Salt and Miry Places
Published on Facebook, February 15, 2011
By Bud Powell
11 But the miry places thereof and the marshes
thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. Ezekiel 47:11
When I
was a very young minister a long time ago I heard a sermon by Dr. Robert
Churchill, one of the patriarchs of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. I
have never forgotten that sermon, for it changed my life. It was on this
text.
Dr.
Churchill said something to this effect, "The water of life flows out from
the throne of God and brings healing to all the world. It is a great
river and if you step out into it you will see that it becomes a great river
whose bottom cannot be sounded. But some people are content to wade in
the miry places and salt marshes where there is no life. Do not be
content to do that. Launch out into the deep." I tried to take
his advice and have not been sorry.
So it
is with so many today, I fear. I am thankful for the revival of
"Calvinism" in the last decades, but so often it smacks of salt
marshes and miry places. The Five Points are wonderful, remember how you
rejoiced when someone loved you enough to contend with you about them?
But there is so much more: the person and work of the Holy Spirit; true
spiritual worship; the nature of the church; a comprehensive biblical ethics
[How we need THAT in the church to redeem us from the stifling emotionalism and
simpering pietism of the day], what the role of covenant is in individuals,
church, and political philosophy, and so much more. Calvin, above all,
was a theologian of the heart. Have you met THAT John Calvin?
If the
Institutes are too hard for you, then you need to step up to the plate.
Throw away your devotional books and simpering biographies; Get rid of the
pablum and sugar substitutes and feel-good stuff and cut your teeth on things
that make you THINK. Things that sound good may make you feel good, but
words are given to bring thought first of all, not emotion. I heard a
poet say one time that the words "garbage can" are the most musical
and beautiful words in the English language. Yes, maybe, unless you think
about what's in a garbage can.
To
many people, their only exposure to the biblical faith has been when somebody
dragged them into one of the salt marshes and they thought that was it.
They met a "one-note Johnny" and although the note he played was
beautiful, it will not replace the symphony.
If the
light that is in you is darkness, and the only water you know is in the salt
marshes and miry places, it is time for you to launch out into the deep.
"3
And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured
a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the
ankles. {the waters were…: Heb. waters of the ankles}
4
Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters
were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the
waters were to the loins.
5
Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass
over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be
passed over." Ezekiel 47:3-5
If you
have read this far, then this note is for you.
