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“ Great Sermon! In The Spirit Comment Part III ” but they do not see their own odiousness on account of sin; they do not see the hateful nature of sin; a sense of this is given in evangelical humiliation by a discovery of the beauty of God’s holiness and moral perfection….In a legal humiliation men are made sensible that they are little and nothing before the great and terrible God…but they have not an answerable frame of heart, consisting in a disposition to abase themselves, and exalt God alone.” I hope it is not overstating the case to say that this reading was an answered prayer, and that there is a real affinity between what Pastor Doug preached and the explanation of “evangelical humiliation” described in Edwards’ book.
It was a great subway ride, and, amazingly, when the guest preacher began preaching he main theme was the need for – you guessed it – a change of perspective. Yet, he didn’t touch on this theme of living in the spirit at all, but stayed with the idea of doing good works by exercising our gift of helps or gift of hospitality. When we come to the communion of the Lord’s Supper, we are called upon to examine ourselves. Do we ask ourselves whether we are advancing in our faith by meeting the behavioral requirements of Christianity, or are we trusting in the spirit in “evangelical humiliation?”
Jeff Ludwig (6/8/2008)
from Brooklyn, NY
“ Great Sermon! In the Spirit Comment Part II ” I had believed that these rules represented the do’s and don’ts of Christianity. If they are not the means to live in the spirit, what are?
For days after listening to this sermon, I pondered the thoughts I heard and prayed to the Lord for greater clarity. Then, on Sunday, June 8, I took Jonathan Edwards’ book Religious Affections with me to read on the subway while my family and I were on the way to church from Brooklyn to Manhattan. I began reading the section entitled, “Gracious affection are attended with evangelical humiliation.”
What an incredible piece of writing! At the outset of that section he distinguishes between “a legal and [an] evangelical humiliation.” He says, “The former is what men may be the subjects of, while they are yet in a state of nature…the latter is peculiar to true saints. The former is from the common influence of the Spirit of God, assisting natural principles and especially natural conscience; the latter is from the special influences of the Spirit of God, implanting and exercising supernatural and divine principles:…In the former, a sense of the awful greatness and natural perfections of God, and of the strictness of His law, convinces men that they are exceeding guilty and exposed to the wrath of God…
Jeff Ludwig (6/8/2008)
from Brooklyn, NY
“ Great Sermon! Are You In The Spirit Comment Part I ” THIS IS PART I of three comments on this profound sermon....... I have twice listened to this sermon by Pastor Doug. It’s as deep as one might wish to go into the subject of one’s walk with Christ and the nature of “salvation.”
While listening I felt that I understood the initial example where the initial example of rappelling down a wall showed that once Pastor Doug let go, years ago, and went out the window for his first rappelling experience, he no longer had misgivings but kept going back to try that experience again and again. He likened his change of perspective about rappelling to a change in perspective that is needed if a Christian is to understand what it is to “live in the spirit.”
So far, so good. However, when he came to the section on rules, I became somewhat unsettled. He told about rules at his Bible college about smoking, drinking, visiting the girls’ dorm, shows of affection on campus, and other regulations. These activities were supposed to help one to become a better Christian. While Pastor Doug did not deny that these rules might have some efficacy, he stated that these activities would not make one a better Christian. How could I agree with this without falling into antinomianism?
Douglas VanderMeulen is the preaching pastor at Community Baptist Church. Committed to the principles of the 16th century reformation, Pastor VanderMeulen believes Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide is best understood in light of the Bible's covenantal structure. As a result, the...
