“How goes the battle?”

The following excerpt is taken from J.I. Packer, Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J.C. Ryle (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002), pp. 78-79. Here, Packer quotes at length from Ryle’s book, Holiness, which was originally published in 1877. John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) was an evangelical Anglican priest and, from 1880-1900, the bishop of Liverpool.

Victory is the only satisfactory evidence that you have a saving religion. You like good sermons perhaps. You respect the Bible, and read it occasionally. You say your prayers night and morning. You have family prayers, and give to religious societies. I thank God for this. It is all very good. But how goes the battle? …Are you overcoming the love of the world and the fear of man? Are you overcoming the passions, tempers and lusts of your own heart? Are you resisting the devil and making him flee from you? How is it in this matter? You must either rule or serve sin and the devil and the world. There is no middle course. You must either conquer or be lost.

I know well it is a hard battle that you have to fight, and I want you to know it, too.… You must make up your mind to a daily struggle if you would reach heaven.… Sin, the world and the devil must be actually mortified, resisted and overcome.

This is the road that the saints of old have trodden.… Moses…overcame the love of pleasure.… Micaiah…overcame the love of ease.… Daniel…overcame the fear of death.… Matthew…overcame the love of money.… Peter and John…overcame the fear of man.… When Saul the Pharisee gave up all his prospects of preferment among the Jews, and preached that very Jesus whom he had once persecuted, this was overcoming: he overcame the love of man’s praise.

The same kind of thing which these men did you must also do if you would be saved. They were men of like passions with yourself, and yet they overcame. They had as many trials as you can possibly have, and yet they overcame. They fought. They wrestled. They struggled. You must do the same.

What was the secret of their victory? Their faith. They believed on Jesus and, believing, were made strong…and…were held up. In all their battles, they kept their eyes on Jesus, and he never left them nor forsook them. “They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” and so may you (Rev. 12:11 [KJV]).

Me and my big mouth

Below is the trailer about the upcoming Desiring God 2008 National Conference. However, the reason I’m posting this clip is because of what is said on here about the tongue. For someone like me, whose thoughts often leak out of my mouth, when they would have been better kept inside my head, this was a helpful and convicting reminder.



James 1:26; 3:1-12

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.


HT: Abraham Piper

Zealous for the honor of God

I read this today, and it really got to me.

I ask you, as I ask myself: Are you zealous for the honor of God? I think I, too often, fail in this area. The honor of God should be the priority of everyone who professes the name of Christ, don’t you think? Read Numbers 25, and read this post by Thabiti Anyabwile.

And then, get alone somewhere, and pray.

“Be holy…”

Pastor Josh Harris has posted four helpful teachings on holiness that you can read right here, here, here and here.

Messages from the Desiring God Conference for Pastors

At the Desiring God Blog, there are audio links to the messages (and notes taken by Abraham Piper) being delivered at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors which is going on now, February 5-7, in Minneapolis. The speakers are R.C. Sproul (sessions 1, 3, 5), John Piper (session 4), Thabiti Anyabwile (session 2) and William MacKenzie (session 6). There is also a panel discussion.

Even if you’re not a pastor, take some time to listen to these profitable messages on the holiness of God.