Friday, February 25, 2005
Sage Advise
This sermon from John Piper is superb.
First, I am saying that the work of God's Spirit in your life happens through the Word (the Scriptures), and the work of the Word in your life happens through the Spirit. The Spirit and the Word are inseparable in producing change in our lives (call it obedience, or sanctification, or fruit of the Spirit, or holiness) – from the first act of regeneration to the final act of glorification. God works by this Spirit through his Word to accomplish his saving purposes in our lives....Another thing I am saying in this main point today is that prayer is our response to God in reliance on his Spirit; and meditation is our response to God in reliance on his Word. In prayer we praise the perfections of God through his Spirit, we thank God for what he has done by his Spirit, we confess our failures to trust the promise of his Spirit, and we ask for the help of his Spirit – all in Jesus' name. Prayer is the human expression of treasuring and trusting the Spirit of God....And a third thing I am saying is that prayer and meditation are inseparable in living the Christian life. Prayer without meditation on the Word will disintegrate into humanistic spirituality. It will simply reflect your own fallen ideas and feelings – not God's. And meditation without calling on God in prayer will create proud legalism or hopeless despair. You will try to live the Word in your own strength and will think you are succeeding, and become a proud legalist; or you'll know you are not succeeding, and will give up in hopeless despair. Those are not the only alternatives. My point is: God's will is that prayer and meditation always stay together. In prayer we call on God's Spirit for his help to change; and in meditation we see the truth that inspires the change when the Spirit is at work.This blog is called "Blogotional" because I believe that personal devotion, dedication to reading and meditating the Word and prayer are the only suitable foundation for a Christian life. There simply is no substitute for a daily devotional.
