The Old Self Is Dead

“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Romans 6:6

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Colossians 3:9-10

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            There's a popular misconception about the nature of a Christian. It claims that a Christian is a hybrid of two equal natures: an old self and a new self. It's the idea of a believer as a fifty-fifty combination of two radically different natures.  

On the surface, this view seems correct because it feels correct. As Christians, we definitely struggle with sin. “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17). And what Christian can’t identify with Paul’s experience in Romans 7:15-20? Conversion doesn’t eradicate sin in the Christian’s life. We will be fighting and putting our sin to death until glory.

At the same time, we must not think of the Christian’s nature as having two equal parts: old and new. This can convey the impression that my true self is really neutral, and I must daily choose between my two natures. When I choose to live according to my new nature, I have victory in the Christian life, but when I choose to live according to my old nature, I fall. Put in these terms, hopefully, we can see the problem.

The core identity of the Christian isn’t neutral. The old self is dead! He was crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6), and we put him away at our conversion (Colossians 3:9). We are new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have now put on the new self which is being renewed day by day. Instead of thinking of ourselves as a hybrid of an old self and a new self, we need to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ (Romans 6:11).

How then should we describe ourselves as Christians? We are new selves with remaining corruption in our lives. Anthony Hoekema says, "We are genuinely new, though we are not yet completely new." Paul calls this remaining corruption “the sin that dwells in me.” What is interesting is that Paul doesn’t speak of indwelling sin as being at the core of my nature. Read Romans 7:20 carefully: “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” As a man with a new self, Paul wants to do what is right, but when he fails—and this is very important—he says, “it is no longer I who do it.” Now we know Paul isn’t denying the Christian’s responsibility for sin. Paul knows he is responsible for his sins. At the same time, he refuses to say sin is part of his identity (his “I”). He clearly sees himself as a new man with remnants of sin in his life, but those remnants no longer define him as a man in Christ.

This is critical. It means, when a Christian sins, he is acting contrary to his new nature in Christ. He is contradicting himself at a fundamental level. If you took the hybrid view, then, when a Christian sins, he is simply making a bad choice between two equally-opposing forces. But that’s not the way Paul speaks. When a Christian sins, it is no longer I who do it! Instead, I am allowing my remaining corruption to take over who I truly am!

So it’s best to say that as Christians we are new selves with remnants of our old man. The old man has been crucified with Christ. The old man has been put off. Now we must live according to who we really are in Christ. We must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ (Romans 6:11). We must put to death our remaining sin (Colossians 3:5). We must stop offering our bodies up in the service of sin (Romans 6:13). We are new! Sin no longer defines us. We are not under the dominion of sin (Romans 6:14). We are living the Christian life from the point of decisive victory in the present and an assured victory in the future. To paraphrase John Owen, we can kill our sin because it has already been killed in Christ on the cross.

The struggle is real. We will battle with our sin until the day we die. We want to please Christ, but sin lies crouching at the door, ready to pounce. But we need to remember that we are not a fifty-fifty combination of flesh and Spirit. Yes, it may feel like that, but all is not as it seems! Our minds and hearts must be informed by the truth of what is, not what seems to be. We have been crucified with Christ. Our old self has been dealt a lethal blow, and we have been given a new self. This is who we are now. We are not neutral. We are disposed toward godliness. God has changed our desires and direction in life. In Christ we are bent towards obedience. The old man is dead. Believe the gospel!

Covenant Baptism: Is It the Same Thing as a Baby Dedication?

When Christians who aren’t from a Reformed background try to understand covenant baptism, they often compare it to a baby dedication. There are, of course, obvious similarities, making this a natural comparison, but there are meaningful differences—and the differences go beyond the use of water! Essentially, in a baby dedication, the ceremony focuses on the act of the parents; the parents are dedicating their child to God. They certainly do this in a covenant baptism, too, but this isn’t its primary purpose. In a covenant baptism, the purpose is to signify and seal God’s promises to us. Yes, parents dedicate their children to God, but we must understand this as a response to God’s covenant promises to be God to us and our children (Genesis 17:7, Acts 2:38-39). The primary thing is the action of God. God is making promises to us. God is assuring us of his promises through the waters. God is placing his triune name upon us. As always, it isn’t about you—it’s about God.

