Habits of grace david mathis pdf

Spiritual Reflection Paper

Throughout the course, the students will be reading David Mathis’ Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines. This book outlines different spiritual disciplines (called habits) that foster spiritual growth. As they read the book, the students will attempt to participate in 6 of these spiritual disciplines, with at least one from each of the main categories described in the book (Word, Prayer, and Fellowship). In week 7, the students will submit a 3–5 page paper in which they describe their experience with these disciplines. The paper will consist of 6 sections, one for each of the disciplines the students participated in (half-page minimum). Each section will a.) describe what the discipline is (according to Mathis) and b.) reflect on the students’ own experience in practicing the discipline.

“Simple. Practical. Helpful. In Habits of Grace, Mathis writes brilliantly about three core spiritual disciplines that will help us realign our lives and strengthen our faith. In a world where everything seems to be getting more complicated, this book will help us to downshift and refocus on the things that matter most.”

Louie Giglio, Pastor, Passion City Church, Atlanta; Founder, Passion Conferences

“Although this little book says what many others say about Bible reading, prayer, and Christian fellowship (with two or three others tacked on), its great strength and beauty is that it nurtures my resolve to read the Bible and it makes me hungry to pray. If the so-called ‘means of grace’ are laid out as nothing more than duties, the hinge of sanctification is obligation. But in this case, the means of grace are rightly perceived as gracious gifts and signs that God is at work in us, which increases our joy as we stand on the cusp of Christian freedom under the glories of King Jesus.”

D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; cofounder, The Gospel Coalition

“Most people assume that disciplined training is necessary for attaining any skill—professional, academic, or athletic. But for some reason, Christians do not see this principle applying to their Christian lives. In his excellent book, Habits of Grace, David Mathis makes a compelling case for the importance of the spiritual disciplines, and he does so in such a winsome way that will motivate all of us to practice the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life. This book will be great both for new believers just starting on their journey and as a refresher course for those of us already along the way.”

Jerry Bridges, author, The Pursuit of Holiness

“David Mathis has more than accomplished his goal of writing an introduc- tion to the spiritual disciplines. What I love most about the book is how Mathis presents the disciplines—or ‘means of grace’ as he prefers to describe them—as habits to be cultivated in order to enjoy Jesus. The biblical practices Mathis explains are not ends—that was the mistake of the Pharisees in Jesus’s day and of legalists in our time. Rather they are means by which we seek, savor, and enjoy Jesus Christ. May the Lord use this book to help you place yourself ‘in the way of allurement’ that results in an increase of your joy in Jesus.”

Donald S. Whitney, Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality, Senior Associate Dean of the School of Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

“So often as we consider the spiritual disciplines, we think of what we must do individually. Mathis takes a different approach that is both insightful and refreshing. Along with our personal time of prayer and reading, we are encour- aged to seek advice from seasoned saints, have conversations about Bible study with others, and pray together. The Christian life, including the disciplines, isn’t meant to be done in isolation. Mathis’s depth of biblical knowledge along with his practical guidance and gracious delivery will leave you eager to pursue the disciplines, shored up by the grace of God.”

Trillia Newbell, author, United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity and Fear and Faith

“This is the kind of book I turn to periodically to help examine and recalibrate my heart, my priorities, and my walk with the Lord. David Mathis has given us a primer for experiencing and exuding ever-growing delight in Christ through grace-initiated intentional habits that facilitate the flow of yet fuller springs of grace into and through our lives.”

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, author; radio host, Revive Our Hearts

“There is not a Christian in the world who has mastered the spiritual disci- plines. In fact, the more we grow in grace, the more we realize how little we know of hearing from God, speaking to God, and meditating on God. Our maturity reveals our inadequacy. Habits of Grace is a powerful guide to the spiritual disciplines. It offers basic instructions to new believers while bringing fresh encouragement to those who have walked with the Lord for many years. It is a joy to commend it to you.”

Tim Challies, author, The Next Story; blogger, Challies.com

“When I was growing up, spiritual disciplines were often surrounded by an air of legalism. But today the pendulum has swung in the other direction: it seems that family and private devotions have fallen off the radar. The very word habits can be a turnoff, especially in a culture of distraction and au- tonomy. Yet character is largely a bundle of habits. Christ promises to bless us through his means of grace: his Word preached and written, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Like a baby’s first cry, prayer is the beginning of that life of response to grace given, and we never grow out of it. Besides prayer, there are other habits that grace motivates and shapes. I’m grateful for Habits of Grace bringing the disciplines back into the conversation and, hopefully, back into our practice as well.”

Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California; author, Calvin on the Christian Life

“David Mathis has given us a book on the spiritual disciplines that is practi- cal, actionable, and accessible. He speaks with a voice that neither scolds nor overwhelms, offering encouragement through suggestions and insights to help even the newest believer find a rhythm by which to employ these means of grace. A treatment of the topic that is wonderfully uncomplicated and thor- ough, Habits of Grace offers both a place to start for beginners and a path to grow for those seasoned in the faith.”

Jen Wilkin, author, Women of the Word; Bible study teacher

“I am drawn to books that I know are first lived out in the messiness of life before finding their way onto clean sheets of paper. This is one of those books! David has found a well-worn path to Jesus through the habits of grace he commends to us. I am extremely grateful for David’s commitment to take the timeless message in this book and communicate it in language that is winsome to the mind and warm to the heart. This book has the breadth of a literature review that reads like a devotional. I am eager to get it into the hands of our campus ministry staff and see it being read in dorm rooms and student centers across the country.”

Matt Bradner, Regional Director, Campus Outreach

“David Mathis has provided us with a gospel-driven, Word-centered, Christ- exalting vision of Christian spiritual practices. Furthermore, he understands that sanctification is a community project: the local church rightly looms large in Habits of Grace. This book is perfect for small group study, devotional reading, or for passing on to a friend who is thinking about this topic for the first time. I give it my highest recommendation.”

