For the occasion, Desiring God reprints an excerpt from his 2002 anniversary sermon. This is the part that gripped me:
In essence it happened like this: I was 33 years old. I had two children and a third on the way. As I studied Romans 9 day after day, I began to see a God so majestic and so free and so absolutely sovereign that my analysis merged into worship and the Lord said, in effect, "I will not simply be analyzed, I will be adored. I will not simply be pondered, I will be proclaimed. My sovereignty is not simply to be scrutinized, it is to be heralded. It is not grist for the mill of controversy, it is gospel for sinners who know that their only hope is the sovereign triumph of God’s grace over their rebellious will." This is when Bethlehem contacted me near the end of 1979. And I do not hesitate to say that because of Romans 9 I left teaching and became a pastor.
This is very much like what happened to Jonathan Edwards. 1 Timothy 1:17 grapsed him so with a sense of divine glory that he abandoned academia as well, taking up the pastorate in Northampton. From there of course he was instrumental in the first Great Awakening.
The Bible will do that to a man or woman. It will grab you, change you, move you.
I'm praying it will grab, revive, and move the whole church too. It can do that, you know.
2 comments:
Thank you for this, Jared.
A very timely and moving word.
I join in your prayer for the Church-- that it may be grabbed, revived , and moved by The Word! Come quickly Lord Jesus!
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