Your weekly dose of Spurgeon
The PyroManiacs devote Monday space to highlights from The Spurgeon Archive.
The following is an excerpt from "The Bond of the Covenant," preached Sunday morning, May 10, 1885 at the Met Tab in London. Once again we see that Spurgeon's poignant criticisms of 19th-century modernism are also perfectly suited for 21st-century post-modernism:
This generation has made a god of its own. The effeminate deity of the modern school is no more the true God than Dagon or Baal. I know him not, neither do I reverence him. But Jehovah is the true God: he is the God of love, but he is also robed in justice; he is the God of forgiveness, but he is also the God of atonement; he is the God of heaven, but he is also the God who sends the wicked down to hell.
We, of course, are thought to be harsh, and narrow-minded, and bigoted: nevertheless, this God is our God for ever and ever. There has been no change in Jehovah. He has revealed himself more clearly in Christ Jesus; but he is the same God as in the Old Testament, and as such we worship him.
16 comments:
What a novel idea to conform ourselves to the biblical description of God rather than trying to make Him relevant to contemporary culture!
I'm not sure I like your tone...
I was using sarcasm in agreement with Phil's post. The irony is that so many today want to change God instead of the other way around. I'm sorry if you misunderstood.
I continue to like the warnings provided in this blog but the linking of those warnings to the groups that you "hate" (sorry, I couldn't find a better word) is often without evidence or based on generalizations. They contain a lot of guilt by association and attacks on straw men, etc... That's unfortunate because it detracts from the excellent points underlying the attack.
And, as a side note, there seems to be some amount of defensiveness on your side. Your response is often to quote that some other great person was also attacked. That does not strike me as being consistent with your (again excellent in other matters) use of Scripture in the sense that it carries no weight for me that Spurgeon had critics. How does that make you right? I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm saying that your quoting of Spurgeon is not helpful.
Sorry Gordon, it appears you may have missed my sarcasm, which wasn't directed at you anyway..
..unless you're being sarcastic with me..
..in which case I shall break the status quo and insert a smiley face :-)..
if blogger will let me..
Rick,
Hate can be a good word, and love can be a bad word, depending on the context, in my way of thinking.
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." Ecc. 3:1,8
The Lord spoke of hating in the Old Testament. To say we hate wickedness seems so wrong in our day and age, but it's God who calls us to hate. To hate sin. To hate to see His gospel perverted. To hate to see His name degraded.
It's a righteous hatred, which understands God's unmerited favor.
Surely we are to be full of charity, and compassion, and even love our enemies, but God allows for this same heart of love to hate those things which He hates.
Psalm 5:6, 11:5
It's cool, Libbie. That's what I get for blogging at that hour. :)
LOL at the caption on the pic.
It made me chuckle to read:
Hard, and narrow-minded, and bigoted. Phil Johnson.
Anyway, the word for the day:
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Also, "denkn"
Rick,
I don't follow your comment...please expound. After reading your comment, I tilted my head to the side much like my dachshund does when confused about something he sees.
curioussaint - I'm with you on that one.....
I'll bet that sermon will never be heard at Joel Osteen's church.
Rick...huh???
God seems to love balance. He knows when love is appropriate and when justice is called for. He knows when gentle encouragement will move us and when we need a kick in the pants. He grants us great joy, yet sometimes allows horrible pain and tragedy.
Oh, that we may be more like He! How often do we administer judgment when mercy is called for? How sad when people need love and we instead give admonishment. When poor and hungry people require action, yet we give them only fluffy words and empty prayers. When pregnant teens need a family to help them, but find only self-righteous people ready to cast stones...
Lord, help us know You - and help us be like You!
john,
I think you are right, of course. But there is the bottom line to all that we do, and that is the glory and honor of God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ.
It's hard work to get to know the Triune God, and it's even harder work to be like Him, in fact it's impossible, but for His grace working in us to will and to do.
But His promise to His beloved children is something we can trust, that we were predestined to be conformed into the image of Christ.
Your words about self-righteous Christians wanting to stone a pregnant teen, reminded me of such a happening at my church. And it was just the opposite.
This young girl became pregnant, and most everyone bent over backwards to help her, and bought her things, had baby showers, and so on, in order to save the baby mainly. And this is all good, but no one confronted her on her sin of fornication, and tried to talk this out with her, for the saving of her soul.
The gospel becomes very vague, not that it's not there in a way, but it's underneath all the good works, and this girl today, years later is in a bad way.
I did sit with her, and I tried to discuss her sin, and the Cross, but she didn't want to hear it. Was I being self-righteous? Some would say so.
Funny, she called me the other day, and wanted to know if I could help her out, and I said sure.
Sorry for the long comment, but those thoughts I hope will encourage us to share the gospel, for this is the ultimate love that we can show someone.
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