“Except the Lord endow us with power from on high, our labor must be in vain, and our hopes must end in disappointment” --Charles Spurgeon

The above quote comes on the heels of Spurgeon’s humorous comment that, “I shall not attempt to teach a tiger the virtues of vegetarianism; but I shall as hopefully attempt that task as I would try to convince an unregenerate man of the truths revealed by God concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment to come”. Spurgeon, an eloquent and highly gifted minister of the gospel, understood that apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in converting souls, his ministry and labor would be in vain. He understood that our task of ministry (and here I am not speaking only of vocational ministry) is indeed impossible without being endowed with power from on high.

Spurgeon deeply believed with the Scriptures that “a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God”. Therefore, Spurgeon knew that his hope was not in “convincing” an unregenerate man of the truths revealed by God but a complete reliance upon the work of the Spirit. The only way that men will come to knowledge of truth is if God puts his Spirit within them (Ezekiel 36:27). To really understand total human depravity is to understand that apart from the work of the Spirit of God no man will come to Christ.

It saddens me when believers balk at the notion of total depravity--the doctrine that sin has affected the totality of our humanness. This doctrine affirms with Paul that without Christ “you were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). When we forget the doctrine of total depravity a happy confidence in the sovereign power of God is replaced with an idolatrous clinging to methods, programs, purpose statements, fads, and human ingenuity to spread the gospel grow churches. Unfortunately, church growth experts are not the only ones with amnesia in this area.

Those that are more theologically astute (or at least consider themselves as such) can be guilty of clinging to correct doctrine, beliefs, and "biblical practices" in the belief that such things will inevitably bring about spiritual growth. Yet, Spurgeon's quote must also sound the bell in this area, "Except the Lord endow us with power from on high, our labor must be in vain, and our hopes must end in disappointment”.

Instead of clinging to our human ingenuity let us cast ourselves wholly upon the mercy of God. Instead of clinching our hands around "correct doctrine" let us buckle our knees in prayer. If we really understand the state of fallen man and the power of the redeeming grace of the Lord then we will plead with God Almighty to send His Spirit upon us in our witness, and upon the lost and dying we are witnessing to. Our only hope is power from on high: please join in prayer with me that God might, by His grace and for His glory, send an outpouring of His Spirit upon His Bride and the broken world we live in.

Now if this truth will only go so deep in my heart that it causes action in the moments I'm caught off-guard.

Suppose that a man has heard of a great physician who understands his complaint? He has traveled a great many miles to see this celebrated doctor. But when he gets to the door they tell him that he is out. “Well,” he says,“then I must wait till he is in.” “You need not wait,” they reply,“his assistant is at home.” The suffering man, who has been often disappointed, answers, “I do not care about his assistant. I want to see the man,himself—mine is a desperate case, but I have heard that this physician has curedthe like. I must, therefore, see him. No assistants for me.” “Well,” they say, “he is out, but there are his books. You can see his books.” “Thank you,” he says, “I cannot be content with his books. I need the living man and nothing less. It is to him that I must speak and from him I will receive instructions.”

“Do you see that cabinet?” “Yes.” “It is full of his medicines.” The sick man answers, “I dare say they are very good, but they are of no use to me without the doctor. I want their owner to prescribe for me, or I shall die of my disease.” “But see,” cries one, “here is a person who has been cured by him, a man of great experience, who has been present at many remarkable operations. Go into the inquiry room with him and he will tell you all about the mode of cure.” The afflicted man answers, “I am much obliged to you, but all your talk only makes me long the more to see the doctor. I came to see him, and I am not going to be put off with anything else. I must see the man, himself, for myself. He has made my disease a specialty. He knows how to handle my case and I will stay till I see him.”

Now, dear Friends, if you are seeking Christ, imitate this sick man or else you will miss the mark altogether! Never be put off with books, or conversations. Be not
content with Christian people talking to you, or preachers preaching to you, or the Bible being read to you, or prayers being offered for you. Anything short of Jesus will leave you short of salvation! You have to reach Christ and touch Christ, and nothing short of this will serve your turn. -C.H. Spurgeon, Christ in You, Preached May 13, 1883.

Brian Thornton has an intriguing quote. Who do you think said it?

This could be a watershed decision by an appeals court in California. The court has ruled that parents have no constitutional right to homeschool their children. I can not articulate a comment on this as effective as Dr. Mohler. I would simply say, "that is just dumb". Dr. Mohler is a little more articulate, read his take here.

