2009: A Year of Discipline

One of the things I admire about the old masters of theology, Spurgeon, Baxter, and so forth, is their great personal resolve. These men strived to discipline every faucet of their being under the authority of the Father. Jonathan Edwards for example, one of the most resolved men in history, put forth 70 resolutions. He took almost a full year to carefully consider the areas of his heart and soul that needed to be rendered to God. In the end, his main goal was not to find satisfaction in himself, but in the glory of Christ. Consider his first resolution, “Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.”

It is with this same passion that I desire to make the year 2009 a year of discipline. Discipline has been my biggest foe. It has kept from even getting a glimpse of some of my biggest aspirations. For example, all through high school I dreamed of making it to the state championship in wrestling. I had many obstacles to overcome. Some of them were out of my control. However, I never put myself in an opportunity to obtain the goal. I cannot say with absolute certainty that I left everything on the mat. A lack of discipline ate my dream piece by piece. Every time I chose to sit on the couch and watch T.V. instead of train, I told discipline to get lost. Every time I cut corners in practice or put menial treasures as priority over the dream, discipline began to wither like the pedal of a beautiful rose separated from its stem. That is what a lack of discipline does to our dreams. It creates a gulf between our vision and us. Moreover, if you let yourself go too far, the dream is so far away it may be unreachable; like my state championship.

Stephen Nichols, a professor at Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster Pennsylvania, wrote an article in TableTalk magazine on the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. He commented on something I found peculiar. He wrote that at age nineteen, Edwards was the potential Jonathan Edwards. He goes on to say that, Aristotle had the idea that there was a difference between what is and what can be. “What is” is the actual being of something. What can be has the potential to be something. One is greater and one is less. Jonathan Edwards, at age nineteen, showed tremendous potential to be great. He had a natural gift in learning, especially in critical thinking and writing. He graduated from Yale and found himself in the pastorate at age eighteen. At age nineteen, Edwards was the “what can be” that Aristotle spoke of. What would drive him to accomplish works like “The Freedom of the Will” or “Religious Affections?” What would give him the ability to lead one of the greatest events in America’s history; The Great Awakening? Aside from the sovereign grace of God, I would argue his resolve. He was a resolute man, determined, much like Paul, to magnify Christ in his body, whether by life or death (Philippians 1:20). Moreover, this is not something he took for granted or did by mere will power.

The prelude to Edwards 70 resolutions is marked with humility. He simply states, “Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will for Christ sake.” Edwards understood that he could only serve in the strength in which God provided (1 Peter 4:11). He could only keep up the stamina of his resolve through Christ who strengthens him (Philippians 4:19). It is with this same humility I embark to conquer discipline.

I have set forth ten resolutions to accomplish this year. I am praying that, like Edwards, these resolutions will become ingrained in my life. I ask that if Christ is your King that you would pray for me to holdfast. I will do the same for you. Anytime you need prayer, just leave a comment on the blog and I will pray for you there and then when I read it. Thanks ahead of time. Be good and God bless.

10 Resolutions (in no particular order)

1. Resolved: to discipline my health to God’s glory.

2. Resolved: to discipline my prayer in length, width, height, and depth.

3. Resolved: to discipline my study of God’s word to enlighten my soul.

4. Resolved: to discipline my reading in worthy endeavors.

5. Resolved: to discipline my pastoring in meeting the spiritual needs of my church.

6. Resolved: to discipline my service to my community.

7. Resolved: to discipline my finances to stewardship that glorifies God with every penny.

8. Resolved: to discipline my writing to encourage and to edify the world through Christ.

9. Resolved: to discipline the spiritual rearing of my children in personal and corporate worship.

10. Resolved: to discipline my love for my wife in not only in word, but also in deed.

These resolutions seem broad on the surface, and to some degree, they are. I have specific goals to reach for some of them. For others, I am still praying and seeking wisdom. Please pray that I will, with humility and dependency, seek God’s favor in these resolutions. Thank you
[All notes referring to Jonathon Edwards was taken from an article in TableTalk magazine (Resolved to Press on toward the Goal: January 2009) “The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards” written by Stephen Nichols.]

A Pauline Prayer Part 2

Provision through the Holy Spirit

The thesis of this essential is that God would lavish on His people the provision needed to exist in Christ. In our text, Paul speaks of the inner man as a reference to the human soul. Paul uses the same kind of language in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “The the outward man perishes, yet our inward man is renewed every day.” The Holy Spirit works to renew our souls to clearly behold and exemplify Christ. Paul, in Galatians 5: 16, tells the believer to walk by the Spirit, in doing so we will not gratify the flesh. He explains that the spirit and the flesh are against each other. In the flesh, we are sexually immoral, impure, sensual, idolaters, given to sorcery, at war with God, full of strife, jealous, angry, and prone to rivalry, full of dissension, divisive, envious, drunkards, and things like these. However, the Holy Spirit works to encourage the weary soul in which Christ beckons to come and find rest. The Holy Spirit works vigorously to mature, stabilize, and edify the Christian. The Holy Spirit wars against the flesh that we may have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and much more (Galatians 5:22-23).

