Thursday 22 November 2012

Reformation and Revival Fellowship Conference 2012

There is a yearning in the puritan heart.

There are many good conservative evangelicals who do not appear to be puritans. They believe the Bible, know it, love it, preach it and teach it. They are brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet there is a difference.

The puritan is not someone who lived in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. He or she is someone who is discontented. It may be with the state of the church; it may be with their own hearts; it may be with man-made solutions and human attempts to get things right - even though he will sometimes use those solutions himself and be glad when something is accomplished.

But at heart he will be dissatisfied and want something more. At his best he will not be self-righteous, critical of others or a grumpy old man or woman, though at his worst he can sound like that.

The puritan is in truth the spiritual pilgrim. His real yearning arises from a weariness with himself and his sin; it is a longing for God and his grace and glory; a hunger and thirst for a righteousness that is found in Christ alone. Such a yearning will make him impatient with relevance. The relevant touches, often brilliantly and necessarily, on the issues of the day. The puritan will be happy enough with a little of that. But it will not satisfy him. The puritan heart has tasted eternity and wants more of it.

The puritan may become concerned with eternal issues in a way that makes him virtually contemptuous of the present and the practical. That is not true puritanism; it is a parody of it; it is self-indulgence. The true puritan wants to be more useful and more fruitful and a better man or woman on this earth; to walk as Jesus walked. But he knows that only as he is touched by the Spirit of God can this be accomplished.

The books the puritan reads, the churches he likes and the conferences he goes to may seem to many to be as relevant as a ship in the desert. This will not bother the puritan too much for above all he wants to meet with God. In order to meet with God he knows he needs preaching. So the puritan's favourite book will be a book that preaches, his favoured church will be one that preaches, and his preferred conference will be one where there is preaching.

There may be other things as well of course, but never expect a puritan to be happy where there is no preaching and expect him to be happiest where the preaching is best.

Which is why puritans (and perhaps a few others besides) love the RRF conference every November. We gather in always cloudy, often wet and sometimes foggy Derbyshire and enjoy excellent ministry. This year Paul Mallard warmed our hearts with three sermons on Elisha, under the title 'Serving God in dark days'. The first sermon looked at his taking over from Elijah: the task he was given; the call he received and the obedience he showed. We then looked at the departure of Elijah and the beginning of Elisha's ministry: a careful preparation, a glorious departure and an unchanging presence. Finally we looked at his first two miracles: the healing of the water which presaged his ministry of grace and the mauling of the 42 boys, typical of the ministry of judgement. This last was for me the most compelling message but I enjoyed them all. The exposition was satisfying and the gospel was clearly and warmly preached each time.

As a fitting complement to Paul, Stephen Clark gave us three rather different sermons. The first was a challenging look at gospel opportunity and opposition (1 Cor 16:7-9); the second looked at marks of a healthy church: be watchful, stand firm, be men of courage, be strong, do all things in love (1 Cor 16:13,14). The third sermon was a challenge to holiness from Rom 8:9-27, especially v 26. The doctrine of mortification of sin was clearly spelled out. The Spirit helps us (in correcting us, in prayer, in assurance and all the way to heaven), in our weakness (which includes indwelling sin, Satan, sickness and suffering). It was a good conclusion to the conference.

In addition, George Mitchell warmly reminded us in the conference sermon of the God who dwells in a high and holy place and also with those who are of a contrite and lowly spirit (Isa 57:15). Before the prayer meeting, George also introduced us to a great but unknown Baptist pastor of early nineteenth century Scotland - Peter Grant.

It was good to be there. There were over eighty of us and there would have been more but some had to pull out at the last minute. Next year (18th -20th Nov 2013) the preachers are Brian Edwards, Matthew Brennan and Jonathan Wood.

CDs are available from jim.lawson@ntlworld.com and the messages (and other information about the Fellowship) will be available at www.reformationandrevival.org.

Why not become a puritan for three days next autumn?

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