The Mortified Christian: A Treatise on the Mortification of Sin
Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1998.
This is a Puritan book by Christopher Love (1618-1651) which was first published in 1654. The book contains ten sermons which comprised an exposition of Romans 8:13 (“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live”). The author is an interesting story in himself; he was beheaded at the age of 33, and his story is recounted in another recent book (A Spectacle Unto God, by Don Kistler, also published by Soli Deo Gloria). But in this book (or these sermons) Love gives a full and well-balanced exposition on what it means to put to death or mortify, the works of the flesh. It is marked by a realism that recognizes that while mortification is ultimately a work of the Holy Spirit, the Believer does have responsibility to undertake his part in it. In fact he is clearly commanded in Scripture to do so. Thus it is not an optional undertaking for only spiritual elites. And yet he recognizes that in this world, mortification will never be complete; he does not err in the direction of perfectionism. So he speaks comfort to the faithful saint who desires mortification but sees himself falling short, while on the other hand he speaks warnings to the self-satisfied believer who feels that because he is not guilty of the more gross and obvious sins, that he has successfully mortified the flesh and has “arrived”. To the former he says, “So you are not to judge the mortification of your corruptions by some extraordinary stirrings of sin in your soul after some violent temptation, but the ordinary frame and temper of your heart” (page 49), and “the stirrings and workings of corruption in your heart do not always argue that your corruptions have more strength and life in them than before, but that you have more light to discover and discern them than formerly” (page 47). To the latter category of believer, he warns: “You have an unmortified heart if you oppose sin partially, resisting some sins but sparing others, your beloved lusts” (page 58). In fact, toward the mistake of those who think their corruptions are mortified when they are not, he gives eight ways in which a man could so delude himself as to the the state of his soul. After dealing with the mistakes men frequently make in regard to mortification, he proceeds to give eight particular means or helps to mortification. Then he again offers comfort to those who have been conscientious in opposing sin, but still find its presence in their lives. To those, he says: “Take this for your comfort: though you use the utmost endeavors to mortify sin, yet you cannot withstand the existence of sin in you, but only hinder its reigning in your heart” (page 85), and he adds four other reasons for consolation as well. So here we see the pastoral heart in full flower; he warns the self-satisfied and the hypocrites, but consoles the overly-conscientious who might otherwise despair. Throughout, he shows a wonderful balance. The eighth sermon is wholly devoted to the truth that mortification is wrought in us by the strength of Christ’s Spirit, not our own, and lists eight differences between “a corruption merely restrained by the power of nature and a lust truly mortified by the Spirit of God” (page 91). The last sermon gives “special helps for special corruptions” (pages 109-119). In all, this is a very helpful, thorough, and concise (119 pages) book on a very important subject, which is both very readable and edifying. Following the ten sermons on mortification, the editor bound with this book two additional sermons on “the right hearing of sermons,” which are also profitable reading.
Related Topics: Hamartiology (Sin), Sanctification
Hudson and Maria: Pioneers in China
Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1962,1996, 206 pages.
The book is a biography of Hudson Taylor, the pioneering missionary to China, and his marriage to Maria Dyer. The book is relatively brief, and only carries Taylor through to the death of his beloved Maria. Taylor first went to China in 1853 at the age of 21; he married Maria (who had been born in China herself) in 1859, and she died of cholera in 1870 after only a dozen years of marriage. But oh what was accomplished by this wonderful couple in such a short time. Taylor ultimately “founded the China Inland Mission, in circumstances of extreme difficulty for a purpose which most of his contemporaries considered mad” (page 5). After Maria’s death, Taylor lived another 35 years, and remarried, dying in 1905. For that latter stage of his life, Pollock refers us to the official two-volume biography by Hudson’s son and daughter-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor. But in the early portion of his career covered by Pollock’s book, Hudson went into areas of China where the gospel had not penetrated, and in doing so adopted native dress (even to the shaping of his hair into pigtails) and often put himself into situations that demanded that God and God alone would meet his financial needs. As a result, he found that much if not most of the opposition he experienced came from the missionary establishment, who had their own way of doing things, and found the Taylors to be at odds with their notions of what was proper. The Taylors were frequently vilified not only in China, but by the British press back home as well, and were subject to frequent back-biting campaigns seeking to undermine them.
I think Pollock’s prologue sums the story up rather well, and I will just quote it here:
This book is a tale of courage and adventure in old Imperial China, this lost world of pigtails and mandarins and dragon-roofed temples. It is the story of a Yorkshire lad of obscure origin, indifferent education and miserable health who dared the seemingly impossible in the teeth of opposition, western and oriental. More, it is the epic of the love of Hudson Taylor and Maria Dyer—their discovery of each other when it was almost too late, the astonishing attempt of others to stifle and smash their love; and then the flowering of marriage at its highest and best (page 5).
This is a wonderful story of a courageous man, who showed what God could accomplish with only a little. Against western and oriental opposition, Taylor changed the way that missionaries work. It is a great story.
Related Topics: Missions, Testimony & Biography
Seeing the Invisible: Ordinary People of Extraordinary Faith
Durham, England: Evangelical Press, 1998, 152 pages.
In this book, the author takes 10 individuals from the pages of church history, most of whom we have never heard of, and shows how each demonstrated faith in God in an extraordinary way. The accounts are very brief—from 10 to 20 pages each--but each life makes a lasting impression. For example, there is William Darney, “Scotch Will,” the peddler and shoemaker who combined his daily work with his preaching and became one of the earliest itinerant preachers of the 18th century evangelical revival in England. He endured frequent maltreatment, and often tasted violence at the hands of unruly mobs. One time he was stripped, rolled in the mud, and marched through the streets. Another time he was covered with tar. And yet another time he barely escaped a lynching. Through all of these trials and more, Scotch Will knew of sharing the sufferings of his Saviour, and showed a similar steadfastness of purpose, until after a lifetime of sufferings he finally retired.
