“A Call to Spiritual Reformation”

In 2002, at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformation Theology at 10th Presbyterian Church, I had the privilege to sit under the excellent teaching of D.A. Carson and was so blessed I bought all his books. Tonight as I was finishing up my “get finished” bits and pieces stack before my 2007 BB Warfield project, I read this passage from Carson’s “A Call to Spiritual Reformation” and realized that this passage had used the same hymn that I had used for my Thanksgiving post. Lovely! “Be Thou My Vision” is one of my favorite hymns and I especially like the Celtic version I have included here (once again). Be blessed and encouraged by this devotional message and the music.

“Martyn Lloyd-Jones was one of the most influential preachers of the century. A few weeks before he died, someone asked him how, after decades of fruitful ministry and extraordinary activity, he was coping now he was suffering such serious weakness it took much of his energy to move from his bed to his armchair and back. He replied in the words of Luke 10:20: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In other words, do not tie your joy, your sense of well-being, to power in ministry. Your ministry can be taken from you. Tie your joy to the fact that you are known and loved by God; tie it to your salvation; tie it to the sublime truth that your name is written in heaven. That can never be taken from you. “Lloyd-Jones added: “I am perfectly content.”

Here then is a practical test as to whether the excellence I pursue is really for the glory and praise of God or for my own self-image. If the things I value are taken away, is my joy in the Lord undiminished? Or am I so tied to my dreams that the destruction of my dreams means I am destroyed as well?

Paul’s pursuit of prayer of what is excellent is not idolatrous; rather, it is bound up with praising God. He would have understood the ancient Irish hymn:“1/

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;2/

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;

Thou ever with me, and I with Thee, Lord;

Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son,

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;

Thou my whole armour and Thou my true might;

Thou my soul’s shelter, and Thou my strong tower,

Raise Thou me heavenward, great power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise;

Thou mine inheritance, now and always;

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, Thou heaven’s bright sun,

Grant me its joys after victory is won;

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

1/D.A. Carson, “A Call to Spiritual Reformation” 1992, pp.141-42

2/ Be Thou My Vision, Psalm 141:8 Author: Irish Hymn, C. 8th Century, Grans. By Mary E. Byrne, 1880-1931

“Redemptive-Historical Lectures & More”

Rev. Danny Olinger, General Secretary of OPC Committee on Christian Education will give three Redemptive-Historical Lectures on Saturday, Dec. 9th and Sunday, December 10 at Ketoctin Covenant Presbyterian Church (KCPC) in Purcellville, VA. You can visit KCPC for more information and directions. If your time permits read Rev. Olinger’s interesting article entitled, “The Reformation — Is It Over?” wherein he discusses Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom’s award-winning book, “Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism.”

“With regard to the material principle of the Reformation, sola fide, Van Til argues that Roman Catholicism (both before and after Vatican II) does not acknowledge that man was totally ruined by the Fall. Rather, Rome sees man’s problem starting with his finitude. Man tends naturally toward evil because he is a creature, not because he is a sinner. Supernatural grace, then, was necessary before the Fall; it was lost in the Fall, but man’s essential nature (rationality and free will) remained intact. Human reason is not radically depraved, and thus people can cooperate with God’s grace toward final justification.”

For Van Til, any discussion of Rome and sola fide must start here. Strimple agrees: “The difference between the Roman Catholic doctrine of salvation (both in its traditional form and now in its modern, Rahnerian form) and the Reformed doctrine of salvation is the difference between an ontological concept (man as created needing some “additional” gift) and an ethical one (man’s position being his disobedience, needing forgiveness and sanctification).” __Danny Olinger, “The Reformation –Is It Over?”

I am looking forward to Rev. Olinger’s lectures. Our last seminar/lectures with D.G. Hart entitled “Recovering Mother Kirk: The Case for Liturgy in the Reformed Tradition” were most interesting and insightful so I anticipate a blessing for the attendees and another feast of good doctrine with Rev. Olinger.