Christ All in All: Christ is our Ensign

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.                                                          —ISAIAH 11:10

[Christ] is a military flag or ensign—a banner of war. This teaches us that Christianity is a warfare, and that Christ and Christians are warriors. But who are the enemies, and what is the quarrel? The enemies are the devil and the world and the flesh. The cause we are in is the glory of God.

It is by the flag that belongs to the company, as much as by anything, that all the soldiers in that company, being gathered together, are knit together into one. That is their center of unity—not only their having but one captain and being engaged in one cause and their taking one and the same oath, but having the same flag. So our great center of unity is our Lord Jesus Christ, not only as our one captain, but as our ensign.

The great work of ministers is to lift up Christ to people, to set Him forth as the most eligible and desirable, both on the account of what He is in Himself, and what He is to poor sinners. They are the friends of the bridegroom, wooing for Him, not for themselves.

Now here is an ensign that lives forever, a flag that cannot be taken. He always has been, is, and will be Jesus the conqueror.

Christ All in All: Christ is our Way

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 

                                                                                                                            —JOHN 14:6

To say Christ is the way to the Father is as much as to say He is the way to heaven. Heaven is a place, a city, a city that has foundations. Now every city has a way to it, and so has this city—and that way is Christ. There our Father dwells and keeps court. When we come thither, we will see Him and enjoy Him, only by Jesus Christ.

Adoption is that that makes us the children of God. We are by nature the Devil's children, branches in the wild olive, and our fruit is accordingly. Adoption cuts us off from that stock and grafts us into a better stock, a good olive, puts us into God's family. Now how is this done? Only by Jesus Christ. He is the way, and on us receiving of Him, it is done immediately.

Christ is both a broad way and a narrow way.
A narrow way—we cannot walk in it and have elbow room for out lusts. The strictness of the divine precepts is the hedge compassing this way about, both on the right hand and on the left, which must not be transgressed and leaped over by those that intend Christ for their way to the Father.
A broad way—in respect of the true spiritual Christian liberty which they have that walk in it.

[Christ is] a beaten way, and yet but few walking in it. But few at one time and in one place, here and there a traveller. But beaten by the multitudes that have been in all ages, and are and will be, as will appear, when they will all come together.

Christ All in All: Christ is our Wisdom

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom. 

                                                                        —1 CORINTHIANS 1:30

If Christ be made unto us wisdom, we have chosen God for our chief good and highest end and the Lord Jesus Christ as our alone way to Him.

If we prosper and thrive in the world, there is need of wisdom to manage it so that we be not ensnared, not destroyed by it. If in affliction, it is necessary that we may keep the mean between fainting and despising. If reproached, reviled persecuted, to carry it as we ought toward our persecutors, with meekness and yet with courage.

If we pray, we need wisdom that we do not ask amiss. If we hear the word, we need wisdom that we may discern between wheat and chaff, that we may take our own portion. If we wish to reprove, we need wisdom to know when, how. If to reconcile differences, if to manage good discourse, to attend our particular calling, so as not to entrench one our general calling, to keep the world in its due place—we require wisdom in all.

How is it to be supplied? I told you: by having recourse to the blessed Jesus in a humble sense of our need. We must pray, as Paul. We must study the Word...when that speaks, Christ speaks. 

We must then believe, put on Christ, learn Christ, walk in Christ, which is the certain way to be made wise.

Here is a matter of unspeakable comfort to all true believers, that Jesus Christ is made wisdom, that is, as some interpret it, that all that infinite wisdom that is in Him as God, and all that infused wisdom which He had as God-man wherein He grew, is all made over to us to be employed for our good.

Christ All in All: Christ is our Fountain

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!


In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of  Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.                                                 —ZECHARIAH 13:1

"Is your soul athirst? Athirst for peace, pardon, life, salvation, for grace, strength? Here is a fountain for you."

"This fountain also is cleansing. Sin defiles, leaves a blot, a stain on the soul. It is uncleanness...From that we are washed by the blood of Christ, satisfying God's justice and making atonement, also purging the conscience."

"Here is a holy well indeed, and holy water indeed, that makes them holy, holy, that are washed in it. However unclean before, if washed with the grace of Christ, that uncleanness is done away. We are made partakers of the divine nature, not in perfection at first, but by degrees, renewed more and more till presented without spot to God, faultless. Oh, the rare virtue that is in this fountain. It makes a sinner a saint."

"It has pleased the Father to lay Him open. He is not an enclosed fountain, but a common fountain—as a common propitiation, so a common fountain, as commas as the light or air. Open and common to all persons, Jew and Gentile, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free. Whosoever will may come."

Christ All in All: Christ is our Freedom

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

If the Son therefore make you free, ye shall be free indeed.                 

                                                                       —JOHN 8:36

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Whether we will own it or not, it is certain there is a spiritual bondage, which we are all under by nature. And from that bondage it is that Jesus Christ makes free.

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By the guilt of sin we are bound our to divine justice in bond, the penalty whereof is eternal burning. Sinner, you do little think of this, but certainly it is so. Your sins are your debts; and they are bond debts; and the bond will be sued shortly; and there will be an arrest; and you will be cast into prison, if some course be not taken to prevent it. Now from this we are made free by the Son dying for us on the cross, whereby He paid the debt and fully satisfied God's justice. 

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By the corrupt nature, called the sin that dwells in us, the flesh, we are so fettered and chained to diverse lusts and pleasures that we are perfect slaves. ... Now from this we are made free by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, as a sanctifier, renewing us in the whole man, breaking the power of indwelling sin, planting a contrary principle.
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From the fear of death we are set free by the same Spirit as a comforter, abating this slavish fear and working holy boldness and confidence, so that now the man can cheerfully look death in the face, can look God Himself in the face, knowing that He is a reconciled father.
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Christ All in All: Christ is our Propitiation

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

And sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.      —1 JOHN 4:10

If we have sinned, God is angry with us. It cannot be otherwise. All sin is a provocation to the pure eyes of His glory. It grieves Him. It vexes Him. His holy nature is against it. So also is His righteous law, which forbids it, which threatens it, let the sinner be who he will. If God be angry, some course must be taken to appease and pacify Him. It will not wear off of itself. 

There must be some propitiation, something to make atonement. Now what should that be? This man bid fair, but it would not do. Nothing of our own, prayers, tears, alms penances, pilgrimages, nothing of anyone's else for us will do. No, no. He is the propitiation—He, and none but He.

Jesus Christ is a propitiation appointed of God. He did not put Himself on it, but was called to it. He that knew best what would please Him did Himself see Him forth.

He is a propitiation accepted of God. How do we know that He was accepted? This was done by two extraordinary ways: the one, by a voice from heaven, expressly affirming it; the other, by raising Him from the dead. No other sacrifice ever was so.

