Trust the Bible Above Your Experience

by Jordan Standridge

We’ve all had incredible experiences.

Whether it is catching a big fish, or winning a big game, or, more seriously, witnessing the birth of your child or thinking back to your wedding day.

Some claim to have had religious experiences where God told them something to do, or where He revealed something to them. I think we can all agree, though, that our experience cannot even come close to match what Peter experienced by being around Jesus for three years.

As he spent time with Jesus, he was constantly amazed.

He saw it all.

Water turned into wine. Blind men seeing. Zacchaeus’ repentance. Dead men living. And hundreds and hundreds of more miracles.

But there was one experience that superseded them all. He got to see something that, in my opinion, is the greatest experience in human history.

He was on a mountain with James and John. Jesus was there, and the Bible tells us that He was transfigured.

Matthew 17:2 says,

“And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.”

All of a sudden, Moses and Elijah show up and Peter witnesses the three of them have a conversation. He immediately wants to build tents and stay there forever. Then God speaks and says,

“This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

It is safe to say that none of us will ever experience anything that comes close to that.

Yet, it is fascinating to hear Peter talk about it.

In 2 Peter 1:18-20, Peter has something fascinating to say about that experience. He says,

“For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Think about what he is saying!

We were there on a mountain, we saw Jesus transfigured! We saw Elijah and Moses speaking with Jesus! We heard God speak to us! We are certain of it!

Yet DO NOT trust our word. Don’t trust our experience.

Trust the Bible!

The Bible, Peter says, is surer than any human experience.

The Bible isn’t based on human experience. It’s not based on what men think, but, rather, the Bible is a book that was breathed out of the mouth of God.

As we head into a new year, let me ask you a question. Did you trust your experience above the Bible last year?

You may say, I would never do that! I’m a discerner! I believe in expository preaching! Let me tell you that we are all in danger of trusting in ourselves rather than in the Bible.

This year, resolve to read the Bible more, but let me encourage you to resolve to do what the Bible says. Reading blogs and listening to sermons is wonderful, but every time you do it, seek to apply it. Actually, ask the Lord to change you because of what you just heard or read.

Sadly, this is so needed in the church.

We have many people who are capitulating on doctrine and theology because of experiences that they have had. Whether it is a sensing that God’s Word is not reliable in certain areas, or whether it is negative experiences that they have faced, we are seeing a trend toward compromise. Unless we are trusting God’s Word and allowing God’s Word to speak and inform our beliefs, we are in constant danger of allowing experience to compromise our trust in Scripture.

We need a sea of people in the church who completely rely on Scripture–to unapologetically declare our hearts’ wicked inability to know the truth without it, and to resolve to completely rely on the Holy Spirit to inform our doctrine and theology.

Of course, Peter loved being on the Mount of Transfiguration. He wanted to set up shop and live there forever! But looking back to that incredible experience his takeaway was that he wanted people to understand that their belief in God should not be reliant on the word of Peter, but, instead, should be solely reliant on the Word of God.

We can be thankful for so many things God allows us to experience, but always remember that our experience no matter how great and no matter how sure we are about them can be wrong. The Word of God however cannot and will never be wrong and we must resolve to read it more,  trust it more, and most importantly to obey it more. May we be men and women of the Word.

Jordan Standridge: Jordan is the pastor of evangelism at Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield, VA. He has a wife named Jenny and 4 children, Davide, Matteo, Nico and Gabriella. They're on their way to Italy as missionaries check out their website at Standridge.org.

Take Care How You Hear: How to Receive God’s Word

Article by Marshall Segal . Staff writer, desiringGod.org

We fall out of Bible-reading habits a hundred ways, and all of them are deadly serious. Jesus warned us, with a story, about the perils we face.

When we hear the parable of the sower, are we quick to plant ourselves in the good soil? Do we stop to wonder whether we’re the plant without roots, or the one that dries up and withers, or the one choked out by thorns? Many of us assume we’re Peter, not the Pharisees, and certainly not Judas. We’re more prone to assume safety, security, and blessing for ourselves. For some, the parable of the sower might inspire relief and confidence, rather than healthy fear and vigilance. Thank God I wasn’t like the others.

