For the Lord's Day

"May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of his heavenly wisdom with increasing devotion, to his glory and our edification." - John Calvin

Pentecost & Packer

Today is Pentecost; the Holy Spirit is fully given to the church. Thanks be to God!
“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means he does not understand Christianity very well at all. – J. I. Packer, Knowing God

Ascension Day

Yesterday was Ascension Day. Christ's ascension means the Spirit was able to come and it also means the next event in God's timetable of redemptive events is the return of the LORD. What a glorious hope!

 The golden gates are lifted up, the doors are opened wide;

The King of Glory is gone in unto his Father’s side.

That where thou art, at God’s right hand, our hope, our love may be:

Dwell Thou in us, that we may dwell forevermore in Thee.

-- Cecil Frances Alexander

The Natural Man

“Christ enlightens and teaches men the will of God variously, gradually, plainly, powerfully, sweetly, purely, and fully. There is a natural ignorance and blindness in men about the things of God. The world is in darkness. It is true, in the state of innocence man had a clear apprehension of the will of God, but now that light is quenched in the corruption of nature (1 Cor. 2:14). The natural man not only has native blindness that he cannot discern the things of the spirit, but also a natural enmity. Until his mind is healed and enlightened by Jesus Christ the natural faculty cannot discern the things of the Spirit.”  -- John Flavel, Works, I

For the Lord's Day:

"If we are to find [Christ], we will find him where he is to be found; in his Word, prayer, and in the assembly of his people. Enjoying fellowship with Christ is the goal of our effort." Thomas Manton