Nathan A. Finn, Dean, The School of Theology and Missions, Union University

W H E A T O N , I L L I N O I S

®

Habits of Grace

Enjoying Jesus through the

Spiritual Disciplines

David Mathis

Foreword by John Piper

Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines

Copyright © 2016 by David C. Mathis

Published by Crossway 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Jeff Miller, Faceout Studio

Cover image: Benjamin Devine

First printing 2016

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-5047-8 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-5050-8 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-5048-5 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-5049-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mathis, David, 1980– Habits of grace : enjoying Jesus through the spiritual disciplines / David Mathis ; foreword by John Piper. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4335-5047-8 (tp) 1. Spiritual life—Christianity. 2. Christian life. I. Title. BV4501.3.M284 2016 248.4'6—dc23 2015023865

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

LB 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Carson and Coleman May he give you a palate

for the ancient recipes

Contents

Foreword by John Piper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Introduction: Grace Gone Wild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Part 1

HEAR HIS VOICE (WORD)

1 Shape Your Life with the Words of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

2 Read for Breadth, Study for Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

3 Warm Yourself at the Fire of Meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

4 Bring the Bible Home to Your Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

5 Memorize the Mind of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

6 Resolve to Be a Lifelong Learner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

Part 2

HAVE HIS EAR (PRAYER)

7 Enjoy the Gift of Having God’s Ear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

8 Pray in Secret . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

9 Pray with Constancy and Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

10 Sharpen Your Affections with Fasting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

11 Journal as a Pathway to Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

12 Take a Break from the Chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Part 3

BELONG TO HIS BODY (FELLOWSHIP)

13 Learn to Fly in the Fellowship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

14 Kindle the Fire in Corporate Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

15 Listen for Grace in the Pulpit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

16 Wash in the Waters Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

17 Grow in Grace at the Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

18 Embrace the Blessing of Rebuke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Part 4

CODA

19 The Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

20 The Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

21 The Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Epilogue: Communing with Christ on a Crazy Day . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

General Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Scripture Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Foreword

by John Piper

I don’t even think David intended this, but his title and sub- title are a chiasm. And I like it so much, I’m going to build my foreword around it. A chiasm (taken from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an X) is a sequence of thoughts in which the first and last member correspond, and the second and second-to-last member correspond, and so on, with a hinge thought in the middle. So the title of the book looks like this in a chiasm:

Habits of Grace:

Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual

Disciplines

Habits corresponds to Disciplines. Grace corresponds to Spiri- tual. And Enjoying Jesus is the hinge. This is loaded with im- plications for why David’s book is worth reading.

The chiasm, and the book, and the theology behind it demand that enjoying Jesus be the hinge. But “hinge” only

12 Foreword

signifies the swing position in the middle of the other thoughts. There is always more to it than that. In this case, the hinge is the goal of all the rest.

David is writing a book to help you enjoy Jesus. In doing that, he is not trying to be nice. He’s trying to be nuclear. His way of thinking about enjoying Jesus is explosive. If you enjoy Jesus more than life (Matt. 10:38), you will live with a radical abandon for Jesus that will make the world wonder. Enjoy- ment of Jesus is not like icing on the cake; it’s like powder in the shell.

Not only is enjoying Jesus explosively transforming in the way we live; it is also essential for making Jesus look great. And that is why we have the Holy Spirit. Jesus said the Spirit came to glorify him (John 16:14). The primary mission of the Spirit—and his people—is to show that Jesus is more glori- ous than anyone or anything else. It cannot be done by those who find this world more enjoyable than Jesus. They make the world look great. Therefore, the ultimate aim of the Christian life—and the universe—hangs on the people of God enjoying the Son of God.

But this is beyond us. Our hearts default to enjoying the world more than Jesus. This is why the hinge thought—enjoy- ing Jesus—is bracketed on both sides by grace and spiritual.

Grace Enjoying Jesus

Spiritual

Grace is the free and sovereign work of God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, even though we don’t deserve it. Spiritual is the biblical word to describe what has been brought about by the Holy Spirit. “Spiritual” does not mean religious, or mystical, or new-age-like. It means: caused and shaped by God’s Spirit.

Foreword 13

So the point is this: God almighty, by his grace and by his Spirit, does not leave us to ourselves when it comes to enjoying Jesus. He helps us. He does not say, “Delight yourself in the Lord” (Ps. 37:4), and then merely stand back and watch to see if we can. He makes a covenant with us and says, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes” (Ezek. 36:27). He causes what he commands. Enjoying Jesus is not optional. It is a duty. But it is also a gift—spiritual and gracious.

But the gift comes through means. This is why Grace is flanked by Habits, and Spiritual is flanked by Disciplines.

Habits of Grace:

Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual

Disciplines

The Bible does not say, “God is at work in you to bring about his good purposes, therefore stay in bed.” It says, “Work out your salvation, because God is at work in you” (see Phil. 2:12– 13). God’s work does not make our work unnecessary; it makes it possible. “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). Grace does not just pardon our failures; it empowers our suc- cesses—like successfully enjoying Jesus more than life.

This book is about grace-empowered habits, and Spirit- empowered disciplines. These are the means God has given for drinking at the fountain of life. They don’t earn the enjoyment. They receive it. They are not payments for pleasure; they are pipelines. The psalmist does not say, “You sell them drink,” but, “You give them drink from the river of your delights” (Ps. 36:8). But all of us leak. We all need inspiration and instruction for how to drink—again and again. Habitually.

14 Foreword

If you have never read a book on “habits of grace” or “spiri- tual disciplines,” start with this one. If you are a veteran lover of the river of God, but, for some reason, have recently been wandering aimlessly in the desert, this book will be a good way back.

John Piper desiringGod.org

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Preface

I make no pretense that this is the definitive book, or anything close to it, on the spiritual disciplines—better, “the means of grace.” In fact, I’ve been intentional to keep things relatively brief. Think of this as an introduction or orientation. Many important lessons are left to others to provide in more extended treatments.1 In particular, I am eager to help Christians young and old simplify their approach to their various personal habits of grace, or spiritual disciplines, by highlighting the three key principles of ongoing grace: hearing God’s voice (his word), having his ear (prayer), and belonging to his body (fellowship).

This simplified approach, and many of the ideas developed in the pages ahead, were forged first in the classroom at Beth- lehem College & Seminary, where I’ve taught “the disciplines” to the third-year collegiates. Next I made the effort to get the concepts the students seemed to find most helpful into article form at desiringGod.org. The response was encouraging, and Crossway was kind enough to provide the opportunity to bring the thoughts together and extend them in this form.

This volume is intentionally half the size of most others on

1 In particular, as you’ll find throughout the book, I am indebted to three texts I highly recom- mend—two old friends and one new: Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, rev. ed. (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2014); John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004); and Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (New York: Dutton, 2014).

16 Preface

the disciplines. I hope that some readers will go from here to the larger books. But I wanted to provide something shorter, yet still cover the major topics, in hopes of making a simplified ap- proach to the means of grace accessible to others who wouldn’t take up the bigger volumes.

However, the roots of this book go back long before teach- ing college and writing articles. Seeds were sown earlier than I can even remember by my parents and childhood church in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Every morning Pop was up early reading his Bible and praying before heading into the dental of- fice, and Mom typically had her Bible open on the dining room table as she dipped into the Book during the day. I frequently heard refreshers on the basics in varying detail and depth in elementary, middle, and high school classes at church.

In college, through the ministry of Campus Outreach, I was discipled during the semester and shaped by summer training projects. When I was a college junior, a discipler introduced me to Donald S. Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. I began teaching “how to have a quiet time” to younger students in the context of life-on-life discipleship, and then con- tinued doing so on staff with Campus Outreach in Minneapolis. These experiences eventually led to instructing college juniors at Bethlehem.

