Here’s the schedule:
January: The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes (128 pp)
February: The Mystery of Providence by John Flavel (221 pp)
March: The Godly Man’s Picture by Thomas Watson (252 pp)
April: Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices by Thomas Brooks (253 pp)
May: Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ by John Bunyan (225 pp)
June: The Mortification of Sin by John Owen (130 pp)
July: A Lifting Up for the Downcast by William Bridge (287 pp)
August: The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs (228 pp)
September: The True Bounds of Christian Freedom by Samuel Bolton (224 pp)
October: The Christian’s Great Interest by William Guthrie (207 pp)
November: The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter (256 pp)
December: A Sure Guide to Heaven by Joseph Alleine (148 pp)

For more visit Timmy Brister at P&P.

That last sentence reminds me that no matter what side of the theological fence a believer is on, Arminian or Reformed, the Christian life is less about choosing God than it is about desiring God. For if God is the source of all good then we will desire him since our goodness and happiness will be found in him.

“There is a hiatus between the arena of the young theologian’s actual spiritual growth and what he already knows intellectually about this arena.”

and “in us men truth and love are seldom combined.”

and “It can be sacred theology or diabolical theology. That depends upon the hands and hearts which further it. But which of the two it is cannot necessarily be seen by the fact that in one case it is orthodox and in the other heretical.”

I do not feel I have always grown beyond this but I have been convicted of using the Sword of the Spirit against those I love, congratulating myself that I have forced them into an intellectual corner. Whereas instead of using my Scriptural knowledge against others I needed to use it against my sin and my flesh.

So from one middle-aged armchair theologian to all young theologians, do not use your knowledge to win an argument and show off your intellectual prowess, which you probably ripped off of someone else. But use it to display the glory of God and the joy that he offers. Only set Scripture before people and allow them to wrestle with it and what it plainly means giving them as much grace as God has given you.

-‘But Now I See’: The Life of John Newton, by Josiah Bull p. 212

“It is better to go with difficulty to heaven than with ease to hell” (8)

“A woman may as well expect to have a child without pangs as one can have repentance without sorrow. He that can believe without doubting, suspect his faith; and he that can repent without sorrowing, suspect his repentance.” (19)

“We are to find as much bitterness in weeping for sin as ever we found sweetness in committing it.” (24)

“The Christian has arrived as a sufficient measure of sorrow when the love of sin is purged out.” (24)

“The more bitterness we taste in sin, the more sweetness we shall taste in Christ.” (27)

Ingredients of Proper Confession:

1. “Confession must be voluntary”

“true confession drops from the lips as myrrh from the tree or honey form the comb, freely.” (29)

2. “Confession must be with compunction”

“It is one thing to confess sin and another to feel sin.” (29)

3. “Confession must be sincere”

4. “In true confession a man particularizes sin”

“In the same way a wicked man says, ‘Lord, I have sinned’, but does not know what the sin is; as least he does not remember, whereas a true convert acknowledges his particular sin.” (30)

5. “A true penitent confesses sin in the fountain”

“We are ready to charge many of our first sins to Satan’s temptations, but this sin of our nature is wholly from ourselves; we cannot shift it off to Satan.” (30)

“Our nature is an abyss and seminary of all evil, from whence come those scandals that infest the world.” (31)

6. “Sin is to be confessed with all its circumstances and aggravations”

7. “In confession we must so charge ourselves as to clear God”

8. “We must confess our sins with a resolution not to act them over again”

“many seem to kill their sins in their confessions and afterwards let them grow as fast as ever.” (31)

“Origen calls confession the vomit of the soul whereby the conscience is eased of that burden.” (32)

“What king will pardon that man who, after he has confessed his treason, practices new treason?” (32)

The Results of Proper Confession: (34-35)

1. “Holy confession gives glory to God”

“A humble confession exalts God” (34)

2. “Confession is a means to humble the soul”

3. “Confession gives vent to a troubled heart”

4. “Confession purges out sin”

“Confession is like the dung-gate, through which all the filth of the city was carried forth.” (35)

5. “Confession of sin endears Christ to the soul”

6. “Confession of sin makes way for pardon”

“Repentance causes a holy bashfulness. If Christ’s blood were not at the sinner’s heart, there would not so much blood come in the face.” (39)

“Our sins are worse than the sins of the devils: the lapsed angels never sinned against Christ’s blood. Christ died not for them. The medicine of his merit was never intended to heal them. But we have affronted and disparaged his blood by unbelief.” (42)

“A true penitent is a sin-loather.” (45)

“Christ is never loved till sin be loathed. Heaven is never longed for till sin be loathed.” (45)

“We are never more precious in God’s eyes than when we are lepers in our own.” (45)

“Sound repentance begins in the love of God and ends in the hatred of sin.” (45)

