Ancient Paths: The Way of Allurement

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.’” [Jeremiah 16:6]

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” [Psalm 37:4]

Sometimes the universe just feels…empty. The open skies, once a source of enormous delight and wonder, are just cold, distant, and—worst of all—silent. It feels as though someone who'd been bathing your soul in a warm and beautiful song has stopped singing abruptly and has completely disappeared from the world. Who it was you're not exactly sure, but you're sure someone's missing. And the cold their absence brings is palpable, and the sudden silence is deafening. Nothing seems to have any meaning, and the hands of the clock stoically whisper the passing of another unrecoverable hour into the depths of inevitability. Life has turned to a mass of useless material; salt without taste.

This is the complaint of an emaciated soul; a soul starved for too long—deprived of the only food that can satisfy. It’s the complaint of a soul in the gravest of dangers. And there is only one remedy—and it must be taken immediately, and it must be fought for and won at all cost. But perhaps this isn’t a land you’ve yet walked through. Perhaps your soul is in another place…

Perhaps urgency for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the expanse of his kingdom fuels you every single moment. Perhaps you search and seek and knock and devour everything you can get your hands on because everything you read and hear and think about Christ just doesn’t seem to quite scratch the soul-deep itch in your innermost being. You’re desperate for a greater capacity to express your joy so, like the psalmist, you’re pleading with the creation to help you shout his praises because your voice just isn’t loud enough or full enough; You think for a split second of the majesty of Christ and you leap to your feet and your arms spring upward and your chest heaves and your eyes instantly water for joy and you wish to double your size to take in more of Christ’s glorious Spirit—you jump, leap, reach and no matter where you look you’re still hungrier for more of God—to know him and commune with him and be conformed to him. Has this yet been your experience?

Whether your soul is dying without God, or dying for more of God, there is only one remedy: a bigger vision of Christ and him crucified. And today, when ‘bestsellers’ are so light and empty; and God’s sovereignty is mocked; and his glorious foreknowledge is apologized for; and Christ is nothing but a gentleman caller asking for a dainty dance, rather than a mighty firefighter who can revive you to life and effortlessly carry you from a burning building before it crashes down all around you; when Christ isn’t able to save, only able to offer; when Christ isn’t an almighty Lord and Master of Creation but a candidate running for spiritual office over your life—it’s simply no wonder we’re starving!

We need—we desperately need—to follow our Lord’s direction, which national Israel “would not.” He told them to “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” [Jeremiah 6:16] These “ancient paths” have been long abandoned because men felt a need to soften God, or apologize for his purposes, and be more ‘sensitive’ and more ‘relevant.’¹ Treason! But nothing is more relevant, nothing is more necessary, to the human condition, than an enormous and grand vision of God as God.

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” [Exodus 34:6-7]

“I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other!” [Isaiah 42:8]

“Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle!” [Psalm 24:8]

We need a daily dose of concentrated God is GOD! time to keep our souls from starving and to scratch that soul-deep itch. Whether we have no appetite for God at this point, or if our appetite seems insatiable—our appetite for spiritual delight in God needs to grow. The Lord has directed us to “stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, [that we might] find rest for [our] souls.” Jonathan Edwards is the perfect person to “ask for the ancient paths;” he said that all Christians ought

…to be endeavoring by all possible ways to inflame their desires and to obtain more spiritual pleasures. . . . Our hungerings and thirstings after God and Jesus Christ and after holiness can't be too great for the value of these things, for they are things of infinite value. . . . [Therefore] endeavor to promote spiritual appetites by laying yourself in the way of allurement...²

And that’s what we all must set ourselves to do: lay ourselves in the way of allurement. We must set things before us continually that point our minds and hearts at the ultimate beauty and majesty of God in Christ. To that end, I’ve included a list of resources (all free) under the recommendations section below. First, there are bible reading plans (which are good for structured reading, and are meant to be springboards for further meditation and study). Then there are daily devotionals and sermons; God has given us teachers to open the Word of God for us. Let’s glean from them. Finally, there are old-school confessions and creeds, which organize the content of the Bible into brief statements or into question and answer form. All of these could be of great help in laying ourselves in the way of allurement.

Whether you’re currently in a bleak, grey, almost artificial-feeling desert longing for God, or you’re in a white-hot fury of desire for him, we can never desire God too much: lay yourself in the way of allurement!

