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Isaiah 1:18—"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
The sinful condition of men is terrible in the extreme... God himself interposes to produce a change. The proposal of peace is always from his side. He urges that a conference be held at once, "Come, and let us reason together."
Adapted from Charles Spurgeon's sermon notes.
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Invitation from God: Click | View Series
Isaiah 1:18—"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
The sinful condition of men is terrible in the extreme. This is set forth vividly in previous verses of the chapter. They are altogether alienated from their God.
God himself interposes to produce a change. The proposal of peace is always from his side.
He urges that a conference be held at once, "Come, and let us reason together."
That conference is to be held at once: "Come now" for the danger is too great to admit of a moment's delay. God is urgent; let us not procrastinate.
Sinful men do not care to think, consider, and look matters in the face; yet to this distasteful duty they are urged. If they reason, they rather reason against God than together with him; but here the proposal is not to discuss, but to treat with a view to reconciliation. Ungodly hearts also decline this.
Adapted from Charles Spurgeon's sermon notes, which are in the public domain.
Pastor Mark Driscoll's frank discussion on pornography and masturbation is now available from Amazon. Find out more.
Not to be dramatic, but a little dramatic. This is the overwhelming feeling I have when I’ve been working all day, had a few hours to connect with my family in the evening, and am now sitting at my desk reading a 480-page pdf document (book) on the church, or slugging away at a 25-page paper till the wee hours. Amazing stuff, but the feeling is a bit overwhelming as the proverbial Re:Train is barreling down the tracks, and I’m stuck in the middle, staring at the oncoming lights and deafened by the blaring horn. How do I escape the wrath?
Re:Train has been a significant investment of time and energy, but it’s an investment that has been extremely beneficial and filled with the grace of God. This weekend was another testament to that as Dr. Gregg Allison lectured and answered questions for two days regarding ecclesiology and the missional church.
His wisdom, humility and love for the church was inspiring. He is a seasoned pastor, well-studied theologian, faithful husband, father and grandfather, elder in an Acts 29 church, and his daughter and son-in-law attend Mars Hill Bellevue. After a few moments with the Allisons, my wife said, “Wow, that’s the type of couple everyone wants in their church. Godly, stable, wise, humble, and encouraging.” As Pastor Tim Smith put it on Twitter, “Gregg Allision is an ecclesiological man among boys.” Here are a few takeaways that have left me pondering further.
These are a few reflections from Re:Train with Dr. Allison. The full impact of his teaching and friendship will have a long and sustained impact on the church planting taking place through Mars Hill and Acts 29.
Dr. Allison loves the local church, and he did a good job of distinguishing between true and false churches as well as less pure and more pure churches among those that are true. He had some good words and questions to ask yourself before moving from one true church to another:
Pastors and those in ministry need to have some outlet in their life that allows them to finish something. Ministry is never finished, and the pile of work continually grows. Paul told Titus to “put what remained into order” (Titus 1:5). Based on my experience, I don’t think Titus ever finished getting everything in order. As he appointed elders, it meant more training and leadership; as new people met Jesus, it meant more teaching and discipleship; as the church grew, it meant new systems and structures. The church is alive and therefore never finished.
This is why Dr. Allison recommended having something you can finish. It might be writing a book, refinishing your basement, or some other outlet for bringing something to full completion so that you can enjoy the work and rest upon its completion. He wasn’t legalistic about it, and didn’t attempt to prooftext any verses to support this position--it was just a piece of pastoral advice from a seasoned pastor.
The church begins at a place of unity. In Ephesians 4:3, Paul says, “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Wow, the church is unified because of the Spirit’s work, yet our sins of pride, envy, gossip, jealousy, dissention, and the like are actively working to destroy the unity of the Church.
Dr. Allison pointed out from Ephesians 4:2 that unity is maintained and achieved through the attitudes of gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love. He challenged all of us to dig deep into the places where we and our churches are not unified and accurately diagnose the root issue, which is nearly always sin of some sort. One of his closing lines on this topic was profound: “The will to maintain unity can overcome significant differences.”
For more from Dr. Allison, read his posts on Missional Ecclesiology on the Resurgence.