“We fall out of Bible-reading habits a hundred ways, and all of them are deadly serious.”TweetShare on Facebook

But if the parable comforts us without awakening urgency and expectation, we have missed Jesus’s point. He ends by saying, when he’s alone with his disciples, “Take care then how you hear” (Luke 8:18). In other words, don’t assume you’re in good soil, but look carefully at how you receive the word of God. Relentlessly plead with God to water the seed he has given you, to send your roots ever deeper, and to protect you from the temptations and distractions around you. Plead with God to keep you.

With heaven and hell at stake, joy and misery in the balance, and obstacles before us and within us, we must take care how we hear the words of God.

What Are These Words?

Before we consider the kind of soil we should be, we need to know what kind of seed this is. The seed gets lost, as seeds often do, in the shuffle of Jesus’s parable. But the seed, not the soil, is the real story here. Nothing comes from any soil, no matter how fertile, if a seed is never planted. And this seed is unlike any the earth has ever received.

Jesus begins by saying, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). The first test of the soil in our own hearts is how those seven simple words fall on us. Why would we ever bear fruit if we don’t treasure the seed — the very word of the one who spoke the galaxies into reality? Hearing God well in the spoken gospel and written Bible begins with the awareness that we are hearing — really hearing — God himself in his word (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

“All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Every word came from the infinite wisdom and imagination of God. Every sentence, paragraph, and book was conceived by the Author of life, the Alpha and Omega, the Lord of heaven and earth. Nothing in the Bible made it into our hands without first passing through his.

Humility: Defeating the Greatest Threat

What kind of soil, then, should we hope to be for such a seed as this? What will be our posture toward God when we open his word? Three ingredients, among others, will be humility, submission, and prayer.

Humility comes first. Pride poisons the soil in our hearts like nothing else. Busyness is not the greatest threat to daily Bible reading. Self-confidence is. None of us forgets to eat for days, because everything in us tells us we need food. What does it say about our hearts when we skip the food we need the most, sometimes for days or weeks at a time? One powerful way to ignite our time alone in God’s word is to confront and kill our remaining pride. We pray with king David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24).

“Busyness is not the greatest threat to daily Bible reading. Self-confidence is.”TweetShare on Facebook

The seed of God’s word loves to grow in the rich soil of humility. Our Lord says, “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2). The man whose delight is in the law of the Lord knows he does not deserve these words — he doesn’t deserve to have them, to understand them, or to delight in them. He knows well that the having, the understanding, the enjoying, even the obeying are each their own staggering gift of grace. He prays, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18).

Submission: Welcoming God’s Authority

Humility, then, leads to glad submission to God’s authority. If the Bible truly is the word of a sovereign, holy, and just God, how we hear can bear frightening and wonderful consequences. These are not tips for living a better, more productive, more successful life. These are not merely suggestions for improving our spiritual health. These words are the wondrous promises and unmitigated commands of a God who will and must judge sin.

These words have authority, an increasingly unpopular word today, at least in our society. And God’s authoritative words demand from us an even more unpopular posture: submission. We don’t want anyone to have full, unqualified authority over us. We want to be able to “commit” with one foot safely outside the door, in case someone, even God, asks us to do anything we don’t want to do. The Bible, however, does not give us the option to be half in — to enjoy comfort while we sow to sin, to receive forgiveness and forgo holiness, to gain joy without suffering and sacrifice.

To ignore, neglect, minimize, or avoid the word of God is to ignore, neglect, minimize, or avoid God himself (Deuteronomy 18:19) — which is an offense greater even than theft, adultery, or murder. Disregarding what God has said is, in fact, the sin that ultimately makes every other sin so horribly wicked. To gladly submit to the Bible, however, is to gladly submit to God himself.

Prayer: Asking God for Help

Finally, then, humility and submission lead us, in prayer, to ask for God’s help. The longest chapter in the Bible is an extended, even uncomfortably long, prayer about the words of God. Psalm 119 sings,

I will meditate on your precepts
     and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
     I will not forget your word. (Psalm 119:15–16)

If we don’t know what to pray for when we read the Bible, this psalm gives us plenty of good places to start. To take care how you hear, consider seven ways you might pray, inspired by Psalm 119.