I must mention the incalculable influence of John Piper, with whom I have worked closely since 2006. For those who know his ministry of preaching and writing, John’s fingerprints will be unmistakable in these pages, both in explicit quotations and in structures of thought and instincts I can’t shake, and wouldn’t want to. His 2004 book When I Don’t Desire God is the place to find his most concentrated practical teaching on Bible in- take and prayer, but gold nuggets on the means of grace, and his own habits, are scattered throughout his corpus, especially in his annual new-year sermons on Bible and prayer available

Preface 17

at desiringGod.org, and his answers to the litany of practical questions that come through the Ask Pastor John daily podcast.

Just after receiving the invitation to publish this book, I read Timothy Keller’s Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God. You will see in part 2, on prayer, that already I’m gleaning much from Keller’s insights, and I greatly commend his book. My hope is that the little bit I have to say about prayer will point you in the right direction, and then sooner, rather than later, you will take it to the next level, and more, with Keller’s remarkable guide.

How This Book Is Different I eagerly send you to the longer texts on the disciplines, but that doesn’t mean I’ve written this book merely as a summary, with nothing distinct to contribute. Perhaps the key distinguishing feature of this book, in addition to its brevity, is the threefold organizational scheme we’ve already noted. Here we cast the disciplines not as ten or twelve (or more) distinct practices to work into your life, but as three key principles (God’s voice, God’s ear, and God’s people), which then are fleshed out in countless creative and helpful habits in the varying lives of be- lievers in their differing contexts.

In particular, this structure restores fellowship as a means of grace to its essential place in the Christian life. Piper’s, Keller’s, and Whitney’s books focus on personal disciplines, and include no extended sections, much less a full chapter, on the role of fellowship.2 In structuring this book in three parts, similar practices can be grouped and understood together, such that individual chapters are shorter and designed for reading in one sitting. My hope is that this will help you move toward applica- tion in your own practices by making clear that the point isn’t

2 Whitney has made a good effort to compensate for it with Spiritual Disciplines within the Church: Participating Fully in the Body of Christ (Chicago: Moody, 1996).

18 Preface

to practice at all times in one’s Christian walk every single spe- cific discipline addressed, but to understand the key pathways of ongoing grace and seek to create regular habits for these principles in life.

At Crossway’s request, I’ve written a study guide to accom- pany this book for those who would like to deepen their reflec- tions and applications. It is designed for both individual and group study, and is available in workbook format.

My prayer is that you will not come away exasperated that you simply don’t have time to put into practice all that this book commends. Rather, in its very structure, the book aims to help you see how realistic and life-giving it can be to integrate God’s means of grace into daily habits of life.

And alongside the emphasis on fellowship, this book also hopes to make the pursuit of joy more central, explicit, and pronounced than has typically been the case in many texts on the disciplines.

My Dream and Prayer for You My prayer for you as you read is that you would find the means of grace to be practical, realistic, and desirable in your pursuit of joy in Christ. I hope that there are many things here ben- eficial to a general Christian audience, but that there will be a special appeal to college students and young adults who are learning to fly for themselves for the first time in the various rhythms and practices of the Christian life.

My dream is that this book would serve you with simplicity, stability, confidence, power, and joy. Simplicity in that looking at the means of grace in three main channels will help you un- derstand the matrix of grace for living the Christian life and cre- ate practical pathways (your own habits) that are realistic and life-giving in your unique season of life. Stability in that getting to know your own soul, and creating rhythms and practices,

Preface 19

will help you weather the ups and downs of life in this fallen world with the contentment that comes, in some measure, from knowing ourselves and learning ways in which we can help “lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet” (Heb. 12:12–13) and “keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21). Confidence in that as you walk these paths, you’ll see how God is faithful to sustain us and give us “grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). Power in that hearing his word, having his ear, and belonging to his body fill our souls with spiritual energy and strength for the pouring out of ourselves in ministry and mission. And joy to satisfy our deepest longings that will only be met in their full- ness when we see the God-man face to face and live in perfect communion with him, and all our fellows in him, forever.

The note we will strike again and again, without any apol- ogy, is that the means of grace, fleshed out in our various habits of grace, are to be for us means of joy in God, and thus means of his glory. And so the simplicity, stability, con- fidence, power, and joy of God himself stand behind these means. These are the paths of his promise. He stands ready to pour out his wonderfully wild and lavish grace through these channels. Are you ready?

Introduction

Grace Gone Wild

The grace of God is on the loose. Contrary to our expectations, counter to our assumptions, frustrating our judicial sentiments, and mocking our craving for control, the grace of God is turn- ing the world upside down. God is shamelessly pouring out his lavish favor on undeserving sinners of all stripes and thoroughly stripping away our self-sufficiency.

Before turning our focus to “the means of grace,” and the practices (“habits”) that ready us to go on receiving God’s grace in our lives, this much must be clear from the outset: The grace of God is gloriously beyond our skill and technique. The means of grace are not about earning God’s favor, twisting his arm, or controlling his blessing, but readying ourselves for consistent saturation in the roll of his tides.

Grace has been on the move since before creation, roaming wild and free. Even before the foundation of the world, it was the untamed grace of God that jumped the bounds of time and space and considered a yet-to-be-created people in connection with his Son, and chose us in him (Eph. 1:4). It was in love—to the praise of his glorious grace—that “he predestined us for

22 Introduction: Grace Gone Wild

adoption as sons through Jesus” (Eph. 1:5). Such divine choice was not based on foreseeing anything good in us. He chose us by grace—not “on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Rom. 11:5–6). It was “not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Tim. 1:9).

With patience, then—through creation, fall, and flood, through Adam, Noah, Abraham, and King David—God pre- pared the way. Humanity waited and groaned, gathering up the crumbs of his compassion as a foretaste of some feast to come. The prophets “prophesied about the grace that was to be yours” (1 Pet. 1:10). And in the fullness of time, it came. He came.

Invading Our Space Now “the grace of God has appeared” (Titus 2:11). Grace couldn’t be kept from becoming flesh and dwelling among us in the God-man, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace (John 1:16). The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth are here in him (John 1:17). Grace has a face.

But grace would not be restricted even here, even in this man. Grace would not just be embodied but break the chains to roam the globe unfettered. It was sheer grace that united us by faith to Jesus, Grace Incarnate, and blessed us in him “with every spiri- tual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3). In grace were we called with effect (Gal. 1:6) and given new birth in our souls. Be- cause of grace unmeasured, boundless, free, now our once-dead hearts beat and our once-lifeless lungs breathe. Only through grace do we believe (Acts 18:27) and only in grace do we receive “repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 2:25).

But such wild grace keeps going. We are given the Spirit of grace, experience our long-planned adoption, and enabled to

Introduction: Grace Gone Wild 23

cry, “Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15). We receive “the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7).

