Category: Theology

Revival in Bethesda (North Wales)

Another quote from the book: “When Revival came to North Wales”, edited by Philip Eveson (For the previous quote, see here). This time, it is from the pen of Dafydd job, writing about the revival in Bethesda, North Wales, in 1904-05.

It seemed to those present that the Holy Spirit came, but not to make everybody feel good, or to make them have wonderful experiences. The Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, came to glorify Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, and to bring people face to face with him. And as a response to his coming in this way, they could only flee to the cross. They were brought to that point where it did not matter who it was who stood next to them — all that counted was that they were standing before Christ, naked unless He gave them clothing, condemned unless forgiveness was found in Him. Continue reading “Revival in Bethesda (North Wales)”

Revival

Here is an extended quote from Philip Eveson, taken from the little book “When God came to North Wales” (Quinta Press, 2010).

Revival is more than having good church attendance. It is more than enthusiastic evangelistic activity with positive results. Rhos knew all this before revival came. Revival is that extra, that indescribable. It is the conscious presence of something altogether out of this world. The pure, powerful Spirit of God pervades the whole district. It results, as the New Testament indicates, in great fear, great grace and great joy, so that the ungodly as well as the godly are aware of it.

Continue reading “Revival”

With Jesus, there is no “both-and” but only “either-or”

Did I say that I love that book: [amazon_link id=”0802458408″ target=”_blank” locale=”UK” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Good News We almost Forgot[/amazon_link]. You should read it, really. Here is another quote from the book. I wish I could put the whole chapter:

Protestants don’t pray to saints, but we sure work hard to do what is right. Deep down, and sometimes we don’t even have to dig that deep, many of us feel confident before God because we haven’t royally messed up our lives, at least not lately. We don’t get drunk or do drugs. We show up on time for work. We keep our yard clean and get involved in church. I’d feel pretty good with a record like that. I do feel pretty good sometimes! And that’s my problem. I put trust in Kevin. The fact that when I sin I feel like I should earn my repentance before I come back to God tells me that I live too much of my life feeling good with God because I feel like I am good enough for God. I don’t need Pelagianism or semi-Pelagianism or liberalism or the power of positive thinking to make me full of myself. I was born full of myself, and every days needs to be emptied and filled with Christ.

There is nowhere else we ought to look for our salvation than in Christ. You cannot trust Christ truly unless you trust Christ alone. No matter how much you boast of Christ or talk of your love for Christ or passion for Christ, if you add anything to Christ, your boasting and love and passion are all in vain. There is no “both-and” with Jesus, only “either-or.” Either Jesus is the only Savior, the perfect Savior, and your only comfort in life and in death, or Jesus is for you no Savior at all.

Kevin DeYoung, The good news we almost forgot.

Lloyd Jones on “The Christian’s secret of a Happy Life”

I read this today in the latest issue of the Banner of Truth Magazine. It is an extract from a sermon on John 1 by Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones :

(…) Another trouble with our attitude towards sanctification is that we desire to be happy rather than holy. We want happiness so we go to our meetings, our conferences, our conventions, to get ‘it’. What is ‘it’? It is the happiness of getting rid of our problems. A book that has had a great influence has a significant title: The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life. That’s it! ‘Happy life’! Come along, I will tell you. I can make you happy quite easily. You need not wade through your Bible, you need not understand theology, you need not go this long, roundabout way via the law. Here you are: ‘The Christian’s secret of a happy life’. But happiness does not come first.

What does come first? Holiness!

We need the gospel

Strange as it may seem, Christians need the gospel as much as unbelievers do. We do not need the gospel to “be saved”. We need the gospel to keep us from lapsing into a performance mind-set in our day to day relationship with God. We need the gospel to remind us that we are still practicing sinners whose only hope for both eternal life and today’s blessings from God are “Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”

Jerry Bridges, Foreword to DeYoung’s The Good News We almost forgot.

The centrality of the cross

There is nothing more important in Christian theology than our theology of the cross. We must speak clearly that  the heart of the gospel is the good news of divine self-satisfaction through divine self-substitution. Never compromise on the cross. Never dilute the message of the cross. And never stop glorying in the cross where Christ accepted the penalties that should belong to us so that we can claim the blessings that would otherwise belong only to Him.

Kevin DeYoung, The good news we almost forgot.