Then there is the story of Jane, remembered as “a child who believed,” who at the age of 12 became the first convert of the new minister on the Isle of Wight in 1797. Though Jane seemed to be a quiet and unpromising child as she sat in his catechism class, the new minister soon learned otherwise as she was stricken with a serious illness. As a result, he then had an opportunity open of visiting her sickbed where he learned that she had taken to heart everything he had taught in the class, and had developed a fervent faith and love for Christ. Her final words to him before her departure were: “God bless and reward you…my soul is saved! Christ is everything to me…Sir, we shall meet in heaven, won’t we? Oh yes! yes!!…Then all will be peace..peace…peace.” Her story is more fully recounted in a book that became very popular during the 19th century.
Also there is Elizabeth Bunyan, who remained faithful to her husband John (the famed author of Pilgrim’s Progress), during the years he spent in prison. She married John after his first wife had died, but only shortly after their marriage, John was imprisoned for preaching. She struggled to bring up her four stepchildren (one of whom was blind) on the meager income John received from his writings while in prison and the laces he made and sold at the prison gate. She boldly expended great efforts interceding on his behalf with the religious and civil authorities that had imprisoned him. It was only after 12 years that he was finally freed, and spent the remaining 16 years of his life in the occupation he loved best: a preacher of the gospel of God’s grace. During the years in prison, a steady stream of books had flowed from his fertile mind, and these books would be read for generations to come. Elizabeth’s later years were gladdened by two children of her own. After John’s death, Elizabeth discovered 10 unpublished manuscripts on his desk, and made them available to interested parties to publish. And so the world was given some of Bunyan’s most treasured books, including The Heavenly Footman, and The Acceptable Sacrifice.
Among the other lives recounted are Robert Jermain Thomas who brought the gospel to Korea in 1863, and Lavinia Bartlett, who single-handedly conducted a woman’s Bible class in Charles Spurgeon’s church from 1859 until her death in 1874. The class began with only 3 teenage girls in attendance, but ultimately grew to between seven and eight hundred women, ranging from late teens to elderly grandmothers. Mrs. Bartlett had a passionate desire for the salvation of others, and her fervent appeals to the unconverted were legendary. She gave all of her time and energies to the class, at great cost to her health. Though she was of course not an officer in the church, Spurgeon nevertheless said of her, “my best deacon is a woman.” Words on her gravestone, chosen by Spurgeon, testified to her faithful work: “She was indeed a mother in Israel. Often she did say, ‘keep near the cross, my sister.’”
Then there is Leonard Dober, who volunteered to become a slave in order to bring the gospel to the Virgin Islands of the West Indies.
And Harriet Newell, who at the age of 18 sailed to India, with her husband Samuel and Adoniram and Nancy Judson, in 1812.
The other lives recounted are equally memorable and inspiring, as each expended themselves for the same glorious and powerful God who enabled them to “endure as seeing Him who is invisible.”
Related Topics: Faith, Testimony & Biography
My Heart In His Hands—Ann Judson of Burma: A Life, with Selections from Her Memoir and Letters
Evangelical Press: Durham, England, 1998, 237 pgs.
The book is an account of the life of Ann Judson, wife of Adoniram Judson. Born Ann Hasseltine in 1789 in the New England town of Bradford, Ann was converted from nominal Christianity into a vital spirituality and a true faith in 1806 during the Second Great Awakening, and formally joined the Congregationalist church. She later accepted a proposal of marriage from Adoniram Judson, who was shortly to leave for Asia as one of America’s first overseas missionaries. They married in 1811, and in 1812 they sailed for India. Ann therefore became the first female to leave the “shores of America to spend her life among the heathen” (p. 37). This was an honor Ann shared with childhood friend Harriet Atwood, who was converted during the same revival, and who also married a missionary, Samuel Newell. The Newells sailed with the Judsons as partners in this new missionary venture. As the author says, “America was sending abroad the first of what was to become, to date, the mightiest missionary force in Christian history (p. 43). Unhappily, Harriet died before they reached their ultimate destination of Burma. As Ann wrote in her diary: “Harriet is dead. Harriet, my dear friend, my earliest associate in the Mission, is no more…she is gone, and I am left behind, still to endure the trials of a missionary life” (p. 59). Also before reaching their destination, the Judsons severed their links with their sending agency, the Congregationalist Church of America, due to a change in the Judsons’ convictions concerning infant baptism. This change resulted from intensive study on the subject during the voyage, and they both determined that only believers’ baptism could be supported by the Bible, and they became Baptists. This was a traumatic event as Ann recorded in her diary: “It is painfully mortifying to my natural feelings, to think seriously of renouncing a system which I have been taught from infancy to believe and respect, and embrace one which I have been taught to despise…(but) contrary to my prejudices and my wishes, am compelled to believe, that believers’ baptism alone is found in Scripture” (p. 55). Fortunately, they were able, after resigning from the Congregationalist Church, to obtain Baptist support for their mission.
At this point it should be noted that in this biography, “Ann is allowed to speak for herself. Sharon James has skillfully woven together extracts from her Memoir and other first-hand accounts with linking narrative in a way that brings Ann’s story alive for today” (quoted from cover notes ).
