Author: Tony Reinke

Confess your sins to one another (part 1)

Tony Reinke C.J. Mahaney, Community, Confessing sin, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Fellowship, Kris Lundgaard, Sin, Sin in the church

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” – James 5:16

If he had the opportunity to revise his famous book (The Enemy Within), what would Kris Lundgaard add? At the final session of The Enemy Within conference in Omaha, he said he would add a chapter on sanctification within the community, specifically the importance of confessing sin to one another. (Listen to session 4 of the Lundgaard audio here).

He opened session four by reading large sections of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s parable, The Minister’s Black Veil, a story of a pastor who lives out the end of his life under a black veil seeking to hide his own personal sin from the rest of the church.

But I was especially interested in Lundgaard’s reference to a small book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer by the title, Life Together. I was not familiar with this book and so the following quotes hit me.

“Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation… This can happen even in the midst of a pious community. In confession the light of the Gospel breaks into the darkness and seclusion of the heart. The sin must be brought into the light. The unexpressed must be openly spoken and acknowledged. All that is secret and hidden is made manifest. It is a hard struggle until the sin is openly admitted. But God breaks gates of brass and bars of iron (Ps. 107:16)…”

“The root of all sin is pride… I want to be my own law, I have a right to my self, my hatred and my desires, my life and my death. The mind and flesh of man are set on fire by pride; for it is precisely in his wickedness that man wants to be as God … In the confession of concrete sins the old man dies a painful, shameful death before the eyes of a brother. Because this humiliation is so hard we continually scheme to evade confessing to a brother. Our eyes are so blinded that they no longer see the promise and the glory in such abasement.”

“Since the confession of sin is made in the presence of a Christian brother, the last stronghold of self-justification is abandoned. The sinner surrenders; he gives up all his evil. He gives his heart to God, and he finds the forgiveness of all his sin in the fellowship of Jesus Christ and his brother… Now he stands in the fellowship of sinners who live by the grace of God in the Cross of Jesus Christ.”

– Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

These quotes remind me of C.J. Mahaney’s presentation at the Together for the Gospel 2006 conference where he encouraged pastors to be (discreetly) willing to confess sin from the pulpit in a way that builds honesty and openness with our hearers.

Likewise, it reminds me of the Psalmist. Asaph in Psalm 73 openly declared and confessed sins (sin that would otherwise remained hidden from sight). In fact he says, I almost went public with my confession (v. 15). But he didn’t. He was willing to lay his heart sins open and compose one of the most cherished of all the Psalms.

Asaph, Mahaney, Lundgaard and now Bonhoeffer have taught me much about the dynamics of Christian community. By hiding our sins under a black veil, our Christian lives are un-authentic and sin grows unhindered. We must work to be more open, to lay bare the heart, to confess “concrete sins,” build communion with our brothers and sisters, to be freed from the sinful pride that veils our personal sin. By the graciousness of God, if we can die to self here we will build a “fellowship of sinners who live by the grace of God in the Cross of Jesus Christ.”

O, that God, while seemingly blessing our age with great doctrine, will also open our hearts to bless our communities and pulpits with pride-killing honesty and humility.

The Art of Manfishing by Thomas Boston

Tony Reinke Evangelism, Thomas Boston

In his book on evangelism titled The Art of Manfishing (“follow me and I will make you fishers of men”), Thomas Boston writes this about the net of the gospel,

“the meshes must not be over-wide, lest the fish run through. So neither must thy doctrine be general, without particular application, lest thou be no fisher of men. Indeed men may be the better pleased, when thou preachest doctrine so as wicked men may run out-through and in-through it, than when thou makest it so as to take hold of them; but be not a servant of men” (p. 39).

So in the counsel of one wise Puritan, let us be like the ancient fishers – always mending and tightening our nets by making certain our theology is biblically sharp and earnestly applied.

Reformation day idea: Martin Luther DVD [1953]

Tony Reinke DVD, Martin Luther, Movies, Reformation

Reformation day idea:

Martin Luther, DVD [1953]

How will you be celebrating Reformation Day (Oct. 31st)? A game of pin the 95 theses on the door? Munching on gummy worms (aka Diet of Worms)? Grilling hamburgers (aka a Papal Bull BBQ)? Well this year my family and I will celebrate the day with a movie night.

Although there is a more recent movie on the great reformer, in my opinion nothing beats the movie Martin Luther. Released in 1953, Martin Luther is a black-and-white classic, unsurpassed in depicting both the boldness of Luther and the doctrinal divisions at stake. It depicts Luther wrestling with Paul and the ever-important phrase, “the just shall live by faith.”

