Meditation: Functions

Review of the Discipline of Private Means of Grace

0:03 We've shared together in the past weeks, we've come to the conviction that such disciplines of private prayer and meditation upon the Word of God are necessary disciplines, and that the conscience of every Christian is bound by the Word of God, or ought to be bound by the Word of God, to the engagement in some degree of regularity in the disciplines of secret prayer and the private reading and meditation upon the Word of God. And then in the second place, we have gleaned some principles that should guide us with reference to the time allocated for such disciplines, the measure of that time and the precise location of that time. And then thirdly, we have seen and come to the conclusion that the three basic ingredients of these times alone with God are... The preparation of the heart and mind, the assimilation of the Word, and the engagement of God in the various forms of biblical prayer.

1:08 We are now engaged in a discussion of the general question, how should the Word of God be read? Having dealt with principles to help us in preparation, we are now dealing with the second major ingredient of this discipline of the private means of grace, namely the reading of the Word. Thus far, we have concluded...

1:28 That the Word should be read systematically, secondly, dependently, that is, with conscious reliance upon the Holy Spirit, and thirdly, it should be read actively, that is, with an inquisitive mind, seeking to catch the cred of thought, seeking to break open the passage with such questions as, what does it reveal about my God, about His promises, about His ways, His faithfulness? What does it say about my sin? My duty, my privileges, and these many other questions. And then, finally, we have seen in the fourth place, the Word is to be read not only systematically, dependently, actively, but meditatively.

Defining Biblical Meditation

2:12 And thus far in this field of meditation, we've established the duty from Scripture, primarily Joshua 1 and Psalm 1, but we looked last week at other passages which form a broad biblical basis for the duty of meditation. Colossians 3 says, 16, Luke 9, 44, and 5 or 6 key passages in the 119th Psalm. Having established the duty of meditation, we then tried to come up with a working definition of meditation. And you gave many suggestions, and then I suggested that perhaps the most helpful definition, at least the most helpful that I've encountered, or most helpful ones that I've encountered, are the two that I gave you.

2:54 I shall simply read them by way of review. Meditation is that exercise of religion whereby the mind is applied to the solemn contemplation of revealed realities for practical uses and purposes. The second definition, meditation is that exercise of the mind whereby it recalls a known truth as some kinds of creatures do their food to be ruminated upon until the nutritious parts are extracted and fitted. For the purposes of life.

3:30 Then the session turned into a rather extended analogy of the cow who burps up from stomach number one into her cud, the food, and that analogy was carried through in much of our discussion. But you'll notice that the common denominators in these two definitions, and in all of the definitions that you suggested, or parts of definitions, are these. Meditation, by way of definition, is a conscious, volitional mental activity. Daydreaming is not.

4:01 Daydreaming is an unconscious, non-volitional type of activity. Your mind's just running hither and yonder. Meditation is a conscious, volitional. That is, it involves the activity of the will, the setting of yourself, to engage your mind.

4:19 So by definition, and this is the common denominator of these two definitions, or any other valid definition of meditation, conscious, volitional. Mental activity is its essence. Now what is its object or its subject matter? It is always to be revealed truth.

4:38 Notice in these two definitions, meditation is that exercise of religion whereby the mind is applied to the solemn contemplation of revealed realities. Or, meditation is an exercise whereby we recall a known truth. We must emphasize that. That the object, or the subject matter of meditation, is to be that which is revealed.

5:06 Let me read a choice quote from Antony on this subject of meditation, and why it must always have as its object the word of God.

5:17 See if I've got the right volume. I'm at page 272. Yes. It is dangerous to meditate and not to read the word of God as the basis of that meditation, or to hear the word of God.

5:30 Because, because of errors, man will soon impose a deceit upon himself by his own thoughts. Fanatic spirits that neglect hearing and reading of the word of God pretend to dreams and revelations. We have a sophister and a heretic in our own bosoms.

5:52 We have a sophister, that is, one who pretends wisdom, but who has no true wisdom, and we have a heretic where? In our own bosoms. You have a house heretic. Yes, all of us do.

