J.I Packer

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 50

DWELL SPIRIT IN OUR HEARTS

The Holy Spirit is our Guide, not only to show us the way, but to go with us by continued aids and influences. To be led into a truth is more than barely to know it; it is not only to have the notion of it in our heads, but the relish, and savour, and power of it in our hearts.1

“[T]he Helper, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things.” (John 14:26 ESV).

‘The abiding Indweller, the Spirit, is perpetually admonishing, leading, drawing, and constraining the soul.”2

It is the Holy Spirit who guides us into the right path for us to walk and convicts us of our sin if we stray from that path. It is the Holy Spirit who reminds us of the truth of God’s Word and teaches us how to apply God’s Word to our daily lives. It is the Holy Spirit who works in us to conform us to the image of Christ Jesus, and who works through us to minister the presence and power of Christ to others.3

“We are lacking in great doctrinal hymns concerning the Holy Spirit and His work. [T]hese hymns that beseech Him to come into the Church and to come upon us, and to do this and that – are thoroughly unscriptural.”4

The below hymn “which as a plea for spiritual realism, responsiveness, repentance, righteousness, and reviving of spirit in and through Christ is as near perfect as we are ever likely to get.”5 The verses are almost verbatim from the hymn, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come.”

Come, Holy Spirit, Come

Dwell Spirit in our hearts, show us that loving Man

The Lord of Hosts, the Mighty God, the Eternal Prince of Peace.

Convince us of our sin, then lead to Jesus’s blood,

And to our won’dring view reveal the secret love of God

‘Tis thine to cleanse the heart, to sanctify the soul,

to pour fresh life in ev’ry part, and new-create the whole.

Revive our drooping faith, our doubts and fears remove.

Then shall we know, and praise, and love, the Father, Son, and Thee.6

“Humans become like what they adore. The Spirit works to foster adoration of Christ so that people will become like him. Thus, sanctification flows from adoration, and both are accomplished by the Spirit in the believer’s life.”7

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ENDNOTES

(50) Go With the SPIRIT

            1. Matthew Henry, “Complete Commentary on John 16,” 1706, Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible, 09 April 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/mhm/john-16.html.

            2. Octavius Winslow, Evening Thoughts (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2005) August 9th.

            3. Charles F. Stanley, Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005) ix.

            4. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Great Doctrines of the Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003) 2:6.

            5. J.I. Packer, Keep in Step With the Spirit (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1984) 261-262.

            6. Joseph Hart, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come,” 1759, Hymnary, 09 April 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/come_holy_spirit_come_let_thy_bright_bea.

7. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2521.

            8. “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. . . .” (Psalm 127:1 ESV).

            9. “ . . . all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. . . .” (Isaiah 64:6 ESV).

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 40

THE WORD INFALLIBLE

“Holy Scripture should be thought of as God preaching.”1 “He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words”(Heb 1:1-3 MSG)!

The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contains all the words of God which he intends his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it contains everything we need God to tell us for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and obeying him perfectly.2

“At each stage in redemptive history, the things that God had revealed were for his people for that time, and they were to study, believe, and obey those things.”3

[A]t the time of the death of Moses, the first five books of our Old Testament were sufficient for God’s people at that time. But God directed later authors to add more, so that Scripture would be sufficient for believers in those subsequent times. For Christians today, the words from God which we have in the Old and New Testaments together are sufficient for us during the church age.4

Scripture leads to a Person, not just truths. All Scripture points to Jesus’ death and resurrection, to forgiveness, and to personal knowledge of God through him. [We] should come to Scripture humbly, expecting to learn and be corrected, willing to observe Scripture closely and accept whatever [we] find.5

“We find Christ in all the Scriptures. In the Old Testament He is predicted, in the Gospels He is revealed, in Acts He is preached, in the epistles He is explained, and in Revelation He is expected.”6

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”(Matt 5:17 ESV). Here Christ was emphasizing both the inspiration and the enduring authority of all Scripture. He was specifically affirming the utter inerrancy and absolute authority of the OT as the Word of God. [N]othing has passed from the law, but rather every aspect of the law has been fulfilled in him.7

“[T]rue knowledge of God includes understanding everything from his perspective. It is to learn what God loves and hates, and to see, hear, think, and act the way he does.”8

“To understand God’s Word, we must totally disregard our own wisdom and rest in utter dependence on the Spirit of God to interpret it for us.”9

“[Through the mire and through the slough, through the flood and through the flame, follow Jesus and the Word infallible.”10

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ENDNOTES

(40) We’ll Stand on GOD’s Word

            1. J. I. Packer, God Has Spoken (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979) 97.

            2. Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1988, 2000) 250.