One of my favorite scenes is from the debate at Leipzig where Luther says,

“I have the right to believe freely, to be a slave to no man’s authority, to confess what appears to be true whether it is proved or disproved, whether it is spoken by Catholic or by heretic… In matters of faith I think that neither counsel nor Pope nor any man has the power over my conscience. And where they disagree with Scripture, I deny Pope and council and all. A simple layman armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest Pope without it.”

Luther was bold and strong. The writing of this movie and the acting of Niall MacGinnis bring these characteristics out clearly.

Though it is an older movie, technological upgrades have been introduced to the DVD version. Especially helpful are the subtitles (as the audio can be a bit unclear at times) and the photographic tour of locations and characters. Before watching the movie (especially with kids) it’s great to become familiar with the characters and locations. The DVD also includes a documentary on the making of the film and actor/actress biographies.

So to go along with the Papal Bull BBQ and a Diet of Worms, consider sanctifying October 31st with the classic movie, Martin Luther.

Book review: The Works of John Flavel (0851510604)

Tony Reinke Book reviews, Books, BR > Banner of Truth, John Flavel, Puritan Library, Puritans

tsslogo.jpgBook review
The Works of John Flavel (6 volumes)

“Some Puritans might be more learned than he, and some more quaint, but for all-around usefulness none was his equal.” Iain Murray on John Flavel

It’s no exaggeration to say the six volume Works of John Flavel are one of the most useful of all the Puritans. Comprised of 22 books and 116 sermons covering a wide range of issues, I have found Flavel’s works to be useful on all topics in my expositional work. A simple scan through Martin’s topical index (A Guide to the Puritans) will bear this out.

John Flavel’s (1628-1691) preaching was experiential and strong. His biographer writes, “He preached what he felt, what he had handled, what he had seen and tasted of the word of life, and they [his hearers] felt it also” (1:xii). One of his hearers said, “that person must have a very soft head, or a very hard heart, or both, that could sit under his ministry unaffected” (1:vi).

Flavel was known for his personal godliness, commitment to prayer, faithfulness under hard trials, and generosity towards the poor. He was aware of the controversial issues but chose not to jump into the debates, instead filling the role of peacemaker. He lived through the persecution of Puritan preachers (between 1662-1687) and was given a few years of freedom in his last years. Yet during this time of turmoil, Flavel (like Owen, Goodwin, Bunyan, Manton and the other great Puritans) continued to produce the precious works we now own, collect and use.

The glory of Christ

The great litmus test of a preacher or author is this: What do they say about the preciousness of Christ? I am amazed at the number of popular books published under the category ‘Christian’ that — while talking much on theology or marriage issues or child-raising or personal fulfillment — totally neglect the beauty of Christ. Not so with Flavel. To him, the knowledge of Christ is of utmost importance for joy eternal and joy now.

At the beginning of his famous collection of sermons titled, The Fountain of Life Opened Up: A Display of Christ in His Essential and Mediatorial Glory, Flavel writes,

“Knowledge is man’s excellency above the beasts that perish (Ps. 32:9). The knowledge of Christ is the Christian’s excellency above the Heathen (1 Cor. 1:23, 24). Practical and saving knowledge of Christ is the sincere Christian’s excellency above the self-cozening hypocrite (Heb. 6:4, 6). But methodical and well-digested knowledge of Christ is the strong Christian’s excellency above the weak (Heb. 5:12, 13, 14). A saving, though an immethodical knowledge of Christ, will bring us to heaven (John 17:2) but a regular and methodical, as well as a saving knowledge of him, will bring heaven to us (Col. 2:2, 3). For such is the excellency thereof, even above all other knowledge of Christ, that it renders the understanding judicious, the memory tenacious, and the heart highly and fixedly joyous” (1:21).

This paragraph ignites into 500 pages of sermons to build in the reader’s knowledge of Christ and bring the heart a high and fixed joy.

Content

Contrasted to men like John Owen and Thomas Goodwin, Flavel’s works are very easy to read. Like all Puritans, his content is dense, but his sermons and books flow gracefully.

The six-volume Banner of Truth edition is comprised of 22 books and 116 sermons. Volume one includes a short but helpful biography of Flavel’s life. A 500-page book, The Fountain of Life, follows and makes up most of the first volume. Spanning 42 hefty sermons, Flavel explores the beauty of Christ in His person and then in His work as the Mediator. He also explores the seven sayings of the Cross. As we saw earlier, a deep knowledge of Christ’s beauty brings heaven down to us and this he accomplishes in this first volume.

