The Plan of God |
Discipleship |
Faith |
Sin |
Perseverence |
Prayer |
Communion With God |
Pursuing God |
Devotion |
Following Jesus |
Time With God |
Sanctification |
Spiritual Warfare |
Trust |
The Word of God |
View All Categories
The meaning of words morphs, and sometimes, as in the case of the word piety, that is sad. What is piety, and why should it be valued?
Recent Entries
God? Who Needs Him?May 31, 2013
Self-sufficient humanism. Paul saw it coming – “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
Imago Dei
September 12, 2012
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Why Can't I Pray?
August 18, 2012
The bible gives us several reasons, but according to Jeremy Taylor, a deceitful heart is at the root of prayerlessness.
It's Not Rocket Science
July 23, 2012
To keep in step with the Spirit should be our daily quest. And if we are successful at that, all of life falls into place.
Theological Steak
April 10, 2012
These words by P. T. Forsythe on the magnificence of Christ's work are to theology what Ruth's Chris is to a good steak.
Describing the Indescribable
February 11, 2012
What we have in Christ will take all eternity to describe. But for one segment of one sermon, a great preacher made a mighty attempt.
Making Sense Of It All
January 30, 2012
Where are things headed? Is there rhyme and reason to the endless cycle of summer, fall, winter and spring? Is there a plan in place, or is randomness the explanation?
In Defense of Piety
July 9, 2008
"For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction—because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty. Malachi 2:7
John Witherspoon was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Jersey, and was the only active clergyman or college president to sign the Declaration. Becoming president of Princeton in 1768, he left quite a legacy. Out of his students came thirty-seven judges, three of whom made it to the Supreme Court. Ten of his former students became Cabinet officers, and twelve became members of the Continental Congress. 28 sat in the Senate, and 49 were United States congressmen. One student, Aaron Burr, became Vice President, and another, James Madison, became President.
These men and many others had a tremendous influence on the young republic. When the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America met in 1789, 52 of the 188 delegates had studied under Witherspoon. The limited-government philosophy of most of these men was due in large measure to Witherspoon's influence.
So what did he teach these men? His first sermon preached at Princeton gives us insight into what the man was about, for he emphasized that "true religion in the heart is of far greater importance to the success and efficacy of the ministry than eminence or gifts." True religion. Hmm....that would be a synonym for piety, or a heart, experiential knowledge of God.
So it is not surprising that in his "Lectures on Eloquence," he laid out what he saw as the essentials that were needed for true heart-changing preaching. They are as follows:
1. Piety - to have a firm belief of that gospel he is called to preach, and a lively sense of religion upon his own heart.....
2. It gives a man the knowledge that is of the most service to a minister. Experimental knowledge is superior to all other, and necessary to the perfection of every other kind. It is indeed the very possession, or daily exercise of that which it is the business of his life, and the duty of his office, to explain and recommend. Experimental knowledge is the best sort in every branch, but it is necessary in divinity, becuse religion is what cannot be truly understood, unless it is felt.
[NOTE: this is what Jesus kept trying to get across to the religious leaders of his day. They had the doctrine down pat, but their hearts were disengaged.]
3. True piety will direct a man in the choice of his studies. The object of human knowledge is so extensive, that nobody can go through the whole, but religion will direct the student to what may be most profitable to him, and will also serve to turn into its proper channel all the knowledge he may otherwise acquire.
4. It will be a powerful motive to diligence in his studies. Nothing so forcible as that in which eternity has a part. The duty to a good man is so pressing, and the object so important, that he will spare no pains to obtain success.
5. True religion will give unspeakable force to what a minister says. There is a piercing and penetrating heat in that which flows from the heart, which distinguishes it both from the coldness of indifference, and the false fire of enthusiasm and vain-glory. We see that a man truly pious has often esteem, influence, adn success, though his parts may be much inferior to others, who are mor capable, but less conscientious. If, then, piety makes even the weakest venerable, what must it do when added to the finest natural talents, and the best acquired endowments?
