Come and Welcome - Conclusion

One of the reasons why I haven't blogged much on this book is due to the fact that I really enjoyed it. So much so that I decided that any spare time was better spent reading this book than writing about it.

In one of my early posts I spoke of the fact that Bunyan exhibits a beautiful joining of Reformed theology with a heart for evangelism. He is no "hyper-Calvinist", and his concern for lost souls pours off of the pages of Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ. Two final examples of this union:

Life is in Christ, that it might be sure to all the seed. Alas! The best of us, if life was left in our hand, to be sure, we would forfeit it, over, and over, and over. Or, if it was in any other hand, we should, by our often backslidings, so offend him, that at last he would shut up his bowels in everlasting displeasure against us. But now it is in Christ, it is with one that can pity, pray for, pardon, yes, multiply pardons. It is with one that can have compassion upon us, when we are out of the way; with one that has a heart to fetch us again, when we are gone astray; with one that can pardon without upbraiding. Blessed be God that life is in Christ! For now it is sure to all the seed. (pg. 199)

God has strewed all the way, from the gate of hell, where you were, to the gate of heaven, where you are going, with flowers out of his own garden. Behold how the promises, invitations, call, and encouragements, like lilies, lie round about you! Take heed that you do not tread them under foot, sinner. With promises, did I say? Yes, he has mixed all those with his own Name, his Son's Name; also, with the name of mercy, goodness, compassion, love, pity, grace, forgiveness, pardon, and what not, that may encourage the coming sinner. (pg. 221-222)

Oh what blessed promises are contained in the text that Bunyan so thoroughly exposits in this book:

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. - John 6:37, KJV

Come and Welcome - "and him"

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37, KJV)

There is many a sad wretch given by the Father to Jesus Christ; but not one of them all is despised or slighted by him. It is said of those that the Father has given to Christ that they have done worse than the heathen; that they were murderers, thieves, drunkards, unclean persons, and what not; but he has received them, washed them, and saved them. A fit emblem of this sort is that wretched example mentioned in the Ezekiel 16, that was cast out in a stinking condition, to the loathing of its person, in the day that it was born; a creature in such a wretched condition, that no eye pitied, to do any of the things there mentioned to it, or to have compassion upon it; no eye but his that speaks in the text.

'And him'. Let him be as red as blood, let him be as red as crimson. Some men are blood-red sinners, crimson-sinners, sinners of a double dye; dipped and dipped again, before they come to Jesus Christ. Are you who are reading these lines such a one? Speak out, man! Are you such a one? And are you now coming to Jesus Christ for the mercy of justification, that you might be made white in his blood, and be covered with his righteousness? Fear not; forasmuch as this your coming demonstrates that you are of the number of them that the Father has given to Christ; for he will in no wise cast you out. "Come now," says Christ, "and let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isa 1:18). (pg. 82-83)

As you are therefore coming, oh coming sinner, judge whether Christ can save you by the true sense of his words. Judge, coming sinner, of the efficacy of his blood, of the perfection of his righteousness, and of the prevalency of his intercession, by his Word. "And him," says he, "that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." "In no wise," that is, for no sin. Judge therefore by his word, how able he is to save you. (pg. 85)

Come and Welcome - Motives

When the jailor said, "Sirs, What must I do to be saved?" Paul did not so much as once ask him, What is your motive in this question? Do you design the glory of God, in the salvation of your soul? He had more sense; he knew that such questions as these would have been but foolish talk about, instead of a sufficient relief to so weighty a question as this. Wherefore, since this poor wretch lacked salvation by Jesus Christ, the salvation from hell and death, which he knew, now, was due to him for the sins that he had committed, Paul tells him, as the poor condemned sinner that he was, to proceed still in this his way of self-seeking, saying, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:30-32). (pg. 37)

Please note that even though the deliverance of our souls from damnation may be our motive to turn to Christ, we soon learn in his school the purpose of our salvation:

I know that afterwards you will desire to glorify Christ by walking in the way of his precepts; but at present you want life; the avenger of blood is behind you, and the devil like a roaring lion is behind you; well, come now, and obtain life from these; and when you have obtained some comfortable persuasion that you are made partaker of life by Christ, then, and not till then, you will say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies" (Psa 103:1-4). (ibid)

In other words, don't let the thought that you might have "impure motives" keep you from embracing the salvation that is found in Christ Jesus.

What do you trust?