The scope of the story of the Judsons and their missionary service in Burma is difficult to summarize in a review. There is just so much to say, and so many memorable events that occurred in a relatively short period of time. The Judsons arrived in Burma in 1813, and Ann died in 1826, only 13 years later, at the young age of 37. But what transpired in those 13 years makes for an incredible story and a testimony to the love, grace, and faithfulness of God. Their labors were intensive, their trials painful, and their faith tested in the fires of persecutions. As Ann labored alongside her husband in both evangelism and translation work, she did not challenge traditional Bible teaching concerning male leadership, but saw her primary role as evangelizing and teaching women.
To begin with, they showed incredible patience as six years passed before they saw their first convert. Then they were trapped in the capital of Burma when war broke out in 1824 between Britain and Burma. Although they were Americans, not British, all English-speaking people were suspected of being spies. This resulted in Adoniram being arrested, tortured, and imprisoned in horrid conditions. Adoniram’s imprisonment began in June, 1824, when he and another missionary were thrown into the feared “Death Prison.” He would not know freedom until February, 1826. During this period, Ann gave birth to a daughter, faithfully carried on the mission work (even though she was ill herself much of the time), and tirelessly interceded with government officials to procure better conditions and treatment for her husband, as well as coming into the prison to care for him as often as she was allowed. Her faithful ministry continued even though her own life was in considerable danger. Without her intervention and care, Adoniram would almost surely have died. And Adoniram was not the only prisoner to owe his survival to Ann: “One of his fellow-prisoners, an Englishman, later described the ‘ministering angel,’ who supplied him and other prisoners with food and clothes, and who constantly interceded on their behalf” (p. 159). As the tide of war turned in Britain’s favor, Adoniram obtained a temporary release from prison, and when he rushed to their home, he found Ann in severe distress, having contracted cerebral spinal meningitis a month before. Upon seeing Ann’s emaciated, pale, shrunken form lying there, he later described it as follows: “There lay the devoted wife, who had followed him so unwearily from prison to prison, ever alleviating his distresses.” His final freedom a few months later was obtained when Britain made release of the Judsons one of the terms of peace. The Judsons recovered from their illnesses, and with peace established, turned their attention to evangelizing that portion of Burma which was under British rule. But, as the author said: “The cost of these years, however, was higher than Ann realized, and the mission was about to lose one of its most valuable resources.”
While Adoniram was away on a six-month negotiating trip to obtain freedom to evangelize the portion of Burma controlled by the Burmese government, Ann contracted a serious fever and died in October 1826. According to the doctor, the death while immediately due to the fever, was ultimately a result of the privations and long-protracted sufferings that she had long endured, especially during Adoniram’s imprisonment. Now Adoniram had only baby Maria as a link with the one he had loved ever since he set eyes on her back in Bradford, so many years before. But six months later, Maria also succumbed to illness at the age of 2 years, 3 months.
However, Adoniram did come through the crisis, and continued a vital ministry in Burma until his death in 1850. Eight years after Ann’s death, he married Sarah Boardman, the widow of another missionary. And after Sarah’s death, he would marry yet again. “But there was always the certainty that Ann, and then Sarah, had gone before to glory, and that one day there would be a reunion more glorious than could ever be imagined” (page 199). As he wrote to his third wife, Emily: “Heaven will be brighter to me for thy presence. Thou wilt be with Ann and Sarah. We shall all join in the same song of love and praise, and how happy shall we be in beholding each other’s faces aglow with heavenly rapture, as we drink in the life-giving, joy-inspiring smiles of Him whom we shall all love above all” (page 199).
This is a wonderful story. The Judsons were central figures in a crucial church-planting endeavor in its early years, and were founders of the Burmese church. Their careful translation of the Scriptures into Burmese is still the standard version in that land. Ann was the model of a missionary wife, and a passionate advocate of female education. Although none of her own children lived past the toddler stage, many of the Burmese converts regarded her as their spiritual mother. Due to the publication of Ann’s Memoir in 1829, she was the childhood heroine of both Adoniram’s second and third wives. Her writings demonstrate “an overwhelming awareness of the majesty of God and her own unworthiness. This emphasis on human sinfulness and the sovereignty of God was superseded later in the century when older Calvinist orthodoxies fell out of favor,” but to the Judsons, “what happened to them was of secondary importance. A sovereign God could use them as long as he wanted, and then raise up others in their place. Their religion was God-centered, not man-centered” (page 203).
Related Topics: Missions, Testimony & Biography
When a Baby Dies: Answers to Comfort Grieving Parents
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999, 120 pages.
