Book Recommendation-Spiritual Warfare & satan’s schemes by Rev Darrin Lauder

There it was, a small book sticking out among the others in the spiritual warfare section. Some were books that blamed everything on demons and told how to get deliverance. Some told how to address the demons, while others saw demons under every rock, and around every corner. This one looked to Christ and His Word.

In his first book, Darrin Lauder uses a devotional approach presenting 31 meditations on spiritual warfare. It’s an easily accessible book that is practical and biblical. I like the approach as it allows Rev Lauder to target several areas and aspects of true biblical warfare. And while he urges us no tot be ignorant of the devil’s schemes, (2 Cor 2:11) he points us to Christ in every chapter.

This book grasps the reality of God’s sovereignty and our responsibility. The Lord is our strength, and we fight the battle in His power. He helps us to persevere. Yet we can not ignore the situations where we may stumble and fall. This is every day Christian living, not dramatic demon hunting. It may not seem as dramatic, but following Christ has its own drama.

I do know of people who minister in cultures where demons are given undue attention. They do encounter more dramatic situations than most of us do. I am glad I do not have the encounters they do, but the devil’s schemes are no less dangerous in my life. They may be more so in some ways as they can be much more subtle.

Reading this book I was reminded of C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters. In that book he points out the devil’s two main schemes are get us to ignore him or even deny he exists, or to go the other way and obsess about him. Unfortunately much of the Church does one or the other. But this book presents a good balance-we are not ignorant of his schemes, but we focus on Christ, and go to Him.

One of the chapters I enjoyed the most was one on perseverance through pain. (Those who were reading this blog in November and onwards know, at least in general that I lived through that.) While he wrote this book before I experienced my pain, Rev Lauder wrote words I could relate to so well. With the Lord’s grace I made it through.

I also enjoyed the chapter on James 4:7. That is a wonderful verse that sums up how to deal the devil. Submit to God and resist the devil. Of course if we submit to God we will resist evil and sin. Unfortunately we don’t always submit.

I certainly recommend this book. You could use it as a devotional, as a starting point for study-individually or in a group, or just read it as any other book. But digest the words and go to the Word and pray. And yes, the author is an old friend of mine, but it is encouraging to see growth in him from many years ago, and to see familiar patterns in his writing.

You can find the book online, and there’s more info at his church website.

Books, Books, Books

I have a weakness for books.
In many ways that's good, as you can learn a lot.
On the other hand there are a lot of bad books out there.
That's one of the reasons I review books here that I recommend.
(I plan on posting a new review soon.)
Also on the bad side is a temptation to make idols of my books, and not just my theological books.
I don't mean in the sense of "bibliolatry" that Roman Catholics have accused me of, nor making idols of favorite authors--I mean the actual books themselves, and the idea of books. (Although "bibliolatry" could be interpreted as "worship of books.")
I love books in general--all sorts of books.

The last time I moved there were jokes about how many books we were moving. But they weren't necessarily jokes after a while.

And there were questions-

"This box is more books?"
"How many books do you need?" (The answer is "At least one more.")
"Have you read all these?" (The answer is "Not enough of them.")

I re-read books, some many times.

I don't like marking up my books.
I have a list of them on file cards, and would love a program like the public library uses to list them and look them up by topic or author or even publisher.

I'm bringing this up because I was in a great mood when I got home today. Why?
I ordered two books from Banner of Truth back in late March, and they were on order so they took longer than usual to arrive. Well today there was a larger than normal envelope in the mail for me.

It was my new books. (New being a relative term-one was written in the late 1600's and the other in the early 1800's.) My mood was lifted.

These books will hopefully make it here as recommended reading.

For those of you curious about them I got-
Truth's Victory Over Error by Dave Dickson. It's a commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith. Their description of it is "This book is not merely of historical interest; it is also of considerable value now because many of the errors refuted within its pages have surfaced again in the 21st century church under new guises. Christians today can learn a great deal from the faithful witness of former generations who experienced ‘truth’s victory over error’."