6:05 Which soon deceives without a stock and treasure of some knowledge. For men would be vain in their imaginations were their thoughts not corrected by an external light and instruction. Jude calls these fanatic persons filthy dreamers. Jude 8.

6:24 All practical errors are men's natural imaginations gotten up into a valuable opinion. That's a classic statement. All practical errors are men's natural imaginations gotten up into a valuable opinion. In other words, when men err from the truth, particularly with reference to practical godliness, it's because they've entertained notions that have their roots in their own remaining corruption, and they have given those corrupt thoughts some semblance of wisdom and respectability.

7:02 And the only corrective for this is to make sure that our meditation has as its constant object the word of God. Now granted, as we saw in an earlier study, there is a general meditation. When an eye consider the heavens, the work of thy hands, there is a reflection, a thoughtful contemplation of the created world about us. But even in reading and meditating upon the book of nature, your meditations are only valid as they are framed by the revealed word of God.

7:38 For men have looked at the heavens and the earth and come up with some strange conclusions, because they have not interpreted that external world in the light of what God has said about it. And so, by way of definition, then, meditation is conscious, volitional mental activity, its essence. Its subject matter is revealed truth. And its end is always prerogative.

8:02 Practical godliness. And we must never forget that. All of these definitions bring that together. It is contemplation of revealed realities for practical uses and purposes.

8:15 Or the other definition that Manson gives, we are extracting the nutritious parts for what purpose? For the purposes of life. We are not dealing now with the kind of meditation that the theologian may engage in, in order to come to God. We may come to a clearer, a more perceptive, a more definitive understanding of some objective aspect of God's truth, but the meditation that we are talking about, that is set before us in Joshua 1 and Psalm 1 and Psalm 119, has as its end the exercises of practical godliness.

The Object and End of Meditation: Revealed Truth and Practical Godliness

8:55 God said to Joshua, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night to the end. And the law shall not depart out of thy mouth. What end? For so shall thou observe to do.

9:06 That is the end of it. That thou mayest observe to do all that I have shown you. For what purpose? That thou shall make thy way prosperous and have good success.

9:17 Psalm 1. The blessed man is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the stalkers, that is, he is engaged in a walk of practical godliness. And the roots of that godliness shall not be seen. Psalm 1.

9:31 Psalm 2. Psalm 3. Psalm 4. walk are his acts of meditation in the law of God day and night. And so we must emphasize this, that the end in view with the kind of meditation we are talking about is godliness. All right, having established the duty and having gained what I trust is a general notion of what meditation is by way of definition, before we proceed to the next question, and this finishes our review, are there any questions you want to raise at this point? Yes, Ralph?

Distinguishing Christian Meditation from Secular Practices

10:32 Yeah. Well, you'll remember last week we established that meditation in a general sense is not a purely Christian phenomenon, that the fixing of the mind consciously and deliberately upon certain things, or taking the mind away from everything and just trying to shift it into a broad neutral, is a purely human activity. And as a creature fearfully enlightened, we can't do that. We can't do that. We can't do that. We can't do that.

11:03 One of the ways that we can take some of the current, redirect some of the current that's flowing over our emotional life and causing all our juices to flow and all the rest, is to engage in some form of meditation that redirects that current or shuts down the measure of that current. And that may have very wonderful therapeutic effect upon people, but that has nothing to do with what we're talking about. That meditation, which is an instrument in the hands of the Holy Spirit for the sanctification of the believer. Well, it's valid in terms of its therapeutic effect, the same way the healing that many people get through Christian science is valid healing. But it's not Christian.

11:46 It's purely a human phenomenon. Most doctors will tell you that the great percentage, as far as they can assess things like this, of people's illnesses are psychosomatic. In other words, there is a direct relationship between the psyche, the soul, the non-material, and the aches and pains. And that's what we're talking about. And that's what we're talking about. We're talking about the pain that they have somewhere. Well, if you can get the non-material straightened out, the other will reorder itself. And I don't think we need to say that there was actually a supernatural activity of demonic deception in some of the Christian science healings. No, people just began to think positively and they got better. There are people who get very, very much help from reading The Power of Positive Thinking. They're really helped psychologically and emotionally. But they're going to hell just the same. They're just going to hell happier.