            3. Grudem, 261.

            4. Grudem.

            5. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2561.

            6. Alistair Begg

            7. John MacArthur, One Perfect Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012) 139.

            8. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2505.

            9. R. A. Torrey, God’s Power in Your Life (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1982) 72-73.

            10. Charles Spurgeon, Spiritual warfare in a Believer’s Life (Lynnwood, WA: Emerald Books, 1993) 80.

            11. R. Kelso Carter, “Standing on the Promises,” 1886, Hymnary, 2 August 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/standing_on_the_promises_of_christ_my_ki.

            12. Charles Spurgeon, Spiritual warfare in a Believer’s Life (Lynnwood, WA: Emerald Books, 1993) 80.

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 31

GOD’S MASTER PLAN

[H]ere are you and I, miserable worms in this world, miserable worms with our arrogance and our pride and our appalling ignorance. We deserve nothing but to be blotted off the face of the earth. But what has happened is that before the foundation of the world this blessed God considered us, considered our condition, considered what would happen to us and planned a way whereby we might be forgiven and redeemed.1

“God’s act of choosing His people in Christ was without the consideration of the fall, nor was it upon the foresight and footing of works, but was wholly of grace, and all to the praise and glory of it.”2

“[I]n love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,” (Eph 1:4-5 ESV). “God predestined his elect to redemption and holiness in Christ according to the free council of his will.”3

“God has imputed the believer’s sin to Christ and God imputes Christ’s righteousness to the believer.”4 “[We] are pardoned because [our] sin is punished in Christ. And [we] are restored because his righteousness becomes [ours].”5

“Christianity rest on an unveiling of the hidden Creator Himself.”6 “[B]eing creatures, we cannot know God unless He acts to make Himself known to us. Even Adam in Eden needed direct divine speech to make known to him all God’s will.”7 “God created man in his own image. And God blessed them. And God said to them . . . And God said . . . ”(Gen 1:27-29 ESV).

“Revelation does not mean man finding God, but God finding man, God sharing His secrets with us, God showing us Himself.”8

It always bothers me when we gather for worship and people say things like, ‘Lord, we invite you into our presence.’ When we should be humbly thanking him for allowing us into his presence. You see, proper worship begins with a proper perspective of who we are and who God is. When we gather to worship, it’s good for us to remember that God is not in our presence, we are in his.9

“He is a friend to us, and we to Him, He finding His joy in giving us gifts and we finding ours in giving Him thanks.”10

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ENDNOTES

(31) GOD’s Love Self-generated

            1. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “God’s Great Plan of Redemption,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 4.

            2. A.W. Pink, “The Mediator Chosen,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 25.

            3. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2260.

            4. ESV Study Bible, 2231.

            5. G. I. Williamson, The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing Company, 1964, 2004) 105.

            6. J.I. Packer, God Has Spoken (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979) 45.

            7. Packer, 53-55.

8. Packer, 46.

            9. Denny Johnson, “The Intimacy of God’s Sovereignty,” NHC sermon notes, 7 February 2021: 4.

            10. Packer, 50.

            11. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 550-551.

            12. Horatius Bonar, Words Old and New (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 1866, 1994) 126-127.

            13. “ . . . Jesus Christ—Loyal Witness, Firstborn from the dead, Ruler of all earthly kings” (Rev 1:4-7 MSG).

            14. Isaac Watts, “Jesus Shall Reign,” 1719, Hymnary, 19 February 2021 https://hymnary.org/text/jesus_shall_reign_whereer_the_sun.

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OUR WEAKNESSES

“We are ready to turn into any house, stay and play with everything in our way, and sit down on every green bank, and much ado there is to get us home” Richard Baxter (ref#225, May 21st). Note: CHRIST does not just sit on His throne.

