Book Recommendations/Reviews, Part 1

Welcome and Announcements: A Canaanite Visitor

0:03 The following message was delivered on March 20, 1994, in the adult Sunday school class of the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now, while others are finding their seats, there are several announcements that I wish to make. First of all, to extend a very cordial welcome to those who are visiting among us. I saw at least one gentleman in the downstairs hallway who was very much fixed and the bulletin board, and I did not want to interrupt him, but he may be just one of others who are visiting with us today, and we do cordially welcome you in Christ's name.

0:47 Then we have, as far as I know, for the first time in my 32 years here in North Jersey and in the life of Trinity Church, a visitor of a very different kind of being.

1:04 We have a Canaanite. A Canaanite visitor. Our dear sister, Danielle Robinson, to whom the Lord has given spiritual eyes to behold the glory of Christ and his salvation, has been deprived of her physical sight, and the Lord has been pleased to give her a helper in one of those creatures that we sang about from Psalm 104 this morning. And she sits here this morning with her seeing-eye dog very quietly and very reverently, in his place at her feet, and because this is a first, we do feel a word of instruction is in order.

1:44 These dogs are the extension of their masters, and while sufficiently trained to be assigned to our dear sister, the dog continues to learn in new circumstances and in new relationships, and the way they learn is not by avoiding crowds and coming up the ramp and sneaking in the side, but coming in the front, like the rest of us, but they are not pets, nor are they wild beasts ready to place their fangs into your flesh or the flesh of your children. So you parents and adults, please set the example, and where necessary, give instruction that the dog is harmless, he is Danielle's very special friend, and that he can be admired from afar, but he is not there. He is not there to help you. He is not there to help you. He is not there to have his head stroked and his ears scratched and his throat scratched, and if you have any specific questions, just address them to Danielle, and I'm sure she'll be glad to respond to those questions, and assure your little ones who may have a natural fear of dogs, and especially a larger dog, that this dog is very friendly, and he is God's special helper for Danielle.

3:02 I think that would be a good way to describe it, and we'll see you next time. We trust we'll make a good transition.

Introduction to Book Recommendations: Purpose and Foundational Principles

3:09 Now, just a word about the nature of our class today. There was some very clear suggestion of it in Pastor Dixon's prayer as he became our mouthpiece at the Throne of Grace. Dr. Bob is away ministering in Texas today.

3:25 He would normally be leading our study in the Book of Acts, and with the consent of my fellow elders and the very special assistance of Mr. Davies, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and the Chairman of our Board of Deacons, I'm going to seek today to assist you as individual Christians, and as families, and as witnesses for Christ to the power of the Gospel, by recommending a number of different books. Now, I do this out of the conviction that according to Ephesians 4, and verse 11 and following, God gives pastors and teachers to the church for, the perfecting of the saints unto works of service. And as part of that function of seeking to see you, the people of God, come to greater maturity, that you in turn might fulfill those works of service to which God has called you as individual Christians, as husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and witnesses for Christ. I'm taking this entire, 45 minutes, I'm going to, we got started a little late, but we've been very strict about quitting on time, and I'm going to do my best to do the same this morning.

4:48 Now, by way of just brief background and introduction, I want you to know that everything that I say about the many books that I hope to briefly review in your presence, presupposes the material that I set before you, some time ago, under the heading of the healthy Christian and his reading habits. And if you were not here to receive those lessons in person or live, they are on tape. If a set is not in the tape library, I'm sure we can consign a set or two, so that you may borrow them if you do not wish to purchase them from the Trinity pulpit. And everything that I say this morning about these books, presupposes the content of those studies on the healthy Christian and his reading habits. However, I will only extract two principles and underscore them by way of introduction. The first is that Bible reading is foundational to all other reading, and must have the first place in the reading habits of a Christian. There is absolutely no, no substitute for the direct contact of the Christian's mind and heart with the words of God themselves.

