Resolution 48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.

Jonathan Edwards

The Resolutions

I commend to you the importance of earnestness in prayer. It is not that a person should shout, or scream, or be very loud, in order to prove that they are in earnest. But it is desirable that we should be hearty and fervent and warm, and ask as if we were really interested in what we were doing. It is the "effectual fervent" prayer that "availeth much." This is the lesson that is taught us by the expressions used in Scripture about prayer. It is called, "crying, knocking, wrestling, labouring, striving." This is the lesson taught us by scripture examples. Jacob is one. He said to the angel at Penuel, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." Genesis 32:26. Daniel is another. Hear how he pleaded with God: "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine won sake, O my God." Daniel 9:19. Our Lord Jesus Christ is another. It is written of him, "In the days of his flesh, he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears." Hebrews 5:7. Alas, how unlike is this to many of our supplications! How tame and lukewarm they seem by comparison. How truly might God say to many of us, "You do not really want what you pray for." Lets us try to amend this fault. Let us knock loudly at the door of grace, like Mercy in Pilgrim's Progress, as if we must perish unless heard. Let us settle it in our minds, that cold prayers are a sacrifice without fire. Let us remember the story of Demosthenes the great orator, when one came to him, and wanted to plead his cause. He heard him without attention, while he told his story without earnestness. The man saw this, and cried out with anxiety that it was all true. "Ah," said Demosthenes, "I believe you now."

J. C. Ryle,

A Call to Prayer 

The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.

— A.W. Pink

I commend to you the importance of making prayer a regular business of life. I might say something of the value of regular times in the day for prayer. God is a God of order. The hours for morning and evening sacrifice in the Jewish temple were not fixed as they were without a meaning. Disorder is eminently one of the fruits of sin. But I would not bring any under bondage. This only I say, that it is essential to your soul's health to make praying a part of the business of every twenty-four hours of your life. Just as you allot time to eating, sleeping, and business, so also allot time to prayer. Choose your own hours and seasons. At the very least, speak with God in the morning, before you speak with the world: and speak with God at night, after you have done with the world. But settle it in your minds, that praying is one of the great things of every day. Do not drive it into a corner. Do not give it the scraps and parings of your duty. Whatever else you make a business of, make a business of prayer.

I commend to you the importance of perseverance in prayer. Once having begun the habit, never give it up. Your heart will sometimes say, "You will have had family prayers: what mighty harm if you leave private prayer undone?" Your body will sometimes say, "You are unwell, or sleepy, or weary; you need not pray." Your mind will sometimes say, "You have important business to attend to to-day; cut short your prayers." Look on all such suggestions as coming direct from Satan. They are all as good as saying, "Neglect your soul." I do not maintain that prayers should always be of the same length; but I do say, let no excuse make you give up prayer. Paul said, "Continue in prayer and, "Pray without ceasing." He did not mean that people should be always on their knees, but he did mean that our prayers should be like the continual burnt-offering steadily preserved in every day; that it should be like seed-time and harvest, and summer and winter, unceasingly coming round at regular seasons; that it should be like the fire on the altar, not always consuming sacrifices, but never completely going out. Never forget that you may tie together morning and evening devotions, by an endless chain of short ejaculatory prayers throughout the day. Even in company, or business, or in the very streets, you may be silently sending up little winged messengers to God, as Nehemiah did in the very presence of Artaxerxes. And never think that time is wasted which is given to God. A nation does not become poorer because it looses one year of working days in seven, by keeping the Sabbath. A Christian never finds he is a loser, in the long run, by persevering in prayer.

J. C. Ryle,

A Call to Prayer 

I commend to you the importance of praying spiritually. I mean by that, that we should labour always to have the direct help of the Spirit in our prayers, and beware above all things of formality. There is nothing so spiritual that it may become a form, and this is especially true of private prayer. We may insensibly get into the habit of using the fittest possible words, and offering the most scriptural petitions, and yet do it all by rote without feeling it, and walk daily round an old beaten path. I desire to touch this point with caution and delicacy. I know that there are certain things we daily want, and that there is nothing necessarily formal in asking for these things in the same words. The world, the devil, and our hearts, are daily the same. Of necessity we must daily go over old ground. But this I say, we must be very careful on this point. If the skeleton and outline of our prayers be by habit almost form, let us strive that the clothing and filling up of our prayers, be as far as possible of the Spirit. As to praying of a book in our private devotions, it is a habit I cannot praise. If we can tell our doctors the state of our bodies without a book, we ought to be able to tell the state of our souls to God. I have no objection to a person using crutches when they are first recovering from a broken limb. It is better to use crutches, than not to walk at all. But if I saw them all their life on crutches, I should not think it matter for congratulation. I should like to see them strong enough to throw their crutches away.