Great story of witnessing and faithfulness to the gospel by Timmy Brister: The Cross Isn't Sexy.

Michael Spencer, the IMonk, has compiled a list of 10 Reasons He Doesn't Read Your Blog. It would very helpful to me if my readers would read this article, and e-mail me any suggestions in how I may improve this blog.

I failed to mention this last week. Abraham Piper has a new blog called 22 Words. It is very intriguing. And it takes about 15 seconds to read each post.

There is a very important discussion going on between Rick Love, John Piper, Justin Taylor and a few others. The eye of this hurricaine is found in Love's signing of A Common Word. He gives reasons why, Piper, Taylor, and others do not quite buy it. Here is Love's latest explanation. Here is Frank Turk's (of Team Pyro) response to Love.

Trevin Wax points us to a phenomenal Spurgeon quote admonishing pastors and people alike, to read.

This is a phenomenal post by Ray Ortlund. His central thesis is this: "In the heart of God, moral fervor is beautiful. In the heart of a sinner, moral fervor is complicated." He then offers a few diagnostics to monitor whether or not he is slipping into moral fervor. Wonderful post.

There is a Real Preachers of Genius video floating around. I thought this one was pretty funny (and sadly true) also:

You may remember my 2008 Reading Plan. If I read all of those books I will have read 40. I am hoping to add to this list...my big goal is 100, my lower goal is 50. In reality it might be something in between the two. Another goal that I have is to post a review on every book that I read in 2008. So far I have reviewed Spurgeon by Dallimore and Newton by Aitken. I am also posting these reviews on Amazon; it would be greatly appreciated if you would visit each review and say whether or not it was helpful. Spurgeon here, Newton here. In the future you will see the Amazon permalink on every review.

Author: Arnold Dallimore

Pages: 252

Publisher: Banner of Truth

Price: 11.99 USD

Genre: Biography


Quick Summary:

In the past I have read Iain Murray’s The Forgotten Spurgeon and Spurgeon vs. Hyper Calvinism. Both of these works were excellent at getting to know the theology that drove the man. Yet their purpose was not to tell the life story of the man. Dallimore does just that. He says his goal will have succeeded if many “come to know him better and are both instructed and inspired by his powerful example”.

Dallimore begins his biography by showing the preparation of the man. This serves to help us see the foundation that was built in this mighty man of God. Young Charles had studied and read extensively on the Puritans. Certainly, they (along with Spurgeon’s passion for Scripture) were used by God to develop at a young age the passionate theology of Spurgeon. It is because of the “boy and his books” that Spurgeon became the “prince of preachers” that labored to earnestly contend for the faith.

In this shorter biography Dallimore will lead us from the boy preacher at Waterbeach to the embattled veteran defender of biblical faith against the onslaught of New Theology. We read of his early labors at the New Park Street Chapel to his thriving services at the famous Metropolitan Tabernacle. Dallimore champions throughout this work the exhausting labors of Charles Spurgeon. It is telling that after his death it took many men to carry on that which Spurgeon started and they still were not able to fill his shoes. We are introduced to many friends and even a few in opposition to Spurgeon. We also are honored to meet in these pages Spurgeon’s admirable wife Susannah.

Dallimore closes with a beautiful chapter on Spurgeon’s funeral. He writes as if he were there and takes the reader into the funeral services. I found myself holding back tears, mourning the loss of this wonderful saint. Therefore, I find as I close the book, that Dallimore has succeeded. I feel as if I know Spurgeon better, but more importantly I have been instructed and inspired by his powerful example.

What I Enjoyed:

Probably Dallimore’s best chapter is the conclusion. It was a wonderful idea to close a work on the life of Spurgeon as those that loved him did at his funeral. Dallimore causes the reader to feel as if you are sitting in a seat mourning with the rest of the crowd some 120 years ago. Knowing that Spurgeon’s ministry was based upon “knowing Jesus Christ and him crucified” causes those that are preachers, like myself, to be inspired and instructed. It fills us with a passion and a boldness to do the same.

As you read the biographies of Spurgeon, as well as Jonathan Edwards, one cannot help but feel saddened by a personal lack of labor and fervency in worship of our great God. After reading Dallimore’s work on Spurgeon I am encouraged by the words of McCheyne, "How feeble my spark of Christianity appears beside such a sun! But even his was a borrowed light, and the same source is still open to enlighten me."

What I Disliked:

In the beginning Dallimore, in my opinion, seems a little too uncritical in his praises of Spurgeon. This tends to be a theme throughout the work, but that is often to be expected in biographies. I would love to see biographies about men that desire nothing but seeing Jesus magnified having that same desire in honoring the man.

