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by on 1.19.08

lloyd-jones on serving God in my spirit

“I have discovered this — and I have almost made a pledge and a vow on this subject — if ever I remotely mention anything medical, I notice a new interest at once! You see what I mean. That is human. That is the man. That is personal. And service in the spirit must never be like that. So let the congregation take this to heart. Congregations often spoil preachers; they encourage them to do certain wrong things. If the preacher starts speaking to their flesh they will respond, and they will show an interest which they were not showing in his doctrine, and the temptation to him is to give them more of the flesh, and to talk more and more about himself, and to display himself, and they will like it. They will smile, and they will enjoy it, and they will say, ‘It’s wonderful, and we have had a great time!’ And in the meantime Christ has been forgotten, and the spiritual message has not been emphasized, and has not been stressed. That is not serving God in the spirit. It is almost the exact opposite.”[1]

In my preparation for tomorrow’s message I came across this comment in Lloyd-Jones’ message on Rm 1.9, message # 16 in his first volume on Romans. The whole message is well worth your reading and meditation.

On this subject, the flesh is so prevalent in our lives that we are hardly aware of our own difficulties with it. May God grant discernment and more devotion to the Lord in our personal lives.

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

[1] D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Romans: The Gospel of God, pp. 211-212.

Filed Under: Preaching, Quotables
by on 11.13.07

Lloyd-Jones on sin

From D. M. Lloyd-Jones, preaching on Rm 1.5, By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith…

Lloyd-Jones notes that the text should read ‘obedience of faith’, where the word ‘faith’ describes what kind of ‘obedience’ the apostles were striving after, an obedience which is faith, i.e., saving faith is a submission of obedience to God. In preaching on this point, Lloyd-Jones gives this definition of sin:

"Sin primarily is disobedience. Sin is not just that which I do that is wrong and which makes me feel miserable afterwards; sin is not just that which spoils my life and makes me feel miserable and unhappy; sin is not just that thing which gets me down, and which I would like to overcome. It is all that, but, my friends, that is not the first thing to say about sin; indeed, that is not the most important thing to say about it. But there are many people who think of sin like that, and they are looking for someone who is going to help to overcome sin. They want happiness; they want peace; they don’t want to go on falling to a particular temptation; they want deliverance, and they hear that Christ can do that for them, so they say, I will believe on Him, I will accept Him, if He will help me and make me happy, and deliver me from my problem. We all want to get rid of problems, don’t we? And there is a great danger that we shall think of the Lord Jesus Christ simply as someone who helps us to get out of our difficulties.

"Thank God He does that. But before we even begin to think of that we must think of something else. What is sin? Sin is the transgression of the law. Primarily, it is rebellion against God. Sin is refusal to listen to the voice of God. Sin is a turning of your back upon God and doing what you think. That is ultimately what sin is. And you see the importance of realizing that. It comes out in this way. You have all met nice people who say to you, ‘You know I really cannot regard myself as a sinner; I have never felt that I am one.’ What do they mean when they say this? Well, they mean that they have never got drunk; they have not been guilty of adultery or murder; they have not committed certain sins. I have known nice, respectable people who have been brought up like this, who have said sometimes quite sincerely and genuinely — I almost wish that I had been a drunkard, or something like that, in order that I might have this great experience of salvation. Perhaps some of you have felt like that. Do you know what that is due to? It is due to a wrong definition of sin. This is sin: a refusal to listen to the voice and to the Word of God. So that if you are living your own life in a very respectable manner, and are not listening to God, you are still a terrible sinner. If you are living that little self-contained, self-satisfied life in which you really only think of God now and again, and remember perhaps morning and evenings that there is a God, and you say your prayers; if that is your attitude to God, if you are not waiting upon Him and listening for His Word, and seeking it everywhere, and living to practise it, then you are as much a sinner as the drunkard or the adulterer; you are not listening to God. That is the essence of sin." Lloyd-Jones, Romans 1: The Gospel of God, p. 138-139.

