“As Becomes the Oracles of God”

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foxcroft gospel ministryThis is a powerful portrait of preaching from Thomas Foxcroft’s book, The Gospel Ministry. Note his combination of close study and earnest, clear exposition.

“They must endeavor for as thorough an understanding and penetration into the mysteries of godliness as they can, and labor to draw the images thereof in their sermons as near as possible in their full proportion, and their native purity and complexion, with the most lively colors; neither clouded with those dark shades which sometimes stain the luster of divine truths, nor varnished over with the false paint of art, which dazzles the sight and entangles the eye, that they cannot see the true light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. . . .

Let a man descend to the ordinary understanding, and yet speak as becomes the oracles of God, agreeable to the dignity and weight of the sacred subject with those serious and solemn, pathetic and moving words that will not so much entertain curiosity and a wanton imagination as affect the soul and persuade the mind.  Let him use words that will be as goads and nails, fastened by the Master of assemblies, that will enter the conscience, and breathe heavenly fire to melt and enliven the dead affections.” (pp.34-35)

“To gather fortitude from pain”

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My poem of the week this week is “Last Lines,” by Anne Brontë. John Starke cited a portion of this poem last week on Twitter which sent me looking for the full poem. The message of the poem fits very well with 2 Cor 1 which we discussed in class this morning. This is a powerful, moving portrait of perseverance through suffering by faith.

 

I hoped, that with the brave and strong,

      My portioned task might lie;

To toil amid the busy throng,

      With purpose pure and high.

 

But God has fixed another part,

      And He has fixed it well;

I said so with my bleeding heart,

      When first the anguish fell.

 

A dreadful darkness closes in

      On my bewildered mind;

Oh, let me suffer and not sin,

      Be tortured, yet resigned.

 

Shall I with joy thy blessings share

      And not endure their loss?

Or hope the martyr’s crown to wear

      And cast away the cross?

 

Thou, God, hast taken our delight,

      Our treasured hope away;

Thou bidst us now weep through the night

      And sorrow through the day.

 

These weary hours will not be lost,

      These days of misery,

These nights of darkness, anguish-tost,

      Can I but turn to Thee.

 

Weak and weary though I lie,

      Crushed with sorrow, worn with pain,

I may lift to Heaven mine eye,

      And strive to labour not in vain;

 

That inward strife against the sins

      That ever wait on suffering

To strike whatever first begins:

      Each ill that would corruption bring;

 

That secret labour to sustain

      With humble patience every blow;

To gather fortitude from pain,

      And hope and holiness from woe.

 

Thus let me serve Thee from my heart,

      Whate’er may be my written fate:

Whether thus early to depart,

      Or yet a while to wait.

 

If thou shouldst bring me back to life,

      More humbled I should be;

More wise, more strengthened for the strife,

      More apt to lean on Thee.

 

Should death be standing at the gate,

      Thus should I keep my vow;

But, Lord! whatever be my fate,

      Oh, let me serve Thee now!

Augustine, On Christian Doctrine

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st-augustine-hippoI have finally plugged one more gap in my education by reading Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine. As is often noted, this English title might cause people to think it is a survey of doctrine. In fact it is a handbook on biblical interpretation (Books 1-3) and proclamation (Book 4).  At the end of the book Augustine states,

 “In these four books I have set out to the best of my poor ability…what sort the pastor should be who is eager to toil away, not only for his own sake but for others, in the teaching of sound, that is of Christian, doctrine.” (pg. 241)

 The book is a challenging book in places but is well worth reading. Some may look down on Augustine’s hermeneutic because he lacks modern sensibilities and makes much of typology. However, he is very clear about the importance of authorial intent. And, what he has on so many people today is that he makes no pretense to being overly scientific or “objective.” He comes to the text as a believing Christian and expects Scripture to interpret Scripture (see more on this theme here). He also is interpreting for living as the Church rather than simply scholarship for the academy. Thus he stresses throughout the book the necessity of humility, love and prayer for both interpretation and proclamation. No matter how much we know (or think we know) if we are proud we will miss what God is saying. If we do not aim at love of God and neighbor we will miss the meaning of any text. And how can we expect to move forward without prayer?