Another smaller area of criticism would be that while Dallimore proposes to give us a “definitive treatment given to his theology and preaching methods”, I do not see that in this work. Iain Murray does a much better job.

Yet for Dallimore’s overall purpose, of being a somewhat introduction to Spurgeon and dealing with his entire life in a short setting, he does a wonderful job. I find it difficult, other than that which is mentioned, to offer much disapproval.

Should You Buy It:

It is a wonderful work, for that reason I give a wholehearted “yes” to buying it. However, if you are wanting to buy a book dealing with his theology and preaching methods, Dallimore might not be the best place to go. I would suggest buying this book to be introduced to Dallimore’s life, but as an accompaniment I must encourage the reader to buy Iain Murray’s works on Spurgeon.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

It was announced yesterday that Dr. Mohler (President of Southern Seminary) would be nominated as the next SBC President. (HT: JT) So, guess what Mohler's blog post is about this morning? That's right, you guessed it...Life in the Cellular Age.

Erik Raymond, the Irish Calvinist, has an excellent article on Expository Preaching. His contention is that while we are heralding a call to return to expository preaching few of us are actually doing it. Here is his conclusion: "Men need to preach the word, not about the word but the word (2 Tim. 4.2). If we are going to keep having conferences that are supposed to center on expository preaching and speak about the need for expository preaching then the men need to preach expositionally or give some type of disclaimer so that folks don’t get confused and the term doesn’t get redefined and lost in our excitement about our “movement” and our contemporary Calvinist super-heroes."

Old Truth has re-posted an article on "Accepting Christ as Personal Savior". The author says some pretty strong things; it will certainly be offensive to proponents of easy-believism. Here are two of his most striking statements: "to [tell] sinners that they can come to Christ whenever they agree to accept Christ as their personal Savior is to deceive and bolster them up in a false "way of salvation". And quoting A.W. Pink, "Man, with his invariable perversity, has reversed God's order. Modern evangelism urges giddy worldlings, with no sense of their lost condition, to 'Accept Christ as their personal Savior'".

Thabiti Anyabwile is dedicating this year to reading and studying evangelism. First on his list is Spurgeon vs. Hyper-Calvinism. It's a great book. I read it last year along with Murray's Forgotten Spurgeon. Today he includes a great quote about Evangelism, Conversion, Revival and Prayer. I pray that this dear brother might be blessed in his study this year.

I never knew he did this. I do not follow very closely the ministry of Pat Robertson but apparently he gives his Nostradamus predictions at the beginning of the year. If Robertson were a baseball player, and his predictions were his average, he'd barely be above the Mendoza line. In 2007, he said the U.S. would be hit by a “major terrorist attack… The Lord didn’t say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that.” Robertson said God told him during a recent prayer retreat that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September. In 2006, Robertson said the coasts of America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, will be lashed by storms. 2006 was unusual, say scientists, in that no major hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. In general, it was a very slow year for storms. In 2005, Roberts said:”What I heard is that Bush is now positioned to have victory after victory and that his second term is going to be one of triumph, which is pretty strong stuff.” Bush’s approval ratings hover at less than 30 percent; I haven’t seen any great triumphs yet. You? (HT: Tim Ellsworth) Pat should be glad he is not living in Ancient Israel...he would have been stoned.

Also yesterday Josh Harris posted his final message on Affluenza.

Two convictions frame the background for this post. 1) I believe that our ministries should be like Paul's: "I desired to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified". 2) Our primary motivation for preaching Christ should be nothing except His glory. We will deal with the second conviction first, then the deal with first conviction, and lastly attempt to tie both of these together.

When our primary motivation for preaching Christ becomes something other than His glory we get ourselves into many troubles. There are many secondary desires for preaching Christ that are right and good, but when elevated to the place of primary they become deadly. A prime example of this is "winning souls". If our prime motivation is to see people saved, then typically whatever we do to achieve this goal is justifiable. "If it reaches one soul then it was worth it". Therefore, we are taught to waver on unbiblical practices simply because it "won a soul".

