Sunday's Hymn: How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

“Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed;
I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

“E’en down to old age all my people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in my bosom be borne.

“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake.”

—John Rip­pon

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• Behold, He Cometh at The Happy Wonderer
• The Person Christmas Celebrates — Hymn 1 at The Outspoken Tulip

Selected Reading, November 28, 2020

 

A few good things to read this weekend.

Life

Dorothy at the Window
“I will remember the summer of 2020 for many things. I will remember it as the summer when I asked my neighbor if I could hug her. I will remember it as the summer when I could drive around my little town and see store signs assuring me they were open (“Please come buy stuff!”). I will remember it as the summer when I could look out my window and see broad daylight, yet not be allowed to walk in it. With all these things, I will also remember it as the summer I saw Dorothy at the window.” —Esther O’Reilly

Biography

Scipione Lentolo — A Firm Hand in Unstable Times
An Italian pastor you should know.

Worship

Multidirectional, Participatory Worship
Gathered worship is not a spectator sport—not for God, and not for the people of God. “In the gathered assembly, there are multi-directional dimensions to the various elements of worship. We gather together on the Lord’s Day to look vertically, horizontally, outwardly, inwardly, backwardly, and forwardly in the elements that guide a biblical and God-honoring worship service.” — Nicholas Batzig

Theological Term of the Week: Systematic Theology

systematic theology
The theological discipline that seeks to summarize what the whole Bible teaches us on any particular subject.

• From Biblical versus Systematic Theology? by Donald Macleod:

  The premise of Systematic Theology …  is the unity of Scripture: what the Westminster Confession (1:5) calls ‘the consent of all the parts’. This in turn rests on the premise that all Scripture was breathed out by God, and while he may breathe out variety he will not breathe out contradiction. Precisely because Scripture in its entirety is the word of God it is the revelation of one saving will and of one plan of salvation. Systematic Theology assumes this unity, takes the whole of divine revelation as its field, and seeks to collate all that God has told us so far, striving towards the point where it can say to the church, ‘This is the whole counsel of God. This is what you are to preach.’ 

• From Systematic Theology by Robert Letham:

  Systematic theology is indispensable. How else can the church defend itself against heresy or evangelical anti-intellectualism? The church fathers found that the gospel was threatened by unthinking repetition of biblical words and phrases. A challenging intellectual response was required in order to defend “the sense of Scripture” from those who would use its words to overturn essential elements of the faith.    

Learn more:

1. Theopedia: Systematic Theology
2. Scott Swain: 10 Things You Should Know About Systematic Theology
3. Monergism.com: What is the difference between Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology?
4. Gerald Bray: Systematic Theology
5. Michael Horton: Who Needs Systematic Theology? 
6. Joel Beeke and Paul M. Smally: Why We Need Systematic Theology
7. Benjamin Warfield: The Indispenableness of Systematic Theology to the Preacher (pdf)
8. Kevin DeYoung: Why Should We Study Systematic Theology? and Systematic Theology Review
9. Peter Sammons: Why Every Believer Needs Systematic Theology

Related terms: 

• anthropology
• biblical theology
• christology
• eschatology
• pneumatology
• soteriology
• theology proper

Filed under Theological Categories

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