Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines: Intro & chapter 1

8/2/2019 Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines: Intro & chapter 1

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Spiritual

Disciplines for

the Christian

Life

Donald S. Whitney


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Foreword by JI Packer


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Who is JI Packer?


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Who is JI Packer?

- he encourages Christians to

read the book 3 times!


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Who is JI Packer?


read the book 3 times!- suggests an interval of one

month between each reading


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Who is JI Packer?


read the book 3 times!- suggests an interval of one

month between each reading

- the first reading tells you what

you should be doing, the 2ndand 3rd ask how well are you

doing it?


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the doctrine of the disciplines (Latin disciplinae,meaning courses of learning and training) is a

restatement of classical Protestant teaching on the

means of grace (Word of God, prayer, fellowship, and

the Lords supper)...they are cemented in the Bibleand spelled out by the Puritan and older evangelical

masters...they are evangelical but not legalistic...he

calls us to practice the disciplines out of gratitude for

grace not out of self-justifying or self advancing effort.

As I pass you over to Don Whitney I would say to you,

Now friend prepare for the workout. And you will

find health for your soul.


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Acknowledgments

Whitney declares his thanks to...The Puritans...They are spiritual

giants on whose shoulders I stand.

Thanks to Jonathan Edwards, CH

Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones.My life and ministry are

immeasurably better because of

theirs.

He also thanks some

contemporary friends for their

help, encouragement and

enrichment in writing the book.


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Acknowledgments

WEBSITE OF DON WHITNEY:

HTTP://

BIBLICALSPIRITUALITY.ORG/

BIOGRAPHY OF DON WHITNEY:

HTTP://

BIBLICALSPIRITUALITY.ORG/

ABOUT/BIOGRAPHY/
http://biblicalspirituality.org/http://biblicalspirituality.org/http://biblicalspirituality.org/http://biblicalspirituality.org/


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1 Timothy 4:7...Have nothing to do with

godless myths and old wives

tales; rather, train yourself to

be godly. (NIV)

But have nothing to do with

worldly fables fit only for oldwomen. On the other hand,

discipline yourself for the

purpose of godliness;

(NASB)

Key Verse


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Spiritual disciplines...for the

purpose of godliness

V. Raymond Edman, "Ours is an

undisciplined age.The olddisciplines are breaking down...

Above all, the discipline of divinegrace is derided as legalism or is

entirely unknown to a generation

that is largely illiterate in the

Scriptures.We need the ruggedstrength of Christian character

that can come only from

discipline."


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Discipline without direction

is drudgery

For many Christians they think of

spiritual disciplines as drudgery - it isthe fact they have no spiritual

direction that makes it drudgery -

prayer, meditation, fasting all seem tomany believers to be unclear in their

benefits.

We need to understand Gods vision

for us, Rom 8:29, For those whom heforeknew he also predestined to beconformed to the image of his Son,

This is so we will be like him (1 Jn

3:2)


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Understand that God has a desire

for us to be like him - however we

are not to wait for this holiness

but to pursue it, Heb 12:14,

Make every effort to live in peace

with everyone and to be holy;without holiness no one will see

the Lord.

How do we do this? Back to our

key verse, 1 Tim 4:7,

...train (discipline yourself, NASB)yourself to be godly.

Practice of the spiritualdisciplines help us to become

mature and godly.


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The spiritual disciplines:The means to godliness

Spiritual disciplines have beenpracticed by Christians for

millennia and include:

Bible intake, Prayer

Worship, EvangelismService, Stewardship

Fasting, Silence

Solitude, JournallingLearning - and many more...

Confession, accountability,

submission, simplicity, spiritual

direction, celebration, sacrifice...


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The most important aspect of

any spiritual discipline is its

purpose - forthe purpose of

godliness.

God gives us spiritual discipline

that we might pursue him.

Whitney lists many famousChristians all of whom were

disciplined in their pursuit ofspiritual maturity:

Muller, Spurgeon, Calvin, Bunyan,Susanna Wesley, Whitfield, Sarah

Edwards.

Godliness comes through

discipline


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God uses 3 primary ways to

change us - only one do wehave any control over:

1. People - Pr 27:17

Iron sharpens iron,and oneman sharpens another.Hebrew: sharpens the face

of another

Friends, enemies, parents,

children, wife, coworker,

teacher, neighbour, pastor,

preacher...


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2. Circumstances - Rom 8:28

And we know that for those

who love God all things worktogether for good,for those

who are called according to his

purpose.

3. Spiritual Disciplines - here

God is working from the inside

out, and God gives us a

measure of choice here - we

can choose to read the Bible

etc. We usually cannot choose

people and circumstances.


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We have to balance the fact that

even our greatest, most

determined efforts will not make

us more holy (as this is a gift ofGod, Jn 17:17, 1 Thess 5:23), and

yet we can further the process

and grow in grace through

spiritual disciplines. In this

process we place ourselves

before God in order that he might

work in us.The word we use for discipline

comes from a Greek word from

which we get gymnasium and it

means to exercise or discipline.