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Filed Under: Lloyd-Jones, Preaching, Quotables
by on 10.14.07

on the possiblity of being overly Christo-centric

From Lloyd-Jones:

“Salvation is the work of the three Persons in the blessed Holy Trinity. It is primarily that of the Father — the gospel of God concerning His Son. The Father first! It is the Father’s plan; it is the Father’s purpose; it is the Father who initiates it; it is the Father who gave the first promise concerning it to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, and, oh! we must be clear about this. We must not go on to consider what the Son has done, what the Holy Spirit has done and still does, until we are absolutely clear about the primacy of the Father, and the origin of it all in the Father Himself. …

“I could go on quoting Paul at great length, but there is always this emphasis on God the Father. And yet this is forgotten by so many; they are Christo-centric, if I may say so, and they forget the Father Himself from whom it all comes. You will find in their prayers; they always pray to the Lord Jesus, not to the Father. They are entirely centred on the Son. But this, my friends, is wrong if you make Him [Jesus] the centre, because He is not the centre. The centre is the Father. You remember how the Apostle Peter puts that; he says, ‘Christ suffered for our sins’. For what reason? Well, ‘to bring us to God, to the Father’ [1 Pt 3.18]. The whole purpose of the work of the son is to bring us to God the Father. Take His definition of eternal life: ‘This is eternal life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent’. Always that order; He never varies it. He had come to glorify the Father. He knew that everything starts with the Father and comes from the Father, so that the author of salvation is God the eternal Father.” [D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Romans: The Gospel of God, p. 62-64.]

Is that a little jarring? It is a bold statement, but it seems to me that L-J is right.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Filed Under: Pastoral Theology, Quotables
by on 10.10.07

on so much for my quote game

Last week, I posted a list of quotations in hopes of getting some unbiased responses from some whom I know to be readers of John Piper. I wanted to get a comparison of Piper’s teaching with the quotes offered. My reason was that I see some strong similarities between some of these quotes and Piper’s approach. I wondered if someone else who is more familiar with Piper could tell me if I were right or wrong. Alas, no one chose to enlighten me — perhaps they thought I was baiting them, perhaps they weren’t interested, perhaps my estimation of my readership is greatly exaggerated (and I think that I have only a few readers!). In any case, a couple of people have asked who the quotes were from, so I will offer the answers here.

All of the quotes come second hand via a book by Elmer Towns, Understanding the Deeper Life. Towns is trying to systematize various types of teaching regarding Christian Experience. In the section from which I am getting these quotes, Towns is discussing what he calls the ‘deeper life experience’. He sub-categorizes this view as ‘Christological deeper-life’, ‘Holy Spirit deeper-life’, and ‘soteriological deeper-life’. He offers two quotations illustrating each sub-category:

Christological deeper-life

QUOTE ONE

On the contrary, the life that God has given us is the life of His son. All whom He has called He has also justified, and all whom He has justified He counts as already glorified. God never begins anything that He does not bring to an end. The world may start that which it cannot finish, but God says: “He that hath begun a good work in you, will keep on perfecting it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1.6, Gk.). Here are all three of the great doctrines of God’s work within us. He which hath begun a good work in you — that is justification — will keep on perfecting it — that is sanctification — until the day of Jesus Christ — that is glorification. There is no change in God, and there will be no change in His work in us.

This one is Donald Grey Barnhouse, Life by the Son: Practical Lessons in Experimental Holiness (Philadelphia: Revelation Publications American Bible Conference Association, 1939), 33. quoted in Towns, p. 23.

QUOTE TWO

The apostle Paul gives us his own definition of the Christian life in Galatians 2:20. It is no longer “I, but Christ.” Here he is not stating something special or peculiar — a high level of Christianity. He is, we believe, presenting God’s normal role for a Christian, which can be summarized in the words: l live no longer, but Christ lives His life in me.God makes it quite clear in His Word that He has only one answer to every human need — His Son, Jesus Christ. In all His dealings with us He works by taking us out of the way and substituting Christ in our place. The Son of God died instead of us for our forgiveness: He lives instead of us for our deliverance. … It will help us greatly, and save us from much confusion, if we keep constantly before us this fact, that God will answer all our questions in one way and one way only, namely, by showing us more of His son.

