Thoughts on the Spiritual Life - XXXIII - H. C. G. Moule

Chapter ix, Continued

i. The Gift; the Living Water. St John, that is to say, the Holy Spirit by him, explains this to mean the Holy Spirit. It is the personal Paraclete. And it is the Paraclete in a mode of presence and action specially conditioned by the soul’s having come to Christ, having believed on Christ, already. True it is, deeply true, that when we come and believe it is already because of the Spirit, the Spirit of Faith. But this is not the phase of truth before us in these two utterances. The Lord takes the case of the man as having, anyhow, come and believed. Then, in the sense of after-experience, after-life, in manifestation, unfolding, indwelling, empowering, the man shall “receive the Spirit.” In a sense different from that which might have been true before, the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, shall be in him, and he in the Spirit. He shall be a “spiritual” man, not in any vague sense, not merely as having, somehow, a higher range of interests and ideas. He shall be, in a sense as literal as it is divine, actuated by the development of a new Life, the Life Eternal, the Life of the Head of the newborn Race, the Life imparted, maintained, dilated, by nothing less than the personal presence in his very being of the Holy Spirit, the divine Agent alike of the Human Birth of the Head and of the New Birth of each Limb.

The Spirit shall be in that man, in this sense, and therefore “Christ shall dwell in his heart.” I lay stress on this last point, because of its extreme practical importance in the whole subject of the life of faith and peace. Let us remember on the one hand that we possess the Lord’s indwelling by the Holy Spirit only. Let us remember on the other hand that what we possess by the Holy Spirit is above all things the indwelling Lord. We are not to look for two separate experiences, so to speak; a presence of the Spirit and a presence of Christ. The presence of Christ is thanks to the blessing Spirit’s presence. The Spirit’s presence is to be known – how? By the character of our actual relations of thought, love, and will with Christ; by our view of His unsearchable preciousness, by our rest in His dominion, by our peaceful power over self and sin in Him. To receive the living water is to be filled, or, however, to be filling, with Him, revealed and applied by the Spirit.

This then, let us remember, is the promised, the guaranteed, gift of God in Christ to all, to all who come.

David Virtue Interviews J. I. Packer

The interview may be read here. Thanks, David.

Sowing the Seed - Sexagesima, '08

Luke 8:5: A sower went out to sow his seed:

When I was a kid, pretty much everybody in the neighbourhood had a garden. We had quite a large one. I remember helping my parents to plant the garden and how the seed for different plants was sown in different ways. I remember especially how we planted our corn by making little holes in the rows and putting two kernals in each hole, using two to be sure that at least one of them sprouted.

The man sowing seed in Jesus’ parable was obviously not sowing corn. He was sowing something like grass. He threw it everywhere – he broadcasted it - and it landed just wherever it landed. The picture speaks of a person who simply wanted to get as much seed over as wide an area as possible and he had faith that enough would take root that his planting would be successful. He knew some would not take root, but at least most of it would.

Jesus then tells us that the seed in the story was symbolic of the Word of God. While the main point of the parable has to do with the kinds of soil onto which the seed fell, nevertheless, there is a lesson here of how the Lord would have us to spead His Word in this world so that it will reach those hearts that are like the good soil in the story and bring forth fruit. We are not to bring the Word of God into peoples’ lives like we plant corn; being careful to select just the right spot that we have carefully prepared – afraid to put it in the wrong place. We are to freely scatter it – broadcast it – to as many places as we can and let God see to the result.

Now while I want to say more about this method of spreading the seed of God’s Word, before we go futher, I want us to reflect on the seed itself. Why is it so important that God’s Word be broadcast throughout the world? Quite simply, it is the Word that brings spiritual life to the fallow hearts of men. There is no spiritual life in our hearts until God roots His word in them by the power of His Spirit.

Peter says in I Peter, 1:23-25, speaking of believers:

“23: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” Then he quotes Isaiah 40, “24: For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. 25: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.” He ends by saying: “And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”

The faith that brings the virtue of the work of Jesus Christ into our lives is not faith in faith, but faith in the Word of God. It is something that responds to what God says in His Word. That is why the Word has to be proclaimed, either verbally or in print. People must hear what God says about His Son and what He has done for us so that they may respond to this story in faith; placing the trust for their eternal welfare in the story, and the promises that go with it, as being true. Paul asks in Romans 10:14, “…how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” The Word must come to a person, so they may know about Jesus and then believe in Him.