In essence, the prayer is for Christians to live in spiritual power. The kind of power that says to pornography, “Your limited and shameful pleasure is not even on the same map as the gratification and satisfaction I have in Christ.” It is the kind of power that is able to say no the American Dream; the comfortable and cozy life with brand new iphones, inflated luxury cars, and a fat retirement spent on golfing and riding in the RV, and saying yes to the Kingdom Dream, living on half your income so that the rest can go to frontier missions. It is the kind of power that is intentional in boldly sharing Christ, even at the cost of your reputation. I think John Calvin got it right when he said, “ The prayer of Paul, that the saints be strengthened, does not mean that they may be eminent (well-known) and flourishing in the world, but that, with respect to the kingdom of God, their minds may be strong by Divine Power.” (calvin) The Holy Spirit strengthens the soul of the believer to stand and enjoy communion with Christ. The more we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, the more we are like Christ. Therefore, the logical progression would be that the more we pray for one another to be strengthened by The Holy Spirit in our inner being, the more Christ centered we would become.

Communion with Christ

The whole idea of having the Holy Spirit strengthened the soul is to make the heart ready for Christ to dwell. In verse 17, Paul prays that Christ would dwell in their heart through faith. The idea in this text is not necessarily a new regeneration of the heart. For we know from John 14:23 that whoever loves Christ and keeps his word that the Father and the Son will make their home in them. Moreover, we know that Paul is writing to all the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:1). The real petition here is that Christ would fully dwell in their hearts. It is a request that Christ would have access to the deepest and most hidden depths of the human soul. Paul is praying for every one of the elect to have a sweet and savoring communion with Christ in every walk of their life. William McDonald puts it this way, “Christ is a permanent resident in every saved person, but this is a request that He might have full access to every room and closet; that he might not be grieved by sinful words, thoughts, motives, and deeds; that he might enjoy unbroken fellowship with the believer.” (MacDonald)

John Calvin points out that there is a difference between fellowship with Christ and believing in Christ. They are not one in the same. Belief in Christ requires faith in his birth, life, death, and resurrection. Fellowship is the fruit of the faith. Therefore, Paul prays that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith; the kind of faith that is not only saving, but also savoring. The kind of faith that keeps Christ at the center of our conversations, the movies we watch, the music we listen to, the time we spend in front of the T.V., our relationship with our wives and husbands and children; the relationship we have with one another as believers.

As Christ dwells unrestrictedly, we become more rooted and grounded in love. As we are more intimately acquainted with Christ, our roots deepen and our foundations become more durable. His kindness and selflessness begin to be naturally intertwined in our motives. His brokenness and meekness slay our self-ego and pride; where we would have the same mind and the same love doing nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility counting others greater than ourselves. We would put others interest in front of our own having the mind of Christ(Philippians 2:3-5). Our love for Christ, the church, and our neighbor becomes so established that Satan has no chance to come and steel it away, the trials that invade of lives will not scorch its fervor, the lustrous temptations of the world will not choke the life out of it. Instead, we will bear fruit a hundred fold. In addition, God will use the fruit of our communion to feed His people; those who are called and those whom He is calling. This kind of praying can only happen in Christ centered prayers; prayers yearning with the affections of Christ Jesus(Phil 1:8).

Making Comprehensible the Incomprehensible

When I read this text, my mind becomes a bit discombobulated. It is hard for me to even begin to bend my mind around the immeasurable knowledge and capacity of the love of Christ. Paul, I feel, is feeling the same way. He prays for the Ephesian church to know the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ’s love. However, in the next breathe he says it surpasses knowledge. Paul recognizes he is trying to put parameters on something that cannot have parameters. So he still prays for them to have the strength to comprehend, or literally “grasp” the incomprehensible love of Christ.

It would be unworthy of me to try to over spiritualize the four dimensions that Paul uses here. St. Augustine, who I am a big fan of, tried to incorporate some reference to the cross by saying that the breadth was to be love, height was hope, length was patience, and depth was humility. I would have to disagree with him here because I see no connection to the context of the chapter or book to imply such a notion. I would have to agree with Wood that Paul is “simply telling us that the love of Christ, exemplified in his magnanimity (generosity of spirit) to the Gentiles, is too large to be confined by any geometrical measurements. It is wide enough to reach the whole world and beyond. It is long enough to stretch from eternity to eternity. It is high enough to raise both Gentiles and Jews to heavenly places. It is deep enough to rescue people from sin’s degradation and even form the grip of Satan himself.” Such love is hard to phantom. We are limited by such finality, yet as believers, we long for the infinite beauty of Christ. Trying to grasp or hold onto such truths are so high and wonderful that I cry out with David, “I cannot attain it!” (Psalm 139) God’s love has no boundaries. It is a river that has no beginning and no ending. It is an ocean without shores. (MacDonald) It is endless. We can never fully discover it. That is the reason why the Holy Spirit must be equipping our heart to have Christ dwell through faith. Christ will reveal to us these great mysteries as we deepen our fellowship with Him. This is what it means to be filled with the fullness of God; the climax of Paul’s prayer at the end.

When we pray for one another, we need to pray that God would give us the strength and wisdom to know Him. Our prayers help one another grasp the truths of God’s word, that in turn, stoke our spiritual fire for Christ, and keeps us in communion with our Lord. Every time we meet as a body, as his bride, our hearts should submit to his lordship, recognize his sovereignty, and validate his promises. We should not cease to pray that Bristol Missionary Baptist Church would be a people filled with the Holy Spirit, sweetly savoring Christ, and striving to comprehend the incomprehensible love of God; namely a people of God’s word.