“[T]o keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited” (2 Cor 12:7 ESV).

“Paul’s earthy weakness, not his revelations, are to be the platform for demonstrating the Lord’s power and grace” ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p2238).

“[D]o not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse no barn, and yet God feeds them. O you of little faith! [D]o not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried” (Luke 12:22-24, 28-29 ESV).

“Be strong and courageous” (Josh 1:6 ESV).

“Take courage, for there must be a consciousness of weakness before the Lord will give you victory. Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up.

When I am weak then am I strong,

Grace is my shield and Christ my song” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 4th AM).

“A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God’s work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 4th AM).

“Purity is mastery over the inferior appetites” J.I. Packer (ref#321, p10).

“Most men study rather how to pass away their time than to redeem it” Thomas Case (ref#225, Dec 12th).

“Weak, unskillful, and unfaithful, as I am in practice, the Lord has been pleased to give me some idea of what a Christian ought to be, and of what is actually attainable in the present life” John Newton (ref#322, p135).

“Our native strength is but another term for utter weakness.” Octavius Winslow

ELECTION

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ELECTION

Two theologies of Salvation: “One speaks of a God who saves; the other speaks of a God who enables man to save himself.  One view presents the three great acts of the Holy Trinity for the recovering of lost mankind—election by the Father, redemption by the Son, calling by the Spirit—as directed towards the same persons, and as securing their salvation infallibly.  The other view gives each act a different reference [the objects of redemption being all mankind, of calling, those who hear the gospel, and of election, those hearers who respond], and denies that any man’s salvation is secured by any of them.  The two theologies thus conceive the plan of salvation in quite different terms.  One makes salvation depend on the work of God, the other on the work of man; one regards faith as part of God’s gift of salvation, the other as man’s own contribution to salvation; one gives all the glory of saving believers to God, the other divides the praise between God, Who, so to speak, built the machinery of salvation, and man, who by believing operated it” J. I. Packer (Introduction to The Death of Death by John Owen, p4).

“We shall never feel persuaded as we ought that our salvation flows from the free mercy of God as its fountain, until we are made acquainted with his eternal election” John Calvin (ref#113, p607).

“And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom 8:30 ESV).

Romans 8:30 can be summarized:

“I believe, therefore I am justified;

I am justified, therefore I am sanctified;

I am sanctified, therefore I am called;

I am called, therefore I am elected;

I am elected, therefore I shall be saved” Thomas Adams (ref#225, March 29th)

“’…those who are justified will be glorified’ (Rom 8:30), so that all the conditions laid down for glorification will be met by the power of God’s grace….Election… guards against the error of thinking that we can earn our way into God’s favor through ‘works of the law.’” John Piper (ref#220, p151).

“…faith is not a condition of election.  Election is a condition for faith.  It is because God chose us before the foundation of the world that he purchases our redemption at the cross and quickens us with irresistible grace and brings us to faith”  Dan Cummings (sermon, God’s Sovereign Election).

“…whoever believes has eternal life” (John 6:47 ESV).  “‘…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Rom 10:13 ESV).

 

ASSURANCES

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SPIRIT CHECK

“O soul, of all the false signs of grace, none more dangerous than those that most resemble true ones, and never doth the devil more surely destroy than when transformed into an angel of light” John Flavel (ref#333, p211).

The matter of life after earthly death is not only the most important subject to embrace but we must be aware that the temporary ruler of the earth will do everything in his power to keep us from fellowship with the eternal Ruler of all.  We need to continually check our spirit to see if we are walking with the eternal Spirit.

 

Can I tell my actions are becoming more like CHRIST?

“…there is no legitimate separation between belief and behavior.  Thus, those who profess faith but do not demonstrate any progress in godliness should question their spiritual state” (The ESV Study Bible, ref#125, p2322)

 

Are you saved by feeling you are, or by believing you are?

“…the New Testament does not insist upon feeling.  It says, do you believe; are you prepared to venture your all upon this?  So it is sufficient for you to say, ‘I live by this; whether I feel or whether I do not does not matter; we are not saved by feeling but by believing’” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, ref#332, p649).

