The Shroud

There is this blackness, a cloud, murky vision and heavy feelings of misery, depression and silent anxiety that follows me. This is a relatively new phenomenon. Perhaps the sophistication of the affliction grows increasingly more, sophisticated. Perhaps as the sophistication of my faith grows, so too must the sophistication of the attack?

I'm reading a paper by Vincent Cheung. It's Awesome. It's self-titled Systematic Theology. One of the opening propositions is, "Theological reflection is the most important activity a person can perform". I find this to be true and what is striking about that, is, I am reminded instantly of a time when this was not true, though I may have stated in an abstract manner that I 'probably' agreed and believed that it was. Self deception is such a nasty disease, the old question begs; if you're confused, how would you know?

The depths of this shroud, as I call it, are seemingly limitless. The doubt, anxiety, anger and discouragement that overtake me are so strong, that at times I can barely breathe. That's not hyperbole.

Though my nightmare appears to have no end, there is in fact solace and comfort in the Lord. He is my portion in the land and not just aesthetically or intellectually. No, in reality. I find that when I'm plumbing the depths of the Euphrates, where the Angel of Destruction is waiting to be released, I can run to my Comforter. The scriptures are the Holy, Inerrant, Infallible breathed words of God himself; He is my creator, my God and my Master. It is when I open the crackling pages of the best selling book in the history of man and when I read His words that the supernatural takes place. The shroud is taken up like a stage curtain and what was one desperately black, deep and stifling as now revealed a wonderful picture to fix my gaze on. I see Christ, I see God and I know the Comforter and I am again free to worship is the spirit of peace and rest. God is real and I'm really his adopted son!

Guilt, Shame, Anger, Depression, Doubt...

Why do we feel bad as Christians?

Why do bad things continue to happen to us?

Why is it so mentally hard to follow Christ?

There are a few reasons I can think of, and this post is coming directly out of my own bouts with Satan or his crew.

First, let's answer the premise questions; These are usually the unasked questions but in fairness to our understanding and to give rise to that as the fullest possibility, we need to ask them before we get to the predicate, situational, conditional questions, such as the ones listed above.

Who is in charge here? Isa 45:5

God.

Who is the one who ultimately allows, or even causes us to be afflicted? Isa 45:7

God alone.

With that in mind, let's answer these question. God's children are bought with a price and are taken into possession by the Holy Father in order to procure us for his son. When we are bought, we are slaves and we're not in good enough spiritual shape, we're not fit for the King we're being presented to.

Everyone whom he receives, he scourges. This is a scourge:
A scourge is a whip or lash, especially a multi-thong type used to inflict severe corporal punishment or self-mortification on the back.

It looks like it hurts. I've found that it does hurt, but I prefer the training of my Father than the doubt of his presence.

What we can't fathom, sometimes, is that what we feel is actually the training of our Father. I've found that I can know that it's the training of the Father by measuring my response to the affliction. I can remember a time when I just complained about pain, dealt with shame and doubt as though they were equal with truth. It's when I'm in these places that I run to the scriptures. If we run to the scriptures we are demonstrating loyalty, understanding and worship of God. All of these things he deserves.

Ultimately, only he knows how much effort we need in order to make us more like him. We don't. So, it's easy to say, "Hey man, haven't I suffered enough?"

The answer to that question is. How much suffering for the cause and even the being of Christ, is enough?

I find that when I'm in these situations it's easy to forget that it is God who is training me, testing me, to see if I will follow him.

God does not, nor does he need to

Guilt you
Shame you
Make You Angry
Depress You
Or Cause you to Doubt

Those are Satan's tools! If you feel that, know that it is SATAN! Not GOD! Run to God! RUN!

Got Spurgeon? You're going to need a stomach of nails to read this!!!

GOD'S WILL AND MAN'S WILL

by Charles Spurgeon, 1862

"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." - Romans 9:16
"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." - Revelation 22:17