¹ I am not beating a straw man here; I’m talking specifically about the theological liberals who tried to destroy biblical inerrancy in the 1970s (as revealed in Harold Lindsell’s Battle for the Bible), who tried to tear down God-ordained gender roles in the 1980s, and those who are trying to abandon the imputation of Christ’s righteousness and dismiss God’s perfect foreknowledge in order to retain a false understanding of fallen human nature today. All killers of God’s glory and our joy.

² I found this quote in John Piper, A God-Entranced View of All Things: Why We Need Jonathan Edwards 300 Years Later. Desiring God, 10 October 2003. <http://www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/edwards/edwards_300.html> Accessed 20 January 2005.

Recommendations

Bible Reading Plans

The Scriptures are the surest source of personal and corporate revival; spending time in it daily is like breathing the sweetest air, and eating the sweetest food. Don’t risk living without it.

[reading plan] The Navigators’ Discipleship Journal Daily Bible Reading Plan. Read portions from the 1) gospels, 2) epistles, 3) wisdom and poetry books, and 4) law and history each day! A great way to read through the Bible in one year. Only 25 days per month scheduled—time to catch up or read ahead! I’ve been using this plan for a couple of years now and I’ve found it very helpful.

[reading plan] In December of 1842, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a tender Scottish pastor, designed this reading plan for his flock. Following it, you’ll get through the Old Testament once, and the New Testament and the Psalms twice in one year. The 2 page large-print introduction alone is an amazing piece of encouragement. Very good—especially for those of you who are starting out with a young family, and wish to begin a regular daily family devotion. I plan to switch to this one next. Email me for a copy.

Daily Devotionals

I find these to be great kindlers of fire either first thing in the morning, or at various times in the day. Sometimes we all need a little priming of the pump.

[devotional] Charles Spurgeon’s daily devotional, Morning and Evening. Strong meat and solid encouragement, yet brief. A good mix of doctrinal truth and practical application. Subscribe to the daily email version here.

[devotional] The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers to ‘prime the pump.’ Get a taste of the heights of puritan love for God and piety of life. I’ve found them to be quite heart-penetrating. Click on the little green arrow next to the word “Welcome.” (Also available as a paperback or leather-bound book.)

Sermons

If you have a little more time in the morning, evening, a long mid-day break, or time on a weekend, reading some of these sermons would be greatly encouraging to you. Why should we ignore what these great teachers and preachers had to say, simply because they are dead? I don’t think so. Enjoy.

[sermons] The Sermons of Charles Spurgeon. Just start with volume 1 sermon 1; he wasn’t called the ‘prince of preachers’ for nothing. Some Spurgeon each day keeps apathy away!

[sermons] Select sermons of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Meet the man called, simply, ‘The Doctor.’

[sermons] The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards. A bit bumpy in places, but no one exalts Christ like Edwards. Try ‘The Excellency of Christ,’ ‘God Glorified in Man’s Dependence,’ or ‘God’s Sovereignty in the Salvation of Men’ for starters.

Confessions and Catechisms

You may find reading a question or two each morning, and looking up the scripture proofs, a wonderful way to spend your devotional time. Confessions and catechisms help to organize the overall teaching of the bible in either topically in a confession, or in question and answer style, as in a catechism. Have some questions about what the bible teaches? Check out the Westminster Confession.

[confession] The Westminster Confession of Faith. The standard by which all others are judged.

[catechism] The Westminster Shorter Catechism. “What is the whole duty of man?”

[catechism] The Westminster Larger Catechism.

[catechism] The Heidelberg Catechism. The first question and answer are amazing!

[others] A list of historic creeds, confessions, and catechisms.

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light!

- Dylan Thomas [more…]

The Absolute Freedom and Justice of God

“You are good and do good…” [ Psalm 119:68 ]

I have to admit that Jim Elliot is a modern hero of mine. If you’re not familiar with his life—and particularly his death—I’d highly recommend reading either Through Gates of Splendor (by his wife, Elisabeth Elliot), or The Journals of Jim Elliot (edited by his wife)¹. He’s the one who wrote that famous and blindingly true statement, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. For those of you who don’t know, he was a young and radical missionary to Ecuador in the mid 1950s. He and five friends determined, at great personal risk, to attempt to bring the gospel to the tribes of savage Aucan Indians who lived in the jungle near his home. They were all killed—speared to death—in the attempt. Jim Elliot was 28 years old.

