The Lord's Supper

Well, tomorrow is a Lord's Supper Sunday at Redeemer (first Sunday of the month). On those Sundays I always like to make my morning "Lord Supper themed." So tomorrow I am planning on listening to 2 sermons: one on self-examination and one where Pastor Miller ties the sermon into the Lord's Supper and actually records, as part of the sermon, the sacrament. It's awesome. And then I plan to read an article out of New Horizons on The Sacraments as Visible Words by Dr. John Fesko. And Lord willing, I'll read a a section on the sacraments out of Helps For Worship by Pastor Bill Shishko and a chapter out of Given For You: Reclaiming Calvin's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper. Planning my Lord's Supper morning reminded me of a section out of Calvin that I like to read every first Sunday. I thought I'd share it with you. Whether you feast at the Lord's table tomorrow or not, may this be a blessing to you and a means of "stiring you up to love and good deeds."

"By ["examine himself"], as I understand, [Paul] means that each individual should descend into himself, and consider, first, whether, with inward confidence of heart, [you] lean on the salvation btained by Christ, and with confession of the mouth, acknowledge it; and secondly, whether with zeal for purity and holness [you] aspire to imitate Christ; whether, after His example, [you] are prepared to give [yourself] to [your] brethren, and to hold [yourself] in common with those with whom [you] have Christ in common; whether as [you yourself] are regarded by Christ, [you] in [your] turn regard all [your] brethren as members of [your] body, or, like [your] members, desire to cherish, defend, and assist them, not that the duties of faith and charity can now be perfected in us, but because it behooves us to contend and seek, with all our heart, daily to increase our faith."

Book Club ~ Institutes of the Christian Religion

*a long post for a single occasion*

I'm all ready to do my final post on Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. I told you one of these days I'd pop up and tell you I had finally finished the whole thing. I finished it yesterday morning and marked it at the end, "The Lord's Day, February 22, 2009." I had really wanted to finish it on a Lord's Day so I had to mark it that way :)

So yesterday someone asked me, "ok, so what did you take away from it?" She's also reading it (just started in January and is hoping to get it read this year so we've been talking about together lately.) Ya know, I think there are a couple things I've taken away from it.

I really do think that it was written to be read all the way through at least once. It builds on itself. Book One speaks of the knowledge of God as Creator. Book Two speaks of of the knowledge of God as Redeemer, first in the Old Testament under the law and now, in the New Testament under the Gospel and Christ Jesus, our Redeemer. Book Three speaks more of us and our duty as believers under that Gospel and that Redeemer that is described in Book Two. It also speaks of the benefits and the blessings that come to those who are in covenant with that Redeemer. And Book Four speaks of the Church: that body of those individuals (spoken of in Book Three) who are redeemed by the Savior (spoken of in Book Two). So, it really builds: from God, as Creator, to God, as Redeemer and His covenant with a sinful people, to man, as a sinner, and then as a saved sinner, and then that body of saved sinners and their life in the church and in the world.

One of the things that I loved about the book was how thorough it was. Ya know, I know a lot of this stuff. It's not like there were whole sections of the book where I was learning new things. Maybe that's just my environment, I don't know. But it's not like fireworks were goin' off all the time. But it was really helpful in how thorough it was on every point. So when he was talkin' about infant baptism he covered why we believe in infant baptism, positively and negatively (why we don't believe in believer's baptism) and then he covered every argument of the Anabaptists and every argument that anybody else had ever brought up. And it wasn't just on baptism. He was thorough on every point. I mean, sometimes I was reading a section on one particular point and I was thinking, 'is he gonna talk about "this"?' And he did...and covered all the arguments for and against it. So that was really helpful.