6:15 Jesus prays for his own father sanctify them in the truth by word is truth. And it is in the language of the psalmist as we hide the word of God in our hearts, that we are strengthened, that we should not sin against God. So I'm assuming, that Bible reading is foundational in your life, has and will after my recommendations this morning, continue to have first place in your reading. Secondly, all reading of human authors must be done with this two-fold disposition mandated by scripture.

6:58 Number one, with an appreciation for these authors as gifts of Christ, in first Corinthians 3, 21 and 22. Paul tells the Corinthians that all things are theirs in Christ, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours. And so the various authors who are proven gifts of Christ to his church, they are yours. They are gifts of Christ to you.

7:35 And you ought to have an appreciation for them as the gifts of Christ. And while we say that Bible reading is primary in the life of a Christian, for a person deliberately to refuse to read human authors is the same as a man who refuses to listen to preaching. He is despising the gifts of Christ. So all reading of human authors should be done with the disposition on the one hand, of appreciation for them as gifts of Christ, and on the other hand, with discernment because they are fallible men.

8:16 First Thessalonians 5, 21 says, Prove or put everything to the test. Hold fast that which is good. And what is the test to which we put all human authors? It is the test to which the Bereans put an apostle.

8:34 In Acts 17, 11 it is said of the Bereans that they were more noble than those of Thessalonica in that they received the word with readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Now, have the printed sheets been distributed? If not, will the brethren please distribute them at this time? And in the printed sheets that are now being distributed to you, you will notice that in bold type, there are five major categories under which the various books have been ranged that I will be recommending and briefly reviewing this morning. Devotional, Biography and History, Christian Witness, Family and the Home, and Pastoral. And as we come to each of those categories, I will say a word about the significance of the category before launching into the review itself. And you may feel free, if there is one book as I review it, you say, Ah, I think in a special way that meets my need.

Category 1: Devotional Literature – Definition and Recommendations

9:49 You can put squigglies and underlines and stars. This is your possession. Do with it what you will, except make paper airplanes and throw them in the building. All right?

10:00 We begin then with the first section, the section of devotional literature. Now what do I mean and what do we mean in this congregation when we speak of devotional literature? Well, we do not mean mindless, sentimental, religious trivia that will make you feel good. That's the common understanding, perhaps with a little bit of caricature, in the mind of the average evangelical.

10:30 Devotional literature is literature that does not make you think. It has a lot of religious sentiment calculated to make you feel good and often is filled with trivia, little stories, little anecdotes that give you a nice little warm devotional feeling. Well, when we use the term devotional, we don't mean that at all. We mean rather literature that is aimed to nurture and cultivate the inner life of the believer by enlightening him, by enlightening his mind, sensitizing his conscience and inflaming his affections.

11:11 That's what we mean by devotional literature. Literature that draws from the Word of God in such a way as to bring the truths of Scripture and aim them to the nurture and cultivation of the inner life by enlightening the mind. That's where it all starts. Read the prayers of Paul and you will see that his devotional prayers all focus at the front end with the enlightenment of the mind, but they are concerned that by the enlightenment of the mind there may be a sensitizing of the conscience and an inflaming of the affections. And I've listed a number under that category, the first of which is The Thought of God by Morris Roberts. This book is a collection of the editorials that Pastor Roberts has written in the Banner of Truth magazine and I believe that it is earmarked to be designated a classic with the passing of time. It has about it the penetration of the writings of Tozer, the insights and the heart sentiments of the Puritans, but it's written by a working pastor who was in one congregation up until just a few weeks ago for twenty years

12:41 and yet whose background in teaching the classics has given him a very elegant as well as penetrating reading style. And Mr. Roberts is continually aiming at moving the heart. For example, just the sections or the segments and categories into which his editorials have been placed.

13:06 The first section is called Our Great God. The second, Fellowship with Christ. The third, The Christian's Walk. The fourth, Life Together.

13:18 And finally, The Glory to Come. And to give you a little sampling of how Mr. Roberts can make a statement, that can really be grist for meditation throughout the remainder of the day. On page six he writes, If God be God, then no insoluble problems exist.

