Jonathan Edwards and "the Perfect"

 Interesting, just came across this while reading one of Edwards' sermons on Heaven... As he preaches from 1 Corinthians 13 on love, he gives the following statement on what "that which is perfect" means.  I have bolded the two components to his view:

There is a twofold imperfect, and so a twofold perfect state of the Christian church. The church in its beginning, or in its first stage, before it was strongly established in the world, and settled in its New Testament state, and before the canon of Scripture was completed, was in an imperfect state - a state, as it were, of childhood, in comparison with what it was to be in its elder and later ages, when it should have reached its state of manhood, or of comparative earthly perfection. And so, again, this comparatively perfect church of Christ, so long as it remains in its militant state, that is, down to the end of time, will still be in an imperfect, and, as it were, in a childish state, in comparison with what it will be in its heavenly state, in which latter it is comparatively in its state of manhood or perfection.

  In other words, Edwards considered both the completion of the canon AND the eternal state to be included in the the "Perfect."  An interesting stance given the raging dorm-room debate of my college days...

(He gives more detailed thoughts as the sermon continues.)

just remembering

Old-fashioned kissing

Carey: The Spread of the Gospel: the Ministers, their Method, their Money

Carey's seminal work, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, is my most recently finished reading.  It is not a long work, and much of it is not particularly relevant for today.  But, the forth section is excellent and enduringly relevant.  With that being said, below are some quotations from that final section of the work, which I believe are still deeply meaningful for today.  (Carey's topic was the need  to take the Gospel of Christ to those who did not have access to it; thus, if the reference in the quotations seem vague, that is what is being spoken of.)

The [ministers of the Gospel] must be men of great piety, prudence, courage, and forbearance; of undoubted orthodoxy in their sentiments, and must enter with all their hearts into the spirit of their mission; they must be willing to leave all the comforts of life behind them, and to encounter all the hardships of a torrid, or a frigid climate, an uncomfortable manner of living, and every other inconvenience that can attend this undertaking. ...
 

by all lawful means to endeavour to cultivate a friendship with them, and as soon as possible let them know the errand for which they were sent. They must endeavour to convince them that it was their good alone, which induced them to forsake their friends, and all the comforts of their native country. They must be very careful not to resent injuries which may be offered to them, nor to think highly of themselves, so as to despise the poor heathens, and by those means lay a foundation for their resentment, or rejection of the gospel. They must take every opportunity of doing them good, and labouring, and travelling, night and day, they must instruct, exhort, and rebuke, with all long suffering, and anxious desire for them, and, above all, must be instant in prayer for the effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the people of their charge. Let but [Gospel ministers]  of the above description engage in the work, and we shall see that it is not impracticable. ...
 

In respect to contributions for defraying the expences [sic], money will doubtless be wanting; ...

We are exhorted to lay up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal. It is also declared that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. These Scriptures teach us that the enjoyments of the life to come, bear a near relation to that which now is; a relation similar to that of the harvest, and the seed. It is true all the reward is of mere grace, but it is nevertheless encouraging; what a treasure, what an harvest must await such characters as PAUL, and ELLIOT, and BRAINERD, and others, who have given themselves wholly to the work of the Lord. What a heaven will it be to see the many myriads of poor heathens, of Britons amongst the rest, who by their labours have been brought to the knowledge of God. Surely a crown of rejoicing like this is worth aspiring to. Surely it is worth while to lay ourselves out with all our might, in promoting the cause, and kingdom of Christ.

Carey: The Spread of the Gospel and Prayer

One of the first, and most important of those duties which are incumbent upon us, is fervent and united prayer. However the influence of the Holy Spirit may be set at nought, and run down by many, it will be found upon trial, that all means which we can use, without it, will be ineffectual. ...

The most glorious works of grace that have ever took place, have been in answer to prayer; and it is in this way, we have the greatest reason to suppose, that the glorious out-pouring of the Spirit, which we expect at last, will be bestowed. ...
 

Many can do nothing but pray, and prayer is perhaps the only thing in which Christians of all denominations can cordially, and unreservedly unite; but in this we may all be one, and in this the strictest unanimity ought to prevail. ...
 

We must not be contented however with praying, without exerting ourselves in the use of means for the obtaining of those things we pray for.

-- from Carey's Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians

Rested Running (Isaiah 40:28-31)

   Yesterday morning, our prayer group read and talked through Isaiah 40; it was particularly impacting to see again who God is and who we are at the most basic level, and all of this shown to us in the most gracious and merciful ways: "Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.  He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." Below are the final verses of Isaiah 40 along with my poetic thoughts from those verses, written yesterday night in the middle of a late-night security shift. :) 

 

Isaiah 40:28-31 (ESV)

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

 

        Rested Running  (Isa 40:28-31)

The Lord’s eternal; He’s Creator.