The second volume is a collection of 38 sermons. The first 35 comprise The Method of Grace in the Gospel Redemption, a series explaining how we are saved, why sinners should come to Christ, the benefits of Christ towards the believer, what happens to bring sinners up to the point of salvation (like conviction), distinguishing between the genuine and false believers, and the present and eternal state of the unregenerate. These sermons cover a broad landscape of evangelical themes. Three sermons in the nature of man’s soul complete volume two and continue into the first five sermons of volume three.

Volume three is given to a number of issues including the difference between sinful and non-sinful fear, God’s protection of His children in times of judgment upon the earth, the dangers of doctrinal error, and the importance of unity in the church around the Gospel.

Volume four includes 11 sermons delivered in England after the persecution of Puritans concluded in the late 1680s. In the midst of this evangelical freedom, England and its people should ever seek to repent, turn from sin and press close to Christ. “England hath now a day of special mercy: there is a wide door of opportunity opened to it; O that it might prove an effectual door! It is transporting and astonishing, that after all the high and horrid provocations, the atheism, profanes, and bitter enmity against light and reformation: the sweet voice is still heard in England, Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (4:3-4).

Following this, Divine Conduct or The Mystery of Providence highlights the many ways God has put each of us where we are from our birth, family heritage and spouse. God is in control and we should take note of His activities. How we encounter temptation is the theme of Antipharmacum Saluberrimum. Pressing close to Christ, not surprisingly, is where he begins. Two short books on the danger of “Popery” and one on letters of seamen saved from storms at sea close the volume.

Volume five includes a 200-page book, Husbandry Spiritualized: The heavenly use of earthly things based upon 1 Corinthians 3:9 (“You are God’s field”). In it Flavel takes the natural and common and teaches eternal truth. Like Divine Providence, it’s seeing God speaking in everyday life. Navigation Spiritualized: A new compass for seamen is a 100-page book spiritualizing sailing terms for the purpose of converting sailors. A Caution to Seamen follows on the prevalent sins of this profession like drunkenness and swearing. Another book for seamen and then a book on the important duty of watching over our own hearts follows. Books on discovering hypocrisy and another for those who mourn the loss of loved ones ends the volume.

The final volume includes several books. Preparations for Suffering teaches us to prepare and endure suffering and trials. Other topics include an exposition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, twelve sacramental sermons for the Lord’s Supper, the necessity of conversion and personal reformation, importance of pastoral ministry and indexes.

Indexes

The subject index is adequate, spanning 40 pages. However, the textual index is limited to primary sermon texts (unnecessary if you use one of the two Puritan sermon indexes). Navigation through the works will certainly be hindered by this weakness but this should not detract from the value of Flavel.

Conclusion

Warmly devotional and diverse in content, John Flavel’s works are a ‘must-have’ for a Puritan library. He is one of the most readable and helpful of the Puritans and will be a great friend to your expositional preparations. Flavel will help you to see God’s work in the world, encourage evangelism, and (most importantly) point you towards the beauty of Christ in all topics.

Boards: clothbound, hardcover (burnt orange, gilded)
Volumes: 6
Pages: 3,700
Dust jackets: yes
Binding: Smyth sewn
Paper: normal, top edge painted (red)
End papers: front of each contains outline of all six volumes
Text: facsimile of 1820 version (W. Baynes and Son)
Topical Index: yes (good; end of vol. 6)
Textual index: yes (poor; end of vol. 6)
Biography: yes (short but excellent; vol. 1)
Publisher: Banner of Truth Trust
Price USD: $165/$123 at Monergism books
Indexed: yes, both Martin and PCA
ISBNs: 0851517234, 0851517226, 0851510604, 085151720x, 0851517196, 0851517188

New Book: How to Pray for Your Wife by Mark A. Weathers (1581347863)

Tony Reinke Pastor's wives, Wives

New Book Alert!

How to Pray for Your Wife by Mark A. Weathers

Of all the most important things we must do for our wives (remembering anniversaries and going on date-nights) praying for them consistently must certainly be one of the most neglected. This is especially unfortunate because the bible clearly describes a godly wife and many of us have wives who truly desire to be godly. How do we, as spiritual leader, put the two together?

Traveling through Proverbs 31, author Mark Weathers breaks the passage into 31 points covered in 31 days. On each point he includes a short teaching, suggestions how to pray specifically for your wife in this area, prayer journal and area to mark answered prayer. A helpful study guide follows at the end. I am especially drawn to the days marked Bargain-hunter, Artistry, Multitasking, Laughter, Watchwoman, and Idol-smasher. This book looks like a real help for husbands like myself to show true love to our wives.