The Wanderer

I had a great day yesterday. I headed off to Richmond, dropping off some things and picking up others with the aim of eventually meeting up with Paul Levy, pastor of the International Presbyterian Church in Ealing. It was great to spend an hour or so with Paul catching up with him on life and work. Paul knows almost everyone, it seems, and is, by his own admission, the world’s least discreet man. Actually, what that means is that he is refreshingly and cheerfully honest and straightforward, dismissing me blithely as “one of those mad Independents who actually believes what he says” when the discussion touched on ecclesiology, and giving a forthright opinion on anyone and anything mentioned. Paul blogs with the same bracing lack of forethought and disregard for consequence – with the added bonus of watching a man twirl a nonchalant moustache and pirouette away with cavalier insouciance whenever accosted by the forces of grammar, spelling and punctuation – at Reformation21. He is worth following. I should also point out that – while I cannot say that Paul doesn’t want to look like this – the picture is not of Paul, but of Richard Sibbes, which brings me to my point.

The main reason for heading to Richmond is because Paul had invited me to hear Mike Reeves (Head of Theology at UCCF). I had only read some of Mike’s books (see review), which I thoroughly enjoyed while being slightly peturbed at a couple of points. I was therefore keen to hear Mike in person to get a better sense of his particular approach and emphases. What a joy that was! Mike was speaking at a West London Ministry Afternoon on “The Love of Christ.” Expecting something helpful if slightly generic, I pitched up only to discover that Mike intended to introduce us to a book by Richard Sibbes. Sibbes was highly-regarded among his contemporaries for his gracious and wise counsel, receiving the nickname “the sweet-dropper” for his ability to leave behind a little gospel honey wherever he went and to whomever he spoke.

We learned that the Banner of Truth is shortly to publish a volume of Sibbes entitled The Love of Christ (a Puritan Paperback), a title a little more accessible and less open to misinterpretation than the original, Bowels Opened, which is found in volume two of the excellent Works of Richard Sibbes. Taking this as his starting point, Mike gave us a helpful introduction to Sibbes on the Song of Solomon, pointing us back toward a more Christocentric reading, and inviting much helpful discussion along the way. Apart from the moment when a large spider ran up Mike’s shirt and clustered round him, which was marginally distracting for the hearers and a tad disconcerting for the spider-clad gent, it held our attention and gripped our hearts. I would thoroughly recommend getting The Love of Christ when it is available, and then diving into Sibbes en masse, as it were.

The day ended well, and I headed home, wondering if Levy would succeed in his avowed attempt to turn Reeves away from the errors of Anglicanism, and hoping that both of them would see the light and complete their reformations by becoming Baptists.

“Why did Christ have to be true God?” asks the delightfully named Confession of Tarcal (1562) and Torda (1563). Here is the answer:

That same mediator had to be not only man but also true God, for the reasons which we will state.

1.) For first, if He were not true God, He would not be a Savior, but rather one in need of a Savior (Isa. 43:1, 3; Hos. 13:4; Jer. 14:8).

2.) Again, it is necessary that there be found before the righteousness of God parity between sin and punishment. For if the divine majesty, which is offended by sin, is infinite, then sin too is infinite and merits infinite punishment. From this, it appears that there was need of one that would suffer punishment as a man and at the same time be infinite, i.e., true God.

3.) Third, since the wrath of God is infinite there was no strength, angelic or human, great enough to bear such a burden. He had, therefore, to be not only man but also true God that was to overcome the devil, sin, the world, the wrath of God and death and to rise again (John 14:6; 2 Cor. 5:19).

4.) In order to display His incomprehensible goodness, God further did not wish to make His grace only equal to our sin, but wished to surpass it. For that reason Adam, the author of our wretchedness, was so madein the likeness of God that, nevertheless, he could be earthly, as his weakness showed; but on the contrary, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, through whom we are set free, should be true and perfect man and yet the Lord from heaven, i.e., true God, in who resided all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Surely, if the disobedience of Adam terrifies us greatly, the righteousness of Jesus rather establishes us much more. And we hope that the life obtained in Jesus Christ is much better than that which we lost in Adam, as Christ surpasses Adam (Rom. 5:15).