Thus the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God, the Scriptures, to implant spiritual life in us, just like a seed brings forth life in the ground.

This makes the Word of God absolutely imperative for Christian ministry, for both clergy and lay members of the Church. Our religious ideas, slogans, opinions, and moral advice do not bring people life. It is the Word of God that brings them life – a new birth. This is God’s appointed means of salvation.

Thus, if people are to hear it, it must be broadcasted, it must be preached. Peter said that the Word of God, by the gospel, was preached to us. It was proclaimed as good news. Picking back up on my quote from Paul earlier, in Romans 10, after he says, “…how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” he then says, “And how shall they hear without a preacher?” How shall they hear unless it is proclaimed to them?

So it is that, in order for the world to be saved by the life-giving Word of God, it has got to be proclaimed to the world. And, as I have already stated, this proclamation is, generally speaking, to be done like we were sowing grass seed. We are to broadcast it freely, copiously, wherever we walk, letting it fall wherever it will, in God’s providence, with the hope that some will take root.

Too often, we spend agonizing time in prayer wondering if we should say anything to this person or that. The answer is, absolutely! I know of only one place in the New Testament where caution is prescribed, and that is in the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus says that we are not to cast our pearls before swine. He means that we are to use common sense and not try to give our religious treasures to people who we know, from our acquaintance with them, are only going to use it as an occasion to persecute us. But that’s the only reservation I know of. Otherwise, we are to be like the sower who went out scattering his seed wherever he could.

Paul tells Timothy in II Timothy 4:2: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season….” In other words, use every opportunity to plant the seed of God’s word in the hearts of people, whether it seems like the best time to do it or not. Of course, we are never to throw away a decent tactfulness. I Cor. 13 says love has good manners. But what we must guard against is this attitude of being overly careful. We should be liberal with the Word and let God decide whether the seed will take root or not.

Ecclesiastes 11 is enlightening on this attitude I am describing. Let me read a few verses for you:

4: He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

In other words, if you are always waiting for the perfect opportunity, you’ll never get anything planted and you’ll never reap anything either.
5: As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

6: In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

We cannot tell what God is going to do or not going to do with His Word. It is not for us to pick the soil. We are to be the scatterers. If we are afraid we might scatter the seed in the wrong place, we are not being good sowers of this kind of seed for this kind of crop. God’s way is to use the general broadcasting of His Word to call His sheep to Himself. We are to cast the seed about and let God handle the growth. He is the One who brings the increase.

Paul says in I Cor. 3:5-9:

5: Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6: I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7: So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
9: For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry.

These things being so, let us not withhold the Word of God from people, but get it to them, plant the seed in their lives, by every available means.

Be always quoting Scripture to people. If you need to, or have occasion, use a Nave’s Topical Bible or some other tool to pick a passage if you are planning to speak to someone about something. Of course, use tact – your quotations should fit the natural conversation, just like anyone might quote something in the couse of discussion or when writing a card or letter. I’m not asking us to throw good manners away. But we must be aggressive in our attitude. We must get the Word out, somehow. It must be scattered. And we never know what passage God might use. Just sow. God purposes a crop! He will give the increase, in His time and way. Let us sow and pray for the rain and warmth of the Holy Spirit to bring forth new life into the hearts of our friends and acqaintances. And if we do so, we shall reap a crop for the glory of God.

Thoughts on the Spiritual Life - XXXII - H. C. G. Moule

Chapter ix.

living water.

The last chapter was full of thoughts of the River and the Well. Let us linger a while longer in the same region of Scriptural imagery; it is a region full “of fountains and depths, that spring out of valleys and hills.”

The words “living water” occur in two remarkable passages of St. John’s Gospel, passages widely separated in time and circumstance, but closely united in spiritual significance by this phrase, and that, too, in a way which makes the second passage the true sequel and development of the first.

In ch. iv. 14., the Lord Jesus tells the woman of Sychar that had she known the gift of God, and known Him who spoke to her, she would have asked, and He would have given living water; and that this water would have precluded all thirst for ever; and that it would prove to be, within its recipient, a fountain of water, of water not stagnant but “springing, leaping, unto eternal life.”

