The Wood's Secret Garden

The design of God in all his works of creation, providence, and grace—is to advance and secure the glory of his own name ; and, therefore, though he makes use of secondary causes as the instruments of his operations, yet their efficacy depends upon his superintending influence. It is his hand that sustains the great chain of causes and effects, and his agency pervades and animates the worlds of nature and of grace. The agency of his Holy Spirit is as necessary to fructify the Word, and make it the seed of conversion, as the influences of heaven are to fructify the earth and promote vegetation! A zealous Paul may plant the Word, and an eloquent Apollos may water it; one may attempt to convert sinners to Christianity, and the other to build them up in faith—but they are both nothing, as to the success of their labors—unless God gives the increase! That is, unless he affords the influence of his grace to render their attempts successful in begetting and nourishing living religion in the...

Oh, that our hearts would understand that the progress of true religion depends not on human might or power—but on the Lord's Spirit! Oh, that many of them would learn to lean less on ministers, and to pray more for the Holy Spirit! Oh, that all would learn to expect less from schools, and tracts, and ecclesiastical machinery; and, while using all means diligently, would seek more earnestly for the outpouring of the Spirit! There is hope in the Gospel for any man, so long as he lives. There is infinite willingness in Christ to pardon sin. There is infinite power in the Holy Spirit to change hearts. There are many diseases of the body which are incurable. The cleverest doctors cannot heal them. But, thank God! there are no incurable diseases of soul. All manner and quantity of sins can be washed away by Christ! The hardest and most wicked of hearts can be changed. Reader, I say again, while there is life—there is hope. The oldest, the vilest, the worst of sinners may be saved. Only ...

"This knowledge will wean from the world, and raise the inclination to heavenly things. It will turn the heart to God as the fountain of good, and to choose him for the only portion. This light, and this only, will bring the soul to a saving close with Christ. It conforms the heart to the gospel, mortifies its enmity and opposition against the scheme of salvation therein revealed: it causes the heart to embrace the joyful tidings, and entirely to adhere to, and acquiesce in the revelation of Christ as our Saviour: it causes the whole soul to accord and symphonize with it, admitting it with entire credit and respect cleaving to it with full inclination and affection; and it effectually disposes the soul to give up itself entirely to Christ." Edwards both biblically and rationally lays out the case that the spiritual knowledge and illumination needed to understand the gospel and to internalize the excellencies of divine truth, is imparted directly by God alone. This knowledge i...

But since we are intoxicated with a false opinion of our own discernment , and can scarcely be persuaded that in divine things it is altogether stupid and blind, I believe the best course will be to establish the fact, not by argument, but by Scripture. Most admirable to this effect is the passage which I lately quoted from John, when he says, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not," (John 1: 4, 5.) He intimates that the human soul is indeed irradiated with a beam of divine light, so that it is never left utterly devoid of some small flame, or rather spark, though not such as to enable it to comprehend God. And why so? Because its acuteness is, in reference to the knowledge of God, mere blindness. When the Spirit describes men under the term "darkness" he declares them void of all power of spiritual intelligence. For this reason, it is said that believers, in embracing Christ, are ...

A little evening rambling: Today, while reading a book review on The Shack , it dawned on me that even the most learned, godly men of our modern generation have slipped into using terms that are man-centered to explain spiritual things. The book review was entitled, "The Missing Art of Evangelical Discernment" It was a very good review in most other respects. However, the title and the concluding comment which read, " The popularity of this book among evangelicals can only be explained by a lack of basic theological knowledge among us -- a failure even to understand the Gospel of Christ. The tragedy that evangelicals have lost the art of biblical discernment must be traced to a disastrous loss of biblical knowledge. Discernment cannot survive without doctrine . Reader, I ask you "Is discernment an art?" I think not. You can know doctrine inside and out--even teach at an seminary; and, have little to no discernment. There are scholars world-wide who are full of...

In a sermon based on Genesis 5:24 (‘And Enoch walked with God’) Whitefield, in seeking to explain how the child of God receives guidance, wrote the following: ‘In order to walk closely with God, his children must not only watch the motions of God’s providence without them, but the motions also of his blessed Spirit in their hearts. ‘As many as are the sons of God, are led by the Spirit of God’ (Romans 8:14), and give up themselves to be guided by the Holy Ghost, as a little child gives its hand to be led by a nurse or parent. ‘It is no doubt in this sense that we are to be converted, and become like little children. And though it is the quintessence of enthusiasm, to pretend to be guided by the Spirit without the written word; yet it is every Christian’s bounden duty to be guided by the Spirit in conjunction with the written word of God. Led by the Spirit and guided by the Word‘Watch, therefore, I pray you, O believers, the motions of God’s blessed Spirit in your souls, and always try ...