John Murray:

There is no situation in which we are placed, no demand that arises, for which Scripture as the deposit of the manifold wisdom of God is not adequate and sufficient.  It is the Scripture that provides the equipment, the furnishings, the investments, that prepare us for the kingdom of God, ’till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ’ and are ‘filled unto all the fulness of God’. (Works, 3:261)

Herman Bavinck:

The imperative task of the dogmatician is to think God’s thoughts after him and to trace their unity. His work is not finished until he has mentally absorbed this unity and set it forth in a dogmatics. Accordingly, he does not come to God’s revelation with a ready-made system in order, as best he can, to force its content into it. On the contrary, even in his system a theologian’s sole responsibility is to think God’s thoughts after him and to reproduce the unity that is objectively present in the thoughts of god and has been recorded for the eye of faith in Scripture. (Reformed Dogmatics, 1:44)

Books old: Reformation Heritage Books have released A Portrait of Paul as an ebook. It is selling for $9.99 (approximately six of your earth pounds together with about fifty of your terrestrial pence). I am waiting for my own ‘copy’ as it were, but I am presuming that it is readily available and functional for such devices as the Kindle and others.

Books new: God willing, a second volume will be rolling from the presses in January of this coming year. The working title is The Brokenhearted Evangelist, and the first few endorsements are rolling in. More news will follow, but – for appetite-whetting purposes – here is John MacArthur’s kind commendation:

In recent years providence has brought a number of people into my life and ministry who are passionate about evangelism. Some of them are especially keen to win friends, fellow-workers, and family to Christ; others are engaged in various kinds of open-air evangelism, bringing the gospel to people they have never met before. I thank God for all of them and the passion that drives them. This excellent book by Jeremy Walker explains the biblical principles that underlie and provoke such passion, reminding us that time is short, the need is urgent, the laborers are few, and the fields are white unto harvest.

I will attempt to keep you posted as work progresses. There is plenty of other writing in the tube, so I press on!

I appreciated David Murray’s letter to a beloved friend on the eve of that friend’s death, ending:

My heart fills with love and my eyes well up with tears as I bid you a last farewell from this sin-sick world.

I will never forget you.

See you “in the morning.”

It is no small thing so to live as to be worthy of such parting words.

Tim Challies has been reading In Light of Eternity, a biography of Leonard Ravenhill​. He quotes from one of Ravenhill’s mentors, Samuel Chadwick:

I would rather preach than do anything else I know in this world. I have never missed a chance to preach. I would rather preach than eat my dinner, or have a holiday or anything else the world can offer. I would rather pay to preach than be paid not to preach. It has its price in agony of sweat and tears and no calling has such joys and heartbreaks, but it is a calling an archangel might covet; and I thank God that of His grace He called me into this ministry. Is there any joy like that of saving a soul from death? Any thrill like that of opening blind eyes? Any reward like the love of little children to the second and third generation? Any treasures like the grateful love of hearts healed and comforted? I tell you it is a glorious privilege to share the travail and the wine of God. I wish I had been a better minister, but there is nothing in God’s world I would rather be.

And a second quote:

Nothing makes for a preacher’s effectiveness more than a true conception of his calling. He is a messenger. That which he speaks is not his own. He is not at liberty to criticize, modify, or tamper with that which is entrusted to him; neither has he any right to withhold it from any person to whom it is sent. But he is neither a postman nor a phonograph. He delivers an open message which he has received from God for men. His first business is to wait for his message, and his next is to see that it is faithfully delivered.

May God give to his true ambassadors a greater appetite for preaching!

Euan Murray, the Scotland prop forward, playing at the Rugby World Cup, has made it plain that – despite the cost – he is not prepared to play on the Lord’s day. He told the BBC:

It’s basically all or nothing, following Jesus. I don’t believe in pick ‘n’ mix Christianity. I believe the Bible is the word of God, so who am I to ignore something from it?

Those who honour God, God will honour. Euan’s faithfulness may earn scorn from some, but those who love the Lord esteem him highly, as does his Master.

The Independent covers the story here, and extra stuff from Murray is here and here and here. More is available, too, on the great Michael Jones.

As I mentioned previously, the Ss are in danger of being over-represented in pastoral theology authors (come on, authors beginning with other letters!). So, in addition to last time, where we introduced the letter (is this starting to sound a little bit like a surreal episode of Sesame Street?), here is a bevy of Ss to keep you occupied for a while.

The full list to date continues to be available here or from the sidebar under “Pastoral theology.” Comments and further recommendations are appreciated , and if you could put them on the full page, I will be able to keep track of them more readily.

By the way, keep your eyes open for a competition which I hope to have in place shortly after completion of the list.

