Just wanted to let my readers know that i am very much "under the weather" and have been since Saturday. That coupled with Thanksgiving has made posting very difficult. But we will be back up and running, Lord willing, either tomorrow or Wednesday!
Yesterday we saw that Christian contentment is an inward heart condition. Today we will see 3 things that this gracious frame of spirit is opposed to (p.7). A gracious frame of spirit is opposed to:
- the natural quietness of many men and women. Some are naturally quiet; others are naturally impatient.
- a sturdy resolution.
- the strength of natural reason.
Burroughs then expounds why these are distinguished from Christian contentment. He deals especially with the first of the three--natural quietness. The difference between the two is clear, "The one whose disposition is quiet is not disquieted as others are, but neither does he show any activeness of spirit to sanctify the name of God in his affliction. But , on the other hand, he whose contentment is of grace is not disquieted and keeps his heart quiet with regard to vexation and trouble, and at the same time is not dull or heavy but very active to sanctify God's name in the affliction that he is experiencing." Simply put, one who is exercising Christian contentment will be giving God the glory and praise while the natural man will not. And this, Burroughs says, is the difference between the other two points as well.
The question for us today is this: are we praising God in our afflictions and in our blessings?
This matter of Christian contentment is a matter of the soul. Today (p.5-6)we will see three things about this "inward, quiet frame of spirit".
First, we see that it is a "grace that spreads itself through the whole soul." What Burroughs means by this is that contentment begins in the soul's understanding (reason, judgment, cognition) and satisfies the thoughts. Then as the thoughts are satisfied it moves to the will--which submits to the understanding. Then as the will submits the affections follow. Therefore, true Christian contentment penetrates through the entire soul.
Some have only a partial contentment. They are able to get their understanding and therefore their thoughts in check but for whatever reason they cannot seem to harness their affections. A great example of this would be Psalm 42. David has a settled disposition but yet his soul is still downcast. Yet even without having his affections settled he is in a far better state than the soul who cannot be settled in his understanding. But if we are to have true Christian contentment then it must penetrate all of our soul.
Secondly, we see that "spiritual contentment comes from the frame of the soul." What Burroughs means by this is that contentment does not come from outward help but from "the disposition of their own hearts". "When a Christian is content in the right way, the quiet comes more from the temper and disposition of his own heart than from any external argument or from the possession of anything in the world".
To help us to see this Burroughs gives an example of a man with cold clothes. He can get his clothes warmed by two different ways. Either by sitting by a fire (outward) or by wearing them for awhile and letting his natural body heat warm them (inward). This is compared to the differences in many men. Some are ill and their natural body heat will not warm them. They can go to the fire but it will only warm them for awhile. Only while the outward help is upon them, but when left to themselves their "contentment" will soon dwindle. The one who has true Christian contentment will at first field the coldness of the affliction but after awhile will warm up to it and become content under the trial. This will continue because it came from the inward state. Therefore, "when it comes from the spirit of a man or woman--that is true contentment."
Lastly, we see that this frame of spirit "shows the habitual character of this grace of contentment". By this Burroughs simply means that contentment is no mere flash in the pan. It is a lasting endeavor. It is not fixed upon moods or seasons. True Christian contentment will find itself as the "constant tenor and temper of their hearts". If we are to call it Christian contentment then it must be persevering.
What then can we learn from Burroughs today?
- I am especially challenged by Burroughs second point. Thinking of all the different "fires" that might warm me I realized that I can be tempted to find comfort in things other than Jesus. We know, as does Burroughs, that true contentment only comes from the soul's satisfaction with God. That is where this "inward soul-warming" comes from. I am challenged then to discover the areas in my life where my "contentment" only comes from outward blessing and not inward satisfaction.
- It is also challenging to determine whether or not our attitude is continually contented or is it shifting with our various moods and cirumstances.
- Therefore, we must cling to Jesus to teach us this mystery of contentment.
"But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life."