Grace keeps breaking through barriers and casting away restraints. Grace justifies. A perfect, unimpeachable, divinely approved, humanly applied righteousness is ours in this union with Jesus. We are “justified by his grace as a gift” (Rom. 3:24; Titus 3:7). Through this one man Jesus, we are counted among “those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness” (Rom. 5:17). And so we happily say with Paul, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Gal. 2:21).1

Breaking into Our Lives

And just when we think we have been carried far enough, that God has done for us all that we could imagine and more, grace shatters the mold again. Grace sanctifies. It is too wild to let us stay in love with unrighteousness. Too free to leave us in slavery to sin. Too untamed to let our lusts go unconquered. Grace’s power is too uninhibited to not unleash us for the happiness of true holiness.

So it is that we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18) and live “not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Grace abounds not through our continuing in sin, but through our Spirit-empowered, ongoing liberation (Rom. 6:1). Grace is too strong to leave us passive, too potent to let us wallow in the mire of our sins and weaknesses. “My grace is sufficient for you,” Jesus says, “for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). It is the grace of God that gives us his “means of grace” for our ongoing perseverance

1 For more on justification by faith alone, and in particular how it relates to sanctification and the Christian’s pursuit of growth and holiness in the Christian life, see “The Search for Sanctification’s Holy Grail,” in Acting the Miracle: God’s Work and Ours in the Mystery of Sanctification, ed. John Piper and David Mathis (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 13–27.

24 Introduction: Grace Gone Wild

and growth and joy this side of the coming new creation. And the grace of God inspires and empowers the various habits and practices by which we avail ourselves of God’s means.

Flooding the Future

Just when we’re sure it is done, and certain that some order must be restored and some boundary established, God’s grace not only floods our future in this life but also spans the divide into the next, and pours out onto the plains of our eternity. Grace glorifies.

If the Scriptures didn’t make plain this story of our glory, we’d be scared to even dream of such grace. Not only will Jesus be glorified in us, but we will be glorified in him, “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:12). He is “the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ” (1 Pet. 5:10). So Peter tells us to “set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13). It will be indescribably stunning in the coming ages as he shows “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). Even the most mature among us have only begun to taste the grace of God.

Chosen before time. Called with effect. United to Jesus in faith and repentance. Adopted and forgiven. Justified. Sancti- fied. Glorified. And satisfied forever. This is grace gone wonder- fully wild. This is the flood of God’s favor in which we discover the power and practice of the means of grace.

Put Yourself in the Path of God’s Grace

It is in this endless sea of his grace that we walk the path of the Christian life and take steps of grace-empowered effort and initiative. It works something like this.

Introduction: Grace Gone Wild 25

I can flip a switch, but I don’t provide the electricity. I can turn on a faucet, but I don’t make the water flow. There will be no light and no liquid refreshment without someone else providing it. And so it is for the Christian with the ongoing grace of God. His grace is essential for our spiritual lives, but we don’t control the supply. We can’t make the favor of God flow, but he has given us circuits to connect and pipes to open expectantly. There are paths along which he has promised his favor.

As we have celebrated above, our God is lavish in his grace; he is free to liberally dispense his goodness without even the least bit of cooperation and preparation on our part, and often he does. But he also has his regular channels. And we can rou- tinely avail ourselves of these revealed paths of blessing—or neglect them to our detriment.

Where the Grace Keeps Passing “The essence of the Christian life,” writes John Piper, “is learn- ing to fight for joy in a way that does not replace grace.” We cannot earn God’s grace or make it flow apart from his free gift. But we can position ourselves to go on getting as he keeps on giving. We can “fight to walk in the paths where he has prom- ised his blessings.”2 We can ready ourselves to remain receivers along his regular routes, sometimes called “the spiritual disci- plines,” or even better, “the means of grace.”3

Such practices need not be fancy or highfalutin.4 They are the

2 John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 43–44. 3 I prefer “means of grace” to “spiritual disciplines.” In one sense, this is a book essentially concerned with what many would call the Christian “spiritual disciplines.” However, I find that the language of “means of grace” coheres more consistently with the theology of the Bible about such practices and helps to keep the key emphases in their proper places. “Means of grace,” according to D. A. Carson, is “a lovely expression less susceptible to misinterpretation than spiritual disciplines.” Carson, “Spiritual Disciplines,” in Themelios, 36, no. 3 (November 2011). 4 As we will see, the means of grace are first and foremost principles, which can be fleshed out in countless, creative practices (“habits”).

26 Introduction: Grace Gone Wild

stuff of everyday, basic Christianity—unimpressively mundane, but spectacularly potent by the Spirit. While there’s no final and complete list of such practices, the long tally of helpful habits can be clustered underneath three main principles: hear- ing God’s voice, having his ear, and belonging to his body. Or simply: word, prayer, and fellowship.5

In the last generation, we have seen some resurgence of in- terest among Christians in the spiritual disciplines, many of which were considered “means of grace” by our spiritual an- cestors. “The doctrine of the disciplines,” says J. I. Packer, “is really a restatement and extension of classical Protestant teach- ing on the means of grace.”6 Whatever the term, the key is that God has revealed certain channels through which he regularly pours out his favor. And we’re foolish not to take his word on them and build habits of spiritual life around them.

What Means of Grace Means and Doesn’t To put means with grace might endanger the free nature of grace. But it need not do so—not if the means are coordinate with receiving and the exertions of effort are graciously sup- plied. This is emphatically the case for the Christian. Here there is no ground for boasting.7

5 John Frame, in Systematic Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2013), organizes the means of grace under these three headings. This way of categorizing it is close to Luke’s summary of early-church life in Acts 2:42: “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching [the word] and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread [which we categorize under fellowship] and the prayers.” J. C. Ryle shows a similar system of categorization when he writes, “The ‘means of grace’ are such as Bible reading, private prayer, and regularly worshiping God in Church, wherein one hears the Word taught and participates in the Lord’s Supper. I lay it down as a simple matter of fact that no one who is careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in sanctification. I can find no record of any eminent saint who ever neglected them. They are appointed channels through which the Holy Spirit conveys fresh supplies of grace to the soul and strengthens the work which He has begun in the inward man. . . . Our God is a God who works by means, and He will never bless the soul of that man who pretends to be so high and spiritual that he can get on without them.” J. C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots (Peabody, MN: Hendrickson, 2007), 26. 6 Foreword for Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, rev. ed. (Colo- rado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2014), ix–x. 7 Along with the Reformed tradition of Christian theology, I mean something distinctly Prot- estant by “means of grace.” I do not believe that the various “means of grace” function auto-

Introduction: Grace Gone Wild 27

The one on whom we lean is “the God of all grace” (1 Pet. 5:10). He not only elects the undeserving without condition (Rom. 8:29–33; Eph. 1:4) and works in them the miracle of new birth and the gift of faith, but he also freely declares them righteous by that faith (“justification”) and begins supplying the flow of spiritual life and energy to experience the joy of increasing Christlikeness.