12:34 More peaceful. But that is not Christian psychotherapy, if we may use the term. You see? Because what is Christian will have its roots in that which is exclusively, not should say exclusively, but that which has its distinct reference or its distinct starting point and its source of supply, the virtue that is in Jesus Christ and is communicated by the Spirit in terms of biblical norms. But you see, she's talking about something that's not Christian.

13:05 It's completely in a different ballpark. Now, granted, she's received help from it. But now what you need to ask her is, what is the nature of that help? Is it bringing you to the place where you can contemplate death and judgment and the world to come with confidence, even when you take seriously what the Bible says about God and your sin? Now I hope you begin to disturb her meditation, see, and begin to enlighten her conscience with the word of truth. All right? All right, any further questions now, as before we move on? On to the next development of our thought. Having defined meditation, having tried to lay out the duty of meditation and some of the key elements involved in meditation. All right, the question that I throw out this morning is this, and we just made a suggestion last week as time ran out, that this is what we would be doing. What is the precise function of meditation? Or, to rephrase the question, how does meditation contribute to the nurture of the Lord Jesus Christ? What is the precise function of meditation? Or, to rephrase the

The Question: What is the Precise Function of Meditation?

14:08 question, how does meditation contribute to the nurture of the Lord Jesus Christ? What is the precise function of meditation? Or, to rephrase the question, how does meditation contribute to the nurture of the Lord Jesus Christ? What is the precise function of meditation?

14:11 Or, to rephrase the question, how does meditation contribute to the nurture of the Lord Jesus Christ? What is the precise function of meditation? Or, to rephrase the question, how does meditation contribute to the nurture of the Lord Jesus Christ? What is the precise function of meditation?

14:14 What is the precise function of meditation? Or, to rephrase the question, how does meditation contribute to the nurture of the Lord Jesus Christ? What is the precise function of meditation? Or, to rephrase the question, how does meditation contribute to the nurture of the Lord Jesus Christ?

14:17 What is the precise function of meditation? Or, to rephrase the question, how does meditation exercise toward the word of truth with a very practical end, the conformity of life and heart to the revealed will of God. Now, that being so, precisely how does meditation work? What happens when a person engages in conscious volitional mental activity upon some concept of the word of God with a view to having it work into his life? Precisely what happens in the act of meditation when it is blessed of the Spirit of God? That's the question and it's yours. All right? I think the order of hands was Mrs., Pete, and then up to Jim.

Function 1: Bringing Circumstances into Proper Spiritual Focus

15:03 All right?

15:11 Where my needs are in the word of God and my relationship and where I am, I can see things that I ought to see. I think I'm interpreting what you're saying, dear.

15:41 That's what my wife said. That's what my wife said. That's what my wife has just said.

15:45 You don't believe it? Ask her.

15:50 Seriously now, she said, we're looking at a situation. The ingredients of that situation may be God, myself, my particular present circumstances,

16:05 and how those things are related. I know God is my father, I am his child, but maybe my circumstances are ones that on the other hand, I'm not going to be a loving father if he arranged my life to include this thing or this set of things. And so the whole thing of how this all fits together is fuzzy, it's hazy. And what Mrs. Martin is saying is that in the act of meditation, everything comes into sharp focus and I'm able to see that this is a tree with component parts and I'm able to say, well, this is the trunk and these are the branches and these are the leaves or the foliage. I'm able to say, yes, God is my father. Though I don't understand what this is, one thing I do know, and I meditate upon those aspects of the word of God which say, like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth those that fear him. He knoweth our frame.

17:01 He remembereth that we are but dust. He will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. As far as the east is from the west, we meditate upon those aspects of the gracious, good character of God, our Heavenly Father. Then, we reflect upon who we are.

17:20 I'm his child. Well, if I'm his child, he's determined that the family likeness is going to be evident to all. Therefore, whom the Father loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receiveth. Why are these circumstances impinging upon me?