This one is Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life (Fort Washington, Penn.: Christian Literature Crusade, 1973), 9. quoted in Towns, p. 23.

Holy Spirit deeper-life

QUOTE THREE

I want here boldly to assert that it is my happy belief that every Christian can have a copious outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a measure far beyond that received at conversion, and I might also say, far beyond that enjoyed by the rank and file of orthodox believers today. It is important that we get this straight, for until doubts are removed faith is impossible, God will not surprise a doubting heart with an effusion of the Holy Spirit, nor will He fill anyone who has doctrinal questions about the possibility of being filled.

This one is from A. W. Tozer, The Divine Conquest (Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian Publications, 1950) 121, 122. quoted in Towns, p. 24.

QUOTE FOUR

The fullness of power is the heritage of every Christian! It may be an unclaimed heritage, but the power of God which enables a Christian to witness for Christ and win souls is the right of every Christian. Not to be filled with the Holy Spirit, not to be endued with power from on high, is to miss the highest good, and fail to claim the Highest blessing, offered to every child of God. … That the power of Pentecost is for every Christian is made clear; first, by the promises which are to all alike; second, by the New Testament examples; third, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every Christian makes the enduement for service logical for every Christian; fourth, by the fact that the soulwinning task demands supernatural power; and, fifth, because the Word of God clearly commands Christians to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

This one is from John R. Rice, The Power of Pentecost or the Fullness of the Spirit (Murfreesboro, Tenn.: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1976), 277, 278. quoted in Towns, pp. 24-25.

Soteriological deeper-life

QUOTE FIVE

‘I have been crucified with Christ,’ says Paul. What does this mean? In principle, it means that my right to myself is annihilated, as His concern and love for others is expressed through me. Identification, that’s the first thing. Not simply to die to myself, but to live in Him. Bless your hearts, evangelism isn’t a ‘project’, it’s a way of life! ‘Feed My sheep. Identify yourself with My interests in other people,’ says Jesus. Oh, to be so satisfied, identified with Jesus that my life is spoiled for everything but His will! Am I more concerned with my right to live, than with my daily dying to Him? Which are you more concerned about? Paul says, ‘I die daily’ — do you? Do I? Is that my major passion?

This one is from Alan Redpath, “The Price of Christian Service,” The People and the King, ed. David Porter (Kent, England: STL Books, 1980), 154. quoted in Towns, p. 25.

QUOTE SIX

It takes a long time to come to a moral decision about sin, but it is the great moment in my life when I do decide that just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world, so sin must die out in me, not be curbed or suppressed or counteracted, but crucified. No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be earnestly convinced, and religiously convinced, but what we need to do is come to the decision which Paul forces here. … I cannot reckon myself “dead indeed unto sin” unless I have been through this radical issue of will before God. Have I entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ until all that is left is the life of Christ in my flesh and blood?

This one is from D. W. Lambert, Oswald Chambers An Unbribed Soul (London: Marshall, Morgan Ea Scott, 1972), 62. quoted in Towns, p. 26.

Now, I don’t have an axe to grind against the deeper-Christian life movement (although I do tend to mock its extremes). There are some flaws to Keswick thinking, but some valuable teaching is produced by the Keswick movement in some of its forms, especially the more early forms. Many good men were involved in its initial efforts and their lives and work are nothing to sneer at.

My interest in the comparison with Piper is my thesis that Piper is promoting a neo-Keswickian experience oriented theology in his whole ‘Desiring God’ mantra. It seems to me that many who follow Piper are quite critical of Keswickian teaching, but at the same time are pursuing almost the same experience orientation they decry in others [albeit with somewhat different terminology]. I suppose I might be forced to read more Piper myself (Lord, would you require so much??) in order to prove or disprove my thesis.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Filed Under: Quotables
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