 Augustine states:

 “So if it seems to you that you have understood the divine scriptures, or any part of them, in such a way that by this understanding you do not build up this twin love of God and neighbor, then you have not yet understood them. If on the other hand you have made judgments about them that are helpful for building up this love, but for all that have not said what the author you have been reading actually meant in that place, then your mistake is not pernicious, and you certainly cannot be accused of lying.” (pg. 124)

“Who does not turn all this to the praise and love of the one God from whom he knows it all proceeds; such a person can seem to be very learned, but in no way at all can he be wise.” (pg. 158)

“For that reason, when you come to realize that the end of the law is love, from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith without pretense (1 Tm. 1:5), you will relate all the understanding of the divine scriptures to those three, and so be able to approach the study of those books without the least anxiety.” (pg. 125)

This is a good book for all pastors and students of the Scripture to read.

[Page numbers refer to the edition linked to above]

Anthony Esolen on the Pastoral Epistles

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Due to some technical problems I have not been able to post at PastoralEpistles.com for a good while. However, we have worked out the issues and the overhauled site is now being hosted by the good folks at Logos Bible Software. I am grateful to Logos for making this possible and especially to Rick Brannan for making it happen.

Yesterday I posted at the new site a brief comment on a recent article by literary scholar Anthony Esolen in which he challenges some of the “assured results” of literary criticism. His article is aptly titled, “Pauline Scholar, Meet Homeric Scholar.” The post includes an offer of a complimentary copy of the issue of Touchstone Magazine which contains Esolen’s article.

“Carry On!”

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My poem of the week this week is a strong call to perseverance from Robert Service. Service is not a guide to theology but is at his best calling for us to live life to the fullest and not give up.

“Carry On!”

It’s easy to fight when everything’s right,

And you’re mad with thrill and the glory;

It’s easy to cheer when victory’s near,

And wallow in fields that are gory.

It’s a different song when everything’s wrong,

When you’re feeling infernally mortal;

When it’s ten against one, and hope there is none,

Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

 

      Carry on! Carry on!

   There isn’t much punch in your blow.

You are glaring and staring and hitting out blind;

You are muddy and bloody, but never you mind.

      Carry on! Carry on!

   You haven’t the ghost of a show.

It’s looking like death, but while you’ve a breath,

       Carry on, my son! Carry on!

 

And so in the strife of the battle of life

It’s easy to fight when you’re winning;

It’s easy to slave, and starve and be brave,

When the dawn of success is beginning.

But the man who can meet despair and defeat

With a cheer, there’s the man of God’s choosing;

The man who can fight to Heaven’s own height

Is the man who can fight when he’s losing.

  

      Carry on! Carry on!

   Things never were looming so black.

But show that you haven’t a cowardly streak,

And though you’re unlucky you never are weak.

      Carry on! Carry on!

   Brace up for another attack.

It’s looking like hell, but – you never tell.

      Carry on, old man! Carry on!

 

There are some who drift out in the desert of doubt

And some who in brutishness wallow;

There are others, I know, who in piety go

Because of a Heaven to follow.

But to labor with zest, and to give of your best,

For the sweetness and joy of the giving;

To help folks along with a hand and a song;

Why, there’s the real sunshine of living.

 

      Carry on! Carry on!

   Fight the good fight and true;

Believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer;

There’s big work to do, and that’s why you are here.

      Carry on! Carry on!

   Let the world be the better for you;

And at last when you die, let this be your cry!

      Carry on, my soul! Carry on!

Proper Eloquence in Preaching

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foxcroft gospel ministry“When ministers study to be florid rather than solid, and labor continually for lofty phrases and great swelling words of vanity, they are only spinning a spider’s web. The prater perhaps may win applause, but the minister in the meantime may not win a soul, the divine end of preaching.  They must follow the example of Christ, the great Teacher sent from God, who did not come with excellency of speech and the enticing words of man’s wisdom, but with much plainness of speech.  It was prophesied concerning Him, ‘He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young’ (Isa. 40:11).  These expressions reveal to us Christ’s tender care of souls and His humble familiarity in teaching His people, tempering His provisions to every taste and clothing His instructions with language calculated to every capacity.  Herein it becomes ministers to imitate Him, and not tower aloft above low understandings in lawless altitudes of expression (as the manner of some is) but using a style level to the unlearned and unskillful, delivering their thoughts with a natural turn of speech and in the most entertaining images, which, where the matter is weighty and important, is voted by the best judges to be the truest eloquence.  However, there is no doubt that some particular occasions, audiences, and subjects will bear something more of politeness without vanity than one would ordinarily choose.”