Spencer, Ichabod. A Pastor’s Sketches (2 vols). I suppose you could call these volumes an exercise in pastoral casuistry. They are really vignettes of pastoral interaction, covering a wide range of circumstances and character. One of their particular advantages is that – for young men who may have little experience of dealing with seeking souls, tortured consciences, arrogant hearts, or troubled lives – these give us an experiential head start until we have had some experience of our own. These books abound with practical pastoral wisdom for dealing with men and women in various stages of spiritual agitation and concern. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Spring, Gardiner. The Attraction of the Cross. “Nothing will interest you like the cross. Nothing can do for you what the cross has done.” So says Spring, having surveyed the narrative of the cross, and he then sets out to demonstrate his point by giving counsels concerning the cross of Christ. A feast of good things, a treasury stored with healthy and helpful thoughts concerning those matters which stand at the heart of faith. Somewhere between pastoral theology and pastoral practice, this book teaches the man and instructs the minister simultaneously. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Spring, Gardiner. The Power of the Pulpit: Thoughts Addressed to Christian Ministers and Those Who Hear Them. Distinctive not least because it is pastoral theology for the pulpit and the pew. After developing at length the principle of a powerful pulpit, Spring then ranges fairly far and wide over some typical topics of pastoral theology, as well as taking up some of the responsibilities of hearers of God’s Word. Spring always flows with sound advice and his words clearly gush from an ardent heart. I like him. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Spurgeon, Charles. An All-Round Ministry. Some of Spurgeon’s presidential addresses to his Pastors’ College Conference, these were the times when he sought to put an edge on the blade. These words stir the soul, engage the heart, humble the mind, and draw out the strength. For all Spurgeon’s personal and cultural distinctives of style, the man knew how to deal with the heart, and his love for Christ, for his church, and for the lost simply overflows in these sparkling pages. Read it often. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Spurgeon, Charles. Counsel for Christian Workers. A series of more generic addresses to those engaged in various spheres of distinctly Christian labour, these have much to encourage and direct the time and energy of labouring saints. We might wish we had more workers of finer temper, but this will both exhort us to be such ourselves and help us to forge those we have into more effective tools for the Master’s work. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Spurgeon, Charles. Eccentric Preachers. Instructive, hilarious, cathartic. If nothing else, this will release a man to be unashamedly himself, to be whatever God has made him, and to serve God accordingly. The man who reads it and decides to behave eccentrically is not being eccentric but foolish; I should hope that no-one of sense would fall into this trap. Given that many effective ministers do not necessarily fit a mould, I think that this is more helpful in enabling us to get on with our work than many might assume. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Spurgeon, Charles. Spurgeon’s Sermon Notes. I cannot say that I have ever actually used this for a sermon, though it is nice to have as an emergency (that said, I have more often than not cribbed something from Spurgeon’s printed sermons, so I am not claiming to be entirely independent!). Good for a crisis, so long as a man has learned to preach as his own what he necessarily borrows from another. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Spurgeon, Charles. Lectures to My Students. A beauty! Spurgeon goes places that others do not with a wit and insight that others lack. A wealth of counsels on countless topics, all breathing an atmosphere of true devotion to Christ and his people. I think this is a splendid book. Be aware, though, that in common with some of the other books of great men on such topics, they sometimes make assumptions that hold good only for men of similar gift, or give counsel that works best if you have their capacities and abilities and must be adapted for others. He does not often fall into the trap of laying down rules that we are not obliged to follow, but we must remember that Spurgeon is Spurgeon, and that he might wisely do what for us would be a mistake. For all that, make it a regular companion. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Spurgeon, Charles. The Soul Winner. Reveals the beating heart of Spurgeon the evangelist. I love this book and only wish I could show more benefit from it in practice and enjoy it by experience. I honestly think that Spurgeon can see what too many others have lost sight of, and he calls us to cultivate the character and the capabilities that will make us winners of souls, and then go out with earnest endeavour to accomplish our God-given ends. When our public and private labours are in danger of becoming tepid or aimless or meandering or merely academic, this will invigorate our souls. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Stewart, James S. Heralds of God. A curious book this, containing many good counsels but not grounding them to great degree in the Word of God. Many entirely right and healthy convictions come across masked in the language of philosophy or sociology. The tone is quite conversational and the whole is fairly urbane and cultured. By all means worthy of a read, and contains much to stimulate, but feels like it relies more on the light of nature than of revelation, and so lacks the cutting edge for which one looks in books of this kind. See also here. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Stalker, James. The Preacher and His Models. Taking his cue from the Old Testament prophets (including a fascinating treatment of false prophets) and the New Testament apostles, Stalker reviews the material under eight headings in which the character of a true preacher is set forth (sometimes by contrast). Stimulating, demanding and engaging, this book presses the Scriptural models into the soul of the modern minister. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Still, William. The Work of the Pastor. A shorter volume, but abounding in wit and sense. Willy Still was one of Sinclair Ferguson’s mentors, and this book focuses on the preaching and teaching of the Word as the pastor’s main concern and most effective tool. There are some very invigorating counsels here, delivered without punches being pulled, and with a minimum of fuss and extravagance. Good stuff! (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Stott, John. Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today. Some excellent counsel here from our Anglican friend, with lots of sound advice grounded in principle and long practice. One need not agree with every assumption or argument to find much to appreciate. Particularly engaging is his wrestling with the challenges of preaching in today’s world (it would be disappointing, given the title, if this were not so!). He helpfully identifies many of the problems, even if we might fine-tune some of his solutions. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Stott, John. The Preacher’s Portrait. To say that this is not much more than a series of word studies would be both to speak truth and to undersell the book terribly. Stott examines the language used of preachers and preaching in the New Testament to develop a composite portrait of the labours of the man of God. Handled with insight and conviction, these studies give a healthy roundedness to our notions of being a preacher of God’s Word. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