These verses will probably be best understood if we first look at them backwards. I take Jude's goal to be the same as it has been throughout this letter. To keep his readers in the most holy faith, that they might contend for and preserve this blessed gospel; preserved in their own lives and for the generations to come. But, how will they "keep [themselves] in the love of God"? What hope do they have in waiting for the Jesus to give them mercy and lead them into eternal life? It will be because they have built themselves up in the gospel and have prayed in the Spirit. These two things are vitally important for our battle to persevere in the faith. These exhortations are in sharp contrast to the false teachers that will not inherit eternal life. Therefore, if we are to have eternal life then we must follow the way of the gospel and not the way of the false teachers.
Whereas the false teachers have crept into the church and have perverted the gospel and are causing divisions, the believers are to do just the opposite--build one another up in this most holy faith. "Faith" is the same "faith" that was mentioned in verse 3. It is a reference to the body of doctrine--to the gospel. Jude is urging his readers to build their lives upon the gospel. Certainly this is held in contrast to the false teachers who built their lives upon their dreams and visions and their ungodly passions. But it also serves as a sharp rebuke for those of us today who consider the gospel no more than the elementary aspect of our faith and that from there we move on to deeper things. What Jude is saying is the same thing that Paul said--Jesus Christ and His Gospel is the foundation of all Christian living and ministry. (1 Corinthians 3:11) As Martin Luther said, "The gospel cannot be preached and heard enough, for it cannot be grasped enough...Moreover, our greatest task is to keep you faithful to this article and to bequeath this treasure to you when we die." This is precisely what Jude is saying. Do not leave the gospel to go on to some special knowledge. Do not leave the gospel ever. It is your foundation and everything must spring from the gospel roots going deep in your life.
Next, Jude wants his readers to "pray in the Holy Spirit". This is in contrast to the false teachers who proclaim to have prophetic utterance but they are obviously not Spirit-led believers. Christians should pray under the instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
This type of prayer is the means that God uses to bring about our perseverance. Even though as we will see in a couple of days it is the Lord who is our keeper, the means that he uses to keep us is prayer. If we are not a praying people then it is quite likely that we will not persevere. Perhaps we could go into a discussion of what it means precisely to pray in the Spirit. We will not do that here. It will suffice for now to say that it does not mean speaking in tongues because Paul uses the same language in Ephesians 6:18 and says to do so "always". We are not commanded to speak in tongues constantly. So it means something different. But it does mean to pray in such a way that the Spirit Himself is moving us to pray and guiding our prayer. This is where Christ-exalting, God-glorifying prayer comes from. Therefore, let us pray in the Spirit, who searches all things, and intercedes for us, and is passionately consumed with glorifying the Godhead.
And the last thing that we will see today is that we must continue to fight and fight and wait and wait for the mercy of Jesus Christ to be revealed to us. We must keep ourselves in the love of God. This is not saying that you will lose your salvation--it is simply saying that the Christian life is a battle and we must cling to Jesus and hope in His precious salvation daily! Let us do just that today. Today you are exhorted to:
- Cling to the gospel
- Pray in the Spirit
- Allow your gospel roots to go deep
- Fight the fight of faith
Call it irony, call it laziness, call it distraction, call it what you will. I just realized today that I never finished up our bible studies on Jude. My plan is to finish the last 4 messages (1 of those today) and then begin a series of Bible studies on 1 Thessalonians. So, for the poor guy who has been checking this website every day since September 17th, here you go:
"It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit"
If you have been involved in the life of a church for any time at all you have problem experienced a church conflict. Sometimes there are significant theological differences that cause problems in the church. Sometimes it is over methodological changes (such as a change in style of worship music or outreach). Sometimes it is just plain stupid (like carpet color, clocks, etc.). All of these things, however, have something in common—according to Jude they are caused by people who are worldly and devoid of the Spirit. Today we are going to discover what we can NOT learn from Jude and what we can learn from Jude about conflict.