1. God, incline and enlarge my heart toward you.

Incline my heart to your testimonies. (Psalm 119:36)

I will run in the way of your commandments
     when you enlarge my heart! (Psalm 119:32)

2. Help me understand what I read.

Make me understand the way of your precepts,
     and I will meditate on your wondrous works. (Psalm 119:27)

Your hands have made and fashioned me;
     give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
    (Psalm 119:73; see also Psalm 119:125, 144, 169)

3. Make me diligent to keep your words.

This blessing has fallen to me,
that I have kept your precepts. (Psalm 119:56)

Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
     who seek him with their whole heart. . . .
You have commanded your precepts
     to be kept diligently. (Psalm 119:2, 4)

4. Pour your light on the path of my life.

Your word is a lamp to my feet
     and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)

The unfolding of your words gives light;
     it imparts understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130)

5. Strengthen me in sorrow.

My soul melts away for sorrow;
     strengthen me according to your word! (Psalm 119:28)

6. Shield me from every kind of distraction.

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
     and give me life in your ways. (Psalm 119:37)

7. Keep your promises.

Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live,
     and let me not be put to shame in my hope! (Psalm 119:116)

Your promise is well tried,
     and your servant loves it. (Psalm 119:140)

Come Eagerly to the Word

Jesus says, “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). May God be pleased to increasingly make our souls into good soil for his word — in humility, in submission, and in prayer. He loves to give his people the faith-filled posture of the Bereans, who “received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

John Piper says, “Every day with meekness receive the word of God. That is, every day be in the Bible. Breathe the Bible. Don’t try to hold your breath from Monday to Wednesday. Breathe every day” (“Receive with Meekness the Implanted Word”). Breathe in the wonder of having the words of God, humble yourself and gladly submit before them, and pray for greater insight and delight. Take care how you hear, and live in the pages of the Bible.

Marshall Segal (@marshallsegal) is a writer and managing editor at desiringGod.org. He’s the author of Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness & Dating. He graduated from Bethlehem College & Seminary. He and his wife, Faye, have a son and live in Minneapolis.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/take-care-how-you-hear?fbclid=IwAR3GRTB_P1pTokUXawnfoMxFqhUjrH5-V6h60oA9LLIjZ3bMUtaXHOUR53g

6 Connotations for the Sufficiency of Scripture

by Brad Hambrick

In conversation there can often be a difference in “what a word means” and “how a word is used.” What matters to Webster’s dictionary is what a word means. What matters in a real conversation is how a word is used.

Here is simplistic example. In my generation of being a teenager you could observe this distinction in the way we used the word “cool.” If you use a thesaurus to get synonyms for the word cool, you’ll find entries such as: cold, chilly, nonchalant, or unruffled. The literal use of the word cool refers to either a temperature or a disposition.

However, we functionally used the word to mean things like awesome, impressive, or breathtaking. Generations before and after us did the words: knarly, far-out, wicked, radical, or my teenager’s current favorite “yeet.” Other than being annoying to our parents and English teachers this isn’t a big deal.

In theological conversations a similar phenomenon is happening with the word “sufficiency” particularly when it is applied to the usefulness of Scripture and counseling (my niche). Sufficiency is being used to reference a myriad of qualities of Scripture; often within the same conversation. From my experience, the debates that emerge around the concept of sufficiency frequently break down when the various synonyms for sufficiency are used interchangeably.

My hope in this article is to reflect on six of the most common connotations of sufficiency in hopes that clarity on these related concepts advances the quality and character of conversations around sufficiency.

1. Sufficiency: Scripture Is Complete

This is the classic use of the term “sufficiency of Scripture” by systematic theologians. For most of church history this is what was meant by the term. Sufficiency-as-completeness means “we have all the divine words God intended to give on any particular subject.” Stated simply, God is finished providing special revelation and we do not need an external rubric for interpreting the Bible; therefore, what we have in the Bible is the totality of what God intends to say through sacred text.

Sufficiency-as-completeness negates the claim that someone has “heard from God” in a manner that would allow them to contradict Scripture with divine authority. For counseling purposes, this use of sufficiency would mean that God has, in the Bible, provided all the inerrant, verbal guidance He intends to give for helping relationships, problems in living, emotions, relationships, mental health, etc.

2. Sufficiency: Scripture Is Adequate

This is the Duct Tape use of the term “sufficiency of Scripture.” Sufficiency-as-adequacy means that it is possible to get a task done using the Bible. This use of the term sufficiency makes no claim to exclusivity. For example, just because Duct Tape is sufficient to repair a broken item does not mean that Gorilla Glue is not also effective for the same repair task.