As we have seen, God’s immense flood of grace not only sees us as holy in Christ but also progressively produces holy desires in us (“sanctification”). It is grace to be forgiven of sinful acts, and grace to be supplied the heart for righteous ones. It is grace that we are increasingly “conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29), and grace that he doesn’t leave us in the misery of our sin but pledges to bring to completion the good work he has begun in us (Phil. 1:6).

For the glory of God, the good of others, and the satisfac- tion of our souls, the aim of the Christian life is our coming to share in such Christlikeness or godliness—which is “holiness” rightly understood. And all our exertions of effort toward that goal are gifts of grace.

Train Yourself for Godliness

Yes, it is grace, and yes, we expend effort. And so the apostle Paul says to his protégé, “Train yourself for godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7). Discipline yourself for growth. Take regular action to get more of God in your mind and your heart, and echo his ways

matically (ex opere operato in the Catholic tradition), but are God’s promised paths of blessing when received with conscious, active faith in God as the giver through Jesus Christ. Grace, then, is dispensed not by the church, but by Jesus himself. As Scottish theologian James Bannerman writes, “It is not the Church that governs and dispenses ordinances and spiritual graces in his name, and by reason of his original gift and endowment to her, but Christ who, personally present, governs and administers ordinances and blessing through the Church. The Church has no store of life apart from Christ being in it; the ordinances of the Church have no deposit of grace apart from Christ present with them; the office-bearers of the Church have no gift or power, or authority, or action, apart from Christ ruling and acting by them.” James Bannerman, The Church of Christ, vol. 1 (Vestavia Hills, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2009), 199.

28 Introduction: Grace Gone Wild

in your life—which will make you increasingly like him (“godli- ness”). It’s a gift, and we receive it as we become it.

Paul’s own reliance on God for ongoing grace is a powerful testimony to this Christian dynamic of the means of grace and the habits of life we cultivate. He says in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am. . . . I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” God’s grace didn’t make Paul passive but supplied the energy for discipline and effort, and every ounce of energy expended was all of grace.

And Paul says in Romans 15:18, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me.” Jesus’s grace, in this instance, didn’t mean accomplishing his purpose despite Paul, or apart from him, but through him. Where does the apostle get the power to labor and expend such spiritual effort? “I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Col. 1:29).

How to Receive the Gift of Effort This dynamic is true not just because Paul is an apostle, but because he is a Christian. So he says to every believer, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” because of this great promise: “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12–13). And so the majestic epistle to the Hebrews closes with a prayer for God’s “working in us that which is pleasing in his sight” (Heb. 13:20–21).

The way to receive the gift of God’s empowering our actions is to do the actions. If he gives the gift of effort, we receive that gift by expending the effort. When he gives the grace of grow- ing in holiness, we don’t receive that gift apart from becoming more holy. When he gives us the desire to get more of him in the Scriptures, or in prayer, or among his people, we don’t re-

Introduction: Grace Gone Wild 29

ceive that gift without experiencing the desire and living out the pursuits that flow from it.

Lay Yourself in the Way of Allurement

Zacchaeus may have been a wee little man, but he modeled this big reality by positioning himself along the path of grace. He couldn’t force Jesus’s hand, he couldn’t make grace flow automatically, but he could put himself by faith along the path where Grace was coming (Luke 19:1–10). The same was true of blind Bartimaeus (Luke 18:35–43). He couldn’t earn the restoration of his sight, but he could station himself along the route of grace where Jesus might give the gift as he passed that way.

“Think of the Spiritual Disciplines,” says Donald S. Whitney, “as ways we can place ourselves in the path of God’s grace and seek him as Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus placed themselves in Jesus’s path and sought him.”8 Or as Jonathan Edwards put it, you can “endeavor to promote spiritual appetites by laying yourself in the way of allurement.”9 We cannot force Jesus’s hand, but we can put ourselves along the paths of grace where we can be expectant of his blessing.

God’s regular channels of grace, as we will see, are his voice, his ear, and his body. He often showers his people with unex- pected favor. But typically the grace that sends our roots deep- est, truly grows us up in Christ, prepares our soul for a new day, produces lasting spiritual maturity, and increases the current of our joy streams from the ordinary and unspectacular paths of fellowship, prayer, and Bible intake given practical expression in countless forms and habits.

8 Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines, 13. 9 “The Spiritual Blessings of the Gospel Represented by a Feast,” in Sermons and Discourses, 1723–1729, ed. Kenneth Minkema, vol. 14 of The Works of Jonathan Edwards (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997), 286. Emphasis added.

30 Introduction: Grace Gone Wild

While these simple habits of grace may seem as unimpressive as everyday switches and faucets, through them God regularly stands ready to give his true light and the water of life.

The Great End of the Means

Before we begin to say more about Jesus’s word, his ear, and his church in the pages ahead, we need to make clear what is the greatest grace along these paths: Jesus himself. The great end of the means is knowing and enjoying him. The final joy in any truly Christian discipline or practice or rhythm of life is, in the words of the apostle, “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8). “This is eternal life,” and this is the goal of the means of grace: “that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

When all is said and done, our hope is not to be a skilled Bible reader, practiced pray-er, and faithful churchman, but to be the one who “understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth” (Jer. 9:23–24). And so our heartbeat in the habits we develop for hearing every word, speaking every prayer, and participating in every act of fellowship is Hosea 6:3: “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord.” Knowing and enjoy- ing Jesus is the final end of hearing his voice, having his ear, and belonging to his body.

The means of grace, and their many good expressions, will serve to make us more like him, but only as our focus returns continually to Christ himself, not our own Christlikeness. It is in “beholding the glory of the Lord” that we “are being trans- formed into the same image from one degree of glory to an- other” (2 Cor. 3:18). Spiritual growth is a marvelous effect of such practices, but in a sense it is only a side effect. The heart is knowing and enjoying Jesus.