By His own power, He’s Sustainer.

He will not faint; He won’t grow weary.

Praise to our Lord!

We’re not infinite; we’re created.

In our own power, we’re constrained.

We’ll always faint, collapse, grow weary.

 Hope in the Lord!

We anticipate; He is coming.

In His great power, we are running.

We will not faint or e’en grow weary.

Rest in the Lord!

    A summary of these verses might be "The unwearied God is the only one who can keep you from being weary; weariness is a sign that you are running in your own strength.  Run, but do not be weary!"

the missionary God, his Son, and his Church

“The Lord of the Scriptures is a missionary God who not only reaches out and gathers the lost but also sends his servants, and particularly his beloved Son, to achieve his gracious saving purposes.  As many have rightly observed, the most important mission in the Scriptures is the missio Dei. Jesus Christ is the ‘missionary’ par excellence: the basic and foundational mission is his.  He has been sent by the Father to effect forgiveness and salvation, especially through his death and resurrection (cf. Luke 4:18-19; 24:47-47), and then to announce it to Jews and Gentiles alike.  In fulfillment of the Servant’s role his task is to bring (or, perhaps, be) God’s salvation to the ends of the earth.  

"The mission of the exalted Jesus is accomplished through the witness of the apostles in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The one who is himself sent by God sends his representatives to bear testimony to his salvation, to announce the forgiveness of sins and to make disciples of all nations.  In other words, his witnesses continue the mission of Jesus by declaring to men and women everywhere the glorious gospel of the grace of God.”

- Köstenberger, Andreas J. and Peter T. O'Brien, Salvation to the Ends of the Earth, pg. 269.

Imperialism and Diversity

I'm most of the way through Tim Chester's excellent book From Creation to New Creation, which is a book on the story of the Bible through the lens of Genesis 12 and the promises to Abraham.  This quote seemed interesting and worth sharing. All the nations are gathered in heaven in the last day and bring their rich cultures with them...

A characteristic of imperialism ever since Babel has been its move towards ethnic and linguistic homogeneity.  But the 'empire' of the Lamb is different.  It celebrates diversity. (153)

(Chester is best known perhaps for his book Total Church, but he has a number of excellent resources available.  Check the Westminster Bookstore as well as Amazon.)

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you!

  In the last couple days, I noticed that when I call Talitha to me and she starts crawling, she often gets distracted.  She needs me to keep calling her to me because the initial expression of my desire for her to be closer is not strong enough or important enough in her mind to keep her focused on coming to me.  She needs to see me also stretching my arms further and further and moving towards her.

  Are we not often just like that in our walk with God?  Do I not continually get distracted from my purpose of drawing nearer to our Daddy in Heaven?  Do I not forget that He already gave me the greatest possible incentive to draw near and the greatest expression of His love centuries ago?  And so, He continually reaches out to us and Himself comes a little nearer with His arms stretched even further toward us.

Steady certainty - What God and His Word always bring!

Turn to me and have mercy on me, 

   as you always do to those who love your name.  

Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
   and your servant loves them.  (Ps 119:132, 140- NIV)

  Two verses that stood out today as some friends and I were going through those two sections of Psalm 119.  1) God always turns to His children and is merciful to them, always!  2) Furthermore, his promises have been thoroughly tested and proven true, so we may put full faith in them and delight and love them.  The promises of God have been put through the wringer of human experience, particularly in the incarnation and suffering of His Son, and they have always come through.  Delight in the promises of God, for they are certain.

Extracts on Storytelling

I have been studying storytelling over the course of a couple months to try to learn to tell The Story better; this website has some good basic advice from which I have clipped some statements.

Oral storytelling involves much interaction between teller and hearer. I have observed that our audiences have lost some of the skills to follow a narrated story and see things in their minds. Storytelling has become more difficult. Attention spans are shorter and more demanding, more sophisticated, yet less able to independently imagine or visualize. People seem to need more visual stimulation.

Once you settle on a story, you will want to spend plenty of time with it. It will take a considerable period of time and a number of tellings before a new story becomes your own. 

Once you finish the story - stop! Don't ramble on. Leave their thoughts lingering over it. Don't feel you have to explain everything, or tie together all loose ends. Let them go away thinking about what has been said, and drawing their own meaning from it!

The more you practice- the more skilled you will become. Don't be afraid to try different methods. Be creative. As you do learn from your experiences. Expect to flop, the best of us do. Don't be overly self- conscious. Have fun and share the joy of story.