Should We Begin with God's Love in Our Evangelism?

Contemporary approaches to evangelism almost always begin with God’s love. People are told, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” or simply, “God loves you.”

In most churches, it's taken for granted that this is the place to begin when sharing the gospel. In fact, if you challenge this approach, many Christians will look at you as if you had a second head!

Well, the more I have studied the Bible, theology, and church history, the more I have become convinced that it's generally unwise to begin our evangelism with God’s love. Please don’t misunderstand me. I certainly believe we must proclaim God’s love, but I don’t think it’s the biblical starting point. Here are some of the considerations that have led me to this conclusion.

1.     There is not one example of anyone taking this approach in the New Testament. Neither Jesus nor his Apostles began evangelistic encounters with “God loves you.” If this were the right approach, why can’t we find one example of it? Read through the four Gospels and the Book of Acts and you’ll find a variety of starting points. You won’t find one example that begins with “God loves you.” Surely there is wisdom in this.

2.     Sinners will not embrace God’s love unless they are first convinced of their sin. Although saying, “God loves you,” may be used by the Holy Spirit to convince a sinner of his guilt, it doesn’t ordinarily have that impact. Instead, “through the law comes the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). How will sinners be able to comprehend God’s love for them in Christ’s death unless they are first made aware of their sin?

3.     This approach gives sinners the false impression that God doesn’t have a holy hatred for sinners. Most people are unaware that God has a holy hatred for the wicked, which is astounding. Christians have been fed so much cheap grace that they are shocked when you show them the very clear verses speaking of God’s hatred. For example, see Psalm 5:5; 11:5 (Read those verses carefully. Notice that they teach a hatred for the sinner, not just the sin.)  

4.     This approach fails to distinguish the different aspects of God’s love. We affirm God’s love for mankind in general. According to Jesus, God shows this love in the rising and setting of the sun and the sending of the rain upon the earth (Matt. 5:45). We also affirm that God has a loving posture toward all mankind and invites all to believe the gospel (John 3:16). But we also need to recognize that God has a special, unique love for his elect, and, in most cases, when the Bible speaks of God’s love, it speaks of his love for his Church. Believers are those who are loved by God (Romans 1:7). We are the “beloved.” If you simply consult a concordance, you’ll find that most references to God’s love are in the epistles, which are addressing believers.  

5.      This approach is relatively new in church history. As far as I can tell, this emphasis goes back to D.L. Moody. If you consider the Protestants who preceded him, they simply didn’t preach this “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” gospel. Instead, they spent a great deal of time talking about God’s holiness, his law, and man’s sin and guilt. The older preachers certainly spoke about God’s love in Jesus, but they did so only after they had explained God’s holiness and righteousness. If you look at the track record of the new approach, I don’t think it can be disputed that it has produced many false conversions. If you want a good study of the older approach, which is far more biblical in my opinion, consult Iain Murray’s The OldEvangelicalism: Old Truths for a New Awakening.

Celebrating Reformation Sunday

The last Sunday in October is known as Reformation Sunday. It celebrates the beginning of the Protestant Reformation when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517.

Reformation Sunday is a time for us to celebrate how God acted in history to preserve the gospel for us today. We are beneficiaries of what God did through men like Luther. Let us never forget to study Church History, thank God for his mercies to us, and learn the lessons of God’s providential dealings with his people.


Here are some practical ways to celebrate the Reformation this upcoming Lord’s Day.

1.     Prayerfully read and study the Scriptures addressing Reformation themes. For example, read about the authority of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17), salvation by grace (Ephesians 2:1-10), and justification by faith alone (Romans 3-4).

2.     Digest a biography about one of the Reformers. A good biography on Martin Luther is Roland Bainton’s Here I Stand. T.H.L. Parker has a good book on Calvin’s life and legacy.

3.     Watch a movie about Luther and the Reformation. There is an older version and a newer one. This can be a great family activity! 