J. C. Ryle,

A Call to Prayer 

But it was now ten minutes since three scoundrels had been breathing behind the curtains, and Peter Pan can do a great deal in ten minutes.

Chapter Three

(Oh, this reminded me of my own three boys and that internal stopwatch that develops in every mother's heart when her children are old enough to get into trouble.  You know the one; it counts down in the back of you mother's mind and reminds you that it's too quiet in the house and time to find out what the boy is up to!  All boys can do a great deal in ten minutes.)

"I ought to have been specially careful on a Friday," she used to say afterwards to her husband, while perhaps Nana was on the other side of her, holding her hand.

"No, no," Mr. Darling always said, "I am responsible for it all. I, George Darling, did it. MEA CULPA, MEA CULPA." He had had a classical education.

Chapter Two 

(A classical education may supply you with handy Latin phrases, but it will not make you wise!) 

But will they tell us what is to regulate service, if not law? Love, they say. This is a pure fallacy. Love is not a rule, but a motive. Love does not tell me what to do; it tells me how to do it. Love constrains me to do the will of the beloved one; but to know what the will is, I must go elsewhere. The law of our God is the will of the beloved one, and were that expression of his will withdrawn, love would be utterly in the dark; it would not know what to do. It might say, I love my Master, and I love his service, and I want to do his bidding, but I must know the rules of his house, that I may know how to serve him. Love without law to guide its impulses would be the parent of will-worship and confusion, as surely as terror and self-righteousness, unless upon the supposition of an inward miraculous illumination, as an equivalent for law. Love goes to the law to learn the divine will, and love delights in the law, as the exponent of that will; and he who says that a believing man has nothing more to do with law, save to shun it as an old enemy, might as well say that he has nothing to do with the will of God. For the divine law and the divine will are substantially one, the former the outward manifestation of the latter.

Horatius Bonar

I commend then to your attention, the importance of reverence and humility in prayer. Let us never forget what we are, and what a solemn thing it is to speak with God. Let us beware of rushing into his presence with carelessness and levity. Let us say to ourselves: "I am on holy ground. This is no other than the gate of heaven. If I do not mean what I say, I am trifling with God. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Let us keep in mind the words of Solomon, "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou on earth." Ecclesiastes 5:2. When Abraham spoke to God, he said, "I am dust and ashes." When Jacob spoke to God, he said, "I am vile." Let us do likewise.

J. C. Ryle,
A Call to Prayer

"The least degree of faith takes away the sting of death, because it takes away guilt; but the full assurance of faith breaks the very teeth and jaws of death, by taking away the fear and dread of it.”

-Fairclough’s Sermon in the Morning Exercises as quoted by J. C. Ryle, Holiness.

Brethren who pray, if I know anything of a Christian's heart, you are often sick of your own prayers. You never enter into the apostle's words, "When I would do good, evil is present with me." so thoroughly as you sometimes do upon your knees. You can understand David's words, "I hate vain thoughts." You can sympathize with that poor converted Hottentot who was overheard praying, "Lord, deliver me from all my enemies, and above all, from that bad man-myself." There are few children of God who do not often find the season of prayer a season of conflict. The devil has special wrath against us when he sees us on our knees. Yet, I believe that prayers which cost us no trouble, should be regarded with great suspicion. I believe we are very poor judges of the goodness of our prayers, and that the prayer which pleases us least, often pleases God most. Suffer me then, as a companion in the Christian warfare, to offer a few words of exhortation. One thing, at least, we all feel: we must pray. We cannot give it up. We must go on.

J. C. Ryle
A Call to Prayer

For it is certain that we must teach ourselves how to make beautiful things, and must have some notion of the aim and bent of our work, what we seek and what we do.

Edward Johnston
Writing and Illuminating and Lettering 

This week's quote comes from a very special book--one that is special to me for several reasons. 

Most of you know my dear blogging friend, Ellen, The Happy Wonderer.  Ellen is one of the most encouraging, uplifting people I have ever met online.  If you know her, you know that she is and amazing thrift shopper.  Her "finds" are legendary.  And if you know her, you also know that she takes time to get to know people. 