The great controversy which for many ages has divided the Christian Church has hinged upon the difficult question of "the will." I need not say of that conflict that it has done much mischief to the Christian Church, undoubtedly it has; but I will rather say, that it has been fraught with incalculable usefulness; for it has thrust forward before the minds of Christians, precious truths, which but for it, might have been kept in the shade. I believe that the two great doctrines of human responsibility and divine sovereignty have both been brought out the more prominently in the Christian Church by the fact that there is a class of strong-minded hard-headed men who magnify sovereignty at the expense of responsibility; and another earnest and useful class who uphold and maintain human responsibility oftentimes at the expense of divine sovereignty. I believe there is a needs-be for this in the finite character of the human mind, while the natural lethargy of the Church requires a kind of healthy irritation to arouse her powers and to stimulate her exertions. The pebbles in the living stream of truth are worn smooth and round by friction. Who among us would wish to suspend a law of nature whose effects on the whole are good? I glory in that which at the present day is so much spoken against - sectarianism, for "sectarianism" is the cant phrase which our enemies use for all firm religious belief. I find it applied to all sorts of Christians; no matter what views he may hold, if a man be but earnest, he is a sectarian at once. Success to sectarianism, let it live and flourish. When that is done with, farewell to the power of godliness. When we cease, each of us, to maintain our own views of truth, and to maintain those views firmly and strenuously, then truth shall fly out of hand, and error alone shall reign: this, indeed, is the object of our foes: under the cover of attacking sects, they attack true religion, and would drive it, if they could, from off the face of the earth. In the controversy which has raged, - a controversy which, I again say, I believe to have been really healthy, and which has done us all a vast amount of good - mistakes have arisen from two reasons. Some brethren have altogether forgotten one order of truths, and then, in the next place, they have gone too far with others. We all have one blind eye, and too often we are like Nelson in the battle, we put the telescope to that blind eye, and then protest that we cannot see. I have heard of one man who said he had read the Bible through thirty-four times on his knees, but could not see a word about election in it; I think it very likely that he could not; kneeling is a very uncomfortable posture for reading, and possibly the superstition which would make the poor man perform this penance would disqualify him for using his reason: moreover, to get through the Book thirty-four times, he probably read in such a hurry that he did not know what he was reading, and might as well have been dreaming over "Robinson Crusoe" as the Bible. He put the telescope to the blind eye. Many of us do that; we do not want to see a truth, and therefore we say we cannot see it. On the other hand, there are others who push a truth too far. "This is good; oh! this is precious!" say they, and then they think it is good for everything; that in fact it is the only truth in the world. You know how often things are injured by over-praise; how a good medicine, which really was a great boon for a certain disease, comes to be despised utterly by the physician, because a certain quack has praised it up as being a universal cure; so puffery in doctrine leads to dishonor. Truth has thus suffered on all sides; on the one hand brethren would not see the truth, and on the other hand they magnified out of proportion that which they did see. You have seen those mirrors, those globes that are sometimes hung in gardens; you walk up to them and you see your head ten times as large as your body, or you walk away and put yourself in another position, a then your feet are monstrous and the rest of your body is small; this is an ingenious toy, but I am sorry to say that many go to work with God's truth upon the model of this toy; they magnify one capital truth till it becomes monstrous; they minify and speak little of another truth till it becomes altogether forgotten. In what I shall be able say this morning you will probably detect the failing to which I allude, the common fault of humanity, and suspect that I also am magnifying one truth at the expense of another; but I will say this, before I proceed further, that it shall not be the case if I can help it, but I will endeavor honestly to bring out the truth as I have learned it, and if in ought ye see that I teach you what is contrary to the Word of God, reject it; but mark you, if it be according to God's Word, reject it at your peril; for when I have once delivered it to you, if ye receive it not the responsibility lies with you.

There are two things, then, this morning I shall have to talk about. The first is, that the work of salvation rests upon the will of God, and not upon the will of man; and secondly, the equally sure doctrine, that the will of man has its proper position in the work of salvation, and is not to be ignored.

---

I. First, then, SALVATION HINGES UPON THE WILL OF GOD AND NOT UPON THE WILL OF MAN. So saith out text - "It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy;" by which is clearly meant that the reason why any man is saved is not because he wills it, but because God willed, accord to that other passage, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." The whole scheme of salvation, we aver, from the first to the last, hinges and turns, and is dependent upon the absolute will of God, and not upon the will of the creature.This, we think, we can show in two or three ways; and first, we think that analogy furnishes us with a rather strong argument. There is a certain likeness between all God's works; if a painter shall paint three pictures, there is a certain identity of style about all the three which leads you to know that they are from the same hand. Or, if an author shall write three works upon three different subjects, yet there are qualities running through the whole, which lead you to assert, "That is the same man's writing, I am certain, in the whole of the three books." Now what we find in the works of nature, we generally find to be correct with regard to the work of providence; and what is true of nature and of providence, is usually true with regard to the greater work of grace. Turn your thoughts, then, to the works of creation. There was a time when these works had no existence; the sun was not born; the young moon had not begun to fill her horns; the stars were not; not even the illimitable void of space was then in existence. God dwelt alone without a creature. I ask you, with whom did he then take counsel? Who instructed him? Who had a voice in the counsel by which the wisdom of God was directed? Did it not rest with his own will whether he would make or not? Was not creation itself, when it lay in embryo in his thoughts entirely, in his keeping, so that he would or would not just as he pleased? And when he willed to create, did he not still exercise his own discretion and will as to what and how he would make? If he hath made the stars spheres, what reason was there for this but his own will? If he hath chosen that they should move in the circle rather than in any other orbit, is it not God's own fiat that hath made them do so? And when this round world, this green earth on which we dwell, leaped from his molding hand into its sunlit track, was not this also according to the divine will? Who ordained, save the Lord, that there the Himalayas should lift up their heads and pierce the clouds, and that there the deep cavernous recesses of the sea should pierce earth's bowels of rock? Who, save himself, ordained that yon Sahara should be brown and sterile, and that yonder isle should laugh in the midst of the sea with joy over her verdure? Who, I say, ordained this, save God? You see running through creation, from the tiniest animalcule up to the tall archangel who stands before the throne, this working of God's own will. Milton was nobly right when he represents the Eternal One as saying,