Before we really understand what Jude is saying we need to look at what Jude is NOT saying. If you read the story of Paul and Barnabas splitting up in Acts 15:36-41 you see that even great men of God go through difficult disagreements and conflicts. What we Jude is NOT saying is that “if you have a conflict in your church it’s because someone is not saved”. Granted, sometimes that person, who is always complaining and is exhibiting no grace whatsoever, is doing so because he/she is not regenerate. But we can see clearly from this example in Acts 15:36-41 that sometimes “sharp disagreement” and even a parting of ways happen because two believers do not see eye-to-eye on a significant issue. Therefore, it is important for us to remember that whenever we are in conflict we cannot pull the trump, “you’re probably not saved”, card.
But Jude is helping us to see the underlying cause and nature of much division in the body of Christ--lack of unity in doctrine. False teaching always destroys the church and it should not be put up with. How then do you determine whether it is false teaching or biblical teaching that is being propagated? It is an important question. The Puritans caused division in the church. But they did so because they were hoping to transform the ungodly church. So, it really was not the Puritans who caused the division but the one who had adulterated the gospel in the first place. But what do you do when you find your church in the middle of a division? How do you know which side is correct, and which side is the one causing the division?
Before we really understand what Jude is saying we need to look at what Jude is NOT saying. If you read the story of Paul and Barnabas splitting up in Acts 15:36-41 you see that even great men of God go through difficult disagreements and conflicts. What we Jude is NOT saying is that “if you have a conflict in your church it’s because someone is not saved”. Granted, sometimes that person, who is always complaining and is exhibiting no grace whatsoever, is doing so because he/she is not regenerate. But we can see clearly from this example in Acts 15:36-41 that sometimes “sharp disagreement” and even a parting of ways happen because two believers do not see eye-to-eye on a significant issue. Therefore, it is important for us to remember that whenever we are in conflict we cannot pull the trump, “you’re probably not saved”, card.
But Jude is helping us to see the underlying cause and nature of much division in the body of Christ--lack of unity in doctrine. False teaching always destroys the church and it should not be put up with. How then do you determine whether it is false teaching or biblical teaching that is being propagated? It is an important question. The Puritans caused division in the church. But they did so because they were hoping to transform the ungodly church. So, it really was not the Puritans who caused the division but the one who had adulterated the gospel in the first place. But what do you do when you find your church in the middle of a division? How do you know which side is correct, and which side is the one causing the division?
First of all, not every issue is as black and white as "The Heretics v. The Bible-Believers". There are definite issues that the Bible does not spell out clearly. But I offer 3 suggestions for determining who is "right" in the argument.
1) Determine the fruit. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20 that you could determine false teachers by their fruits. Is their teaching producing godliness? Are they themselves growing in love for Christ? If you can see that one side is producing fruits of the flesh instead of fruits of righteousness it is quite possible that it is because their heart/doctrine is devoid of the Spirit.
2) Which treasures and exalts God more? The one that gives God the most glory is always the right one. I cannot think of a single circumstance where it would be fitting to do something that gave God less glory. Therefore, if one side is promoting something that would diminish the glory of God and the other would give Him more glory, it is probably the latter which is correct. Sometimes it is a matter of good versus greater. In the case of Jude it was heresy versus godliness. Alongside this is to ask the question is Christo-centric? Does it exalt Jesus Christ? Is it Cross-centered? Does it display man in his proper place? Does it show God to be the redeemer? Is it man-centered or God-centered? These are great questions to ask to determine which is truth.
3) What is historical? It might seem like this is saying to mindlessly follow tradition. I assure it is not. But it is an exhortation to follow "the most holy faith" of which Jude speaks of in v20. Usually if a strange doctrine enter the church it is not new. It has probably been dealt with before. Therefore, history is a good place to look. Usually if something flies in the face of historic Christianity it is going to be unbiblical. Be very cautious of accepting the newest fad and newest teaching. It is quite arrogant to think that we are just now discovering the 7 secrets of the Christian life, or THE KEY to living the Christian life.
All in all it is those who want to exalt themselves in the place of Jesus--men who are devoid of the Spirit that are proponents of false teaching. In given time they will be exposed and the truth of God will reign victorious. If you are in the midst of a church conflict I urge you to cling to Jesus above all things. He will reign victorious and so long as you are clinging to the Cross of Christ and the glory of God is your hope you will in no way be ashamed!