Nash, who is a professor of theology and philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, tackles a painful subject, the death of infants, which of necessity brings up the issue of infant salvation. The first four chapters deal with four wrong approaches to the question of infant salvation: Chapt 1-that infants are saved because they are innocent of sin; Chapt.2-universalism; Chapt. 3-the teaching that the issue of salvation can be postponed until after death for those who die before they are mentally and morally responsible for their actions; and Chapt. 4-the view that baptism saves. Having dealt with these false, non-Biblical bases of hope, Chapt. 5 presents “A Case for Infant Salvation”, and begins by setting forth the author’s position: “I will argue that all children who die in infancy and all mentally handicapped persons whose intellectual and moral judgment cannot exceed that of children are saved” (pages 59-60). He emphasizes that the correct position on this issue must take into account original sin (therefore infants need salvation), must be based on Christ’s atonement, must be because infants have been regenerated and sanctified, and the salvation must take place before death. In support of his case, he says that whatever sinful inclinations they are born with, infants are incapable of moral good or evil; yet divine judgment is administered based on sins committed in the body. As a result, they cannot be judged on the criterion set forth in 1 Corinthians 5:10. He then looks at several passages that tell of unborn infants that God has blessed with a special relationship with Himself while they were still in the womb (Jeremiah in Jere. 1:5, and John the Baptist in Luke 1:15). And Chapt. 5 closes with a look at earlier supporters of the position he advocates in this book, such as Charles Hodge, John Newton, Augustus Toplady, and B.B. Warfield. To further develop his case, in Chapt. 6 Nash deals with the theological issues of infant salvation, and specifically the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. For Arminians, active repentance and faith are necessary conditions of salvation. But can this be possible for infants and mental incapables? In the Arminian scheme, nothing must supersede the free will of the saved person. If Arminians allow that God might save even one human without its consent, then they have abandoned the central core of their theology. Unless they adjust their theology by denying original sin, or posponing salvation to an event after death, then the only way they can accept infant salvation is to believe that the depravity of deceased infants and mental incapables is dealt with exclusively as an act of God’s grace. As Nash says: “But this is the Calvinist answer, not an Arminian one” (page 82). So Nash then sets forth the Reformed view of infant salvation, which says that “if Christ died specifically for those whom God chose or elected, then infant salvation becomes possible, because God in His grace is fully capable of electing infants as well as adults. As long as we think that salvation depends on our doing something that only a rational adult can do, it should be obvious that infants who cannot perform those actions are beyond the reach of God’s salvation” (pages 82-83). And he ends the chapter with a quote from B.B. Warfield: “The doctrine of infant salvation can find such a place in Reformed theology. It can find such a place in no other system of theological thought” (page 84). Chapter 7 then sets forth the Reformed position on infant salvation more fully, and makes much use of J.I. Packer’s introduction to a reissue of John Owen’s classic work, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. It was Packer’s introductory essay that helped to turn Nash from an Arminian to a Calvinist. The book then closes with chapters on “Some Final Questions” and a brief anecdote.
Nash’s book is not only comforting to parents who might have suffered such a loss, but also leads to a greater appreciation of God’s sovereign grace.
Related Topics: Suffering, Trials, Persecution, Comfort
Guerrilla Hostage: 810 Days in Captivity
Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1999, 230 pages.
The book tells of the ordeal of Ray Rising, who served as a missionary to Colombia with Wycliffe Bible Translators/Summer Institute of Linguistics, stationed at the facility at Lomalinda. On March 21, 1994, he was kidnapped by Colombian guerrillas associated with FARC (The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). Ray’s function with WBT and SIL involved his electronics background, as he worked to install telephone communication links between Bogota and Lomalinda. His crime in the eyes of the guerrillas was simply that he was part of Lomalinda, which they saw as “nothing more than an American base with nice homes, running water, and electricity—an oasis of capitalist wealth in their midst” (page 24). During his time in Lomalinda, Ray had built many close relationships with ordinary Colombians, and had especially reached out to the poorest and most needy in the immediate and surrounding vicinities. He befriended boys and girls of all ages, “sometimes becoming a father to the fatherless” (page 24), and lending both emotional and even financial support when needed. But to the guerrillas, he became a target to help them somehow accomplish their political and social purposes.
The book is of particular interest to my church (Community Bible Chapel, Richardson, TX) due to our involvement with Wycliffe and SIL, especially through Herb and Grace Fuqua of our body who were with Wycliffe in Colombia at the very time this kidnapping occurred. So our body was kept informed of Ray’s situation, with periodic reminders to pray for him all during the time of his captivity. And a long time of captivity it was until his release in June 1996---810 days. Ray spent that time in the jungle, as he was kept on the move from one temporary camp to another, with several exchanges of the men and women serving as his captors. As notes on the bookcover state:
Guerrilla Hostage is the triumphant story of one man’s faith, a family’s hope, and God’s never-ending love. Ray Rising never gave in to despair, fear, and loneliness during his 810 days in captivity. Instead, this missionary grew closer to his Lord. He boldly established relationships and shared his faith with the Colombian guerrillas who held him hostage. If you love a gripping story, experience for yourself the shadowy jungles, the overwhelming obstacles, and the ultimate triumphs of Rising’s ordeal, and with him learn how to live a life of integrity despite harsh and frightening circumstances.
But don’t think that means that Ray never experienced any dark nights. At times he had trouble with his nerves, found himself breaking into periods of weeping, and even feared a breakdown. Yes, he was mortal. But the point is that he persevered through the worst of times, and remained faithful. On one occasion, a girl was offered to him, and although he had felt the urges of temptation, he summoned up the resolve to refuse that offer.
And Ray remained cognizant of God’s presence. He was always quick to see God’s hand not only in the largest, but also the smallest, of mercies. One particularly memorable moment occurred on Christmas Eve. Normally, he was not allowed to listen to the radio. However, through some unusual circumstances, on that occasion he found himself within listening range of a radio broadcast and to his shock realized that the voice on the radio was that of his wife in an interview concerning Ray’s capture. He was stunned:
How great a God he served , that he would allow Ray to hear his wife’s voice on Christmas Eve. His prayers had not bounced off the walls of heaven, as he had so often felt. God had heard them, every one, and had expressed his love and compassion in a way that let Ray know God had not forgotten him. The rest of Christmas Eve and all of Christmas Day, Ray’s spirits soared. For months, Jorge (one of his Colombian captors) had railed at him about his wife forgetting he existed and finding another man, and although Ray didn’t believe him, he was elated to hear Doris express her love for him (page 113).
And not only did God show his love to his faithful servant, but Ray showed his (and God’s) love toward his captors, as he was constantly witnessing at every opportunity, and showed true concern for their souls.
In June 1996, Ray was unexpectedly released by his captors, after 810 days in captivity. And so ends a marvelous story of one man’s faithfulness in the midst of severe tribulation, and of the greatness of the God he served.
Related Topics: Missions, Suffering, Trials, Persecution, Testimony & Biography
Keeping the Heart
Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1998.