"My goodness is most free
To act or not: Necessity and Chance
Approach not me, and what I will is fate."He created as it pleased him; he made them as he chose; the potter exercised power over his clay to make his vessels as he willed, and to make them for what purposes he pleased. Think you that he has abdicated the throne of grace? Does he reign in creation and not in grace? Is he absolute king over nature and not over the greater works of the new nature? Is he Lord over the things which his hand made at first, and not King over the great regeneration, the new-making wherein he maketh all things new?
But take the works of Providence. I suppose there will be no dispute amongst us that in providential matters God ordereth all things according to the counsel of his own will. If we should, however, be troubled with doubts about the matter, we might hear the striking words of Nebuchadnezzar when, taught by God, he had repented of his pride - "All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; he doth according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou." From the first moment of human history even to the last, God's will shall be done. What though it be a catastrophe or a crime - there may be the second causes and the action of human evil, but the great first cause is in all. If we could imagine that one human action had eluded the prescience or the predestination of God, we could suppose that the whole might have done so, and all things might drift to sea, anchorless, rudderless, a sport to every wave, the victim of tempest and hurricane. One leak in the ship of Providence would sink her, one hour in which Omnipotence relaxed its grasp and she would fall to atoms. But it is the comfortable conviction of all God's people that "all things work together for good to them that love God;" and that God ruleth and overruleth, and reigneth in all acts of men and in all events that transpire; from seeming evil still producing good, and better still, and better still in infinite progression, still ordering all things according the counsel of his will. And think you that he reigns in Providence and is King there, and not in grace? Has he given up the blood-bought land to be ruled by man, while common Providence is left as a lonely providence to be his only heritage? He hath not let slip the reins of the great chariot of Providence, and think you that when Christ goeth forth in the chariot of his grace it is with steeds unguided, or driven only by chance, or by the fickle will of man? Oh, no brethren. As surely as God's will is the axle of the universe, as certainly as God's will is the great heart of providence sending its pulsings through even the most distant limbs of human act, so in grace let us rest assured that he is King, willing to do as he pleases, having mercy on whom he will have mercy, calling whom he chooses to call, quickening whom he wills, and fulfilling, despite man's hardness of heart, despite man's willful rejection of Christ, his own purposes, his won decrees, without one of them falling to the ground. We think, then, that analogy helps to strengthen us in the declaration of the text, that salvation is not left with man's will.