I have heard that Calvin is remembered for saying "You can't know yourself unless you know God. But you can't know God unless you know yourself." I saw that to be very true all the way through the Institutes. I mean, from the beginning of Book One. We can't know God as our Creator unless we know that we have been created. But, we can't know that we've been created unless we know that there's a Creator. And that whole thought filters down into the particulars of each Book. I was thinking of it particularly in Book Three, on the Christian Life. Chapter Twenty (one of my favorite sections in the whole book) on prayer: ya know, we can't see our need to pray unless we see how dependent, how sinful, how un-sovereign (yeah, a totally made-up word :) we are. And then at the same time, we can't see our lack of sovereignty and our need for dependence until we see that there is one that is above everything we could ever imagine. One who is so "other" than us. And we see Him more and more in prayer! It's awesome!

Ok, so after I've read the whole thing (which, in case you hadn't gotten the message, I'm so glad I did), but anyway....after I've read the whole thing, I think it'll be really helpful as a reference now. Now I know where all the best quotes are (they're all marked, bulleted, underlined, stared, bracketed, are you getting the point? :) and I know what sections were my favorite. So I think it'll be helpful now as a reference. When I'm really struggling with something, I know where the section on prayer is. I know where the section on self-denial is. Or, if there's ever a question that I'm having a hard time answering, I know where the sections on the sacraments are (oh, and they were rippin' sections, too). I know where the sections on church government are. And they're all marked so I can go right to what I need and what will be most helpful. So in that way, it was really worth reading.

Ok, now, (some of) my thoughts on Calvin are done (for now) and you have to have some quotes to close out the book club (of one member) posts on John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. By the way, I love it that the last words of the book were so good they were worth underlining, so the last quote I give you is the close of the book.

"...Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God." ~Book One, Chapter One, Section Three

"Additional sweetness is given to divine grace, which comes to our aid without the law, and additional loveliness to the mercy which confers it, because they proclaim that God is never weary in doing good, and in loading us with new gifts....divesting [our]selves of of an absurd opinion of [our] own virtue, [we] may perceive how they are wholly dependent on the hand of God; that feeling how naked and destitute [we] are, [we] may take refuge in His mercy, rely upon it, and cover [our]selves entirely with it; renouncing all righteousness and merit, and clinging to mercy alone, as offered in Christ to all who long and look for it in true faith. In the precepts of the law, God is seen as the rewarder only of perfect righteousness (a righteousness of which all are destitute), and, on the other hand, as the stern avenger of wickedness. But in Christ His countenance beams forth full of grace and gentleness toward poor unworthy sinners." ~Book Two, Chapter Seven, Sections Seven and Eight

"...We have obtained what was fit for us, the Lord having so often and so surely engaged to take an interest in all our troubles from the moment they have been deposited in His bossom....For the trials by which the Lord proves and exercises us are severe, no, he often drives us to extremes, and when driven allows us long to stick fast in the mire before He gives us any taste of His sweetness....What could they here do but become dispirited and rush on despair, were they not when afflicted, desolate, and half dead, comforted with the thought that they are regarded by God, and that there will be an end to their present evils. But however secure their hopes may stand, they in the meantime cease no tot pray, since prayer unaccompanied by perseverance leads to no result." ~Book Three, Chapter Twenty, Section Fifty-Two

"...We are redeemed by Christ at the great price which our redemption cost Him, in order that we might not yield a slavish obedience to the depraved wishes of men, far less do homage to...impiety." ~Book Four, Chapter Twenty, Section Thirty-Two

Book Club ~ Institutes of the Christian Religion

One of these days I'm gonna pop up and be done with this book and there won't be any more posts on Calvin's Institutes. But that's not this time. Believe me, I can't wait to say that I've finally finished it. I mean, yeah, I am really enjoying it but it will be great to finish it. Hopefully that will happen in the next week or so. Last night I got under the "100 pages left" mark. This morning, I only have 90 more pages to read!!

I was debating whether to do this post or not. Ya know, should I just wait until I finish and then do one final post? But this morning I read these two awesome quotes so I had to do the post, right?

So, here ya go. Calvin's startin' your day with a cup of tea at the chatty tea table. May the Lord richly bless your week.

