March 22, 2008

From The Valley of Vision: "Crucifixion & Resurrection"

A prayer for you to consider this weekend:
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"O Lord,
I marvel that thou shouldst become incarnate,
be crucified, dead, and buried.
The sepulchre calls forth my adoring wonder,
for it is empty and thou art risen;
the four-fold gospel attests it,
the living witnesses prove it,
my heart's experience knows it.
Give me to die with thee that I may rise to new life,
for I wish to be as dead and buried
to sin, to selfishness, to the world;
that I might not hear the voice of the charmer,
and might be delivered from his lusts.
O Lord, there is much ill about me - crucify it,
much flesh within me - mortify it.
Purge me from selfishness,
the fear of man, the love of approbation,
the shame of being thought old-fashioned,
the desire to be cultivated or modern.
Let me reckon my old life dead
because of crucifixion,
and never feed it as a living thing.
Grant me to stand with my dying Saviour,
to be content to be rejected,
to be willing to take up unpopular truths,
and to hold fast despised teachings until death.
Help me to be resolute and Christ-contained.
Never let me wander from the path of obedience
to thy will.
Strengthen me for the battles ahead.
Give me courage for all the trials,
and grace for all the joys.
Help me to be a holy, happy person,
free from every wrong desire,
from everything contrary to thy mind.
Grant me more and more of the resurrection life:
may it rule me,
may I walk in its power,
and be strengthened through its influence.
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From The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions
Edited by Arthur Bennett
Published by The Banner of Truth Trust

March 19, 2008

Gethsemane

'Tis Thursday of the week before Easter. Maundy Thursday, as it is known in some circles. The day of the Last Supper and the Agony of Gethsemane. Please, do force the busy-ness of the day aside to contemplate and perhaps even weep.
The following is from the Banner of Truth book, "The Cross He Bore."
May you rejoice in Him today.
Steve
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"It is true that Christ in his sinless human nature recoiled from the prospect of death and shrank from it with horror, for death came with sin. It is also true that he sensed the approach of Satan who after the temptation in the wilderness 'departed from him until an opportune time' (Luke 4:13). It is also the case that he anticipated the approaching wrath of a holy God. But none of these facts can account for the distress and sorrow that were to prove too much for unaided human nature (albeit sinless) to bear. There must be something deeper and more actual to account for our Lord's struggle in Gethsemane.

Gethsemane means 'the oil press'. David could say, 'I am like a green olive tree in the house of God' (Psa. 52:8). Israel in her long history could say the same. But the suffering Saviour could say it best of all, for there in Gethsemane - the oil press - he was crushed and bruised without mercy. But how and why? How is the sudden and dramatic change of atmosphere between the upper room and Gethsemane to be explained, even in a measure? Christ knew all along the death that awaited him. He had grappled with Satan and his legions more than once. He had repeatedly spoken of his death to his disciples, telling them what that death would accomplish. He had prayed with the utmost confidence in his high priestly prayer (John 17). Why, then, is there this sudden plunge into such awful agony, why this shuddering horror? Why is this fruit of the olive tree so severely crushed? Why does the divine record say that in Gethsemane our Lord BEGAN to be sorrowful, sorrowful in a new and terrible way? Was it not because God began forsaking him then? How else is this sorrow unto death to be understood?

'Jesus wept', but never like this. No previous sorrow of his could match this. At the time of his arrest he declared, 'Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?' (John 18:11). That cup was constantly in view as he prayed in Gethsemane. What cup? 'THIS CUP' - not some future cup. The cup that was symbolized in the feast (Matt. 26:27,28) was not actual; God was placing it in the Saviour's hands and it carried the stench of hell. But stop! Schilder is right. 'Gethsemane is not a field of study for our intellect. It is a sanctuary of our faith'. Lord, forgive us for the times we have read about Gethsemane with dry eyes."

The Wonder and the Glory!

I'm back in the Carlisle, PA office and warehouse for Banner of Truth after being at two conferences and getting an incredible number of books into the hands of many people. Several of those books are especially fitting for this week, one of them being Banner's recent release, "Jesus Himself: The Story of the Resurrection" by Marcus L. Loane. I hope to spend some time in this book here during the next few days. Join me in it, won't you?
From the Foreword:
"The wonder and glory of the Resurrection are far greater than we can ever conceive. That great drama took place in the silent tomb a great while before it was yet day. No one else was there when God raised Jesus from the dead: no one saw it happen. there was neither man nor angel as a witness in that sacred moment. He emerged from the grace-clothes and left them lying undisturbed on the ledge. He left the tomb while the stone was still in place at the mouth of the sepulchre. It was later when an earthquake shook the site and the stone was rolled away. When the women arrived, the guard had fled and they found the tomb empty. The grave-clothes were there; angel watchers were there; but him they did not see.
But no one had seen how he awoke from the sleep of death in newness of life. All that was mortal had put on immortality; death was swallowed up in victory. And it was in his risen glory that he made himself known to his disciples."
May you spend this week contemplating on the wonder and glory of the Lamb of God.

March 13, 2008

At the Ligonier Conference in Orlando

The Banner road trip continues ... After a great week in LA with more than 3,000 guys at the Shepherds' Conference, this week has me in Orlando with apparently as many people registered for this year's Ligonier event. Our own trustee chairman, Sinclair Ferguson, is among those speaking this week. It will be good to see and spend time with him again, in addition to everyone else. Today was set-up day; the conference will kick off Thursday and run through Saturday afternoon. If you're among those here in Orlando, be sure to say hello!
More to come.
Steve

March 6, 2008

At the Shepherds' Conference in LA

Once again, it's great to have the opportunity to represent Banner and introduce a number of guys, younger guys in particular, to the works of Baxter, Watson, Spurgeon, etc., that Banner makes available ... this time, I'm here in the Los Angeles area at Grace Community Church's Shepherds' Conference. Attendance this year is at their full capacity of about 3,400 or so. Yesterday, it seemed like most of them were in the bookstore at the same time! Twelve hours later, it was clear that our piles of books had gone down significantly, including a number of titles that I was spending my time working to introduce guys to, ones that they may not just naturally be drawn to or have heard much about before.
As for the personal ministry times, indeed, there have been opportunities for a number of substantive conversations, hearing testimonies of how some of these guys came to faith in Christ. The circumstances are different from one guy to the next, but some things are constant in every story ... the intervening power and grace of God, through the instrument of His Word.
I've had some great conversations outside of the conference, too, with guys who clearly don't know Christ ... a young Penn State student in the DC Dulles airport who lives close enough to me back in PA that he already said he'd like to get together back home. Also, I learned that even a broken laptop ought to be viewed positively as an instrument of the Lord providentially at work. That's what took me to a store that fixes laptops here in LA, which got me into the life of a young guy named Chris for three hours the other night. What a great opportunity! "Forgive my frustration, Lord, with not having a machine that worked when I wanted it to. Help me to continually and positively resign my will and my DayTimer to yours. And please use my conversation with Chris as you see fit!"
No matter what you're faced with today, see it from the perspective of our sovereign God at work both in and through you. Broken laptops, interruptions, cars that don't work ... avoid getting angry and frustrated by looking toward the Lord and saying, "Ok, Father, so what I had planned is different from what you desire for today. Help me to go with your plan, and to do so without my usual kicking and screaming!"
:-)
Blessings to you, today, from here in LA.
Steve