---

2. But, secondly, we believe that the difficulties which surround the opposite theory are tremendous. In fact, we cannot bear to look them in the face. If there be difficulties about ours, there are ten times more about the opposite. We think that the difficulties which surround our belief that salvation depends upon the will of God, arise from our ignorance in not understanding enough of God to be able to judge of them; but that the difficulties in the other case do not arise from that cause, but from certain great truths, clearly revealed, which stand in manifest opposition to the figment which our opponents have espoused. According to their theory - that salvation depends upon our own will - you have first of all this difficulty to meet, that you have made the purpose of God in the great plan of salvation entirely contingent. You have the put an "if" upon everything. Christ may die, but it is not certain according to that theory that he will redeem a great multitude; nay, not certain that he will redeem any, since the efficacy of the redemption according to that plan, rests not in its own intrinsic power, but in the will of man accepting that redemption. Hence if man be, as we aver he always is, if he be a bond-slave as to his will, and will not yield to the invitation of God's grace, then in such a case the atonement of Christ would be valueless, useless, and altogether in vain, for not a soul would be saved by it; and even when souls are saved by it, according to that theory, the efficacy, I say, lies not in the blood itself, but in the will of man which gives it efficacy. Redemption is therefore made contingent; the cross shakes, the blood falls powerless on the ground, and atonement is a matter of perhaps. There is a heaven provided, but there may be no souls who will ever come there if their coming is to be of themselves. There is a fountain filled with blood, but there may be none who will ever wash in it unless divine purpose and power shall constrain them to come. You may look at any one promise of grace, but you cannot say over it, "This is the sure mercy of David;" for there is an "if," and a "but;" a "perhaps," and a "peradventure." In fact, the reigns are gone out of God's hands; the linch-pin is taken away from the wheels of the creation; you have left the whole economy of grace and mercy to be the gathering together of fortuitous atoms impelled by man's own will, and what may become of it at the end nobody can know. We cannot tell on that theory whether God will be gloried or sin will triumph. Oh! how happy are we when we come back to the old fashioned doctrines, and cast our anchor where it can get its grip in the eternal purpose and counsel of God, who worketh all things to the good pleasure of his will.Then another difficulty comes in; not only is everything made contingent, but it does seem to us as if man were thus made to be the supreme being in the universe. According to the freewill scheme the Lord intends good, but he must win like a lackey on his own creature to know what his intention is; God willeth good and would do it, but he cannot, because he has an unwilling man who will not have God's good thing carried into effect. What do ye, sirs, but drag the Eternal from his throne, and lift up into it that fallen creature, man; for man, according to that theory nods, and his nod is destiny. You must have a destiny somewhere; it must either be as God wills or as man wills . If it be as God wills, then Jehovah sits as sovereign upon his throne of glory, and all hosts obey him, and the world is safe; if not God, then you put man there, to say, "I will" or "I will not; if I will it I will enter heaven; if I will it I will despise the grace of God; if I will it I will conquer the Holy Sprit, for I am stronger than God, and stronger than omnipotence; if I will it I will make the blood of Christ of no effect, for I am mightier than that blood, mightier than the blood of the Son of God himself; though God make his purpose, yet will I laugh at his purpose; it shall be my purpose that shall make his purpose stand, or make it fall." Why, sirs, if this be not Atheism, it is idolatry; it is putting man where God should be, and I shrink with solemn awe and horror from that doctrine which makes the grandest of God's works - the salvation man - to be dependent upon the will of his creature whether it shall be accomplished or not. Glory I can and must in my text in its fullest sense. "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."

---

3. We think that the known condition of man is a very strong argument against the supposition that salvation depends upon his own will;and hence is a great confirmation of the truth that it depends upon the will of God; that it is God that chooses, and not man, - God who takes the first step, and not the creature. Sirs, on the theory that man comes to Christ of his own will, what do you with texts of Scripture which say that he is dead? "And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins;" you will say that is a figure. I grant it, but what is the meaning of it? You say the meaning is, he is spiritually dead. Well, then I ask you, how can he perform the spiritual act of willing that which is right? He is alive enough to will that which is evil, only evil and that continually, but he is not alive to will that which is spiritually good. Do you not know, to turn to another Scripture, that he cannot even discern that which is spiritual? for the natural man knoweth not the things which be of God, seeing they are spiritual and must be spiritually discerned. Why, he has not a "spirit" with which to discern them; he has only a soul and body, but the third principle, implanted in regeneration, which is called in the Word of God, "the spirit," he knows nothing of, and he is therefore incapable, seeing he is dead and is without the vitalizing spirit, of doing what you say he does. Then again, what make you of the words of our Savior where he said to those who had heard even him, "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life?" Where is free-will after such a text as that? When Christ affirms that they will not, who dare say they will? "Ah, but," you say, "they could if they would." Dear sir, I am not talking about that; I am talking about if they would, the question is "will they?" and we say "no," they never will by nature. Man is so depraved, so set on mischief, and the way of salvation is so obnoxious to his pride, so hateful to his lusts, that he cannot like it, and will not like it, unless he who ordained the plan shall change his nature, and subdue his will. Mark, this stubborn will of man is his sin; he is not to be excused for it; he is guilty because he will not come; he is condemned because he will not come; because he will not believe in Christ, therefore is condemnation resting upon him, but still the fact does not alter for all that, that he will not come by nature if left to himself. Well, then, if man will not, how shall he be saved unless God shall make him will? - unless, in some mysterious way, he who made heart shall touch its mainspring so that it shall move in a direction opposite to that which it naturally follows.

