My Portion

Our Inheritance is God

I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.

Psalm 142:5 KJV

Remember when your were a little kid and mom was dolling out the ice cream. Every brother, sister, or friend had to get the same amount. No one should or could feel cheated. Every one must have the same and equal portion of ice cream. The idea of “portion,” meant an individual part or share in something.

In scripture, the word, “portion,” means something different. Portion in the old King James Version Bible and in the writings of the Puritans meant, “inheritance” : something granted or given to us by God. The greatest gift that God can give us is himself. Therefore, God is our inheritance: all we could ever want or desire. He is our complete satisfaction, our perfect portion forever.

Our God is a safe portion, a secure portion. He is a portion that no one can rob you of. He is a portion that none can touch or take from you. He is a portion that none can cheat or spoil you of. God is such a portion, that no friend, no foe, and no devil can ever rob a Christian of. O Christians, God is so yours in Christ, and so yours by covenant, and so yours by promise, and so yours by purchase, and so yours by conquest, and so yours by marriage union and communion, and so yours by the earnest of the Spirit, and so yours by the feelings and witnessings of the Spirit, that no power or policy on earth can ever pilfer your portion, or cheat, or rob you of your portion. He is not only our God for the present, O no! He will be our God for ever and ever. If God be once your portion, he will be forever your portion.

Thomas Brooks, Works of Thomas Thomas Brooks, II:26-27, cited in Voices From the Past: Puritan Devotional Readings, ed., Richard Rushing (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2009), 22.

“Handle Them With Hands”

Ministry That Is Full of the Spirit

And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom.

Acts 6:3 NLT

When I entered the ministry some thirty years ago (it seems like yesterday), the emphasis was on the Holy Spirit’s power. Christian leaders taught that Christian ministry should not be pursued without the Spirit’s blessing. Our ministry could not be successful without the Spirit’s enabling. Our ministry would not have a lasting impact without the anointing of the Spirit. Our ministry could not change hearts without the transforming work of the Spirit. All these statements were true and are still true.

While these “spiritual” concerns were real and should be heeded by any gospel minister: we should not neglect diligent study of the Word, faithful theological reflection, and research into the latest insights in pastoral care and counseling. Emphasis on the Spirit’s anointing should not displace diligent and faithful study. “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15 NLT).

It’s not an either-or, God blesses the minister with a yielded heart and a faithful mind. We worship and serve the Lord in “Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). We are called to love the Lord with ALL our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

However for today’s new minister, the pendulum has swung the other direction. For the training of new pastors, the academic is over emphasized to the neglect of spiritual maturity. The obtaining of advance degrees more prized than a ministry candidate’s prayer life. The size of the congregation more valued than than the depth of the minister’s walk with the Lord.

We need both: faithful men and women who will walk with God while consistently acting on the means of grace: study of the Word of God, earnest prayer, receiving the sacraments, and fellowshipping with other believers.

This practice he [i.e., David Brainerd] earnestly recommended on his death-bed, from his own experience of its great benefits, to some candidates for the ministry that stood by his bedside. He often speaking of the great need of ministers have much of the Spirit of Christ in their work, and how little good they are like to do without it; and how, ‘when ministers were under the special influences of the Spirit of God, it assisted them to come at consciences of men, and (as he expressed it) as it were to handle them with hands: whereas, without the Spirit of God, said he, whatever reason and oratory we make use of, we do but make use of stumps, instead of hands.’

Jonathan Edwards quoted by D. M. Lloyd-Jones, “Jonathan Edwards and the Crucial Importance of Revival,” in The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987), 370.

Why Does God Love Us?

God Loves Us Because He Loves Us

The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you . . . .

Deut. 7:7-8 NLT

Does God love us because we are good little boys and girls? Does God love us because we attended church all our lives? Does God love us because we are talented, pretty, and full of life and personality? Does God love us because we keep all the rules and obey all the norms of our society? No, he loves us because he loves us. It has nothing to do with our performance, it has every thing to do with his grace and glory.

Love is at the bottom of all. We may give a reason of other things, but we cannot give a reason of his love. God showed his wisdom, power, justice, and holiness in our redemption by Christ. If you ask why he made so much ado about a worthless creature, raised out of the dust of the ground at first, and had now disordered himself, and could be of no use to him, we have an answer at hand: Because he loved us. If you continue to ask, But why did he love us? We have no other answer but because he loved us; for beyond the first rise of things we cannot go. And the same reason is given by Moses, Deut. 7:7–8: ‘The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people; but because the Lord loved you . . . .’ That is, in short, he loved you because he loved you. All came from his free and undeserved mercy; higher we cannot go in seeking after the causes of what is done for our salvation.

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, 2:340–341.

HT: Miscellanies

It Will Get You No Where

 

Flattery Is a Form of Deception

To flatter friends is to lay a trap for their feet.