"How sweet is it to pious minds to be assured not only by word, but even by ocular demonstration, that they are so much in favor with their heavenly Father, that He interests Himself in their prosperity! Here [in baptism] we may see how He acts toward us as a most provident parent, not ceasing to care for us even after our death, but consulting and providing for our children. Ought not our whole heart to be stirred up within us...to bless the Lord for such a manifestation of goodness? Doubtless the design of Satan is assaulting paedobaptism with all his forces is to keep out of view, and gradually efface, that attestation of divine grace which the promise itself presents to our eyes. In this way, not only would men be impiously ungrateful for the mercy of God, but be less careful in training their children to piety. For it is no slight stimulus to us to bring them up in the fear of God, and the observance of his law, when we reflect that from their birth they have been considered and acknowledged by Him as His children. Wherefore, if we would not mailiciously obscure the kindness of God, let us present to Him our infants, to whom He has assigned a place among His friends and family, that is, the members of the church."

"Having become with us the Son of man, He has made us with Himself sons of God. By His own descent to the earth He has prepared our ascent to heaven. Having recieved our mortality, He has bestowed on us His immortality. Having undertaken our weakness, He has made us strong in His strength. Having submitted to our poverty, He has transferred to us His riches. Having taken upon Himself the burden of unrighteousness with which we were oppressed, He has clothed us with His righteousness."

For a conference countdown: my sweet little buddy, Ethan, counts it down for me every morning. I was doing it and then he figured out that he can do that too. So every morning he lets me know: "Sarah, 22 days until the conference and in 22 days, it'll be less than 1 day until the conference." So there ya go: 22 days!

Have a great day!

Sarah

Update

It's a busy week here at the Blairs. Oh wait, I think every week is a busy week at the Blairs, but anyway....

I just have time for a quick update before I go get ready for my piano lesson:

35 days until the Greenville Seminary Party...I mean, Conference and 168 pages of Calvin to read!

I figure if I read 10 pages a day (50 pages a week) I'll finish by February 28. So far, I'm on track. I just finished my 10 pages for today.

I do hope you are all have a great week. I can't believe we're already half-way through! Just keep counting all His mercies to you...they're new every morning!

In our Faithful Redeemer's grip,

Sarah

Book Club~Very Unique Jewel of Christian Contentment

Finally, another post! It's been a busy few weeks at the Blair's home, and I'm sure at the Freeman's home, as well.

Part of that busyness does not include the book club. I am making an executive Talk Time decision (that Lily and I sort-of talked about on Saturday): the book club is on hold until March 10 at 1:00. That's when the Greenville Conference begins and Calvin's Institutes should be finished! Right now, I'm jammin' on Calvin and so *pause* on the Very Unique Jewel of Christian Contentment.

Yeah, Lily and I changed the name (we're allowed, it's just a puritan, ya know?) Have you ever heard people say something was "very unique"? Ya know, "We live in a very unique neighborhood." Or, "I have a very unique personality." Ya know what, guys? It can't be. Unique means one-of-a-kind, right? Right. So how can you be very one-of-a-kind? How can you be more one-of-a-kind than one-of-a-kind? It just can't be! So the other day Lily and I were talking about contentment (and probably our lack of) and we think that Burroughs really should have emphasized the "rare" part of the title. Or, actually, it should be "The Very Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment." Or how about the "Very Unique Jewel of Christan Contentment." It just can't happen...it's so rare, it's very unique. So, that concludes our book club posts until March 10 at 1:00 (and don't count on one then, either because I'll be listening to Dr. McGoldrick on Calvin!!) In any event, go strive after that very unique jewel....it's worth all the striving!

So, a Calvin/conference update: 1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days until the conference and 227 pages of Calvin left to read. Who thinks I'm gonna make it and who thinks the ratio of 48 days to 227 pages is *hopeless*? (and that is the ratio because 227 is a prime number so it can't be reduced.)

Yeah, math is all part of the busyness around here, lately.

The big news of my week is that yesterday I did get registered for the conference...so it's official!!

To close this rambling post, a quote that I read the other day:

John Cotton (a puritan minister in the 1600's) was asked why he stayed up so late reading at night? His answer was:

"Because I love to sweeten my mouth with a bit of Calvin before I go to bed."

