Happy Reformation Day!

Things are busy today, but I cannot take my mind off this Reformation Day. It’s a day too important to let pass unmentioned.

Specifically, I am most thinking of the fallout of the Reformation. Often with the Reformation, we think about Luther with hammer in hand, denouncing the false practices of Rome. But what we often fail to remember are the major shifts that were required in the years following such a traumatic event.

What I am talking about was the dawning of a new day of Scriptural study. Sure Calvin and Luther came to understand that justification – a sinner being made right with God – came only through faith and not through any righteous merits or religion on the part of the sinner (Luke 18). But there were many, many more doctrines to hash out.

The Reformers, having been educated with a Roman Catholic background were taught “doctrine” that had been passed down from the church fathers through the centuries which had snowballed into Roman Catholic tradition and dogma. But the Reformation changed all this.

Scripture alone must determine doctrine, and while we take this for granted in Reformed circles today, this point opened up a million questions. Questions of hermeneutics – how we interpret Scripture – had to be defined. What is literal interpretation? How many interpretations of Scripture are allowed? Every doctrine passed down through the centuries now must be tested and tried before a literal interpretation of the biblical text. The study of original texts became vital – Greek and Hebrew became significant objects of study for the church. Trying to take the exegetical conclusions and formulate them into creeds and catechisms became a high priority. Commentators began working through the text and the church began discussing and debating these issues to renounce false doctrines from the past and discover new doctrines largely undiscovered in God’s Word.

For me, when I think of Reformation Day I am most reminded of men who transitioned from the classical Roman Catholic training towards a new avenue of undiscovered and undefined study of God’s Word.

The fall-out of the Reformation lives on today each time a new commentary is published seeking to discover more of God’s Word in its original languages, in the tightening of Creeds and doctrine and in our pursuit of the meaning of God’s Word in a literal interpretation of the text. This is why I celebrate Reformation Day.

Update from Minneapolis

Hello everyone,

We spent the weekend with my dear friends in Minneapolis. An excellent sermon on “radical fellowship” (Acts 2:42-47) by Rick Gamache was the highlight (eventually it will be posted here: Sovereign Grace Fellowship). Great encouraged from my friends Tom and the Bices.

Excellent news: The reversed interlinear bibles from Crossway have arrived!! Yes, this means the long-awaited reversed-interlinear “Blank Bible” project will begin soon (see our first “blank bible” project here). We will be announcing a contest to win a free one so stay tuned.

But coming up Tuesday, I will be back in Omaha with a review of Jeremiah Burroughs’ books titled Gospel Life. And later this week we will continue in our series on confessing sin to one another.

Until then, I stand amazed at the love of the God I killed,

Tony

Minneapolis

Confessing sin: series index

“confess your sins to one another …” (James 5:16, ESV)

Verbally confessing sin reminds us of the ugliness of sin. It is, as Richard Sibbes reminds us, the vomit of the soul. The sin that seemed so tasty is brought back to our remembrance as disgusting.

What makes sin so ugly (and confession so humbling) is to understand that each sin in our heart is worthy of eternal damnation. The failure to worship God with all of my heart and soul and mind (Matt. 22:37) is worthy of the cup of God’s wrath – to be trampled under the boot of God’s winepress of judgment.

Confessing this damning sin reminds me daily of Christ’s payment. He substituted Himself under the boot. He became sin, bore my sin, so I may be declared righteous in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). And so to see the remains of ugly sin in my heart causes remorse and confession.

To confess is to verbally hate sin and to declare war against it. Confession is a verb that means much more than sitting in some booth with an anonymous figure sitting on the other side of an opaque opening. Confession for the Christian church is part of its daily life – it’s not only secret and hidden but also public!

Confession is personal (between me and God), interpersonal and heavenward (from me and my friend to God), interpersonal (to those I have wronged), and corporate (between my community of faith and God). Confession is the reminder that I am a sinner – wholly sustained by the sanctification, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption of Christ (1 Cor. 1:30). Confession proclaims, “Christ is our life” (Col. 3:4).