This book has been called by some one of the greatest Christian books of all time. It is another of the excellent reprints of Puritan books from Soli Deo Gloria. The book, which was originally entitled “A Saint Indeed”, is based on Proverbs 4:23, which exhorts us to “keep our heart, for out of it are the issues of life”. And Flavel carefully and exhaustively unfolds all that is involved in “keeping” the heart, and how that should be the “great business” of every Christian. Keeping the heart, Flavel would have us to understand, involves the “diligent and constant use and improvement of all holy means and duties to preserve the soul from sin and maintain its sweet and free communion with God” (page 2). At the beginning, Flavel sets forth the doctrine: “The keeping and right managing of the heart in every condition is the great business of a Christian’s life” (page 3). He lists six acts to help keep the heart carefully: 1) “frequent observation” of the state of the heart (self-examination, self-conferences, etc.), 2) “ deep humiliation for heart-evils and disorders” (page 7), 3) “earnest supplications and instant prayer for heart-purifying and rectifying grace” (page 7), 4) “imposing strong engagements and bonds upon ourselves to walk more earnestly with God and avoid the occasions whereby the heart may be induced to sin” (page 8) (including for example vows, or Job’s “covenant with mine eyes”), 5) “a constant holy jealousy over our own hearts” (page 8), and 6) the “realizing of God’s presence with us and setting the Lord always before us” (page 8).
He cautions that heart-work is not easy work: “Heart-work is hard work, indeed. To shuffle over religious duties with a loose and heedless spirit will cost no great pains. But to set yourself before the Lord, and tie up your loose and vain thoughts to a constant and serious attendance upon Him, will cost you something” (page 9). Not only is it hard work, but it is also a constant work, as it is “never done till life is done” (page 10). Nevertheless, it is an essential work, for without it, Flavel says “we are but formalists in religion; all our professions, gifts, and duties signify nothing” (page 10). Then he sets out six reasons why Christians should make this the great business of their lives: 1) the glory of God, 2) the sincerity of our profession, 3) the beauty of our conversation (conduct of life), 4) the improvement of our graces, 5) the comfort of our souls, and 6) the stability of our souls in the hour of temptation (pages 11-22). Among other applications of the doctrine, he discusses 12 special “seasons” in the Christian’s life, which call for special diligence in keeping our hearts. The book is full of wonderful applications, expositions, and exhortations. And yet, it is not a long book, as his actual writing only covers 130 pages. The remainder of the book consists of a 19-page outline, and a 33-page study guide, both by Maureen Bradley, which greatly add to the book’s usefulness. I’ll close this review with the quote of an exhortation from Flavel:
Oh study your hearts, watch your hearts, keep your hearts! Away with fruitless controversies and all idle questions; away with empty names and vain shows; away with unprofitable discourse and bold censures of others. Turn in upon yourselves, get into your closets, and now resolve to dwell there. You have been strangers to this work too long; you have kept others’ vineyards too long; you have trifled about the borders of religion too long; this world has detained you from your great work too long. Will you now resolve to look better at your hearts? Will you hate and come out of the crowds of business and clamors of the world and retire yourselves more than you have done? Oh, that this day you would resolve upon it…All that I beg for is that you would step aside a little more often to talk with God and your own heart…(and) demand this of your own heart, at least every evening, ‘Oh, my heart, where have you been today? Where have you made a road today’” (pages 118-119).
This is a book to be read or consulted frequently.
Related Topics: Spiritual Life
Absolutely Sure
Sisters, OR: Multnomah Press, 1999, 190 pages.
This is a very good book on the subject of eternal security. In his foreword to the book, John MacArthur said: “Assurance of salvation. Complete certainty unassailed by uncertainty and doubt. Is it possible? How may we know we are truly saved? I know of no single doctrinal issue that confuses people more than this one” (page 11). MacArthur went on to say that people who misunderstand the doctrine of eternal security go to one of two extremes. On the one hand, there are those who have a false confidence. Understanding that salvation is a gift of divine grace, they falsely conclude that self-examination is unnecessary, spiritual fruit is optional, and despite showing no evidence of a true union with Christ in their lives, they live in a smug self-confidence. On the other hand, there are those who are filled with doubts and anxieties, and see every failure as evidence that they are unsaved. To make things worse, each group tends to “hearken to instruction meant for the other” (page 11). Therefore, the smug tend to gravitate to teaching about justification by faith or sovereign grace, and feed their false assurance with comfort meant for others. On the other hand, the fearful hear the warning passages addressed to the self-confident, and fuel their doubts still further. As MacArthur says, “virtually every aspect of the biblical doctrine of assurance is therefore prone to being misunderstood and twisted. It is a difficult subject, filled with potential pitfalls” (page 11), and “the pure light of Scripture is the only antidote to the confusion on this and every other spiritual matter” (page 12). MacArthur concludes by saying that Lawson in this book does a good job by focusing that light where it is most needed.
Indeed, Lawson’s approach is to be guided through the pitfalls by using the path laid down by the Apostle John in his first epistle. As Lawson says, “First John is a book of Christian certainty written that we may be absolutely sure that we have eternal life…the first key word of 1 John 5:13, as well as of this entire epistle, is “know.” John writes, “in order that you may know that you have eternal life” (pages 21-22).
And like the vital signs such as pulse, heart rate, and breath, which a doctor looks for to determine if physical life resides within his patient, Lawson then goes on to set forth nine vital spiritual signs found in 1 John that give assurance that eternal life abides within. If you give yourself a spiritual checkup and see these vital signs alive within you, regardless of degree, then you may be assured that you possess eternal life. The nine signs are 1) communion with Christ, 2) confession of sin, 3) commitment to God’s Word, 4) compassion for believers, 5) change of affection, 6) comprehension of the truth, 7) conformity to Christlikeness, 8) conflict with the world, and 9) confidence in prayer (pages 32-33).