And in ch. vii. 38, we hear the same Voice speak of living water in a far different scene. Not seated alone with one listener by the rural well, but standing in the midst of the crowds and movement of the great day of a great Temple festival, He invites all who thirst to “come to Him, and drink.” And by this He means “to believe on Him.” And He assures His hearers that as this is done the result shall be not merely a reception of living water, but such a reception as shall be an overflow. Out of the drinker, out of the believer, “shall flow rivers of living water. And this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believed on Him should receive.”

In the occasions and contexts of each of these utterances there is indeed much to study. The very contrast, to which I have already alluded, between the extreme difference of the two sets of circumstances and the holy sameness of the Lord’s thought and tone amidst them, would alone be matter for fruitful meditation. It is full of illustration of what He was and is. It is full of example for His followers. And let us never forget that the example of Christ is, for His followers, the example of Him with whom they are vitally and indissolubly one.

But these thoughts are not my main purpose at present. Nor do I attempt even a brief comment on all the details of the two utterances themselves. I ask my reader’s attention now for only two or three main points. Let us think of the sacred Gift itself; and of its personal possession by the believer in Christ; and of its conveyance through him to others.

Point 1 to follow.

The Christian's Crown - Septuagesima, 20 Jan., '08

My family and I are Sherlock Holmes fans. It started when we were in St. Louis and the Mystery television program began airing the episodes of Holmes played by Jeremy Brett. We purchased a copy of the Holmes stories and the enthusiasm has never waned.

One of my favourite stories - and one of Conan-Doyles’ favourites too, by the way - is the “Musgrave Ritual”. It’s my favourite for a number of reasons but one of them is that I’ve long been a student of the Stuart period of British history. The story is about what happened to the crown of Charles the First after his beheading. It turns up, having been cut into pieces, a moldering ruin in appearance – unrecognizable – and tossed into a pond. It may seem an odd end for a royal crown, but when you think of it, it is the end for all the crowns of this world. They are all corruptible, not only because they are made of the material of this world, but because they represent the kingdoms of this world, all of which have either passed away or will pass away. History is full of the stories of how easily crowns pass from one head to another and even perish altogether. As one of the old Puritans put it, “Earthly crowns are like tennis-balls, which are bandied up and down from one to another, and in time wear out.” (Brooks, v. 522, G.).

It is therefore quite remarkable that the Bible speaks, as we read in our Epistle this evening, of crowns that are incorruptible and everlasting. This is remarkable because they are crowns meant for people, for earth-dwellers, for you and me. We can easily imagine a crown on the head of angels never losing its beauty and brightness, but a crown upon people, whose crowns are so characteristically transitory, is extraordinary.

But then, of course, these are not crowns of earthly gold or gems from the mines under our feet. These are crowns forged in heaven and given to us freely by God Himself. It is their divine origin that gives them their permanent character.

If an angel were to appear here with us today – or we might say, should one of the angels that frequent our assemblies make himself known to us – and he were to begin to pass out among us such crowns as we have been describing – crowns which surpass all the glory of men – would we not be totally amazed at the treasure we held in our hand? Yet, such a crown is to be ours someday! Why, then, do we hardly ever think about it? I cannot be absolutely dogmatic on the matter, but it does seem to me that we do not think of our crowns. I never hear them mentioned in conversation. I know for myself, I don’t think of the crowns much. Why are we like that? If something so wonderful and valuable is to be ours, why do we not think about it more?

Surely, one of the main reasons is that our thinking is so bound to this earth. Jesus and the apostles had to worn us about that. The cares of this life can distract us so easily from the things that seem so far into our future. The business of each day readily corrals our thoughts and puts them under its yoke to plow its fields. Indeed, our minds are distracted, not only from the crown Paul says we are to pursue, but from all manner of heavenly things and things of this earth that are to come. It’s very difficult for our minds to be on things above and not on this earth.

There seems, though, to be another reason we forget our crowns instead of strive for them. It’s because we are embarrassed about them. For one thing, we are Americans, and Americans have little sympathy for crowns, at least on our shores. Now, Americans can be just as intrigued with the goings on of British royalty as any one in England, but the very idea of monarchy is, to the typical American, ridiculous. But it’s also because of the very faith which promises the crowns to us. It is precisely because we are Christians that we are embarrassed about the crowns which Christians are meant to pursue and possess. A Christian is a person who believes the story of the Bible, that he is in that story, and, by faith, has taken his place in that story. The story is that mankind has ruined itself in the sin of Adam and all the sins of all the ages, but that God has sent a Redeemer to this earth to become Himself a man, to make the ungodly righteous before God, and to restore to him divine sonship, to a royal position in the universe, thus to reign, with Jesus the King, forever. We take our place in that story by a faith that, not only believes the story is true, but personally and actually receives the gift of redemption procured for us by Jesus. We accept His presence and rule in our life, that our very natures may be re-created and that we, at the end of this age, may appear with Jesus, body and soul, and live with Him happily ever after.