The current series focuses on the importance of confessing sin to one another. Here is the series outline:

1. Kris Lundgaard, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and confessing sins.
2. Richard Sibbes: Why do we confess sin?
3. Richard Sibbes: The church is comprised of humbled sinners
4. Stephen Charnock: Confessing in light of our Advocate
5. Anthony Burgess: Word convicts us of sin
6. Thomas Manton: Confession is the vomit of the soul
7. Richard Sibbes: Confess and find mercy
8. Bonhoeffer: To whom should we confess?
9. What exactly is confession (future)
10. Ezra and Nehemiah: The power of public confession (future)
11. Acts 19: Lessons from the Ephesian confession (future)
12. Dangers of concealing sin (future)
13. The power of confessed sin (future)
14. Shepherding as modeling confession (future)
15. Confession as commitment (future)
16. Concluding thoughts (future)

You can find the series (in descending order) << here >>

Q&A: Which Puritan to start with?

Mr. Reinke,

Grace to you! I have really enjoyed your website and I still have much of it to study. I was hoping to ask your advice. I am not a pastor, however I really enjoy reading or trying to read the Puritans. I am particularly interested in them as they seem to know “heart religion” and treasuring Christ above all else.

If you were to start off with one of Banner of Truth’s multi-volume works which one would you start off with? I am considering Thomas Brooks (I really have like Precious Remedies and Heaven on Earth). Also, there is John Bunyan who seems to have lived on the edge of eternity as John Piper pointed out in his great biographical address. John Flavel is one I am really interested in as well. I know he was a favorite of Robert M’Cheyne and, I believe Whitefield, and that about cinches him as my choice.

Your review of Flavel was also noteworthy, but I wanted to put these other two to you as well. Others seem to be a bit more involved or just too long for me at this time. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Lord bless you!

Very Respectfully,
James L.
Alabama

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Hello James,

Excellent question. I would not start with Edwards, Owen or Goodwin. Flavel and Brooks are excellent but they can wait. If I were starting over I would begin with John Bunyan. His three volume works are a real treasure, easy to read, very well edited, and with an excellent topical index! Probably what makes them most useful is Bunyan’s wide range of topics (making them useful on any number of issues) and the wide variety of literary formats (allegory, autobiography, sermon, poem, etc.). When you start thinking about the towering figures of the Puritans — Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, Thomas Goodwin — surprisingly it’s a tinker I would select as the most important to start with.

I love John Owen’s testimony about Bunyan. Piper writes, “The greatest Puritan theologian and contemporary of Bunyan, John Owen, when asked by King Charles why he, a great scholar, went to hear an uneducated tinker preach said, ‘I would willingly exchange my learning for the tinker’s power of touching men’s hearts.’” Wow — to think those words were delivered to a king!

Bottom line: Start with Bunyan then Jonathan Edwards and build your library from there working down the list of 14. You may consider bypassing Goodwin and sticking to abridged Owen volumes.

Blessings,

Tony

Book review: Sermons on the Beatitudes by John Calvin, translated by Robert White (0851519342)

Book review:

Sermons on the Beatitudes by John Calvin (translated by Robert White)

John Calvin [1509-1564] was a great theologian. I know this from the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin was a great commentator. That his cherished commentary remains printed and popular is evidence enough. But until recently I was unaware Calvin also excelled as a preacher [frequently Calvin has been criticized in church history for being a poor one].

The book, Sermons on the Beatitudes (translated by Robert White), marks my introduction to Calvin the preacher. This collection of recently translated material by the Banner of Truth is a short book (a little under 100 pages of five sermons and a little over 100 pages with the scriptural index and many helpful footnotes). The volume was assembled well and the translation is very sharp and clear.

