Satisfaction guaranteed…

Horatio Bonar, in the first paragraph of his short work, The Everlasting Righteousness, summarizes the impact the Holy Spirit using sound doctrine can have on individuals. In this case, he is referring to the era of the Reformation:

“The awakened conscience of the sixteenth century betook itself to “the righteousness of God.” There it found refuge, at once from condemnation and from impurity. Only by “righteousness” could it be pacified; and nothing less than that which is divine could meet the case. At the cross this “righteousness” was found; human, yet divine: provided for man, and presented to him by God, for relief of conscience and justification of life. On the one word tetelestai “It is finished,” as on a heavenly resting-place, weary souls sat down and were refreshed. The voice from the tree did not summon them to do, but to be satisfied with what was done. Millions of bruised consciences there found healing and peace.”

Horatio Bonar

The Everlasting Righteousness, Preface

In His mind, when the true understanding of “the righteousness of God” was made clear, it was as if chains of bondage fell off people. As I read his words, I was reminded of the great work God has done even on my behalf. Nothing I deserved. Nothing I earned. Nothing I scammed. Simply God being God. Reaching down and saving whom He wills. Why He chose to save me? That lies in the eternal mystery of God’s pleasure. For my part though, He truly has done it all. I wonder if the church of today doesn’t need a shot of that same reality? Is the life-giving/life-saving righteousness of God truly enough or must there be more… more effort, more prayer, more Bible reading, more fasting, more giving, more volunteerism, more religious rites, more church services attended, more of whatever I think it is going to take for God to be pleased with me?  What I think the church at large today has failed to reckon is that anything we add to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to gain relationship with God is death. As has been said before, “The Gospel plus anything equals nothing. The Gospel plus nothing equals everything.”  Prior to our conversion and even after it, the Gospel calls us to abandon all self-improvement projects – anything that adds to the work of Christ to reach us and save us. Repeating the words of Horatio Bonar: “The voice from the tree did not summon them to do, but to be satisfied with what was done.”

Drink deep… be impressed by…  be satisfied with the God who has done it all.

Night-time musings

4:00. All’s quiet on the homefront. My wife never noticed my somewhat silent get-away (or the thud of my toe hitting the bed post). The yellow glow from the hallway nightlight beckons me to explore so I do. Behind door #1, the dog is sprawled out on my youngest son’s bed – or is it that my youngest son is actually just sprawled out on the dog’s bed? Some nights I can’t tell. Door #2 reveals what it usually does, that my eldest sleeps in Fort Knox. He’d never know if a burglar arrived at our house. At the end of the hallway, door #3 is open… music escapes from my middle son’s room. I look through his door… one leg hanging over his bed… arm flung over his head…about par for the course. I shake my head and smile.

It’s currently 59 degrees outside. The windows are open. The cool wafts across the floor. Perhaps autumn will make it here after all.

Night is a two-edged sword for me. Sometimes I resonate with Job who admitted, “nights of misery are apportioned to me.” (7:3) It is a miserable thing to awake and find that my subconscious mind has been at work berating me, bludgeoning me with a mixture of truth and lies. “You are 41, unemployed, and will never find another job! God won’t take care of you – you have to take care of yourself. Do you really think God knows what is going on in your life? Now get out there and take care of yourself and your family. Make it happen!” I try to will myself back to sleep but it is too late. In my less than lucid state, I hear what sounds like knocking, only to figure out that the adrenaline has kicked in and it’s just my heart pounding! So, I get up and take a walk through the house. “The Voice” follows me around. So does life’s pressures. I find myself crying out to God to put it all back into perspective for me. I need a Savior.

SOMETIMES though, most times – I enjoy the lonely times of night. I don’t enjoy missing sleep… I know that around 2:00 in the afternoon my eyelids will feel like they have 20 pound weights attached to them! I do enjoy the tranquility though. The quiet. The companionship.

Sometimes I feel as if deep is calling to deep – I ponder.
Sometimes I have a conversation with a Friend – I share.
Sometimes I hear nothing – I wait.
Sometimes I go outside and hear the declaration of God’s glory – I marvel.

I have no set routine. I just know when I’m up like this – God has something for me.

The Psalmist said in Psalm 42.8: “By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me.” I know that just as I sang over my boys when they were babies, God sings over me. Sometimes the night is the only time I can hear Him singing. It may not be convenient, but it sure is beautiful.

Soul Renovation

Early this morning, I had breakfast with Sam Storms (not literally… I was just reading one of his books).  The particular book was Signs of the Spirit.  I found some wonderful morsels to chew on and thought I would share a couple of the tid-bits that stirred me. 

“When the soul of a believer receives God’s light, ‘its nature is changed, and it becomes properly a luminous thing.  Not only does the sun shine in the saints, but they also become little suns, partaking of the nature of the fountain of their light.’

“The communication of God to the soul releases a divine energy and power that reaches to the depths of the heart and affects its very nature, imparting an abiding divine presence that sustains over a lifetime the gradual renovation of the thoughts and impulses and actions of the soul.”  (Signs of the Spirit, page 121)

Paul wrote in II Corinthians 3.18:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (ESV)

What a wonderful thing to know that when I am rescued by a soul-seeking, sin-pardoning, salvation-bringing Savior, not only is my slate cleaned, but I am also radically changed within so that I partake of the Spirit in such a way that He tranforms me from one degree of glory (this weak and fallen state) to another degree of glory (greater conformity to the image of Christ).  And therein lies a great mystery to me – a perfect God dwelling inside an imperfect man, doing what only He can do – rescue me… over and over again; day-by-day. 

Any number of things may have an effect on how we think and feel, but God alone changes the nature of the soul itself. (SotS, 119)

The Importance of Truth

“Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.”

Mohandas Gandhi
 

“Science is but an image of the truth.”
Francis Bacon
 

“First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.”

C. S. Lewis

 

Proverbs 23.23 
“Buy the truth and do not sell it;
       get wisdom, discipline and understanding.”

 

John 8.31-32 
“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

“In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

George Orwell