Introduction: Grace Gone Wild 31

The Means of Grace and the Things of Earth

One important question our study raises is how these means of grace relate to the rest of God’s creation. In an important sense, all of God’s creation can serve as means of his grace, not just his word, prayer, and fellowship.10 My friend and fellow pastor Joe Rigney skillfully addresses this in The Things of Earth: Treasur- ing God by Enjoying His Gifts.11 His chapter on “Rhythms of Godwardness” intersects most explicitly with our focus on the means of grace and their habits. He writes about “two differ- ent types of godwardness . . . direct godwardness and indirect godwardness.”12

Rigney’s focus is on the second type and how we can trea- sure the God of heaven in the things of earth, while this book addresses the first—treasuring God through his appointed means of grace, those special channels through which he sup- plies ongoing blessing to his church. This twofold model (direct and indirect godwardness) serves Rigney’s project well, but our inclusion of fellowship, not just God’s word and prayer, as a means of grace raises a cluster of questions: Is corporate Chris- tianity to be considered direct or indirect godwardness? Is it direct when we’re gathered for corporate worship and indirect when we’re conversing with each other about gospel realities? Or even more specifically, is it direct when we’re singing (to God) in corporate worship but indirect when we’re listening to a preacher? Is sharing in the Lord’s Supper direct or indirect? The twofold concept works well for personal Bible meditation and prayer on the one hand, and for vocation and recreation

10 For one, his word is not only the “special revelation” of the Scriptures, but also the “general revelation” of the skies, and all creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge” (Ps. 19:1–2). 11 Joe Rigney, The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015). John Piper also gives a chapter to “How to Wield the World in the Fight for Joy,” in When I Don’t Desire God. 12 Rigney, Things of Earth, 121.

32 Introduction: Grace Gone Wild

on the other, but the clarity breaks down when we turn to corporate godwardness, which doesn’t fit well as “direct” or “indirect.”

One way forward, at least for this book, is to consider “cor- porate godwardness” its own category alongside the direct godwardness of personal Bible meditation and prayer and the indirect godwardness of engaging with the things of earth. Cer- tainly communing intentionally with fellow Christians about the things of heaven is fundamentally different than interact- ing with nonbelievers about sports and the weather, or fellow believers for that matter. If we add a third category and make it a triad, then this book is taken up mainly with two: direct godwardness in parts 1 and 2 and corporate godwardness in part 3.13

Your Habits, God’s Grace

The means of grace are God’s promised channels of continuing grace, received by faith. Infinite grace is behind us, and infinite grace lies ahead, and through his appointed means of grace, God is pleased to supply ongoing life and energy and health and strength to our souls. The means of grace fill our tank for the pursuit of joy, for the good of others, and for the glory of God. They are spiritual blessings, not the gravely mistimed material blessings promised prematurely in the so-called “pros- perity gospel.” And they are blessings—not mere disciplines, but channels through which God gives us spiritual food for our survival, growth, and flourishing in the mission.

For more than a generation now, we have seen a renewal of interest among Christians in the spiritual disciplines. There has

13 Rigney’s book, then, also focuses on two of the three: indirect godwardness and corporate godwardness. Corporate godwardness is the category our projects share in common, while the respective direct or indirect focus makes them distinct. I eagerly send you to Rigney’s book to consider how “the things of earth” can serve as (general) means of God’s grace.

Introduction: Grace Gone Wild 33

been much good in this renewal. But too many have empha- sized technique and skill, with the unfortunate diminishing, or neglect, of God’s role as supplier and provider. Too often the stress has been on the individual’s initiative and effort, with little said about the place of the church and the corporate na- ture of God’s plan. Much has been said in terms of duty, and too little said about joy. And the seeming proliferation of long lists of disciplines can leave young Christians overwhelmed by what they’re not practicing, and in some cases contribute to a low-grade sense of guilt which threatens to keep us from fully engaging with the rest of our everyday lives for which these practices should be preparing us.

My hope in reshifting the focus from the spiritual disciplines to the means of grace—and then the various personal habits of grace that we develop in light of them—is to keep the gospel and the energy of God at the center, to draw in the essential (and often neglected) corporate aspect, and to simplify the way we think about these practices (as hearing God’s voice, having his ear, and belonging to his body). My prayer is that this ap- proach will help to make the means of grace, and your own habits that develop around them, not just accessible and realis- tic but truly God’s means of your knowing and enjoying Jesus.

Part 1

H E A R H I S V O I C E

Word

Chapter 1

Shape Your Life with

the Words of Life

The Christian life, from start to finish, is utterly dependent on the grace of God. Not only do we come into spiritual life by sheer grace (Act 18:27; Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:5), but it is in divine grace that we continue on (Acts 13:43). It is by God’s grace that our souls survive through many trials (2 Cor. 12:9; Heb. 4:16), are strengthened for everyday life (2 Tim. 2:1; Heb. 13:9), and grow into greater maturity and health (2 Pet. 3:18).

And it is God’s grace that enables us to make choices and expend effort to seek more of God (1 Cor. 15:10). It is a gift that we would have the desire for and take action to avail our- selves of the means of God’s grace—his voice (the word), his ear (prayer), and his people (fellowship)—with the most basic principle of grace being the immersing of our lives in his word.

The Word Original

Before we identify the presence of God’s voice in our lives with the many good habits of taking in his word—whether Bible

38 Hear His Voice

reading and study, hearing sermons, Scripture meditation and memorization, and more—first let’s see his word as a general principle, rather than the specific practices.

Before printing it and binding it and covering it with leather, consider the concept of God’s word. God speaks. He reveals himself to us. He communicates with us. His word, as John Frame says, is “his powerful, authoritative self-expression.”1 Just as the words of a friend are central in revealing his person to us, so it is with God.

The one who created us—and sustains us moment by mo- ment (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3)—has expressed himself to us in human words, and it is vital that we listen. The other principal means of his grace (prayer and fellowship), while equally es- sential, are not as fundamental as this one. Creation (Gen. 1:3) and new creation (2 Cor. 4:6) both begin with the voice of God. He initiates, and does so by speaking. This self-expression of God is so deep and rich and full that it is not just personal, but a person.

The Word Incarnate The complete and climactic self-revelation of God to man is the God-man, his Son (Heb. 1:1–2). Jesus is “the Word” (John 1:1), and “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). He is the one who most fully and finally “has made [the Father] known” (John 1:18). Jesus is God’s culminating self-expression, and says without any sham or embellishment, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Jesus is the Word of God embodied. He is the grace of God incarnate (Titus 2:11). So full and complete is his revealing of God that he is not a word-thing, but a Word-person. He ful- filled the destiny of humanity in his perfect life and sacrificial

1 This is a common refrain in Frame’s corpus, but the main source would be his book-length treatment in The Doctrine of the Word of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2010).

Shape Your Life with the Words of Life 39

death (Heb. 2:9), and rose again in triumph over sin and death, and now sits at the Father’s right hand, with all things being put in subjection to him (1 Cor. 15:25–28). He is the divine-human Word our souls need for survival and strength and growth. But how do we access this Word now that he sits in heaven?

The Word Evangelical The most frequent use of word in the New Testament is in reference to the message of the gospel—the word evangelical we might call it, or the gospel word—the message about Jesus, “the word of Christ” (Col. 3:16). For Paul, the phrases “preach Christ” and “proclaim Christ” and “speak the word” are syn- onymous (Phil. 1:14–17). The mission of his life, Paul says, is “to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Act 20:24), which is “the word of his grace” (Acts 20:32).