Examples

Two examples show the tremendous heart Calvin had as a shepherd. The first expounds upon the words of Jesus that those who weep will be comforted:

“Jesus says blessed are those who weep, for in the end they will rejoice and be comforted. Here he affirms more or less what we have already learnt. For if we are poor in spirit, we cannon avoid weeping; we cannot be other than distressed. We are not, after all, without feelings, like those madmen I mentioned earlier, who expect us to remain as immovable as an anvil or a rock! Such a thing goes against our nature. We have instead to feel our miseries, which are meant to press us to the point where we bend and break: we can no longer hold our heads up, our breath is taken from us, we are, so to speak, dead men.”

“That is why our Lord in this passage [Matt. 5:1-4] associates weeping and poverty in spirit. It is as if he were saying: ‘When I tell you that nothing will take away your blessedness, however oppressed and afflicted you are, I do not mean that you should dumbly resist regardless of feelings, or that you should be like senseless blocks of wood. No! You will weep, you will experience want, dishonor, illness, and other kinds of affliction in this world. These things you will suffer; they will wound you to the very core and make you weep. But nothing will take your blessedness from you’” (p. 28).

These are the words of a man who experienced the weeping here explained. He experienced want, dishonor, much illness and afflictions. He was here preaching as a real man to real people through the real promises of God. Our hearts will be broken – we will feel the pain and the pain will be real. What experiential sensitivity and wonderful tenderness!

Much of the volume addresses the dangers of worldliness. This second example helps us to navigate through this temporary world through prosperity and trials. Notice his experiential understanding of the believer and unbeliever in similar situations.

“We should not cling to happiness or greet its passing with a hollow laugh, for it is fleeting. Nor should we exult when men applaud us, as if we had already attained our reward for a virtuous life on earth. No, we are determined to press on through good report and bad. Such is the measured and moderate path pursued by the believer. We do not get drowsy, still less intoxicated, when times are good. And we are always willing to abandon everything if God requires. This is not how it is with unbelievers. Prosperity goes immediately to their heads, fills them to bursting; they are so befuddled that not once do they spare a thought for God or the spiritual life. In time they grow hard, and when misfortune comes they grind their teeth and blaspheme against God” (pp. 78-79).

Each of these examples highlight Calvin’s heart, something we often miss in his theology and commentary.

Conclusion

As you probably already knew, Calvin was an incredibly gifted figure from the Protestant reformation. But these sermons shed new light on the tenderness and experiential-mindedness of Calvin the shepherd. He was as gifted in preaching as he was in commentating and writing theology. This volume, though very brief, is a gem!

Boards: clothbound, hardcover (green, gilded)
Pages: 114
Dust jacket: yes
Binding: Smyth sewn
Text: recent translation, perfect type
Topical Index: no
Textual index: yes
Publisher: Banner of Truth Trust
Price USD: $20.00/$15.00 + free ship from BoT store
ISBNs: 0851519342, 9780851519340

More information on this book here.

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Click here to access previous posts in the Humble Calvinism index.

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New evangelism tools

How do we communicate the message of the Cross to those who do not know? While there are no substitutes for personal conversations, there are a number of excellent (and very affordable) resources you can incorporate into your evangelism. Here are just two…

For Your JOY, by John Piper ($0.25 – $1.00 each)

This little 40-page book can be kept in your pocket. It begins with C.S. Lewis’ famous question: Is Christ a liar, lunatic or Lord? It gives the typical elements of the gospel – providing an understanding of God’s holiness, the nature of sin, that God judges sinners, and the precious death of Christ as the sinner’s substitute. Also included is a clear call for the reader to consider and act upon these things personally.

Then, in typical John Piper style, he expands the scope of the gospel to show the reader that their eternal happiness is also at stake. “The gospel of Christ is the good news that at the cost of his Son’s life, God has done everything necessary to enthrall us with what will make us eternally and ever-increasingly happy, namely, himself” (p. 29).

The entire book can be read in about 30-45 minutes. An excellent overview of the gospel!