From time to time, in the weeks leading up to the beginning of the new school year, I receive enquiries about churches in particular places. They usually go something like this: “So-and-so has got a place to study this-or-that at such-and-such university in such-and-such a city. Do you know of any good church that he or she could go to?”

My initial response is almost always to hang my head in my hands, because I am grieved over the failure of the prospective students and their parents and perhaps their pastors to consider the consequences of their actions and to plan accordingly.

What would you think of someone who told you that they had made arrangements to move to a new planet, and then asked if you knew if the atmosphere was breathable? Or that they were on their way to a new country, but they were not sure if there would be any food there that they could eat, and did you have any recommendations? You would look at them as if they were mad! Air to breathe and food to eat: surely these are your first considerations when planning such a significant step, not the questions that you worry about once the business of getting there has been accomplished!

So why is it that year after year, professing Christians students (and their parents) plan their intellectual, academic, professional or social development (or invest in the development of their offspring), and only subsequently ask whether or not their souls will receive faithful and loving care in the only environment on earth that Christ has ordained for the lasting health of his people?

Consider this: those three or more years at university occur at a seminal time of life under peculiarly trying circumstances. For many, this will be the first time away from home, away from the protection of parents and the shepherding of the pastors they have always known. They will go into a stimulating, demanding environment with a host of new enticements, fresh temptations, different companions, peculiar challenges, and unexpected opportunities. For many, the regular and immediate outward restraints of knowing and being known, of parental government and pastoral oversight, will be removed for a prolonged period of time. And all this at a time when the character is only just being formed, when physically, mentally, emotionally and very often spiritually, there is a degree of uncertainty and instability alongside rapid development. The previous anchor points of life are necessarily (and not necessarily unhealthily) being altered, and the soul may drop its anchors in better places, worse places, or simply be cast adrift. And into this potentially fruitful, potentially devastating environment goes the student, and he or she often does so without any notion of where they will find Christian care, compassion, example and instruction over the long haul. Could it be that one of the reasons why we see so many professing Christians falling away or losing their way during their university years is that they have headed off to their colleges and courses without first determining where and how they will obtain their spiritual sustenance?

This is not an argument against Christian unions and the like, nor is it an argument for stay-at-home-or-local schooling, but such a situation reflects a cripplingly low and badly mistaken view of the church, and the Christian’s relationship to it. One fears that neither the parents nor the pastors of the church from which the prospective student comes have ever made clear the Christian’s priorities, or – if one or other have set them forth – they have been thoroughly rebuffed. If that is the foundation, what will be the building? How strange to see a Christian parent providing books, clothes, funds, food, and making countless other investments in the success of a university place, and then seeming to just hope that their child will not make shipwreck of the faith along the way without making any of the appropriate provisions for the care of their souls!

I acknowledge that the prospective student may not be a Christian, and may relish the prospect of finally being out from under the compassionate, concerned and determined government of church and home. Even so, surely a concerned parent or pastor might give well-meaning counsel in the hopes that – whatever the young person’s response may be initially – should there ever be a softening, or a need for care, there will be someone on hand to provide it with faithfulness and tenderness? Is there no prospect that a message could be sent to a pastor in the university town to keep an eye open for an uncertain or slightly disgruntled new face in the congregation over the first few weeks of term?

Of course, the same holds true of decisions relating to employment and other spheres. A fantastic promotion, much improved prospects, a more impressive salary, a lovely new home in a much better area, a wonderful school for the kids and so on and so forth . . . and a potential spiritual dryness that will hold back the spiritual development of a child of God for the rest of their life on earth.

Now, to be sure, we cannot predict or pre-empt the work of God in such things. We make foolish errors often, but believers have a heavenly Father who is working all things together for good, and the battles fought as a result of our mistake may make significant contributions to our spiritual formation and yet prove a means of blessing. Of course we might make the best plans we can, under God, and discover that a distant or well-meaning recommendation amounts to nothing; people can be mistaken, sometimes badly; beneath the surface of an apparently healthy church may lurk a looming disaster. Nevertheless, none of this is an excuse to act foolishly or disobediently and expect the Lord to tidy up the mess afterward: “Trust in God and keep your powder dry.”

