before israel went into the promised land where Jehovah would be driving out, by hornet, the 7 heathen nations little by little so the land would not be overrun with wild animals before israel could fully inhabit...He warned them to beware of all the houses, wells and vineyards they would be inheriting...to beware of all this they were receiving...to beware of not forgetting Jehovah.
one of the proverbs includes a request from the wise man that God not give him either too little, so little that he would have to steal to live, or too much, so much that he would forget God.
another says that wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but that which is gathered by labor increases. 13.11 the operative word here is labor. labor came with sin and the fall. man was to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. the warp and woof of physical existence was to be pain and provision out of that pain.
another like proverb says that a laborer's appetite works for him for his hunger urges him on. so we learn not only is pain necessary but it is even serves as a beneficial part of existence. 16.26
from adam's sin we as fallen men have always tried to escape God's appointed pattern...we have an instinctual desire not to have to need Him. this is so in every area but can be seen most easily in the area of things. we don't want to be dependent on Him for them. we don't want to limit our consumption of them. we are always looking to 'get to the place where we don't have to "worry" or we no longer experience "need" '. a vain hope for we never can get enough for we are trying to get enough from things that inherently do not contain 'enough'. God says no, you don't want to escape need, pain, difficulty. that is part of the weaving of Glory.
but, as if insane, we say no, we don't want Your way. He says, My people have committed two evils. they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. jeremiah 2.13
sighing He says I Myself will show them the pattern. this Jesus who did not regard equality with God as a thing to be held onto, this Jesus possessor of All became poor so that we who possess nothing could, in Him, become fabulously wealthy. the prophet speaks of His earthly existence some seven hundred years before thus,
a very essential part of His Glory was need, pain, difficulty..
'He grew up..like a young plant whose roots are in parched ground
he had no beauty
no majesty to draw our eyes
no grace to make us delight in Him
His form
disfigured
lost all the likeness of a man
His beauty changed beyond human semblance
He was despised
tormented and humbled by suffering
we despised Him
we held Him of no account
a thing from which men turn away their eyes
yet on Himself He bore our sufferings
our torments He endured
while we counted Him smitten by God
struck down by disease and misery
but He was pierced for our transgressions
tortured for our iniquities
the chastisement he bore is health for us
and by His scourging we are healed'. isaiah 53
one to whom He revealed Himself said, 'not that i speak from want for i have learned to be content in whatever circumstances i'm in. i know how to get along with humble means and i also know how to live in prosperity. in any and every circumstance i have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. i can do all things through Him who strengthens me. nevertheless you have done well to share with me in my affliction... philippians 4
if i have all things but am not suffering with Him, i impoverish myself and those around me immeasurably here and Him without end forever. if i suffer with Him, whether i have nothing or everything, i am Wealthy.
God's encouragement to those who want wealth as well as to those who have it is be content with nourishment and clothing and give all the rest away. I timothy 6 may God help us to believe He knows best and to follow the pattern of the One who had no place to lay His head as soon as He was finally was enabled to do so...so that He might mingle His Wealth in agony.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
4.24.2011 LLOYD-JONES ON ROMANS 1.2
the apostle paul starts his letter to the believers at rome..'paul..separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures,) concerning His Son Jesus Christ...
in this section lloyd-jones considers three things.
1. why the delay?
2. why did paul insinuate the parenthetical verse 2 about the 'prophets in the holy scriptures'?
3. what are some vital things we can learn here?
why did God allow such a long period of time to pass between His promise of a savior and His sending Jesus Christ? lloyd-jones suggests three possible reasons:
1. it was God's way of revealing the depth of sin, 'of teaching us, what sin really is, what a terrible thing it is, that it is not merely some light act of disobedience or some failure, but that it really is a profound disease off the soul of man which leads to terrible and awful consequences...the terrible thing about sin is that it blinds us to the truth of God'. consider john 5..'these men claimed to be experts on the old testament - they were the teachers, the authorities on the books of moses - and our Lord says to them, go back and read them..Moses..wrote of Me..but they could not see that'. also II corinthians 3 says that their eyes were blinded; a veil was over their hearts.
2. it was God's way of proving to men the futility of man's attempts to save himself. look at all the great civilizations which came and went. they rose and then they fell. they could not save themselves. I corinthians 1 says that the world by wisdom knew not God. romans 8.3 says, for what the law could not do, in that is was weak through the flesh..'people said, "give us a law, tell us how to live, and we will live it and put ourselves right" '..they could not do it.
3. it showed God's Lordship, absolute control and final authority. all old testament history..and all history is made up of two things: God's actions and God's permissions. there are accounts in the old testament 'of the tremendous activity of God, when He, as it were, irrupted on to the human scene and did things - the flood, the destruction of sodom and gomorrah, the crossing by israel of the red sea, israel's entering into canaan, the waters of the jordan divided and so on - the mighty acts of God. oh yes; but there were long periods when God seemed to be doing nothing and permitted all kinds of thins to happen. people said, 'where is your God?'
next, why did paul insinuate verse 2 as a parenthetical between 1 and 3? he does this again and again. he does it in 3.20..'
in this section lloyd-jones considers three things.
1. why the delay?
2. why did paul insinuate the parenthetical verse 2 about the 'prophets in the holy scriptures'?
3. what are some vital things we can learn here?
why did God allow such a long period of time to pass between His promise of a savior and His sending Jesus Christ? lloyd-jones suggests three possible reasons:
1. it was God's way of revealing the depth of sin, 'of teaching us, what sin really is, what a terrible thing it is, that it is not merely some light act of disobedience or some failure, but that it really is a profound disease off the soul of man which leads to terrible and awful consequences...the terrible thing about sin is that it blinds us to the truth of God'. consider john 5..'these men claimed to be experts on the old testament - they were the teachers, the authorities on the books of moses - and our Lord says to them, go back and read them..Moses..wrote of Me..but they could not see that'. also II corinthians 3 says that their eyes were blinded; a veil was over their hearts.
2. it was God's way of proving to men the futility of man's attempts to save himself. look at all the great civilizations which came and went. they rose and then they fell. they could not save themselves. I corinthians 1 says that the world by wisdom knew not God. romans 8.3 says, for what the law could not do, in that is was weak through the flesh..'people said, "give us a law, tell us how to live, and we will live it and put ourselves right" '..they could not do it.
3. it showed God's Lordship, absolute control and final authority. all old testament history..and all history is made up of two things: God's actions and God's permissions. there are accounts in the old testament 'of the tremendous activity of God, when He, as it were, irrupted on to the human scene and did things - the flood, the destruction of sodom and gomorrah, the crossing by israel of the red sea, israel's entering into canaan, the waters of the jordan divided and so on - the mighty acts of God. oh yes; but there were long periods when God seemed to be doing nothing and permitted all kinds of thins to happen. people said, 'where is your God?'
next, why did paul insinuate verse 2 as a parenthetical between 1 and 3? he does this again and again. he does it in 3.20..'
4.23.2011 PEBA TO ROD
Dear Rod,
congratulations in advance to you and Kate on the birth of your child. should God allow this little one to live in the flesh i encourage you to raise him in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, who not only gives physical life (bios) to all, but has allowed Himself to be mistreated and put to death to make spiritual or unending life (zoe) possible, to whoever will trust Him, as well..the gift of His unending Life. this is truly good news! (my prayer is that this little one will be moved from being dead in trespasses and sins to this unending Life so that he will never die!)
the best way to raise him, Rod, is to turn from your sin, confess Jesus as your Lord and give your life to God to do His will. then He will be able to guide and bless you as you do His will. May God help you to do this is my prayer. sincerely, steve paine
ps. as always you have a standing invitation at 54 to enjoy a snatch of time... or longer if you are able, with your little one's peba. ...possibly we could set up a celebration meal that your family could come to as well. that would be great!
congratulations in advance to you and Kate on the birth of your child. should God allow this little one to live in the flesh i encourage you to raise him in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, who not only gives physical life (bios) to all, but has allowed Himself to be mistreated and put to death to make spiritual or unending life (zoe) possible, to whoever will trust Him, as well..the gift of His unending Life. this is truly good news! (my prayer is that this little one will be moved from being dead in trespasses and sins to this unending Life so that he will never die!)
the best way to raise him, Rod, is to turn from your sin, confess Jesus as your Lord and give your life to God to do His will. then He will be able to guide and bless you as you do His will. May God help you to do this is my prayer. sincerely, steve paine
ps. as always you have a standing invitation at 54 to enjoy a snatch of time... or longer if you are able, with your little one's peba. ...possibly we could set up a celebration meal that your family could come to as well. that would be great!
Monday, April 11, 2011
4.11.2011 DYING WELL
Going down singing by carolyn arends, ct, 4.2011, p56
(the author tells briefly of the recent death of her father.)...after several hours, he gave up on conversation. he started singing.
what are you humming? my mom asked. my dad repeatedly tried to answer through the mask before yanking it off again. 'with Christ in the vessel, i can smile at the storm', he gasped. wow, murmured my mom, before singing it with him.
my dad learned 'with Christ in the vessel' at camp imadene in 1949, the summer he asked Jesus into his 8 year old heart. 6 decades later, hours before his death, that silly old camp song was still embedded in his soul and mind, and he was singing it at the top of his nearly worn out lungs.
i have never liked thinking about my own death. but i've considered it enough to know i hope i go down singing or at least speaking or thinking, something about Jesus.
i suppose that is why i found myself sobbing on an airplane while reading margaret guenther's 'th practice of prayer'. in one section,l she discusses the eastern christian discipline of continuously repeating the Jesus prayer: 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner'. she reports her own efforts to incorporate the practice into her daily life, even sizing up the logs he chops for firewood by the number of Jesus prayers she'll likely get through before they are cut.