ESV Outreach New Testament ($0.50 each)

As a college ministry leader in Omaha, I tried to get an ESV into the hands of each student that did not own a bible. First, the ESV is both a literal translation of the bible and is literally superb. And second, it looks like a book you would sit down and read. For some reason, outreach bibles are typically the least creatively formatted, lacking all the imagination and readability of a typical book you would find at a bookstore. The ESV has always printed bibles that use various fonts, paragraph breaks, clear section markers and book introductions. This new outreach edition of the ESV New Testament is no different.

It’s 222 pages of fairly small and tightly formatted text. But it is also a book that someone can sit down and comfortably read through (provided they have fairly good eyesight. This version is promoted for “Nursing Home Residents.” I would find another edition for that use.)

The extra features of this small and inexpensive bible are impressive. How should I read my New Testament? is a short article helping readers trust in the illumination of the Spirit and encourages the reader to find a good local church. Then there is a topical guide to the bible for passages concerning sadness, anger, temptation, the nature of joy, pride, forgiveness, etc. A 30-day reading plan to read through some of the most important sections of the NT follows. Then a short introduction to the New Testament explains how the NT is comprised (gospels, letters, prophecy). Each book of the NT has a very brief (but very helpful) introduction.

The outreach edition closes with a gospel presentation that wonderfully points the reader back into the text of the NT. And finally a second reading plan lays out a schedule to read through the entire NT in six months.

Both the booklet by Piper and the New Testament by the ESV are wonderful helps for our evangelism efforts. They are both clear, concise, concrete and affordable.

0977328600, 9781581348354, 1581348355

Confess your sins to one another (part 7)

With men it is confess and have execution,
but with God confess and have mercy.
We should never lay open our sins but for mercy.
So it honors God;
and when he is honored,
he honors the soul with inward peace and tranquility.
We can never have peace in our souls
till we have dealt roundly with our sins,
and favour them not a whit [bit];
till we have ripened our confession to be a thorough confession.
What is the difference between a Christian and another man?
Another person slubbers [is careless] over his sins
and he thinks if he comes to the congregation,
and follows the minister,
it will serve the turn [end].
But a Christian knows that religion is another manner of matter,
another kind of work than so.
He must deal thoroughly and seriously,
and lay open his sin as the chief enemy in the world,
and labor to raise all the hatred he can against it,
and make it the object of his bitter displeasure,
as being that that hath done him more hurt than all the world besides;
and so he confess it
with all the aggravations of hatred
and envy that he can…
That we in our confessions
(in our fastings especially)
ought to rank ourselves among the rest of sinners.
Perhaps we are not guilty of some sins that they have been guilty of.
God has been merciful to us and kept us in obedience in some things.
But, alas!
There is none of us all
but we have had a hand in the sins of the times.

- Richard Sibbes, Works 6:188-189

Confess your sins to one another (part 6)

“Confession is an act of mortification,
it is as it were the vomit of the soul;
it breeds a dislike of the sweetest morsels
when they are cast up in loathsome ejections;
sin is sweet in commission,
but bitter in the remembrance.
God’s children find that their hatred
is never more keen and exasperated against sin
than in confessing.”

- Thomas Manton, Works, 4:457

“Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.” (Proverbs 26:11, ESV)

Confess your sins to one another (part 5)

I am grateful for my friend Travis who is working diligently to produce an electronic copy of the great (and forgotten) Puritan book: Anthony Burgess, Spiritual Refining, part 2. To commemorate his progress I wanted to post one of the many quotes that stand out in this priceless work. One especially fits in our series of learning to confess sins to one another.

This excerpt shows why, when we look for sermons to tickle our ears, we have thus failed to understand the purpose of the Word and preaching. The same is true of friendships.