13:44 Just think of that. That's fuel for a whole week's meditation. If God be God, then no insoluble problems exist. And if God be my God, then no problem of mine is without its appropriate solution.

14:05 Further, he says, Panic is the sinful failure to apply our knowledge of God to our particular problems. That's what panic is. And you think about it and you say, you know, he's right. You dummy, why do you do that?

14:20 You dummy, why didn't you see that? And again and again as you read Mr. Roberts, you'll find yourself saying that to yourself, at least I find myself saying it to myself. Then in his marvelous essay, O The Depth, from Paul's words of admiration of the greatness and the grandeur of the wisdom of God, he says, It ought to be a rule that when we come to God's house, we do not talk about our ordinary affairs more than is strictly essential and that even our exchange of greetings be made with a respectful hush.

15:01 Our whole attention is to be taken up with the duty of the hour, which is to exercise our souls and voices in giving devout praise to the Almighty and careful audience to his word. One or two more samples quickly. Page 57, he writes, The believer is in spiritual danger. Listen carefully now.

15:26 When am I in spiritual danger? The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of the Savior's presence. When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search for other lovers. Christ, the lover of our hearts, and of our souls.

16:00 That particular chapter. Well, I could multiply such quotes with which God has driven me to repentance, to prayer. His chapter on redeeming the tongue, I commend as worth the whole price of the book in terms of the sanctification of this little member that lies between our two cheeks and between our upper and lower jaws. I do highly recommend it.

16:28 I won't spend as much time on any other book than I have done with this. Second, a method for prayer. This is an updated version of Matthew Henry's classic on the subject of prayer. And it's the kind of book that will be useful to the ordinary believer who wants to gain insights as to how he can structure his prayers so that he does not fall into a carnal rut in his praying, who wants to know what he ought to pray for at given times throughout the day, has some excellent materials for those of us who are called upon to lead in public prayer. And one of the great benefits among many is at the end of each of the chapters, there is a catalog of all of the texts that he has used. On page 113, here are the references in this one chapter. You can see them all printed out.

17:30 And there is a numbering system throughout the chapters so that when he gives counsel to make the thought of one particular attribute of God, the focus of your praise on a given day, he then will list the text to which you can turn that will assist you in that exercise of prayer. If you are struggling with your prayer life and who among us does not, we highly recommend Matthew Henry's A Method for Prayer. Then the third book, From the Preacher's Heart, is a reprint of some of the sermons of Robert Murray McShane. Now, I would especially recommend this not only as devotional material because McShane mastered the art of simplicity. Each of the sermons is only about five minutes pages long in rather large print with a lot of space between the lines. But his homiletical method was as clean as a whistle. And when he is done opening up a text of Scripture, you have no question that he has not only dealt with the Scripture with integrity, but that he has dealt with your own heart and your own conscience.

18:50 For example, the opening sermon preceded by a lovely little biographical sketch by Morris Roberts is based on Proverbs 1, Turn you at my reproof, and after demonstrating that Christ is the Speaker, listen to the three simple headings. The call of the Savior ought to be obeyed by you because of the rich promise with which it is affirmed. Turn at my reproof, I will pour out my Spirit upon you. Secondly, the call of the Savior to turn now ought to be obeyed by us because conversion becomes harder every day.

19:32 Thirdly, the call of the Savior to turn now ought to be obeyed by us because the Savior will not always call. And these sermons will not only be fruitful for personal meditation to stir up the heart in the direction which the text takes the heart, but will be very profitable reading for those of you who have older children and are looking for fresh material for Lord's Day afternoon reading or for a time in your own family worship. You could have each of the teenage kids or preteens read one of the heads and work through the sermons in that way and you will find them a tremendous means of blessing. They have proven their worth over many, many years. Then the next book I just have to refrain myself from launching into a half-hour recommendation, The Sympathy of Christ by Octavius Winslow. And perhaps I can do no better than to read from the preface in which we read every endeavor to bring into more proximate communion the personality of Christ and the individuality of the Christian cannot fail, however imperfectly, the execution to promote the holiest interest of vital Christianity.