Imagine this situation. A large group of teenagers are drawn to an event by motorcycles, appealing music, drama, food, and other teenagers. After a couple hours of cool motorcycle tricks and funny drama we hear a brief sermon. It does have a few Bible verses and a young man tells of how Jesus has changed his life. We are not told much about God. We are told even less about sin. We are certainly not told of what God requires of us. The "gospel" presentation is watered down at best. Then an invitation is given. Scores of students "come forward" to accept Jesus. They are prayed for and then they meet with counselors for about 15 minutes. During this time the counselors try to discern whether or not they are sincere in their "decision". They get some information, call them saved (so long as they are sincere and can repeat a prayer and nod their head at the right time, of course), and then send them back to their home church to get baptized.

Whether you believe that using motorcycles, drama, etc. in church is biblical or not is actually not the greater issue I am concerned with. I fall on the regulative principle "side" and figure that such "evangelistic tools" should not be used in our churches. The regulative principle is not the foundational issue. The foundational issue I am concerned with is the mindset that drives this type of event. Why is the gospel so "watered-down"? Certainly, it is so that lost people can understand it. The central reason for preaching Christ is, in this case, so that souls might be won. Therefore, we can water down the gospel in the hopes that it will be more appealing and win more souls for Jesus. Also, we have to have a way to keep track of these "decisions". Sometimes an altar call is enough; but, sometimes we are so successful that we have to get cards so that we can see "how many people made decisions". My main concern is that the gospel is neutered. My secondary concern is that people go home confused and often with a false sense of security.

This is a somewhat extreme example. Now imagine this situation. You are attending a conference on missions/evangelism. You hear some very startling statistics. You learn that every 1.7 seconds someone dies and goes to hell. (Which by the way is probably a fairly accurate statistic; and this should cause us concern). You also hear about our lack of evangelism. You think back upon your year and realize that you have not shared Christ with nearly as many people as you could have. You are plagued with guilt (and perhaps you should be). Then the speaker tells you a touching story of someone that he did not share Jesus with and blames himself for that person being in hell. You are urged to think of all your family members and friends that will be in hell within 100 years if you do not share the gospel with them. You go home; you are now depressed but have motivation to share the gospel with people. As you wake up the next morning it is still sticking with you, but you still struggle with fear--and now more guilt. Then the next day you are a little more numb. You continue down this cycle until next years evangelism conference and then you are reminded of your failure and vow to do better this time around. You wake up again to failure.

Now imagine this scene. You catch a vision of the majesty and holiness of God. You begin to realize that God is passionate about His glory. You begin to understand that God wants to spread His glory to the nations. Furthermore, you find that God is glorified whether souls are saved or not. Certainly we want to see souls saved; yet we are able to trust in the Lord's goodness and know that the preaching of His Word is a means to spread His glory to the nations. This causes you to realize that every time you share the gospel it is a "success". Your standard is no longer "how many decisions" but is instead "was God glorified". You still are convicted at times when you do not share the gospel. This time, however, it is different. You are not stricken with guilt because you sent somebody to hell. This time you feel a deep sense of conviction because you have valued man's opinion over the glory of God.

Do you see how this serves as a filter? The first scenario would never happen because you would be more concerned about faithfully proclaiming the gospel than about "winning souls". The second scenario would also be done away with. We can still share the statistics. We can still point out our failures to evangelism. But this time instead of being driven to an "I've got to do better" mentality we will be driven to the Cross. We will plead with God to show us more of His glory. We will repent of not treasuring Him over the fear of man. We will rest on His mercy to stir up in our hearts a proper motivation for evangelism. We will cry out for more compassion. We will plead with Him to stir in our hearts in such a way that we treasure His glory more than anything else.

I am not alone in my convictions either. Martin Lloyd-Jones found the same thing was true. As Lloyd-Jones began studying Scripture, and the sermons of many men that had been used by God in mighty ways, he found 5 things in common in each of their gospel presentations:

1. The supreme object of the work of evangelism is to glorify God, not to save souls
2. The only power that can do this work is the Holy Spirit, not our own strength
3. The one and only medium through which the Spirit works is the Scriptures; therefore, we “reason out of the Scriptures” like Paul did
4. These preceding principles give us the true motivation for evangelism-a zeal for God and a love for others
5. There is a constant danger of heresy through a false zeal and employment of unscriptural methods

In the Preface to Joseph Alleine's book "Alarm to the Unconverted", he spills out his soul for the state of the beloved unbelievers he is writing to. He feels, as every minister should, the helplessness that he has to convert sinners yet the blood-earnest need for their conversion.

But from where shall I fetch my argument? With what shall I win them? O that I could tell! I would write to them in tears, I would weep out every argument, I would empty my veins for ink, I would petition them on my knees. O how thankful should I be if they would be prevailed with to repent and turn.

"If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for."