Burgess writes,

“That one main end of the Word of God,
and preaching,
is to discover this deceitful heart.
It’s to make us know ourselves;
compared therefore to a glass,
that will show a deformed man all his unloveliness,
and this is a glass,
not to the face but the heart;
all those hidden and unknown lusts may there be brought to light.
And the Ministry that is compared to light;
as the sunbeams discover those many thousands of motes in the air,
which the darkness concealed;
thus the Ministry,
in a powerful and soul-saving way dispensed,
will make thee see thyself to be that beast,
that devil,
yea to have that dunghill,
that hell in thy heart,
thou didst not perceive:
look then for this benefit by preaching,
not what may fit thy ear,
may please thy fancy,
but what may discover the dark corners of thy soul,
what may bring glorious light into thy breast;
that thou mayest cry out;
O Lord, how long have I lived and did not know myself!
I thought all was well,
everything was in quiet;
but now I am like the Syrian army,
that being by the Prophet stricken blind,
and thought they were guided to their own camp,
as soon as ever they had their eyes opened,
they found themselves in the midst of the enemy’s camp:
Thus thy eyes being opened,
thou seest thyself to be in the power of all thy sins,
all thy enemies and the curses of God.”

- Anthony Burgess [d. 1664]
Spiritual Refining, Part II: A Treatise of Sin, pp. 19-20

O, that we would likewise no longer be superficial in our friendships but be willing to dive into difficult conversations for the purpose of discovering the “dark corners of thy soul.” Confess your sins to one another, Paul says. What an excellent standard for true friendship.

Confess your sins to one another (part 4)

In a church, the sign that the wall of superficiality has been broken to pieces is when fellow Christians come together in humble confession (a goal that may take several years in some churches). Once the wall is broken down, another danger takes its place – the tendency to be blinded by personal sin.

Once we honestly look at our own hearts, we can quickly become overwhelmed in the dark cloud of our own remaining sin. The flesh and the spirit war on.

For some reason we naturally think that — while we are saved through no merits of our own — God’s acceptance of us as Christians is dependent upon our successes. And so under this legalism, the condemnation of our accuser and our own hearts becomes crippling.

In our repentance, Puritan Stephen Charnock reminds us to look beyond our sin to our Advocate in heaven (1 John 2:1). While we hate personal sin, and long for the moment we look Christ in the eye (1 John 3:2), “let us not be so dejected by them [sins], as cheered by the advocacy of our Savior.”

He writes,

“Hence arises comfort against
all the attempts and accusations of Satan
and the Rebellion of our own corruptions.

He [Christ] foresees all the ambushes of Satan,
searches into his intention,
understands his strategies,
and is as ready to speak to the Father for us,
as He was to turn back and look Peter into a recovery at the crowing of the cock.

The Devil accuses us when we fall,
but he has not so much on his side as we have.

All his strength lies in our sinful acts,
but the strength of our Advocate lies in His own infinite merit.

Satan has no merit of his own to enter as plea for vengeance.

When he pleads against us with our sins,
Christ pleads for us by His sufferings,
and if our adversary never ceases to accuse us,
our Advocate never ceases to defend us.

How comfortable it is to have One,
day and night,
before the throne to
control the charge of our enemy,
and the despondencies of our souls,
that Satan can no sooner open his mouth,
but He has one to stop and rebuke him,
Who has more favor in the Court than that malicious spirit,
and employs all His life and glory for our spiritual advantage,
Who will not upon such occasions want [lack] a good word for us!

And as to our corruptions,
He is in Heaven to make up all breaches.

His blood has the same design in His plea,
that it had in the sacrifice,
which was to purify us (Titus 2:4).

The difficulty of the cause does not discourage Him,
but honors both His skill in bringing us off,
and the merit of His blood which is the cause of our restoration.

Upon every occasion He steps in
to plead with the holiness of God
and pacify the justice of God
for our greater as well as lighter crimes.

While therefore we feelingly groan under our spiritual burdens,
let us not be so dejected by them,
as cheered by the advocacy of our Savior.”

- Stephen Charnock
A Discourse of Christ’s Intercession
Works of Stephen Charnock [1684 ed.] pp. 2:1152-1153

It’s in this fog of self-condemnation that we help our brothers and sisters press closer to the Cross, and be “cheered by the advocacy of our Savior.”