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Spiritual disciplines place us in

the path of Gods grace -

similarly to Bartimaeus (Lk18:35ff) and Zacchaeus (Lk

19:1ff). Our hope in all of this is

transformation, 2 Cor 3:18,

And we all, with unveiled

face,beholding the glory of the

Lord, are being transformed into

the same image from one degreeof glory to another. For this

comes from the Lord who is the

Spirit.


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I must take care above all

that I cultivate communion

with Christ, for though thatcan never be the basis of my

peace - mark that - yet it will

be the channel of it.

Charles H. Spurgeon

The job of a football coach is

to make men do what they

don't want to do, in order to

achieve what they've always

wanted to be.Tom Landry.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2876959.Charles_H_Spurgeonhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2876959.Charles_H_Spurgeon


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We pursue

spiritual

disciplines in

order to

become more

like Jesus

Christ; that isall we have

wanted to be.


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The spiritual disciplines:The Lord expects them

We have seen from 1 Tim 4:7

that these are not an option.

Consider Pr 23:12,

Apply your heart to instructionand your ear to words of

knowledge.

(NASB)Apply your heart to

disciplineThis is also understood (or at

least implied) in the words of

Jesus;


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Matt 11:29

Take my yoke upon you, and

learn from me,Luke 9:23

And he said to all, If anyone

would come after me, let him

deny himself and take up hiscross daily and follow me.

Such practices leads us to Gal

5:22-23 - which includes a Spirit

produced self control (discipline)

If we care to observe we see

that Jesus modeled the

disciplines for us:


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My central claim is that we can

become like Christ by doing one thing

by following him in the overall style

of life that he chose for himself. If we

have faith in Christ, we must believe

that he knew how to live. We can grow

more like Christ. Spiritual

transformation is authentically

possible through faith and grace if I

am willing to arrange my life around

the activities Jesus Himself practicedin order to remain constantly at home

in the fellowship of His father.

Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the

Disciplines


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Many Christians are spiritually

undisciplined - the result is a lackof maturity, power and fruit in

their lives. Whitney describes

these people as being, a mile

wide and an inch deep- there

are no deep channels of God intheir life, they dabble and have a

little knowledge but lack anydepth.

Many people will discipline theirlife to grow in other areas (sport,

business etc.), but ignore spiritual

disciplines and the sacrifice

needed to grow and succeed.


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The gold ofgodliness

does not lieon the

surface buthas to bemined from

the depths ofChristian

faith


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More application

1. There is a danger in

neglecting the spiritual

disciplines, William Barclay

says,Nothing was ever achieved

without discipline; and many an

athlete and many a man has been

ruined because he abandoned

discipline and let himself grow

slack...


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Coleridge is the supreme tragedy of undiscipline.Never did so great a mind produce so little. He leftCambridge University to join the army; but he left thearmy because, in spite of all his erudition, he could

not rub down a horse; he returned to Oxford and left

without a degree. He began a paper called TheWatchman which lived for ten numbers and then died.It has been said of him: "He lost himself in visions of

work to be done, that always remained to be done.

Coleridge had every poetic gift but onethe gift ofsustained and concentrated effort. In his head and inhis mind he had all kinds of books, as he said himself,

completed save for transcription...


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...I am on the eve," he said,

"of sending the press two

octavo volumes." But thebooks were never composedoutside Coleridge's mind,

because he would not face the

discipline of sitting down to

write them out. No one everreached any eminence, and no

one having reached it ever

maintained it, withoutdiscipline.

We all have spiritual gifts - the

question is will we use them

and bear fruit?


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2. There is freedom in

embracing the spiritual

disciplinesRichard Foster calls the

disciplines the door to

liberation - these

disciplines produce liberty

in our lives. Watch a

gifted musician and they

can play anything - how? -because of the years of

disciplined practice which

produces such freedom.


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Elton Trueblood We have not advanced very far

in our spiritual lives if we have not encountered

the basic paradox of freedomthat we are mostfree when we are bound. To one who would be an

athlete, but who is unwilling to discipline his body

by regular exercise and abstinence, is not free to

excel on the field or the track. His failure to train

rigorously denies him the freedom to run with the

desired speed and endurance. With one

concerted voice, the giants of the devotional lifeapply the same principle to the whole of life:

Discipline is the price of freedom and I would

add - freedom is the reward of discipline.


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Freedom and discipline are often

considered mutually exclusive -

in fact one is the result or rewardof the other. Consider the

freedom of,

- being able to quote the Bible

- spiritual sensitivity throughfasting

- deliverance from self

centredness through service and

worshipWe should remember such a

process is not an overnight affair

- it is a lifelong process.


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3. There is an invitation to all Christians to

enjoy the spiritual disciplinesFreely given by the Holy Spirit to all believers.

Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines: Intro & chapter 1

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