Elisabeth (also a sort of modern hero of mine) had just given birth to their only child, Veronica. The story of the 5 young martyrs spread over the world like wildfire. Some were angered at the Indians, some blamed the missionaries for lack of wisdom, some questioned God’s justice for allowing his children to die so heinously. Others waited for the reports of mass salvations in the Aucan tribes, to defend God’s taking of the 5 young lives.

Elisabeth had a much different reaction, written 27 years after Jim’s death, which is recorded in the Epilogue II of Through Gates of Splendor:

We all know…that time and again in the history of the Christian Church, the blood of martyrs has been its seed. So we are tempted to assume a simple equation here. Five men died. This will mean x-number of Auca Christians.

Perhaps so. Perhaps not. Cause and effect are in God’s hands. Is it not part of faith simply to let them rest there? God is God. I dethrone him in my heart if I demand that He act in ways that satisfy my idea of justice. It is the same spirit that taunted ‘If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross.” There is unbelief, there is even rebellion, in the attitude which says, “God has no right to do this to five men unless…”

The massacre was a hard fact, widely reported at the time, and surprisingly well remembered by many even today. It was interpreted according to the measure of one’s faith or faithlessness—full of meaning or empty. A triumph or tragedy. […] The beginning of a great work, a demonstration of the power of God, a sorrowful first act which would lead to a beautifully predictable third act in which all puzzles would be solved, God would vindicate Himself, Aucas would be converted, and we could all “feel good” about our faith. […] But the danger lies in seizing upon the immediate and hoped-for, as though God’s justice is thereby verified, and glossing over as neatly as possible certain other consequences…

We are not always sure where the horizon is. […] The One who laid earth’s foundations and settled its dimensions knows where the lines are drawn. He gives all the light we need for trust and for obedience.²

Mrs. Elliot’s point is that God does not need to explain his actions to us—not ever. Even if none of the Aucans were saved as a result, God would be no less righteous for the taking of these 5 young lives. He is always Good, always right, always working everything for the good of those who are called, for those that love him, and always for his glory. Even—especially—when it appears completely otherwise to our limited, vaporous, fallible minds. Trusting his goodness and his power is the very core of faith in him; doubt either, and we are lost.

Psalm 115:3 says, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” He is absolutely free. And he is always, and only, absolutely good and just in everything he pleases, and does. He does not answer to us. He “is good, and he does good.” [ Psalm 119:68 ] Always…and only. It simply cannot be otherwise. And so, with Job, in the face of calamity, let us worship him for his goodness and for his mysterious purposes in the world. And, at the warning of Christ upon hearing of great calamity in Siloam, let us also “repent, lest we perish likewise.” [ Luke 13:1-5 ]

We serve a big and good God, though his ways are sometimes inscrutable. How is your faith?

¹ I haven’t yet read Shadow of the Almighty, his official biography (also by his wife), so I can’t recommend it in good conscience. But I’m sure it, too, would be life-changing!

² Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor. (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1956 [repr. 1981]), pp. 269-273. Jim’s passion and devotion to “live life to the hilt” for the glory of God moved me to tears of longing a half-dozen times just in the first two chapters of this book. I may have just been tired…but I doubt it. It’s about $5 used.

Recommendations

[ministry] The Missionary Aviation Fellowship (“MAF”) has been asked to oversee the organization and distribution of all airborne aid in Indonesia, which was greatly affected by the recent tsunami. Since most roads and bridges were taken out by the tsunami, going airborne avoids the bottleneck and gets the supplies to the people that need them the most. MAF is providing technological, organizational, and airborne support to get the supplies to the people in need. Read more, and consider donating, here.

[devotional] A recent ONELIFE message on how to respond to calamity, titled How Firm a Foundation. Lest we become deists or idolaters, let us glorify God for his awesome power displayed in the ‘strong winds and mighty waves.’ Lest we become hard-hearted, let us weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice, and pray that the Lord of the harvest would send workers in the field.

[devotional] Charles Spurgeon’s daily devotional, Morning and Evening. Strong meat and solid encouragement, yet brief. A good mix of doctrinal truth and practical application. Subscribe to the daily email version here.