So as Lawson says: “Have you believed in Jesus Christ? Have you trusted Him alone to be your Savior and Lord? Receiving the assurance of our salvation is a clear-cut matter of reading your vitals. We can know that our faith is real as we see the evidence of a changed life” (page 33).
Before proceeding to discuss the vital signs, Lawson first exposes false assurance in a chapter entitled “The Ultimate Deception: Religious But Lost.” For as Lawson says: “Worse than a genuine Christian who lacks the assurance of eternal life is the person who is lost but has a false assurance of his or her salvation…this is the fateful delusion of being religious but lost…of presuming you know Christ, when in reality you merely know about Him” (page 37). After dealing with this issue, Lawson goes on to devote a chapter to each vital sign.
This book does a good job of setting forth the glorious Scriptural truths concerning the doctrine of eternal security. As Al Mohler said in comments quoted on the book cover: “Through reading this book, Christians will gain renewed confidence. Those uncertain of their salvation will come face to face with the power of the authentic gospel”.
Related Topics: Assurance
The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life
Word Publishing, 1998.
In my church, I was asked to be a member of a panel discussion on the subject of the Christian and work. Fortunately (or I should say, providentially), this new book by Guinness came out the same week that I was preparing for the panel discussion, and it is an excellent book. Let me quote from the notes on the cover: “Guinness goes past our superficial understanding to the very heart of what calling means. Far bigger than our jobs, deeper than our personal accomplishments, higher than our wildest ideas of self-fulfillment, calling addresses the very essence of our existence.” So that is what the book promises, and it does deliver on that promise
Early on in the book (page 4), Guinness defines calling as “the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.” So, calling is obviously a very comprehensive term, including our jobs or “work,” but not limited to them. He addresses the distortions of the concept of calling not only on the Catholic side (with the false secular/spiritual dichotomy), but also on the Protestant side. Whereas the Catholic distortion elevated the spiritual at the expense of the secular, the Protestant distortion elevated the secular at the expense of the spiritual. These distortions perverted the proper perspective, as recovered by Luther and other reformers, which recognized that “if all that a believer does grows out of faith and is done for the glory of God, then all dualistic distinctions are demolished”(page 34). There are no “higher/lower, sacred/secular, perfect/permitted, contemplative/active, or first class/second class” distinctions (page 34). And to set things in the proper order, Guinness reminds that “calling means that everyone, everywhere, and in everything fulfills his or her (secondary) callings in response to God’s (primary) calling. For Luther, the peasant and the merchant—for us, the business person, the teacher, the factory worker, and the television anchor—can do God’s work (or fail to do it) just as much as the minister and the missionary” (page 34).
Again, our primary calling is to God, and as the chapter title of chapter 5 says, we are called “by Him, to Him, for Him” (page 37). And that is pretty comprehensive.
Back to the Protestant distortion: it is a distortion which involves equating our calling with our job/work, reducing the original demand that each Christian should have a calling, and boiling it down to “the demand that each citizen should have a job.”(page 41). This triumph of secondary callings over the primary calling “meant that work was made sacred,” “holy,” or even “entirely good” (page 41), in contrast to the Bible which has a realistic view of work, seeing it after the fall as both creative and cursed. So this distortion equated the concept of calling with our job, and a man’s worth and purpose in life were defined by his job.
Guinness gives us much to think about as we ponder the subject of our “callings.”
Related Topics: Spiritual Life
Guarding the Holy Fire: The Evangelicalism of John R.W. Stott, J.I. Packer, and Alister McGrath
Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999, 368 pages.
The title of this book is somewhat misleading, as it is not a study of Stott, Packer, and McGrath. Rather, it is a historical survey of evangelicals within the Anglican Church on both sides of the Atlantic, i.e., in its birthplace, England, and in America, where it is known as the Episcopal Church. In the section on the 20th century, it does look very closely at these three individuals, who are perhaps the most well known Anglican evangelicals. In fact, when the book was first published in 1998 in England, it was titled Church on Fire: The Story of Anglican Evangelicals (Hodder and Stoughton). The author says in the Introduction that “this is the story of a brand of Christianity which, at its best, has burned with the fire both of holiness and evangelism” (page 9). Further, he feels the title (the original one) “captures the zeal, commitment, and burning spirituality which have characterized the best manifestations of Anglican evangelicalism from the days of Wycliffe and the Lollards to the era when the present Archbishop of Canterbury found Christ in an evangelical parish church” (page 9).
So, first: what is an evangelical? Alister McGrath, perhaps the most prolific author among the current generation of Anglican evangelicals, lists the following four key elements: “1) A focus, both devotional and theological, on the person of Jesus Christ, especially his death on the cross; 2) The identification of Scripture as the ultimate authority in matters of spirituality, doctrine, and ethics; 3) An emphasis upon conversion or ‘a new birth’ as a life-changing religious experience; and 4) A concern for sharing faith, especially through evangelism.” (page 11).
And next, what is Anglicanism? It is a “system of doctrine and practice of those Christians who are in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury” (page 11), which today comprise nearly 70 million members of the Anglican Communion in 36 self-governing Member Churches or Provinces in more than 166 countries (page 11). The Archbishop of Canterbury is not like the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church, but he is regarded as “a unique focus of Anglican unity”. The Anglican tradition is a significant Reformed tradition within world-wide Christianity, which has a “loose federation of churches” thereby avoiding the extremes of hierarchism on the one hand and Nonconformism on the other (page 11).