21:00 To bring the personality of Christ and the individuality of the Christian into the closest proximity is to promote true and vital Christianity. Listen to the table of contents. He shows in chapter one that sympathy is an element of the very nature of Christ. He builds a whole essay on the sigh of Christ.

21:26 You remember before he opened the ears of that blind or the eyes of the blind or the ears of the deaf, I'm sorry, the ears of that deaf person, he sighed. And in opening up the significance of that sigh, he demonstrates Christ's sympathy with physical infirmity. A chapter on the tears of Christ, the anger of Christ, the silent sympathy of Christ, the love of Christ, Christ's sensitivity to suffering, the sympathy of Christ with Christian joy, Christ's sensitiveness to desertion. Full of insights, the likes of which I have not found in any other book treating the inner life of Christ not from the standpoint of modern psychology that goes to the Bible and imposes its own humanistic category, but from the perspective of the biblical witness. But takes the biblical witness and expounds it and lets it set before us our glorious Lord Jesus Christ in the full range of his human emotions. And remember, it is our confidence that he can identify with us in those emotions that according to the writer to the Hebrews will measure the proportion of our boldness in prayer. We have not a high priest

22:56 who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Let us therefore draw near with boldness. I highly recommend it as the kind of book you can work through a few pages a morning. It may take you months to work through it, but as you do, your Lord will become more precious and your sense of liberty in coming to the throne of grace, to pour out the expressions of your own felt emotional trauma will be greatly increased as a result.

23:30 Then the next book under the heading of devotional is a book that has found great acceptance in the Christian world, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney with a foreword by Dr. J.I. Packer.

23:47 And all I'll do here is read the text and the table of contents to underscore the worth of this book and then give a very what I trust will be needed yet gracious word of caution. The opening chapters deal with the spiritual disciplines for the purpose of godliness indicating that without certain disciplines we cannot grow in godliness. And then in two chapters he deals with Bible intake, then with prayer, worship, evangelism, and the chapter on evangelism as a spiritual discipline is unique. I know of nothing that I've read that approaches the subject in this way that is both realistic and biblical and helpful. A chapter on serving, on stewardship. His chapter on fasting is one of the finest things, if not the finest compilation of biblical teaching on the subject of fasting that I have ever read. I would give a word of caution in the chapter on silence and solitude.

24:57 You might get the impression at several points because of injudicious language that he's speaking of waiting for some inner impression that would be akin to a direct revelation. Mr. Whitney does not believe that. The Bible does speak of meditation, be still and know that I am God.

25:18 But I would offer that word of caution and also the word of caution about journaling. That can be a very dangerous as well as helpful exercise. But apart from those words of caution, I know of one young couple in the church that are working through this together, another engaged couple that are doing the same, and the prophet of this book has been great within the evangelical community. And then the godly man's picture.

25:48 This is a classic work by Thomas Watson. And if you've read Thomas Watson on the Ten Commandments or on the Shorter Catechism, The Body of Divinity, you know that Watson, as Spurgeon described it, cast out pearls by the handfuls. And Watson had the unusual ability to think in word pictures. Rarely could he write a sentence that was Jack ran down the hill.

26:15 Word pictures just leap from his pen as the bubbles leap out of your freshly opened can of 7-Up. You see, it's that kind of thing that he does all the time. Just does it continually. Now I pulled one out with real effort.

26:30 He just picked up his pen and they were somewhere in suspension in the ink and they just flowed out with his pen. And you will find this book most helpful because he answers the question, what does a godly man really look like when you see him according to the Bible? And he opens up that he is a man of knowledge, of faith, fired with love, a man like God, careful about the worship of God, who serves God and not men. He prizes Christ.

27:02 He's a man who weeps, a man who loves the Word. He's a man of humility, a man of prayer, a man of sincerity. And like all of the Puritans, full of Scripture, open up on any given page as I've done here at random, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, about fifteen Scriptures on just the two pages. Everything locked in to the Word of God.