Jesus Christ is a continual propitiation, not continually to be offered, but of continual virtue and efficacy. We read often of the continual burnt offering. The atonement made on the cross reaches us now as fully as if He had died but yesterday. The last sinner that will live to be reconciled and saved by Him will certainly find the truth of this.

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Christ All in All: Christ is our Portion

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 

                                                                            —Lamentations 3:24

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"Our heavenly Father has made comfortable provision, set by a competent portion for every child of His. And that portion is Christ. He has not divided Christ among them, given a part of Him to one and a part of Him to another. Is Christ divided? No. But He has given Him all, all wholly and entirely to each one of them, so that each one may say, 'All Christ is mine, mine to all intents and purposes.'"

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The body with many people is well provided for, has a large portion, whose soul in the meantime has just nothing...Christ alone can be a soul's portion, because He alone can answer the necessities and needs, the desires and expectations of a soul. Four things we want, which the whole creation has not for us, but He has them all and has them abundantly: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

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Then it follows that Christ is a rich christ, who has wherewithal to portion such abundance of people, as in all ages and generations have been portioned by Him. The apostle calls it 'the unsearchable riches of Christ'. He is a bottomless mine of merit and spirit, a boundless ocean of righteousness and strength, a full fountain of grace and comfort. In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. That may be said of Him that can be said of no other: He has a store which can never be emptied. Oh, how should this endear Him to us! How should it draw out our thoughts and meditations into holy adorings of Him!

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How high do some women carry it that know they have a great portion. They spend accordingly; so should we—this is worthy. Remember, you are a king's son. And we should carry it in holy joy and cheerfulness of spirit.

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Christ All in All: Christ is our Passover

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.                                                                                                                      — 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

"Christ is not the feast, but forasmuch as there was a command about a lamb, called the passover lamb...Jesus Christ is that lamb, called by a figure here, "the passover."

"Christ was chosen out of the people and set apart from all eternity in the decree and counsel of God to be a prince and a savior."

"Christ our Passover was a bloody sacrifice. His life went for it. He made His body an offering. He made His soul an offering, and the design thereof was to make peace."

"Let us feed heartily and plentifully on this blessed Lamb, not poorly and sparingly. We ought every day to feast our souls on Jesus Christ, on His merit and righteousness, on His flesh and blood spiritually, on His Word, His promises, the manna, the hidden manna. I say, every day, by fresh acts of faith. Not on Sabbath days only or sacrament days only, but every day."

Christ All in All: Christ is our Peace

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.                                                                                                         —EPHESIANS 2:14

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Peace is threefold. There is peace with God, peace within ourselves, and peace with one another. And in all these, Jesus Christ is our peace. Not only a friend to it, but the thing itself.

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If Christ be our peace and have made peace, there is always care to keep the peace. If any new matter of controversy arise, as soon as the heart smites, which it will do quickly, and we are made sensible of it, there will be no rest in the spirit till the divine favor be recovered again. Guilt in the soul is like a mote in the eye—not at ease until wept out.

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It were a desirable thing that all who fear God in the land, in the neighborhood were at peace among themselves, for as for peace with wicked men, it will never be while the world stands...but how happy were it if all good people were at peace, if all their enmities were at an end! The Savior left this blessing as a legacy, pressed it, prayed for it.

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Christ is our peace within ourselves in our own bosom. We commonly call this peace of conscience. It is an inward, sedate, composed, cheerful frame of spirit at all times and in all conditions. Now the blessed Jesus is this also.

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Christ All in All: Christ is our Life

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
                                                                                                              —Colossians 3:4

"While soul and body are together, we live. When they part, we die. Now who brought them together, who keeps them together? Jesus Christ. Then He is our natural life."

"Spiritual life is the life of the soul flowing from its union with God. When God and the soul come together, the soul lives, When they part, it dies. Your soul is but the carcass of a soul if it have not union with God. Now there is no union with God but by Jesus Christ."

"Life spiritual, the life of grace, is life eternal, the life of glory begun. And life eternal, the life of glory, is life spiritual, the life of grace perfected. They differ as the child's life and the man's life; as the morning sun from the noon sun; as the spring from the summer, the budding rose from the blown rose."

"Presume not, neither say, "I will tomorrow," for tomorrow is none of ours. The uncertainty of the continuance of life natural should make us hasten to secure life spiritual and life eternal."

Christ All in All: Christ is our Light

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. 
                                                                                                                                  —John 12:46

"Candles are not seen, no, nor stars nor the moon itself when the sun shines. Their light disappears. So are all other things eclipsed by the Savior. Oh, then let this advance your esteem of Him more and more. You may think too highly of others, but not of Him. Either He will be uppermost, or nothing."

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"What light the moon and planets have, they derive it all from the sun. They have none of their own further than he communicates. So Jesus Christ is the springhead and fountain from whence every good and perfect gift comes."

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"Wherein lies the misery of a blind and dark condition? It is very uncomfortable. Light is sweet and pleasant; so is knowledge in the things of God. Ask those that have it. They will tell you that they would not be without if for a world. This pleasure you have none of. Sermons are like the white of an egg to you, without savor, without relish."

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"We have cause to bless God every day for the light of the sun. What a dungeon were the world without it! The moon and all the stars, as many as they are, cannot do that which one sun does. So saints and angels and all the creatures put together are nothing without Christ. Therefore, thank God, above all, for the unspeakable gift."

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"As Christ is the light of the world, so you also are the light of the world. Let your light be growing and increasing more and more, especially concerning the evil of sin, the weakness of self, the excellency of Christ, the beauty of holiness, the vanity of this world, the reality of the other world."

Christ All in All: Christ is our Righteousness

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

And this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.                                                                                                              —JEREMIAH 23:6

 "It is by and through Him alone that we are justified—that is, acquitted from guilt and accepted into favor."

"The grace and favor of God is the creature's happiness—want that, and want all; have that, and have all. Now there can be no hope of this favor but in a by Jesus Christ. The holy God will admit of none into His friendship or fellowship but those to whom Jesus Christ is made righteousness."

"Because Christ is God, who wrought it out and brought it in for us, it is not a man's righteousness, poor and weak and insufficient, but a God's righteousness."

"Till we have called Jesus Christ "the Lord our righteousness," ours is a dismal, dark condition. When we call the Lord our righteousness, then He rises on our souls as a sun of righteousness, and that which follows is the light of comfort and peace and joy—such joy as none knows but they that feel it."

"When we have well done, after some good work, pride of heart rises, and we begin to expect from God as if we were something. No, Jesus Christ is the Lord my righteousness. I am an unprofitable servant when I have done all."

Christ All in All: Christ is our Refuge

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

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A refuge is that which men are wont in times of trouble or danger to betake themselves to for safety or supply, promising themselves that there they will have it.

