The Experimental Knowledge of Christ

Greetings my dear brothers and sisters in Christ! May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you (Jude 2).

I recently finished a great work by John Elias (1774-1841) called The Experimental Knowledge of Christ. After picking it up from the Shepherd's Conference in March, it has cheered my heart, humbled my spirit, raised my affections to tearful joy by pointing me to Christ!

It is a collection of 11 sermons by the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist preacher, John Elias.

I think what I love about Elias was that he was unwaveringly gripped by the gladness of the sovereignty of God while simultaneously possessing a gospel love for lost and wretched souls for those in his congregation and for those to whom he preached to in open air. He had a Christ-exalting passion for private prayer and the Spirit's work of prayer seen and known in the Church that God was pleased to bestir spiritual awakenings in his preaching and in his flock to the surrounding regions. I love the joy and sweetness portrayed in his sermons especially when his joy seemed to always revolve around Christ:

"There is joy in a glorious object. Jesus is the object, and He is an infinitely glorious object [...] This is joy with sufficiency behind it, and so it will always be. Furthermore, there is joy in a glorious person. This is joy in the Holy Ghost. The Spirit is its author [...] It is He who plays like a musician on his harp, and sometimes inflames them with joy out of love for the Savior of sinners [...] The joy of the believer in Christ is a great, unspeakable, glorious joy" (163)."--Sermon # 11, The Saints Loving Christ & Delighting in Him

Elias beautifully showed the exquisite intermingling of the peace and joy of Christ:

"The peace of God will keep you under the fiery thunders of Sinai, and in all the afflictions and distresses of the wilderness. It will lift up your head in death, sustain you in the judgment, and will accompany you to the other side. It will remain in the soul when the tabernacle is destroyed. When the pillars of the soul are removed, the beauty will be preserved. When the soul flies to glory, God's peace will be undistured. It produces a sweetness you cannot desribe. It is beyond understanding in the experience of the soul" (66).--Sermon # 5, The Greatness of the Peace of God, which is Above Understanding

I shall not leave any other Elias' lines, for those are sufficient for our glad musings. I commend this work to you all for it was a meat market for my soul.

I have to go now for this is a busy week for me. Long live the Christ! Please pray for me as I prepare to preach this LORD'S Day evening in Jude 10-13 at my church

I love you all in Christ's love,

Gabe--Galatians 6:14

My dear fellow Chamber Singers!

I thought I'd drop you a line and let you know how the Lord has been working in my life since we parted over a month ago. I am happy to report that I have a ful-time job working for a credit agency called NCI they are currently under a contract with Sprint, so I am using my voice taking calls from people who are having problems with their phones and phone bills. haha! I know that probably sounds boring but I really love it right now.
God has also seen fit to allow two great challenges into my life, which I would greatly appreciate your prayers for. The first being the challenge of finding how to love my family in truth, and honer my parents when we disagree. To give you a broad picture my family is a very typical conservative family has a very twisted view of the Holy Spirit. They believe that when you have a problem- you pray, and the holy spirit will put an answer in your head (if you are right with God). I do not believe God is unable to do this if He pleased- He though His power can make a donkey speak if He decides, but I do not believe that the Holy Spirit was given to us in place of our brains either. I am not an expert on Pneumatology by a long shot, I am most convinced that the power of the Holy Spirit is most clearly seen in His Word. And that is what must be the light to our path. If you know of any recourses that may help me understand this better I would love suggestions.
The second challenge is with my church. My pastor resigned due to difficulties deacons where giving him several months ago. Now another family (the largest and prominent family in the church) is pushing their son-in-law to be our pastor. That's the big picture. My family will be leaving the end of the summer, I don't know if I can wait that long. The more I'm there the more painfully it becomes apparent that the church is more like a high class social club that meets every Sunday and Wednesday. So I would appreciate your prayers for that as well.
Other than that I am doing well. The Lord is continually strengthening me and causing me to rejoice through the richness of His Word! And I look forward to how He will work in the future! I hope you all are doing well. I have been praying for you and the trip. Keep in touch!
Sarah Pond

Heb 1:3 He (Christ) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Reflections on Isaiah 55

Ha! I'll do what Doc does! Just wanted to share some things I learned!

http://theologicaljourney.blogspot.com/2007/06/reflections-on-isaiah-55.html

I'll also update on what I'm doing. I just graduated from BBC and am living in Dunmore. I'm working in the BBC library for now. I worked 40 hours a week during the first session of May school, and am working 20 hours a week this second session. It's nice to be around here and see people. I also worked in the kitchen during both Ladies LYFE conferences.
I'm enjoying my first summer in this area. After Father's day I'll be the choir director at my church, Berean in Scranton. Any ideas for simple choral arrangements? I'm excited about writing some of my own, but we'll see.
June 23rd is the Lucas/TenHoeve wedding, and I'm looking forward to being part of that. Right after that I'm planning on starting the grad school summer program, Christian School education with an emphasis in music. Abi Calin is also going to be doing that. We want to eventually get certified to teach. I've heard that there are students in that program who are teachers on the mission field, so I look forward to hearing about their experiences.
Four weeks and 6 credits later I will be headed to Arizona for vacation!! Woo hoo! I'll see my parents, my grandma and aunt, my sister and bro-in-law and the adorable nephew.
After that I don't know yet. I'm waiting on a possible job opportunity, and if that doesn't work out I'll be looking, but I'm glad that for the summer I have this job at the library.
It still feels like I'm always doing something, between work and going places with friends. It is a huge blessing to spend the summer with friends and to have that encouragement.