The Traditions Of Men

"...we must beware of a slavish adherence to old forms," preached Dr Lloyd-Jones in his Ephesians sermons (Vol.6, p.289).  How often has DMLJ not pressed this point!  And the apostle Paul warned about the same kind of thing.  Yet we tend to become enslaved by what are good things - old forms of ding things, old ways of thinking, old practices that once had great significance but now are no more than of historical significance.

For example, why are some churches today asking congregations to stand for prayer?  True, the Scottish covenanters stood for prayers, with the backs of members turned to the minister.  Why was this done? Because at that time, Christians were persecuted relentlessly so while prayer was being offered by the minister, at least some of the worshippers kept their eyes open to watch for potential attack.

Is this relevant in today's church situation?  Hardly.  But some Christians have to keep the tradition going on, a "tradition of men," as Peter called it, and for no apparent reason; certainly their is no spiritual or theological reason for such a practice.  But to do otherwise would be to take these Christians out of their comfort zone, and leave them confused.

We need to beware of the traditions of men, and well did DMLJ warn the churches against such a practice.  How easy it is to adopt like practices, such as, the way Presbyterians all seem to sit in the back pews of a church, etc.  Slavishness to a particular translation of the Bible, or to the insistence that women cover their heads for worship, or do not wear 'men's clothing,' or the exclusive use of Psalms in the public worship of God, etc; the list could go on interminably. 

Once we succumb to any 'old form' is a sign that we have been defeated by the devil, according to DMLJ.  So watch out.  Stay alert.  And dont become a slave to anything or anyone but Christ and His truth.

A PRAYER FOR HER MAJESTY

A PRAYER FOR HER MAJESTY ON THE OCCASION OF HER DIAMOND JUBILEE

For use in churches
ALMIGHTY, Eternal and ever-gracious God, grant Your protection to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, that She might continue faithful to Her coronation oath to maintain the Protestant Reformed Religion established by Law. May She do all in Her power to maintain the sovereignty and unity of the United Kingdom. Thus may She be delivered from every appearance of treachery and the mischievous endeavours and alien cultures of foreign powers such as the Pope of Rome and the Islamic ideology. May Her Majesty and Her ministers be granted wise discernment, just and faithful policies and continuing felicity for the remainder of Her reign, until She at length renders an account to the King of kings and only Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ when He returns to judge the world in righteousness. Amen.
_____________________________________________________________________
The Revd Alan C. Clifford, BA, MLitt, PhD
Norwich Reformed Church
"http://www.nrchurch.co.nr"

When Calvin Speaks, LISTEN!

I discovered this in Calvin's second published sermon in his Acts series.

"For many will be found who will say they have faith, but of they look into their hearts, they will find they foolishly believe they have that faith which they truly believe they have simply because they think they do.  Just let some slight hint of testing arise, and they are overwhelmed," (pp.14,15).

How many there are who are exactly like that!  Because they think they have faith, they must therefore have it!  Because someone else, some religious official, accepts they have faith, they must have it.  The applications are many.  And those who fall into this category are so overwhelmed by the realisation that they do not have the faith they thought they had that they then take it out on the minister.

The more I read Calvin, the more timely are his thoughts and expositions.  He is so contemporary despite having preached these sermons in the mid 1550s.  The seeds of application just jump out at you. he is a delight to read and be ministered to by.

"Think on these things."

See also my book on Calvin's Gospel Preaching by clicking here.

Filled With The Holy Spirit

Calvin: "...Luke wanted to show that Peter was strong only because he was filled with the Holy Spirit," (Sermons on Acts, p.129).  Standing before the mighty Jewish Sanhedrin accused of the healing of the lame man, Peter and John made their defence statement.  That statement was a reaffirmation of the fact that it was Jesus of Nazareth, Whom they crucified, who raised this lame man to full physical agility, not them.  They gave Jesus all the credit and glory for this mighty act of healing.

But what empowered Peter to speak like this, being an ignorant and uneducated man, was his being "filled with the Holy Spirit."  This is not the first time Peter experienced this infilling of the Spirit. It happened before on the Day of Pentecost when God poured out His Spirit on the apostle's preaching.  Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. But this was not the last time this happened to the apostle.  Every time he had something significant to do for Christ, he was endued with "power from on high."

Calvin is correct: we are weak and inform when we are deprived of Him.

But there is much more to this than just help when we need it.  This is a special filling for a special purpose.  And it is this that preachers need more than anything else today.  We have all our theology and correct doctrine; but we do not have the Spirit in power.  We can preach well-constructed sermons, but have no power.  We can woo congregations with our weepy concluding stories, but no power.  It is power we need, power to live, power to preach, and power to witness to Christ in every situation.  Without this heavenly enabling, all our preaching and witnessing are in vain.

The preachers of old were men who knew the filling of the Spirit in great measure.  Think of men like John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Daniel Rowlands, Jonathan Edwards, R. M. McCheyne, etc.  They knew the Spirit's power on their lives and ministries. How we need to know that today.

Let us pray to the sovereign Lord that all Gospel preachers will be Spirit-filled men, and that when they stand up to preach, it will be "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."

A PASTOR WITH REAL GUTS!

Prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people.. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed  our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare..

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem....

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Amen!

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls

responding negatively.. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from   India , Africa and   Korea .

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,'and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called 'one nation under God.'

If possible, please pass this prayer on to your friends.... 'If you don't stand for something, you will fall for everything.'

Think about this: If you forward this prayer to everyone on your e-mail list, in less than 30 days it would be heard by the world.

True Spirituality is....

True spirituality is such a rare gem that it is a pleasure when one sees it.  That there is oceans of spiritual people around is an obvious fact that is confirmed by observation.  One only has to get involved with the personal development industry to hear talk about spiritual things.  Adopting a spiritual attitude to life is commended by the gurus, and accepted by most participants.  To be spiritual is to be peaceable and peace-loving; it is to be unflappable in a crisis, a rock on which others can rest.

But surely this is to depart from the genesis of this particular term. we must reverse back to the very beginning of time, and even before that, if we are to understand what true spirituality is.  Indeed, if we take the Judeo-Christian Scriptures as our guide, we discover, because God has revealed it to us, that He is 'spirit.'  God is spirit, or is 'a spirit.'  So to be truly and genuinely spiritual is to be like God, godlike, or godly.

That may surprise some who are reading this post. But I believe it to be true!  Being spiritual is not about being absorbed into some 'world-spirit' that is indefinable and essentially unknowable.  It is to be like the living and true God.  And to be like Him, we must come to now Him - personally.  And we can only know Him by being introduced to Him in the Scriptures.   

What is this Site About?

As its name suggests, this website seeks to give expression to those ageless truths that guided civilisation during its best days.  It will base its on the teaching of the Christian faith which God revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

Having a truly spiritual outlook on life is most important from a Christian point of view; but that that outlook is rooted and grounded in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures is also a given.  To base it elsewhere is the height of folly.  Indeed, to base one's outlook on purely intellectual mental processes could land you up anywhere, indeed in great spiritual danger.  This website, however, will base its teaching on Spiritual things on the historic faith that was revealed by God in the Bible.

Looking for ward to ongoing spiritual interaction in the days to come.