For the Christian who is a prospective student, this may mean more work and hard choices. It may mean sitting down with lists of universities on one sheet and churches on another and working out where there is an appropriate correspondence. It may mean beginning with a long list of universities and doing the research on faithful churches in those towns and cities, with a line drawn through those halls of learning without halls of holiness in the vicinity – no matter how otherwise enticing the prospects or how creditable the courses. It could require a couple of visits to see how the rubber hits the road in a particular congregation. It may mean that you make your plans and decisions with the words ringing in your ears, ratcheted into your mind, or written on your paper: “Those who honour me, I will honour, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” Should unforeseen dangers and trials then come, there is a promise for the child of God to cling to: “Lord, you know that in my heart and in my plans I set out to honour you. Father, please now protect and prosper your child!”

In the coming year, then, as you contemplate any move, whether it be a application for a university place, a shift in employment, or any other such change of place, consider your soul, and therefore consider the church. Make every effort to get yourself into a spiritual environment in which you will not merely survive but are likely to thrive. Before you go among wolves, seek out and set out after God’s appointed environment and God’s appointed under-shepherds for the salvation, succour, support and safety of his flock.

Thank you, Ray Ortlund:

If we would stop treating Sunday as a second Saturday, one more day to run to Home Depot [read, B&Q, perhaps, for the UK], one more day for the kids’ soccer games, another day for getting ready for Monday, if we would rediscover Sunday as The Lord’s Day, focusing on him for just one day each week, what would be the immediate impact between today and one year from today?

By one year from today, we will have spent 52 whole days given over to Jesus. Seven and a half weeks of paid vacation with Jesus.

He’s a good King. Maybe we should put him first in our weekly schedules. Not fit him into the margins of our busy weekends, but build our whole weekly routine around him.

Just a thought.

And a good one.

S being another popular initial initial, as it were, for writers of pastoral theologies,today I offer you the Rs from the list and the first smattering of Ss (esses? Ssss?). The full list to date continues to be available here or from the sidebar under “Pastoral theology.” Comments and further recommendations are appreciated , and if you could put them on the full page, I will be able to keep track of them more readily. Enjoy and profit!

Reymond, Robert L. The God-Centered Preacher: Developing a Pulpit Ministry Approved by God. Coming from a slightly different stable to some of the other volumes, this book comes in two parts, the former a survey of eight needs for the modern pulpit, and the latter a selection of ‘approved’ sermons intended to demonstrate the model established in the first part. Fairly technical at points, and interacting with some significant opponents, this Scripture-saturated, theologically acute, historically aware volume has much to offer. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Reynolds, Gregory Edward. The Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures: Preaching in the Electronic Age. Essentially a homiletical work developed out of some post-graduate research (I think), Reynolds sets out not to rehash some of the older classics, but to supplement them taking into account the rise of modern media. The bulk of the book is fairly typical academic hoop-jumping, all good stuff and very interesting, but interacting by obligation with things for the sake of racking up some scholarly points. In the latter portion of the book the pastor-preacher takes over and scores some good hits. Despite it being ten years old (and therefore not taking account of a decade of high-speed development) it covers a lot of ground and brings out some excellent principles. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Ryle, J. C. Simplicity in Preaching. Reminding us that in his collections of essays and addresses Ryle has a wealth of sound advice on preaching, this little booklet is concerned with simplicity, and – modelling its own counsel – gives us a series of pointed counsels as to how to develop it. Many a seminarian who has yet to discern the difference between his classroom disquisitions and his pulpit productions would benefit from this. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Shaw, John. The Character of a Pastor According to God’s Heart Considered. An ordination sermon grounded in Jeremiah 3.15, this is one of those more Puritanical treatments which drives at the heart of the ministry: the character of the minister. Short, simple, searching, will flush the spiritual system out. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Shedd, W. G. T. Homiletics and Pastoral Theology. Boy, how these 19^th century gents liked to churn these things out! This one combines a series of lectures on sermon preparation and delivery and a survey of pastoral theology as it has to do with the various spheres of ministerial character and labour. Again, the style is of its time, but the counsels, directions and warnings are always substantial, Scripturally solid, often sweet, sometimes righteously severe, and properly searching. Will cover much of the ground that others cover, but these men have flashes of insight and turns of phrase that can make each individually valuable. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Smith, Steven W. Dying to Preach: Embracing the Cross in the Pulpit. A passionate and persuasive plea to preachers that they must embrace the cross in their pastoral ministry, dying to self so that others might live in imitation of Christ and, following the Lord, Paul. The focus is really on one’s theology of preaching. The author’s vigorous spiritual probing calls us back to self-examination as to whether we preach a crucified Lord in a crucified style. Review. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

