It's the Gospel: October 7

The Apostles Preaching the Gospel by Gustav DoreAt Rebecca Writes, we’re celebrating the gospel during the month of October. Twice a week, at least, I’ll be posting something pertaining to the gospel, which, in a nutshell is the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sin and was raised from the dead, so that through faith, we are united with Christ and receive every blessing merited by his work.

As always, you are invited to participate with me. On Tuesdays and Fridays throughout the month, I’ll post a collection of links to gospel related posts. If you post a quote, verse, poem, story, book review, or essay, etc. on a subject connected in some way to the gospel, send me an email with your link and I’ll link back to your post (or posts) on the next Tuesday or Friday. There are no limits, really, on the form or  number of your post, just the subject.

What do we have in our first collection of gospel posts?

• Ann of Whatever Things posts a hymn that relates the gospel to what happened in the Garden of Eden.

• Kim of Hiraeth has a gospel quote from Martin Luther.

• Over at Field Stone Cottage, Dorothy knows that the best place to go for gospel quotes is scripture.

• I posted a review of Contending for Our All, a book about three historical figures who fought for truths crucial to the gospel. Here’s a bonus gospel quote from that book, a quote from John Owen, who emphasised that we must be loving in disputes, but at the same time, we must never yield on the smallest point when it comes to the truth of the gospel.

  I can freely say, that I know not that man in England who is willing to go farther in forbearance, love, and communion with all that fear God and hold the foundation, than I am; but that this is to be done upon other grounds, principles, and ways, by other means and expedients, than by a condescension from the exactness of the least apex of gospel truth, or by an accommodation of doctrines by loose and general terms, I have elsewhere sufficiently declared. Let no man deceive you with vain pretences; hold fast the truth as it is in Jesus, part not with one iota, and contend for it when called thereunto.

Why don’t you join us by posting something about the gospel sometime during the month of October? I’ll be collecting links again this coming Friday, the 10th. 

Still not sure what the gospel is? There are a few links in this post that might help.

Contending for Our All

Defending Truth and Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen by John Piper.

This is another in John Piper’s The Swans Are Not Silent book series. Like the others, it consists of biographical sketches of three historical christian leaders and discussion of lessons the reader can learn from lives of each one. The men whose life stories are featured in this volume are Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen, who each defended truth in the Christian controversies of their day.

The introduction of Contending for Our All is a defense of those who fight for “the truth and meaning of the gospel” when the truth of the gospel is at stake. The reason this defense must be made is that

[i]n every age there is a kind of person who tries to minimize the importance of truth-defining and truth-defending controversy by saying that prayer, worship, evangelism, missions, and dependence on the Holy Spirit are more important….

Click to read more ...

Sunday' Hymn

This morning we sang the Doxology, which is really the last verse of a hymn by Thomas Ken.

Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise,
To pay thy morning sacrifice.

Thy precious time misspent, redeem,
Each present day thy last esteem,
Improve thy talent with due care;
For the great day thyself prepare.

By influence of the Light divine
Let thy own light to others shine.
Reflect all Heaven’s propitious ways
In ardent love, and cheerful praise.

In conversation be sincere;
Keep conscience as the noontide clear;
Think how all seeing God thy ways
And all thy secret thoughts surveys.

Wake, and lift up thyself, my heart,
And with the angels bear thy part,
Who all night long unwearied sing
High praise to the eternal King.

All praise to Thee, who safe has kept
And hast refreshed me while I slept
Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake
I may of endless light partake.

Heav’n is, dear Lord, where’er Thou art,
O never then from me depart;
For to my soul ’tis hell to be
But for one moment void of Thee.

Lord, I my vows to Thee renew;
Disperse my sins as morning dew.
Guard my first springs of thought and will,
And with Thyself my spirit fill.

Direct, control, suggest, this day,
All I design, or do, or say,
That all my powers, with all their might,
In Thy sole glory may unite.

I would not wake nor rise again
And Heaven itself I would disdain,
Wert Thou not there to be enjoyed,
And I in hymns to be employed.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

—-Thomas Ken

Here’s a very nice guitar version of the Doxology:

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners at Hiraeth
• Ye Holy Angels Bright at Field Stone Cottage
• Lord’s Day 40, 2008 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Comfort, Comfort Ye My People at joythruChrist 
• O Thou Whose Gracious Presence Shone at Conjubilant with Song
• Not All the Blood of Beasts at Whatever Things…
• Am I a Soldier of the Cross at The Happy Wonderer
• O Lord by Thee Delivered at Practicing Theology 

Have you posted a hymn today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar and I’ll add your post to the list.