I greatly encourage you to try a bit of Calvin. Sweeten your mouth with Calvin on prayer (Institutes, book 3, chapter 20). It will greatly encourage your soul. And Lily, you better not comment and say that you love to read Calvin before you go to bed because it puts you to sleep...it does not and that would completely ruin my point! ;)

But, I do hope you guys are having a great week so far....striving after that very unique jewel of Christian contentment!!

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than all we can ever ask or think, be all the praise, in the church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever~

Sarah for the Novelteatalkers

Conference Countdown

Good Evening,

The Blair crew has been enjoying a few weeks of vacation and tomorrow, it's back to early rising, school, work, laundry, chores, choir, piano, practice, teaching, early bedtimes (I can't wait!!) and all the things that make life around here so spicy. I can't wait until tomorrow.

But, today has had it's perks also. My plans for going to the Greenville Conference are close to be finished and I'll be able to register soon.

I have about 270 pages left to read in the Institutes.

I had a very fun trip to Barnes and Noble this morning with my sis and Mama. I just love getting good books. I got our book club book three books from now :) After Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, The Hidden Art of Homemaking, and Heaven Taken by Storm (which I am totally pumped about), we're hoping to read God's Passion for His Glory with the complete text of Jonathan Edwards's book, The End For Which God Created the World. I can't wait. And we would love it if any and all of our Talk Time readers want to join us in reading it (or any of our book club books). And, I also got another book by Piper, Taste and See. It also looks really good. In a couple minutes, when Mama comes back downstairs I hope to order Calvin's Sermons on Ephesians and Given For You: Reclaiming Calvin's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper. I mean, come on, after I finish the Institutes I have to have something else by Calvin to read, right? Yeah! So, it's been a fun day. How about all of you?

Tomorrow pretty much equals no posts. Between school, chores, work, teaching, choir, piano, prayer meeting, teaching keepers at home, writing a paper, reading, co-op...oh yeah, and finishing Calvin, you can count on no posts from me until Friday afternoon or Saturday. But, Lily said that she'd post her resolution of the year so she's chained to at least doing one post for you this week.

May the Lord bless and keep all of you, and continue to cause His face to shine upon you this year!

Miss Blair

Book Club -- Institutes of the Christian Religion

This morning I finished the third book of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. I made the goal of finishing this book by the end of December and now I'm ready to plunge into the fourth book and try to get it done by the conference: March 10 at 1:00 in the afternoon! I don't know if it's gonna happen...but I'm certainly gonna try. I can't quite now, right?

And, as always, when I finish a book of Calvin I have to give you a "quotable" right? I have been looking forward to the third book since I started the Institutes and it has fulfilled all my expectations. I think my favorite section was Chapter Twenty, on Prayer. It was excellent. So, I wanted to risk Lily's "long post displeasure" and post the entirety of section 2 of that chapter. I do hope it proves a blessing to you today. Now, I'm off to read Calvin...actually, to make a Christmas gift for one of my dearest buddies.....pictures coming soon, Lord willing (after I give it to her, in case she reads the blog before she gets the gift ;).

Have a great day!

In Him Who is Faithful,

Sarah

~

"To prayer, then, are we indebted for penetrating to those riches which are treasured up for us with our heavenly Father. For there is a kind of intercourse between God and men, by which, having entered the upper sanctuary, they appear before Him and appeal to his promises, that when necessity requires they may learn by experiences that what they believed merely on the authority of his word was not in vain. Accordingly, we see that nothing is set before us as an object of expectation from the Lord which we are not enjoined to ask of Him in prayer, so true it is that prayer digs up those treasures which the Gospel of our Lord discovers to the eye of faith. The necessity and utility of this exercise of prayer no words can sufficiently express. Assuredly it is not without cause our heavenly Father declares that our only safety is in calling upon his name, since by it we invoke the presence of his providence to watch over our interests, of his power to sustain us when weak and almost fainting, of his goodness to receive us into favour, though miserably loaded with sin; in fine, call upon him to manifest himself to us in all his perfections. Hence, admirable peace and tranquillity are given to our consciences; for the straits by which we were pressed being laid before the Lord, we rest fully satisfied with the assurance that none of our evils are unknown to him, and that he is both able and willing to make the best provision for us."

