The Wit and Wisdom of Martin Luther

Ask of God
"All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired, although not in the hour or in the measure, or the very thing which they ask. Yet they will obtain something greater and more glorious than they had dared to ask."

On Anger
"I never work better than when I am inspired by anger; for when I am angry, I can write, pray, and preach well, for then my whole temperament is quickened, my understanding sharpened, and all mundane vexations and temptations depart."

On the Bible
"The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid."

On Canines
"Be thou comforted, little dog, Thou too in Resurrection shall have a little golden tail."

On Education
"I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth."

On Faith
"Faith is permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see."

On Forgiveness
"Forgiveness is God's command."

On Prayer
"The fewer the words, the better the prayer."

"Pray, and let God worry."

On Spiritual Growth
"There is no justification without sanctification, no forgiveness without renewal of life, no real faith from which the fruits of new obedience do not grow."

On Suffering
"No man ought to lay a cross upon himself, or to adopt tribulation... but if a cross or tribulation come upon him, then let him suffer it patiently, and know that it is good and profitable for him."

On Violence
"Nothing good ever comes of violence."

"War is the greatest plague that can affect humanity; it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it."

On Wine and Women
"Men can go wrong with wine and women: shall we then prohibit and abolish women?"

The Wisdom of Puritan Divine

Jonathan Edwards was the great colonial-era New England minister who presided over the Great Awakening. His acclaim was his profound intellectual broadsides against Arminianism. He wasn't always appreciated as his congregation in Northhampton ran him off, because they thought he took church discipline too seriously. He gained notoriety for his firey Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and while he fervently preached the Gospel of faith and repentance, he also spoke affectionately of the sweetness of Christ.

The opening salvos of the Westminster Confession of Faith proclaims, "Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever." Likewise, the Puritan divine Jonathan Edwards wrote:

God is glorified within Himself these two ways: 1. By appearing... to Himself in His own perfect idea [of Himself], or in His Son who is the brightness of His glory. 2. By enjoying and delighting in Himself, by flowing forth in infinite love and delight towards Himself, or in his Holy Spirit.

The great Congregationalist preacher further proclaimed that God's ultimate end is the manifestation of his glory in the highest happiness of his creatures. Edwards further surmised:

Because [God] infinitely values his own glory, consisting in the knowledge of himself, love to himself, and complacence and joy in himself; he therefore valued the image, communication or participation of these, in the creature. And it is because he values himself, that he delights in the knowledge, and love, and joy of the creature; as being himself the object of this knowledge, love and complacence... [Thus] God's respect to the creature's good, and his respect to himself, is not a divided respect; but both are united in one, as the happiness of the creature aimed at, is happiness in union with himself.

Least we forget the promises of God, those of faith should take comfort in the reality that God glorifies himself in our happiness in union with him. We've conquered death and the sting of sin through Christ Jesus.

Book Review - When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy

When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy

When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy
(Crossway Books. Publisher's Date, Sept. 25, 2004, 272 pp. Retail $12.99. Amazon.com $9.74)

I've read quite a bit of John Piper, and this past year I have found a pick-me-up in one of his recent works When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy. Therein, he squares this book with his profound doctrine of 'Christian Hedonism' which was first advanced in Desiring God. John Piper notes:

Christian Hedonism is a liberating and devastating doctrine. It teaches that the value of God shines more brightly in the soul that finds deepest satisfaction in him. Therefore it is liberating because it endorses our inborn desire for joy. And it is devastating because it reveals that no one desires God with the passion he demands. Paradoxically, many people experience both of these truths. That certainly is my own experience.

Joy in God is not merely the icing on the cake. Joy is much more than that. Our being satisfied in God shows God's worthiness and that he is necessary to sustain the sacrifices of love. It was the joy before Him, that sustained Christ on that cruel cross. It is the joy before us, that ought to sustain us in our spiritual struggles. We have to fight for joy. Christ has secured victory through the finished work of the Cross.

Piper makes no bones about the fact that life can be tough. Likewise, 2 Timothy 2:3 reminds us, "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (NKJV). In C.S. Lewis' Problem of Pain, he opines:

There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else... It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the thing we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work, and which we shall still desire on our deathbeds, when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work... All your life an unattainable ecstasy has hovered just beyond the grasp of your consciousness. The day is coming when you will wake to find, beyond all hope, that you have attained it.

C.S. Lewis conveys what many Christians feel in their spiritual walk, a loss of passion for spiritual things, and a loss of zeal for the joy of our salvation. There simply are times in our lives when we don't desire God, nor the things of God. Indeed, this is the condition of the natural man: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God" (Romans 3:10-11, NKJV).

The Christian believer has to be on guard, and we have to fight the good fight, and run with endurance. As Hebrews 12:1 declares: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (NKJV). John Piper itinerates that we have to fight for joy, and savor the joy of our salvation. "When I saw the truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him, I was freed from the unbiblical of fear that it was wrong to pursue joy," declares Piper. This aforesaid statement is the focal point of Piper's book.

Piper's book gives sound exhortation on how to fight for joy. Throughout this book, Piper is rigorously Scriptural. Also, Piper speaks in an understandable and lucid manner. We fight for joy by being vigilant in our prayer life. Piper devotes a whole chapter to prayer. We have to fight for joy like a justified sinner. We fight for joy by setting our sights on the promises of God, and preaching the Gospel to ourselves—and embracing that pivotal doctrine of justification by faith alone. Piper fittingly ends the book, not with a touchy-feely, self-help motivational theme, but rather with a chapter entitled When The Darkness Doesn't Lift. Herein, Piper manifests his practical nature as a Bible teacher. With a heart of passion for the glory of Christ, John Piper has erected a most profound and spiritually uplifting book.

What makes Piper so profound is that he is the fact that he selectively appeals to other Christian luminaries, John Bunyan, Dietriech Bonhoeffer, Jonathan Edwards, C.S. Lewis, and brings his own unique style and profound wisdom to bear.

This book is available online for free at Desiring God, at Amazon.com, and of course your local Christian book store.