When sufficiency-as-adequacy becomes part of a debate around Scripture and counseling, it can often because one or both persons have assumed that the adequacy of A negates the adequacy of B. The logic can be, “If you think A is adequate for this task, then you must believe that B is useless.” An either-or debate emerges when a goodness-of-fit assessment would be more appropriate.

For example, “If you think [Bible study] is adequate to resolving anxiety, then you must believe [breathing exercises] are useless,” or vice versa. There is no reason for these two approaches to be mutually exclusive. It may be the during math test breathing exercises are the best-fit because they are not a cognitive distraction and during a quiet evening at home Bible study is a better fit because it keeps the individual cognitively engaged.

3. Sufficiency: Scripture Is Relevant

This is synonym for sufficiency speaks to the breadth and depth of subjects addressed in Scripture and seeks to assess how directly Scripture speaks to each of those subjects. When discussing the relevance of Scripture, we’re asking the question, “Does Scripture speak to [topic] and, if so, in what way?” We can ask this question about morality, marine biology, meaning of life, interpretation of historical events, politics, and every other subject matter.

When sufficiency-as-relevance becomes part of a debate, we are asking a question of overlap. In effect, we’re asking, “How much does the content of Scripture overlap with the subject being discussed?” The way Scripture speaks to the questions of marine biology is going to be different than the way it speaks to the morality of human cloning.

When tension emerges around sufficiency-as-relevance, it would be most helpful for each person to ask, “In what ways do you see Scripture speaking to this subject? How do you feel l am misapplying or under-utilizing Scripture in my approach?” Scripture can speak to a given subject by command, example, clear principle, inference, or extension of a theological implication. If our disagreement is about “how” Scriptures speak to a subject rather than “if” it speaks to a subject, it can significantly change the tone of a conversation.

4. Sufficiency: Scripture Is Primary or Authoritative

This connotation for sufficiency is making the strongest claim yet. It asserts the primacy and finality of Scripture. Sufficiency-as-authoritative claims that Scripture is right and normative in everything it addresses. Further, Scripture should be the first place we start in discerning the questions that will guide our thinking. To say that Scripture is authoritative is to refuse to give another source of knowledge equal weight in our thinking (note: “equal weight” is not the same as saying “any weight”).

When sufficiency-as-authoritative becomes part of a debate it is usually because one person believes the other person is negating a biblical command or principle in the conclusion they are drawing. When this is the case, the most effective response would be, “How do you reconcile your position/choice with [biblical text]. These seem in tension to me. I see three possibilities: (a) there other biblical texts I need to consider, (b) you think I am misapplying this text to the subject we’re discussing, or (c) something has more weight in your thinking on this subject than the Bible. Which of those do you think best explain our differences?”

5. Sufficiency: Scripture Is Powerful

If adequacy was the Duct Tape connotation for sufficiency, then powerful is the dynamite connotation. Here the potential transformative impact of faith, belief, and obedience to Scripture is the focal point. Often debates in this realm are either misguided arguments about relevance (see above), or a conversation caught up in the possibility-probability conundrum.

An example of the possibility-probability conundrum would be the addict who gets saved and never abuses their substance of choice again. As a possibility, we would rejoice in this testimony. As a probability or declaration of how God usually works, we would not affirm this as normative.

Similar to a previous point, the power of one thing does not imply the lack of power of another. The power of Scripture does not imply the lack of power in a friend’s example to motivate change, the sobering reality of death to reset priorities, or the power of changing patterns of thoughts to influence emotions.

6. Sufficiency: Scripture Is Exhaustive or Exclusive

The final connotation is the one that most who advocate for the sufficiency of Scripture deny holding, but still seems to come into debates on the subject. Here the question is how detailed and extensively does Scripture speak to every question we may face in life? It is commonly said in biblical counseling circles that the Bible was not intended by God to be an encyclopedia that offers a proof text to our every concern.

However, in discussions on sufficiency-as-exhaustive there is a wide variance of opinion on the degree of authoritative inference that can be drawn from the worldview of Scripture to address questions the Bible does not directly address. The partisan tensions that emerge over the exhaustiveness of Scripture can erase the good will that should have been able to be built over large areas of agreement about the completeness, adequacy, primacy, authority and power of Scripture (areas in which evangelicals agree).