17:37 Perhaps they are his chastening hand. As I meditate and reflect and remember, this is precisely what the writer to Hebrews says the Hebrews were not doing. You turn to Hebrews chapter 12, and he chides them because in their present set of circumstances they did not meditate. You say, come off it, Pastor.

17:59 That's a little over, a bit of an overstatement, isn't it? No. No. Hebrews chapter 12.

18:09 They're getting weary in the conflict, the opposition that has come since they've identified themselves with the people of God. And he says, for consider him.

18:21 Fix your mind. Fix your mind upon the one who's the author and the finisher of your faith. For consider him that endured such gainsaying of sinners against himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls. He said, your present circumstances are going to cause you to faint unless you meditate upon the Son of God.

18:42 Specifically, the Son of God in the face of suffering and opposition. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Now look at verse 5. And ye have forgotten the exhortation.

18:55 You have not brought it into present recall. That exhortation that says God is dealing with you as sons and daughters and if so, he's going to chastise you. Here's a classic example of how meditation is the divinely appointed means to take circumstances that are fuzzy in relationship to God and myself and the things about me and to bring them into sharpness. You see, I'm like a Christian scientist who says, you know, I've got a big lump three inches high on my knee and it's black and blue, it isn't there, it isn't there, it isn't there, that's an illusion.

19:39 Woo, my illusion's gone, you know, I feel better. And he's still got a big lump on his knee, you know. We're not doing that. You see, we are looking at hard-nosed realities, but that's our problem.

19:50 We need to look at them with 2015 vision. Whereas we've been looking at them with what I have in this eye without the glasses, I think the doctor told me last time is 2050 vision. We need to put on the glasses, you see, to look at them all right. So this is the first or one of the great functions of meditation is that it helps us to get our circumstances, and when I use that, I'm not excluding God.

20:15 God is a living part of those circumstances into proper focus so that we see them as they are. Can you think of a classic? A classic example of this in the Old Testament is one of the psalms. Everything was fuzzy and out of focus, and it made no sense.

20:35 Psalm 73, what was the collection of circumstances, if you don't know from memory, look at it. Psalm 73. I want somebody to tell me in a sentence or two what was the problem. Louise?

21:04 What kind of death did they have? Did they die of long, excruciating death of annoying cancer? No, they just had a nice, easy death. Everything was going fine.

21:15 It just didn't make sense, and it completely disrupted his spiritual equilibrium until he did what? He said, I went into the sanctuary of God, and I, what's the next word? I considered. I considered.

21:32 I considered. I gave contemplative focus to their latter end. Then he said everything began to come into its true and proper focus. I may not have their wealth.

21:46 I may not have their ease. But I have the pledged presence of the living God who said he'll guide me with his counsel when it's all over, receive me to glory. Hallelujah. See?

21:56 That's it. Not a thing changed except his vision. Not a thing changed except his vision. And it was by meditation.

22:03 It was by biblical contemplation that he came from this to this. All right? Someone else have a hand raised in the midst of that? I didn't call any because I didn't want to break the train of thought.

22:14 All right. This is then one of the great functions of meditation. It is the divinely appointed means to assist us in bringing our circumstances into proper focus. All right?

Function 2: Gaining Understanding and Furnishing the Heart with Truth

22:28 What are some of the other functions? How does meditation work as a means of grace under the blessing of God? Yes, these two had their hands raised, and then we'll come over to you, Priscilla. Yes, Pete?

22:36 In Proverbs, Chapter 2, he says, My son, if thou wilt receive my words and lay up my commandments with thee, so as to incline thy heart to me. So as to incline thy ear unto wisdom and apply thy heart to understanding. Yea, if thou cry after discernment and listen to thy voice for understanding. If thou seek her as silver and search for her as for hid treasures.

22:59 Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah. All right. So putting that in your own words, Pete, what does that tell us about the function of meditation? You'll understand God.