God created us with emotions. If we are not moved by Him, we will be moved by something far less worthy and ultimately meaningless. I have seen so many churches turn into a mere lifeless formality because of the Pastors/Leaders fear of "false affections". I often feel alone in my observations and I am always encouraged to read that I am not alone and that the same problems have gone on throughout many stages of the history of the Church. I often wonder how a Pastor, who looks out upon a sea of predominately dead faces each and every week, as he is expounding the beauty and wonder of the very Word of God, must feel. Many of the same people sitting in the pews lifeless; seem to have little problem expressing a great deal of joy and excitement while watching a football game or attending a baby shower. Perhaps they have been told (or have ascertained from things said by their very own pastor from the pulpit) that such outward expressions (such as a joyful smile, a hardy "A...

Martyn Lloyd-Jones was, by any fair measure, one of the greatest preachers of the twentieth century. His ministry at Westminster Chapel in London ranks among the most influential in Christian history. "The Doctor," as he was known, was a master expositor and a most effective communicator . He was also firmly grounded in historic Christian orthodoxy, with a clear commitment to Reformation doctrine and a deep concern for the vitality and integrity of evangelical Christianity . Now, more than a quarter-century after his death, fifty-six previously unpublished sermons on John 4. The sermons, preached in 1967 and 1968, represent Lloyd-Jones at his best. Living Water: Studies in John 4 [ Crossway ] is a gift to us today. Excerpt from Al Mohler's Blog May 2009 A few excerpts from the book: This is Christianity : The Lord appears! Suddenly, in the midst if the drudgery and the routine and the sameness and the dullness and the drabness, unexpectedly , surprisingly , He m...

There are few warnings in Scripture more solemn than this. The Lord Jesus Christ says to us, "Remember Lot's wife. "Lot's wife was a professor of religion: her husband was a "righteous man" (II Peter 2:8). She left Sodom with him on the day when Sodom was destroyed; she looked back towards the city from behind her husband, against God's express command; she was struck dead at once, and turned into a pillar of salt. And the Lord Jesus Christ holds her up as a beacon to His church: He says, "Remember Lot's wife." It is a solemn warning, when we think of the person Jesus names. He does not bid us remember Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, or Sarah, or Hannah, or Ruth. No: He singles out one whose soul was lost for ever. He cries to us, "Remember Lot's wife." It is a solemn warning, when we consider the subject Jesus is upon. He is speaking of His own second coming to judge the world: He is describing the awful state of unreadiness in ...

A Divine and Supernatural Light, Immediately Imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God Shown to be Both Scriptural and Rational Doctrine by Jonathan Edwards Click HERE

“The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (v. 72; cf. v. 14). “Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold” (v. 127). God’s Word is exquisite, sublime, splendid, and sweet. God’s Word is powerful, faithful, righteous, and true. God’s Word is great, glorious, grand, and good. Why? Because in it we see God! Through it, he draws near! By means of its truth, we experience the incomparable joy of knowing him and seeing him and beholding the beauty of his infinite elegance. Hear, O Lord, our prayer: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law!” (Psalm 119:18). Sam Storms Just think about Psalm 119:18. Ponder that passage as you ponder "discerning" the Word.

"When the soul is built up in Christ, it wants no other religion but to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. It wants no other righteousness to recommend it to God, it wants no other salvation, nor title to eternal bliss. It wants no other hope but that which Jesus sweetly communicates; no other faith but that which He blessedly gives; no other love but that which He deigns to shed abroad. Being crucified with Christ, Christ lives in him; and the sum and substance of his religion is to live by the faith of the Son of God. The religion of the Holy Spirit is to be brought to enjoy the sweet testimony that we are Christ's, and that Christ is ours. And then, through the feeling effects of it in our souls, to be laid low in our own eyes, to be abased in our own sight, to have our consciences made tender and sprinkled from guilt and filth, and to spend our breath in praising and blessing His holy name . But what a different way of building up this is from being built up in...

"Now I ask every reader of this paper a plain question Do you know what you mean by these words, so often repeated—the Holy Spirit? What place has God the Holy Spirit in your religion? What do you know of His office, His work, His indwelling, His fellowship, and His power? This is the subject to which I ask your attention this day. I want you to consider seriously what you know about the work of God the Holy Spirit. I believe that the times in which we live demand frequent and distinct testimonies upon this great subject. I believe that few truths of the Christian religion are so often obscured and spoiled by false doctrine as the truth about the Holy Spirit. I believe that there is no subject which an ignorant world is so ready to revile as "cant, fanaticism, and enthusiasm," as the subject of the work of the Holy Spirit. My heart's desire and prayer to God is, that about this subject I may write nothing but the "truth as it is in Jesus," and that I may wr...

The task of true biblical preaching is not essentially intellectual or psychological or rhetorical; it is essentially spiritual. I have followed the preaching ministry of more men than I can count and have discovered that many fall into a great trap. I was truly blessed to discover that my concerns are shared with many others and have been so wonderfully articulated in this excerpt from "What is Biblical Preaching" by Eric J. Alexander, P&R, 2008: "Left to ourselves, we may do many things with a congregation. We may move them emotionally. We may attract them to ourselves personally, producing great loyalty. We may persuade them intellectually. We may educate them in a broad spectrum of Christian truth. But the one thing we can never do, left to ourselves, is to regenerate them spiritually and change them into the image of Jesus Christ, to bear his moral glory in their character. While that is the great calling of the church of Christ, it is essentially God’s work...