“Scripture as exhaustive” is where differences emerge on the relative importance of subjects like using biofeedback to alleviate anxiety versus taking an exclusively faith-based approach, or exposure therapy approaches to lighten the effects of post-traumatic stress versus exclusively looking for ways to increase an individual’s faith response in moments of distress.

Utilization of these techniques are often implied to be a denial of sufficiency because they are not in the Bible. However, this conclusion is only accurate if sufficiency means exhaustive-exclusive and would imply that special revelation (the Bible) is in competition with general revelation (effective common grace approaches). The consistent testimony of Scripture is that general revelation is harmonious with but incomplete without special revelation.

Conclusion

My goal in this article was not to declare where every Christian ought to stand on each of these synonyms for sufficiency. Neither was my goal to provide an interpretive key by which it could be discerned how each of these synonyms best apply to every potential life struggle. Those are fascinating conversations I love to participate in but are beyond the scope of this brief article.

My goal was much more humble. Instead, my goal was to advance the discussion about the sufficiency of Scripture by clarifying the multiple connotations frequently given to the word sufficiency. My hope is that this can alleviate tensions that emerge when one word is used with several meanings in the same conversation.

Will this alleviate all tension? Absolutely not. There are real and important differences that exist. But if we remove tensions that emerge from the inconsistent use of language, we should be able to communicate more effectively about these differences. If, after reading this article, you can…

• …identify when the term sufficiency is being used with each of these six references,

• have the conceptual categories to clarify the various usages of sufficiency, in order to

• have a more fruitful conversation with someone at a different point on the sufficiency spectrum…

… this article has accomplished all that it set out to do!

Posted at: http://bradhambrick.com/6-connotations-for-the-sufficiency-of-scripture-clarifying-the-conversation/

The Fifth Commandment: Root of Honor

by Kevin D. Gardner

In Romans 1:28–32, the Apostle Paul goes through a litany of offenses committed by those who don’t see fit to acknowledge God. Many of the charges make sense, including that such people are “full of envy murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness” (v. 29). Yet there is one offense that might seem out of place: they are “disobedient to parents” (v. 30).

This phrase tended to make an impression on the teenagers with whom I used to work. It’s easy to say that we are not murderers or filled with malice. We might protest that we are not “gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil” (vv. 29–30; although we might have a hard time credibly denying the first two). But who has never disobeyed his parents? We might think that disrespectful children are a uniquely modern phenomenon, but the problem certainly existed in Paul’s day. The law of Moses even prescribed death for intractably rebellious children, a penalty that seems unspeakably harsh to people today (Deut. 21:18–21).

Clearly, the Bible takes obedience to parents seriously. The fifth commandment tells us, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Ex. 20:12). Let’s explore why this commandment is included among the Ten Commandments and what it means for us.

The fifth commandment is the first on the so-called second table of the law. The first table has to do with our duties toward God, while the second table has to do with our duties toward our fellow man.

It may seem strange that a command to honor one’s father and mother is the first of the commands regarding man. But it makes sense. The first commandment begins the first table of the law by telling us that we are to have no other gods before God (Ex. 20:3). God is setting up a structure of authority: He is God, and we are His people. We are to have no other Gods. We are to recognize His authority alone and to act accordingly. In the same way, God has set up authority structures on earth, and so He begins the second table of the law by addressing the most basic of these structures, the family—one man and one woman for life, together with their children. In this context, children learn what authority is, and they learn to obey. In the same way that we are to recognize and abide by our heavenly authority, we are to recognize and abide by earthly authorities.

As God is due honor by virtue of His being our God, so our fellow man is due honor by virtue of His being God’s image bearer.  SHARE

Recognizing this parallel, the Westminster Standards expand the meaning of the fifth commandment to encompass our duties in all of our relationships. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that the commandment requires “the preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to every one in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors or equals” (WSC 64). The reference here is not to superiors and inferiors in terms of dignity or value but in terms of authority. The Westminster divines understood that while fathers and mothers are the first and most basic authorities in our lives, they are not the only ones. The divines also included authorities in the church and the state; we might add authorities in the classroom and the workplace.

