Communion with God

Questions to answer in this Equipping Hour 1. Who exactly were the Puritans? 2. What can they contribute to your everyday walk with the Lord? “It is certain, that our happiness in the other world will consist in (large) part in our perfect knowledge of the blessed and boundless God… And it is as certain, that our holiness in this world does not a little depend upon our knowledge of him whose ‘name alone is excellent.’” —George Swinnock God is Incomparable in… His very essence/being 1. He is Independent 2. He is Perfect 6. He is Simple 3. He is Universal 7. He is In nite 4. He is Unchangeable 8. He is Incomprehensible fi 5. He is Eternal On the Sanctifying Power of Knowing God “‘I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes’ (Job 42:5-6). The more we know the greatest good, the more we shall hate the greatest evil.” —George Swinnock On the Sanctifying Power of Knowing God “We never are so low in our own eyes as when we see the most high God.” —George Swinnock “The sum of all true wisdom and knowledge may be reduced to these three heads: I. The Knowledge of God, his nature and his properties. II. The Knowledge of ourselves in reference to the will of God concerning us. III. Skill to walk in Communion with God.” —John Owen John Owen (1616-1683) fi “It is almost presumption to recommend any work by Dr. John Owen. All his works are of the greatest value and pro t but this one on ‘Communion with God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’ is particularly so. It is one of his greatest experimental works.” —Martyn Lloyd-Jones “We must experience an affective appropriation of God’s sovereign grace, moving beyond intellectual assent to heartfelt dedication to Christ.” —J. Stephen Yuille “Experiential preaching, then, teaches that the Christian faith must be experienced, tasted, and lived through the saving power of the Holy Spirit.” — Joel Beeke “…indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” —1 John 1:3 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” — 1 Cor. 1:9 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” — 2 Cor. 13:14 “But there is this difference with each of the persons of the Godhead. The Father communicates with us on the basis of His being the origin of all authority. The Son communicates with us out of a purchased treasury. The Holy Spirit communicates with us by direct personal working in us.” —John Owen Communion with the Triune God 1. Communion with the Father — in Love 2. Communion with the Son — in Grace 3. Communion with the Holy Spirit — in Comfort “God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” —1 John 4:8-10 fi “Christians walk oftentimes with exceedingly troubled hearts, concerning the thoughts of the Father towards them. They are well persuaded of the Lord Christ and his goodwill; the dif culty lies in what is their acceptance with the Father? What is his heart towards them?” —John Owen “Jesus Christ, in respect of the love of the Father, is but the beam, the stream; wherein though actually all our light, our refreshment lies, yet by him we are led to the fountain, the sun of eternal love itself.” —John Owen “This is the will of God, that he may always be eyed as benign, kind, tender, loving, and unchangeable therein; and that peculiarly as the Father, as the great fountain and spring of all gracious communications and fruits of love. This is that which Christ came to reveal—God as Father.” —John Owen “Let, I say, the soul frequently eye the love of the Father, and that under these considerations,— they are all soul-conquering and endearing.” —John Owen How to hold daily communion with the Son i. Continually keep alive a sense of the guilt and evil of sin ii. Consider sins you have not yet brought to God iii. By faith in Christ, believe the Gospel iv. Receive the righteousness of Christ fi “Objection. But it may be said, ‘Surely this course of procedure can never be acceptable to Jesus Christ. What! Shall we daily come to him with our lth, our guilt, our sins? May he not, will he not, bid us keep them to ourselves? They are our own. Shall we be always giving sins, and taking righteousness?’” —John Owen “Answer. There is not any thing that Jesus Christ is more delighted with, than that his saints should always hold communion with him as to this business of giving and receiving.” —John Owen “The Comforter may always abide with us, though not always comfort us… For other ends and purposes he is always with us; as to sanctify and make us holy… I deny that ever the Holy Spirit doth absolutely and universally leave a believing soul without consolation.” —John Owen