(Thomas Foxcroft [1697-1769], The Gospel Ministry, 32-33)

“In spite of sorrow, loss and pain”

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My poem of the week for my office door this week came from Adoniram Judson. It is a powerful statement of mission zeal- realistic, cost counted, hopeful because of the future promises.
I had assumed it was a piece from a larger poem but was unable to find any more of the poem. Perhaps this is all of it. If you know of a larger poem in which this is found, please mention it in the comments.

“In spite of sorrow, loss and pain
Our course be onward still;
We sow on Burmah’s barren plain,
We reap on Zion’s hill”
– Adoniram Judson

N. T. Wright on the Psalms

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Since I heard about N. T. Wright’s new book on the Psalms I have been waiting for it to come out. While I have my differences with Wright, I am glad to hear him speaking on this important issue.

He recently did an interview with Christianity Today on the topic of the Psalms which is quite useful. Here are a couple of excerpts:

For us to distance ourselves from the Psalms inevitably means distancing ourselves from Jesus. …

When people give up using the Psalms, they often invent poor substitutes—songs, prayers, or poems that have a bit of Christian emotion and a bit of doctrine, but nonetheless lack the Psalter’s depth, passion, and rich variety of expression. If one tries to do without the Psalms, there is an identifiable blank at the heart of things.

The full interview is not very long and is worth reading. If you have read any on this site, you will know that I resonate with the things Wright is saying here. We need the Psalms, and it is not difficult to get started using them in singing and praying.

Tolkien, A Son and A Father’s Legacy

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Recently the first ever press interview with Christopher Tolkien, son of J. R. R. Tolkien and the official executor of J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate, was published (the link takes you to an even more recent translation of the interview into English). The headline makes much of Christopher Tolkien’s displeasure with Peter Jackson’s movie interpretations, but what I found most intriguing was the story of a father’s affection for his son and the son’s labors to preserve and advance the work of his father. It is a beautiful story of father-son interaction and devotion.

As those familiar with the works of Tolkien will know, it is to Christopher Tolkien that we are indebted for The Simarillion and other published pieces of the story of Middle Earth. When J. R. R. Tolkien died his unpublished work was a mass of scattered and unorganized papers. Christopher resigned his faculty position in Old English at New College Oxford and threw himself full time into editing the work of his father and preserving and advancing his legacy. As the article states: “One thing is certain: from father to son, a great part of the work of J.R.R. Tolkien has now emerged from its boxes, thanks to the infinite perseverance of his son.”

This devotion was fired by the father sharing his stories with his son.

“Christopher Tolkien’s oldest memories were attached to the story of the beginnings[The Silmarillion], which his father would share with the children. ‘As strange as it may seem, I grew up in the world he created,’ he explains. ‘For me, the cities of The Silmarillion are more real than Babylon.’”

Fathers, none of us are J. R. R. Tolkien, but we do have great stories to pass down, especially The Great Story of redemption. This article encourages me to press on in passing down the stories of the Bible and of God’s faithfulness in our family’s life, allowing my children to see what these stories mean to me in hopes that they will own these stories as well. It reminds me that we are always inhabiting a story. The question is simply, “What story?” I want to be providing the parameters of great stories so that my family can inhabit and be formed by them.

(Also posted at The Children’s Hour)

“O Ye Sons of Men Be Wise”

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My poem of the week last week was this great gospel declaration by Joseph Hart:

“O Ye Sons of Men Be Wise”

O ye sons of men be wise,
trust no longer dreams and lies,
Out of Christ, almighty pow’r
can do nothing but devour.

God you say is good. ‘Tis true.
But he’s pure and holy too;
just and jealous is his ire,
burning with vindictive fire.

This of old himself declared:
Israel trembled when they heard.
But the proof of proofs indeed
is he sent his Son to bleed.

When the blessed Jesus died
God was clearly justified:
Sin to pardon without blood
never in his nature stood.

Worship God, then, in his Son,
there he’s love and there alone.
Think not that he will, or may,
pardon any other way.

See the suff’ring Son of God,
panting, groaning, sweating blood!
Brethren, this had never been
had not God detested sin.

Be his mercy therefore sought
in the way himself has taught:
There his clemency is such,
we can never trust too much.

He that better knows than we,
bids us all to Jesus flee.
Humbly take him at his Word
and your souls will bless the Lord!

 

–          Joseph Hart (1712-1768)