The other is Hugh Martin's Shadow Of Calvary, where he looks at Christ from the Garden of Gethsemane through to his arrest and trial.

I should probably log off and start reading...

Book Recommendation-The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross by Arthur W. Pink

This is one of my favorite books by Arthur Pink. He goes through each of the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross as recorded in the Gospels. The sayings shed light on the character and work of Christ. We can learn much studying them. As you might suspect, this book contains seven chapters with an introduction. The crucifixion and atonement are very much in view here, and Pink never forgets the character of Christ, which shines through.

Chapter One is “The Word of Forgiveness.” It looks at Luke 23:34-“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Pink points out how man has crucified Jesus, and yet He prays for His enemies to be forgiven. Pink writes, “The first of the seven cross-sayings of our Lord presents Him in an attitude of prayer. How significant! How instructive!...Surely He has left us an example!”

Pink also outlines the following points about this saying: 1)It fulfills prophecy (Isaiah 53:12); 2)Christ identifies with His people-previously Jesus did the forgiving Himself, here He petitions His Father; 3)Sin is often through ignorance-yet it is still sin; 4)It shows the blindness of the human heart; 5)Jesus exemplifies His teaching on forgiving others; 6)We see man’s great and primary need; and 7) The triumph of redeeming love.

Next is, “The Word of Salvation.” (Luke 23:42-43)-The passage ends with Jesus’ words to one of the thieves He was crucified with “...Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.” Pink writes, “It was no accident that Lord of Glory was crucified between two thieves.” God had it set up that way. Pink takes us through the following points: 1) A representative sinner; 2) Man has to come to the end of himself before he can be saved; 3) The meaning of repentance and faith; 4) A marvellous case of spiritual illumination; 5) The Saviourhood of Christ; 6) The destination of the saved at death; and 7) The longing of the Saviour for fellowship.

Chapter 3 is “The Word of Affection” from John 19:25-26-which is the account of Jesus leaving Mary in the care of the Apostle John. Pink shows how this fulfills prophecy (See Luke 2:25-25). He also shows how Jesus fulfilled the commandment to honour your parents.

When Jesus was arrested the disciples fled-but here we see John has come back. Pink writes,

Here is encouragement for you. Christ did not rebuke John on returning: instead, His wondrous grace bestowed on him an unspeakable privilege. Cease then your wanderings and return at once to Christ, and He will greet you with a word of welcome and cheer; and who knows but what He has some honorous commission awaiting you!

Pink covers other aspects of Jesus’ relationship with His mother, John and by extension all His people as well.

Next we find “The Word of Anguish”-“Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani? That is My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). Pink writes early on in this chapter, “The crucifixion of the Lord of Glory was the most extraordinary event that has ever happened on earth, and this cry of the suffering One was the most startling utterance of that appalling scene.”

In these words, (and the context in which Jesus said them), we see the seriousness of our sins. We get a sense of God’s holiness and the penalty required. Also shown is God’s love for His people, Jesus’ fidelity to His Father, and also a foretaste of the consequences of rejecting Christ. It is only a short sentence, but it tells us a lot about Jesus.

“The Word of Suffering” is next as Pink writes on Jesus’ words in John 19:28- “I thirst.” The very idea Jesus suffered can be mind boggling when we consider who He is, and also why He suffered. The points Pink makes here are 1) this shows Christ’s humanity, he explains why this is important. (As a side note-many of the heresies throughout Church history have either denied Christ’s deity or His humanity). 2) We see the intensity of His sufferings. 3) We see His deep reverence for the scriptures. 4) We see His submission to the Father’s will. 5) We see how He can sympathize with us in our sufferings. 6) We see the expression of a universal need and 7) Pink shows how this thirst ties in with Christ being eternal water.