---

4. But there is another argument which will come closer home to us. It is consistent with the universal experience of all God's people that salvation is of God's will. You will say, "I have not had a very long life, I have not, but I have had a very extensive acquaintance with all sections of the Christian Church, and I solemnly protest before you, that I have never yet met with a man professing to be a Christian, let alone his really being so, who ever said that his coming to God was the result of his unassisted nature. Universally, I believe, without exception, the people of God will say it was the Holy Spirit that made them what they are; that they should have refused to come as others do unless God's grace had sweetly influenced their wills. There are some hymns in Mr. Wesley's hymn-book which are stronger upon this point than I could ever venture to be, for he puts prayer into the lips of the sinner in which God is even asked to force him to be saved by grace. Of course I can take no objection to a term so strong, but it goes to prove this, that among all sections of Christians, whether Arminian or Calvinistic, whatever their doctrinal sentiments may be, their experimental sentiments are the same. I do not think they would any of them refuse to join in the verse -
"Oh! yes, I do love Jesus,
Because he first loved me."Nor would they find fault with our own hymn,

"'Twas the same love that spread the feast,
That sweetly forced us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin."We bring out the crown and say, "On whose head shall we put it? Who ruled at the turning-point? Who decided this case?" and the universal Church of God, throwing away their creeds, would say, "Crown him; crown him, put it on his head, for he is worthy; he has made us to differ;he has done it, and unto him be the praise for ever and ever." What staggers me is, that men can believe dogmas contrary to their own experience, - that they can hug that to their hearts as precious to which their own inward convictions must give the lie.

---

5. But, lastly, in the way of argument, and to bring out our great battering-ram at the last. It is not, after all, arguments from analogy, nor reasons from the difficulties of the opposite position, nor inferences from the known feebleness of human nature, nor even deductions from experience, that will settle this question once for all. To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not accord to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Do me the pleasure, then, to use your Bibles for a moment or two, and let us see what Scripture saith on this main point. First, with regard to the matter of God's preparation, and his plan with regard to salvation. We turn to the apostle's words in the epistle to the Ephesians, and we find in the first chapter and the third verse, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will" - a double word you notice - it is according to the will of his will. No expression could be stronger in the original to show the entire absoluteness of this thing as depending on the will God. It seems, then, that the choice of his people their adoption is according to his will. So far we are satisfied, indeed, with the testimony of the apostle. Then in the ninth verse, "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him." So, then, it seems that the grand result of the gathering together of all the saved in Christ, as well as the primitive purpose, is according to the counsel of his will. What stronger proof can there be that salvation depends upon the will of God? Moreover, it says in the eleventh verse - "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:" a stronger expression than "of his will" - "of his own will," his free unbiased will, his will alone. As for redemption as well as for the eternal purpose - redemption is according to the will of God. You remember that verse in Hebrews, tenth chapter, ninth verse: "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he might establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified." So that the redemption offered up on Calvary, like the election made before the foundation of the world, is the result of the divine will. There will be little controversy here: the main point is about our new birth, and here we cannot allow of any diversity of opinion. Turn to the Gospel according to John, the first chapter and thirteenth verse. It is utterly impossible that human language could have put a stronger negative on the vainglorious claims of the human will than this passage does: "Born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." A passage equally clear is to be found in the Epistle of James, at the first chapter, and the eighteenth verse: "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures." In these passages - and they are not the only ones - the new birth is peremptorily and in the strongest language put down as being the fruit and effect of the will and purpose of God. As to the sanctification which is the result and outgrowth of the new birth, that also is according to God's holy will. In the first of Thessalonians, fourteenth chapter, and third verse, we have, "This is the will of God, even your sanctification." One more passage I shall need you to refer to, the sixth chapter, and thirty-ninth verse. Here we find that the preservation, the perseverance, the resurrection, and the eternal glory of God's people, rests upon his will. "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day; and this is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day." And indeed this is why the saints go to heaven at all, because in the seventeenth chapter of John, Christ is recorded as praying, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." We close, then, by noticing that according to Scripture there is not a single blessing in the new covenant which is not conferred upon us according to the will of God, and that as the vessel hangs upon the nail, so every blessing we receive hangs upon the absolute will and counsel of God, who gives these mercies even as he gives the gifts of the Spirit according as he wills. We shall now leave that point, and take the second great truth, and speak a little while upon it.