Our post-modern society distains any type of standards, prefering instead to follow an "if it works for you who am I to judge?" philosophy, often with disastrous results. A recent news article demonstrates that standards are necessary and essential. In this article we learn that two men were killed due to the fact that there was no objective standard.

Pilots fly "by the numbers" especially if they have 3,400 hours logged. However, what are "the numbers" if your airspeed indicator isn't calibrated properly? For those of you who are not pilots, airspeed is the most critical element for safe flying. You never want to run out of airspeed, altitude, and ideas all at the same time. I have no doubt that the pilot sincerely believed what his airspeed indicator was telling him. He was doing everything correctly, yet still died, along with his passenger. Since the standard was wrong, this tragedy resulted. No pilot would ever fly an airplane without a working airspeed indicator, but this was an even worse situation, since it was not even known that the standard could not be trusted.

While not always picked up by the news media, many others "crash and burn" in their spiritual lives due to the fact that they have no objective standard. They may (or may not) be very sincere. They may (or may not) be very meticulous. Yet, if they are relying upon a faulty standard (or no standard at all) they are doomed for failure.

There is only one standard that we can trust for our spiritual well-being, that that is the Bible, God's Word.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra-- which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3, ESV)

but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31, ESV)

Having the right standard, and following it, is very, very important.

Mystery of Providence - Chapter Three

The Work of Conversion

How surprising was the mercy which Providence performed for you in that day! Providence had a design upon you for your eternal good, which you did not understand. The time of mercy was now fully come; the decree was now ready to bring forth that mercy, with which it had gone big from eternity, and its gracious design must be executed by the hand of Providence, so far as concerned the external means and instruments. How aptly did it cause all things to fall in with that design, though you did not know the meaning of it? (pg. 72)

In this chapter we find John Flavel, that consummate pastor, relating instances of God's Providence in bringing men and women to faith in Christ. How my heart rejoiced as he tells us of the many and varied ways that God directs the paths of His children into His presence.

At the beginning of the chapter he offers a bit of a disclaimer and warning. There are some, like myself, who can pinpoint the time of our awakening. There are others, like my wife, Barbara, who have no such memory of a specific time of conversion, even though it is real and enduring. Both are the products of God's Providence, both are valid experiences, and both are to be cherished.

In my wife's case, she grew up in the bosom of a Godly and worshiping family. Spiritual duties were attended with care, and the nurture and admonition of the Lord was a part of daily life. During her early childhood, and with the encouragement of Mom, Dad, and older brothers, she felt a sense of her sin and her need for salvation. She trusted in Christ in her early years, and has remained faithful to this day. She cannot pinpoint an exact time of her conversion, but it is a real and enduring fact in her life. God's Providence placed her in an environment in which the new birth could take place.

There was a considerable contrast in my case. While my parents were loving and nurturing (Thanks Dad for caring enough to devote time to scouts, school projects, and family vacations even while battling alcoholism.) there was very little spiritual direction. We would occasionally attend military chapels, but there was no attention to the worship of God as a part of our lives.

I was not a "bad kid" but I had no time for God. I remember reading from The Communist Manifesto at age 15, and thinking that there was ample evidence for religion being "the opiate of the masses". During the summer following my 16th birthday I had a part-time summer job with the city Recreation Department. A co-worker who was considerably smaller than me (I was already imposing in physical size) kept trying to tell me about Jesus. I was usually able to squelch the discussion quickly. On July 24, 1972 he came to me and tried to reopen the conversation. My rebuke was something to the effect of "You say the name 'Jesus' again, and I am going to ..." He asked me if I would "examine the claims of Christ", and handed me a little yellow booklet entitled The Four Spiritual Laws. Cracking it open I noticed that it contained various Bible references. Since "everyone knows that the Bible is full of errors", I decided to take up his challenge, relishing the thought of decimating his faith the following day.

Since I had to have a Bible in order to carry out my plan, and since the only Bible in our house was a monster family Bible covered with a layer of dust, and because I didn't want anyone to think that I had gone crazy by using that Bible, I came up with "Plan B". I went to the local Rexall drug store, and purchased a $2 paperback Bible from the book rack. I put the yellow tract in the same brown paper bag, and hid both under my mattress at home. After dinner I excused myself from my family, retired to my room, locked and checked the door, and proceeded in my plan to destroy Christianity and religion.