A familiar passage to many Christians is John 19:30-“It is finished”-Pink calls this, “The Word of Victory.” We turn from the tragedy of Christ’s sufferings to triumph! This is a big part of what the gospel is all about-Christ has accomplished payment of the sins of His people-and it is finished! Pink shows what is finished and what that means for believers.

The final chapter is “The Word of Contentment.” This is from Luke 23:46-“Father, into Thy hands, I commend My Spirit.” These words have a very strong impact. The first recorded Christian martyr, Stephen, refers to them when he is stoned to death. (Acts 7:59).

Pink’s points here include seeing the communion between Jesus and the Father being restored. We also see a contrast as before Jesus was in the hands of men-He was there willingly-but now He is in the Father’s hands. We see our salvation as well by extension, and the absolute uniqueness of Christ.

These words are well worth our time in reading, studying, and meditating upon.

Jor-El, Kal-El, and why God sent His Son (Or Superman is not Jesus)

There has been a lot written over the years about parallels between Superman (Kal-El) and Christ. With the new Superman movie, these are making a comeback. It is not my intention here to list all the parallels, but to discuss one.

God sent His only Son to earth, and so too did Jor-El.

Superman's origin, like most early superheroes has developed and picked up details and revisions over the years. The story of Kryptonian scientist Jor-El placing his son in a rocket to escape his planet's destruction came about gradually. The earlier stories I read gave the impression this was an act of desperation on Jor-El's part. His planet was about to explode, but if his son was sent off planet he might survive somewhere. Over the years this became a deliberate act of Jor-El, and an Earth landing was his goal. And so grew the parallel. But beyond someone sending their only Son to earth to serve the people the parallel breaks down.

I have not seen the new movie yet. (I'll probably wait until it is on DVD, and rent it.) But there is a quote from the movie I saw in the newspaper. (Sorry, I can't find it on the internet.) The quote stuck out. Jor-El says,

"For this reason above all--their capacity for good--I have sent them you, my only son."

This is exactly the opposite reason God sent His Son to us. He sent Jesus to fulfill the Law, die to pay the penalty for His people's sin, and rise from the dead to defeat death. He did this because we can not. It is not our capacity for good, but our capacity for evil that is the issue here. We are all sinful. God did not choose to save us because we're just so lovable.

And yet He does love us. He sent His Son to save His people because He loves us.

When I look at it closely, Jor-El sent his son to earth for a combination of selfish reasons and love for his son. God sent His Son for selfless reasons and love of the unlovable.

Jor-El sending his son to earth is then more an example of deism, than a true parallel of Christ.

What Sinners Should Plead with God-by Ralph Erskine-Conclusion

I have presented Ralph Erskine's work "What Sinners Should Plead with God" in six parts. Links to each post are here to review.
Plead His promise...
Plead your own feebleness...
Plead His power...
Plead your necessity...
Plead His mercy...
Plead Christ's commission...

Here's how Erskine sums it up:

Thus I have laid before you some directions, in order to the receiving of Christ. O cry for grace to follow them, and put them in practice, so you may indeed close the bargain with him. O shall all these directions be lost, and Christ be still slighted and rejected! O friends, you cannot please God better, than by coming to Christ and embracing the offer of him; and you cannot please the devil better than by refusing the offer of Christ; and putting him off with delays, till you perish in your unbelief.

And now, after all that has been said, what are you resolved upon? Will you receive Christ or not? Our glorious Lord and Master has sent us to pose you man, woman, and demand whether you will receive him or not? O! what answer shall we return with? Must we go and say, that all this people, upon no terms, will receive him; none of them are for precious Christ? Oh! God forbid! shall he not see the travail of his soul, who travailed through all the armies of God's wrath for you, and gave his soul an offering for your sin? O give your soul to him, saying, Lord, in spite of the devil and of unbelief, through grace I will open my heart and arms to receive Christ! The Lord himself help you to receive him, and walk in him.

You can find more by Ralph Erskine, and his brother Ebenezer, on this site-
Fire and Ice