Describing the indescribable

Last night was wonderful - the fellowship was rich, the discussion fruitful, and, I trust, there will be a fruitful outcome.

I hope also that the book will go some way to helping us arrive at a solution to the "big issues" that we have discussed and that exercise our hearts. It might be useful to read it through such lenses, asking the question, How can this understanding help to get the church back to the Bible, and preaching have restored to it the passion, power, anointing and unction of the Holy Spirit? Can this understanding help to get restored to us the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

I believe that this is a sovereign act of our gracious God, but He puts it into our hearts what He is about to do. We need to try to discern what it is He is about to do, and fall into line with His purposes.

Maybe this is not being put too well, but, as we said last night, it is very difficult to describe the indescribable.

Spirit-empowered preaching

We had a blessed time in the service of the LORD yesterday, and He was so near to us. People left the service and there was none of the trivia spoken that normally accompanies worshippers as they leave the services. There was that hush of eternity, that deeply spiritual presence, as if the Holy Spirit was carrying every word I had spoken right into the hearts of the hearers.

Whilst I had prepared in my usual thorough manner, I did not need my notes. This was the first time in years that I had had that precious experience. The message just flowed - I was preaching on Rom1:16f, and asked why is it that sinners need the Gospel? I made the point that if, as we believe, and as Paul states, "the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes," where there is no power, CAN THE GOSPEL BE SAID TO BE PREACHED?

Now this really challenged my heart - as I was preaching. What is missing from our preaching if the hearers do not feel the power of God in their midst and hearts? Is this a familiar question? I said that we were fooling ourselves if we believed that God's power attended the preaching if the Gospel of Paul was not being proclaimed.

This was a very special time - and in God's providence, it came at the perfect time for me. God is good, praise His glorious Name.

A Cocktail of Basic Unfaithfulness

I am finalising my paper for the AA conference in April, and am referring to our discussions on church life about "What is missing and how do we get it?"

The thought struck me that there is also something(s) "present" that ought not to be there, and I think we know what some of these are! It is a cocktail of basic unfaithfulness, control freakery, denomination before Scripture, our identity seeking to supercede all others, etc. The denomination's distinctives have to be preserved at all costs, even if certain ministers have to be removed. We just cannot have the church being expected to conform to Scripture in every aspect of its life. Indeed, today, ministers, like the police and army in Northern Ireland, can only minister "with the consent of the people."

Now where have we heard that principle before? This philosophy is enveloping the church, even the best churches. What controls many churches is not God's Word, but man's desires, what man finds tasteful and comfortable, acceptable, and included in this list is carnal subjectivity. It is not "Jesus Christ is Lord," but, "Church law is Lord," the eldership is Lord," the "Code is Lord;" indeed, anything will do. Choose your substitute for Christ, and away you go. And the church will support you.

But whatever you do, do not expect the church to live under Christ's Lordship as revealed in Scripture!

To a ministerial student

My friend, being the workaholic you are, you need to take things a bit easier - for your good, your wife's, the children's, and your ministry. I know how difficult it is to slow down; my saying this to you is like the kettle and the pot! We need to consider what message our body is sending out to us, and not ignore it. To do so is as foolish as to ignore a fuse that is ready to blow.

Evangelical glibness!

I think that part of the problem facing the church today is what I might call 'evangelical glibness,' especially when it comes to preaching and prayer. We utter fine words that have no personal impact on us. When did we last tremble at the thought of God? When did we last feel dread when approaching Him? When were our hearts last struck with the terror of coming to His word, or into His awesome presence?

Our churches, when praying at prayer meetings, constantly break the 3rd commandment, while at the same time, asking for God's blessing on their work. I was feeling scared at the prayer meeting this morning at church for the forthcoming mission when after every five or six words, the Lord's name was spoken by one pray-er. How glib!

I wondered, Does this person know to Whom he is talking, and is the Lord's name just a filler in an otherwise normal religious exercise? There is no sense of awe when we approach God in all His holiness. In fact, I, too, fall at this point, because I can write these awe-inspiring words without feeling their impact in my own heart. Oh, how hard and insensitive to God is my wicked heart!

We, I, need to get to know God - my current knowledge is so superficial, so theological, so correct, but not as experimental as it ought to be. This is still analysis - resolution still evades me. I suppose we need to wait upon God until we feel ourselves to be utterly dependent upon Him, feel our own loathsomeness in His sight, and grasp afresh His sovereign and wonderful grace. We need to meditate on what 'grace' means, what mercy, love, compassion mean. How fearful, yet how encouraging and welcoming these 'graces' are.