... 'i hope that by imprinting..the prayer..on my subconscious, it will be with me for the rest of my life, especially at the end, when other words will perhaps be lost to me'.
..many early christian communities encouraged believers to engage in the spiritual discipline of considering their own deaths - not in order to ceate morbid fear, but to put this life in the proper perspective. memento mori, medieval monks would say to each other in the hallways ;remember your mortality', or more literally, 'remember you will die'.
death unaddressed is the bogeyman in the basement; it keeps us looking over our shoulders and holds us back from entering joyously into the days we are given. but death dragged out from the shadows and held up to the light of the gospel not only loses its sting, it becomes an essential reminder to wisely use the life we have.
when we remember the mortality of those around us, they become more valuable to us. madeleine l'engle once noted that when people die, it is the sins of omission, rather than the sins of commission, that haunt us. 'if only i had called more', we lament. remembering a loved on's death before it happens can spur us into the sort of action we won't regret later.
and REMEMBERING OUR MORTALITY HELPS REORDER OUR PRIORITIES; a race toward a finish line has a different sense of purpose and urgency than a jog around the block. when a believer acknowledges that he is headed toward death (tomorrow or in 50 years), he can stop expending the tremendous energy it takes to deny his mortality and start living into his sternal destiny, here and now. and he can be intentional about investing himself in the things he wants to be with him at the end, much the way guenther seeks to make the prayer a permanent part of her..
i don't want to romanticize death. my friend...calls it 'the great gash', and i must confess that on the 6 month anniversary of my father's passing, the hole left by him is still gaping.
but though death hurts, it is not the end. though we mourn, we do not mourn as those who have no hope. and so i offer my dread of death to the author of Life, asking Him to help me to number my days rightly. i don't know how many i've got, but i want to use everyone of them to get the truth about who Jesus is - and who i am in Him - more deeply ingrained....'
notes on death: i am deeply scarred in spirit by the way i was so little involved in my mother's and father's last years...at the time all i was thinking about was myself. God has forgiven, i know, and yet the searing pain can come still at times. i look very much to see them after i am face to face with Jesus. i look forward to the experience of being forgiven by them and...how will it all be...getting, possibly, to know them, spend time with them, do things with them in service to our God? i don't know. i just know that He will wipe away all our tears...and all will be well at last.
i'm not exactly sure when it began, but God has given me a joyful anticipation of death and a longing to be with the One who has loved me from eternity past and forever. the sooner the better...to be completely cleansed of all my sins and made like Him.
i personally believe that the better one lives, the closer to God, the more obedient...the better one will die whenever and how ever it may happen. may You help me live my belief.
(the author tells briefly of the recent death of her father.)...after several hours, he gave up on conversation. he started singing.
what are you humming? my mom asked. my dad repeatedly tried to answer through the mask before yanking it off again. 'with Christ in the vessel, i can smile at the storm', he gasped. wow, murmured my mom, before singing it with him.
my dad learned 'with Christ in the vessel' at camp imadene in 1949, the summer he asked Jesus into his 8 year old heart. 6 decades later, hours before his death, that silly old camp song was still embedded in his soul and mind, and he was singing it at the top of his nearly worn out lungs.
i have never liked thinking about my own death. but i've considered it enough to know i hope i go down singing or at least speaking or thinking, something about Jesus.
i suppose that is why i found myself sobbing on an airplane while reading margaret guenther's 'th practice of prayer'. in one section,l she discusses the eastern christian discipline of continuously repeating the Jesus prayer: 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner'. she reports her own efforts to incorporate the practice into her daily life, even sizing up the logs he chops for firewood by the number of Jesus prayers she'll likely get through before they are cut.
... 'i hope that by imprinting..the prayer..on my subconscious, it will be with me for the rest of my life, especially at the end, when other words will perhaps be lost to me'.
..many early christian communities encouraged believers to engage in the spiritual discipline of considering their own deaths - not in order to ceate morbid fear, but to put this life in the proper perspective. memento mori, medieval monks would say to each other in the hallways ;remember your mortality', or more literally, 'remember you will die'.
death unaddressed is the bogeyman in the basement; it keeps us looking over our shoulders and holds us back from entering joyously into the days we are given. but death dragged out from the shadows and held up to the light of the gospel not only loses its sting, it becomes an essential reminder to wisely use the life we have.
when we remember the mortality of those around us, they become more valuable to us. madeleine l'engle once noted that when people die, it is the sins of omission, rather than the sins of commission, that haunt us. 'if only i had called more', we lament. remembering a loved on's death before it happens can spur us into the sort of action we won't regret later.
and REMEMBERING OUR MORTALITY HELPS REORDER OUR PRIORITIES; a race toward a finish line has a different sense of purpose and urgency than a jog around the block. when a believer acknowledges that he is headed toward death (tomorrow or in 50 years), he can stop expending the tremendous energy it takes to deny his mortality and start living into his sternal destiny, here and now. and he can be intentional about investing himself in the things he wants to be with him at the end, much the way guenther seeks to make the prayer a permanent part of her..
i don't want to romanticize death. my friend...calls it 'the great gash', and i must confess that on the 6 month anniversary of my father's passing, the hole left by him is still gaping.
but though death hurts, it is not the end. though we mourn, we do not mourn as those who have no hope. and so i offer my dread of death to the author of Life, asking Him to help me to number my days rightly. i don't know how many i've got, but i want to use everyone of them to get the truth about who Jesus is - and who i am in Him - more deeply ingrained....'
notes on death: i am deeply scarred in spirit by the way i was so little involved in my mother's and father's last years...at the time all i was thinking about was myself. God has forgiven, i know, and yet the searing pain can come still at times. i look very much to see them after i am face to face with Jesus. i look forward to the experience of being forgiven by them and...how will it all be...getting, possibly, to know them, spend time with them, do things with them in service to our God? i don't know. i just know that He will wipe away all our tears...and all will be well at last.
i'm not exactly sure when it began, but God has given me a joyful anticipation of death and a longing to be with the One who has loved me from eternity past and forever. the sooner the better...to be completely cleansed of all my sins and made like Him.
i personally believe that the better one lives, the closer to God, the more obedient...the better one will die whenever and how ever it may happen. may You help me live my belief.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
4.6.2011 MORAVIANS#9 - LIFE IN HERRNHUT
as the Brethren settled down in herrnhut, they endeavored, under the count's direction, to realize the dignity of labor. for rich and poor, for catholic and protestant, for all able bodied men and women, the same stern rule held good.
if a man desired to settle at herrnhut, the one supreme condition was that he earned his bread by honest toil and lived a godly, righteous and sober life. for industrious catholics there was a hearty welcome; for vagabonds, tramps and whining beggars there was not a bed to spare. if a man would work he might stay and worship God according to his conscience; but if he was lazy, he was ordered off the premises. as the Brethren met on sunday morning for early worship in the public hall, they joined with one accord in the prayer, 'bless the sweat of the brow and faithfulness in business'; and the only business they allowed was business which they could ask the lord to bless. to them work was a sacred duty, a delight and a means for the common good. if a man is blessed who has found his work, then blessed were the folk at herrnhut. 'we do not work to live. we live to work.' said the count.
the whole aim was the good of each and the good of all. as the grocer stood behind his counter or the weaver plied his flying shuttle, he was toiling, not for himself alone, but for all his brethern and sisters. if a man desired to set up in business, he had first to obtain the permission of the elders; and the elders refused to grant the permission unless they thought that the business in question was needed by the rest of the people. the law there said, 'no brother shall compete with his brother in trade'. no man was allowed to lend $ on interest without the consent of the elders. if 2 men had any dispute in business, they must come to terms within a week; and if they did not, or went to law, they were expelled. if a man could buy an article in herrnhut, he was not allowed to buy it anywhere else.
it is easy to see the purpose of these regulations. they were an attempt to solve the social problem, to banish competition and to put cooperation in its place. for some years the scheme was crowned with glorious success. the settlement grew; the trade flourished; the great firm of durninger obtained a world wide reputation; the women were skilled in weaving and spinning; and the whole system worked so well that in 1747 the saxon government besought the count to establish a similar settlement at barby. at herrnhut, in a word, if nowhere else, the social problem was solved. there, at least, the aged and ill could live in peace and comfort; there grim poverty was unknown; there the widow and orphan were free from carking care; and there men and women of humble rank had learned the truth that when men toil for the common good there is a perennial nobleness in work..there was, however, no community of goods.