I opened the tract, and the first verse that I encountered was John 3:16. I needed to use the index at the front of the Bible to find John, and then, in order to discover the "errors" decided to read chapters 2-4 of John's Gospel. Hmmm, I didn't discover any "errors" there. Next was John 10:10, so I read John 9-11. This wasn't working out like I intended. After reading Romans 2-4 (Romans 3:23) I abandoned my plan, and as I continued to read the tract I realized that I was faced with a dilemma.

I now knew that I could either toss the Bible and tract in the trash and try to avoid my co-worker's questions for the rest of the summer, or I could place my trust in Jesus Christ as my only Savior from sin. I hadn't found any "errors" in the Bible, but the Bible had certainly uncovered "errors" in me. I was deeply convicted of my sins, and feared the judgment of God's wrath that I deserved. I remember falling on my knees and asking God to forgive me and save me. While I didn't know the word "repentance" at the time, I truly believe that this is what God wrought in my life at approximately 10:00 PM Mountain Daylight Time on July 24th, 1972. His Providence directed that evening and all of the events leading up to it, and allowed His grace to convert a wicked sinner into His kingdom.

How proud I was at the beginning of that evening. How humbled I was at the end of it. And yet, I knew, I truly knew, that I was changed forever.

The next day my co-worker very sheepishly asked me if I had looked at the tract. I replied "yes". He then, very carefully, asked me what I thought of it. When I told him that I had been converted his astonished response was: "You are kidding!!!". (Sometimes Christians have a hard time believing that God saves sinners.)

Note that it had to be Providence that worked this miracle. First, how many of us would consider it to be an effective witness to place a copy of The Four Spiritual Laws in a belligerent person's hands and ask them to "examine the claims of Christ"? How many of us would know that the recipient's pride would lead them to take up the challenge, even if for all the wrong reasons? How many of us truly believe that God can work His miracle of salvation using the weakest of means?

So, in conclusion, we see God at work saving people within the context of a Christian family, and we see God saving people all alone in their bedroom while trying to disprove the claims of Christ. We see God at work in orchestrating our lives for His glory, and we see him using us as the means, often very tiny means, to bring others into His kingdom.

O, therefore, set a special mark upon that Providence that set you in the way of this mercy. It has performed that for you which all the ministers on earth and angels in heaven could never have performed. This is a mercy that puts weight and value into the smallest circumstance that relates to it. (pg. 74)

February 29 Bible Reading - Leap Year

For the past two years I have been using the ESV Daily Reading Bible for my daily devotional reading. Each day includes readings from the Old Testament, the Psalms, and the New Testament. Following this plan you read through the Psalms and New Testament twice each year, and the balance of the Old Testament once each year.

This is a great plan, but it doesn't address what to do on February 29th. This is not unique, even long established plans like the M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan fail to address this situation.

Fortunately for me, February 29th falls on a Friday this year, which is my normal day off from my secular job. As a result, I can devote that day to the Lord's glory as a "Day of Jubilee". The current plan (subject to change) is to engage in the following readings:

The entire Gospel of John.

Psalms 22, 23, and 24. (The trilogy of Suffering Servant, Good Shepherd, and Glorious King.)

Isaiah 53.

As you can see, this plan is fully Christocentric. It is my prayer that Christ be at the center of my life, not only on February 29th, but each and every day.

What is your plan for this extra day?

To the Ends of the Earth

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. - Jim Elliot, October 28, 1949

On this date, January 8, in 1956, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Nate Saint gave their lives to bring the Gospel to the Huaorani people of Ecudor. While we may question why their lives were cut short at the beginning of their ministry, we trust in God's providence in performing His glorious will.

What am I willing to endure or experience to share the Gospel with the lost?

Weekly Puritan

Be sure to get an interest in Christ—
if you intend to mortify any sin without it,
it will never be done.

Let men know it is their duty, but in its proper place; I take not men from mortification, but put them upon conversion. He that shall call a man from mending a hole in the wall of his house, to quench a fire that is consuming the whole building, is not his enemy. Poor soul! It is not your sore finger but your hectic fever that you are to apply yourself to the consideration of. You set yourself against a particular sin and do not consider that you are nothing but sin.

John Owen, Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, Chapter 7

(You can read this work as part of Reading Classics Together along with Tim Challies and hundreds of his closest friends.)

Christmas Eve 2007

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:14 (ESV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.” - John 3:16-21 (ESV)