We speak of justice, but we do not feel that justice holds any fear for us, therefore we do not sense our dire need of God's grace and mercy continually. What does it mean to stand in the presence of our gracious God! What effect ought this awareness to have upon us! What fear, mixed with gratitude, ought this to instill in our souls!

 I think it was Robert Davidson in his OT textbook, The Old Testament, who spoke of the dread of YHWH, and of His other attributes. We need to get a proper balance between YHWH's dread and His grace. Both of these attributes will affect us profoundly once they grip hold of us, each doing its own special work within us. God's character must be appreciated experientially if we are to be like Him, and useful to Him.

Here, I am going to be a heretic for a moment: what if our doctrine of 'eternal security' really does cut the umbilical cord of the need for perseverance for us? Is that possible? What if our conviction about God's sovereignty causes complacency? It ought not to do so, but in effect, it does. What if we are content with the right religious words, religious symbolism, without experiencing the realities of what these precious terms include? Back to analysis again - forgive me.

Felt need of God can only come about when we see how puny our knowledge (Heb. yada') of God really is, and where we must go to get this matter sorted out. We must concentrate on getting to know God (yada') rather than just getting to know about Him. Theology is about getting to know about God - necessary to a point, no substitute for the real thing - personal, intimate, life-changing knowledge of God. Because we have not really met with God, we do not have a living and life-giving message from Him for the world or for the church, His people. Dr Ralph Davis in his commentary on 1 Samuel (p.42), says that unless YHWH gives the word, there will be none - "and turning out more graduates from theological seminaries or religious departments will do nothing to change that!" How correct.

Now sermon preparation must be disciplined, careful exegesis accurate, saying what the text says and no more (avoiding arid and at times dangerous speculation), but unless the fire falls on the preparation and delivery of the message, it will be cold and lifeless. I think the fire of heaven must be at preparation stage, as well as, and not only at, delivery stage. We ought to know (experience) God as we prepare our sermons, and while we deliver them.

At the end of the day, God does act sovereignly, deciding when and whom and how to bless. Only He can give us the hearts that really do cry out for Him, so we must sue Him for such hearts. We must get far more serious about God and with God than we have ever been before; but then the churches will not know how to handle us when such things begin to happen. Churches will only approve what they initiate. They feel the need to be IN CONTROL of everything and everyone that falls within their bounds.

The Lack of Honesty

One of the things that struck me recently was the lack of honesty that exists among Christians. I would have liked to have got copies of the last 30 years of Moderator's final reports to the General Assembly on how they viewed the spiritual condition of the church (PCI). My impression is, having been to about 15 of these opening meetings, their church (PCI) is much too spiritually healthy in its own eyes; the result: it does not need God to come by His Spirit and mess things up! We sing the words, "Let the fire fall." I ask, what would we do if God were to answer that prayer? How would we respond?

I think this is true of most, if not all, other churches. We are all much too healthy in our own eyes. Probably because we have taken our eye off Christ, the true mirror, and are content to look at our own reflection, and admire what we see!

I think the issue is much larger than the personal, though this is vitally important. Because we belong to connexional churches, is there not a case to be made that as well as personal renewal being needed, denominational renewal/reformation is also required? Personal renewal is our responsibility, but my experience is that trying to renew or reform a congregation or denomination according to the Scriptures is a perilous pathway to tread. Every church does that which is right it its own eyes, therefore, neither needs nor wants any spiritual change.

Too much glibness!

Was it William Cowper who wrote, "Oh, how I fear thee living Lord"? I can speak too glibly about the fear of God, but my hard heart does not feel what I say, alas. We are much too overly familiar with these dreadful words that they just trip off our lips with complete ease. Yet we are not familiar enough with the sweetness of our Lord.

Wasn't it Samuel Rutherford who majored on the sweetness of Christ? I think it was. We would gain great spiritual benefit if we were to meditate on the loveliness of the Saviour. Jonathan Edwards also made much of the sweetness of the Lord. Another of the great preachers of old, Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne, said that for every time we look at our own wicked hearts, we need to look 10 times at Christ. Personally I don't look as much to Christ as I know I ought. We do not bypass Him - that's why we speak so much about Him - but by concentrating excessively upon us and our sin, are we not in danger of seeking to find our acceptance with God in another way and by bypassing Christ? Just a thought to ponder!