for pleasure the Brethren had neither time nor taste. they worked, on the average, 16 hours a day, allowed only 5 hours for sleep and spent the remaining 3 at meals and meetings. the count was as puritanic as oliver cromwell himself. for some reason he had come to the conclusion that the less the settlers knew of pleasure the better and therefore he laid down the law that all strolling popular entertainers should be forbidden to enter the holy city. no public buffoon ever cracked his jokes at herrnhut. no tight rope dancer posed on giddy height. no barrel dancer rolled his empty barrel. no tout for lotteries swindled the simple. no juggler mystified the children. no cheap jack cheated the innocent maidens. no quack doctor sold his nasty pills. no melancholy bear made his feeble attempt to dance. for the social joys of private life the laws were stricter still. at herrnhut, ran one comprehensive clause, there were to be no dances whatever, no wedding breakfasts, no christening bumpers, no drinking parties, no funeral feasts, and no games like those played in the surrounding villages. no bride at herrnhut ever carried a bouquet. no sponsor ever gave the new arrival a mug or a silver spoon.
for sins of the coarse and vulgar kind there was no mercy. if a man got drunk or cursed or stole or used his fists or commit adultery or fornication, he was expelled and not permitted to return till he had given infallible proofs of true repentance. no guilty couple were allowed to 'cheat the parson'. no man was allowed to strike his wife and no wife was allowed to henpeck her husband and any woman found guilty of the latter crime was summoned before the board of elders and reprimanded in public.
again, the count insisted on civil order. he appointed a number of other officials. some, called servants, had to clean the wells, to sweep the streets, to repair the houses, and to trim the gardens. for the sick there was a board of sick waiters; for the poor a board of almoners; for the wicked a board of monitors; for the ignorant a board of schoolmasters; and each board held a conference every week. once a week, on saturday nights, the elders met in council; once a week, on monday mornings, they announced any new decrees; and all inhabitants vowed obedience to them as elders, to the count as warden, and finally to the law of the land. thus had the count, as lord of the manor, drawn up a code of civil laws to be binding on all. we have finished the manorial injunctions and prohibitions. we come to the free religious life of the community.
let us first clear a difficulty out of the way. as the count was a loyal son of the lutheran church and regarded the augsburg confession as inspired, it seems, at first sight, a marvelous fact that here at herrnhut he allowed the Brethren to take steps which led ere long to the renewql of their church.
he allowed them to sing Brethren's humns; he allowed them to revive old Brethren's customs; he allowed them to hold independent meetings; and he even resolved to do his best to revive the old church himself. his conduct certainly looked very inconsistent. if a man in england were to call himself a loyal member of the anglican church and yet at the same time do his very best to found an independent denomination, he would soon be denounced as a traitor to the church and a breeder of schism and sissent. but the count's conduct can be easily explained. it was all due to his ignorance of history. he had no idea that the bohemian Brethren had ever been an independent church. he regarded them as a 'church within a church,' of the kind for which luther had longed and which spener had already established. he held his delusion down to the end of his days; and, therefore, as lutheran and pietist alike, he felt at liberty to help the Brethren in all their religious endeavours.
if a man desired to settle at herrnhut, the one supreme condition was that he earned his bread by honest toil and lived a godly, righteous and sober life. for industrious catholics there was a hearty welcome; for vagabonds, tramps and whining beggars there was not a bed to spare. if a man would work he might stay and worship God according to his conscience; but if he was lazy, he was ordered off the premises. as the Brethren met on sunday morning for early worship in the public hall, they joined with one accord in the prayer, 'bless the sweat of the brow and faithfulness in business'; and the only business they allowed was business which they could ask the lord to bless. to them work was a sacred duty, a delight and a means for the common good. if a man is blessed who has found his work, then blessed were the folk at herrnhut. 'we do not work to live. we live to work.' said the count.
the whole aim was the good of each and the good of all. as the grocer stood behind his counter or the weaver plied his flying shuttle, he was toiling, not for himself alone, but for all his brethern and sisters. if a man desired to set up in business, he had first to obtain the permission of the elders; and the elders refused to grant the permission unless they thought that the business in question was needed by the rest of the people. the law there said, 'no brother shall compete with his brother in trade'. no man was allowed to lend $ on interest without the consent of the elders. if 2 men had any dispute in business, they must come to terms within a week; and if they did not, or went to law, they were expelled. if a man could buy an article in herrnhut, he was not allowed to buy it anywhere else.
it is easy to see the purpose of these regulations. they were an attempt to solve the social problem, to banish competition and to put cooperation in its place. for some years the scheme was crowned with glorious success. the settlement grew; the trade flourished; the great firm of durninger obtained a world wide reputation; the women were skilled in weaving and spinning; and the whole system worked so well that in 1747 the saxon government besought the count to establish a similar settlement at barby. at herrnhut, in a word, if nowhere else, the social problem was solved. there, at least, the aged and ill could live in peace and comfort; there grim poverty was unknown; there the widow and orphan were free from carking care; and there men and women of humble rank had learned the truth that when men toil for the common good there is a perennial nobleness in work..there was, however, no community of goods.
for pleasure the Brethren had neither time nor taste. they worked, on the average, 16 hours a day, allowed only 5 hours for sleep and spent the remaining 3 at meals and meetings. the count was as puritanic as oliver cromwell himself. for some reason he had come to the conclusion that the less the settlers knew of pleasure the better and therefore he laid down the law that all strolling popular entertainers should be forbidden to enter the holy city. no public buffoon ever cracked his jokes at herrnhut. no tight rope dancer posed on giddy height. no barrel dancer rolled his empty barrel. no tout for lotteries swindled the simple. no juggler mystified the children. no cheap jack cheated the innocent maidens. no quack doctor sold his nasty pills. no melancholy bear made his feeble attempt to dance. for the social joys of private life the laws were stricter still. at herrnhut, ran one comprehensive clause, there were to be no dances whatever, no wedding breakfasts, no christening bumpers, no drinking parties, no funeral feasts, and no games like those played in the surrounding villages. no bride at herrnhut ever carried a bouquet. no sponsor ever gave the new arrival a mug or a silver spoon.
for sins of the coarse and vulgar kind there was no mercy. if a man got drunk or cursed or stole or used his fists or commit adultery or fornication, he was expelled and not permitted to return till he had given infallible proofs of true repentance. no guilty couple were allowed to 'cheat the parson'. no man was allowed to strike his wife and no wife was allowed to henpeck her husband and any woman found guilty of the latter crime was summoned before the board of elders and reprimanded in public.
again, the count insisted on civil order. he appointed a number of other officials. some, called servants, had to clean the wells, to sweep the streets, to repair the houses, and to trim the gardens. for the sick there was a board of sick waiters; for the poor a board of almoners; for the wicked a board of monitors; for the ignorant a board of schoolmasters; and each board held a conference every week. once a week, on saturday nights, the elders met in council; once a week, on monday mornings, they announced any new decrees; and all inhabitants vowed obedience to them as elders, to the count as warden, and finally to the law of the land. thus had the count, as lord of the manor, drawn up a code of civil laws to be binding on all. we have finished the manorial injunctions and prohibitions. we come to the free religious life of the community.
let us first clear a difficulty out of the way. as the count was a loyal son of the lutheran church and regarded the augsburg confession as inspired, it seems, at first sight, a marvelous fact that here at herrnhut he allowed the Brethren to take steps which led ere long to the renewql of their church.
he allowed them to sing Brethren's humns; he allowed them to revive old Brethren's customs; he allowed them to hold independent meetings; and he even resolved to do his best to revive the old church himself. his conduct certainly looked very inconsistent. if a man in england were to call himself a loyal member of the anglican church and yet at the same time do his very best to found an independent denomination, he would soon be denounced as a traitor to the church and a breeder of schism and sissent. but the count's conduct can be easily explained. it was all due to his ignorance of history. he had no idea that the bohemian Brethren had ever been an independent church. he regarded them as a 'church within a church,' of the kind for which luther had longed and which spener had already established. he held his delusion down to the end of his days; and, therefore, as lutheran and pietist alike, he felt at liberty to help the Brethren in all their religious endeavours.
4.5.2011 MORAVIANS#8 - HERRNHUT FOUNDED
FOUNDING(christian david had brought a group of persecuted germans from moravia with the promise from count Z that he would give them refuge. the first small group had arrived june 8, 1722.)
as these wanderers from a foreign land had not been able to bring in their pockets certificates of orthodoxy and might, after all, be dangerous heretics, it occurred to Z's canny steward, heitz, that on the whole it would be more fitting if they settled, not in the village itself, but at a safe and convenient distance. the count was away; the steward was in charge; and the orthodox parish must not be exposed to infection. as the neissers, further, were cutlers by trade, thaere was no need for them in the quiet village. if they wished to earn an honest living they could do it better upon the broad high road.
for these reasons, therefore, he led the exiles to a dismal, swanpy stretch of ground about a mile from the village; and told them for the present to rest their bones in an old ufinished farmhouse. the spot itself was dreary and bleak, but the neighboring woods of pines and beeches relieved the bareness of the scene. it was part of Z's estate and lay at the top of a gentle slope, up which a long avenue now leads. it was a piece of common pasture ground and was therefore known as hutberg ('hutberg' ie. the hill where cattle and sheep were kept secure..for the payment of a small rent the landlords often let out 'hutbergs' to the villagers on their extates.) or 'watch hill. it was on the high road from lobau to zittau; it was often used as a camping ground by gypsies and other pedlars; and the road was in such a disgusting state that wagons sometimes sank axle deep in the mud. for the moment the refugees were sick at heart.
mus augustin neisser said, 'where shall we find bread in this wilderness?'
godfrey marche, tutor to lady gersdorf's granddaughters replied, 'if you believe, you shall see the glory of God'.