In each of these contexts, we have various relationships. Sometimes we are superior, sometimes inferior, and sometimes equal. In each case, we have various duties and are liable to commit certain sins, and the Westminster Larger Catechism expands at length on these duties and sins (WLC 123–33). In so doing, the Larger Catechism unfolds the meaning of honor as paying what is due to them—to superiors, reverence, prayer, obedience, imitation of their godly virtues, maintenance of their dignity, and bearing with their infirmities (WLC 127); to inferiors, love, prayer, instruction, rewards, correction, and protection (WLC 129); and to equals, recognition of their dignity, deference, and rejoicing in their advancement (WLC 131).

To fail to honor those around us, whether superiors, inferiors, or equals, is to engage in rebellion against God. Especially in the case of our superiors, casting off earthly authorities is tantamount to casting off our heavenly authority, the One who placed those earthly authorities over us. This is why rebellion against parents was such a grievous sin under the old covenant and why Paul included disobedience to parents among the grave offenses committed by the ungodly.

As God is due honor by virtue of His being our God, so our fellow man is due honor by virtue of His being God’s image bearer, and so also our superiors are due honor by virtue of their having authority “by God’s ordinance” (WLC 124). When we honor our fellow men in their several relations, we honor the God who placed us all where we are.

Rev. Kevin D. Gardner is associate editor of Tabletalkmagazine and a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. 

Posted at: https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2019/02/fifth-commandment-root-honor/?fbclid=IwAR3qBVKPGVQsCzgJXXCZ6TVo3SdYnr_jHC2JlkKk8PLL2EInIlVLPpxl9vo

Spurgeon's Top 4 New Year's Resolutions

Article by Brandon Freeman

Charles Spurgeon preached at least 14 sermons about the New Year in his 38 years at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Though many themes arise in his comments, belief is as pervasive as any.

“Oh, to believe from January to December!”

Spurgeon prayed and called for belief in every New Year's sermon—for Christians and non-Christians. He hoped that the New Year would bring forth the new mercy of the new birth.

“I pray God that a new year may not be begun by you in sin, but may God begin with you at the fall of the year, and bring you now to know his power to save.”

“Ere yet the midnight bell proclaims the birth of a new year, may you be born to God: at any rate once more shall the truth by which men are regenerated be lovingly brought under your attention.”  

“If this New Year shall be full of unbelief, it will be sure to be dark and dreary. If it be baptized into faith, it will be saturated with benediction. If we will believe our God as he deserves to be believed, our way will run along the still waters, and our rest will be in green pastures. Trusting in the Lord, we shall be prepared for trials, and shall even welcome them as black ships laden with bright treasures.”

Spurgeon's New Year's Resolutions

On the last evening of 1891 and first morning of 1892, Spurgeon gave two brief addresses. He hadn’t preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in several months because of sickness. He was a month away from death. In reflecting on 1891, he spoke about the God-intended lessons of the year, such as the “instability of earthly joys.” As friends came together again in the morning, he gazed upon the new year journey of 1892.

Spurgeon's New Year's resolutions involved seeing more than being.

“Let me tell you, in a few words, what I see as I look into the new year.”

So what did Spurgeon resolve himself to see? Here are the preacher's top four resolutions:

1. God’s Sovereignty

“I see a highway cast up by the foreknowledge and predestination of God. Nothing of the future is left to chance; nay, not the falling of a sparrow, nor the losing of a hair is left to haphazard; but all the events of life are arranged and appointed. Not only is every turn in the road marked in the divine map, but every stone on the road, and every drop of morning dew or evening mist that falls upon the grass which grows at the roadside. We are not to cross a trackless desert; the Lord has ordained our path in his infallible wisdom and infinite love.”

2. God’s Guidance

“I see, next, a Guide provided, as our companion along the way. To him we gladly say, ‘Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel.’ He is waiting to go with us through every portion of the road. ‘The Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee.’ We are not left to pass through life as though it were a lone wilderness, a place of dragons and owls; for Jesus says, ‘I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.’”

3. God’s Strength

“Beside the way and the Guide, I perceive very clearly, by the eye of faith, strength for the journey provided. Throughout the whole distance of the year, we shall find halting-places, where we may rest and take refreshment, and then go on our way singing, “He restoreth my soul.” We shall have strength enough, but none to spare; and that strength will come when it is needed, and not before…God all-sufficient will not fail those who trust him. When we come to the place for shouldering the burden, we shall reach the place for receiving the strength. If it pleases the Lord to multiply our troubles from one to ten, he will increase our strength in the same proportion….Our lamps shall be trimmed as long as they shall need to burn. Let not our present weakness tempt us to limit the Holy One of Israel. There is a hospice on every pass over the Alps of life, and a bridge across every river of trial which crosses our way to the Celestial City. Holy angels are as numerous to guard us as fallen ones to tempt us. We shall never have a need for which our gracious Father has furnished no supply.”