It is “the word of truth, the gospel” that not only comes to us for conversion but also bears fruit and grows (Col. 1:5). It is “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” that changes everything for Christians (Eph. 1:13), and “the word of life” to which we hold fast in the midst of a crooked and perverse society (Phil. 2:15–16). And so, in the Christian fight for joy, John Piper writes, “The central strategy is to preach the gospel to yourself. . . . Hearing the word of the cross, and preaching it to ourselves, is the central strategy for sinners in the fight for joy.”2

And as this gospel-word passes from mouth to mouth, from person to person, from people to people, from nation to na- tion, how will the message about Jesus stay on message? What will keep the spoken word faithful and true and life-changing? And how do we keep ourselves from falling into ruts and from defaulting to the same old canned ways of telling the message?

2 When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 81, 91. More at the end of this chapter on preaching the gospel to yourself.

40 Hear His Voice

The Word Written

Having spied the pinnacle of God’s Word in the person and work of Jesus, and the prevalence of God’s word in his gospel, now we come to the essential place, this side of heaven, for God’s word written. Just as crucial as it is for spiritual life that we have God in his Word Jesus, and that we have Jesus in his word the gospel, so we need the Scriptures as God’s inspired, inerrant, and infallible revelation of himself.

Without the Bible, we will soon lose the genuine gospel and the real Jesus and the true God. For now, if we are to saturate our lives with the words of life, we must be people of the Book. Which is no necessary prescription to every Chris- tian for the same particular habits. But it is a summons to the principle of soaking our lives in the voice of God and diversifying the portfolio of access points. Before pondering the many and wonderful habits of grace that might be best for you in your context and season of life, put this rock in place: Fashion rhythms of life that help you revolve around having God’s incarnate Word, by God’s gospel word, through God’s written word.

The Word Pervasive

With such a perspective on God’s word in place, countless cre- ative routines may follow, whether it’s reading through the Bible in a year, or memorizing passages or whole books, or meditat- ing on single verses or paragraphs, or aggressively identifying and pursuing applications, or listening to sermon podcasts, or reading biblically rich content online, or taking Bible classes, or consuming Christian books, and on and on—and changing it up from time to time. The potential practices are limitless, but the principle beneath the practices is this: The fundamental means of God’s ongoing grace, through his Spirit, in the life of

Shape Your Life with the Words of Life 41

the Christian and the life of the church is God’s self-expression in his Word, in the gospel, perfectly kept for us and on display in all its textures, riches, and hues in the external written word of the Scriptures.

As we consider Bible reading, study, meditation, memoriza- tion, application, and lifelong learning in the coming chapters— and most importantly, sitting under faithful Bible preaching, which comes in part 3—may God give you intentionality to shape your weeks with his word, ingenuity to shower your days with his voice, and creativity to punctuate your life and the lives of those around you with fresh routines for regularly availing yourself of his life-giving words.

More on Preaching to Yourself

Before moving on to consider Bible intake in some of its many forms, let’s circle back and say more about preaching the gospel to ourselves and its function as a means of grace. After all, we saw above from Piper: “Hearing the word of the cross, and preaching it to ourselves, is the central strategy for sinners in the fight for joy.”3

In our sin, we constantly find our responses to life in our fallen world to be disconnected from the theology that we confess. Anger, fear, panic, discouragement, and impatience stalk our hearts and whisper in our ears a false gospel that will lure our lives away from what we say we believe. The battle- ground is between our ears. What is it that is capturing your idle thoughts? What fear or frustration is filling your spare mo- ments? Will you just listen to yourself, or will you start talking?

3 Ibid., 91.

42 Hear His Voice

No, preaching—not letting your concerns shape you, but form- ing your concerns by the power of the gospel.

Preaching the gospel to ourselves is a habit of grace that is both proactive and reactive. It’s reactive as we encounter temptation and frustration and seek to restock in the moment, or as we reflect back on our sin and circumstances and try to evaluate them with a gospel lens. But it’s also proactive. We go on the offensive when we feed our souls in some regular rhythm before the events and tasks and disappointments of daily life begin streaming our way.

There is a difference between merely reminding ourselves of truth and preaching to ourselves the truth of the gospel. It’s true that two plus two equals four. But it does very little to feed our souls. What we need is not just truth, but the truth, the message of the gospel. What preaching the gospel to ourselves requires is pausing, rehearsing some expression of the Father’s and Son’s love and provision of goodness and rescue and joy for us, and consciously seeking to have that truth shape and permeate our reality.

As it relates to Scripture, it is important to note that gospel self-preaching is not the same thing as Bible reading, though the connections and interdependences are profound. The Scrip- tures, in one sense, provide the material for preaching to our- selves the gospel of grace. They are the content to be taken up and applied to our lives in view of Jesus’s person and work.

It will not adequately strengthen our soul, in the long run, just to hear the same canned gospel repeated over and over. Neither will it sustain our spiritual lives to merely take in infor- mation without seeing it in light of Jesus, and pressing it into our hearts.4

4 For a list of ten one-sentence “gospel verses” and twelve short “gospel passages,” see the end of chapter 5, pages 75–81. For more on the relationship between Bible intake and preaching to yourself, see David Mathis and Jonathan Parnell, How to Stay Christian in Seminary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), 38–40.

Chapter 2

Read for Breadth,

Study for Depth

There is some science to good Bible reading. It’s important to know the fundamentals of language and communication, of subjects and verbs and objects and conjunctions. Much can be gained from boning up on some basics of English or doing some reading about reading.1 It’s helpful to have good Bible study aids, like overviews, introductions, and reliable commentaries (especially for the Old Testament prophets), and to have a good sense of how the Scriptures are put together as a whole.

And just like we learn to ride a bike with training wheels, it can help to have someone spell out some simple method of “inductive Bible study” with the dance steps of observation, interpretation, and application. Rudimentary, memorable ap- proaches like this abound in Christian circles serious about the Bible. They are a gift to help us get going and come to an other- wise dauntingly large book with some idea of what to do next.

1 For instance, Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading (New York: Touchstone, 1972) and Tony Reinke, Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011).

44 Hear His Voice

But the point of learning the little bits of science behind it all is to be ready to dance when the music begins to play. And the best of dancing isn’t just taught in classrooms, but caught in practice.

Good Bible reading is no mere science; it is an art. The Bible itself is a special compilation of great artistries. And the best way to learn the art of reading the Bible for yourself is this: Read it for yourself.

Ask an Old Saint

Ask an old, weathered saint who’s been reading the Scriptures for himself for decades. See if he has a nice, clean formulation for how he goes about his daily reading. Does he have three or four simple, memorable steps he walks through consciously each day? The answer likely will be no; he’s learned over time there’s more art to it than that.

