Sunday Hymn: The God of Abram Praise

The God of Abraham praise,
Who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days,
And God of love:
Jehovah! great I AM!
By earth and heav’n confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred name,
For ever blest.

The God of Abraham praise,
At whose supreme command
From earth I rise, and seek the joys
At his right hand:
I all on earth forsake,
Its wisdom, fame, and power;
And him my only portion make,
My Shield and Tower.

He by himself hath sworn,
I on his oath depend;
I shall, on eagle’s wings upborne,
To heav’n ascend:
I shall behold his face,
I shall his power adore,
And sing the wonders of his grace
For evermore.

The goodly land I see,
With peace and plenty blest,
A land of sacred liberty
And endless rest;
There milk and honey flow,
And oil and wine abound,
And trees of life for ever grow,
With mercy crowned.

There dwells the Lord our King,
The Lord our righteousness;
Triumphant over the world and sin,
The Prince of Peace
On Zion’s sacred height
His kingdom still maintains,
And glorious with his saints in light
For ever reigns.

The whole triumphant host
Give thanks to God on high;
Hail Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
They ever cry:
Hail Abraham’s God and mine!
I join the heavenly lays
All might and majesty are thine,
And endless praise.

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

• I Know Whom I Have Believed at The Happy Wonderer
• Join to Sing at The Outspoken Tulip

Selected Reading, October 17, 2020

 

A few suggestions for your weekend reading and listening.

Defining Terms

Worse Than We Think: What Total Depravity Is (and Is Not)
Robert Letham explains total depravity: “The reality of total depravity leaves no possibility of salvation by our own efforts. It points to our dire condition from the fall and the sovereign work of God in rescuing us. Only the Holy Spirit can change us and transform us into the image of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God.”

Semper Reformanda in Context
What was the original meaning of the phrase reformed and always reforming? What did Jodocus van Lodenstein mean when he used it way back in 1674? 

Self-Promotion

Women’s Hope: Delighting in Doctrine
Here’s an interview I did with Dr. Shelbi Cullen and Kimberly Cummings for the Women’s Hope podcast. We talked about how I became interested in doctrine, what obstacles women face when they want to learn theology, and how to live out our theology, among other things.

Theological Term of the Week: Internal Testimony of the Holy Spirit

internal testimony of the Holy Spirit
A work of the Spirit that overcomes the noetic effects of sin and produces the belief that the Scriptures are the word of God; also called testimonium spiritus sancti internum (Latin).

• In scripture:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27 ESV)

• From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof:

  The Testimony of the Holy Spirit is simply the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the sinner, by which he removes the blindness of sin, so that the erstwhile blind man, who had no eyes for the sublime character of the Word of God, now clearly sees and appreciates the marks of its divine nature, and receives immediate certainty respecting the divine origins of Scripture. Just as one who has an eye for the beauties of architecture, in gazing up into the dome of the St. Peter’s Church at Rome, at once recognizes it as the production of a great artist, so the believer in the study of Scripture discovers in it at once the earmarks of the divine. The redeemed soul beholds God as the author of Scripture and rests on its testimony with childlike faith, with a fides divina. It is exactly the characteristic mark of such faith that it rests on the testimony of God, while a fides humana merely rests on a human testimony of on rational arguments. Of course, rational arguments may be adduced for the divine origin of Scripture, but these are powerless to convince the unrenewed man. The Christian believes the Bible to be the very Word of God in the last analysis on the testimony which God Himself gives respecting this matter in His Word, and recognizes that Word as divine by means of the testimony of God in his heart. The testimony of the Holy Spirit is therefore, strictly speaking, not so much the final ground of faith, but rather the means of faith. The final ground of faith is Scripture only, or better still, the authority of God which is impressed upon the believer in the testimony of Scripture. The ground of faith is identical with its contents, and cannot be separated from it. But the testimony of the Holy Spirit is the moving cause of faith. We believe Scripture, not because of, but through the testimony of the Holy Spirit.

• From Canon Revisited by Michael Kruger:

  The reason some refuse to believe the Scriptures is not that there is any defect or lack of evidence in the Scriptures … but that those without the Spirit do not accept the things from God (1 Cor. 2:10-14)

  Jesus himself affirmed this reality when he declared, “My sheep [i.e., those with the Spirit] hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Likewise, he said of his sheep, “A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:5). Put simply, canonical books are received by those who have the Holy Spirit in them. When people’s eyes are opened, they are struck by the divine qualities of Scripture—its beauty, harmony, efficacy—and recognize and embrace Scripture for what it is, the word of God. They realize that the voice of Scripture is the voice of the Shepherd.

Learn more:

1. Apologetics 315: Terminology Tuesday: Internal Testimony of the Spirit
2. Michael Kruger: No Holy Spirit, No Scripture
3. Stephen Upthank: Warfield and Inspiration: Testimonium Spiritus Sancti 
4. Sam Storms: The Theology of John Calvin (see section B2, Calvin on the Testimonium Internum Spiritus Sancti).

Related terms: 

• authority of scripture
• canon of scripture

Filed under Scripture

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