the steward was quite concerned for the refugees. as he strolled around inspecting the land he noticed one particular spot where a thick mist was rising; and concluding that there a spring was sure to be found, he offered a prayer on their behalf and registered the solemn vow, 'upon this spot, in Thy name, i will build for them the first house'. he laid their needs before lady gersdorf and the good old poetess kindly sent them a cow; he inspected the site with christian david and marked the trees he might fell; and thus encouraged, christian david seized his axe, struck it into a tree, and, as he did so, exclaimed, 'yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself.'
the first step in the building of herrnhut had been taken. for some weeks the settlers had still to eat the bread of bitterness and scorn. it was long before they could find a spring of water. the food was poor; the children fell ill; the folk in the neighborhood laughed; and even when the first house was built they remarked that it would not be standing long.
but already christian david had wider plans. already in vivid imagination he waw a goodly city rise, mapped out the courts and streets in his mind and explained his glowing schemes to the friendly heitz. the steward himself was carried away with zeal. the very name of the hill was hailed as a promising omen. 'may God grant that your excellency may be able to build on the hill called the hutberg a town which may not only itself abide under the lord's watch (herrnhut), but all the inhabitants of which may also continue on the Lord's Watch, so that no silence may be there by day or night'. it was thus that herrnhut received the name which was soon to be famous in the land; and thus that the exiles, cheered anew, resolved to build a glorious city of God.
as these wanderers from a foreign land had not been able to bring in their pockets certificates of orthodoxy and might, after all, be dangerous heretics, it occurred to Z's canny steward, heitz, that on the whole it would be more fitting if they settled, not in the village itself, but at a safe and convenient distance. the count was away; the steward was in charge; and the orthodox parish must not be exposed to infection. as the neissers, further, were cutlers by trade, thaere was no need for them in the quiet village. if they wished to earn an honest living they could do it better upon the broad high road.
for these reasons, therefore, he led the exiles to a dismal, swanpy stretch of ground about a mile from the village; and told them for the present to rest their bones in an old ufinished farmhouse. the spot itself was dreary and bleak, but the neighboring woods of pines and beeches relieved the bareness of the scene. it was part of Z's estate and lay at the top of a gentle slope, up which a long avenue now leads. it was a piece of common pasture ground and was therefore known as hutberg ('hutberg' ie. the hill where cattle and sheep were kept secure..for the payment of a small rent the landlords often let out 'hutbergs' to the villagers on their extates.) or 'watch hill. it was on the high road from lobau to zittau; it was often used as a camping ground by gypsies and other pedlars; and the road was in such a disgusting state that wagons sometimes sank axle deep in the mud. for the moment the refugees were sick at heart.
mus augustin neisser said, 'where shall we find bread in this wilderness?'
godfrey marche, tutor to lady gersdorf's granddaughters replied, 'if you believe, you shall see the glory of God'.
the steward was quite concerned for the refugees. as he strolled around inspecting the land he noticed one particular spot where a thick mist was rising; and concluding that there a spring was sure to be found, he offered a prayer on their behalf and registered the solemn vow, 'upon this spot, in Thy name, i will build for them the first house'. he laid their needs before lady gersdorf and the good old poetess kindly sent them a cow; he inspected the site with christian david and marked the trees he might fell; and thus encouraged, christian david seized his axe, struck it into a tree, and, as he did so, exclaimed, 'yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself.'
the first step in the building of herrnhut had been taken. for some weeks the settlers had still to eat the bread of bitterness and scorn. it was long before they could find a spring of water. the food was poor; the children fell ill; the folk in the neighborhood laughed; and even when the first house was built they remarked that it would not be standing long.
but already christian david had wider plans. already in vivid imagination he waw a goodly city rise, mapped out the courts and streets in his mind and explained his glowing schemes to the friendly heitz. the steward himself was carried away with zeal. the very name of the hill was hailed as a promising omen. 'may God grant that your excellency may be able to build on the hill called the hutberg a town which may not only itself abide under the lord's watch (herrnhut), but all the inhabitants of which may also continue on the Lord's Watch, so that no silence may be there by day or night'. it was thus that herrnhut received the name which was soon to be famous in the land; and thus that the exiles, cheered anew, resolved to build a glorious city of God.
Monday, April 4, 2011
4.4.2011 GEORGE WHITFIELD'S LETTERS - SUBDUE THE DARLING PASSION
7.14. 1737 ...dear mrs. H,
if you remember, i promised...but as, in all probability, this will be the last letter i shall write to dear mrs. H before i sail, what can i fill the remainder with better, than by exhorting you, to lay aside every weight, particularly the sin that does most easily beset you and so run with patience the race set before you.l i lay, the sin that most easily besets; for unless we lay the ax to the root, UNLESS WE SINCERELY RESOLVE IN THE STRENGTH OF JESUS CHRIST TO SUBDUE OUR FAVORITE, OUR DARLING PASSION AND SPARE NOT ONE AGAG, THOUGH EVER SO ENGAGING, EVER SO BEAUTIFUL, ALL OUR OTHER SACRIFICES WILL AVAIL US NOTHING.
suppose therefore, for instance, passion be our greatest foible. a sincere person will never cease night or day, till he is made meek and lowly in heart. but if it be asked, how he shall do this? i answer,
first, let him consider how odious it is in the sight of God and how contrary to the lamb-like meekness of the holy Jesus.
secondly, let him reflect how troublesome it must be to others, (for alas what unnecessary disorders, what needless troubles doth the passionate person occasion to all that are round about him..)
thirdly, let him consider
how exceeding hurtful and unpleasant it is to himself;
how it ruffles and discomposes his mind;
unfits him for every holy duty and, in short
makes him a torment to himself and a burden to others.
well , after he has thus seen the deformity of his darling passion, the next enquiry must be, how to get the mastery over it. the first and grand thing, is to get a true and lively thing is
to GET A TRUE AND LIVELY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS, seeking for it by earnest prayer. to this, we must have recourse in all our struggles; for it's God alone, who can subdue and govern the unruly wills of sinful men, and it is His grace which alone can enable us to mortify our corrupt passions.
but then we MUST TAKE CARE NOT TO REST IN GENERAL PETITIONS FOR CONQUERING THIS OR THAT CORRUPTION, BUT MUST DESCEND TO PARTICULARS.
for instance supposing i am angry with a servant or a husband without a cause; what must i do? why, take the very first opportunity of retiring from the world and after having bewailed my being angry, earnestly beseech the Lord of all power and might to enable me to withstand such and such a provocation for the future and
NOTWITHSTANDING I SHOULD FAIL AGAIN AND AGAIN IN THE VERY SAME , YET I WOULD AGAIN AND AGAIN RENEW MY PETITIONS to the throne of grace and never cease praying and striving, till instead of a blind perverse, troublesome passion, i had the lovely, calm, and delightful grace of meekness and humility planted in its room.
now would dear mrs. H take some such method as this (for i suppose by this time, she guesses to whom all this points) i dare say, she would quickly find as much difference in herself as there is between a wise man and an idiot. - and that she may both begin and succeed in this method, si the earnest prayer of..your affectionat friend, george whitefield
if you remember, i promised...but as, in all probability, this will be the last letter i shall write to dear mrs. H before i sail, what can i fill the remainder with better, than by exhorting you, to lay aside every weight, particularly the sin that does most easily beset you and so run with patience the race set before you.l i lay, the sin that most easily besets; for unless we lay the ax to the root, UNLESS WE SINCERELY RESOLVE IN THE STRENGTH OF JESUS CHRIST TO SUBDUE OUR FAVORITE, OUR DARLING PASSION AND SPARE NOT ONE AGAG, THOUGH EVER SO ENGAGING, EVER SO BEAUTIFUL, ALL OUR OTHER SACRIFICES WILL AVAIL US NOTHING.
suppose therefore, for instance, passion be our greatest foible. a sincere person will never cease night or day, till he is made meek and lowly in heart. but if it be asked, how he shall do this? i answer,
first, let him consider how odious it is in the sight of God and how contrary to the lamb-like meekness of the holy Jesus.
secondly, let him reflect how troublesome it must be to others, (for alas what unnecessary disorders, what needless troubles doth the passionate person occasion to all that are round about him..)
thirdly, let him consider
how exceeding hurtful and unpleasant it is to himself;
how it ruffles and discomposes his mind;
unfits him for every holy duty and, in short
makes him a torment to himself and a burden to others.
well , after he has thus seen the deformity of his darling passion, the next enquiry must be, how to get the mastery over it. the first and grand thing, is to get a true and lively thing is
to GET A TRUE AND LIVELY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS, seeking for it by earnest prayer. to this, we must have recourse in all our struggles; for it's God alone, who can subdue and govern the unruly wills of sinful men, and it is His grace which alone can enable us to mortify our corrupt passions.
but then we MUST TAKE CARE NOT TO REST IN GENERAL PETITIONS FOR CONQUERING THIS OR THAT CORRUPTION, BUT MUST DESCEND TO PARTICULARS.
for instance supposing i am angry with a servant or a husband without a cause; what must i do? why, take the very first opportunity of retiring from the world and after having bewailed my being angry, earnestly beseech the Lord of all power and might to enable me to withstand such and such a provocation for the future and
NOTWITHSTANDING I SHOULD FAIL AGAIN AND AGAIN IN THE VERY SAME , YET I WOULD AGAIN AND AGAIN RENEW MY PETITIONS to the throne of grace and never cease praying and striving, till instead of a blind perverse, troublesome passion, i had the lovely, calm, and delightful grace of meekness and humility planted in its room.
now would dear mrs. H take some such method as this (for i suppose by this time, she guesses to whom all this points) i dare say, she would quickly find as much difference in herself as there is between a wise man and an idiot. - and that she may both begin and succeed in this method, si the earnest prayer of..your affectionat friend, george whitefield
Sunday, April 3, 2011
4.3.2011 MORAVIANS#7 CHRISTIAN DAVID (1690-1722)
it is recorded in john wesley's journal that when he paid his memorable visit to herrnhut he was much impressed by the powerful sermons of a certain godly carpenter, who had preached in his day to the eskimos in greenland and who showed a remarkable knowledge of divinity. it was christian david, known to his friends as the 'servant of the Lord'.
