This fall we will be preaching our way through 1 & 2 Peter. We begin a 7-week Lenten series on the person and work of the Holy Spirit this Sunday (yes, we’re a few days early). That series will give way to a 22-week series on the 39 Articles (some will be combined) and then the fall is given over to Peter.
As preparation, I’m working my way through Robert Leighton’s (1611-1684) wonderful commentary on 1 Peter. Ever experienced love at first sight? I was hooked on his opening line, “The grace of God in the heart of man is a tender plant in a strange, unkindly soil.” He develops the thought with this: “Therefore, it cannot grow unless great care is taken by a skillful hand that cherishes it. To this end, God has given the constant ministry of the Word to his church, not only for the first work of conversion, but also for increasing his grace in the hearts of his children.”
The beauty of a well-spoken word.
Commenting on 1 Peter 1.7, Leighton has this to say:
The furnace shows faith to be what it is, it also improves it and makes it more valuable and purer than it had been previously. The graces of the Spirit, as they come from God’s hand, are nothing but pureness. But as they are placed in a heart where sin lives (which while the body remains cannot be totally purged away), faith is combined with corruption and dross. In particular faith mixes with unbelief, the love for earthly things, a reliance on the creature – if not more than God, then together with God. The furnace is necessary to deal with this, so that the soul may be purified from its dross and made more spiritual in believing. It is a hard task to teach the heart to grasp loosely the things of the world (Psalm 62.10; 1 Timothy 6.17).
So God is pleased to choose the more effective way to teach his people the right and pure exercise of faith, whether by withholding or withdrawing those things from them. He makes them relish the sweetness of spiritual comfort by depriving them of those outward comforts in which they were in most danger as they relied on them and so forgot God.
Looking forward to September.
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Sounds like a wonderful schedule of sermons! Thanks STeve!
Very encouraging Steve!
May I recommend Bp John Rodgers new book on the 39 Articles. It is a clear and compelling commentary on each Article and is there is almost a sermon outline on each one as well. You can purchase the book through TSM.
Thanks, David. Peter Moore has just loaned me his copy of the book. I was pleasantly surprised to see the format you mention (I appreciate your heads up on the book, as well. I didn’t know it existed until last week when I asked Peter to preach on an Article of his choice).