23:10 You're looking for some understanding. Yes, sir. I'm looking for some understanding. maybe for your own problems or maybe in scripture and you understand that God that he gives wisdom alright so then we could say that meditation becomes instrumental in taking what is objectively true there and making it clear to our own minds as we have the word of God in our hands it's a general assistance to general understanding of God and his ways alright yes Jim alright so you're saying that in meditation the word of God gains a more conscious hold upon us is that what you're saying I don't want to put words in your mouth alright very good alright Priscilla Jesus said that the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and these come from evil thoughts and at that time he was talking about

24:32 the negative things that come from a man's heart it seems like what we treasure in our heart and what we fix our heart upon is what proceeds out of it into our actions so that if our minds are concentrating on the righteousness of God and our duties as a Christian well then how do we and our motives because of the love of Christ well out of these motives and our hearts being fixed on these things our actions will become good alright didn't Jesus state that in another place a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things and you have that beautifully stated in Proverbs 4.23 guard thy heart above all that thou guardest for out of it are the issues of life so we're saying then and this fits in with in general with these other things that have been suggested first function and the order here is not important but one function is that of bringing things into proper spiritual focus another is in storing up the heart with proper treasure it's in meditation that the gold of God's truth that is scattered is gathered and stored if thou wilt lay up my words within thee that emphasis comes through again and again in the Proverbs my son and I on Saturday mornings go through the book of Proverbs together and we're on our third time through

26:02 and we were struck with that again in chapter 4 this past Saturday morning about the laying up the storing up the guarding and it's in meditation in great measure that this happens so there is the furnishing of the heart the seed of what I am with fresh treasure because out of the heart are the issues of life what holds the heart will mold the life and the good man out of the good treasure of the heart well you see it's in meditation that the treasure is actually put into the safe deposit box if we may use that analogy alright what is another function of meditation how does it operate to our sanctification under the blessing of the spirit of God Rowe we recognize that we are distraught on one hand and it's all the slander and the castling of despair many times we

Function 3: Transformation into Christ's Image and Spiritual Conditioning

27:02 act irrationally close in making judgments and decisions that affect our lives and also in responding to other people Christian, Japanese, and all my relationships with our neighbors and friends and all I've discovered in my own life that unless I am consciously thinking and studying about the various aspects of scripture that I'll get into dispositing or despair and act all crazy irrationally and too busy mm-hmm any time God has awakened me in the night or something has awakened me and I can't sleep anymore the words of God have been in prayer but just laying there tossing over faking these problems and so on I take the word of God and without fail he points me to himself and perhaps what he's doing or what I should do and calms me down to say that mm-hmm so that I can then fulfill my Christian duties with teaching and it says how to keep the spirit of God that is present in the mind and stayed on me and all the patience and the faith and all that yes good now there's a thread of thought there that maybe others will add to so I'll hold off articulating it in terms of a principle here we had someone in the back Ellie and then up here all right

28:32 who was it that raised a hand back there just a little bit ago Gordon some sense of faith he said that we all with unbilled faith and rolling in the mirror of the glory of the Lord are changed into the same in the glory of the Lord even if by the grace of God and the spirit of the Lord so I think it's sort of a progressive kind of thing here as we behold the glory of the Lord and we are transformed as we more or less behold not just simply you know see it or something but I think as we apprehend it and appropriate it we are transformed in glory of the Lord all right when Jesus Christ in the glory of his person is the specific object of our meditation Paul is stating here that there's a wonderful metamorphosis a wonderful metamorphosis a wonderful transformation that goes on we become like that which we behold and that's one of the most you know illustrated things in human behavior I can remember as a kid where I lived in the street in Stamford, Connecticut looking if you were in a helicopter looking down on that street Soundview Avenue in Stamford, Connecticut the last 150 yards our house was on the corner here the last 150 yards you could see from the front yard and then you could see because the road bent you couldn't and I remember many times as a boy about the time my dad would be walking home from work this was during that wartime period and we had no car and dad would walk home about quarter after five or so if I was anywhere around here