CONVERSION he was born on december 31st, 1690, at senftleben, in moravia; he was brought up in that old home of the Brethren; and yet, as far as records tell, he never heard in his youthful days of the Brethren who still held the fort in the old home of their fathers. he came of a roman catholic family and was brought up in the roman catholic faith. he sat at the feet of the parish priest, was devout at mass, invoked his patron saint, st. anthony, knelt down in awe before every image and picture of the virgin, regarded protestants as children of the devil, and grew up to man's estate burning with romish zeal, 'like a baking oven'.
he began life as a shepherd; and his religion was tender and deep. as he tended his sheep in the lonesome fields and rescued one from the jaws of a wolf, he thought how ?Christ, the Good Shepherd, had given his life for men; and as he sought his wandering sheep in the woods by night he thought how Christ sought sinners till He found them. and yet somehow he was not quite easy in his mind. for all his zeal and all his piety he was not sure that he himself had escaped the snare of the fowler.
he turned first for guidance to some quiet protestants and was told by them, to his horror, that the pope was antichrist, that the worship of saints was a delusion and that only through faith in Christ could his sins be forgiven. he was puzzled. as these protestants were ready to suffer for their faith, he felt they must be sincere; and when some of them were cast into prison, he crept to the window of their sell and heard them sing in the gloaming.
he read lutheran books against the papists, and papist books against the lutherans. he was now disqualified by both. he said that he could see that the papists were wrong, but that did not prove that the lutherans were right; he could not understand what the lutherans meant when they said that a men was justified by faith alone; and at last he lost his way so far in this famous theological fog that he hated and loathed the very name of Christ. he turned next for instruction to some jews; and the jews, of course, confirmed his doubts, threw scorn upon the whole new testament, and endeavoured to convince him that they alone were the true israel of god.
he turned next to the bible and the fog lifted a little. he read the old testament carefully through, to see if the prophecies there had been fulfilled; and, thereby, he arrived at the firm belief that Jesus was the promised messiah. he then mastered the new testament and came to the equally firm conclusion that the bible was the word of God.
and even yet he was not content. as long as he stayed in catholic moravia he would have to keep his new convictions a secret; and, longing to renounce the church of rome in public, he left moravia, passed through hungary and silesia and finally became a member of a lutheran congregation at berlin.
but the lutherans seemed to him very stiff and cold. he was seeking for a pearl of great price and so far he had failed to find it. he had failed to find it in the church of rome, failed to find it in the scriptures, and failed to find it in the orthodox protestants of berlin. he had hoped to find himself in a goodly land, where men were godly and true; and he found that even the orthodox protestants made mock of his pious endeavours...
..at last, however, he made his way to the town of gorlitz, in silesia; and there he came into personal contact with 2 pietist clergymen, schafer and schwedler. for the first time in his weary pilgimage he met a pastor who was also a man. he gell ill of a dangerous disease; he could not stir hand or foot for 20 weeks; he was visited by schwedler every day; and thus, through the gateway of himan sympathy, he entered the kingdom of peace, and felt assured that all his sins were forgiven. he married a member of schwedler's church, was admitted to the church himsef and thus found, in pietist circles, that very SPIRIT OF FELLOWSHIP AND HELP which Z himself regarded as THE GREATEST NEED OF THE CHURCH.
CALL - BUT NOW CHRISTIAN DAVID MUST SHOW TO OTHERS THE TREASURE HE HAD FOUND FOR HIMSELF. for the next 5 years he made his home at gorlitz; but, every now and then, at the risk of his life, he would take a trip to moravia, and there tell his old protestant friends the story of his new found joy. he preached in a homely style; he had a great command of scriptual language; he was addressing men who for many years had conned their bibles in secret; and thus his preaching was like unto oil on a smouldering fire and stirred to vigorous life once more what had slumbered for a 100 years since the fatal day of blood.
he tramped the valleys of moravia; he was known as the bush preacher and was talked of in every market place; the shepherds sang old Brethren's hymns on the mountains; a new spirit breathed upon the old dead bones; and thus, through the message of this simple man, there began in moravia a hot revival of protestant zeal and hope. it was soon to lead to marvellous results.
for the last 340 years (1377) there had been established in the neighborhood of fulneck, in moravia, a colony of germans. they still spoke the german language; they lived in places bearing german names and bore german names themselves; they had used a german version of the bible and a german edition of the Brethren's hymns; and thus, when david's trumpet sounded they were able to quit their long love homes and settle down in comfort on german soil. at knuewalde dwelt the schneiders and nitschmanns; at zauchtenthal the stachs and zeisbergers; at schlen the jaeschkes and neissers; and at sinftleben, david's old home, the grassmanns. for such men there was now no peace in their ancient home. some were imprisoned; some were loaded with chains; some were yoked to the plough and made to work like horses; and some had to stand in wells of water until nearly frozen to death. and yet the star of hope still shone upon them. as the grand old patriarch, george jaeschke, saw the angel of death draw near, he gathered his son and grandsons round his bed and spoke in thrilling, prophetic words of the remnant that should yet be saved.
he said, 'it is true that our liberties are gone and that our descendants are giving way to a worldly spirit, so that the papacy is devouring them. it may seem as though the final end of the brethren's church had com. but, my beloved children, you will see a great deliverance. the remnant will be saved. how, i cannot say' but something tells me that an exodus will take place; and that a refuge will be offered in a country and on a spot where you will be able, withoutt fear, to serve the Lord according to His holy word.'
the time of deliverance had come. as christian david heard of the sufferings which these men had now to endure, his blood boiled with anger. he resolved to go to their rescue. the path lay open. he had made many friends in saxony. his friend schafer introduced him to rothe; rothe introduced him to Z; and christian david asked the count for permission to bring some persecuted protestants from moravia to find a refuge in berthelsdorf. the conversation was momentous. the heart of the count was touched. he said if these men were genuine martyrs, he would do his best to help them; and he promised david that if they came he would find them a place of abode. the joyful carpenter returned to moravia and told the news to the neisser family at sehlen. they said, 'this is God's doing; this is a call from the Lord.
and so, at 10 o'clock one night, there met at the house of jacob neisser, in sehlen, a small band of emigrants. at the head of the band was christian david; and the rest of the little group consisted of augustin and jacob neisser, their wives and children, martha neisser, and michael jaeschke, a cousin of the family. we know but little about these humble folk; and we cannot be sure that they were all descendants of the old church of the brethren. across the mountains they came, by winding and unknown paths. for the sake of their faith they left their goods and chattels behind; long and weary was the march; and at length, worn out and footsore, they arrived, with christian david at their head, at Z's estate at berthelsdorf. the streams had met: the new river was formed; and thus the course of renewed Brethren's history had begun.
CONVERSION he was born on december 31st, 1690, at senftleben, in moravia; he was brought up in that old home of the Brethren; and yet, as far as records tell, he never heard in his youthful days of the Brethren who still held the fort in the old home of their fathers. he came of a roman catholic family and was brought up in the roman catholic faith. he sat at the feet of the parish priest, was devout at mass, invoked his patron saint, st. anthony, knelt down in awe before every image and picture of the virgin, regarded protestants as children of the devil, and grew up to man's estate burning with romish zeal, 'like a baking oven'.
he began life as a shepherd; and his religion was tender and deep. as he tended his sheep in the lonesome fields and rescued one from the jaws of a wolf, he thought how ?Christ, the Good Shepherd, had given his life for men; and as he sought his wandering sheep in the woods by night he thought how Christ sought sinners till He found them. and yet somehow he was not quite easy in his mind. for all his zeal and all his piety he was not sure that he himself had escaped the snare of the fowler.
he turned first for guidance to some quiet protestants and was told by them, to his horror, that the pope was antichrist, that the worship of saints was a delusion and that only through faith in Christ could his sins be forgiven. he was puzzled. as these protestants were ready to suffer for their faith, he felt they must be sincere; and when some of them were cast into prison, he crept to the window of their sell and heard them sing in the gloaming.
he read lutheran books against the papists, and papist books against the lutherans. he was now disqualified by both. he said that he could see that the papists were wrong, but that did not prove that the lutherans were right; he could not understand what the lutherans meant when they said that a men was justified by faith alone; and at last he lost his way so far in this famous theological fog that he hated and loathed the very name of Christ. he turned next for instruction to some jews; and the jews, of course, confirmed his doubts, threw scorn upon the whole new testament, and endeavoured to convince him that they alone were the true israel of god.
he turned next to the bible and the fog lifted a little. he read the old testament carefully through, to see if the prophecies there had been fulfilled; and, thereby, he arrived at the firm belief that Jesus was the promised messiah. he then mastered the new testament and came to the equally firm conclusion that the bible was the word of God.
and even yet he was not content. as long as he stayed in catholic moravia he would have to keep his new convictions a secret; and, longing to renounce the church of rome in public, he left moravia, passed through hungary and silesia and finally became a member of a lutheran congregation at berlin.
but the lutherans seemed to him very stiff and cold. he was seeking for a pearl of great price and so far he had failed to find it. he had failed to find it in the church of rome, failed to find it in the scriptures, and failed to find it in the orthodox protestants of berlin. he had hoped to find himself in a goodly land, where men were godly and true; and he found that even the orthodox protestants made mock of his pious endeavours...