27:26 And so, for someone who really feels the need of a period of intense self-examination, and all of us ought to do that periodically, this would be a very helpful aid. Furthermore, if we're not in a period of self-examination but we want to have balance symmetrical Christian character, I know a few books that will help you more in understanding what comprises balanced symmetrical Christian character. And then the last is a little booklet, Striving After a Good Conscience by Ezekiel Hopkins. You know he must have been a Puritan with a name like that.

28:07 Lived in the 17th century. And one of our brethren has taken this treatise out of the old format and upgraded the format so that it's much more readable. The outline is much clearer. And using Paul's text, Paul's words in Acts 24, 16, Herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense to God and to man.

28:35 He opens up what a good conscience is, how to attain it, and how to maintain it. And may I say very emphatically, if you're a stranger to a jealous concern to have a healthy, biblically instructed good conscience, you are a stranger to practical godliness. There is no maintenance of practical godliness without keeping a biblically instructed tender and good conscience. And I know of no little single work on the subject of conscience more helpful than that of Ezekiel Hopkins.

Category 2: Biography and History – Benefits and Recommendations

29:14 Well, we've got through the first category, the major category, the one that I intended to spend the most time on. And you forgive me if I keep my face on my notes because I realize I have so much to do in a short time. Then we move to biography and history. What are the benefits of biography?

29:33 Well, Philippians 3 and verse 17 is sufficient to underscore the Christian's duty to read biography when he can. Paul said that we are to mark those which so walk as you have us for an example. There is a tremendous power in the example of a consistent, useful Christian life. In biography and history we see doctrine fleshed out in living, pulsing reality.

30:09 We see the diversity of human personality. We see the sovereignty of the ways of God. We could go on naming many more of the benefits of biography and of history. And we've listed four that we desire to highlight at this time.

30:27 The first being a relatively brief biography, the life of John Duncan, better known as Rabbi Duncan, by the man who was his pastor for several decades. John Duncan was a very brilliant man, a very unusual man, a man that we would not say was cut of ordinary cloth, either mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. However, the great concern of Moody Stewart, his pastor, was that a man like that will usually have a handful of anecdotes that accentuate his eccentricities and his quirks. And as they get told over and over again, the man who lives in people's memory is a caricature of the real man. And because he knew the real man in pastoral intimacy for a number of years, while Rabbi Duncan was instructor in the Free Church College and Moody Stewart was his pastor, he has given us a most penetrating insight to this man. And one of the many benefits that you will find in reading this biography that is only a little over 200 pages is that he gives us some of the jewels of Duncan's unusual mental and spiritual discipline. Whenever he took up a subject, Duncan was never satisfied until he penetrated that subject

31:56 as deeply as Scripture and his own mind and the Holy Spirit would take him, had traced it as high as Scripture, his own mind and the Holy Spirit would take him, and then he sought to express that penetrating analysis in a little sententious, catchy saying. For example, the whole question of remaining sin in a believer. He captured the whole essence of the biblical doctrine and Christian experience in this pithy little statement. Quote, Nobody's perfect.

32:34 This is the hypocrite couch. It is the true believer's bed of thorns. Nobody's perfect. Is that your bed of thorns on which you live day by day with pain?

32:56 Then you have reason to believe you're a real Christian. You say nobody's perfect. And that's the couch on which you rest in prayerlessness and carelessness. You're a hypocrite, says John Duncan.

33:09 And I believe he's right. And there are wonderful little statements like that all the way through the book. You'll find it a most fascinating biography. The men in the academy know.

33:20 I've been talking about it for weeks. They've had Duncan up to their ears because I read it recently and found it so helpful. Likewise, the next book that I recommend, The Force of Truth by Thomas Scott, a little banner of truth biography. And this is a most unusual biography because though it is autobiographical, and that is it is written by the author himself, it's divided into three segments, an account of the state of the author's mind and conscience in the early part of his life.

33:55 He was an unconverted man and went into the ministry. And he's very honest about why he went into the ministry. He thought it make a good way for him to be paid while he could pursue his classical studies and become a learned scholar. And he's very honest about what went on in his mind.

