The Sleeping Saint in a Storm Tossed World

Our pulpit series at the Church at Trophy Lakes this summer is an exposition of the Book of Jonah. Having been through this book several times before, I have asked God for fresh insights and revelation that would be specifically applicable to our fellowship at this time. He has not disappointed me. I have enjoyed the standard classic commentaries on Jonah but have been especially blessed by a reading of an old copy of R.T. Kendall’s thorough treatment of Jonah. His book reflects the theological acumen of an educated professor but the clarity and application of a pastor. His book is a compilation of the first series of messages he delivered at the beginning of his very fruitful tenure as shepherd of the historic Westminster chapel. I have also enjoyed reading the nineteenth century Scottish pastor, Hugh Martin (1821-1885). His Exposition of Jonah has enjoyed several reprints.

I was particularly moved by his comments on the disobedient Jonah who had gone down in the ship and was fast asleep even while the storm that threatened the ship and mariners raged. Listen to Martin describe Jonah and all believers who think they have escaped God’s assignments for their life:

Ah! Beware of disobediences like these, stroke upon stroke. You may think you gain your end; but the Lord has you in His hand, and never more so than precisely when you think you have succeeded. You may resolve to disobey; you may rise up and flee; you may find your way to Joppa; you may find the ship ready there; you may find the mariners make no objection to your company, and are ready to receive the fare. You may crown all, and think the day is gained, when you go down into the ship. How successful has your scheme been! Not a single step in it has been misgiven. The whole project thrives. Jonah is, “gone down into the sides of the ship,” and after the weary conflict in His spirit, and the weary flight to Joppa, he is quiet at last, and “fast asleep.” You think it is all right now, and your plan is safe and your project sure. The last move has been all that you could wish it to be.

Yes; but that last move is your move into the very prison in which God holds you now under lock and key, and will hold you, till He either cast you out for execution, or bring you to repentance.

Not exactly a power of positive thinking thought or typical example of the gospel lite found in many sermons today. Yet, Martin’s description of a sovereign God is a sobering and worthy thought about the God of Jonah. God is revealed in Jonah as the sovereign supreme ruler who orchestrates even the smallest details in order to accomplish His will and bring Glory to His name. He is a God who is “a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, one who relents from doing harm.”

The God of Jonah is not a safe God. You want Him to speak? He will and you might be scared to death at what He commands you to do. You want to run away from Him? Get ready to be pursued by a God who has infinite supply of resources to employ in catching you. You want to draw back and become a spectator? Get ready to be confronted with questions that will expose your soul. In the process remember the good news: God only pursues what He values.

I am glad that my faith is not predictable, safe and routine and that God will awaken me from my desire to make it such. After all a storm is raging and people need to turn from their idols and worship Him. He alone deserves it.

A Few Of My Favorite (Old) Books

I have been an avid bibliophile and voracious reader for as long as I can remember. I still remember when I entered the third grade, my librarian Mrs. Pace, gave each of us the privilege to check out two books at a time (I quickly talked her into a special dispensation for three!). I read everything but especially loved biographies. The Wright Brothers, Walt Disney and all the presidents were my favorites. Through the years I have amassed quite a library. With the help of loyal assistants through the years I have been able to index and computerize my theological library.

In my journeys overseas I have collected a small group of about 200 rare books. I call them rare not as an expert but because of their uniqueness and age. The picture is of a few of my favorites.

An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners by Joseph Alleine

Joseph Alleine (1634-1668) was an English Puritan Nonconformist scholar and pastor. This is one of the great evangelistic works produced in church history. Reading it makes you understand just how we have dumbed down “the plan of salvation” in our day. My copy is an 1816 edition. This book is still in print in modern versions.

John Hus by A. H. Wratislaw

Called a “pre-reformer” by many historians, Hus (c.1372-1415) was a common man that was influenced by the great John Wycliffe of Oxford. Once he fully realized the truth of the Gospel he also came to see the abuses of the established church. His trial and subsequent martyrdom is both a chilling tale of how the so called modern church can abuse its power and a courageous story of a principled pastor who refused to compromise the Gospel. My copy of his life is by A.H. Wratislaw and is an 1882 edition. While this particular work is out of print it is available on Google books. Several good biographies of Hus are currently available and should be read by all thoughtful believers. There is a well worn statue of John Hus in the town square of Prague in the Czech Republic today.

D’Aubigne’s History of the Reformation

Jean Henri Merle D’Aubigne (1794-1872) was born in Geneva to a pious Huguenot family. He resolved at the early age of 23 to write a history of the Reformation that emphasized the truly religious significance of Martin Luther and the Reformation. “I want this history to be truly Christian,” he wrote, “and to give a proper impulse to the religious spirit.” He would spend his entire life in the research and writing of the reformation. My copy is an 1846 edition printed in five volumes. It is available in reprint and on various internet sites.

Book of Common Prayer

I have an 1848 edition of the Book of Common Prayer for the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. This edition was published by The Bishop White Prayer Book Society in Philadelphia. This society is named after the first chaplain of the Continental Congress, William White. Two-thirds of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Episcopalians.

The Sword and the Trowel 1870

I have spent the good part of my ministerial life enjoying and studying the life and works of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I once had a memorable experience at his tomb in Norwood Cemetery in London. This picture contains two of my favorite Spurgeon books. The Sword and the Trowel was the compilation of his voluminous materials which were published in his monthly magazine from its inception in 1865 to many years after his death in 1892. Passmore and Alabaster were Mr. Spurgeon’s publishers and this original volume is a collection of all magazines published in the year 1870. There is nothing better than reading Spurgeon.

The Present Truth by C.H. Spurgeon

In 1883 Passmore & Alabaster published this book that contained messages preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, on Sunday evenings and Thursday evenings. These were messages that had not been included in the widely distributed Sunday morning messages that were distributed for one penny and now have been collected in the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit volumes. This is a beautiful original volume with a cover unlike anything published today.

To the Golden Shore The Life of Adoniram Judson by Courtney Anderson

This book is not old and it is not rare having been written in the 1950’s. However, it sits on my rare shelf because if I was banished to that proverbial island it is the one book besides my Bible that I would take. I originally read this book in a missions class in seminary and was so profoundly changed by it, I have re-read it several times including reading it to my children when they were little. Mr. Anderson’s unique style of writing coupled with the phenomenal story of the first Baptist missionary from American soil makes this book unforgettable. I encourage everyone to read it especially since it is widely available in paperback form.

Lives of the Three Mrs. Judsons by Arabella M. Willson (Stuart)

This is an 1855 original edition of this classic work concentrating on the three wives of the great missionary. The drawings in this book of Ann and Emily (The drawing of Sarah has been sadly removed) are priceless.

Just a few books from my collection.