4.     Include your children by reading to them an age-appropriate version of the Reformation and its heroes. Reformation Heritage has put out some great books for kids.

5.      Visit Ligonier Ministries and listen to excellent sermons and lectures on the history and theology of the Reformation. They are completely free!

I hope you have a wonderful Reformation Day with your family!

What Legalism Is and Isn't

Christians are quick to charge others with legalism without clarifying what they mean. The charge of legalism, however, is a serious accusation and shouldn’t be thrown around lightly. We need to be more careful about calling other believers “legalistic" because what we call legalism isn't always so.

What Legalism Is

Legalism comes in many different forms. One form is what we might call full-blown legalism. This is the teaching that sinners can be saved by good works. Whether it’s completely by good works or a mixture of faith and good works, it doesn’t matter. Salvation is by God’s grace alone, and to teach otherwise is legalism. This form of legalism is pretty rare, though it’s certainly a problem in sections of the church today.

Another form of legalism, which is much more common, is the idea that Christians must obey manmade rules and regulations in addition to the commands of Scripture. Sometimes this comes in the form of arbitrary rules about makeup, clothing, and the length of your hair. At other times, these extrabiblical requirements concern holy days and dietary laws. The point is, no one other than Christ speaking in the Scriptures has the authority to bind your conscience. It is legalistic to make up rules for all Christians without any biblical warrant.

The most common legalism is best described as an attitude. We are guilty of legalism when we fall into the trap of thinking that God loves us more when we perform better. There more quiet times, the more Bible reading, the more prayer time, the better God loves me. That’s legalism, and that’s deadly. We must never forget that we are forever accepted in God’s sight because of what Jesus did for us on the cross once and for all. Christ’s finished sacrifice reconciles us to God and forever absolves us of all our shortcomings. Even though we know this in our heads, we have trouble believing this in our hearts. So we need to remind ourselves every day that we are not accepted by God on the basis of what we do. We are secure in our Father’s love because of who he is and because of what Christ has accomplished in our behalf.

What Legalism Isn’t

It is also important to understand what legalism isn’t. First of all, the desire to obey God is not legalism. If we are truly born again, we want to obey God because we want to please our heavenly Father. We are not trying to earn our salvation; we are expressing our gratitude for the salvation he has freely given us in his Son.

Secondly, the attempt to follow God’s law is not legalism. Believers should delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night. We aren’t using the law as the basis of our justification. The law is holy, righteous, and good. It sets before us a perfect pattern of God’s righteousness. The law reflects the righteousness and generosity of the God who gave it. So we cherish the law and delight to obey it out of love for Christ. The Reformers called this “the third use of the law” or the “regulative use of the law.”

Thirdly, striving to be careful and exact in our obedience is not legalism. Some Christians believe that we should simply “feel the Spirit” and do whatever subjective impulses come to mind. Whatever we feel is right is what we should do. This subjectivism is totally foreign to the Bible. True Christians want to do exactly what God says. We want to do it right away. We want to do it as he commanded.

Much more could be said on this topic, but we should seek to study the Scriptures on the subject and not throw around this serious charge without knowing exactly what we mean by the term.

45 Ways to Pray for Your Pastor

Christians should pray for their pastors on a regular basis. But do we know how to pray for our ministers? I offer this list of 45 items as a guide of biblically-informed prayers. Obviously, this list is suggestive, not exhaustive.  

