Treasuring God's Truth in Your Heart

Psalm 73:25-26: Vengeance, Sin, and Hope

Psalm 73:25-26: Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

We do not need the news to inform us that bad people do not get what they deserve, that life is confusing and not the way it should be. If you can relate to these feelings, you can relate to Asaph (the writer of Psalm 73). Asaph lived with arrogant, gluttonous, wicked people who led others into their unjust lifestyle (Psalm 73:4-12). Asaph was so distressed by these bad people telling him living God’s way is foolish that Asaph felt obeying the Bible was a waste (Psalm 73:13-16).

Then Asaph experienced the life giving instruction that comes from being in God’s house (Psalm 73:17). In the LORD’s sanctuary Asaph learned two things: (1) the Almighty judges the unjust (Psalm 73:18-20; 27), and (2) Asaph was part of the problem (Psalm 73:3; 21-22). What Asaph learned is true for us as we experience injustice. As we encounter abuses from a sinful world, we need to continue obeying God’s commands, knowing that He will take vengeance (Romans 12:17-21). Also, we need to confess that our sinful hearts add to life’s brokenness, and leave us desperate for Christ’s Spirit-empowered help (Romans 3:9-26, Ephesians 2:1-10, etc.). Lives transformed by Christ know “there is nothing on earth” more desirable than God Himself. Lives transformed by Christ rely on the Holy Spirit’s strength and forgiveness when their “flesh and . . . heart[s]” fail. Lives transformed by Christ are in with love His ways which give hope in the face of injustice (1 John 2:3-6, Psalm 73:28). In short, lives transformed by Christ can boldly say, “I have one passion, it is He [Jesus Christ], He alone” (Count Zinzendorf). As you live in an unjust world, know there is a Triune God Who will bring vengeance, has atoned for your sins in His Son, and gives you hope that one day life will be as it should (Revelation 22:1-5).

This blog was written by Seth Dunn

Tresuring God's Truth in Your Heart

Psalm 40:5: Proper Worship

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.

Disappointment is easy to find. Disappointment lurks when keys are missing, and thrives in the chasms of a broken heart. Is disappointment easily found because life does not go as planned or because our hearts worship lesser things? Counselor and pastor, Paul David Tripp, defines worship as “[our] identity as . . . human being[s]. [We] were designed to worship. This means that [we are] always attaching the hopes, dreams, peace, motivations, joy, and security of [our] heart[s] to something. So you don’t just worship on Sunday; you worship your way through every day of your life” (Tripp, Sex and Money, 35). If Tripp is right, then God created us to be worshipers. Because the Fall into sin (Genesis 3), we regularly place our hopes, dreams, and peace on people, possessions, and perspectives that only God can fill (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

How does worship relate to Psalm 40:5? Psalm 40:5 depicts a heart in proper worship of the Triune God of Scripture. Because of proper worship and trust the Psalmist, King David, has hope in the face of pain and suffering (Psalm 40:1, 12, 14, and 17). Because of proper worship, David could proclaim and wait for God’s most wondrous deed: redemption through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:7-10). What about you? Where are your hopes, dreams, peace, motivations, joys, and securities resting today? The truth is Christians and non-Christians struggle with worshiping the right thing. The only way to escape improper worship and have lifelong hope is to rest in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ Who through His Spirit gives us all hearts like David (2 Corinthians 5:16-21).

This blog was written by Seth Dunn

Treasuring God's Truth in Your Heart

John 1:29: Forgiven by the Lamb

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

What would you give to have forgiveness? To have the pains you caused others, your careless words, and all the errors you cannot let go, pardoned? John the Baptist knew worldwide forgiveness cost lamb’s blood. But not just any lamb. If I am honest, I know the wrongs I have committed against others and God cannot be dealt with by a barnyard beast. My angry actions, my insensitive speech, my past have missed Scripture’s mark so much I need something God sized to heal my brokenness. If you are honest, you and I are in the same sinful ship in need of help (Romans 3:23).

