lord.

We want to pursue pathways in life that rightly honour the Lord, but those paths are narrow, their ways are difficult, but they lead to life (Matthew 7:13-14).

"Godliness with contentment is great gain".

Paul wrote to Timothy, while the latter was in Ephesus and Paul gave Timothy instructions for him to pass on to the church. There are many lessons from First Timothy, but one of them is about contentment. Listen to Paul's instruction:

"But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content" (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

The aim of my blogging is to encourage Christians in the reformed faith, as well as hopefully leading people to solid reformed convictions. However, as an ordained minister, I am foremost concerned about the welfare of souls and of God's sheep. Our Western materialistic culture, as well as the sinful nature, can push against many apostolic teachings. One such thing is that it is the will of God that we live contented in this world.

The world knows little of this message of contentment. It is only the super-wealthy who are heralded, men such as Sir Richard Branson who have everything. However, Paul does not write to Timothy to pass on to Christians, that we must be contented when we have everything we want in this life. No, contentment is a safe and spiritually healthy place to be as a Christian.

If the world knows little about true contentment, it knows nothing about godliness. Godliness is a word which is probably used far too little and this should be the pursuit of all. One question is: "Would others describe us as godly in out attitudes, words, actions and pursuits? This simple equation teaches us much, almost like 1 + 1 = 2. Godliness + Contentment = Great gain. Are you content and are you pursuing godliness?

There can be many things which make godliness and contentment difficult to attain. It could be worldliness, personal ambition, a desire to make a name for oneself, the fear of failure, unrealistic expectations of parents, insecurity and therefore seeking a reputation to compensate for a lack on inner-peace and so on.

There is a good Puritan paperback by Jeremiah Burroughs called "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment". I recommend this for further study on this subject.

Perhaps, one of the first steps to being renewed in repentance and faith is to reorient ourselves with biblical truth. May I suggest for all of us, for those who profess the name of Jesus, that we seek to attain and to pray for, godliness and contentment in our Christian pilgrimage.

Lively and Healthy Presbyterianism

A church functions well when she knows what she believes and why. We cannot escape church history. If we do so, it is to our spiritual peril and impoverishment.

John Calvin and the Genevan Reformation are credited with the recovery of biblical Presbyterianism, something seen as the apostolic pattern to be pursued at all times, in all nations, until the end comes. Ecclesiology may be messy, but we cannot relegate this subject to a lower division of spiritual truths. Not least when the NT reveals that the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22, 4:15, 5:23, Colossians 1:18, 2:19).

When I studied the pattern for the church in Geneva in the Sixteenth century, the subject really appealed to me. It was not a rigid lifeless pattern that emanated from Geneva, but a blueprint for the church to follow, a theology with "hands and feet". True Presbyterianism is lively; it demands change in the church on the basis of the Scriptures, theology, church history and the early Church Fathers. Do you desire Reformation and revival in the church? Then you must become clear on the distinctive of a NT doctrine of the church.

There are seven key aspects of the doctrine of the church which must be revisited, if the church is to have true spiritual life, and to be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. The Scriptures must be given supreme authority in the church. This includes a consistent dedication to the public reading of the Scriptures and the preaching of sound doctrine out of the Scriptures (Acts Chapter 17).

2. A church must have a clear confession of faith, one to summarise the Apostles' Doctrine (Acts 2:42). A list of nine points of key doctrines is wholly insufficient in my opinion, in order to teach the church, defend her against error and to know how to call elders, ministers and deacons. This is why a joyous commitment to the Westminster Standards provides a robust platform for doctrinal growth, both for the office bearers and church members.

3. An enthusiastic recovery of church government composed of local elders in connection with regional elders to form a presbytery, whereby there is mutual accountability. This is something seriously deviant, deficient and lacking in an Independent form of government and also in contemporary Anglican circles. Where are the bishops today who can exercise any meaningful church discipline?

4. A recovery of the simplicity and reverence of NT worship. The high point of Presbyterian worship should be the preaching of pure doctrine. Yes we love to sing Psalms and hymns but it is not singing which is the mark of true church, it is preaching of pure doctrine, the right administration oft he sacraments and church discipline.

5. The right administration of the sacraments means that a covenantal view of baptism, one which includes the baptism of the children of believer's, must be shown to be what it is; a true biblical doctrine. In addition a Reformed understanding of the Lord's Supper is very important, in order to go beyond the contemporary morass of a mere memorial at the Lord's Table.

6. Healthy Presbyterian churches should be warm-hearted and serious minded. The Book of Acts was all about a living orthodoxy.

7. To be involved in world missions which works along Presbyterian lines, to recover lost ecclesiology and lost doctrine. Church history shows that a vigorous commitment to world missions is something essential to obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the spiritual vigour of the church.

If you are interested in being part of the church planting work of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales, then I would love to hear from you, especially if you are from any towns or cities in the Northern part of England.

For further study, take a look at Book 4 of the "Institutes" by John Calvin.

Also Guy Waters "How Jesus Runs the Church".