The glories that Jesus has earned by His great work of humility and sacrifice He intends to share with those who have believed in Him, who have been loyal to Him and loved Him in this life. These glories are represented by crowns - indeed, the whole thing about crowns could just be symbolic, but we shall see. But we know, and, by grace, feel deeply in our souls, that we do not deserve them! Who are we to share His glory? It is embarrassing that such as we should be so honoured.

Consider Him! He is none other than the divine Son of God! By virtue of His divinity, He inherently deserves all the worship of all the universe for ever. He alone is worthy of all the honour of all the crowns of heaven. That is why we read in Revelation the depiction of the twenty-four elders, seeing God on His throne, taking their crowns off of their heads and casting them before His throne. They belong to Him, not them!

Consider what He has done! No one has been as humble and stooped so low and served mankind so. None has been so holy. None has suffered death so. None has loved the Father so and been so faithful to Him. None is like Jesus. God justly gives Him a name above every other name in heaven and earth and demands the worship of all creation at His feet. But what do we do? We whine and complain about our Father’s providences, we lazily fail to watch and pray and we foolishly wander into all kinds of sins and errors. We will occasionally be downright disobedient to Him. We even fail to be thankful. What a sorry lot we are! We feel we have no business being in the company of someone so regal and grand and holy as Jesus. And yet, it is the will of God that we be so.

But this embarrasses us. And well it should. We really aren’t worthy of the crown. So it is, that we don’t think about it. If we do, sometimes, it seems like a mistake that God will fix. There are things like that in life. There are things in this world that don’t make sense and so we talk of how God will sort it all out in the end. Well, we feel like that about the promise of crowns. Yes, God says we will receive them, but surely He knows we don’t really deserve them and so He’ll have some way for us to do something else with them. The embarrassment of the ceremony will come and go and then we’ll have some neat way of giving them to Jesus or stashing them off somewhere, and then the awkwardness will be settled and we can get on with things.

We also try to rationalize away the embarrassment, using an argument based on something that is true about our crowns. The crowning of a countless number of people by God, in the name of Christ, magnifies the glory of Christ. Our crowning makes His kingship even greater. As Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:15: "For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God." It’s like a king’s court. The greater the glory of the court, the greater the glory of the king who reigns over that court. Now that’s something nice and practical for us. That helps. If it brings Jesus more honour, well, OK, we’ll go ahead and receive the crown. Not only is this true about our crowns, but the idea of being able to add to Christ’s glory is an enormously powerful motivation for doing all we can to earn a crown for Him.

This idea of adding glory to Christ’s glory has an important application for us, by the way. If in this life we are able to add to His glory in the life to come, then how little should be our trouble to seek our own glory and reputation in this world. Granted, it is important that we do what we can to preserve a rightful honour in this life. After all, if we are identified with Christ, to behave in a dishonourable fashion in this life brings disrepute upon Him. This is common sense. But our concern is not directly for ourselves. It is for Him and His reputation that we care. Indeed, we should be willing to lose the good approval of the whole world of humanity if the retention of it were to mean a deed that would dishonour our Lord. It is an amazing privilege to be able to live for the honour of Jesus in this life and to be able to add to His honour in the life to come with a crown worn in His name is even more amazing.

But in all our thinking about the Christian’s crown, are we thinking as the apostles thought? The apostles seem to have no embarrassment over the issue at all. Indeed, they encourage, even command, attention to the crowns to come. Even more shocking to our sympathies is their apparent eagerness in owning these crowns, not just for the honour they bring to Christ, but for themselves and their own honour and vindication. Hear their words in the following verses:

2 Tim.4:6: “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” Here Paul speaks of God being righteous by giving him a crown. In other words, it would be the only fair thing for God to do. He looks for the glory that he will own. In 2 Cor. 4, he speaks of the weight of glory which our sufferings are working for us.