The gospel of Christ in general is this; It is the good tidings that God has revealed concerning Christ. More largely it is this: As all mankind was lost in Adam and became the children of wrath, put under the sentence of death, God, though He left His fallen angels and has reserved them in the chains of eternal darkness, yet He has thought upon the children of men and has provided a way of atonement to reconcile them to Himself again.  Namely, the second Person in the Trinity takes  man’s nature upon Himself, and becomes the head of a second covenant, standing charged with sin. He answers for it by suffering what the law and divine justice required, and by making satisfaction for keeping the law perfectly, which satisfaction and righteousness he tenders up to the Father as a sweet savor of rest for the souls that are given to Him. And now this mediation of Christ is, by the appointment of the Father, preached to the children of men, of whatever nation or rank, freely offering this atonement unto sinners for atonement, requiring them to believe in Him and, upon believing promising not only a discharge of all their former sins, but that they shall not enter into condemnation, that none of their sins or unworthiness shall ever hinder the peace of God with them, but that they shall through Him be received into the number of those who shall have the image of God again to be renewed unto them, and that they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Conversation, 3-4.

Writing on the contention between the two apostles, Paul and Peter, and its resolution, William Taylor makes the following comment:

It may seem a paradox to say it, but there are few things which test a man’s real Christianity more than reproof for that which is actually blameworthy. It is comparatively easy to guard against giving offence; but it is exceeding hard to keep from taking offence in such circumstances, and to say with the Psalmist, “Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head.” We all assent to Solomon’s proverb, “Open rebuke is better than secret love;” but when the rebuke comes most of us, on the whole, would prefer the love; and too frequently we are disposed to resent the faithfulness of the brother who would hint, even in the most delicate manner, that we have been in the wrong. We cry out against the modern dogma of papal infallibility, but we have all too much belief in that of our own infallibility; for our tempers are roused, and our hearts are estranged by any exposure of our error or inconsistency. How many personal alienations and ecclesiastical schisms might have been prevented, if there had been on the one side the honest frankness of Paul, and on the other the manly meekness of Peter as these come out in this transaction! (Paul the Missionary, 175-176)

Do you pass the Taylor test?

The Westminster Conference is almost upon us once more, taking place this year on Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th December at the new venue of the Salvation Army’s Regent Hall on Oxford Street. The brochure (see picture link or here) can be downloaded, filled in and sent off to the Secretary (no online booking at present, I am afraid). This year’s papers are as follows, God willing:

• Christian liberty and the Westminster Assembly (Robert Letham). The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) contains a ground-breaking declaration of Christian liberty. What forces thrust this to the forefront of its agenda? On what basis did the Assembly set it? How did it work out in practice? How does it relate to the gospel? Robert Letham’s address will seek answers to these questions, as well as considering what lessons can be learned for our own day.
• The Covenanting experience (Knox Hyndman). Within a few years of taking the throne Charles II began subjecting the Scots to a twenty eight year period of persecution and terror. During this period it has been estimated that the authorities “killed, impoverished or banished” over eighteen thousand people. However, the response to this cruelty was not uniform and this address will consider the different reactions in the church and the subsequent effect on its life and witness.
• Obadiah Holmes: pioneer of religious freedom (Stephen Rees). Obadiah Holmes left Lancashire in 1638, crossing the Atlantic in search of purity of worship and clear gospel preaching. In New England he found saving faith but also came to Baptist convictions and found himself at odds with church leaders and magistrates alike. He discovered that there were limits to the religious liberty permitted by the Puritan establishment. Holmes’ stand for freedom of conscience had greater consequences than anyone could have predicted.
• The broad road from orthodoxy to heresy (Robert Strivens). Anti-trinitarian views gained considerable ground in Old Dissent during the first half of the 18^th century. By the second half of that century significant numbers of congregations had lapsed into heresy. Why did this happen? What attempts were made to turn back the tide and why were they largely unsuccessful? What lessons are there for us in this story, faced as we are today with increasingly strong attacks on central evangelical doctrines?
• Puritanism: where did it all go wrong? (Lewis Allen). Why, after they had made such strides in the churches and in national life, was there such a disintegration of Puritan principles? And what accounts for the doctrinal descent into Unitarianism in the first quarter of the 17th Century? This paper will give an overview of the period after 1662, considering the ‘downgrade’ of Puritan ideals during this time and giving salutary lessons for our day.
• John Eliot: “Apostle to the Indians” (Hugh Collier). This remarkable man was one of the first to take the gospel to the Indians of North America. He learned their Algonquian language, and, as it had no written text, devised one. He then translated the whole bible into their tongue. He preached to them, cared for them and was loved by them. This was all on top of a 58 year pastorate! There is much for us to learn from this servant of God.