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Besides what present evils we meet with, there are others that we have prospect of, afar off. And many times, the very fear of them is more grievous than they themselves are when they come. Now against these, also, Christ Jesus is and ought to be a Christian's refuge.

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[Christ] is a refuge in all cases, inward or outward, bodily or spiritual. Let the offence be what it will, He has merit for the pardon of it. Let the temptation be what it may, He has strength to overcome it. Let the danger be ever so threatening, He can save from it.

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Your consolation should be strong consolation, that have fled for refuge—that is, too strong for all your doubts and fears, prevailing against them and over them. No life is so sweet as theirs that make Christ their refuge at all times in all things.

Christ All in All: Christ is Our Hope

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

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The saints of God are people of great hopes...They trade not, as the men of the world do, for pebbles but for rich pearls; for a kingdom, an eternal kingdom.

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What in Jesus Christ do we make the grounds of our hope touching all these things? There is nothing of all these blessings and benefits but what he has expressly told us in His holy Word will be certainly conferred on us, if we will believe in Him and be ruled by Him. But may we trust Him? Is He faithful? Will He not deceive us? I answer: There is no danger. Had you as many souls as you had hairs on your head, you might venture them all on His bare word. But for our more abundant consolation we have His oath, His bond with two seals.

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He is Jesus, a savior, one raised up on purpose to bring people to heaven. The very name encourages hope.

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He is Lord; Jehovah, blessed forever; King of kings and Lord of lords; almighty in power; able to save. Other hopes are weak and unable. 

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Try your hopes and be sure they be right, else expect disappointment. How were they wrought? If born with you, and you never did otherwise than hope, suspect that hope. The foundation of good hope is laid in a kind of despair—no hope in the way I am in, therefore I must have a better foundation.

A Grand Day Out (The Big Family Way)

A trip to the grocery store, when you have 10 children, becomes An Occasion, with a capital A and a capital O. For one thing, we always have a ton of stuff to buy, since there are so many of us, so we require multiple carts, and much to-ing and fro-ing between the isles. It is also more cost effective to buy in bulk, so rather than the local grocery chain, we haul all the way out to Costco, or some other wholesale supplier.

As always, we have implemented certain rules to assist the smoothness of this process: no touching any merchandise (sometimes we were absolutely required to walk along with our hands folded behind our backs), and no asking to buy things. (One child might ask for one candy bar. Ten children, ten candy bars. One child, one toy. Ten children, ten toys. Both the price and the storage space at home quickly become prohibitive.)

We did not however, lack for entertainment as we trailed along behind the cart, attempting to avoid stepping on one another's heels and toes. (Or stepping on them purposefully, depending on the temperament of the child). We took great interest in arranging ourselves into what we considered to be the most decorative formations: generally a judiciously spaced single file (which made our number appear even greater), shortest to tallest. This kept the youngest children near Mother, while creating a sweeping upward curve effect for the people who came towards us, most pleasing to the eye.

Occasionally, a child (usually one of us girls!) who had been recently over-topped by a sprouting younger sibling made some protest about their demotion, but in the end dignity was sacrificed to artistic rigor. The oldest siblings took charge of this display, and we did our best to instill a sense of discipline into the unruly members of the family, to keep the line straight. We also attempted to introduce marching as part of the procession, but this was a failure, overall. We do not have a very good sense of rhythm, and we were prohibited from calling out the steps to keep time. It may be that our vigorous "HUT-TWO-THREE-FOUR" or the command "You, there! Dress up that line!" distracted our Beloved Parent from her gathering of food for her household.

Indeed, at times she seemed rather flustered to check behind her and see us parading solemnly along in a column, attracting rather a lot of attention from other shoppers. Often and often, we spoke among ourselves of waving or saluting to people as we went by, but we never quite dared. There are limits, after all. We would, however, assist those who were obviously trying to count, by spreading all our fingers in the air, or whispering "ten" as we passed.

All this is very well for the grocery store, but there are some outings—such as the zoo, an amusement park, or a conference—where it is impossible to keep us in line at all times, and different measures are called for. In such cases, the Matching Outfits come into play.

First, Mom bought a bunch of yellow t-shirts. Though entirely unsuited to the family complexion, we wore the horrible, mustard-coloured things until we outgrew them, or they wore out. They were replaced with orange shirts, which were slightly better. In due course those wore out, and were replaced with red.

This color, we quickly discovered, was not striking enough. You may have never noticed anyone wearing a solid red t-shirt, but I can assure you that once your entire family is clothed in red, you are instantly aware of the hundred other people also dressed in red, which quite spoils the effect, besides making it more difficult to count your children, rather than less. We discarded the red shirts, and for a season experimented with matching lime green handkerchiefs around our necks, though by this time we were all old enough not to wander off, and the system was becoming less necessary.

The t-shirts worked fairly well, in making us conspicuous and easy for parents to spot. We have had children returned to us by strangers, with the comment, "This must belong to you", when we are all matching, and we have successfully retrieved children without panic from distances of over three hundred feet. Due to our climate, however, we are often wearing jackets or coats when we go out, and this decreases the efficiency of the system.

At the present time, we have expanded the scheme to include our cousins, and the shirt colour has changed to blue, in support of the Cousin County football/baseball/basketball/volleyball team (The Cousin County Canines).

Christ All in All: Christ is the Head

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

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Christ is to His church the only sovereign and supreme head. The head has the preeminence in the body. It is placed by nature uppermost, and all the rest of the members below it. The Lord Jesus is uppermost, above all and over all.

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The office of the head is to show the body whither to go and what to do. There, the eyes are seated, as in a watchtower. Whereinsoever we have need at any time of guidance, we must look to Him.

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Many are tied to Christ by an outward profession that are not grafted into Him. There may be class eyes and wooden legs fastened by art to the body. And those wooden legs may have silk stockings, and yet they are not of the body.

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As the head sympathizes with the members, so the member sympathizes with the head. If a blow be offered at the head, the hand will venture a cut to save it. Are we affected with the dishonor done to the Lord Jesus by the wickedness that abounds in the midst of us?

Christ All in All: Christ is Raiment to Us

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

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"Two things in Christ are the garment: His merit and righteousness—we must put on this for our justification—and his Spirit and Grace—we must put on this for our sanctification...neither of these can possibly be had otherwise than by putting on Christ. There is no justification but by His merit, no sanctification but by His Spirit."

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"The Lord Jesus Christ is a costly garment, the dearest and most costly garment that ever was. We may judge of its excellency by its price."