Prov. 29:5 NLT

In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery.

Prov. 28:23 NLT

Flattery is encouragement without substance: praise without merit. Flattery misleads—the praised abilities are not as good as advertised. Flattery is the giving of confidence in a talent or ability that the other person does not possess. Flattery glosses over the faults, flaws, and weaknesses of others for the purpose of gaining and receiving approval.

Encouragement is different from flattery in that our faults are recognized, but we are urged to overcome their difficulties. The wise person according to the Book of Proverbs sees through flattery and does not resort to its deception.

Too often the flatterer finds more favor than the reprover. ‘Few people have the wisdom to like reproofs that would do them good, better than praises that do them hurt.’ And yet a candid man, notwithstanding the momentary struggle of wounded pride, will afterwards appreciate the purity of the motive, and the value of the discovery. ‘He that cries out against his surgeon for hurting him, when he is searching his wound, will yet pay him well, and thank him too, when he has cured it.’

Unbelief, however, palsies (def. weakens) Christian rebuke. Actual displeasure, or the chilling of friendship, is intolerable. But Paul’s public rebuke of his brother apostle produced no disruption between them. Many years afterward Peter memorialized his ” beloved brother Paul” with most affectionate regard. The Apostle’s painful rebuke of his Corinthian converts eventually increased his favor with them, as the friend of their best interests. The flatterer is viewed with disgust; the reprover—afterwards at least—with acceptance. A less favorable result may often be traced to an unseasonable time, a harsh manner, a neglect of prayer for needful wisdom, or a want of due ‘consideration’ of our own liability to fall. Let us study the spirit of our gracious Master, whose gentleness ever poured balm into the wound, which his faithful love had opened. Such a spirit is more like the support of a friend, than the chastening of a rod.

Charles Bridges, A Commentary on Proverbs (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1846), 549.

“Uncomely a Sight”

Perseverance

Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses.

1 Tim. 6:11-12 NLT

The Christian life is a long distance race that requires absolute determination to finish and to finish well. Endurance is a “looking unto Jesus” through the up’s and down’s of life with the goal of pleasing his heart and being transformed into his likeness. The fruit of endurance is a deepening maturity and a depth of character that attracts lives to the gospel.

Perseverance is a willingness to stand in God’s chosen situation, or advance at his speed, so that, the full fruit of the Holy Spirit can be revealed. Believers must not bow to society’s pressures, succumb to false teaching, doubt God’s promises, or be angry at unexpected setbacks, but persevere into the knowledge and love of Christ. A heart that endures is a heart that trusts that God has an appointment in our disappointments “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12 NLT).

The believer is to persevere in his Christian course to the end of his life. We have known many who have gone into the field, and liked the work of a soldier for a battle or two, but soon have had enough, and come running home. There are so many professors and so few Christians indeed; so many that run and so few obtain; many go into the field against Satan, and so few come out conquerors . . . .

O how uncomely a sight is it to see, a bold sinner and a fearful saint, one resolved to be wicked, and a Christian wavering in his holy course; to see hell keep the field, while the saints hide their colours for shame.  Take heart therefore, O ye saints, and be strong; your cause is good. God himself adopts your quarrel. He shall lead you on with courage, and bring you off with honour. He lived and died for you. For mercy and tenderness to his soldiers, there is none like him.

Christ poured out his blood as balm to heal your wounds. He never turned his head from danger: no, not even when hell’s malice and heaven’s justice appeared in the field against him. A few days’ conflict will be crowned with heaven’s glory. In a word, Christians, every exploit of faith causes a shout in heaven while you slip out of enemies’ hands.

William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour, I:15-17, cited in Voices From the Past: Puritan Devotional Reading, ed., Richard Rushing (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2009), 3.

Thank God!

Thank God in All Things Whether Good or Bad

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Col. 3:17

Thankfulness is a genuine gratefulness flowing from our hearts which sees God’s appointment in the midst of our disappointments. A thankful heart trusts God’s goodness irrespective of their unexplained difficulties, chronic trials, and persistent obstacles. Thankfulness says “yes” to God’s grace knowing that whether good or bad, the Lord can use our circumstances for his glory and our growth.

The apostle [Paul] says. “In everything give thanks” (1 Thess. 5.18). Why so? Because God makes everything work for our good. We thank the physician, though he gives us a bitter medicine which makes us sick, because it is to make us well; we thank any man who does us a good turn; and shall we not be thankful to God, who makes everything work for good to us?

God loves a thankful Christian. Job thanked God when he took all away: “The Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1.21). Many will thank God when He gives; Job thanks Him when He takes away, because he knew that God would work good out of it. We read of saints with harps in their hands (Rev. 14.2), an emblem of praise.