34:10 Stages, two is a history of the change which has taken place in the author's sentiment. He tells about his conversion and it's most unusual. It didn't happen in a moment of time. There was a gradual work of God and he says that he believes he was regenerated and came to faith when in his head he still did not have a thoroughly biblical view of the person of Christ.

34:33 He had an Aryan view of Christ. And then the third section, observations on the preceding narrative where he gives us an account of what were the instruments God used to bring him from where he was in the early part of his life, section one, to the point that he came in section two and what God used. And one or two of the great benefits of a biography like this is it underscores the truth of Jesus' words in John chapter three. The ways of the Spirit are like the wind.

35:06 The wind is elusive and you can't contain it. And God's ways with this man were very diverse and it increases your faith that God can get to his people in most unusual circumstances. And it will strengthen your confidence as you pray for unconverted loved ones and friends and relatives and neighbors when you see how God dealt with him in a very, quote, unorthodox, untraditional way. Secondly, it will be a great help to you if you're dealing with people who are struggling with the whole question of the doctrine of the doctrines of grace and the doctrine of election and particular redemption.

35:46 Say, well, there's a man greatly used of God who eventually came to believe these things and he struggled for three to four years. I urge you to read this book and see how he struggled and see what God used at last to settle his mind in these truths. And again, it's not a lengthy biography, 124 pages. I wrote at the end of it when I read it, in February of this year, a most edifying, instructive narrative full of practical directives for true seekers after the truth.

36:20 And that's my final word about the force of truth. Then, Preachers with Power. This is a lovely little biography of four southern preachers. You will soon detect that Douglas Kelly, the author, who is professor of systematic theology at Virginia University, a reformed theological seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, does not write as one who is neutral to the southern cause, to the southern culture.

36:49 He is a southerner through and through. He writes as a southerner, and I give him that leave because he writes, first of all, as a thoroughly Christian man whose heart, as well as whose scholarship and understanding is in the deepest sympathy with the men about whom he writes. And he writes about four men who had true greatness in the southern part of our country spanning the years 1791 to 1902. Daniel Baker, who spent most of his life as a missionary and an itinerant evangelist.

37:28 And then, James Henley Thornwell, who though he is better known in our day as a theologian in the writings, he was above all else in his day considered the prince of preachers. And then, Benjamin Palmer, who in the words of a Jewish rabbi, quote, got the heart as well as the ear of all of New Orleans. Had a tremendous impact upon that city that we now associate with such sin and wickedness. And then, John Girardou or Girardo, he was called the Spurgeon of America and was remarkably used among the blacks of South Carolina.

38:07 This is the man whose influence was so powerful that when the northerners tried to secure the services of some blacks during the Civil War to burn Charleston, South Carolina, they wouldn't do it because they knew that the man of God preached in that building that would be burned and they feared the judgment of God might come upon them. So while National Geographic writes a lovely article recently about the fact that Charleston was spared the ravages of Richmond and other southern cities, you'd never get a hint that it was through the influence of a humble man of God preaching the gospel to the blacks before the days of so-called liberation of the slaves. Very moving biography. Second great benefit is this. You will see some common denominators in all of these men, though their personalities were very different, their formal education, their style of preaching differed, but you will find certain common denominators present in all four of them. Those are the things that are present in any man who can be called a preacher, in any man who is anointed of the Spirit of God to preach with power.

39:19 And so I highly recommend this biography of these four men to you. And then, some of you think I've gone daft and I don't know what to say about this, but I do want to tell you that this is a biography of these four men to you. When I hold up the next book. You can use this one when you don't have some little mini weights with you, you girls use princess weights.

39:45 You can use this one for your deltoid exercises. This is the history of the Reformation in the 16th century. It's a book of close to 900 pages, small print, double column, and you say that's enough to intimidate a man with six PhDs. Ah, but wait a minute.

40:06 It's a book if you've never read Merle Daubigny, the great historian of the Protestant Reformation, don't write off this book as too intimidating. Daubigny had a heart that burned with the holy fire of sympathy for the truths of the Protestant Reformation. He admired as spiritual heroes in the right sense the great instruments of the Reformation in the continent and also in England. And I remember when I first read Daubigny, and I have it in a different edition that is a little bit smaller than this.