From Mr Spurgeon via Main Things:

Happy is the man that feareth alway. (Proverbs 28:14)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning and the foundation of all true religion. Without a solemn awe and reverence of God there is no foothold for the more brilliant virtues. He whose soul does not worship will never live in holiness.

He is happy who feels a jealous fear of doing wrong. Holy fear looks not only before it leaps, but even before it moves. It is afraid of error, afraid of neglecting duty, afraid of committing sin. It fears ill company, loose talk, and questionable policy, This does not make a man wretched, but it brings him happiness. The watchful sentinel is happier than the soldier who sleeps at his post. He who foreseeth evil and escapes it is happier than he who walks carelessly on and is destroyed.

Fear of God is a quiet grace which leads a man along a choice road, of which it is written, “No lion shall be there, neither shall any ravenous beast go up thereon.” Fear of the very appearance of evil is a purifying principle, which enables a man, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to keep his garments unspotted from the world. Solomon had tried both worldliness and holy fear: in the one he found vanity, in the other happiness. Let us not repeat his trial but abide by his verdict.

Guy Davies shows us Calvin the worshipping poet:

When we see that the whole sum of our salvation,
and every single part of it, are comprehended in Christ,
we must beware of deriving even the minutes portion
of it from any other quarter.

If we seek salvation,
we are taught by the very name of Jesus that he possesses it;
if we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, we shall find them in his unction;
strength in his government;
purity in his conception;
indulgence in his nativity,
in which he was made like us in all respects,
in order that he might learn to sympathise with us.

If we seek redemption,
we shall find it in his passion;
acquittal in his condemnation;
remission of the curse in his cross;
satisfaction in his sacrifice;
purification in his blood;
reconciliation in his descent to hell;
mortification of the flesh in his sepulchre.

Newness of life in his resurrection;
immortality also in his resurrection;
the inheritance of a celestial kingdom
in his entrance into heaven;
protection, security, and the abundant supply
of all blessings, in his kingdom;
secure anticipation of judgement
in the power of judging committed to him.

In fine, since in him all kinds of blessings are treasured up,
let us draw a full supply from him, and none from any other quarter.

(From Institutes Book II:16:19. Versified by Guy Davies)

I have been reminded of this snippet of sanctified doggerel from John Bunyan a fair bit over the last few days:

God gave us Cloaths to hide our Nakedness,
And we by them, do it expose to View.
Our Pride, and unclean Minds, to an excess,
By our Apparel we to others shew.

The technology of clothes may advance, styles come and go, fashions rotate, but men do not change, and how we dress remains something of a register of the heart.

Brief reviews of pastoral theology texts can be found below, taking us from O though to P. The full list to date can be found here or from the sidebar under “Pastoral theology.” Comments and further recommendations are appreciated , and if you could put them on the full page, I will be able to keep track of them more readily. I presume that commenters are simply waiting until I have finished the list until they can gloatingly point out classics that I have missed and newer works that are considered indispensable. I wait with bated breath . . .

Olyott, Stuart. Ministering Like the Master: Three Messages for Today’s Preachers. Stuart’s gift for clarity and ability to make a point serve him well in this little jewel. In terse, tight prose, we are informed that our Lord was not a boring preacher (with instruction on how to emulate him), that he was an evangelistic preacher (with counsel on how to follow him), and that he was more than just a preacher (with his example held before us). Sweet, practical, stimulating. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Olyott, Stuart. Preaching Pure and Simple. Once he has defined what preaching is, Stuart tells us what it needs to make it good: exegetical accuracy, doctrinal substance, clear structure, vivid illustration, pointed application, helpful delivery, and supernatural authority. Whether as a primer for a preacher finding his feet, or a refresher course for a man who needs to strip down his work to the essentials for an evaluation of his labours, this is superb. Highly recommended. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Newton, John. Ministry on my Mind. This booklet is simply a record of what were intended to be the private thoughts of John Newton as he pondered whether or not he was being called to the ministry. Valuable largely because it is so personal – and, it should be noted, potentially tricky for the same reasons, because Newton was not self-consciously establishing a general model for others – this is a wonderful help to a man wrestling with the same issue, and a sobering reminder that many of us do not take what we are already doing with sufficient seriousness. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Piper, John. Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry. Full of familiar Piper themes and phrases (the reader must judge of their usefulness) the substance of this work is genuinely helpful. Brief chapters make it excellent for occasional or sequential meditation as a way of considering whether our pastoral compass is set true, and the range of topics allows Piper to take on a variety of aspects that will either liberate or cripple pastoral ministry. A good refresher. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Piper, John. The Supremacy of God in Preaching. Trinitarian and Edwardsean – that will tick plenty of boxes! The first comes out in a more general review of the goal, ground and gift of preaching, and then the latter begins to advance as we turn more to learn lessons from Edwards as theologian and preacher. A profitable call to the main things, with plenty of practical helps. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