We meet many Christians who have tears in their eyes, and complaints in their mouths; but there are few with their harps in their hands, who praise God in affliction. To be thankful in affliction is a work peculiar to a saint. Every bird can sing in spring, but some birds will sing in the dead of winter. Everyone, almost, can be thankful in prosperity, but a true saint can be thankful in adversity. A good Christian will bless God, not only at sun-rise, but at sun-set. Well may we, in the worst that befalls us, have a psalm of thankfulness, because all things work for good. Oh, be much in blessing of God: we will thank Him that doth befriend us.

Thomas Watson, All Things for Good, Puritan Paperbacks series (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2008), 62-63.

What Theologians Are Supposed to Do!

Theology that Quickens the Conscience and Softens the Heart

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Hebrews 1:1-2

Several years ago, Bishop Charles W. Jones graciously appointed me as his canon theologian. A canon theologian is responsible for advising his bishop in theological matters, teaching the classic truths of the Faith, and encouraging his fellow clergy in the study of the Word of God. I take the task seriously, perhaps too seriously. But, I feel a responsibility to equip the people of God in the truths of God for the upbuilding of the church of God for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Theology need not be a purely intellectual exercise: theology should elevate the people of God into the presence of God for the worship and love of God. Theology should be birthed in prayer, pastorally sensitive, and understandable to the everyday believer. As J. I. Packer states below, theology should clean out the church’s sewers so that God’s truth might flow to the benefit of all.

If our theology does not quicken the conscience and soften the heart, it actually hardens both; if it does not encourage the commitment of faith, it reinforces the detachment of unbelief; if it fails to promote humility, it inevitably feeds pride. So one who theologizes in public, whether formally in the pulpit, on the podium or in print, or informally from the armchair, must think hard about the effect his thoughts will have on people — God’s people, and other people. Theologians are called to be the church’s water engineers and sewage officers; it is their job to see that God’s pure truth flows abundantly where it is needed, and to filter out any intrusive pollution that might damage health.

J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990), 15.

HT: Ray Ortlund

Contentment: The Elusive Virtue

Contentment is Learned Not Instantaneously Acquired

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Phil. 4:11-12

Contentment is satisfaction in God himself. We don’t care whether life is the way we want it as long as we have his presence, joy, and love. Nothing the world offers compares with the satisfaction we have in Christ. Contentment is finding our needs met in God’s love and our sufficiency fulfilled in God’s adequacy (Phil 4:11; 1 Tim. 6:6; Heb. 13:5). We are able to experience joy while being fulfilled with the necessities of life that the Lord has provided. Contentment is developed over time: its is not an instant virtue. Contentment is obtained through trusting Christ and a willingness to live without the world’s passing fashions. Contentment is obtained by trusting God’s will, submitting to his appointments (even if they are disappointments), and drawing our strength from Christ (Phil. 4:13).

Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.

Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment (Reprint; Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1964), 19.

HT: Redeemer Blogs

A Prayer on My 52nd Birthday

Christ Be My All

O’ Lord your love is found in the birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of your Son. Your victory is my victory. Therefore, I renounce Satan and all his wiles and temptations. I pray for personal, experiential knowledge of you as my love, my companion, and my friend. Your holiness compared to my sinfulness is great, yet your grace is greater. Transform me into the likeness of your Son. Your love for me is unceasing, may my love for you be as relentless and continuous. On Golgotha, you demonstrated your love for me: you bore the judgment for all my sin and shame. May my every second of living, every thought in my brain, and every beat of my heart be dedicated to loving you. I reject the world’s values and false promises. Please Lord, walk by my side, speak to my heart, that my life might be a reflection of the righteous beauty of your Son; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Christ is All

O Lover to the uttermost,

May I read the meltings of Thy heart to me

in the manger of Thy birth,

in the garden of Thy agony,

in the cross of Thy suffering,

in the tomb of Thy resurrection,

in the heaven of Thy intercession.

Bold in this thought I defy my adversary,

tread down his temptations,

resist his schemings,

renounce the world,

am valiant for truth.

Deepen in me a sense of my holy relationship to Thee,

as spiritual bridegroom,

as Jehovah’s fellow,

as sinners’ friend.

I think of Thy glory and my vileness,

Thy majesty and my meanness,

Thy beauty and my deformity,

Thy purity and my filth,

Thy righteouness and my iniquity.

Thou has loved me everlastingly, unchangeably,

may I love Thee as I am loved;

Thou hast given Thyself for me,

may I give myself to Thee.

Thou hast died for me,

may I live to Thee

in every moment of time,

in every movement of my mind,

in every pulse of my heart.

May I never dally with the world and its allurements,

but walk by Thy side,

listen to Thy voice,

be clothed with Thy grace,

and adorned with Thy righteousness.

Arthur Bennett, ed. Valley of Vision (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 18.