6. It adds to a minister's instruction, the weight of his example. It is a trite remark, that example teaches better than precept. It is often a more effectual reprimand to vice, and a more inciting argument to the practice of virture, than the best of reasoning. Example is more intelligible, than precept. Precepts are often involved in obscurity, or warped by controversy; but a holy life immediately reaches, and takes possession of the heart....observe, as the conclusion of the whole, that one devoted to the service of teh gospel should be really, visibly, and eminently holy.
Excerpted from REVIVAL AND REVIVALISM By Ian Murray, page 45-46
[ONE MORE NOTE:Witherspoon is not saying here that doctrine and belief are irrelevant. Let's not throw the baby.....well, you know....]
Maybe Paul's words to Timothy say it best. Watch your life and doctrine closely. 1 Timothy 4:16
John Witherspoon was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Jersey, and was the only active clergyman or college president to sign the Declaration. Becoming president of Princeton in 1768, he left quite a legacy. Out of his students came thirty-seven judges, three of whom made it to the Supreme Court. Ten of his former students became Cabinet officers, and twelve became members of the Continental Congress. 28 sat in the Senate, and 49 were United States congressmen. One student, Aaron Burr, became Vice President, and another, James Madison, became President.
These men and many others had a tremendous influence on the young republic. When the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America met in 1789, 52 of the 188 delegates had studied under Witherspoon. The limited-government philosophy of most of these men was due in large measure to Witherspoon's influence.
So what did he teach these men? His first sermon preached at Princeton gives us insight into what the man was about, for he emphasized that "true religion in the heart is of far greater importance to the success and efficacy of the ministry than eminence or gifts." True religion. Hmm....that would be a synonym for piety, or a heart, experiential knowledge of God.
So it is not surprising that in his "Lectures on Eloquence," he laid out what he saw as the essentials that were needed for true heart-changing preaching. They are as follows:
1. Piety - to have a firm belief of that gospel he is called to preach, and a lively sense of religion upon his own heart.....
2. It gives a man the knowledge that is of the most service to a minister. Experimental knowledge is superior to all other, and necessary to the perfection of every other kind. It is indeed the very possession, or daily exercise of that which it is the business of his life, and the duty of his office, to explain and recommend. Experimental knowledge is the best sort in every branch, but it is necessary in divinity, becuse religion is what cannot be truly understood, unless it is felt.
[NOTE: this is what Jesus kept trying to get across to the religious leaders of his day. They had the doctrine down pat, but their hearts were disengaged.]
3. True piety will direct a man in the choice of his studies. The object of human knowledge is so extensive, that nobody can go through the whole, but religion will direct the student to what may be most profitable to him, and will also serve to turn into its proper channel all the knowledge he may otherwise acquire.
4. It will be a powerful motive to diligence in his studies. Nothing so forcible as that in which eternity has a part. The duty to a good man is so pressing, and the object so important, that he will spare no pains to obtain success.
5. True religion will give unspeakable force to what a minister says. There is a piercing and penetrating heat in that which flows from the heart, which distinguishes it both from the coldness of indifference, and the false fire of enthusiasm and vain-glory. We see that a man truly pious has often esteem, influence, adn success, though his parts may be much inferior to others, who are mor capable, but less conscientious. If, then, piety makes even the weakest venerable, what must it do when added to the finest natural talents, and the best acquired endowments?
6. It adds to a minister's instruction, the weight of his example. It is a trite remark, that example teaches better than precept. It is often a more effectual reprimand to vice, and a more inciting argument to the practice of virture, than the best of reasoning. Example is more intelligible, than precept. Precepts are often involved in obscurity, or warped by controversy; but a holy life immediately reaches, and takes possession of the heart....observe, as the conclusion of the whole, that one devoted to the service of teh gospel should be really, visibly, and eminently holy.
Excerpted from REVIVAL AND REVIVALISM By Ian Murray, page 45-46
[ONE MORE NOTE:Witherspoon is not saying here that doctrine and belief are irrelevant. Let's not throw the baby.....well, you know....]
Maybe Paul's words to Timothy say it best. Watch your life and doctrine closely. 1 Timothy 4:16