1. Pray that your pastor continually abides in Jesus (John 15:5).
2. Pray that your pastor engages often in the duty and delight of private prayer (Mark 1:35; Matthew 6:6).
3. Pray that your pastor loves God above all other loves (Matthew 22:37) and that he loves people (Matthew 22:39).
4. Pray that your pastor loves his wife as Christ loves the Church (Ephesians 5:25) and that he raises his children in the discipline and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).
5. Pray that your pastor manages his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive (1 Timothy 3:4).
6. Pray that your pastor commands his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice (Genesis 18:19).
7. Pray that your pastor and his household would serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15).
8. Pray that your pastor is delivered from worldliness (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17) and especially the love of money (Matthew 6:24; 1 Timothy 6:10).
9. Pray that your pastor pursues sanctification and abstains from sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
10. Pray that your pastor exercises self-control over his tongue, his temper, and his appetite (1 Timothy 3:3; Galatians 5:22-23).
11. Pray that your pastor makes the best use of the time God has given him (Ephesians 5:16).
12. Pray that your pastor puts on the whole armor of God so that he might stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-20).
13. Pray that your pastor burns (gospel heat) and shines (gospel light) the truth of God (John 5:35).
14. Pray that your pastor studies the Law of the Lord, does it, and teaches it to God’s people (Ezra 7:10).
15. Pray that your pastor studies God’s Word so that he might handle it rightly (2 Timothy 2:15).
16. Pray that your pastor keeps a close watch on himself (life) and the teaching (doctrine) so that he might save both himself and his hearers (1 Timothy 4:16).
17. Pray that your pastor teaches what accords with sound doctrine (Titus 2:1).
18. Pray that your pastor speaks only what God says (1 Kings 22:14).
19. Pray that your pastor prioritizes prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4).
20. Pray that your pastor preaches Christ and him crucified in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in the wisdom of men (1 Corinthians 2:2).
21. Pray that your pastor proclaims the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24).
22. Pray that your pastor proclaims the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).
23. Pray that your pastor faithfully shepherds the sheep who have been purchased by the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28).
24. Pray that your pastor does not lead by domineering over the flock but by serving as a good example (1 Peter 5:3).
25. Pray that your pastor gives a good account of the souls entrusted to his care on Judgment Day (Hebrews 13:17).
26. Pray that your pastor speaks to please God, not men (1 Thessalonians 2:4; Galatians 1:10).
27. Pray that your pastor preaches the Word of God, in season and out of season, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting with complete patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:2).
28. Pray that your pastor effectively protects the sheep from wolves (false teachers) (Acts 20:29-30).
29. Pray that your pastor is able to refute those who contradict sound teaching (Titus 1:9).
30. Pray that your pastor does the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5).
31. Pray that your pastor is willing to endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they may obtain salvation (2 Timothy 2:10).
32. Pray that your pastor keeps his ministry faithful to God’s Word for the sake of the faith of God’s elect (Titus 1:1).
33. Pray that your pastor proclaims the truth that accords with godliness (both right doctrine and right living) (Titus 1:1).
34. Pray that your pastor shares both the gospel and his life with the congregation (1 Thessalonians 2:8).
35. Pray that your pastor is like a gentle mother nursing her children (1 Thessalonians 2:7) and like a faithful father exhorting his sons (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12).
36. Pray that your pastor practices hospitality (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8).
37. Pray that your pastor is strengthened by God’s grace (2 Timothy 2:1) to disciple faithful men who will disciple others (2 Timothy 2:2).
38. Pray that your pastor is prepared to share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3).
39. Pray that your pastor avoids getting entangled in civilian pursuits (distractions) and keeps his focus on pleasing God (2 Timothy 2:4).
40. Pray that your pastor is a hardworking farmer who plants seeds and waters them (2 Timothy 2:6).
41. Pray that your pastor would gladly spend and be spent for souls (2 Corinthians 13:15).
42. Pray that your pastor’s planting and watering is blessed with God-given growth (1 Corinthians 3:7).   
43. Pray that your pastor ministers in light of eternity, seeking the things that are above (Colossians 3:1-2) and keeping in mind that all people will soon die and face judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
44. Pray that your pastor aims to present everyone mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28).
45. Pray that your pastor dies to himself so that he might bear fruit for God (John 12:24).

Declension in Love

Yesterday I shared some thoughts from the first chapter of Octavius Winslow’s Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul. In the second chapter Winslow narrows his focus to address a declension in the grace of love. It is possible for our love to grow cold (Matthew 24:12), and since love is “the spring-head of all the kindred graces,” it only makes sense to explain how we tend to abandon our first love (Revelation 2:4).