No longer intrigued by this dark passing world, His banner of love, over me, He unfurled. Protecting my soul by His sovereign divide Through the blood of His cross, spilled forth from His side. Crucified in my Jesus; all glory to Him Who ransomed my soul from destruction and sin. The world cannot have me—I belong to my King, Therefore I will praise Him; therefore I will sing. No glory I find in one thing I can do; With wondrous affection, His mercies are new. And look to the day that my faith will be sight— My perfection is sure, to my Father's delight. He sees me in Jesus, in glory so bright; And hidden in Him, I’m concealed in His light. Chosen to be with my lover and friend; And give Him the glory—to this be my end. Michael E. Wood 05/12/2009

Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment . Isaiah 41:1 This is a noisy age, and the Church of Christ herself is too noisy. We have little silent worship, I fear. I do not so much regret the absence of silence from the public assembly as from our private devotions, where it has a sacred hallowing influence, unspeakably valuable. Be silent, that you may hear the voice of Jesus, for when He speaks you will renew your strength. The eternal Spirit is with His people; but we often miss His power because we give more ear to other voices than to His, and quite as often our own voice is an injury to us, for it is heard when we have received no message from the Lord, and therefore gives an uncertain sound. If we wait upon the blessed Spirit, His mysterious influence will sway us most divinely, and we shall be filled with all the fullness of God. Even as we have seen the frost y...

Preaching Is Expository Expository means that preaching aims to exposit, or explain and apply, the meaning of the Bible. The reason for this is that the Bible is God's word, inspired, infallible, profitable—all 66 books of it. The preacher's job is to minimize his own opinions and deliver the truth of God. Every sermon should explain the Bible and then apply it to people's lives. The preacher should do that in a way that enables you to see that the points he is making actually come from the Bible. If you can't see that they come from the Bible, your faith will end up resting on a man and not on God's word. The aim of this exposition is to help you eat and digest biblical truth that will: Make your spiritual bones more like steel, Double the capacity of your spiritual lungs, Make the eyes of your heart dazzled with the brightness of the glory of God, and Awaken the capacity of your soul for kinds of spiritual enjoyment you didn't even know existed. Preaching Is ...

"Rend your heart--and not your garments." Joel 2:13 Garment-rending and other external signs of religious emotion, are easily manifested, and are frequently hypocritical. True repentance is far more difficult, and consequently far less common. Unsaved men will attend to the most multiplied and minute religious ceremonies and regulations--for such things are pleasing to their flesh. But true godliness is too humbling, too heart-searching, too spiritual for the tastes of carnal men! They prefer something more ostentatious, flimsy, and worldly. External religious rituals are temporarily comfortable; eye and ear are pleased; self-conceit is fed, and self-righteousness is puffed up. But they are ultimately delusive, for at the day of judgment, the soul needs something more substantial than religious ceremonies and rituals to lean upon. Apart from vital godliness--all religion is utterly vain! When offered without a sincere heart, every form of religious worship is a solemn sham a...

This is a test. Can you guess who made this statement? Do you agree with this statement? Read it over a few times and really think about what is being said. "Knowing Christ,” in the Pauline sense is not the sort of mystical relationship many people imagine. Paul wasn’t longing for some secret knowledge of Christ beyond what is revealed in Scripture. In fact, the knowledge of Christ Paul sought was anything but mystical. What he longed to know was the power of Christ’s resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, and conformity to His death. We err greatly if we think of intimacy with Christ as some lofty level of mysterious, feelings-based communion with the Divine—as if it involved some knowledge of God that goes beyond what Scripture has revealed. That idea is the very heart of the gnostic heresy. It has nothing in common with true Christianity." Now read the follow statement: At the very heart of true Christianity is the saints’ mystical union with Christ. We are in...

It is a wonderful thing, they way in which the Spirit of God brings such clarity at times to unit the minds of men (and women). I had concerns about a statement made by a well-known, highly respected, and hugely followed, pastor/teacher and shared my concerns on this blog. Just this morning, I read this (not looking for it) which echos the very concerns that I expressed The statement made that concerned me was "Those who don’t know what the Bible teaches about salvation cannot be saved. " Listen to this warning by C.H. Spurgeon: "Again, am I asked what it is to preach the gospel? I answer to preach the gospel is to exalt Jesus Christ. Perhaps this is the best answer that I could give. I am very sorry to see very often how little the gospel is understood even by some of the best Christians. Some time ago there was a young woman under great distress of soul; she came to a very pious Christian man, who said "My dear girl, you must go home and pray." Well I tho...