May 24, 2012

  • loving truth ~ while so many hearts in heaven and earth are flaming with love and admiration...

    II Thessalonians 2:9  The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10  and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11  Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12  in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

    That phrase "love the truth" has been on my heart for quite some time now. It's one thing for us to believe the truth, but aren't we as Christians also supposed to love the truth? Can we say that we love Christ if we make only a mere mental assent to the truth? Yes, we are to believe on Christ, but what kind of belief is a belief that does not prove itself by fervent love? Jesus Himself told us what the greatest commandment was:

    Mark 12:28  And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29  Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength? Is not Christ, called the way, the truth and the life? Is not genuine love for Christ shown as we love truth? Is not a lack of love for the truth one of the reasons why the church is in such a miserable and pitiable state today?

    Our God is the God of truth. He cannot lie.
    Our Father is the Father of lights, in whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
    Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the way, the truth and the life.
    Our Spirit is the Holy. He is the Spirit of truth, sent to guide us into all truth.
    God's Word is truth.

    Does not our Bridegroom wash His Church continually with His Word, which is truth?

    Ephesians 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26  that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27  so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

    Should not our ministers do likewise?

    Our God delights in truth:

    Psalms 51:6  Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

    Should not our ministers delight in truth?

    In spite of our professed desire to be valiant for truth, how easy it is for any one of us to be tempted, allured and drawn away by our flesh, by expediency, by fear of men, by the spirit of the age, and by the devil –– so we might "sell truth," in disobedience to the Biblical mandate:

    Proverbs 23:23  Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

    How can anyone be valiant for that which he does not love?

    I recently started reading "The Life and Sermons of Edward D. Griffin, Volume 1." Edward Dorr Griffin (1770-1837) was a minister in the northeastern United States for over forty years, and was privileged to witness a series of revivals under his ministry. In his journal, Griffin wrote the following examination regarding love for the truth in 1797, a few years after he entered the ministry.

    EXAMINATION. Sabbath Evening, August 20th. I have been this evening examining my feelings towards God, the law, and Jesus Christ, and the plan of salvation by him. I have asked myself such questions as these:  Am I pleased with a God who sits on the throne of the universe, governing all matters so as to promote the highest happiness of the universe; who, in the exercise of infinite benevolence, has entered on a system of operations most conducive to manifest and diffuse himself, and to complete a kingdom of holy, benevolent, and happy beings; who is perfectly pure and holy; and who, as the faithful guardian of the universe, has resolved to punish every thing which opposes its happiness; who abhors every sin, even mine; who has manifested his abhorrence of sin in the destruction of the old world, Sodom, &c. and on the cross, and in the punishment of my sins; who is just, merciful, patient, and faithful; who has made discoveries of these perfections in the gospel, and in all that he has done for Zion, from the days of Adam; who requires himself to be loved and respected supremely? &c. Do I love the law which requires perfect benevolence and sinless perfection, and condemns every transgression? Would I wish for a law any different? Have I any hopes of being able to atone for my sins? Am I pleased with the character and offices of Christ and the way of salvation by him? That he should have all the praise of my salvation, and that I should be exempt from punishment in consequence of the opportunity which he has given God to manifest, in his treatment of him, his abhorrence of my sins? &c. And after the most serious and elaborate examination, I dare not come to any fixed conclusion, though I hope my heart is pleased with this representation of God, and the law, and Christ. I think I feel ashamed that while so many hearts in heaven and earth are flaming with love and admiration in view of these truths, mine is so little affected by them, that I cannot decide whether I love them or not. Yet I solemnly determine not to give up the examination until I can answer decisively. I am resolved to pursue it to-morrow. And O, may the Lord give me light to see and know myself, and to love him with fervency.

     

    ~ Source: "The Life and Sermons of Edward D. Griffin" by William B. Sprague (orig. published 1839, republished in 1987 by The Banner of Truth Trust), 22-23.

     


    Holy God, we come to you and ask you to forgive us for Jesus' sake, as we confess to You how our hearts flame with love and admiration for so many other things, but our hearts are not flaming with love and admiration in view of these truths.

    Holy God, we come to you and ask you to forgive us for Jesus' sake, as we confess to you how quickly we are affected by worldly matters, but we remain so little affected by these sublime truths.

    May the God of truth lead us into all truth. May the Lord give each one of us light to see and know ourselves, and to love Him and to love the truth with fervency.

    May God's Spirit inflame in us an ever-increasing love and admiration for Him and His truth.

    May the Spirit of truth teach us the fear of the LORD, lead us in His way, teach us truth in the secret heart, so we might love the truth and walk in the truth.

     

    Psalm 86:11 (adapted)
    Teach us your way, O LORD,
    that we may walk in your truth;
    unite our hearts to fear your name.

    May our God be merciful and gracious to us and raise up ministers such as Edward Dorr Griffin.

    * Please add your PRAYERS below, as God's Holy Spirit leads you. *

     

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"he called it the tent of meeting..."

I am burdened to pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the reformation and reviving of Christ's church.

The phrase tent of meeting comes from Exodus 33:7: Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

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