“So let the devil cook and dress sin with pleasure and profit, yet a true penitent with a secret abhorrence of it is disgusted by it and will not meddle with it.” (46)

“He who hates one sin hates them all.” (46)

“Where there is a real hatred, we not only oppose sin in ourselves but in others too” (47)

“To the godly sin is as a thorn in the eye; to the wicked it is as a crown on the head.” (47)

“Affliction is but corrective; sin is destructive. Affliction can but take away the life; sin takes away the soul (Luke 12:20).” (49)

“In the torments of hell there is something that is good, namely, the execution of divine justice. There is justice to be found in hell, but sin is a piece of the highest injustice. It would rob God of his glory, Christ of his purchase, the soul of its happiness.” (51)

“a true convert seeks the destruction of every lust. He knows how dangerous it is to entertain any one sin. He that hides one rebel in his house is a traitor to the Crown, and he that indulges one sin is a traitorous hypocrite.” (54)

“He that returns to sin by implication charges God with some evil. If a man puts away his wife, it implies he knows some fault by her. To leave God and to return to sin is tacitly to asperse the Deity.” (55)

“A true turning from sin is a divorcing it, so as never to come near it any more.” (56)

“Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” (63)

“Repentance is necessary for civil persons. … Indeed these are often in the worst condition: these are they who need no repentance (Luke 15:7). Their civility undoes them. They make a Christ of it, and so on this shelf they suffer shipwreck. Morality shoots short of heaven. … Civility is insufficient for salvation. Though the life be moralized, the lust may be unmortified. The heart may be full of pride and atheism. I am not saying, repent that you are civil, but repent that you are no more than civil.” (67)

“Indeed, if prayer does not make a man leave sin, sin will make him leave prayer.” (68)

“Repentance is a continuous act. The issue of godly sorrow must not be quite stopped till death.” (69)

“Let it grieve you that so much of your age has not been time lived but time lost; that you have filled up your golden hours more with froth than with spirits.” (71)

“Sin hangs weights on us so that we move but slowly to heaven.” (73)

“No prayer touches God’s ear but what comes from a heart touched with the sense of sin.” (77)

“Knowledge without repentance will be but a torch to light men to hell.” (77)

“Let a man, said Augustine, grieve for his sin and rejoice for his grief.” (78)

“It is not so much the sins we have committed that so provoke and grieve Christ as that we refuse the physic of repentance which he prescribes.” (84)

“Be as speedy in your repentance as you would have God speedy in his mercies: ‘the king’s business required haste’ (I Sam 21:8).” (86)

“Many are now in hell that proposed to repent.” (86)

“By late repentance, though we do not lose our crown, yet we make it lighter.” (88)

“God who pardons him that repents has not promised to give him tomorrow to repent in.” (90)

“God is never pleased with us than when we fall out with ourselves for sin.” (93)

“We please God by repentance but we do not satisfy him by it.” (97)

“Though repentance helps to purge out the filth of sin, yet it is Christ’s blood that washes away the guilt of sin.” (97)

“This is the mischief sin has done; it has not only made us sick, but senseless.” (99)

“This conceit of the easiness of repentance is a great hindrance to it.” (100)

“A sinner will rather lose Christ and heaven than his lusts.” (100)

“Because of mercy men presume and think they may go on in sin, but should a king’s clemency make his subjects rebel.” (101)

“God will hardly show those mercy who sin because mercy abounds.” (101)

“It [repentance] does not crucify but clarify our joy, and takes it off from the fulsome lees of sin.” (102)

“Repentance does not take away a Christian’s music, but raises it a note higher and makes it sweeter.” (103)

“A creditor may forbear his debtor, but forbearance does not excuse payment.” (104)

“If you cannot bear a reproach for religion, never call yourself Christian.” (105)

“The farm and shop so take up people’s time that they have no leisure for their souls. Their golden weights hinder their silver tears.” (105)

“So, being conscious of our own inability to leave sin, let us get Christ to be bound with us and engage his strength for the mortifying of corruption.” (120)

“Beg of Christ to give to us such a look of love as he did to Peter, which made him go out and weep bitterly. Implore the help of God’s Spirit.” (121)

“We can harden our hearts, but cannot soften them. This crown of free-will is fallen from our head. Nay, there is in us not only impotency, but obstinacy (Acts 7:51). Therefore beg of God a repentant spirit. He can make the stony heart bleed. His is a word of creative power.” (121)

One of the things that I wish more book reviews had in them were more quotes from the book. I know that pulling quotes out of context can be deadly but I’d rather those of you who have not read the book get the highlights from Owen himself. I want you to taste this work itself to inspire you to read it, not to tell you what it tastes like. So without further ado, here are my favorite quotes from The Mortification of Sin.