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"Lo, here is a costly robe indeed—not to us that must wear it (it costs us nothing but the accepting and putting it on), but to Him that made and prepared it. It cost Him dear. "

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"Having bought [the garments of Christ] we must put them on and wear them. Not as a hat to put off to everyone we meet; not as a cloak to be worn only when we go abroad; but as your inner garment to be worn next to you, and upper garment, and above all these, as your entire garment. Christ must be your all in all: your day clothes; your night clothes. Put Him on daily and duly, constantly and continually. It is a good meditation, when we are putting on your clothes, we must put on bowels of mercies, charity, humility, meekness, or, which includes all, the Lord Jesus Christ. If so, when we die, we will put on better clothes of glory. Christ will never put them off that put Him on."

Advocate Holiness

Psalm 119:46 I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.

"When piety is calumniated in the world, the saints will stand up in its defense; they will wipe the dust of a reproach off the face of religion. Holiness defends the godly, and they will defend holiness; it defends them from danger, and they will defend it from disgrace."                        —Thomas Watson

In this verse, the psalmist is using the testimonies of God in a practical way: he is speaking them. It is important to read the Bible, to study it and to memorize, but we also have an obligation to speak of it. We cannot keep it to ourselves.

To whom are we to speak these words? All lost sinners need to hear it, but here there is a specific audience: "before kings". This can be expanded to anyone in authority over us—whether a President, a governor, or someone like a boss or a teacher. The Bible has a lot to say about how we should interact with authorities. Certainly, we cannot shout at them, and wave our Bibles in their faces. (In fact, this is hardly the best course of action with anyone, let alone someone in a position of authority.) We need to be respectful, and obedient, but when it comes to God's words, we cannot back down.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. 1 Peter 3:15

We are blessed, in this country, with remarkable freedom to speak of our faith. It is not surprising that governments through the ages have sought to reign in Christianity; governments by their very nature are trying to organize and control people, and ideas—especially a Big Idea like Christianity—make people difficult to control.

However, kings and rulers still need the gospel. Just like all men, they are sinners and separated from God. As leaders and teachers of the people they rule, they are even under a stricter judgment for their decisions and actions (James 3:1). God is the One who gave rulers their power, and if they are wise they will be careful to exercise it according to His will.

He who rules over men must be just,  Ruling in the fear of God. 2 Sam 23:3

By me kings reign,  And rulers decree justice. Proverbs 8:15

We know, then that we should speak God's testimonies before kings, and the author also addresses what our attitude should be as we do so: we should not be ashamed. It is far too easy to feel uncomfortable or ashamed when our convictions are made evident in unsympathetic company, but we should not be! God's testimonies are nothing to be ashamed of. 

Instead we should be proud of God and His word: it is true, and lovely, more noble by far than any person on earth. Let us pray that if we are ever called to uphold God's truth, He will give us the words to speak, as Jesus promised in Matthew 10:19-20. 

Remember also that, "the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord" (Prov. 21:1). Man can do nothing to us unless it is God's will.

Christ All in All: Christ is the Root

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

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Jesus Christ and true believers make one great tree, whereof He is the root and they are the branches.

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None but [true believers] bring for fruit in Him. To bring forth fruit is to do that which is for the matter of it good, either toward men in works of justice, mercy, charity, or award God in praying, hearing, sanctifying the Sabbath. Now all this a hypocrite may do...but nothing of it in Christ. Here they part. They [true believers] do it by virtue of strength received from Him. They bring forth fruit, aiming with a single eye at pleasing Him, to show forth His virtues and praises. And also, it is done trusting to His merit and mediation alone for acceptance. (emphasis added) 

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The church is a great tree inverted. Its root is in heaven; its branches, here on earth, multitudes of them. It is true there are branches in heaven with their root.

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The sap of this great tree that keeps it green and flourishing is the Spirit, the Spirit of Grace. Now Christ the root had the Spirit without measure, according to the promise. ...The sap which the root has, it has not for itself but for the branches. The branches suck and draw from it and so are maintained in their greenness and fruitfulness. Though the root have it, yet if it do not communicate it, the tree is none the better. The Lord Jesus Christ is a communicative root. What He has of the Spirit He has for us.

Understanding for the Simple

The entrance of Your word gives light, It gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130

Have you ever read a passage of scripture and thought, I don't get this? I think most people have, especially those who read their Bible often! But have you ever thought Hebrews is too confusing, I will never understand it? Or I'm just not smart enough to figure out what Paul means here? I hope not, because the Bible is for everyone, not just for geniuses! There is no need to have a Bible degree, or to study Greek and Hebrew, to understand the Bible.

"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, 

and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. 

1 Corinthians 1:27

Think about the disciples. Not only were they humble fishermen rather than learned priests and scribes, at times they were a bit dull. I have no desire to run down the disciples—much of their confusion was perfectly legitimate, thanks to the cryptic way Jesus liked to say things. However, consider the feeding of the four thousand: they have already seen the feeding of the five thousand, and yet they have the same question for Jesus again—"How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?" Or when Jesus straight up tells them that Judas is going to betray Him, and they thought he was leaving to give something to the poor?

So if you're not naturally academic, or if you find abstract arguments hard to follow, be encouraged by the example of the disciples. Remember, they did not stay confused forever! Not only did they begin to heal people in Jesus' name, they started preaching eloquent sermons, and even writing books. They were also able to stand before the highest scholars of their day and clearly articulate their beliefs: "Now when they [the Sanhedrin] saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13)

That's right, the disciples were changed by spending time with Jesus. Today, we have the words of God in the Bible, and when we spend time studying them we will be changed too! The more time we devote to reading the Bible, the more our brains will have to work to understand, and the harder the brain works, the stronger it gets.

This means that even young children can learn to understand the Bible. Indeed, their simple approach to spiritual things is praised by Jesus: "Of such is the Kingdom of God", he says. "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." Just as children must come to a point when their faith becomes their own, rather than something imposed by their parents, so also they must be taught to read the Bible for themselves, and to try to understand it with their own minds!

In this effort, each of us, whether child or adult, has a powerful Helper:

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things...When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth;" Jn. 14:26; 16:13


Never be afraid to ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand as you read. Remember, however, that the Holy Spirit does not speak on His own authority: He will not help you to interpret a verse in such a way that it contradicts another teaching of Scripture.

The Bible can be understood by anyone. It is not inherently bad to seek the counsel of other men concerning the Bible (commentaries, devotionals, Pastors, speakers, sermons, blog posts, and so on), but make sure you always check back up with scripture. Believe no man implicitly, not even your pastor or your parents—they will sometimes be wrong. Be like the Bereans: when you hear a certain teaching, search the scriptures. Be fair-minded—willing to be taught—but find out from the Bible whether it is actually so!

Unstable men will always try to twist the Word and make it fit their own purposes, but if you have saturated yourself in the Word itself, their smooth pitch will not deceive you. The more familiar you are with the original, the quicker you will be able to spot a counterfeit.

Christ All in All: Christ is our Food

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

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"Everything that has life must have food to support that life. It cannot live without food. So it is with our souls. They can no more live without food than our bodies can. Take the food away, and you take the life away."

