Due Apprehensions

I have recently been reading R. C. Sproul’s book; “The Soul’s Quest for God.” In the book I am gaining some great insights into the Biblical pattern for spiritual growth. I was struck by the chapter on Divine Illumination and just how essential the power of the Holy Spirit is for us to truly grasp and understand and know and enter into relationship with God.

Sproul bases the chapter on a famous sermon delivered by Jonathon Edwards in 1734 entitled “A Divine and Supernatural Light”. The sermon is based on Matthew 16:17;

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

Of this verse, Edwards states; “The spiritual light is not the suggestion of any new truths or propositions not contained in the Word of God…But this spiritual light that I am speaking of, is quite a different thing from inspiration. It reveals no new doctrine, it suggest no new proposition to the mind, it teaches no new thing of God, or Christ, or another world, not taught in the Bible, but only gives a due apprehension of those things that are taught in the Word of God.”

So we are reminded that for spiritual growth there must be a work of the Holy Spirit in each of us. That work is a comforting assistance in the illumination and understanding of the Word of God in a manner that is due the Word of God.

Sproul maintains that there are some things non-Christians can learn; they can be affected to some degree, but are so much less than true illumination and revelation. So by divine illumination we can begin to see and understand the things of God in a manner worthy of God…that is “due apprehension”.

Edwards goes on to tell us that it is so much more than knowledge; it is so much more than a rational belief. Edwards states; “There is not only a rational belief that God is Holy and that holiness is a good thing, but there is a sense of the loveliness of God’s holiness…there is a difference between having an opinion that God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference between having rational judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness.”

Father, we thank you for your Holy Spirit who provides the divine illumination, who reveals and helps us have the due apprehension of your Word. Thank you that through Christ and by your Spirit and Word we can come to truly know, to sense, to taste the sweetness of a relationship with you.

Grace and Peace!

I am Willing

I have just started a study of the book of Mark. I feel led to dwell in this book, to see all and seek and understand all that I can (knowing my absolute dependence on the Holy Spirit). The journey is starting slowly but is so rich.

I just finished up chapter 1 and gleaned many things, but one passage just touched my heart. Mark 1:40-42:

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

I see a couple of things in this short passage. First I see the great faith in the man with leprosy, but more importantly I see the great love of Christ. If you really stop to think about this, can you see that in context no one would ever touch a person with leprosy. In that culture lepers were to be avoided at all cost.

Can you imagine the emotional impact of never having any contact, everyone avoiding you and no one ever touching you? Years go by without the touch of another human. So while you have a dreaded disease, this disease is also devastating spiritually and emotionally.

But look at our savior, filled with compassion. He doesn’t just heal the man, he touches the man. Oh, how He loves us (to borrow a phrase from David Crowder)! Jesus didn’t have to touch the man to heal him, yet he did. A theologian described this as “an unheard of act of compassion.” I am just overwhelmed at the love Christ has for us.

As I wrap this up and if we really stop to reflect, aren’t we all lepers spiritually? Don’t we just desire the loving compassionate touch of Christ? He is willing!

Father, thank you for our Lord and Savior, filled with love and compassion, willing to cleanse the unclean like me. Amen.

Grace and Peace!

Biggest Loser

In his book, “Too Good to be True”, Michael Horton discusses a concern for contemporary Christianity. That Christianity has become the religion of success. That in America we have gone from a country for the poor, weak, heavy burdened to a country of the successful and that Christianity has gone from the religion of the “sick soul” to the religion of the “healthy minded”.

Horton points out that; “a religion of healthy-mindedness, which ignores the reality of the fall in all its aspects, renders itself finally nothing more than a form of therapy during times of plenty, and irrelevant in times of tragedy. What we need is not therapy, but news – good news, the kind of news that lifts up the downcast, binds up the broken, save the lost, and brings hope to those who are at the end of their rope.

The bottom line…is that the gospel is good news for losers, that in fact we are all losers if we measure ourselves by God’s interpretation of reality rather than our own.”

It seems to me this is a matter of vision. Can we see beyond the ways of the world, can we see beyond temporal success, can we see the perfection of Christ that he would come to save the “losers” of the world?

There are trials and suffering in this world and it can only begin to make sense through the lens of grace; the lens of redemption. I am reminded of Psalm 40:

1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; 
he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. 
Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.

Praise God! Father, may we come to understand your love is amazing, that despite ourselves you love us still, that the Gospel is good news for us all and that when we come to see ourselves in terms of your eternal reality; we come to see just how amazing it is that through Christ there is a great reversal; the poor become rich, the weak become strong, the heavy burden is lifted, the losers are winners.

Grace and Peace!

Landing Gear

You know I have recently been reading Keller’s book “King’s Cross”. It is a wonderful journey through the book of Mark and provides some great insights. Last week I was finishing the book up as I was traveling; flying to Atlanta to visit family.

I was reading about spiritual darkness and how in a world gone awry we lose sight of eternal things; we are spiritually blind. We are blind to eternal things, to eternal hope, to the eternal and infinite love of God.

In this broken world there are broken things, there are evils and trials; there is suffering that is unexplainable. Keller points out that Christianity is the only faith that says that God himself actually suffered, but that when we really stop we can come to understand that this was the greatest act of love, power and justice. We can come to understand that God actually entered this world, suffered, crucified on a cross just to rescue us. Oh, what an infinite love!

Keller points out that as we go through trials and suffering that; “you may be completely in the dark about the reasons for your own suffering…But the cross tells you what the reason isn’t. It can’t be that God doesn’t love you; it can’t be that He has no plan for you. It can’t be that He has abandoned you…The cross proves that he loves you and understands what it means to suffer. It also demonstrates that God can be working in your life even when it seems like there is no rhyme or reasons to what is happening.”

However, as God becomes the light of our life there is a peace, a comfort, hope! Philippians 4:17 tells us; “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Keller shares that he once had thyroid cancer and while it was treatable part of the treatment was surgery. As you might imagine there was still some concern and as he was undergoing anesthesia he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen. But it came to him that because of Jesus’s death evil and suffering are but a temporary, passing thing; that there is hope and love forever and eternal. Keller resolved it didn’t matter what happened in surgery – “it was going to be all right”.

In all seriousness, as I finished up that section of the book, the captain came over the PA and said; “ladies and gentlemen, it seems we may have a problem with our landing gear.” It seems there was a warning signal that our landing gear was not properly locking into place. It was going to required some in flight testing. Actually, there was no real panic in the aircraft, but certainly some concern. But as I think about it I can remember a tremendous peace coming over me. I looked at my wife and simply said; “it is going to be all right.”

And you know what; it was!

Father, thanks so much that when you are the light of our life there is such peace, such love and such comfort in our lives. That by your light we can get beyond the spiritual darkness of this world. That through Christ we can see that death and suffering are but temporary things and that no matter what, no matter the trial, no matter the suffering – it will be all right! Amen…

Grace and Peace!