“the vigor, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depend on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh.” (p.24)

“Be killing sin, or it will be killing you” (p.26)

“When sin lets us alone, we may let it alone: but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems to be the most quiet, and its waters are for the most part deep when they are still, so ought our contrivances against it to be vigorous at all times, in all conditions, even where there is least suspicion.” (p.28)

“[Sin] is modest, as it were, in its first motions and proposals; but having once got footing in the heart by them, it constantly makes good its ground, and presseth on to some degrees in the same kind.” (p.31)

“Not to be daily mortifying sin is to sin against the goodness, kindness, wisdom, grace and love of God, who hath furnished us with a principle of doing it.” (p.32)

“Let not that man think he makes any progress in holiness, who walks not over the neck of his lusts.” (p.34)

“The root of an unmortified course is the digestion of sin, without bitterness in the heart. When a man hath fixed his imagination to such an apprehension of grace and mercy, as to be able without bitterness to swallow and digest daily sins, that man is at the very brink of turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (p.36)

Concerning the Holy Spirit:

“Spiritually sick men cannot sweat out their distemper with working.” (p.43)

“This renewing of us by the Holy Ghost, as it is called (Titus 3:5), is one great way of mortification: he causes us to grow, thrive, flourish and abound in those graces which are contrary, opposite, and destructive to all the fruits of the flesh, and to the quiet or thriving of indwelling sin.” (p.45)

“He [the Holy Spirit] is the fire which burns up the very root of lust.” (p.45)

“The Holy Ghost works in us and upon us, as we are fit to be wrought in and upon; that is, so as to preserve our understandings, wills, consciences and affections, agreeably to their own natures: he works in us and with us, not against us or without us: so that his assistance is an encouragement as to the facilitating of the work, and no occasion of neglect as to the work itself.” (p.46)

“A man may easier see without eyes, speak without a tongue, than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit.” (p.75)

Unmortification removes our assurance of salvation:

“Every unmortified sin will certainly do two things; first, it will weaken the soul, and deprive it of its vigor; secondly, it will darken the soul, and deprive it of its comfort and peace.” (p.51)

“An unmortified lust will drink up the spirit and all the vigor of the soul, and weaken it for all duties.” (p.51)

“As sin weakens, so it darkens the soul. It is a cloud, a thick cloud, that spreads itself over the face of the soul, and intercepts all the beams of God’s love and favour. It takes away all sense of the privilege of adoption.” (p.52)

“A sin is not mortified when it is only diverted. … A man may be sensible of a lust, set himself against the eruptions of it, take care that it shall not break forth as it hath done; but in the mean time may suffer the same corrupted habit to vent itself some other way; as he who heals a skins a running sore thinks that himself cured, but in the mean time his flesh festereth by the corruption of the same humour, and breaks out in another place. … He hath changed his master, but is a servant still.” (p.58-59)

“Occasional conquests of sin do not amount to mortifying it.” (p.59)

“Now the first thing in mortification is the weakening of this habit of sin or lust, so that it shall not, with that violence, earnestness, rise up, conceive, tumultuate, provoke, entice, disquiet, as naturally it is apt to do.” (p.64-65)

“It is to be feared that very many have little knowledge of the main enemy that they carry about them in their bosoms.” (p.69)

Concerning the unregenerate:

“Unless a man be a believer, that is, one that is truly ingrafted into Christ, he can never mortify any one sin.” (p.74)

“There is no death of sin, without the death of Christ.” (p.74)

“All attempts, then, for mortification of any lust, without an interest in Christ, are vain.” (p.76)

“men must be gold and silver at bottom, or else refining will do no good.” (p.77)

“I say, then, mortification is not the present business of unregenerate men. God calls them not to it as yet. Conversion is their work; the conversion of the whole soul, not the mortification of this or that particular lust.” (p.77)

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. … Thou settest thyself against a particular sin, and dost not consider that thou art nothing but sin.” (p.83)

“To break men off from particular sins, and not to break their hearts, is to deprive ourselves of advantages of dealing with them.” (p.84)

“Hatred as sin as sin, not only as galling or disquieting; a sense of the love of Christ in the cross; lies at the bottom of all true spiritual mortification.” (p.89)

“As [sin] never dies of itself, so, if it be not daily killed, it will always gather strength.” (p.95)

“By applying grace and mercy to an unmortified sin, or one not sincerely endeavoured to be mortified, is this deceit carried on.” (p.97)

“It is true, indeed, a resolution to this purpose to indulge a man’s self in any sin on the account of mercy, seems to be (and doubtless, if for any course, is) altogether inconsistent with Christian sincerity, is a badge of a hypocrite and is the turning of the grace of God into wantonness (Jude 4).” (p.97)