That is why Jesus Christ is so amazing. Jesus is our once and for all sacrifice needed to move our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:11-12, Hebrews 10:12-18). Jesus is the Lamb promised in the Old Testament, Whose blood empowers holy living today (Isaiah 53:7, Jeremiah 11:19, 1 Peter 1:17-19). Jesus is the Lamb Who is worthy in this sight of heaven when all others are found worthless, and Whose impending victory is predicted in Scripture (Revelation 5, 19:11-21). What would you give to have forgiveness? Forgiveness already purchased for you? Whether you have not yet received Christ as your exclusive means of salvation or a struggling Christian, His forgiveness is for you when you confess your need for Him, crying out “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (1 John 1:9-2:2).

This blog was written by Seth Dunn

Communion with God Chapters 23&24

Here we are in the last two chapters of "Communion with God". I hope you enjoyed reading along this summer through both the book and this blog. It's always a privilege to read and blog on these books!
Chapter 23 continues Owen's discussion on communion with the Holy Spirit. The title of the chapter is "The Behaviour of the Saints towards the Holy Spirit", but really, the chapter is about what we strive to not do towards the Holy Spirit. Owen lists three things.

1-We strive to not grieve the Holy Spirit. Now, Owen is careful here. We have to speak of grieving the Holy Spirit carefully, lest we come away with the impression that the Spirit is manipulated emotionally. This is not true. The Westminster Confession states this clearly by saying that God is without passion. That does not mean God is without emotion or passions, but it means that he is not controlled emotionally by external forces. And yet, there is a very real sense where the Spirit does indeed grieve when we, as the blood-bought people of God, do not pursue holiness in our life. Owen offers up a meditation on this topic:

The Holy Spirit is infinite love and kindness to me. He has wonderfully chosen to be my Comforter. He does this work willingly, freely and powerfully. What great things I have received from him! How often has he comforted my soul! Can I live one day without him? Shall I not care what he wants to do in me? Shall I grieve him by my negligence, sin, and foolishness? Shall not his love constrain me to walk before him in such a way that brings him great pleasure?

2-We strive to not quench the Spirit. Drawing off of Old Testament imagery where the Holy Spirit was typified by the fire that was always burning on the altar in the tabernacle and temple, Owen here is speaking specifically about not suppressing the works of the Spirit. If we resist the Spirit's work, it would be as if we're throwing wet wood on a fire to smother it. 

Now when we want to resist fire, we quench it. So the opposition made to the Holy Spirit working in us is called 'quenching the Spirit', as wet wood will do when it is cast into the fire. So we are said by the same picture to 'stir up with new fire' the gifts that are in us. The Holy Spirit is striving with us, working in us, encouraging growth in grace and the production of his holy fruit in us. 'Take heed,' says Paul, 'lest by the power of your lusts and temptations, you do not pay attention to him, but quench his works of good will in you.'

3-We do not resist the Holy Spirit. Owen's point is so good here. Stephen accused the Jews of "resisting the Spirit" by rejecting and killing the prophets of God. How might we resist the Spirit? By holding the preaching of the Word of God up with contempt. 

When the Word of God is preached, the authority, wisdom and goodness of the Holy Spirit in setting up this ordinance is to be recognized and respected. For this reason, obedience is to be given to the Word when it is preached, because the Holy Spirit and he alone gives gifts fro the Word to be preached. When this truth keeps us humble and dependent on the Holy Spirit, then we have holy fellowship with him in this ordinance.

Chapter 24, the last chapter of the book, really focuses in on worshiping the Holy Spirit as God. We'll close this blog with these words:

Our fellowship or communion with the Holy Spirit should stir us to give him praise, thanks glory, honour and blessing for the mercies and privileges we receive from him, as we do the Son for his work of Redemption (Rev. 1:5-6). Are not the same praises and blessings due to him who makes Christ's work of redemption effectual to us? The Holy Spirit undertook to be our Comforter with no less infinite love than the Son who took it on himself to be our Redeemer. When we feel our hearts warmed with joy, strengthened in peace and established in obedience, let us give him the praise that is due to him. Let us bless his name and rejoice in him.

