“Happy were it, if puzzled & perplexed Christians would turn their eyes from the defects that are in their obedience, to the fullness and completeness of Christ’s obedience; and see themselves complete in Him, when most lame and defective in themselves.” —John Flavel, Works 1.59

“The death of Christ was the death of the law, as a covenant of works holding us under its curse; and so it gave us a manumission or freedom from that bond, and a capacity of espousals to Christ.” — John Flavel

Tomorrow we begin our Summer in the Psalms Challenge! ☀️📖 For the next 60 days, we’ll journey through all 150 Psalms together. Thomas Watson said, “Meditation is the bellows of the affections.” God’s Word fuels the fire. Meditation fans it into flame. Join 150 others as we pursue Jesus through Scripture this summer. gospelcare.mykajabi.com/summ…

There is no such thing as *gathering with* a church online via a live feed. A local church is an embodied assembly of baptized believers who enjoy the real presence and power of the risen Jesus in a special way every Lord’s Day through the corporate administration of his Word and sacrament. Our digital age has (wrongly) conditioned us to “feel” more connected to others online. But none of these spiritual realities survive digital transmission. In truth, there is no material or spiritual difference between watching a “live feed” on Sunday and a recording of it on Wednesday (or a year later, for that matter).

“The Gospel of the knowledge of God has been preached to the whole world and has put the adversaries to flight not by war and arms and camps. Rather, it was a few unarmed, poor, unlettered, persecuted, tormented, done-to-death men, who, by preaching One who had died crucified in the flesh, prevailed over the wise and powerful, because the almighty power of the Crucified was with them. That death which was once so terrible has been defeated and He who was once despised and hated is now preferred before life. These are the successes consequent upon the advent of the Christ; these are the signs of His power. For it was not as when through Moses He divided the sea and brought one people safely through out of Egypt and the bondage of Pharaoh. Rather, He delivered all humanity from death's destruction and the tyrant that was sin. It was not by force that He led sinners to virtue, not by having them swallowed up by the earth, nor by having them burnt up by fire, nor by ordering them stoned to death; it was with gentleness and forbearance that He persuaded men to choose virtue and for virtue's sake to undergo sufferings with rejoicing. Sinners were formerly tormented, yet they clung to their sin, and sin was accounted a god by them; but now, for piety and virtue's sake, they choose torments, tortures, and death. Well done, O Christ, O Wisdom and Power and Word of God, and God almighty! What should we resourceless people give Thee in return for all things? For all things are Thine and Thou askest nothing of us but that we be saved. Even this Thou hast given us, and by Thy ineffable goodness Thou art grateful to those who accept it. Thanks be to Thee who hast given being and the grace of well-being and who by Thy ineffable condescension hast brought back to this state those who fell from it.” - John of Damascus

“By virtue of his presence we are here this day, in the enjoyment of gospel liberty, no society of men in the world have such security as the church has on this account. The mightiest monarchies have been overturned, no policies nor human power could preserve them; but the church and ordinances are still preserved.” — John Flavel

John Flavel’s encouragement to pastors: “Study hard, pray earnestly, and plead with sinners affectionately.”

"Pride consists in attributing the gifts we posses, not to God, but to our own worthiness & natural powers & so include an admiration of self & of our gifts. He who is possessed of pride does not fear God, neither does he acknowledge or deplore his imperfections." - Ursinus

“To whom could that promise be made but unto Christ, which bears date before the creation? What else can this mean but the covenant of redemption made betwixt the Father and the Son?” — John Flavel on Titus 1:2

"The Bible is one widening answer to the prayer of Moses, show me Thy glory." —Westcott

“The soul of the poorest child or meanest servant is of greater value in Christ's eye, than the whole world… Had they not been precious in his eyes, he would never have shed his most precious blood to ransom them.” — John Flavel

In case you missed it… Compactum: Faith is on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts open.spotify.com/episode/04K… youtu.be/ZSqKuckv1jc?is=VYXf… podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

“It's not until we have this doctrine in front of us that we really get to have assurance.” @DrDanger1689 @thepactum @PatAbendroth podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

“Shut your ears against all the whispers of Satan; entertain no evil reports of Christ. The devil loves to draw a false picture of Christ, and represent him in the most discouraging form to poor trembling sinners; but you will not find him so. What can Christ say more to convince and satisfy souls than he hath done? He hath left the bosom of the Father, he hath taken union with thy nature, he hath poured out his soul unto death; he hath told us, ‘Those that come unto him, he will in no wise cast out.’ Thousands are gone before us in the paths of repentance and faith, and found it according to his word.” — John Flavel, Christ Knocking at the Door, Sermon 4.

Flavel’s point is that while God uses conviction of sin to awaken sinners to their need for Christ, Scripture never requires a person to experience a certain amount of sorrow, guilt, or spiritual distress before they are allowed to come to Him. The purpose of conviction is not to make someone worthy of Christ, but to show them their need for Christ. Once a sinner sees the seriousness of their sin and recognizes their need for a Savior, they should not delay coming to Christ in faith. We must be careful not to add requirements that God has not given or make people believe they must reach some undefined level of brokenness before receiving the mercy freely offered in the gospel. Conviction should drive sinners to Christ, not keep them away from Him.

Agreed.

Coffee is the most important meal of the day.

“Churches should not take the Lord’s Supper to shut-ins, nor celebrate it at weddings, Bible studies, youth camps, the family dinner table, or other non-gathered-church occasions.” @9Marks 9marks.org/propositions/

In pastoral counseling ministry, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen one.