The story of this “chain of men and women…who have taken Biblical Christianity intensely seriously” (page 13) begins in 1330 with Part One: “Church on Fire with Reforming Zeal (England, 1330-1700)”. This covers the era from the birth of John Wycliffe until the time of the glorious revolution under William and Mary at the end of the 17th century. Wycliffe was born nearly 200 years before Luther posted his 95 theses on the door at Wittenberg. Wycliffe asserted that everyone had the right to read the Bible for themselves, argued against transubstantiation, taught that the Bible was the sole criterion of doctrine, organized a body of traveling preachers (who became known as the Lollards), and began a translation of the Bible. Although the authorities tried to suppress his writings, his influence continued until the Reformation in the 16th century, when many of the Reformers quoted his writings. Next we meet William Tyndale, who had to leave England and go to Europe to fulfill his dream of translating the Bible. In Antwerp, he was eventually kidnapped by his enemies and burned at the stake. Later we meet two other martyrs, who were also burned at the stake as heretics: Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley. At the stake, Latimer made his famous statement to his fellow bishop: “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out” (page 34). This section of the narrative also takes us “into the courts of kings and queens as the story of the establishment of the reformed Church of England gets entangled with Henry VIII’s divorce and remarriage” (page 13). Here we meet Thomas Cranmer, who as Archbishop became King Henry’s chief instrument for overthrowing the Pope’s rule in England. In composing his Prayer Book, which later became the Book of Common Prayer, Cranmer provided the Anglican Church with a liturgy which was thoroughly Biblical, and which provided a “text and ethos for worship which would remain almost unchanged for 400 years” (page 40). However, Cranmer’s days were numbered from the moment that the strongly Catholic Queen Mary took the throne. Charged with heresy, and under great stress and depression, Cranmer recanted his protestant beliefs. However, at the moment of his execution, he repented of his earlier recantations, and shouted, “Forasmuch as my hand offended…writing contrary to my heart, my hand shall be punished therefor” (page 39), and he stretched out his hand into the fire for all to see. Then followed the reign of Protestant Queen Elizabeth, who oversaw the writing of one of the historic formularies of the Church of England: the 39 Articles. Elizabeth was succeeded by James VI of Scotland who ruled as James I of England. James had been brought up in the Calvinist Presbyterian Church of Scotland and it was he who ordered the translation work that eventually became the King James Version of the Bible. In 1642 came civil war and Oliver Cromwell, and the eventual disestablishment of the Church of England and arrest and execution of King Charles I. However, in the midst of that turmoil, the Westminster Assembly began meeting in 1643, producing “the definitive statement of Presbyterian doctrine in the English-speaking world…(which) embodied Puritan theology in its classical form” (page 68). Also during this period we find Richard Baxter, the great Puritan and minister at Kidderminster, and author of the classic book, The Reformed Pastor. In the latter portion of this era, the Church of England regained its position as the established church under Charles II. His successor, James II, was Catholic and very unpopular, leading to the Revolution of 1688, known as “The Glorious Revolution’. This resulted in the crown being offered to William (the Dutch Protestant Prince William of Orange, who had been invited to come and deliver England from its Catholic king), and his wife Mary (who was the daughter of the English King James II). Further, the Toleration Act of 1689 gave Nonconformist churches the freedom of worship and marked the end of the Church of England’s claim to be the national, all-inclusive church of the English People.
In Part Two we find the “Church on Fire in Revival: England, 1700-1800.” The author begins with England in the early 18th century characterized by widespread drunkenness, immorality, cruelty, and crime. The church was weakened by the loss of Puritan enthusiasm, and characterized by dilapidated parish buildings, money-seeking clergy, and sermons which were either too learned or too dull for the congregations. But a small flame was being kindled at Oxford University, which would in time become a mighty fire in both England and America. It began with a group called the Holy Club, founded by Charles Wesley for the purpose of taking their religion seriously. The group eventually included Charles’ brother John, and George Whitefield. From this small group eventually sprang a mighty revival that shook both England and America. Despite being credited with founding the Methodist denomination, John Wesley never left the Church of England, and saw his role as seeking to purify and strengthen it, not to form a new denomination. Other leaders of revival within the Church of England whom we meet in this section are John Fletcher of Madeley (called the Saint of Evangelicalism), John Newton (the former slave trader), Thomas Scott (writer of a commentary on the whole Bible), and Charles Simeon. John Stott has said that Simeon has always been one of his heroes, one reason being his emphasis on the truth not being “at one extreme or the opposite extreme, or in a confused admixture…(but rather) at both extremes even if you cannot reconcile these extremes” (page 133). Stott has found that thought helpful in the controversy between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Another very colorful character we meet is William Grimshaw, who helped to establish Anglican evangelicalism in the northern part of England. Grimshaw’s preaching was aimed at “debasing man and exalting my dear Lord” (page 112). Many of the leaders of the 18th century English revival preached from Grimshaw’s pulpit: Whitefield, the two Wesleys, Henry Venn, and William Romaine. Grimshaw, in giving a statement of his theology, said he was “a Calvinist on his knees and an Arminian on his feet, and he tried to strike a balance between the two” (page 116).
In Part Three we find the “Church on Fire in the New World: North America, 1730-1900),” beginning with the young British colony of Virginia. In this chapter, we see the influence of George Whitefield and the American revival known as “The Great Awakening” upon the Church of England. We see the golden years of Anglican evangelicalism in mid-19th century America under Joseph Pilmore, Alexander Griswold and others. However, in the latter part of the century, the Anglican church came under a cloud, and the chapter ends with the former evangelicals in the Episcopal Church having become liberals, as liberalism, Biblical criticism and Darwinism gained ascendancy in the denomination’s educational institutions.