 

Winslow begins this chapter by explaining the importance of love in the Christian life. Love to God is “the primary and grand requirement of the Divine Law.” Jesus teaches that loving God with the whole being is the greatest commandment in the Law (Matthew 22:37-38). God is wise and good to require us to love him: “His wisdom saw the necessity of having one center of supreme and adoring affection, and one object of supreme and spiritual worship to angels and to men. His goodness suggested that that center and that that object should be himself, the perfection of infinite excellence, the fountain of infinite good.”

 

          In addition to being the essence of God’s Law, love is “the great influential principle of the Gospel.” God’s love is the first cause of the plan of salvation (John 3:16), and the motive of our religion is love: “the love of Christ controls us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). Winslow explains why this is the case: “Apart from the constraining influence of Christ’s love in the heart, there cannot possibly be a willing, prompt, and holy obedience to his commandments.”

         

          God’s love assures us of our adoption as his children. “The relation in which the believer stands to God, under the new covenant dispensation, is not that of a slave to his master, but of a child to its father.” He continues: “A holy, self-denying, cross-bearing life, is not the drudgery of a slave, but the filial, loving obedience of a child: it springs from love to the person, and gratitude for the work of Jesus; and is the blessed effort of the spirit of adoption in the heart.”

 

          Love is an active grace in the believer’s life. Faith works by love (Galatians 5:6). Love labors (Hebrews 6:10). “There is nothing indolent in the nature of true love; it is not an inert, sluggish principle: where it dwells in the heart in a healthy and vigorous state, it constrains the believer to live not to himself, but unto Him who loved and gave Himself for him; it awakes the soul to watchfulness, sets it upon the work of frequent self-examination, influences it to prayer, daily walking in his precepts, acts of kindness, benevolence, and charity, all springing from love to God, and flowing in a channel of love to man."

         

          Love is an essential part of the Christian’s armor. We are to put on the breastplate of faith and love (1 Thessalonians 5:8). “Who can overcome a child of God whose heart is overflowing with Divine love? What enemy can prevail against him thus armed?”

 

          Winslow reminds us that love exceeds all the other Christian virtues because “love is immortal; it is the grace of the Spirit that will never die.” Drawing on 1 Corinthians 13:13, he observes, “The day is not far distant, when faith will be turned to sight, and hope will be lost in full fruition, but love will never die; it will live on, and expand the heart, and tune the lip, and inspire the song, through the unceasing ages of eternity.”

 

          Before moving to the main theme of this second chapter, which is the declension of love in the soul of the Christian, Winslow invites us to consider our first encounter with the love of Christ. “For one moment let the Christian reader call to mind the period and circumstances of his first espousals to Jesus.” Let us remember that “blissful moment” when we were able to say, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine!” Recalling our first love awakens a desire to recapture the sweetness of the love of Christ in our hearts.

 

          Since it is true that “the grace of love in a child of God may greatly and sadly decline,” Winslow gives us characteristics of love’s decline in the soul.

 

Love has declined when we think of God and desire him less than before. “If there is coldness in the affections, if the mind grows earthly, carnal and selfish, dark and gloomy shadows will gather round the character and glory of God. He will become less an object of supreme attachment, unmingled delight, adoring contemplation, and filial trust.” If we sense that we think of God and desire God less than before, we must remember that God hasn’t changed. We have changed.  


Love has declined when we do not approach God as our loving Father as we did before. “The sweet confidence and simple trust of the child is lost.” “The tender, loving, childlike spirit, that marked the walk of the believer in the days of his espousals, when no object was so glorious to him as God, no being so loved as his heavenly Father, no spot so sacred as the throne of communion, no theme so sweet as his free grace of adoption, has in a great degree departed; and distrust, and legal fears, and bondage of spirit, have succeeded it.”


Love has declined when we misinterpret God’s acts of providence as if he is against us. “The mark of a vigorous love to God is when the soul justifies God in all his wise and gracious dealings with it; rebels not, murmurs not, repines not, but meekly and silently acquiesces in the dispensation, but it never so trying.”