40:44 It's four volumes in one. This is five volumes in one. I had to discipline myself to read for only one hour a day because I found I was taking time to read Daubigny's History of the Reformation that should have gone to sermon preparation and other disciplines. It reads with the force of a historical novel.

41:03 It reads with the force of a historical novel in an area that you have a particular interest in. And if we are ignorant of what God did in the Protestant Reformation, we are ignorant of our marvelous heritage. And I figured it out if you were to read just ten pages a week, that's just two pages for five days a week, in less than two years you would have gotten through this. Just pecking away, pecking away, pecking away.

41:31 And that's the way most of us, even as a pastor, that's the way I get most of my reading done. Rarely do I sit down and read for hours and read right through something. It's the pecking away, pecking away, pecking away, absorbing, pecking, absorbing and pecking. And I would heartily recommend that some of you who have never bitten off anything substantial in the area of church history, take the plunge and try it for a few months.

41:57 I'll stick my neck out. If after three months of trying two pages a day, four or five days a week, you find something you just couldn't get into it, I'll buy it back from you. All right? Now I've got all the witnesses.

42:13 I've stuck my neck out. All right? And I assure you we won't use it for exercise. All right.

Category 3: Christian Witness – Definition and Recommendations

42:20 Now, moving on, Christian witness. Now, what do I mean by this category? Well, basically, I'm thinking of Christian witness in two ways that are biblical. Number one, preparation of our own hearts to witness to others.

42:37 Number three in verse 15, we are told to sanctify Christ as Lord, being ready always to give an answer to every man who asks us concerning the hope that is within us. And the books that are recommended here are calculated, some of them, to help you in your own preparation to give a reason of the hope that is in you as you discuss your convictions with others. The second aspect of witness is the actual communication of the gospel to others. And that's what is in focus in a passage such as 1 Peter 2.9.

43:15 Peter says, you are all of these various things to this end that you should show forth or declare the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into marvelous light. Or Philippians 2.15, Paul says that as we become blameless and harmless it is with this end in view that we may hold forth the word of life. So it's in that sense that I speak of these books being helpful in our Christian witness.

43:47 Preparation of our own hearts and then books that we may actually wish to give to others in communication of various aspects of the truth of God. The first that I've listed is The True, the False and the Homosexual by Pastor Sam Waldron of our sister church The issue of homosexuality is ubiquitous. It's everywhere. You can't avoid it.

44:11 You can't stick your head in the sand. The benefit of this particular little booklet is that these articles were originally written for publication in the local Grand Rapids newspaper. So they are written in popular form and the various categories are these. Introductory issues, gay bashing, homophobia, why homosexuality, why dealing with it.

44:37 Chapter two, the biblical teaching. Chapter three, the so-called scientific claims. Is there a physical or genetic basis for homosexuality? Homosexual pseudoscience.

44:50 Chapter four, gay rights. Chapter five, missing facts. Chapter six, ultimate solutions in which the gospel is set forth as God's answer to homosexuality. And because the issue is everywhere and we do not want as the people of God to become experts on deviant behavior, Paul says, I would have you with respect to evil to be children.

45:19 In understanding be men. And there's stuff that is written that just to read it is to defile one's soul. This is not defiling. It is enlightening.

45:29 It is soul strengthening and can greatly help us as we seek by the grace of God in a gracious yet uncompromising way to bear witness to our generation of the evils of this sin of perversion and God's answer to it. So, I highly recommend this little book to you. And then just a brief word, Christian psychology's war against God's word. Whether we're aware of it or not, among the many other, there is, among the many other forces militantly undermining, seeking to undermine the Christian faith, there is a war by modern psychology against the word of God. Things that the Bible calls sins are now called syndromes. The things that Bible calls perversions and wickedness are called psychoses. Well, sin called by any other name is the cross of Christ and the day of judgment make it manifest.