30:00 I always looked and nothing pleased me more than to see my dad come around that corner walking and my dad had a funny way of throwing out his right foot a little bit when he walked and you know I used to find myself sometimes people would point it out to me almost unconsciously and I would say as a little boy becoming like that upon which I fixed my gaze with loving adoration and that's what the apostle is saying here in 2 Corinthians 3 but we all with open face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord Christ revealed in the scriptures are transformed into that same image one of the holy fruits of meditation is that it provides this channel for the transformation ministry of the Holy Spirit that's what makes it so sacred that in the engagement of contemplation upon Christ not in the sense of the Roman Catholic or the mystic who conjures up a Christ who's still upon a no no we're not talking about that at all as he's mirrored in the word this is the object the subject matter of meditation we behold him in the gospel records and we think upon that which we see there is this work going on in our hearts beneath the light in the level of our consciousness many times it comes consciously when what we see is there's such a discrepancy between what we are it drives us to confession or prayer but even unconsciously we become like that

31:29 upon which we fix our gaze Ellie and then we'll move over here no yes yes I think what you're saying is that meditation here we are in our circumstances meditation enables us to see with something bigger and grander and broader than our own little cotton picking problem isn't that what you're saying yeah because what happens is we get surrounded by these things and we think the whole world begins and ends with me and mine and then we need to realize you know the inhabitants of the earth are grasshoppers Lord I'm one grasshopper amongst a swarm you've got something bigger right yeah that's a very good point very good point that meditation becomes a means by which we are enabled to take the present and that's part of this because seeing our circumstances improperly our perspective means that we see them in something bigger than just what it's doing to me me and mine and I we begin to see the broad purposes of God to bring glory to himself and to his son and his purposes for his church

32:58 and the world etc. alright Mr. Brown I remember when we were in the when I was in the service we used to kind of a concept we employed training and I mentioned the thought was that you perform in the situation on the battlefield that you were trained to perform before that time and you wouldn't do anything other you'd do as you were trained and you were trained to go and you could perform and it's always been proven out and find this understanding of meditation and try to use that concept that comes to mind the vast majority of our activities during the day are quote unpremeditated as we drive we're faced always with changing conditions or inhuman relations and so on we're very seldom really consciously thinking about the words I'm going to say or my immediate activity right now and it's only as we've been meditating and being conformed in the subconscious level to Christ that we'll find these unpremeditated behaviors being conformed to his behaviors the situations on the road where we drive will become more of the person who responds graciously to being treated harshly or responds kindly and extends kindness and all these things will affect and they'll be not the kind of you know I think I'm going to be gracious now so I'll let that person ahead of me but it'll become quote second nature and that really is the fruit of meditation it's the fruit of that inner conforming bringing every thought into the captivity of Christ and casting down the vain imaginations and making the inner man conform so that the outward man naturally conforms to it did y'all hear what Mr. Brown

34:27 was saying this is a very valid thing and that's why frankly I don't like the concept of moment by moment I think the Bible has a doctrine of day by day give us this day our daily bread lead us not into temptation now granted we need to learn the discipline of ejaculatory prayer pray without ceasing I'm not denying that but it's not a realistic view of life to say that moment by moment through the day I'm consciously self-conscious of my relationship to the Lord in the sense that I'm saying Lord what precept for this you know I mean you just can't live I mean if you're looking at the recipe that says two and a half cups of flour and a pinch of this and the rest I mean you better keep your mind in your recipe or I don't want to accept your invitation to come to God I mean and if you're learning the inseparable prepositions you better know when it loses the shawan when it turns to a heretic and all the rest and you better keep your mind on that hard as that may be you better do it you see this is essential so that the point Mr. Brown is making is that it's in meditation and we come back to the principle that Priscilla mentioned and several others have suggested that the heart is stored up with the necessary furnishings to face those realities and this is a very vital point alright yes Louise