Last time we looked at three things that Christian contentment is not opposed to. Today we will see the 8 things that it is opposed to (p. 3-4) and then have a brief word on each. Christian contentment is opposed to:
- Murmuring and [complaining] at the hand of God
- Vexing and fretting (a degree beyond murmuring)
- The spirit being highly agitated so that it becomes unruly
- An unstable and unsettled spirit whereby it is distracted from its duty to God and others
- Distracting, heart-consuming cares
- Sinking discouragements
- Sinful shiftings and negligence so as to seek relief and help
- Desperate risings of the heart against God by way of rebellion
It appears that each of these points that Burroughs mentions has a couple of root exhortations. You cannot claim Christian contentment if when given a difficult trial you murmur and complain towards God and it so agitates you that you are consumed and distracted by it. If it is taking all of your heart and your focus so that you eyes are constantly fixed on this affliction then you are not practicing Christian contentment. Also, we see that if the affliction is bringing you to sinful rebellion whether through active rebellion or negligence. You cannot claim Christian contentment while you are engaged in sinful rebellion so as to relieve the affliction. A biblical example that Burroughs gives is the story of Saul running to the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28). Perhaps a more contemporary example would be a man who has his finances afflicted and to relieve his sufferings he steals, gambles, and cheats. He pursues dishonest gain to relieve his affliction.
One of Burroughs points that you might have contention with is #6, "sinking discouragements". Is Burroughs saying that the Christian is not allowed to struggle mightily with depression? What about Spurgeon--was he sinning in his bouts with melancholy? What specifically did Burroughs mean? We will let Burroughs speak--"God would have us to depend on Him though we do not see how the thing may be brought about; otherwise we do not show a quiet spirit. Though an affliction is on you, do not let your heart sink under it. So far as your heart sinks and you are discouraged under affliction, so much you need to learn this lesson of contentment".
What Burroughs seems to be referring to is the type of person who is distrusting God during times of affliction. When trouble is brought about they are brought to despair instead of hoping in God. It does not seem that Burroughs is specifically addressing the type of melancholy that plagued folks like Spurgeon.What then can we learn from today's reading? First of all, I believe the Lord is calling us to trust Him in the midst of our afflictions. We should hear the exhortation of James to the dispersed brothers and sisters. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds..." Secondly, the Lord is calling us to quietly submit to everything that comes from His hand, all the while trusting in His goodness. When dealt every blow we must cling to the promise that God works all things for good. We must have a big view of God. We must be quieted as Job was, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted...I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know...I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." You can feel Job putting his hand over his mouth as he utters these words. Let us do the same. Make our requests known to the Lord, but humbly rest under His sovereign hand of goodness.
Today we will be looking at Charnock's third reason (p.41) why the existence of a god is natural and innate. We have seen that it is not because of mere tradition that there is a universal consent to this truth. Nor can we say that it is because of societies leaders having made this notion up so as to keep the masses in check. His third reason is that it is not fear that introduced this belief.
Charnock's argument here is simple. Fear is the consequence of wickedness. You do not fear a god unless a god was already there prior. Unless you feel that you have offended a Deity there is no reason for fear to rise up. As he has argued prior, "it is not the existence of a thing that excites any of [these] affections, but the relationship a thing bears to us in particular." Charnock also notes that it was more often love and hope of blessing which gave birth to sacrifices than fear of punishment. "The fear of evils in the world, and the hopes of relief and assistance from the gods, and not a terrifying fear of God, was the principal spring of their worship". Even in Scripture when we think of the "fear of God as the beginning of wisdom" we think of it not as a terrifying fear but a reverential fear.
Fear, whether reverential or terrifying, only comes from already knowing an established god. It is not grounds for making one up. The question I believe the Lord would ask us today is this. What does a meditation upon His character spring up in us? Are we shamed by the worshippers of a false god? Are they more devoted than we who worship the real and living God? The character of God should excite all sorts of passions within us, all reach their climax in humble exuberant worship of the living God. The existence of fear, then, is not a reason to deny the existence of God but to worship Him all the more!
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