---

II. MAN'S WILL HAS ITS PROPER PLACE IN THE MATTER OF SALVATION. "Whosoever will let him come and take the water of life freely." According to this and many other texts the Scripture where man is addressed as a being having a will, it appears clear enough that men are not saved by compulsion. When a man receives the grace of Christ, he does not receive it against his will. No man shall be pardoned while he abhors the though forgiveness. No man shall have joy in the Lord if he says, "I do not wish to rejoice in the Lord." Do not think that anybody shall have the angels pushing them behind into the gates of heaven. They must go there freely or else they will never go there at all. We are not saved against our will; nor again, mark you, is the will taken away; for God does not come and convert the intelligent free-agent into a machine. When he turns the slave into a child, it is not by plucking out of him the will which he possesses. We are as free under grace as ever we were under sin; nay, we were slaves when we were under sin, and when the Son makes us free we are free indeed, and we are never free before. Erskine, in speaking of his own conversion, says he ran to Christ "with full consent against his will," by which he meant it was against his old will; against his will as it was till Christ came, but when Christ came, then he came to Christ with full consent, and was as willing to be saved - no, that is a cold word - as delighted, as pleased, as transported to receive Christ as if grace had not constrained him. But we do hold and teach that though the will of man is not ignored, and men are not saved against their wills, that the work of the Spirit, which is the effect of the will of God, is to change the human will, and so make men willing in the day of God's power, working in them to will to do of his own good pleasure. The work of the Spirit is consistent with the original laws and constitution of human nature. Ignorant men talk grossly and carnally about the work of the Spirit in the heart as if the heart were a lump of flesh, and the Holy Spirit turned it round mechanically. Now, brethren, how is your heart and my heart changed in any matter? Why, the instrument generally is persuasion. A friend sets before us a truth we did not know before; pleads with us; puts it in a new light, and then we say, "Now I see that," and then our hearts are changed towards the thing. Now, although no man's heart is changed by moral suasion in itself, yet the way in which the Spirit works in his heart, as far as we can detect it, is instrumentally by a blessed persuasion of the mind. I say not that men are saved by moral suasion, or that this is the first cause, but I think it is frequently the visible means. As to the secret work, who knows how the Spirit works? "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but thou canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit;" but yet, as far as we can see, the Spirit makes a revelation of truth to the soul, whereby it seeth things in a different light from what it ever did before, and then the will cheerfully bows that neck which once was stiff as iron, and wears the yoke which once it despised, and wears it gladly, cheerfully, and joyfully. Yet, mark, the will is not gone; the will is treated as it should be treated; man is not acted upon as a machine, he is not polished like a piece of marble; he is not planed and smoothed like a plank of deal; but his mind is acted upon by the Spirit of God, in a manner quite consistent with mental laws. Man is thus made a new creature in Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and his own will is blessedly and sweetly made to yield.Then, mark you, - and this is a point which I want to put into the thoughts of any who are troubled about these things, - this gives the renewed soul a most blessed sign of grace, insomuch that if any man wills to be saved by Christ, if he wills to have sin forgiven through the precious blood, if he wills to live a holy life resting upon the atonement of Christ, and in the power of the Spirit, that will is one of the most blessed signs of the mysterious working of the Spirit of God in his heart; such a sign is it that if it be real willingness, I will venture to assert that that man is not far from the kingdom. I say not that he is so saved that he himself may conclude he is, but there is a work begun, which has the germ of salvation in it. If thou art willing, depend upon it that God is willing. Soul, if thou art anxious after Christ, he is more anxious after thee. If thou hast only one spark of true desire after him, that spark is a spark from the fire of his love to thee. He has drawn thee, or else thou wouldest never run after him. If you are saying, "Come to me, Jesu," it is because he has come to you, though you do not know it. He has sought you as a lost sheep, and therefore you have sought him like a returning prodigal. He has swept the house to find you, as the woman swept for the lost piece of money, and now you seek him as a lost child would seek a father's face. Let your willingness to come to Christ be a hopeful sign and symptom.
But once more, and let me have the ear of the anxious yet again. It appears that when you have a willingness to come to Christ, there is a special promise for you. You know, my dear hearers, that we are not accustomed in this house of prayer to preach one side of truth, but we try if we can to preach it all. There are some brethren with small heads, who, when they have heard a strong doctrinal sermon, grow into hyper-Calvinists, and then when we preach an inviting sermon to poor sinners, they cannot understand it, and say it is a yea and nay gospel. Believe me, it is not yea and nay, but yea and yea. We give your yea to all truth, and our nay we give to no doctrine of God. Can a sinner be saved when he wills to come to Christ? Yea. And if he does come, does he come because God brings him? Yea. We have no nays in our theology for any revealed truth. We do not shut the door on one word and open it to another. Those are the yea and nay people who have a nay for the poor sinner, when they profess to preach the gospel. As soon as a man has any willingness given to him, he has a special promise. Before he had the willingness he had an invitation. Before he had any willingness, it was his duty to believe in Christ, for it is not man's condition that gives him a right to believe. Men are to believe in obedience to God's command. God commandeth all men everywhere to repent, and this is his great command, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." "This is the commandment, that ye believe in Jesus Christ whom he has sent." Hense your right and your duty to believe; but once you have got the willingness, then you have a special promise - "Whosoever will let him come." That is a sort of extraordinary invitation. Methinks this is the utterance of the special call. You know how John Bunyan describes the special call in words to this effect. "The hen goes clucking about the farm-yard all day long; that is the general call of the gospel; but she sees a hawk up in the sky, and she gives a sharp cry for her little ones to come and hide under her wings; that is the special call; they come and are safe." My text is a special call to some of you. Poor soul! are you willing to be saved? "O, sir, willing, willing indeed; I cannot use that word; I would give all I have if I might but be saved." Do you mean you would give it all in order to purchase it? "Oh no, sir, I do not mean that; I know I cannot purchase it; I know it is God's gift, but still, if I could be but saved, I would ask nothing else.

