God-Centered Lessons from Ray Ortlund, Sr.

Thanks to JT's blog, I learned of the recent death and heavenly happiness of the Jesus-loving pastor, teacher, and writer, Ray Ortlund, Sr, and subsequently found his grandson's "lessons learned." The whole thing is a gem, and I have copied most of it (with slight reformats) here:

My grandfather is, with a few possible exceptions, the most remarkable man I’ve ever known. As my dad put it yesterday, he is the definition of a godly man. If I could choose words from all the hundreds of languages of the world, I would never come close to communicating the weight of what my grandfather has taught me about God and faith and "going hard after God," as he would say. And I know only one language. But despite the frustration of not adequately doing justice to God's abundant work of grace in his life, I list eight things I've learned from Grandpa--and am still learning.

My goal in listing these is not to erect a picture of a perfect man (which would only discourage us), but to “consider the outcome of his way of life, and imitate his faith.” I want others to feel the weight of what God did with this very ordinary man and, with me, to be stirred up. This is not exalting a man instead of Jesus, but exalting a man because of Jesus. Grandpa is the last person who would want his own name to overshadow that of Christ.

1. The Centrality of Love: when he came and spoke to the pastors of Missouri Presbytery of the PCA in 2004, with the chance to pick any text he wanted, he chose John 13: "A new commandment I give you: that you love one another." It was vintage Grandpa when halfway through his message he stopped and instructed the guys present to go around and tell their brothers that they loved them. A simple "I love you" from one pastor to another, face to face. Imagine!

2. The Importance of Joy: Nothing was more tragic, to Grandpa, than a morose believer. He was himself one of the happiest people I've ever known, and that is not without a good deal of heartache of his own.

3. The Bible as Food: Grandpa did not read the Bible mainly for information, but to feed his soul. In one of his books he writes, "You don’t get food for your soul by osmosis! You can hear others talk of it; but until you yourself regularly take in that delicious Word of God, you’re undernourished!” I possess a Bible of his from the late 80's - every page is marked. Including 2 Chronicles and the second half of Joshua.

4. The Critical Place of Prayer: Often we would be together as a family and Grandpa would say, “Let’s stop and pray about this.” And there was no spiritual gamesmanship with the man--just honest, earnest talking to and pleading with the Lord.

5. The Secret Value of Repentance and Humility: One evening in Nashville when we were together as a family Grandpa had been telling me about how Fuller Seminary started in his church, and mentioned some of the big-wigs involved. The next morning, the first thing he said to me was: "Dane, I need to apologize to you about something. I was putting myself forward last night when I was talking about Fuller and those guys, and it was prideful, and I want to tell you I'm sorry and ask you to forgive me. I don't want to be a self-promoter." He was 82, had spoken to crowds of 100,000 in India, had had an interational radio ministry, and written over 20 books. And he wanted to apologize to his grandson for being a self-promoter.

6. The Importance of Loving My Wife: In 2004, sitting in a booth at Chili's in St. Louis, Grandpa gave me a stinging rebuke for not studying Scripture with my wife. That day was a turning point for our marriage.

7. The Incomparable Worth of Singlemindedness: Some of Grandpa's favorite phrases were “tiger for Jesus,” “great exploits in Jesus’ name,” “there’s nothing in life outside of Jesus,” and “go hard after God.” He was a tiger for Jesus, he did great exploits' in Jesus' name, and he did go hard after God. He also eschewed normalcy. He wrote: “Your danger and mine is not that we become criminals, but rather, that we become respectable, decent, commonplace, mediocre Christians. No rewards at the end, no glory—“saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15)! The twenty-first-century temptations that really sap our spiritual power are the television, banana cream pie, the easy chair, and the credit card. Christian, you will win or lose in those seemingly innocent little moments of decision.”

8. Strength in Weakness: Grandpa exemplifies the counterintuitive biblical truth that when we are weak, then we are strong. He was dyslexic and therefore a very slow reader, often felt huge waves of insecurity, and wrestled with what he called an "inferiority complex" early on in life. Yet God used him remarkably, and I believe it was not in spite of his weaknesses but because of them. They forced him to yield himself to the Lord in utter dependence. And I take much consolation in that, as a weak person myself. Grandpa knew that to say “I don’t have what it takes” is exactly what it takes.

I summarize the life of this man with Jesus' words to Peter in Matthew 16: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Grandpa lost his life. And therefore found it.

I love you, Grandpa. Thank you for exalting and enjoying Christ and Christ alone. What a work of grace he did in your life. The joy was yours. The honor was his. The blessing is ours. I can't wait to enjoy the new earth with you.

What a testimony to leave his children and grandchildren! What lessons we all should learn! Let us aspire in Christ to such faithful, Biblical, sacrificial lives by the power of His Spirit!