Book Club -- Institutes of the Christian Religion

It's not really me pouring the tea because I'm just quoting Calvin! I'm sitting here with my glass of water with no ice and my Institutes of the Christian Religion. It's a cold, bleak, December day around here...perfect for tea...or water with no ice.

In any event, while I was on vacation last week I was reading all about works, and righteousness, and justification by faith alone. So, I wanted to let you guys get a taste of this feast. So, pull up a chair to the tea table, and grab a glass of water with no ice and allow Calvin to pour your tea for you today. He's the head of our conversations this afternoon, on the mercies of the Lord in our daily lives. It's talk time!

"What righteousness then, can men obtain by their works? First, I say, that the best thing which can be produced by them is always tainted and corrupted by the impurity of the flesh, and has, as it were, some mixture of dross in it. Let the holy servant of God, I say, select from the whole course of his life the action which he deems most excellent, and let him ponder it in all its parts; he will doubtless find in it something that savors of the rottenness of the flesh, since our alacrity in well-doing is never what it ought to be, but our course is always retarded by much weakness....We thus see, that even saints cannot perform one work which, if judged on its own merits, is not deserving of condemnation."

"Being admitted to participation in Him, though we are still foolish, He is our Wisdom; though we are still sinners, He is our Righteousness; though we are unclean, He is our purity; though we are weak, unarmed and exposed to Satan, yet ours is the power which has been given Him in heaven and in earth, to bruise Satan under our feet, and burst the gates of Hell; though we still bear about with us a body of death, He is our life; in short, all things of His are ours, we have all things in Him, He nothing in us. On this foundation, I say, we must be built, if we would grow up into a holy temple in the Lord."

"[Righteousness] does not justify because it forms an idea of the divine existence, but because it reclines with confidence on the divine mercy."

"'When we speak of the perfect virtue of the saints, part of this perfection consists in the recognition of our imperfection both in truth and in humility.'" (quoting Augustine)

'Faithful is the Lord, who has made himself our debtor, not by receiving anything from us, but by promising us all things.'" (quoting Augustine)

I could keep going for forever....there are so many more that I would love to share. But, I will save them for another day's tea.

May the Lord bless your Lord's Day tomorrow, as you feast upon the great things He has prepared for you in His day!

Savoring all the Mercies of the Savior,

Miss Blair

Book Club -- Institutes of the Christian Religion

This morning I made it half-way through the Institutes. So of course I had to share it with you!...of course I did! And of course, what would be a book club post when Miss Blair's servin' tea at the tea table without a book club quote...or three?

*note: the Talk Time readers need to read Calvin's Institutes, Book Three, Chapters Six through Ten*

"How powerfully should it soften the bitterness of the cross, to think that the more we are afflicted with adversity, the surer we are made of our fellowship with Christ; by communion with whom our sufferings are not only blessed to us, but tend greatly to the furtherance of our salvation." –Book Three, Chapter Eight, Section One: Of Bearing the Cross–One Branch of Self-Denial

~

"...the cross of Christ then only triumphs in the breasts of believers over the devil and the flesh, sin and sinners, when their eyes are directed to the power of His resurrection." –Book Three, Chapter Nine, Section Six: Of Meditating on the Future Life

~

"The order of justification which it sets before us is this: first, God of His mere gratuitous goodness is pleased to embrace the sinner, in whom He sees nothing that can move Him to mercy but wretchedness, because He sees him altogether naked and destitute of good works. He, therefore, seeks the cause of kindness in Himself, that thus He may affect the sinner by a sense of His goodness, and induce him, in distrust of his own works, to cast himself entirely upon His mercy for salvation." –Book Three, Chapter Eleven, Section Sixteen: Of Justification by Faith. Both the Name and the Reality Defined

Have a great evening and Lord's Day tomorrow...He's preparing a feast for our souls! May He cause us to hunger and thirst after the good things that He has for His children.