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"This bread is given by the Son himself. It was His own act and deed to give Himself to be bread for us...And should not we then readily and cheerfully give ourselves to Him—all we are, have, or can do? Can we bestow ourselves better?"

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"This is the excellency of spiritual dainties: that the more a man feeds on them, the more he would have, and yet he has a kind of satisfaction in what he has, such as causes him to say, 'Return unto they rest, O my soul'"

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"It is our duty to eat of this rare bread...If we do not eat of it, we are like to be never the better for it. It will do us no good to hear of it only. We have heard a great deal of Christ, but what will that avail us, except we believe what we hear? It will do us no good to look on it only. Will looking on meat nourish us? No, we must eat if we will be nourished. Will looking on Christ and seeing others feed on Him feed and nourish you? No, though it is the best fare in the world."

Large Family Idiosyncrasy #9: Restricting Books (Part Two)

Last week, I intended to cover several more book restrictions that were enforced over the years, but my reminiscences about Narnia got away from me, and I ran out of time. I present them now, therefore, as "Part 2":

1. No Fiction Before Breakfast

As book lovers, we are easily absorbed by a good story, and tend to lose track of time. Of all my siblings, I am perhaps the most guilty in this regard, and have often come to myself, after flipping over the final page, to discover that I can scarcely move, having sat in the same position for hours without shifting. When in the throes of an exciting book, there is a temptation to read until the last possible second before bedtime, and to pick the story back up as soon as my eyes open in the morning, having quite possibly dreamed about the characters in between.

However, we have always been encouraged, and sometimes required, to start our day off with personal Bible time, and too often when we started our day instead with reading a fictional adventure, we would forget to read our Bibles at all—not to mention neglecting our physical breakfast as well, which combined to negatively affect the whole morning. To curb this tendency, fiction was forbidden before breakfast.

2. No Reading in the Bathroom

Another temptation for great readers is to squeeze in a few extra pages during any spare moments in the day—and some not-so-spare moments. With only two bathrooms shared between up to twelve people, we cannot afford to have a child lingering longer than necessary to finish up the paragraph...the page...the chapter.

Exceptions were occasionally made for responsible siblings who were overseeing little ones' baths, however even this concession sometimes resulted in inordinately long baths, the water turning tepid, and the bathing children's fingers and toes becoming wrinkled, as the "responsible" (cough) sibling was herself immersed in a different reality.

3. Three Book Max Per Person on Road Trips

You can't see everyone's books, but there are at least seven people reading in this picture.

For those who have the stomach for it, road trips are fruitful reading times. Any time our family embarks on a trip, all of us kids stock up on books—more than enough to get us There and Back Again, wherever that happens to be. 

Once the van is full of children, however, there is only a limited amount of space for our baggage. Books, as you will be aware if you have ever traveled with them, take up space and weight, and for many years we were strictly limited to three books per person. 

Really, this was generously sufficient for any trip we made, since they were never longer than a week, but in our paranoia lest we should run out of reading material, we would coordinate our reading with one of our siblings, each bringing books that neither had read, thus practically increasing our stock of reading to six books rather than three.

There ought to be a word for "fear of running out of books to read while away from home". Whatever the Latin term, our family has this condition to an acute degree. We bring books with us to church. To the grocery store. To the doctor's office. To friends' houses for supper. Even when we're just walking to the end of the driveway to check the mail! 

As more and more children joined the ranks of readers, this phobia began to slow down our loading process, as people ran about the house searching for their book instead of getting straight into the van when they were told. Kids also tended to leave books in the car between trips, which was detrimental to their (the books') health, as they were often stepped on or kicked under the seats. In order to get us about town in a timely manner, and to save our books from abuse, our parents created another reading rule:

4. No Reading in the Car, Unless Traveling at Least 15 Minutes from Home

The distance from home was not originally such a neat time designation, rather it was fixed practically, by a certain friends' house where we had Bible study every week. They lived on the outskirts of town, and if we were driving there, or anywhere further afield, we were allowed to bring books to read on the way. If, however, we were merely going to church, or to spend the afternoon at our grandparents' house, we were supposed to leave our own books at home, and hang our hopes on our destination supplying any necessary reading material. 

A certain amount of smuggling occurred, of course, especially in the back rows of the van, which were less strictly supervised, but there was always the risk of confiscation, with its accompanying agony of not finding out how the story ended for an indeterminate length of time. 

Christ All in All: Christ is the Foundation

I'm reading a series of sermons by Philip Henry (Matthew Henry the Bible Commentator's father), and thought I would share some quotes as I go along. Using the book "Christ All in All" as a devotional, I'm reading just one sermon a day, but each one is full of rich doctrine!

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"Had the apostles and prophets been asked, one by one, "Who is your foundation? On whom do you build for life and happiness, they would have said, "Jesus Christ." He was their all in all and therefore should be ours."

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"There is no rearing a building without a foundation. We have each of us a building to rear, and what foundation have we? None in ourselves—no righteousness of our own to commend us to God, no strength or ability to anything that is good."

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"The Church is a living building. No other is so...All the materials in this building are men and women made spiritually alive—quickened with divine quickening, such as once were dead in trespasses and sins but are now otherwise, alive to God."

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"It is a great privilege to be of that building whereof Christ is the foundation."

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Large Family Idiosyncrasy #9: Restricting Books (Part One)

I think anyone who knows our family knows we love books. We use them to cover our walls, and we carry them everywhere: outside, on trips, to church, to bed...but there are times when Mom and Dad had to restrict our reading. If they had not, we would have "read our lives away", as Mom so eloquently put it.

The first "book restriction rule" that I recall was definitely provoked. You see, all of us were obsessed with The Chronicles of Narnia at the time, and we literally read the books to pieces. The Magician's Nephew was the first to fall apart, and so if I wanted to read it, I would sit on the couch, with pages spread around me, intending to put them in order, but usually getting distracted and starting to read before I was finished.

As well as reading the physical copies we owned an audio version of all seven books, and we loved listening to them as we did our chores—especially while cleaning the bathrooms, for some reason. We were not, however, allowed to listen to them at night before falling asleep, as the stories were so exciting that they kept us awake too late into the night! A rare and cherished treat was watching the BBC TV version, produced in the late eighties. Our grandparents on Mom's side had VHS tapes of Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe, and Prince Caspian/Dawn Treader, and we were so enamored with the stories we didn't care that Aslan looked like a stuffed animal, and the beavers were full-sized grownups in a costume.

We not only read them over and over, listened to them, and watched them at every opportunity, we also acted them out, both in the living room and in the back yard. Andrew was Peter Pevensie, Margaret was Susan, I was Edmund, and Rebekah was Lucy. (Margaret was often Lucy as well, since Reba was really too little to play. Sometimes Rebekah was the D.L.F. [narnia points if you catch that reference].) Since we had three girls and only one boy (Maxwell being a newborn at this time), I was always the second boy character. If it was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe we were acting out, I was Edmund. If it was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, I was either Edmund or Eustace, and Andrew was Caspian. I was quite a tomboy when I was little, so I did not mind in the least!