35:52 alright could we call this the immunizing power of meditation every fall Mrs. Martin and I go to our family doctor and we get what our good British friends would call a puncture or a jab we call it a shot here I think puncture or jab is a little better when you think of somebody getting shot that's kind of devastating but we get a puncture and it's our flu shot and what we're hoping is that the body will be immunized against the flu strains that they anticipate will be floating around the air in the coming months now this is one of the functions of meditation there is an immunizing effect as the mind is brought to a fresh awareness of biblical categories and biblical values then when we face non-biblical categories of thought non-biblical and oft times anti-biblical categories we are not left as it were unarmed and susceptible but this immunizing work has gone on so that we're able to say no no no no that's not the spirit of the kingdom into which I have been called that's the spirit

37:20 of this world system alright very good point Ralph situation people coming into the shop to do that salesman making decisions and I often used to say well I won't do it unless I can pray about it you know and uh sometimes there's no time to pray and uh it's just focusing the meditation will bring like Mel said the automatic reaction of that which you had yes that's a very good point it becomes the storehouse of the heart and the mind and the emotions and what we would call our spiritual reflexes it's that conditioning it's spiritual conditioning is what it is yeah yes yeah I mean if it's a major thing that involves you know where you may need counsel and reflection granted but in many of those smaller things yes well couldn't we try to bring some of this into a into focus and let me suggest several things that I have here and all of these have been good and there's no particular significance in the way I've laid them out here but since I am the teacher of the class I have a responsibility

Function 4: Riveting Truth and Experiencing its Heat and Light

38:48 to try to reduce some of these things to some specific statements and I will suggest that the function of meditation the precise function of meditation when it is blessed with the spirit of God and I keep emphasizing that no means of grace will convey grace unless the God of grace in grace uses it there's no magical formula here so in dependence upon the spirit of God and under his blessing what does meditation actually do well in the first place it rivets the truth to the mind and spirit of the Christian here's the Christian the truth is there in its objectivity it passes before him in his reading what is the function of meditation the function of meditation is to take that facet of truth upon which the believer is meditating and to rivet it to his mind and to his spirit so that his mind and spirit act in the light of the truth that is thus riveted you see and that's what many of you have been saying it takes the thing that is there in the abstract and it rivets it with its therapeutic I'm sorry with its with its what's the term with its immunizing power so that when the world comes in flirts the truth thus riveted to the heart and spirit says no

40:17 that is not the counsel of my heavenly father when there are suggestions contrary to biblical norms the truth there is in its sanctifying presence wherewith all shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word thy word have I laid up in my heart now how do you lay it up you lay it up by meditation and meditation is even more important than precise memorization now that would get me in trouble if there's any navigator leaders here they'll shoot me down but you can memorize without meditation but if you're serious about meditation you won't go far without memorization see you can have one without the other but generally you can't have the other without both you can't have the second without both but if our goal is meditation memorization then will follow as a natural flow out of that but if your goal is simply memorization you can be moved by a thousand and one different motives of pride and the idea of some magical power of just storing up X number of verses no the goal is meditation and memorization simply as a means to that end but keep that end in view it is the furnishing of the heart the riveting of the truth to the heart alright the second thing that meditation actually does is this it causes the spirit that is the spirit of the Christian to feel the heat and light of the truth

41:46 of God and as I was meditating on meditation the illustration came to me of the difference between some light passing through an ordinary pane of glass and some light passing through a magnifying glass now what happens when the rays of the sun pass through an ordinary pane of glass well they are simply diffused in the same direction as when they were this side of the glass and they illuminate and warm whatever is here be it your bald head be it the back of your hand whatever it be now what happens when the same rays of the same sun pass through a magnifying glass what happens to them they are all brought to converge upon one point and they bring intense heat and intense light that used to amaze me as a kid that in the fall we'd get a magnifying glass and there are no kids here are there no and try to start a fire in the rain and I can remember being temporarily blinded seeing spots like after someone's shot off a flash bulb after just looking at that intense light on a leaf now it didn't add anything to the rays of the sun it just focused them all upon one place to produce intense light and heat now that's what meditation does if we