With much rejoicing for the great things He has done,

Miss Blair for the Novelteatalkers

Book Club -- Institutes of the Christian Religion

I am continuing on my journey through Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. Some of the best mornings lately, have been those when I wake up and read Calvin: about our faith -- how it falters and it's not perfect and yet the Lord is gracious and He continues to work in us and strengthen us, and produce in us "an eternal weight of glory, far beyond all comparison."

On Saturday night (as I was delighting in my completed to-do list, in my bed (by 7:30!!), reading Calvin, ready for the Lord's day!) I was finishing chapter three of Book Three. He was talking about (by the way, just let me know if this is the most perfect way to end the week, or what?) In any event, He was talking about our sinfulness and how the saints can often become so overwhelmed with how sinful they are...how lacking...how far short of His glory they fall, that they lose sight of the Savior. And then he quoted Bernard~

"Grief for sins is necessary, but must not be perpetual. My advice is to turn back at times from sorrow and the anxious remembrance of your ways, and escape to the plain, to a calm review of the divine mercies. Let us mingle honey with wormwood, that the salubrious bitter may give health when we drink it tempered with a mixture of sweetness: while you think humbly of yourselves, think also of the goodness of the Lord."

Oh, we do not have a book big enough (I'm somewhat paraphrasing Thomas Watson, here) to write all the mercies of God in. As William Langland said, “All the wickedness in this world that man might work or think, Is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal in the sea.”

We must see our sinfulness. We cannot see ourselves in desperate need of a Savior if we do not see how totally wicked are our hearts. But I wanted to brighten up Monday a bit with the reminder to "think also on the goodness of the Lord." For He is good...all His ways are good...He desires to pour out good things on His children and causes all things to work together for the good of His godly ones! "Oh for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise!"

In the Savior's grip,

Sarah

* Salubrious: healthy, or health-giving *

Book Club ~ Institutes of the Christian Religion

It's such a beautiful, autumn day in Charlotte, North Carolina. And I've been thoroughly enjoying it. I've spent the past several hours with Calvin right next to my open bedroom window. The breeze was blowing in and the sun is shining. I had my water bottle full of water with no ice and a pencil to mark "all the best stuff." And now, Book Two of the Institutes is done! It has been wonderful to spend the whole afternoon reading about how completely all-sufficient my Savior is. Basking in the sunlight and the Son of Righteousness!

A very dear friend of mine gave me this analogy: (maybe this is common and I've just never thought about it this way before so bare with me if I'm treading over old ground) but she said that life is like lookin' into a mirror. When we look into a mirror we can see ourselves and we can see whatever's around us. But the less we see of ourselves in the mirror the more we can see what's surrounding us. So, in our lives we want to see less and less of ourselves and all our sinfulness in our mirrors and more and more of our Savior so that He's all we can see...He's all that surrounds us. This afternoon was a wonderful way to start the week: seeing so much less of myself and much much more of the Savior.

And of course, you need a quote from this book of the Institutes, right? Of course you do! I love this quote and it ties in with contentment, also. I hope it proves a blessing to you:

“The happiness promised us in Christ does not consist in outward advantages—such as leading a joyous and peaceful life, having rich possessions, being safe from all harm, and abounding with delights such as the flesh commonly longs after. No, our happiness belongs to the heavenly life.

Christ enriches his people with all things necessary for the eternal salvation of souls and fortifies them with courage to stand unconquerable against all the assaults of spiritual enemies. From this we infer that he rules—inwardly and outwardly—more for our own sake than his.

Thus it is that we may patiently pass through this life with its misery, hunger, cold, contempt, reproaches, and other troubles—content with this one thing: that our King will never leave us destitute, but will provide for our needs until, our warfare ended, we are called to triumph.”

What a wonderful way to begin the work-week: being reminded that all our joy is in the Savior! I hope you are all enjoying your Monday.

Glorifying and enjoying Him forever,

Miss Blair