Ecclesiophilist

Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon entitled The Sole Consideration, that God Is God, Sufficient to Still all Objections to His Sovereignty. The text is Psalm 46:10. The sermon is fantastic. If you read it, prepare to be humbled. Here is an excerpt:

What are we? and what do we make of ourselves, when we expect that God and his ways should be upon a level with our understandings? We are infinitely unequal to any such thing, as comprehending God. We may less unreasonably expect that a nut-shell should contain the ocean…

In his autobiography, John G. Paton writes the account of the deaths of his wife and baby son on the island of Tanna. His wife died on March 3, 1859. On March 20, 1859, his five week old son died also. Here is his reflection on these events:

It was very difficult to be resigned, left alone, and in sorrowful circumstances; but feeling immovably assured that my God and father was too wise and loving to err in anything that he does or permits, I looked up to the Lord for help, and struggled on in His work. I do not pretend to see through the mystery of such visitations – wherein God calls away the young, the promising, and those sorely needed for his service here; but this I do know and feel, that, in the light of such dispensations, it becomes us all to love and serve our blessed Lord Jesus so that we may be ready at his call for death and eternity.

If you haven’t discovered Matthias Media yet, you need to. It is a ministry based in Australia which produces excellent evangelical resources.

The Briefing - an evangelical monthly magazine with great articles about theological issues as well as practical ministry.

Two Ways to Live - a really well done, biblically sound online gospel presentation

There are lots of other resources available at http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/. Enjoy!

Update: I forgot to mention the blog Sola Panel which features some of the folks from Matthias Media.

Tim Challies writes a good reminder about why we should be wary of the “I went to heaven (or hell) and lived to tell about it” kind of books. Every time one of these books comes out I think about the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. The rich man dies and goes to hell. He desperately wants to tell his family members about this terrible place so they will avoid it. Here is the dialogue in the story as Luke writes it:

²⁷ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, ²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’    ²⁹ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’   ³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’  ³¹ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Beside the questionable nature of these post-mortem heaven and hell experiences, there is a clear emphasis on the superior nature of the Scriptures as a sufficient witness to the glories of heaven and the terrors of hell. Even the most well-intentioned people can be deceived by experience. Scripture, on the other hand, is a sure and reliable witness to guide our understanding on how to get to heaven and avoid hell.