Sticks became swords, blankets became cloaks, twisted handkerchiefs became crowns. There was an old cherry tree in the middle of the yard, gnarly and dying, which in our imaginations was the terrible White Witch. We would hurl spears at it, and hack at it with our swords (which may possibly have contributed to the dying process!). Even when we were doing household chores, our minds were in Narnia. Making the bed became a death-defying fantasy adventure, and I still clearly remember dreaming about Narnia!

Unfortunately, we were occasionally required in the real world, and to pull us back from our imaginations, at some point one of our parents (identity withheld) actually had to BAN Narnia! We were not allowed to play it, or read it for a certain period of time. In my young mind, it seems like we were banned for about a year, but I'm guessing it was only a couple months one summer—or perhaps when the school year started, so we could focus. Of course, we were horrified and woebegone, and I'm afraid we only partially obeyed, viewing our normally beloved parent as a veritable King Miraz for a time, (the tyrant was not  able to control our dreams!) but eventually we learned some balance, and the restriction was gradually lifted.

Speak the Word

Psalm 119:172 My tongue shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness.

Most Christians realize that they ought to know Scripture. Many have even memorized certain passages—perhaps the Roman Road, or the Sermon on the Mount. Some, however, are unsure what to do with this knowledge once they have gained it. Is it enough to only use scripture to inform our own lives? This is like filling a hose with water, but keeping your thumb on the end, so that no water escapes—very nice for the hose, but not much practical help! If we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, it ought to spill out of us, onto those around us. Sometimes our lives speak to others, true, but sometimes we need to use our mouths! Part of our love for the Bible should involve speaking it, not just learning it.

Ezekiel 3:10-11:
"Son of man, receive into your heart all my words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people and speak to them, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.'" (Emphasis added)

Are Old Testament prophets then the only ones who can speak of the word? The apostles, who received divine revelation? Or is this the responsibility of our pastors? It is their job, after all. Pastors certainly ought to be speaking God's word, especially when they are preaching, but it is by no means confined to them!
"He who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully." Jeremiah 23:28
All christians have access to God's word, in the Bible, and therefore all of us ought to be speaking it.

We speak of God's word because it is righteousness, just as God is righteousness. By doing this, we bring glory to God, which is always our aim in every circumstance.

When is it a good time to discuss the words of the Lord? The Bible has a few suggestions:

• when you sit in your house
• when you walk by the way
• when you lie down
• when you rise up

That sounds like anytime is a good time, doesn't it?

We should talk about the word of God with believers. I can tell you from personal experience it is a great encouragement. Fellow believers who just naturally slide into discussing the scriptures anytime I have a conversation with them are some of the most wonderful people I know of to be around.

On the other hand, there are times we will need to speak the word when it is NOT welcome. Paul tells Timothy to "be ready in season and out of season", and we must also be willing to speak the truth to unbelievers, or to straying believers, even though they may be offended, or cut us off. Always, of course, this must be in love. (Ephesians 4:15)

The Bible is eternal. Therefore, it will still be around even after this world has perished, and we are all in heaven. Just as we speak of it here on earth, so we will do in the kingdom, through endless ages. Can you imagine discussing Romans with Paul? Or maybe with Peter: "Yeah, Paul is sometimes hard to understand!" To me, this is a fascinating and exciting thought. Though we will know many things then that we do not know now, the topic of scripture will still be profitable and delightful to discuss.

Knowing that we ought to be talking about the Bible, it is still sometimes frustrating to consider the how. Where do we start? We can't just start every conversation by asking "What did you read in the Bible this morning?" (although that is one way to start talking about the Bible!) I have a few ideas for you, based on my own experience. (Here I'm not talking about rebuking or convicting, just adding the Bible to your general conversation.)

• Use verses, phrases, and stories from the Bible as examples to illustrate your point. The conversation doesn't have to just be about the Bible. We could be talking about the afternoon traffic: "There was this one guy who drove like Jehu!" At which point the guy referred to might remark, "Take the plank out of your own eye!" If you're with people who know the Bible well, this can add a layer of fun, and even make the conversation rather like a game.
• Talk about the sermon. If you're at church, it is natural to talk about the service. You've all just gone through a common experience, there is plenty of subject for conversation! Different people will get different things out of any sermon, so if you comment on something you especially appreciated, or that added a new perspective, chances are you will add to the other person's understanding as well.
• Talk about what you read. We already mentioned the tactic of asking someone what they read in the Bible recently. Better, though, is to start by volunteering something you learned: "I was writing a blog post this week, about Psalm 119, and as I was thinking about when and where we should discuss the Bible, I suddenly realized we're still going to be talking about it in heaven! Isn't that cool? I'd never really thought about it before."
• Ask what it means and share what it means. Rather than just saying, "Hey, I was reading James this morning", it will be easier to get a conversation going if you have something specific. "What do you think this means?" or "I think this means ______. What do you think?"

"The subject gives us plenty of sea-room; we may speak on for ever: the tale is for ever telling, yet untold." — Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The Life-Giving Word

Psalm 119:93 I will never forget Your precepts For by them You have given me life.

There are two senses in which the precepts in the Bible give life:

First, they enliven ("quicken" as the KJV puts it) our spiritual life as believers. Have you ever met a vibrant, wide-awake Christian who does not spend much time in the Bible? We require food for our natural bodies, and we require the milk and meat of the Word for our spiritual bodies. Without a steady diet of it, we will wither and waste away to nothing as Christians.

Deuteronomy 8:3 Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. (Jesus also quotes this verse when He is tempted by the devil.)

Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.

The word of God is called life in many places throughout scripture. In John 6:63, Jesus says "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life", and Paul exhorts believers, in Philippians 2:16, to "hold fast the word of life".

These words are so important, yet people often pay little attention to them. If they do go to church and hear a sermon, many are not even listening, let alone applying the truth they hear to their lives. Never take the opportunity to hear good preaching for granted. As long as it is God's word being preached, there is always something new to learn, no matter how well you know the Bible. Eating food will do your body no good if you do not digest it to extract the nutrients, and hearing the Word will do no good unless you think about it and apply it.

Since this Book is the word of life, we certainly ought to consume it more often than once a week, or even three times a week! (If you go to church on Sunday night and Wednesday night.) At the very least, let us read a little bit every day. I'm very bad about asking people what they're learning in the Bible—it always comes out awkward and unnatural—but we should be keeping each other accountable. I am amazingly blessed to be able to devote so much time to reading and meditating right now, and I am trying to soak it up in every way possible, since it is likely I will soon be in a much busier stage of life, and wise counselors have encouraged me to collect a store of scripture to draw on ahead of time.