Or more generally, just ask, How do you go about reading the Bible? You might see it on his face that it’s a tough question to answer. Not because there aren’t some basic, little “scien- tific” things, like the basics of reading and comprehension, or the various patterns and methods he’s developed for feeding his own soul over the years, but because he’s learned that so much of good Bible reading is an art. It’s a skill learned in engaging the task, not mainly sitting under formal instruction. And those who have read their Bibles most are the ones who have learned the craft best.

Learn the Art through Practice

No biblical author gives us any nice, clean acrostic for how to go about daily Bible reading. And you won’t find one in this chapter. That may feel daunting for the beginner who wants assistance, but in the long run it proves wonderfully freeing.

Read for Breadth, Study for Depth 45

It can be a great help to have training wheels for a season, but once you learn to ride the bike, those extra things sticking out the side are terribly constrictive and limiting.

At the end of the day, there is simply no replacement for finding a regular time and place, blocking out distractions, put- ting your nose in the text, and letting your mind and heart be led and captured and thrilled by God himself communicating to us in his objective written words.

If you feel uncomfortable in the Scriptures and inadequate in the art of Bible reading, the single most important thing you can do is make a regular habit of reading the Bible for yourself. There is no substitute for a few focused minutes each day in the text. You may be surprised how much the little bits add up over the long haul.

As much as we want a quick fix, some fast lesson that makes us near-experts in just a few short minutes, the best of Bible reading isn’t learned overnight or even after a semester of lec- tures, but day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year, imbibing the Bible, having God’s words in- form our minds, inspire our hearts, instruct our lives. It is then that we slowly see the lights going on everywhere as we walk through life, and keep walking through the texts.

Discover the Art of Meditation One piece of counsel for any Bible reading plan, however ambi- tious, is this: Don’t let the push to check boxes keep you from lingering over a text, whether to seek to understand it (“study”) or to emotionally glory in what you understand (“meditation”).

Think of your Bible reading as a regular surveying of the biblical landscape to find a spot to settle down for a few mo- ments to meditate, which is the high point and richest moment of Bible intake (more on meditation in the next chapter). Go for breadth (in reading) and depth (in study), where you stop

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at something you don’t understand, pose questions and give answers, consult resources, and perhaps capture a brief reflec- tion in words or a diagram. There is a place in Bible reading for “raking” and gathering up the leaves at a swift pace, but when we “dig” in Bible study, we unearth the diamonds. In medita- tion, we marvel at the jewels.

Bible reading is like watching the film in real time. Study is like going through a clip frame by frame. Meditation, then, along with Scripture memory (chap. 5), is for lingering over particular frames and pressing the significance to our hearts and into our lives.

Grow in Finding Jesus One final thing to say about Bible reading as art, not just sci- ence, is that Jesus taught his apostles to read the Scriptures in what we might describe as an artistic way. The science part of Bible reading is essential, but it doesn’t necessitate reading so rigidly, narrowly, and modernistically that only the most explicit and specific of prophecies apply to Christ, or that the text is always “for the original readers” and never really for us.

Jesus himself read the Scriptures with much more flair—not in any way making things up, but seeing with the eyes of faith what’s really there to be seen below the surface, out of sight to the natural mind. Such deep reading is a kind of acquired taste, through regular practice, not an easily transferred skill; it’s de- veloping the apostolic palate for finding Jesus throughout the Scriptures, by tracking the trajectory of God’s grace, in its many textures and tones, without falling into either unbelief or make- believe. It is learning with the apostle John that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10).

And so “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets,” Jesus himself “interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things con- cerning himself” (Luke 24:27). He claimed, “Abraham rejoiced

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that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). He said Moses “wrote of me” (John 5:46), and that “everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). And so he opened their minds—beyond their narrow, fallen rationality—to truly understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).

As we learn to read the Bible not only with our left brains but with our whole minds and hearts, we see more and more how the apostles heard the whispers of the Scriptures—and how they saw pointers to Jesus everywhere.

Resolved: To Read the Bible Whether you feel like a beginner or the grizzled old veteran, one of the most important things you can do is regularly read the Bible for yourself.

It is a remarkable thing that we have Bibles we can read personally, whenever we want. For most of church history, and still today in many places in the world, Christians have not had their own personal copies of the Bible. They had to gather to hear someone read it to them. “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture” (1 Tim. 4:13) was all they had, other than memory, for Bible intake.

But now, with printed Bibles and electronic options galore, we have priceless access to God’s very words to us, words that we are so tragically tempted to take lightly. Reading your own copy of the Bible daily is not a law that every believer must abide; most Christians have not had this option. But the habit of daily Bible reading can be a marvelous means of God’s grace. Why miss this bounty and blessing?

The Whole Thing? “All Scripture,” says 2 Timothy 3:16, “is breathed out by God and profitable.” Everything in Scripture, from Genesis 1 to

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Revelation 22, is for the good of the church. “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Cor. 10:11). “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encour- agement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).

But not every text functions to build our faith in the same way or has the same effect for every one of God’s children in the new covenant. It is a wonderful thing to read all the way through the Bible. It is something that pastors and teachers in the church should strongly consider doing on an annual basis, to let all the Scriptural data pass before their eyes for continu- ally informing their public theological claims. But this is not a yoke to be set on every Christian every year. (Though it would be a good thing for every Christian to try at some point, or at least to have some multiyear plan in place to eventually get you through the whole Bible in some cycle.)

For those considering the journey, you may be surprised how doable it is. It takes about seventy hours to read the Bible from cover to cover. “That’s less time than the average Ameri- can spends in front of the television every month,” observes Donald S. Whitney. “In other words, if most people would ex- change their TV time for Scripture reading, they’d finish reading the entire Bible in four weeks or less. If that sounds unwork- able, consider this: In no more than fifteen minutes a day you can read through the Bible in less than a year’s time.”2

Maybe this coming new year, or even now, is your time to set out on the journey. Some of my favorite Bible reading plans over the years have been M’Cheyne and The Kingdom, along with my most beloved from Discipleship Journal.3

2 Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, rev. ed. (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2014), 29. 3 M’Cheyne’s Bible reading plan is available online at http:// www .edginet .org /mcheyne /printables.html; The Kingdom, developed by Jason DeRouchie, at http:// cdn .desiring god .org /pdf /blog /3325 _FINAL .DeRouchie.pdf; and Discipleship Journal’s, by the Naviga-

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Or if the whole thing in one year seems out of your reach, try taking up a plan and working through it at your own pace, even if it takes you several years. It will give you a specific place to go next when you open the Bible, instead of just opening to some random text, and in time it will give you confidence that you’ve traversed the whole terrain of Scripture and at least glimpsed all God’s full written revelation to us.

More Than Just Raking

So far we’ve been talking about Bible reading. The habit of reading just a few minutes a day can get us a long way in a rela- tively short time. But when we slow down and study, we soon find out we have more than a life’s work ahead of us. Study is hard work. The difference between reading and study makes me think of yard work.

Raking is relatively easy work and can make the yard look better i