..at last, however, he made his way to the town of gorlitz, in silesia; and there he came into personal contact with 2 pietist clergymen, schafer and schwedler. for the first time in his weary pilgimage he met a pastor who was also a man. he gell ill of a dangerous disease; he could not stir hand or foot for 20 weeks; he was visited by schwedler every day; and thus, through the gateway of himan sympathy, he entered the kingdom of peace, and felt assured that all his sins were forgiven. he married a member of schwedler's church, was admitted to the church himsef and thus found, in pietist circles, that very SPIRIT OF FELLOWSHIP AND HELP which Z himself regarded as THE GREATEST NEED OF THE CHURCH.
CALL - BUT NOW CHRISTIAN DAVID MUST SHOW TO OTHERS THE TREASURE HE HAD FOUND FOR HIMSELF. for the next 5 years he made his home at gorlitz; but, every now and then, at the risk of his life, he would take a trip to moravia, and there tell his old protestant friends the story of his new found joy. he preached in a homely style; he had a great command of scriptual language; he was addressing men who for many years had conned their bibles in secret; and thus his preaching was like unto oil on a smouldering fire and stirred to vigorous life once more what had slumbered for a 100 years since the fatal day of blood.
he tramped the valleys of moravia; he was known as the bush preacher and was talked of in every market place; the shepherds sang old Brethren's hymns on the mountains; a new spirit breathed upon the old dead bones; and thus, through the message of this simple man, there began in moravia a hot revival of protestant zeal and hope. it was soon to lead to marvellous results.
for the last 340 years (1377) there had been established in the neighborhood of fulneck, in moravia, a colony of germans. they still spoke the german language; they lived in places bearing german names and bore german names themselves; they had used a german version of the bible and a german edition of the Brethren's hymns; and thus, when david's trumpet sounded they were able to quit their long love homes and settle down in comfort on german soil. at knuewalde dwelt the schneiders and nitschmanns; at zauchtenthal the stachs and zeisbergers; at schlen the jaeschkes and neissers; and at sinftleben, david's old home, the grassmanns. for such men there was now no peace in their ancient home. some were imprisoned; some were loaded with chains; some were yoked to the plough and made to work like horses; and some had to stand in wells of water until nearly frozen to death. and yet the star of hope still shone upon them. as the grand old patriarch, george jaeschke, saw the angel of death draw near, he gathered his son and grandsons round his bed and spoke in thrilling, prophetic words of the remnant that should yet be saved.
he said, 'it is true that our liberties are gone and that our descendants are giving way to a worldly spirit, so that the papacy is devouring them. it may seem as though the final end of the brethren's church had com. but, my beloved children, you will see a great deliverance. the remnant will be saved. how, i cannot say' but something tells me that an exodus will take place; and that a refuge will be offered in a country and on a spot where you will be able, withoutt fear, to serve the Lord according to His holy word.'
the time of deliverance had come. as christian david heard of the sufferings which these men had now to endure, his blood boiled with anger. he resolved to go to their rescue. the path lay open. he had made many friends in saxony. his friend schafer introduced him to rothe; rothe introduced him to Z; and christian david asked the count for permission to bring some persecuted protestants from moravia to find a refuge in berthelsdorf. the conversation was momentous. the heart of the count was touched. he said if these men were genuine martyrs, he would do his best to help them; and he promised david that if they came he would find them a place of abode. the joyful carpenter returned to moravia and told the news to the neisser family at sehlen. they said, 'this is God's doing; this is a call from the Lord.
and so, at 10 o'clock one night, there met at the house of jacob neisser, in sehlen, a small band of emigrants. at the head of the band was christian david; and the rest of the little group consisted of augustin and jacob neisser, their wives and children, martha neisser, and michael jaeschke, a cousin of the family. we know but little about these humble folk; and we cannot be sure that they were all descendants of the old church of the brethren. across the mountains they came, by winding and unknown paths. for the sake of their faith they left their goods and chattels behind; long and weary was the march; and at length, worn out and footsore, they arrived, with christian david at their head, at Z's estate at berthelsdorf. the streams had met: the new river was formed; and thus the course of renewed Brethren's history had begun.
4.3.2011 GEORGE WHITEFIELD'S LETTERS - SUBMITTING MY WILL TO GOD
3.6.1735...'you seem desirous of hearing no more of so seemingly ungrateful a subject, as submitting our wills to the will of God; which, indeed, is all that is implied in that phrase (which our enemy would represent as so formidable to us) of renouncing ourselves. alas, sir! what is there that appears so monstrously terrible in a doctrine that is, (or at least ought to be) the constant subject of our prayers, whenever we put up that petition of our Lord's: 'Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven'. the import of which seems to be this.
1. that we do everything that /God wills and nothing but what He willeth.
2. that we do every thing he wills, only in the manner He willeth.
3. that we do those things He willeth, only because he willeth.
this is all, sir, i have been endeavoring to inculcate in my late letters; and through it seems as clear as the light, upon an impartial and considerate view, yet, our grand impostor (whose very corruption is having a will distinct from, and therefore contrary to God's) would fain set it out in the most hideous colours, as though we were 'setters forth of strange doctrines'; or proposing some higher degrees of perfection, than every ordinary christian is obliged to aspire after; whereas, in truth, it is nothing but the simple and evident language of the gospel.
it must be confessed, that through the corruption of our depraved nature, and that power, which self will has, since the Fall, usurped in the soul, we must necessarily break through a great many obstacles. but, dear sir, be not dismayed, THE DIFFICULTY LIES ONLY IN OUR FIRST SETTING OUT. BE BUT VIGOROUS AT THE FIRST ONSET AND NEVER FEAR A CONQUEST.
the renewal of our natures is a work of great importance. it is not to be done in a day. we have not only a new house to build up, but an old one to pull down. but then, methinks, this would be an odd way of reasoning, 'BECAUSE A THING REQUIRES SOME PAINS, I THEREFORE WILL NEVER SET ABOUT IT'. NO SIR, RATHER UP AND BE DOING. EXERT YOUR UTMOST EFFORTS AT YOUR FIRST SETTING OUT, and take my word, YOUR STRENGTH AS WELL AS RESOLUTION WILL INCREASE DAILY.
the means also which are necessary to be used in order to attain this end, our cursed adversary the devil would represent to us in the most hideous forms imaginable. but believe me, sir, the difficulty here too, only lies in our first BREAKING FROM OURSELVES, and that there is really more pleasure in these formidable duties of self denial and mortification, than in the highest indulgences of the greatest epicure upon earth. give me leave, dear sir, only to remind you of one particular, which, if duly observed, will vastly facilitate your future endeavours. LET THE SCRIPTURES, NOT THE WORLD, BE YOUR RULE OF ACTION. BY THOSE YOUR ARE TO FORM YOUR PRACTICE HERE AND TO BE JUDGED HEREAFTER.
1. that we do everything that /God wills and nothing but what He willeth.
2. that we do every thing he wills, only in the manner He willeth.
3. that we do those things He willeth, only because he willeth.
this is all, sir, i have been endeavoring to inculcate in my late letters; and through it seems as clear as the light, upon an impartial and considerate view, yet, our grand impostor (whose very corruption is having a will distinct from, and therefore contrary to God's) would fain set it out in the most hideous colours, as though we were 'setters forth of strange doctrines'; or proposing some higher degrees of perfection, than every ordinary christian is obliged to aspire after; whereas, in truth, it is nothing but the simple and evident language of the gospel.
it must be confessed, that through the corruption of our depraved nature, and that power, which self will has, since the Fall, usurped in the soul, we must necessarily break through a great many obstacles. but, dear sir, be not dismayed, THE DIFFICULTY LIES ONLY IN OUR FIRST SETTING OUT. BE BUT VIGOROUS AT THE FIRST ONSET AND NEVER FEAR A CONQUEST.
the renewal of our natures is a work of great importance. it is not to be done in a day. we have not only a new house to build up, but an old one to pull down. but then, methinks, this would be an odd way of reasoning, 'BECAUSE A THING REQUIRES SOME PAINS, I THEREFORE WILL NEVER SET ABOUT IT'. NO SIR, RATHER UP AND BE DOING. EXERT YOUR UTMOST EFFORTS AT YOUR FIRST SETTING OUT, and take my word, YOUR STRENGTH AS WELL AS RESOLUTION WILL INCREASE DAILY.
the means also which are necessary to be used in order to attain this end, our cursed adversary the devil would represent to us in the most hideous forms imaginable. but believe me, sir, the difficulty here too, only lies in our first BREAKING FROM OURSELVES, and that there is really more pleasure in these formidable duties of self denial and mortification, than in the highest indulgences of the greatest epicure upon earth. give me leave, dear sir, only to remind you of one particular, which, if duly observed, will vastly facilitate your future endeavours. LET THE SCRIPTURES, NOT THE WORLD, BE YOUR RULE OF ACTION. BY THOSE YOUR ARE TO FORM YOUR PRACTICE HERE AND TO BE JUDGED HEREAFTER.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
4.2.2011 POOP
ALLEGRA! GREAT JOYyesterday peba went to visit the second grandchild born to nate, our oldest, and his wife jen. midmorning the day before silas, her sweet, attentive older brother, observed alegra's birth on the floor of the front entry room of their house. this was unplanned from a human point of view but most beautifully attended by our loving heavenly Father. He helped nate to arrive home from work and susan, her grandmother to arrive to take care of silas a few minutes before the 911 people did an excellent job with the detail. after an overnight nate took jen and alegra back to the peace and quiet of home. thank You dear Lord Jesus.