You can follow Pastor Jamie on Twitter at twitter.com/jamiemunson.
Tim Chester and Steve Timmis present a vision for churches centered on gospel community. Find out more.
On March 23 and 24, 2007, Dr. Bruce Ware came to Mars Hill Church in Seattle to speak on issues related to the sovereignty of God. Here is all the media from that event:
Session 1: Uncertain Hands of God and Men: Providence in Process Thought and Open Theism – Bruce Ware
Session 2: Independent Hands of God and Men: Providence in Classic Arminianism – Bruce Ware
Session 3: Coordinated Hands of God and Men: Providence in the Reformed Tradition – Bruce Ware
Dr. Ware is coming to Seattle again this weekend to teach an intensive course on Missional Christology at the Resurgence Training Center. Go to ReTrain.org for more info.
Tim Chester and Steve Timmis present a vision for churches centered on gospel community. Find out more.
Their foot shall slide in due time.
Deuteronomy 32:35
In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God's visible people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works towards them, remained (as vers 28.) void of counsel, having no understanding in them. Under all the cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. -- The expression I have chosen for my text, their foot shall slide in due time, seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.
In the first installment of this series of articles we saw that the central question posed by the ministry of Jesus had to do with the reign of God. Jesus came to make that which was wrong right, to bring the victory of Yahweh. He began a redemptive process, through his death and resurrection, which will culminate in the final manifestation of his kingdom at the end of this age. We are living in the already part of this kingdom. The not yet, or the final expansion and expression of that kingdom, is still to come. This should fuel optimism in an age of Western moral confusion and growing pessimism. The story is not over. The final chapter will yet be written and it will be glorious when it is.
The theme of the kingdom, and thus of God's reign on earth, specifically works itself out in story form in the New Testament. This happens in a number of literary genres but it is most clear in the parables that Jesus tells in the synoptic Gospels. I believe that these stories should form our core vision of the reign of God and therefore they should powerfully inform how we understand what Jesus is doing in this present age.
Last fall I spoke on leadership at a men's retreat. I defined spiritual leadership as knowing where God wants people to be and taking the initiative to get there by God's means in reliance on God's power. I suggested that the way we find out where God wants people to be is to ask where God Himself is going. The answer, I think, is that God loves His glory (April 1982 STANDARD) and that He aims to magnify His glory in all that He does.
So that goal of spiritual leadership is to muster people to live for God's glory.
BOOK 1, CHAPTER 13. The Unity of the Divine Essence in Three Persons Taught, in Scripture, from the Foundation of the World.
This chapter consists of two parts.
The former delivers the orthodox doctrine concerning the Holy Trinity. This occupies from sec. 1-21,and may be divided into four heads; the first, treating of the meaning of Person, including both the term and the thing meant by it, sec. 2-6; the second, proving the deity of the Son, sec. 7-13;the third, the deity of the Holy Spirit, sec. 14 and 15; and the fourth, explaining what is to be held concerning the Holy Trinity.
The second part of the chapter refutes certain heresies which have arisen, particularly in our age, in opposition to this orthodox doctrine. This occupies from sec. 21 to the end.
It is no easy matter to define the holiness of God. For anything like a complete discussion of the content of God's holiness you will want to look at the other articles in this issue of Reformation & Revival Journal. In this article we will narrowly confine ourselves to a single observation about God's holiness: God's holiness demands a corresponding holiness and righteousness in us. God Himself has plainly commanded: "I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy" (Lev. 11:44). This, of course, was spoken to His ancient people, Israel, but when we turn to the New Testament we hear it repeated to the church of Jesus Christ:
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be Holy, for I am Holy" (1 Peter 1:14–16).
In other words, we are to be like God. We are to be like God in our moral character. Nor is this pious advice to be taken or left aside as the moment dictates. This is basic to the entire Christian life. If we are not holy we will never "see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). In the baldest of terms, "It is holiness or hell."
The Resurgence is a movement that resources multiple generations to live for Jesus so that they can effectively reach their cities with the Gospel by staying culturally accessible and Biblically faithful.