43:15 simply allow the rays of whatever truth we are reading to pass through the mind it will distill a general light and heat for the words of God are life they are spirit and they are life and this is a whole area where I'm presently wrestling and I don't have the light that I want from God and when Jesus said the words that I speak they are spirit and they are life I'm a little bit reluctant to say as perhaps I said at one time that we can talk simply about the dead letter of scripture is scripture ever dead letter now the law is called the letter that killeth but I'm not quite so sure we can say that of the truth of the gospel but anyway that's something I'm wrestling with and I don't want to bother you with that but this much is clear that it's light and heat is only general light and heat until by meditation all the rays of that are brought to converge upon specific points in our experience for instance here you're reading in psalm 103 because I've quoted from that I'll make reference to it like as a father pitieth his children the Lord pitieth them that fear him he knoweth our frame he remembereth that we are dust and he say that's lovely God remembers me God knows me and there is the general light and heat of that passage of God's truth

44:43 however as you meditate and you think upon a present circumstance which seems utterly unbearable maybe it's a trial in relationship to another person maybe a physical necessity maybe a financial pressure it could be any number of things and you begin to allow that truth that the father knows our frame that he is conscious of what we can bear and you meditate upon that in relationship to your present situation what happens the light and the heat of that general truth converges upon your present situation until it burns and it drives you to your knees to say oh God forgive me that I question your wisdom forgive me that I question your love forgive me that I've acted like you were some tyrant distant father who was not sensitive to the needs of his children what's happened all the lines of that truth have converged upon your present situation and there has been light and there has been heat in its illuminating and purifying power so then I have stated it this way because that helped me and let's look at a very clear biblical example of this Psalm 39 Psalm 39 and verse 3

46:06 let me start with verse 1 I said I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue that's a good thing to say to ourselves every day let every man be swift to hear slow to speak but now the circumstances in which the psalmist said it were very peculiar ones I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me I was dumb with silence and held my peace even from good and my sorrow was stirred my heart was hot within me while I was musing and the word here comes from the same root as the word used in Psalm 1 Joshua 1 the word for meditation while I was musing the fire burned then spake I with my tongue and out of his musing comes this prayer with respect to his desire to know the brevity and the vanity of life but the principle is illustrated very clearly it was while he was musing that the magnifying glass did its work the fire burned and therefore it's as we use upon God's truth that we will experience this aspect of the effect of God's word upon us then the third thing that meditation does in its actual

Function 5: Seeing Interrelatedness and Exposing Discrepancies

47:35 function is it gives time to reflect on the relationship of one truth to another truth it's in meditation that the wholeness and the interplay relatedness of God's truth is seen and the mature Christian and I can't emphasize this enough the mature Christian is not the one who has dozens of notions hanging in isolated suspension all of them biblical but the mature the growing Christian is the one who sees these notions and I'm using notions in the proper sense no epic concepts concepts of the mind who sees then in their interrelatedness because God's truth is a whole the more we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the more we will see those truths in their wholeness and therefore the more stable we will be in our Christian world fourthly meditation affords opportunity for the truth to run through the corridors of our lives and to expose any lack of affinity meditation gives opportunity for the truth to let's say walk rather than run walk through the corridors of our lives and to expose

49:03 any lack of affinity now here's the truth standing at the door when you read it now here's the hallway coming this way it's reverse perspective okay now what does meditation do meditation gives this truth time to walk through the corridor and to say all right look at this dimension of your life look at this dimension of your life look at this activity this is what grove was talking about you see how I'm reacting in a business situation how I'm reacting in a domestic situation and in meditation our lives come under the scrutiny of that truth both for conviction and for consolation both for exposure and for strength and for guidance and all of these other factors that's why you see meditation is so necessary of discipline if the word is to be profitable for reproof for rebuke for correction in righteousness I'm sorry for correction for instruction in righteousness for training in righteousness meditation must be present because it is one of the functions of meditation to give truth that opportunity to walk through the corridors of our lives and to compare any discrepancies or affinities well our time is gone we'll pick up with what is one of the primary functions and I won't tell you what it

50:32 is I've omitted one of the most fundamental functions of meditation how it actually operates you see if you can come up with the missing link next week and we'll begin our discussion there alright let us commend our thoughts to God in prayer