Part Four finds the “Church on Fire in 19th Century England”, as Anglican evangelicalism became a power in England. Here we meet the Clapham Sect and watch as William Wilberforce works patiently to end the slave trade in the British Empire. Organizational movement was afoot as the Church Missionary Society, the Bible Society, and the Keswick Convention were founded. John Henry Newman left his position as vicar of an Anglican parish, and became a Roman Catholic. He moved toward the Oxford movement, which charged evangelicals with being obsessed with justification by faith, and downplaying such passages as the Sermon on the Mount with its high standard of Christian righteousness and its obvious absence of reference to the atonement. Among evangelicals, one man stood “head and shoulders above his contemporaries” (page 196). That man was J.C. Ryle, the bishop of Liverpool. Spurgeon called him “the best man in the Church of England” (page 197). He stated the evangelical position with clarity on many issues. He once said: “I have no love for men who have no distinct opinions, theological jellyfish without bones, brains, teeth or claws” (page 197). Ryle (and in a later century, Packer) criticized the Keswick teaching on holiness, a passive approach summed up as “let go and let God”.
Next is Part Five: “Church on Fire in 20th Century England”. Here we see the evangelical reaction to theological liberalism, and we meet and spend some time with the two most influential Anglicans of this century: John Stott and James I. Packer. For many years, Stott was rector of All Souls, Langham Place, London. He is a prolific writer, and sees the cross at the center of Christian faith and life. He said that “more of his heart and mind went into the writing of The Cross of Christ than any other book”. Jim Packer, who was greatly influenced by Puritan thought, is also a prolific writer. By 1997, his books had sold over 3 million copies worldwide, and have “inspired young scholars with the intellectual coherence of Christianity itself” (page 216). Other significant events covered in this chapter include non-Anglican Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ unsuccessful call for evangelicals within the Anglican Church to leave the church due to liberal dominance, a move which put him at odds with both Packer and Stott. Then there was the growth of the charismatic movement, and Oxford Professor James Barr’s launching of a major attack on conservative evangelicalism in his book, Fundamentalism. Barr charged evangelicals with picking out from the mass of Biblical material certain themes, passages, contexts, and emphases, and representing those as the core doctrines of the Christian faith. He said that the Bible taken alone and as a whole does not lead to the evangelical position. Among the doctrines he took issue with are inspiration of Scripture and justification by faith. Surprisingly, Barr did not consider his position to be a liberal one. The chapter ends with George Carey (who some have considered an evangelical though he does not claim that label for himself) at the helm as Archbishop of Canterbury, and the church dealing with the controversy of the ordination of women.
Then we come to Part Six: “Church on Fire in 20th Century America”. By the beginning of the 20th century, “evangelical Episcopalianism… had virtually died out…(as) after 1900 the American Church went liberal in two directions: liberal Catholic and liberal evangelical…(and) no classical evangelical party existed from 1900 until the 1960s” (page 269). However, in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a resurgence of evangelical enthusiasm, much of which came from a growing charismatic wing. In addition, this period saw the founding of an evangelical seminary, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, which was the outworking of one man’s faith in the power of prayer; that man was Alf Steinway, a man who “never missed his daily quiet time in 40 years” (page 275). Trinity was ultimately located in Ambridge, PA, and Stephen Noll and Peter Davids are two evangelicals assocated with Trinity whose names have become prominent in evangelical and academic circles. Another interesting event was the founding of the White Horse Tavern, an internet mailing list for the purpose of “vigorous discussion carried on within the reasonable bounds of courtesy and decorum” (page 285). One surprising event during this era has been a move of evangelicals from other traditions into the Episcopal Church in search of a worship experience and a strong church tradition. One of the first was Robert Webber, son of a Baptist minister, graduate of fundamentalist Bob Jones University, professor at Wheaton College, and ordained minister in the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Webber joined the Episcopal Church, and documented his experience and that of six other evangelicals, along with his theological reasons, in the book Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail.
Finally, in Part Seven, we find the “Church on Fire Over Sexuality”, and the book examines the evangelical approach to homosexual partnerships and the ordination of practicing homosexuals, burning issues not only in the Episcopal and Anglican churches, but other mainline denominations as well. John Stott’s position affirming the Church’s traditional teaching on marriage and opposition to homosexual activity has been widely accepted among Anglican evangelicals. His argument and its Biblical basis are set forth at some length. We also meet Bishop Spong, the controversial bishop of Newark, NJ, who has ordained a number of homosexual clergy, and has argued publicly for the permissibility of sexual activity outside of marriage for both homosexuals and heterosexuals. In his book Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Spong denied that Jesus was born of a virgin and disputed the Church’s traditional understanding of the resurrection of Jesus. McGrath is quoted as saying that Spong’s “somewhat modest theological competence…(is) vastly exceeded by his ability to obtain media attention” (page 309). This chapter concludes with the 1998 Lambeth Conference of the worldwide Anglican fellowship, which voted by a large majority for “a resolution that surprised the world by its adherence to traditional teaching about homosexual behavior” (page 321). The positive vote was due in large part to the strong reaffirmation of the Biblical position by the bishops from Africa and the southern hemisphere.
In Part Eight, “Gospel People for the 21st Century?,” Steer brings the book to a conclusion with a reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of Anglican evangelicalism, and “the pros and cons of loyalty to the doctrines and ethos of a single strand within Christianity” (page 14). He also focuses on the role evangelicals might play in the Anglican Church of England and the American Episcopal Church in the new millennium.
Related Topics: Introduction to Theology, Ecclesiology (The Church), Apologetics