46:38 And so, in order to give you a basic overview of how psychology is warring against the word of God, this particular book will be most helpful in at least making you aware of the terminology, the manifestations, and will, again, be helpful in your witness to others because people in the street are picking up the conversation because it fills the talk shows from morning till night. And many people, by the millions, are being taken in by this nonsense. So if you don't have a basic awareness, this will go far in fulfilling 1 Peter 3.15, enabling you to give a reason of the hope that is in you.

47:23 Then very quickly, the final word. This is the finest book that I've read on the whole subject of tongues and of prophecy by a godly man, a true scholar, one of the most competent Hebraists in reformed and evangelical circles, and a personal friend, Dr. O. Palmer Robertson.

47:48 And the title is the final word of biblical response to the case for tongues and prophecy today. And while he has a gracious, ironic spirit, he's not blasting away in a nasty way. He's absolutely uncompromising on the fact that scripture does not allow us to think of prophecy as anything other than direct revelation from God. And on the issue is there continuing revelation before the second coming, the position that is set forth very convincingly from the word of God by Dr. Robertson is no. And, lest any think, well then we're in an inferior position. But, in the time when they had living prophets, his conclusion is a most encouraging chapter in which he seeks to set forth why we are of all people most blessed to have a complete canon of scripture rather than to be dependent upon living prophets. Highly recommended.

48:54 It is not technical. Anyone who can read the newspaper with intelligence can read and absorb the time and pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit. And then a book that I personally believe is the most powerful and most needful book that Dr. John MacArthur has produced, Ashamed of the Gospel When the Church Becomes Like the World.

49:22 This book is calculated to expose the whole concept of marketing the church, making our message and methods are friendly according to the world's standards. And what makes it unique, we've highlighted another book by a Mr. Webster on selling Jesus, but what makes this book unique is that Dr. MacArthur obviously at the time of writing this book had been doing a lot of reading in Spurgeon, particularly the so-called downgrade controversy.

49:57 That was liberalism coming in toward the end of the 19th century. He wrote a quote from Spurgeon, he shows the parallels. In Spurgeon's day, men were rounding off the corners of truth with a view to making the gospel more acceptable. Doctrines like hell and doctrines like election were said to be unnecessary.

50:25 You may believe them, but keep them under the carpet, keep them in the closet. The thesis is that the same thing is going on in our day, but a little different twist. Instead of touching the doctrines of the gospel, it's the methods by which we'll promote it. But he said the end will be the same.

50:47 The men in Spurgeon's day who were evangelicals and said we just want to give our message more acceptance became the fathers and the grandfathers of full-blown liberalism. And it's what will follow on the heels of the present church marketing concept. It will lead us into full-blown liberalism. And I say especially to the young men and women of this church, take the time to get your nose out of the television set and absorb this book.

Conclusion and Prayer

51:18 If you want your kids to have something worthwhile attending in this place should the Lord tarry and you and your children be here I beg you to get that book and to read it. Well our time has gone it is ten thirty and I'm a man under authority. We'll go this far and God willing at another occasion we'll pick up and finish and perhaps supplement further if you have any questions that you want to ask me personally Mr. Davies would be glad to answer but our time has gone so we must stop at this point pray and ask the Lord's blessing on the things we've considered together. Let's pray. Our Father we are so thankful that you have furnished us with so many helps to our faith as we have spoken of these things today in the presence of our brother Arif and think of your people in Pakistan who could put into one box with room to spare any books of any significant help in any of these areas. Our hearts are filled on the one hand with gratitude for your great goodness to us in the English speaking world and on the other Lord with a sense of indebtedness

52:47 knowing that to whom much is given of him shall much be required and we therefore pray that you would help us to become more avid careful reflective of our faith and that we may become more established in our love to Christ and in true devotional attachment to Christ that we may become by your grace furnished with that quality control that comes from history and biography and that we may be better equipped to be witnesses of the truth as we sanctify Christ as Lord ready to give an answer of the hope God can see in our lives and hope He must find and then bring His Son in руж

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