Love has declined when there is little desire to spend time with God and when we do spend time, we do so more out of a sense of duty than delight. If we truly love the Lord, we want to commune with him in secret prayer. We desire to talk to him and experience the blessing of his presence. A Christian “cannot live in the neglect of constant, secret, and close fellowship with his God, his best and most faithful Friend.”


Love has declined when there is less tenderness and sensitivity in our walk with God. The lover of God fears offending his Father and dreads to slight his Friend. Nothing is sweeter to him than the nearness of God.


Love has declined when Christ is perceived as less glorious to the eye and less precious to the heart. “When there is but little dealing with his atoning blood, leaning upon his righteousness, drawing from his fullness, and bearing daily the cross of Christ, the love of a believer waxeth cold.”


Love has declined when we love less the people of God. If we love God, we love all who bear his image. 1 John makes it clear that if we say that we love God and hate our brother, we are liars (5:20-21). “If we love not the visible resemblance, how can we love the invisible Archetype?”


Love has declined when we desire less and less to advance his kingdom and glorify his name. “A true, spiritual, and lively interest in the increase of Christ’s kingdom, in the diffusion of his truth, the deepening of holiness in the church, the conversion of sinners, will invariably decline with the declension of the love to God.”

 

After sharing the characteristics of a loss of love for God, Winslow then moves to the causes of love’s declension.

 

Love for the World
“Love to God will expel love to the world; love to the world will deaden the soul’s love to God.” See James 4:4 and 1 John 2:15-17 for the biblical teaching on the danger of loving the world. Winslow warns, “No Christian man can maintain his spirituality unimpaired, his love uninjured, his robe unspotted, his walk irreproachable, who secretly admits the world to his heart.”  


Making Idols of God’s Creation
When we worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, we will always lose our love for God. He doesn’t want to be second place to anything or anyone. Winslow warns about the grave danger of transferring our love to objects inferior to the Lord. Our idols never satisfy and always disappoint.


Misunderstanding God’s Dealings
When bad things happen in our lives, and we assume that God is out to get us or that he is against us, we will lose our love for God. Acknowledging God’s smiling face behind all his bitter providences is the key to maintaining a holy love for God. In the life of God’s children, bad things are the fruits of his love, not the result of his judgment.


Finally, in a manner similar to the counsel of chapter one, Winslow tells us what to do in order to return to our first love.
 
You need to find out the cause of your loss of love for God and do something about it. “Love to God is a tender flower; it is a sensitive plant, soon and easily crushed; perpetual vigilance is needed to preserve it in a healthy, growing state.” Consider the possibility that one of the three causes mentioned above is the root of the problem. Clear all obstacles to loving God supremely.


Draw continually from the fountain of God’s love. God’s love comes first. “We love him because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). “O heart-melting truth! The love of God to us when yet we were sinners, who can unfold it? What mortal tongue can describe it?” As the sun is always shining, so God is always loving; yet we must stay in the sunshine of God’s love. We must bask in the glory of his unending love to us in Christ. “Seek to be filled with it, that you may know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, and that your heart in return may ascend in a flame of love to God.”

 

Deal much and closely with a crucified Savior. “Here is the grand secret of a constant ascending of the affections to God. If thou dost find it difficult to comprehend the love of God towards thee, read it in the cross of his dear Son.” “Deal upon this amazing fact; drink into this precious truth; muse upon it, ponder it, search into it, pray over it, until your heart is melted down, and broken, and overwhelmed with God’s wondrous love to you, in the gift of Jesus.” “Whenever thou detectest a waning of love, a reluctance to take up the daily cross, a shrinking from the precept, go immediately to Calvary; go simply and directly to Jesus; get thy heart warmed with ardent love by contemplating him upon the cross, and soon will the frosts that gather round it melt away, the congealed current shall begin to flow, and the ‘chariots of Amminadib’ shall bear thy soul away to communion and fellowship with God.”


Do not fail to honor the Holy Spirit in the great work of personal revival. “It is he that will fan to a flame thy waning love, by unfolding the cross, and directing your heart into the love of God.”


Remember that though your love has grown cold, the love of your God and Father towards you has undergone no change. “Retrace thy steps and return again to God.”