4. God Glorified

“One thing more, and this is brightness itself: this year we trust we shall see God glorified by us and in us. If we realize our chief end, we reach our highest enjoyment. It is the delight of the renewed heart to think that God can get glory out of such poor creatures as we are….We hope that God has been in some measure glorified in some of us during the past year, but we trust he will be glorified by us far more in the year which now begins….We wish our whole life to be a sacrifice; an altar of incense continually smoking with sweet perfume unto the Most High. Oh, to be borne through the year on the wings of praise to God.”

Only God Knows the Future

On the morning of January 1, 1892, Spurgeon confessed, “We know nothing of the events which lie before us: of life or death to ourselves or to our friends, or of changes of position, or of sickness or health.”

Though Spurgeon didn't see much of 1892, he put his trust in the fact that God knows the future. This truth blessed him and made him dependent on God in all things.

Whatever is before us in 2018, let's rest in God’s sovereignty, lean fully on God’s guidance, rely on God’s strength, and live for God’s glory. As Spurgeon said:

“Throughout this year may the Lord be with you! Amen.”

Originally published at The Spurgeon Center Blog

Brandon Freeman

Brandon Freeman is a member of Liberty Baptist and a Master of Divinity student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies from Ouachita Baptist University. He is married to Kaylee Freeman. You can follow Brandon on Twitter at @brandon_free_. 

Posted at: https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/spurgeons-top-4-new-years-resolutions

What is your authority for living?

Article by Kevin Carson

The issue of what stands as your personal authority in terms of every day living is an important one. As you make countless decisions throughout your day, something will rule you. Something or someone will determine what choice you make. That person or thing is your functional authority. It could be literally anything from another person to your own feelings or opinions. For the every Christian, the final authority for our belief and behavior is the Word of God.

The following is a very helpful article from gotquestions.org that addresses the issue of the Bible as our final authority.

Question: “What does it mean that the Bible should be our sole authority for faith and practice?”

Answer: The statement “the Bible is our only rule for faith and practice” appears in many doctrinal statements. Sometimes, it takes a similar form, stating that the Bible is “the final authority,” “the only infallible rule,” or “the only certain rule.” This sentiment, whatever the wording, is a way for Bible-believing Christians to declare their commitment to the written Word of God and their independence from other would-be authorities.

The statement that the Bible is the “only rule for faith and practice” is rooted in the sufficiency of Scripture, as revealed in 2 Timothy 3:16–17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Because God is sovereign, His Word is the absolute authority in our lives, and by it God equips us for His service. As A. A. Hodge wrote, “Whatever God teaches or commands is of sovereign authority. . . . The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the only organs through which, during the present dispensation, God conveys to us a knowledge of his will about what we are to believe concerning himself, and what duties he requires of us” (Outlines of Theology, chapter 5).

When we say, “The Bible is our only rule for faith and practice,” we mean that we hold the Bible, God’s Holy Word, to be our ultimate guide for what we believe (“faith”) and what we do (“practice”). We mean that the Bible trumps man’s authority, church tradition, and our own opinions. We mean we will allow nothing that opposes God’s Word to dictate our actions or control our thinking. We mean that we agree with the Reformers’ cry of sola scriptura.

When the Bible clearly reveals a truth, we believe it with all our hearts. When the Bible clearly commands us to do something, we make sure we are doing it. For example, the Bible says that Jesus is coming back again (John 14:3; Revelation 19:11–16). Since the Bible is our “only rule for faith,” we have no choice but to believe that Jesus is returning some day. Also, the Bible says that we are to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Since the Bible is our “final authority for practice,” we are bound to abstain from immorality (as defined by the Bible).

We believe following the Bible as our only rule of faith and practice is the safest position, theologically. Fidelity to Scripture keeps us from being “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching” (Ephesians 4:14). As the noble Bereans taught us (Acts 17:11), all doctrines are to be examined in light of the Bible, and only what conforms to biblical truth should be accepted.

Following the Bible is also the most sensible position, because the Word of God “is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89) and “the law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7).

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