ONGOING SPIRITUAL WARFARE just a quick update on me. i am still suspended in pain at being on the other side of a thick paned glass from an obedient spirit filled life. fighting to beat the band but realizing that unless there is an otherworldly work of divine grace i will end my days just running the wheel rather than being a colaborer with God in the whitened fields. may He have mercy and make me fully alive so that i may pour out my life for Him.
right now i am in the beginning of a pitched battle with brother ass..my body. am realizing with growing horror how effective he is in slowing down, thwarting and stopping me from doing what i ought. i also am continuing a battle to take complete control of my emotions and thought life. may God not make me content until my body is my slave to work for Christ.
...just noticed as i work on trying to map the synoptic gospels out in detail how MANY times Jesus, in various ways, told people not to say anything about Him or what He did. i always casually thot of that as a clever bit of reverse psychology. it may be but now i'm seeing so many instances that it may be the outworking of His instructions to 'let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven'...if the latter maybe the message for me is: DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME TELLIN', JUST KEEP DOIN'
UTILITIES
ELECTRIC God has helped me become aware of a 'time of use' program through the electric company, PPL. was paying in the range of 9 cents a kwh. now 7.47 c during peak hours (5-7pm) and 6.03 c the rest of the time. current bill $18+ (6 kwh peak out of 105 used in 31 days)
WATER current bill $12. 32 for the last 3 months (100 cubic feet used) am now recycling most all kitchen used water.
SEWER last bill $42.50, which is the base price for 375 cubic feet or less used, for the last 3 months
PHONE $0 except for a little used on a phone card
GAS 4 fillups so far this year. am shooting for 10 for the year. need to bike more..
OIL fillup of 141.8 gallons for 288 days since last fill..a little less than .5 gal a day or less than $1.75.
FUTURE am praying that God would help me to show His love, to share His goodness and praise in FLOOD PHILLY (june 23- july 1) and canada bible school for children (july 7-17) have no idea of where i am heading and trying to walk one step at a time
ONGOING SPIRITUAL WARFARE just a quick update on me. i am still suspended in pain at being on the other side of a thick paned glass from an obedient spirit filled life. fighting to beat the band but realizing that unless there is an otherworldly work of divine grace i will end my days just running the wheel rather than being a colaborer with God in the whitened fields. may He have mercy and make me fully alive so that i may pour out my life for Him.
right now i am in the beginning of a pitched battle with brother ass..my body. am realizing with growing horror how effective he is in slowing down, thwarting and stopping me from doing what i ought. i also am continuing a battle to take complete control of my emotions and thought life. may God not make me content until my body is my slave to work for Christ.
...just noticed as i work on trying to map the synoptic gospels out in detail how MANY times Jesus, in various ways, told people not to say anything about Him or what He did. i always casually thot of that as a clever bit of reverse psychology. it may be but now i'm seeing so many instances that it may be the outworking of His instructions to 'let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven'...if the latter maybe the message for me is: DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME TELLIN', JUST KEEP DOIN'
UTILITIES
ELECTRIC God has helped me become aware of a 'time of use' program through the electric company, PPL. was paying in the range of 9 cents a kwh. now 7.47 c during peak hours (5-7pm) and 6.03 c the rest of the time. current bill $18+ (6 kwh peak out of 105 used in 31 days)
WATER current bill $12. 32 for the last 3 months (100 cubic feet used) am now recycling most all kitchen used water.
SEWER last bill $42.50, which is the base price for 375 cubic feet or less used, for the last 3 months
PHONE $0 except for a little used on a phone card
GAS 4 fillups so far this year. am shooting for 10 for the year. need to bike more..
OIL fillup of 141.8 gallons for 288 days since last fill..a little less than .5 gal a day or less than $1.75.
FUTURE am praying that God would help me to show His love, to share His goodness and praise in FLOOD PHILLY (june 23- july 1) and canada bible school for children (july 7-17) have no idea of where i am heading and trying to walk one step at a time
4.2.2011 MORAVIANS#6 - ZINZENDORF CONTINUED
(after university)..and now, as befitted a nobleman born, he was sent on the GRAND TOUR, to give the final polish to his education. he regarded the prospect with horror. he had heard of more than one fine lord whose virtues had been polished away. for him the dazzling sights of utrect and paris had no bewitching charm. he feared the glitter, the glamour and the glare. the one passion, love to Christ, still ruled his heart 'ah, what a poor, miserable thing is the grandeur of the great ones of the earth! what a splendid misery!'
as john milton, on his continental tour, had sought the company of musicians and men of letters, so this young budding christian.., with the figure of the divine redeemer ever present to his mind, sought out the company of men and women who, whatever their sect or creed, maintained communion with the living Son of God.
he went first to frankfurt-on-the-main, where spener had toiled so long, came down the rhine to dusseldorf, spent half a year at utrecht, was introduced to william, prince of orange, paid flying calls at brussels, antwep, amsterdam and rotterdam, and ended the tour by a six months' stay amid the gaieties of paris. at dusseldorf a famous incident occurred. there, in the picture gallery, he saw and admired the beautiful ecce homo of domenico feti; there beneath the picture he read the thrilling appeal: 'all this I did for thee; what doest thou for Me?' ; and there, in response to that appeal, he resolved anew to live for Him who had worn the cruel crown of thorns for all. at paris he attended the court levee and was presented to the duke of orleans, the regent, and his mother, the dowager duchess. the duchess, 'sir count, have you been to the opera today?' your highness, i have no time for the opera'. he would not spend a golden moment except for the golden crown. the duchess, 'i hear that you know the bible by heart'. 'ah, i only wish i did'.
at paris, too, he made the acquaintance of the catholic archbishop, cardinal noailles. it is marvellous how broad in his views the young man was. as he discussed the nature of true religion with the cardinal, who tried in vain to win him for the church of rome, he came to the conclusion that the true church of Jesus Christ consisted of many sects and many forms of belief. he held that the church was still an invisible body; he held that it transcended the bounds of all denominations; he had found good christians among protestants and catholics alike; and he believed, with all his heart and soul, that God had called him to the holy task of enlisting the faithful in all the sects in one grand christian army and was realizing, in visible form, the promise of Christ that all His disciples should be one, he was no bigoted lutheran. for him the cloak of creed or sect was only of minor moment. he desired to break down all sectarian barriers. he desired to draw men from all the churches into one grand fellowship with
Christ. he saw, an lamented, the bigotry of all the sects. 'we protestants are very fond of the word liberty; but in practice we often try to throttle the conscience;. he was asked if he thought a catholic could be saved. 'yes and the man who doubts that, cannot have looked far beyond his own small cottage'. the dutchess of luynes, 'what, then, is the real difference between a lutheran and a catholic?' 'it is the false idea that the bible is so hard to understand that only the church can explain it'. he had, in a work, discovered his vocation.
MARRIAGE Z fell in love with his young cousin, theodora...one evening..he paid a visit to his friend count reuss and during conversation made the disquieting discovery that his friend wished to marry theodora. a beautiful contest followed. each of the claimants to the hand of theodora expressed his desire to retire in favor of the other; and, not being able tosettle the dispute, the 2 young men set out for castell to see what theodora herself would say. young Z's mode of reasoning was certainly original. if his own love for theodora was pure ie. if it was a pure desire to do her good and not a vulgar sensual passion like that with which many love sick swains were afflicted - he could ..fulfill his purpose just as well by handing her over to the care of his christian friend. ' even if it cost me my life to surrender her, if it is more acceptable to my savior, i ought to sacrifice the dearest object in the world'. the 2 friends arrived at castell and soon saw which way the wind was blowing; and Z found, to his great relief, that what had been a painful struggle to him was as easy as changing a dress to theodora.
the young lady gave count reuss her heart and hand. the rejected suitor bore the blow like a stoic. he would conquer such disturbing earthly emotions; why should they be a thicket in the way of his work for Christ? the betrothal was sealed in a religious ceremony. young Z composed a cantata for the occasion; the cantata was sung, with orchestral accompaniment, in the presence of the whoed house of castell; and at the conclusion of the festive scene the young composer offered up on behalf of the happy couple a prayer so tender that all were moved to tears. his self-denial was well rewarded. if the count had married theodora, he would only have had a graceful drawing room queen. about 18 months late he married count reuss's sister, erdmuth dorothea; and in her he found a friend so true that the good folk at herrnhut called her a princess of God, and the fostermother of the Brethren's church in the 18th century.