This blog was written by Andy Styer

Communion with God Chapters 21-22

Chapter 21 continues to look at the fellowship and communion of believers with the Holy Spirit, and in this chapter Owen turns his attention towards the futile attempts of Satan to undermine this communion. And Owen frames Satan's main attempts to undermine the Spirit within the context of gathered worship. This is a fascinating insight from Owen. He is exactly right to begin here, for no doubt, the Enemy wants nothing more than to pervert God's people in this way. He knows that we were created to glorify and enjoy God, and so it makes sense that the Enemy would create and spread lies among mankind concerning the nature of worship!

The first attack against the Spirit from Satan is by setting up ministers and gathered worship services which are completely independent of the Holy Spirit. They have the right liturgy, the minister guides the congregation through the service effortlessly, and by all outward appearances, these gatherings seem to be gatherings of Christian worship. Yet, apart from the Holy Spirit, they are nothing of the sort.

The second attack against the Spirit is that Satan attempts to do the exact opposite of his first attack by deceiving Christians into thinking that you can have the Holy Spirit apart from a structured, gathered worship service. All you need is the Spirit, and you can him without biblical worship and the ministry of Word and Sacrament that happens in a worship service!

Owen's words here speak into our context today just as strongly as they spoke into his in the 17th century. For Owen, this is not a choice between liturgical worship and the Holy Spirit. For Owen, the believer needs both, and if we would discard either one, then we are proving ourselves susceptible to the attacks of Satan.  We need the gathering of God's people in structured, liturgical services where the ministry of Word and Sacrament happen, and we need the Holy Spirit's  work, empowerment, and blessing in these services of worship, lest they become mere exercises of the flesh. 

Owen says that these attacks do two things. The first attack tries to get us to focus merely on the physical by having all the right outward (physical) things in place, but no Spirit. The second attack tries to get us to focus on merely the spiritual reality of Christ by discarding the importance of the physical things. But Owen reminds us that the true ministry of the Spirit concerns both the physical and spiritual, because Jesus Christ himself is both truly God and truly man. The Holy Spirit reminds us of Christ's words and work on our behalf. The Spirit glorifies Christ, the God-Man. The Spirit pours into our hearts the love of God. The Spirit guides and directs us in prayer. And while Owen doesn't state this conclusion, we can say that this is exactly what the Holy Spirit does when we gather together for worship that is both guided by the Scriptures and empowered by the Holy Spirit. 

Chapter 22 is focused upon the Spirit's work as our comforter. It's a difficult chapter on some level because Owen openly talks about afflictions as being something that the people of God should not despise. He reminds us that troubles and afflictions are part of our Father's chastisement and discipline. And God's discipline of his children is an essential part of our discipleship. So while men apart from God despise affliction and trouble, the children of God remember this is part of our Father's molding and shaping us, and we look to the Holy Spirit as a comforter and help during affliction. 

And the Spirit does bring us comfort and help. He brings us comfort when we are burdened with sin. While men apart from God are crushed by guilt, the Spirit reminds those who have union with Christ that we are, indeed, children of God and we have no need to fear God's wrath nor do we fear the accusations of Satan. The Spirit also brings strength and comfort in this life as we eagerly await the consummation of the resurrected life in the new creation. Apart from the Spirit, we would be crushed by the troubles and trials of this current life. But with the Spirit, we patiently await and endure until "the end". 

How does the Spirit comfort us? Very simply, he communicates to us the truth that God loves us. He comforts us by reminding us that the Father's love is eternal and unchangeable. He comforts us by communicating to us and making us more and more familiar with the grace of Jesus Christ, and brings to us the fruits that Christ as purchased for us. He comforts us by glorifying Christ in us, revealing his excellencies to us. He comforts us by reminding us that in Christ, we are justified and adopted into the everlasting family of God. 

And why? Why does the Spirit do this for us? Because of his infinite love for us, and his willingness to help us in our weakness and helplessness. 

He (the Holy Spirit) knew what we were, what we would do and how we would deal with him. He knew we would grieve him and provoke him. He knew we would quench his activities in us and defile his dwelling place, and still he becomes our Comforter. Lack of a due consideration of this great love of the Holy Spirit weakens all the principles of our obedience. Did this knowledge abide in our hearts, how highly we would value his work as Comforter. As we value the love of Christ in laying down his life for our salvation, so we must value the work of the Holy Spirit as our Comforter.

This blog was written by Andy Styer