“When a man fighteth against his sin only with arguments from the issue or the punishment due unto it, it is a sign that sin hath taken great possession of the will, and that in the heart there is a superfluity of the naughtiness.” (p.99)

“But now, if a man be so under the power of his lust that he hath nothing but law to oppose it with; if he cannot fight against it with gospel weapons, but deals with it altogether with hell and judgment, which are the proper arms of the law; it is most evidentthat sin hath possessed itself of his will and affections to a very great prevalency and conquest.” (p.100)

“Paul’s main argument to evince that sin shall not have dominion over believers is that they are not under the law, but under grace.” (p.101)

“This is the proper issue of lust in the heart; it darkens the mind so that it shall not judge aright of its guilt.” (p.109)

“There is conceivably more evil and guilt in the evil of thy [Christian] heart that doth remain, than there would be in so much sin if thou hadst no grace at all.” (p.109)

“whilst any one lies under an abiding power of sin, the threats of destruction and everlasting separation from God are to be held out to him.” (p.114)

“this is the proper work of the law, to discover sin in the guilt of it, to awake and humble the soul for it, to be a glass to represent sin in its colours.” (p.121)

“Was my soul washed that room might be made new defilements? Shall I endeavour to disappoint the end of the death of Christ? Shall I daily grieve that Spirit whereby I am sealed to the day of redemption?” (p.122)

“Consider what ways, what companies, what opportunities, what studies, what businesses, what conditions, have at any time given, or do usually give advantages to thy distempers [sin]; and set thyself heedfully against them all. … Know that he who dares to dally with occasions of sin, will dare to sin.” (p.129)

“As sin gets ground in the affections to delight in it, it gets also upon the understanding to slight it.” (p.130)

“When men truly look upon Christ whom they have pierced, without which there is no healing or peace, they will mourn (Zech. 12:10); they will mourn for him even upon this account, and detest the sin that pierced him.” (p.148)

“yet when peace is spoken, if it be not attended with the detestation and abhorrency of that sin which was the wound, and caused the disquietment, that is no peace of God’s creating, but of our own purchasing.” (p.150)

“God will justify us from our sin, but he will not justify the least sin in us; he is a God of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.” (p.157)

“God’s peace is humbling peace, melting peace, as it was in the case of David (Ps. 51:1).” (p.158)

“Set faith at work on Christ for the killing of thy sin. His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls.” (p.162)

If you were convicted and encouraged by Owen’s thoughts and words, as I hope you were, you may want to purchase and read the book yourself. You can purchase it here at Westminster Theological Seminary Bookstore at one of the lowest prices ever. If you don’t want to wade through the original older English it was written in you can check out this contemporary English version updated by Justin Taylor and Kelly Kapic.

Note: I am quoting from the 2003 Christian Heritage/Christian Focus reprint, so all page numbers correspond to that book.

I ask this since Col 1:19 says that in Jesus “the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”  So it would seem that those without Jesus as savior do not have love and therefore no one can give away something they do not possess.

But in asking this question the question of whether our acts of love are qualitatively different from unbelievers arises.  We may give chocolates and flowers but unless we continue to push those we care about toward Christ we are as loveless as the devil.

This is nothing but an indicment of myself and a thanks to the many who love me by pushing me toward and presenting Christ to me despite the fact that it may not come with chocolate,flowers, or a card.

——–
“To tell men that the cause is urgent, and that the kingdom of God is at
hand is the most charitable and merciful act we can perform, the most
joyous news we can bring.” -Bonhoeffer in ‘The Cost of Discipleship’, p211.

Whether those who post videos are actually blaspheming against the Holy Spirit can be debated later but I wanted to make people aware of this site (especially youth ministers) so that if someone says they have done this or know someone who has done this they have already investigate what blasphemy is for themselves and be prepared to give them some sort of a response to those who have a question concerning this.

Hopefully I can find a few minutes to spend time finding out exactly what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit entails. But this is disturbing to say the least. Perhaps God will bring some to repentance by his grace if they are not actually blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

“He said that He can move mountains
And if He can move mountains
He can move my mountain
He can move Your mountain too”

Of course God can move mountains but what if instead of God moving mountains out of your way, God moves one in your path and you can’t get around it? How are we as believers supposed to respond when the providence of God seems to be against what we want to do or are working towards in any of the categories of life? Is it a test of patience and should we wait until the mountain is removed or should we look for another…well, whatever God is blocking you from?

I intended to write I think one should do in this situation but then I realized that sometimes we have to wait and sometimes we have to give up that dream.  So there is no formula to go by, all we can do is have confidence in God (Romans 8:28) and the seek out wise counselors he places in our life.  In thinking about this it reminded me of a C.S. Lewis quote which says, “We’re not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us, we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”