This week I was the delighted beneficiary of her thoughtfulness and her shopping acumen.  Ellen was browsing the used books offered at her local library and came across two great calligraphy books and she thought of me.  Not only did she think of me, she took photos of the books (inside and out!) and put them on hold in case I wanted them.  And did I ever! 

I  have always loved old books and have always wanted a copy of Edward Johnston's classic, "Writing and Illuminating and Lettering" so I was delighted to have the opportunity to snag an old copy of it.  This book was published in 1906 and is the quintessential calligraphy resource.  My own is a tenth edition, printed in 1918.  It has clearly been re-bound at some point.  The pages are yellowed and a little fragile.  Just opening the book gave me a sense of history and wonderment about the other calligraphers who have read this book and been influenced by it.

A little about the author:  Edward Johnston single-handedly brought back the modern interest in calligraphy during the Arts and Crafts movement in England at the end of the 19th century.  He was the developer of my favorite hand, the Foundational Hand, based on the Ramsay Psalter, a manuscript from the late 900's.  It is the calligrapher's bread and butter hand.  In my opinion, if you get Johnston's foundational hand down pat, you're way ahead of the game. 

This is the ultimate "how to" book.  Four hundred eighty-seven pages in length, this book is truly a treatise on the art and craft of calligraphy.  He writes about the full range of topics from tools to technique, to application of color and guilding; to bookmaking and illumination, to alphabets and their development, however, there are very few pictures and examples.  I've only read the editor's and artist's preface so far and can't wait to wade in to its deep waters.

Thank you, Ellen.

(I'll share a little bit about the other book she snagged for me soon!) 

 

"Beauty is to the soul as food is to the body. It fills a need in us that nothing else can fill."

Frederick Buechner

In recent weeks, our Bible study has been grappling with a tough passage--Hebrews 6:

 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
   
9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Apostacy and Assurance.   Two controversial subjects dealt with in one controversial passage.

We worked through the section on apostacy and this week we are taking a short side trip into the subject of assurance of faith.  We have read and will discuss a chapter of J.C. Ryle's Holiness on Assurance. 

After presenting scripture after scripture, both from the Old Testament and New, Ryle confirms "the language of persuasion, confidence, knowledge--nay, I may almost say, of certainty" regarding the doctrine of assurance.

It cannot be wrong to feel confidently in a matter where God speaks unconditionally--to believe decidedly when God promises decidedly--to have a sure persuasion of pardon and peace when we rest on the word and the oath of Him that never changes.  It is an utter mistake to suppose that the believer who feels assurance is resting on anything he sees in himself.  He simply leans on the Mediator of the New Covenant, and the Scripture of truth.  He believes the Lord Jesus means what He says, and takes Him at His word.  Assurance, after all is no more than a full-grown faith.

 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end.

Can you find Mama?  It's been two years since she nested here, but she's settled right in as if she remembers me.  She is even calmer that she was before; I can poke the camera right into the tree to take pictures of her.  I even peeked into the nest while I had Ivy with me on the leash and she never batted an eye.

We'll see what it's like once the eggs hatch.

This is a very busy week, so posts are going to be few and far between.  Here's a preview of something I'm working on.

This is a first, quick run through. I've made some choices and some changes since this first rendering, as always.  I think I've already lettered it four or five times, making adjustments and adding color.  I really like this project--I may have it hanging in my own home eventually. 

God is Sovereign.  He reigns Supreme in fact as well as in right.  This universe to Him is not a surprise, a defeat, a failure, but a development of His eternal purpose.  That purpose is Predestination.  That development is Providence.  The one is the all-wise predetermined plan in the mind of God; the other is the all-powerful execution of that plan in the administration of the universe.

Edgar Watson Smith

The Creed of Presbyterians 

As I stepped outside in my robe and slippers this morning, sleepily accompanying Eve on her early morning potty break, I glanced at the sky, wondering what the day would bring.

A balloon!  I love discovering balloons, especially when they are silently floating right above me!  Sneaky and spectacular against the blue sky, always a surprise.

Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.

Winnie the Pooh 

He that believeth on Jesus shall never be confounded.  Never was any; neither shall you, if you believe.  It was a great word of faith spoken by a dying man, who had been converted in a singular way, betwixt his condemnation and execution:  his last words were these, spoken in a mighty shout:

"Never man perished with his face toward Christ Jesus."

Traill, quoted in Holiness, by J. C. Ryle 

I bless God that our salvation in no wise depends on our own works . . . but I never would have any believer for a moment forget that our sense of our salvation depends much on the manner of our living.

J.C. Ryle, Holiness 

"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it."

Pablo Picasso