However there is a second way in which the Word gives life: even before it started its job of keeping us alive as Christians, God used it to bring us to life when we were dead in sin. This is even more astonishing that the word's work nourishing us when we are already believers. No matter how much food you feed to a dead man, nothing will happen—the life-giving power of physical food only works while there is a spark of life to be sustained. In contrast, the Bible is the conduit for God's almighty power: power that not only sustains life, but even raises from the dead.

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

John 5:24 Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

This is why it is so important to use scripture when witnessing to people. No arguments, logic, or life experience will convince them without the life-giving words of God.

We need not fear to address gospel precepts to dead sinners, since by them the Spirit gives them life. —Charles H. Spurgeon

The Land of the Little People

Before we were a large family, we were a small one. Small, that is, not only in number but in stature. My dear older brother, now an imposing—or at least startling—6'4", was so short as to have to stand on the couch to look out the window, my next-youngest sister was a roly-poly babe, and I was an adorable, golden-curled child, small for my age, but precocious beyond my years.

Well. My memory may be slightly biased, I suppose...

Even at such a young age, our personalities were very different. This is illustrated by each of our strongest memories. Step back in time with me, and for a moment view the world through the lens of childhood memory:

It is the late 1990s. The scene is a small parsonage, with a deck, and a yard with a swing-set, surrounded by a chain-link fence. A faint wail rises in the background. (This wail is immaterial to the story, as it proceeds from the lungs of one who is too young to talk, walk, or in any way interact with our heroes. It is only included for dramatic effect.) Three little people are busy going about their own business, unconscious of their future fame...

Memory #1: (Andrew) As we are swinging on the swings, we hear the faint tinkling of "The Entertainer" wafting toward us on the breeze. Running across the yard, we press our faces against the chain-link fence to catch a glimpse of the "Music Truck" as it goes past. We wave cheerfully to the driver, whom we consider a most uncommon philanthropist, to spend his summer days providing music for the neighborhood free of charge. One fateful day, we notice children standing by the street, waiting for the "Music Truck". Money changes hands, and ice-cream is distributed. Incredulous, we realize that we have been deceived; our parents have deliberately played upon our ignorance, calling this truck a Music Truck to conceal from us its true purpose.

Memory #2: (Sarah) Out on the porch, sitting on the edge of the picnic table with our feet on the bench, drenched with cool northwestern sunshine. Dad is holding a sour green apple in one hand, carving pieces off with his pocket knife, and offering them to each of us in turn, braced between the blade of his knife and his thumb. The best slice is the first perfect circle, but we eat every piece until only the core remains, when we watch Dad throw it far away, to land in a tangled wilderness of overgrown weeds in the empty lot next door.

Memory #3: (Margaret) Standing in front of Dad, with a plan of categorical denial. The dog's water dish has been discovered, strangely cloudy and discolored. Unfortunately, I break down under questioning, and the truth comes out: we added chalk to the water. The punishment for our crime is more severe because we compounded it by lying. In this instance, however, justice has miscarried, since I was unconscious of wrong-doing—I fell victim to a homophone, thinking that adding chalk would create "chalk"olate milk, and then was persuaded by an older sibling to deny it.

All of these are to a certain extent common memories, since they all happened to all three of us, but I find it fascinating to consider which ones stood out to which sibling. Andrew's is no surprise, he has always been an idealist, and thus disillusionment strikes him harder than others. For Margaret, I didn't even have to ask her what her strongest memory is—being myself the "older sibling" involved, she recalls it to my memory at every convenient opportunity. My recollection of the event is slightly different: without the coloring of righteous indignation, I viewed it more in the light of a science experiment. I was unaware that my accomplice was laboring under a delusion, due to an inferior grasp of the English language. Can I be blamed for her misapprehension? I would argue not, but I can appreciate that there may be two points of view on the issue. In contrast, my own strongest memory is a picture of the unadulterated and simple delights of childhood. I leave you to draw your own conclusions about our inner psyches.

Without Hypocrisy: Psalm 119:80

Psalm 119:80: Let my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes, That I may not be ashamed.

As I write this, I am not even sure if I will want to post it, because it is difficult to discuss hypocrisy without falling into it yourself. It's like trying to write about pride: “This is how I’ve learned not to be proud (and I’m so proud of myself for having learned!)”. You see the difficulty? All humans are hypocrites at one time or another, and I am no exception! To suggest that I am always able to prevent hypocrisy in my own life would itself be the height of hypocrisy. It is, however, an important issue to discuss, for it is sad and dangerous to have an insincere relationship with God. 

The result of hypocrisy is shame: when we catch ourselves out in some small hypocrisy, we are ashamed within ourselves, and before God, and if we continue down that road, making a habit of falseness, we will certainly be found out by others as well. This painful shame, however, is not the worst of hypocrisy—for it may drive us back into the right path. Far worse is the heart that no longer recognizes its own hypocrisy, but is content with a surface-level piety, deceiving itself as well as others.

The psalmist here is in the middle of writing about his love for God’s word, yet he is aware that his heart is still at risk from hypocrisy, since he asks the Lord to prevent it. Paul tells us in Galatians that the Apostle Peter, and even Barnabas, fell into hypocrisy when they stopped eating with the Gentiles, lest the Jews from Jerusalem should look down on them. We see, then, that just being aware of the dangers of hypocrisy is not enough to prevent it. We need the weapons to fight this constant battle in our hearts.

“Christian, if you mourn for hypocrisy, yet find this sin so potent that you cannot get the mastery of it, go to Christ. Beg of Him that He would exercise His kingly office in you soul, that he would subdue this sin, and put it under the yoke. Desire Him to lance your heart and cut out the rotten flesh, and that he would apply the medicine of his blood to heal you of your hypocrisy.” —Thomas Watson, The Godly Man’s Picture

The only way to be free of hypocrisy is to pray for a sound heart. We cannot conquer this sin on our own, and it is fruitless to try to do so, by second-guessing and focusing on the negative side all the time—Were my motives pure? Was I serving to be seen by others, rather than for love of Christ? Measuring ourselves by ourselves is not wise: our hearts are deceitful, and only God can know them fully, therefore only God can make them blameless. Our focus should be on God, and on His power to change us: “Lord, give me a sound heart. Lord, let me not be ashamed before You; help me do all things for Your glory. Give me Your strength to serve, for without You I can do nothing.”

Hypocrisy cannot survive in a selfless atmosphere, and whenever we find ourselves slipping into insincerity, we must turn from ourselves to God. With our eyes on Him we will never suffer shame. 