Prime, Derek and Begg, Alistair. On Being A Pastor: Understanding Our Calling and Work. Covers familiar ground but with a contemporary feel, surveying the various aspects of pastoral work with a sort of meditative tone at points. My edition, in which Prime and Begg almost engage in a conversation based on a revision of Prime’s own earlier work, provides lots of personal insights – listening in, as it were, while these men chat – but can disrupt the flow a little. Profitable, insightful, although with a bitty feel at points. (Westminster / Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Monergism)

I suppose one might suggest that the virtue on display is at least that of honesty. What is your religion? We all have one. Only one brings us to God and heaven.

HT: Heavenly Worldliness.

Kevin DeYoung passes on a description of the death of Sarah Hodge, wife of Charles:

The next death that visited Hodge was infinitely dearer to him. On Christmas Day 1849, just four months after her return to Princeton with her daughter and grandchild, Sarah “softly & sweetly fell asleep in Jesus.” She most probably fell victim to uterine cancer.

Sarah’s health had begun to deteriorate soon after her return, and by December her condition was such that Hodge had lost all hope of recovery. In her final weeks, he personally nursed Sarah, spending countless hours simply lying next to her. During these times, he held her hand, and conversed with her when she had the strength. The depth of their love remained so intense that Hodge later commented that “to the last she was like a girl in love.” During her final weeks, Sarah asked Hodge to tell her in detail “how much you love me,” and they spent time recounting the high points of their life together.

Hodge’s last hours with his wife were particularly poignant. As her life ebbed away, Sarah looked at her children gathered around her bed and quietly murmured “I give them to God.” Hodge then asked her if she had thought him a devoted husband to which she replied as “she sweetly passed her hand over” his face: “There never was such another.” (Charles Hodge, 258)

Kevin then asks a good question:

Married couples, if you imagine that your final moments together will be like this, rejoice and again I say rejoice. Let the thought of such bittersweet sorrow put your present troubles and conflicts in perspective. But if this scene feels like an impossible dream, what must you change now so you and your spouse can die like this later?

Via Justin Taylor we get some advice from John Updike, who reviewed “nearly every major writer of the 20th century and some 19th-century authors,” and gave some guidance on book reviews in the foreword to his 1975 collection of essays, Picked-up Pieces:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation—at least one extended passage—of the book’s prose so the review’s reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending. (How astounded and indignant was I, when innocent, to find reviewers blabbing, and with the sublime inaccuracy of drunken lords reporting on a peasants’ revolt, all the turns of my suspenseful and surpriseful narrative! Most ironically, the only readers who approach a book as the author intends, unpolluted by pre-knowledge of the plot, are the detested reviewers themselves. And then, years later, the blessed fool who picks the volume at random from a library shelf.)

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author’s ouevre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it’s his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.

Do not accept for review a book you are predisposed to dislike, or committed by friendship to like.

Do not imagine yourself a caretaker of any tradition, an enforcer of any party standards, a warrior in an idealogical battle, a corrections officer of any kind.

Never, never (John Aldridge, Norman Podhoretz) try to put the author “in his place,” making him a pawn in a contest with other reviewers.

Review the book, not the reputation.

Submit to whatever spell, weak or strong, is being cast.

Better to praise and share than blame and ban.

The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.

Here are a number of excellent and thought-provoking suggestions, some presuming a longer, critical review, probably of fiction, but some assumptions that, I believe, the Christian reviewer should not and – with integrity – cannot embrace. Perhaps chief among them is this: “Do not imagine yourself a caretaker of any tradition, an enforcer of any party standards, a warrior in an idealogical battle, a corrections officer of any kind.” While there are certainly elements of truth in that, there is also a sense that that is precisely what a Christian is, especially if he is given opportunity (or takes it) for public reviews. The Christian reviewer is – or should be – a caretaker of God’s tradition, an enforcer of the orthodox standard, and a warrior in an ideological (don’t you love that Updike throws in the variant spelling?) battle. If Updike was suggesting that he was not striking blows in an ideological battle, then I would have to disagree with him. Everyone is, whether willing to admit it or not.

I can think of other of these suggestions that I might wish to nuance (and several to vigorously enforce) and should be interested to know the thoughts of others.