 

Does the Bible influence you to change your ways?

“If there is one fact, or doctrine, or promise in the Bible, which has produced no practical effect upon your temper or conduct, be assured that you do not truly believe it” (Edward Payson, ref#333, p327).

 

Does thoughts of your salvation give you peace?

“Is not the doctrine of the assurance of salvation a most comfortable doctrine?…except a man be persuaded of the favour of God, and the forgiveness of sins, and consequently of his salvation, what comfort can he have in anything” (Arthur Dent, ref#333, p109)?

 

Will I persevere?—failure to do so proves I am not converted.

“…If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him…” (2 Tim 2:11-12 ESV).

 

Am I looking forward to living forever with JESUS?

“Those who have eternal life want more of it” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, ref#332, p643).

 

“…men without Christ are guiltily ignorant of God, perverse more or less in their thoughts of Him, self-idolizers even in their outward worship of Him, and strangers to His friendship” (J.I. Packer, ref#312, p61).

VALLEYS TO MOUNTAINTOPS

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BEING-PLACED-ON-THE-SHELF LEARNING

11/4/12

Screen Shot 2016-05-18 at 11.02.15 AMI have been put on the shelf with an upper respiratory infection for almost two weeks now, so what have I learned?

I have been mistaken to think I need to surround myself with GOD facts. (It only strengthens the temptation to pride—boasting in the knowledge gathered.)   I only need GOD to surround me. I go back to the J.I. Packer quote hanging on my wall, “Trustful acceptance of life as it comes, and keeping on doing what I should, are the two keys to happiness.” I need to get back to basics.

I have discovered my naivety is much greater than I imagined. In college I put in time sitting at my desk and thought that was all it took to study. Too, I thought that reading was all I had to do—pronouncing each word in my head—and not thinking at all about understanding what I read. So now, I find I’m doing the same thing: writing and reading prayers with no thought of internalizing them.

I suppose all this faulty thinking comes from being steeped in Pharisee-ism—being an actor on the stage of life—outward activity with no inward conviction.

I’ve been reading and writing too fast—like gathering and stuffing food in my mouth but not digesting it. I’ve been rattling on to GOD so much that I’ve not allowed GOD to make any comments back to me. I have a couple acquaintances that talk so much they forget to stop to let me answer. This is exactly what I have been doing with GOD!!

In the wake of being laid up not able to research and write, I have gone to memorizing Scripture. But, I have been doing the same thing with memorization!—I’ve been memorizing but not using the thoughts of Scripture productively in my life.

I have left the SPIRIT in the dust—using my brain to guide me instead of the SPIRIT. Again it’s my flesh, my natural mind that thinks it can move faster than the SPIRIT can move me and I fall into the trap of, “I want to be a spiritual giant, now.”

But, my head knowledge is doing nothing for me. The SPIRIT knows how to strengthen my spirit. I have been graced with the revelation—I need to wait for the SPIRIT to animate my spirit.

I perceive now that a season of praise can remedy leaning on my flesh. Waiting for the SPIRIT to awaken my spirit can do that work. Come SPIRIT, come and direct my heart to my FATHER. Come, lead my heart to rejoicing. Come, teach me how to wait. Come.

ADORATION

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HOLINESS

           “…’Holy, holy , holy is the Lord of hosts;…” (Isa 6:3 ESV)!

Screen Shot 2016-05-17 at 3.03.06 PM“…what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15 ESV). FATHER, Your abhorrence for ungodly things sobers me when I think about it. I think about it too little, now free me to think about it. Let me review ways of behaving that You positively hate:

“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man” (Ps 5:4-6 ESV).

“God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.  If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts” (Ps 7:11-13 ESV).

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers” (Prov 6:16-19 ESV).

FATHER, sin is whirling dust—filthy grit in Your eyes. Holiness is what I long for; may I tremble at Your Word lest I offend You (ref#89, p101). Save me, O GOD, that I may give thanks to Your holy name and glory in Your praise (1 Chron 16:35).

“…You are holy, O You Who dwell in [the holy place…” (Ps 22:3 AMP).