Large Family Idiosyncrasies #8: Kitchen Math

Did you know that if you multiply 2 teaspoons by 6 it equals a quarter of a cup?
Have you ever tried to count 20+ cups of flour without losing track?
Can your largest pot hold more than 4 gallons of water?
Would your freezer fit half a cow, plus 40 lbs of chicken thighs, and several gallons of ice-cream?

For a big family, this is normal "survival" mode in the kitchen. We have to make a lot of food, every day, just to keep the kids fat and friendly, and at the same time we can't neglect the household, or teaching school. It's a like a weird cross between running a restaurant and a family: without the equipment to make industrial-sized batches of food, yet stretching the capacity of our home-style tools every day.

All of our recipes have been doubled at least once over the years, often multiple times, and our cookbooks are full of marginal notations, such as "can be tripled" "make in two separate batches"
"x6" (that one's for pancake batter) "makes enough for our family + 2 guests if doubled if tripled" . As a result of all these adaptations, we often cannot remember the original portion number, and multiplying by two or three as we put together a meal is done subconsciously. This causes trouble when a recipe is started as written (8 cups of flour, say, or 3 lbs of ground beef), but then part way through adding the ingredients things start being doubled—we might end up with twice as much salt, or baking soda, or cayenne pepper as we intended! The result may be more-or-less edible, depending on the nature of the menu, and what ingredients were involved.

However, when we're making up that much food at a time, we can't afford to throw it away, so we usually manage to choke it down somehow. Now, with adult kids in the house, the "everyone eats the same thing, eat everything on your plate" rule is less stringent, but we have always had one exception: there are certain foods that Dad doesn't like, and if he won't eat something, it is optional for the kids too! This includes coconut, squash, cream-of-anything soup (and also anything labeled "casserole"), but most especially Green Beans. He has a special face he makes for Green Beans, when the cook isn't looking, much to his children's delight.

Because of this violent distaste for green beans at the top of the totem-pole, Mom doesn't buy them. This does not mean that they never enter the house, though. In our congregation, there is a slight remnant of the "pay-your-pastor-with-garden-produce" mentality, so throughout the summer and fall people drop off all sorts of food at our house: five-gallon pails filled with grapes, bags and bags of rhubarb (what can you really do with rhubarb, anyway?), walnuts (still in their shells, us kids have to crack the shells and pick out the meat), green beans (inevitably), frozen turkeys, fish, venison, and once a can of slug chowder. "Never say 'No' to free food" is another rule at our house, and we generally manage to put what people give us to good use: steaming, blanching, freezing, canning, pickling, and drying it as the case may require.

All this mass food production left me strangely ill-prepared to cook for two people, although I did adjust quickly. Now, instead of multiplying every recipe, I simply divide! To make pizza, for instance, I cut our family's crust recipe to one-sixth, and then use one half of the resulting dough, freezing the other half.

Kitchen math—it's real; use it as an example next time a fifth grader asks how mathematics applies to the real world.

The Importance of Memorization

Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

I've been memorizing Scripture since before I could enunciate the English language properly. (The "tree planted by the river" in Psalm 1 was interpreted as "twee pwanted by da wivah", according to my Grandma, who does a very good impersonation of my young self.) Psalm 1, Psalm 23, John 3:16...I don't even remember the time when I had to learn them, they're just there, as far back as my memory goes.

The first passages I remember learning were the Romans Road and Romans 6. We were involved in a family Bible study, working through the book of Romans, and the leader of the study encouraged all the kids to memorize those verses. I can still see myself, sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking up as I finished reciting the last verse of Romans 6, very proud of myself.

Back then, I mostly memorized Scripture because it was part of my family's routine. Mom and Dad told us to memorize certain passages, and we generally obeyed. I did read the Bible because I believed it was what God wanted Christians to do, but I had no idea what a powerful tool memorization was for spiritual growth.

Even when I signed up for the Bible Bee, and started memorizing hundreds of verses each summer, I was not unlocking the full potential of memorization. It was teaching me discipline, I was learning new things about the Bible, and I enjoyed it, but it was when I started studying 2nd Timothy, and memorized the whole book as I was studying it, that my view of scripture changed.

You see, memorization enhances understanding of scripture. The Bible is not like the times table, or "The Jabberwocky" poem—it is not to be memorized without understanding. Now, it may start out without understanding; there are some passages in Hebrews that I had half-learned before I had the foggiest idea what the author was getting at. But, as I kept going over the passage, I could almost see it opening up in my head—the words came together into meaningful ideas, connecting to the rest of the Bible, confirming doctrine, reinforcing practices that I already had learned, and showing me new angles of God's love and power.

A funny thing happens when you memorize a passage of Scripture—say, Psalm 119. First of all, it starts showing up everywhere. I'm sure I heard sermons that involved Psalm 119 before this last year, but I don't recall a single one. However, since I started meditating on it every day, I've heard at least four or five sermons either based on the Psalm, or referencing it, and I've discovered that other people love it as well! Also, as I'm reading or listening to other portions of the Bible, I come across phrases that remind me of verses in Psalm 119, and both reinforce and add to my understanding of the chapter. Scripture informs scripture, and the more deeply I study a passage, the more I see how it is connected with the whole of God's Word.

Psalm 119:11 is by no means the only passage that encourages scripture memorization. There are places God commands it, both in the Old Testament and the New. "These words which I command you today shall be in your heart; You shall teach them diligently to your children" (Deuteronomy 6:5-6) "This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night" (Joshua 1:8) "Lay up His words in your heart" (Job 22:22) "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Colossians 3:16) "receive with meekness the implanted word" (James 1:21).

Having passages of Scripture memorized is very useful in our Christian life:
1. It allows us to be ready to give an answer. Don't try to defend Christianity, or explain it, without using the Bible! The Bible is a powerful sword, and we should never go into battle without it.
2. It helps us keep from sinning (as this verse mentions). To hold our thoughts captive, we need to know and have ready verses with which to fill our minds. When we are about to lash out at someone in anger, or fudge the truth a little, if our minds are full of God's word, it will be easier to stay calm, or harder to lie.
3. It enriches our prayers. Sometimes we do not know what to say when talking to God, and praying Scripture is a great help, both in praying for our own spiritual growth and in making intercession for others. There are also many wonderful prayers in Scripture, which we can use.
4. It is a comfort in affliction. When we are hurt by people, or anxious under circumstances, there are many passages in the Bible which soothe and quiet our hearts.
5. It seasons our speech. When our minds are full of the Bible, we will not find our tongue slipping into cursing, coarseness, sarcasm, or slander.

Mere head-knowledge of the Bible is not enough, however, and it would be wrong and dangerous to focus on an external knowledge of the Bible, rather than an internalized, personal faith in Christ. Memorizing the entire Bible would not make one a Christian, and even understanding the meaning is not enough, without faith. The Bible must be in our hearts, not just our minds, and it must show in our lives, not only our words.