CALL if the count could now have had his way he would have entered the service of the state church; but in those days the clerical calling was considered to be beneath the dignity of a noble and his grandmother, pious though she was, insisted that he should stick to jurisprudence. he yielded and took a post as king's councillor at dresden, at the court of augustus the strong, king of saxony.
but no man can fly from his shadow and Z could not fly from his hopes of becoming a preacher of the gospel. if he could not preach in the orthodox pulpit, he would teach in some other way; and therefore, he invited the public to a weekly meeting in his own rooms on sunday afternoons from 3 to 7. he had no desire to found a sect and no desire to interfere with the regular work of the church. he was acting..in accordance with ecclesiastical law; and he justified his bold conduct by appealing to a clause in luther's smalkald articles ('in many ways the Gospel offers counsel and help to the sinner..1st..preaching of the word, 2nd..baptism, 3rd..communion, 4th..the power of the keys and lastly, through brotherly discussion and mutual encouragement, according to matt...'where 2 or 3 are gathered together..') he contended that there provision was made for the kind of meeting that he was conducting; and, therefore, he invited men of all classes to meet him on sunday afternoons, read a passage of scripture together and talk in a free and easy fashion on spiritual topics. he became known as rather a curiosity; and valentine loscher, the popular lutheran preacher, mentioned him by name in his sermons and held him up before the people as an example they would all do well to follow.
but Z had not yet reached his goal. he was not content with the work accomplished by spener, franke, and other leading pietists. he was not content with drawing room meetings for people of rnak and $. he said if fellowship was good for lords, it must also be good for peasants. he wished to apply the ideas of spener to folk in humbler life. for this purpose he now bought from his grandmother the little extate of berthelsdorf, which lay about 3 miles from hennersdorf; installed his friend, john andrew rothe, as pastor of the village church; and resolved that he and the pastor together would endeavor to convert the village into a pleasant garden of god. 'i bought this estate because i wanted to spend my life among peasants, and win their souls for Christ.
and here let us note precisely the aim this pious count had in view. he was a loyal and devoted member of the national lutheran church; he was well versed in luther's theology and in luther's practical schemes; and now at berthelsdorf he was making an effort to carry into practical effect the fondest dreams of luther himself. for this, the fellowship of true believers, the great reformer had sighed in vain (in his treatise, 'the german mass' published 1526) and to this great purpose the count would now devote his $ and his life.
he introduced the new pastor to the people; the induction sermon was preached by schafer, the pietist pastor at gorlitz; and the preacher used the prophetic words, 'God will light a candle on these hills which will illuminate the whole land'.
as john milton, on his continental tour, had sought the company of musicians and men of letters, so this young budding christian.., with the figure of the divine redeemer ever present to his mind, sought out the company of men and women who, whatever their sect or creed, maintained communion with the living Son of God.
he went first to frankfurt-on-the-main, where spener had toiled so long, came down the rhine to dusseldorf, spent half a year at utrecht, was introduced to william, prince of orange, paid flying calls at brussels, antwep, amsterdam and rotterdam, and ended the tour by a six months' stay amid the gaieties of paris. at dusseldorf a famous incident occurred. there, in the picture gallery, he saw and admired the beautiful ecce homo of domenico feti; there beneath the picture he read the thrilling appeal: 'all this I did for thee; what doest thou for Me?' ; and there, in response to that appeal, he resolved anew to live for Him who had worn the cruel crown of thorns for all. at paris he attended the court levee and was presented to the duke of orleans, the regent, and his mother, the dowager duchess. the duchess, 'sir count, have you been to the opera today?' your highness, i have no time for the opera'. he would not spend a golden moment except for the golden crown. the duchess, 'i hear that you know the bible by heart'. 'ah, i only wish i did'.
at paris, too, he made the acquaintance of the catholic archbishop, cardinal noailles. it is marvellous how broad in his views the young man was. as he discussed the nature of true religion with the cardinal, who tried in vain to win him for the church of rome, he came to the conclusion that the true church of Jesus Christ consisted of many sects and many forms of belief. he held that the church was still an invisible body; he held that it transcended the bounds of all denominations; he had found good christians among protestants and catholics alike; and he believed, with all his heart and soul, that God had called him to the holy task of enlisting the faithful in all the sects in one grand christian army and was realizing, in visible form, the promise of Christ that all His disciples should be one, he was no bigoted lutheran. for him the cloak of creed or sect was only of minor moment. he desired to break down all sectarian barriers. he desired to draw men from all the churches into one grand fellowship with
Christ. he saw, an lamented, the bigotry of all the sects. 'we protestants are very fond of the word liberty; but in practice we often try to throttle the conscience;. he was asked if he thought a catholic could be saved. 'yes and the man who doubts that, cannot have looked far beyond his own small cottage'. the dutchess of luynes, 'what, then, is the real difference between a lutheran and a catholic?' 'it is the false idea that the bible is so hard to understand that only the church can explain it'. he had, in a work, discovered his vocation.
MARRIAGE Z fell in love with his young cousin, theodora...one evening..he paid a visit to his friend count reuss and during conversation made the disquieting discovery that his friend wished to marry theodora. a beautiful contest followed. each of the claimants to the hand of theodora expressed his desire to retire in favor of the other; and, not being able tosettle the dispute, the 2 young men set out for castell to see what theodora herself would say. young Z's mode of reasoning was certainly original. if his own love for theodora was pure ie. if it was a pure desire to do her good and not a vulgar sensual passion like that with which many love sick swains were afflicted - he could ..fulfill his purpose just as well by handing her over to the care of his christian friend. ' even if it cost me my life to surrender her, if it is more acceptable to my savior, i ought to sacrifice the dearest object in the world'. the 2 friends arrived at castell and soon saw which way the wind was blowing; and Z found, to his great relief, that what had been a painful struggle to him was as easy as changing a dress to theodora.
the young lady gave count reuss her heart and hand. the rejected suitor bore the blow like a stoic. he would conquer such disturbing earthly emotions; why should they be a thicket in the way of his work for Christ? the betrothal was sealed in a religious ceremony. young Z composed a cantata for the occasion; the cantata was sung, with orchestral accompaniment, in the presence of the whoed house of castell; and at the conclusion of the festive scene the young composer offered up on behalf of the happy couple a prayer so tender that all were moved to tears. his self-denial was well rewarded. if the count had married theodora, he would only have had a graceful drawing room queen. about 18 months late he married count reuss's sister, erdmuth dorothea; and in her he found a friend so true that the good folk at herrnhut called her a princess of God, and the fostermother of the Brethren's church in the 18th century.
CALL if the count could now have had his way he would have entered the service of the state church; but in those days the clerical calling was considered to be beneath the dignity of a noble and his grandmother, pious though she was, insisted that he should stick to jurisprudence. he yielded and took a post as king's councillor at dresden, at the court of augustus the strong, king of saxony.
but no man can fly from his shadow and Z could not fly from his hopes of becoming a preacher of the gospel. if he could not preach in the orthodox pulpit, he would teach in some other way; and therefore, he invited the public to a weekly meeting in his own rooms on sunday afternoons from 3 to 7. he had no desire to found a sect and no desire to interfere with the regular work of the church. he was acting..in accordance with ecclesiastical law; and he justified his bold conduct by appealing to a clause in luther's smalkald articles ('in many ways the Gospel offers counsel and help to the sinner..1st..preaching of the word, 2nd..baptism, 3rd..communion, 4th..the power of the keys and lastly, through brotherly discussion and mutual encouragement, according to matt...'where 2 or 3 are gathered together..') he contended that there provision was made for the kind of meeting that he was conducting; and, therefore, he invited men of all classes to meet him on sunday afternoons, read a passage of scripture together and talk in a free and easy fashion on spiritual topics. he became known as rather a curiosity; and valentine loscher, the popular lutheran preacher, mentioned him by name in his sermons and held him up before the people as an example they would all do well to follow.
but Z had not yet reached his goal. he was not content with the work accomplished by spener, franke, and other leading pietists. he was not content with drawing room meetings for people of rnak and $. he said if fellowship was good for lords, it must also be good for peasants. he wished to apply the ideas of spener to folk in humbler life. for this purpose he now bought from his grandmother the little extate of berthelsdorf, which lay about 3 miles from hennersdorf; installed his friend, john andrew rothe, as pastor of the village church; and resolved that he and the pastor together would endeavor to convert the village into a pleasant garden of god. 'i bought this estate because i wanted to spend my life among peasants, and win their souls for Christ.
and here let us note precisely the aim this pious count had in view. he was a loyal and devoted member of the national lutheran church; he was well versed in luther's theology and in luther's practical schemes; and now at berthelsdorf he was making an effort to carry into practical effect the fondest dreams of luther himself. for this, the fellowship of true believers, the great reformer had sighed in vain (in his treatise, 'the german mass' published 1526) and to this great purpose the count would now devote his $ and his life.
he introduced the new pastor to the people; the induction sermon was preached by schafer, the pietist pastor at gorlitz; and the preacher used the prophetic words, 'God will light a candle on these hills which will illuminate the whole land'.
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