James writes in 1:12 of his epistle: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
For James, the crown is a blessing of reward for the trouble we have gone through for the Lord.

Peter chimes in with his first epistle: I Peter 5:2: “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 4: And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” Peter says the crown is a reward for faithful service; a recompense for the suffering inherent in the faithful exercise of one’s ordination vows, and it is mentioned as a source of motivation for that faithfulness.

Now this seems rather selfish to us, does it not? It quite makes sense enough to seek to do all I can for the Lord now if it is going to mean something for Him, but, considering how unworthy I am to share His glory, why should I be ambitious for a crown for myself? But the words of the apostles cannot be faulted. There must be something that they understood that we do not.

May I suggest that, first of all, we forget that it is always right to want whatever God wants. If God has some reason which does not make sense to us to crown us – and indeed He seems rather eager about it – then for us to not share something of His “excitement”, if you will, about the matter cannot be right. Indeed, where such a desire is lacking, there must be a lack of understanding and even grace.

But it still grates on our sympathies. If we start accepting the idea that it is right to desire the crown for ourselves, and that God is happy with such a desire, then it seems like God is promoting self-agrandizement or some kind of self-regard that doesn’t seem to fit the idea of humility. I think the answer to this problem is that we need to have more confidence in the grace of God which is already ours through the inward working of the Holy Spirit. We need more confidence that God is transforming us. There is a natural human desire for recognition which is not all bad. Indeed, it could be argued that it is related to our being created in the image of God. Now, this desire for recognition is being sanctified. It is still wrong to want recognition for the sake of our pride before men, but it is possible for us now, by God’s gracious transformation of our hearts, to desire recognition in the court of our King and rightly so. After all, the ideas of vindication, reward for labour, and glory for one’s sufferings, exist in human culture, not because someone dreamed them up because they thought it would be a good story, but because they are part of the values which are inherent in God’s universe. Such things are important to us, because they are important to God. They are the very things He has given to His Son. And just as his Son really did want these things for Himself, so we, created in His image and sanctified by His grace, ought to want them, and can want them, as well.

Such things as vindication, reward, and glory, are part of life in the royal court of heaven. They are not puzzled by these things. Do we really think they don’t realise we are unworthy, in ourselves, of such things? Do we really think God doesn’t know that? They know better than we! To allow our unworthiness to keep us from joining in the robust celebration of this court is foolish impertinence. No true hero thinks himself worthy of honour. And beside that, in the eyes of this royal court, to not want to be vindicated and rewarded is - shall I say it? - wimpish. We do not realise how much God really has, through union with His Son, made us a part of His own ambition for glory to go to whom glory is due. Just as King Arthur would only have the best to share his court, so our God would only have true heroes be present, who not only share glory with His Son, by virtue of His grace to them, but have sought to own that glory themselves, by His grace through them. He makes real saints; not just saints in name only. God would have His rewards and honours to be true rewards and honours, and they cannot be unless we have done that which is rewardable.

What is more, for us to consider God’s glory something we want to have as our own possession is to testify that such glory is worthy of possession. To not have a lively desire to have the glory of God is to make the glory of God seem something less important than anything else one might desire. Is this not the prize of prizes?

As C. S. Lewis says, our desires are not strong enough! By God’s grace, we should long, as did the apostles, to have our own crown, to be vindicated ourselves, to be rewarded and have glory ourselves. We can also be confident that, when we stand on that Day and receive these things, we will not be able to receive them with anything but the best motives, purely and righteously. On that day, we can only want, perfectly, what God wants, and God wants all those who have fought a good fight for Him to receive what is justly theirs. And when those crowns are finally given, what a song of praise will ring that royal court! And every saint of God will fix his eye upon the greatest hero of all, and if we can, let us then cast our crowns at his feet. He is indeed worthy! But let us not be embarrassed or confused if He puts it back on our head.

Remember Your Identity

Just think. If you are a Christian, you are a partaker of the greatest blessings in all of human history. They are all yours. All things are yours in Christ.
Enjoy being part of a patriarchical, hierarchical, and supernatural monarchy today!

A Must Read for All on the Gay Agenda

David Virtue has this article on his site. Very enlightening.
HOW SODOMY WAS SOLD TO AMERICA
by Nicholas Jackson
NewsWithViews.com
December 29, 2007