"Lord, deny me what thou wilt,
Only ease me of my guilt;
Suppliant at thy feet I lie,
Give me Christ, or else I die."

Why, then the Lord speaks to you this morning, to you if not to any other man in the chapel, he speaks to you and says - "Whosoever will let him come." You cannot say this does not mean you. When we give the general invitation, you may exempt yourself perhaps in some way or other, but you cannot now. You are willing, then come and take the water of life freely. "Had not I better pray?" It does not say so; it says, take the water of life. "But had not I better go home and get better?" No, take the water of life, and take the water of life now. You are standing by the fountain outside there, and the water is flowing and you are willing to drink; you are picked out of a crowd who are standing round about, and you are specially invited by the person who built the fountain. He says, "Here is a special invitation for you; you are willing; come and drink." "Sir," you say, "I must go home and wash my pitcher." "No," says he, "come and drink." "But, sir, I want to go home and write a petition to you." "I do not want it," he says, "drink now, drink now." What would you do? If you were dying of thirst, you would just put your lips down and drink. Soul, do that now. Believe that Jesus Christ is able to save thee now. Trust thy soul in his hands now. No preparation is wanted. Whosoever will let him come; let him come at once and take the water of life freely. To take that water is simply to trust Christ; to repose on him; to take him to be your all in all. Oh that thou wouldest do it now! Thou are willing; God has made thee willing. When the crusaders heard the voice of Peter the hermit, as he bade them go to Jerusalem to take it from the hands of the invaders, they cried out at once, "Deus vult; God wills it; God wills it;" and every man plucked his sword from its scabbard, and set out to reach the holy sepulchre, for God willed it. So come and drink, sinner; God wills it. Trust Jesus; God wills it. If you will it, that is the sign that God wills it. "Father, thy will be done on earth even as it is in heaven." As sinners, humbly stoop to drink of the flowing crystal which streams from the sacred fountain which Jesus opened for his people; let it be said in heaven, "God's will is done; hallelujah, hallelujah!" "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy;" yet "Whosoever will let him come and take the water of life freely."

Charles Spurgeon, God's Will and Man's Will

What is Dispensationalism and is it Biblical?

What is Dispensationalism?

Dispensationalism is a relatively modern hermeneutic, or way of interpreting the scriptures, that has roots in the teachings of John Darby, was greatly popularized by C. I. Scofield, through the notes in his study bible, became influential through the establishment of Dallas Theological Seminary and many of its professors, including Lewis Sperry Chafer and Charles Ryrie, and has been greatly sensationalized and made influential at a popular level through the fiction and dramatic predictions and interpretations of authors such as Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye. Today, Dispensationalism is hugely influential worldwide, having a significant impact not just on the doctrine of the Church, but even on global politics, as the Dispensationally-driven Christian Zionist movement, championed by such men as John Hagee, has largely shaped America's Middle Eastern policies for many years.

Dispensationalism is by no means a monolithic school of thought, and ranges from some very extreme errors on the far right, such as the teaching that modern orthodox Jews who reject Christ may still be saved through the Torah, to the much more conservative and scholarly beliefs of the Progressive Dispensationalists such as Craig Blaising and Darrel Bock; but in essence, it may be summed up as the method of interpreting the scriptures which sees two distinct peoples of God, with two distinct destinies: Israel and the Church. The most common form of classic (sometimes called “revised”) Dispensationalism adheres to the following points of belief:

1.The Church is not the continuation of God's Old Testament people, but a distinct body born on the Day of Pentecost.
2.The Church is never equated with Israel in the New Testament, and Christians are not Jews, true Israel, etc.
3.The prophecies made to Israel in the Old Testament are not being fulfilled in the Church, nor will they ever be.
4.The Church does not participate in the New Covenant prophesied in the Old Testament; it is for ethnic Israel, and will be established in a future millennial kingdom.
5.The Old Testament saints were saved by faith alone, on the basis of the Calvary-work of Christ alone; however, the object of their faith was not Christ, but rather the revelation peculiar to their dispensation.
6.The Old Testament saints did not know of the coming “Church Age,” of the resurrection of Christ, or basically, of what we today call the gospel.
7.When Jesus came to earth, he offered the Jews a physical kingdom, but they rejected him.
8.When Jesus proclaimed “the gospel of the Kingdom,” it was the news about how ethnic Jews might enter and find rewards in this physical kingdom, and is to be distinguished from the gospel as defined in I Corinthians 15:3-4, which the apostles later proclaimed to the church.
9.After the Jews rejected Jesus' kingdom offer, he inaugurated a parenthetical “Church Age,” which will be concluded immediately before God again takes up his dealings with his national people, ethnic Israel.
10.During the “Church Age,” Jesus is not reigning from the throne of David; he is engaged instead in his priestly work, and his kingly work will take place in the future millennial kingdom.
11.At some unspecified but imminent time, Jesus will return (but not all the way to earth, just to the air) and rapture his Church, also called his Bride; for the following seven years, they will feast with him at the marriage supper of the Lamb; meanwhile, on earth, he will begin to deal with his national people, ethnic Israel, again, calling them to himself and preserving them in the midst of seven years of great tribulation; at the midpoint of which, the Antichrist will set himself up as god in the rebuilt Jewish temple, and demand worship from the world.
12.After these seven years, Christ will return, this time all the way to earth. He will defeat the forces of evil, bind Satan and cast him into a pit, and inaugurate the physical Jewish Kingdom that he had offered during his life on earth. The Jews who survived the tribulation will populate the earth during this blessed golden era, and the Christians will reign spiritually, in glorified bodies.
13.After these thousand years, Satan will be released and will gather an army from the offspring of the Jews who survived the tribulation. He will be finally defeated and cast into hell. At this time, the wicked dead will be resurrected and judged, whereas the righteous dead had already been resurrected one-thousand-seven years previously, at the rapture. Christ will then usher in the New Heavens and New Earth, and the destinies of all mankind will be finalized. Dispensationalists are divided as to whether or not there will remain a distinction between Christians and Jews in the New Earth.

Dispensationalism biblical?

According to influential author Charles Ryrie, whose views are perhaps the most representative of popular Dispensationalism, there are three “sine qua non,” (i.e. non-negotiables) of what constitutes Dispensationalism: a doxological view of history (i.e., with the ultimate purpose of glorifying God), a literal hermeneutic (i.e. method of interpreting the bible), and an ongoing distinction between the two peoples of God, Israel and the Church. A doxological purpose for all of history is certainly not unique to Dispensationalism, however, and is affirmed by many non-Dispensational theologians; so the question of whether or not Dispensationalism is biblical must hinge on what the bible says about the latter two points: its “literal” way of understanding the bible, particularly as it relates to Old Testament prophecies; and its insistence on two peoples of God.

Fortunately, the biblical evidence is not lacking for either of these questions: Dispensationalism teaches that all the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament must be fulfilled to ethnic Israel, in a literal way, that is, in a way that mandates the continuation of all the Old Testament types, regardless of whether or not the anti-types, or ultimate fulfillment of those types have come: for example, the physical land of Palestine must belong by divine right to the ethnic Jews, who will one day possess all its geographical borders in fulfillment of the prophecy of Israel's restoration. However, the bible explicitly declares that all those prophecies have already been fulfilled in the coming of Christ, and are for all who believe in Christ; the land promise made to Abraham is now too great to be fulfilled in the Middle East alone, and so Romans 4:13 says that he was promised to inherit the whole world; and his offspring who inherit it with him are not just believing ethnic Jews, but also his Gentile children by faith (Romans 4:11-17); in fact, all the promises made to Abraham (and to every Old Testament saint) were ultimately fulfilled in Christ, the true Seed of Abraham (2 Cor. 1:20; Gal. 3:16), and so they belong to all who are in Christ, and therefore a part of Abraham's seed (Gal.3:26-29). Further examples of how the New Testament interprets prophecies made to Israel, showing beyond doubt that they are now being fulfilled in the Church, include Acts 15:14-17; Hebrews 8; 10:14-18.

The second “sine qua non” of Dispensationalism, that there is an ongoing distinction between Israel and the Church, is likewise argued against throughout the New Testament, even as was anticipated in the Old Testament. To cite one of many possible examples, in Isaiah 66:18-24, the prophet looks ahead to a time when God would choose people from every nation, and make them his true priests and Levites; and in the New Testament, we find proof that this time has come. The New Testament passages that indicate that Christians are true Jews (some of them very explicitly) include these: Romans 2:28-29; 4:11-17; 9:6-8; Galatians 3:6-9, 26-29; 4:21-31; 6:16; Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:6; Phil. 3:3; 1 Pet. 2:9-10; Rev. 2:9. So then, these “sine qua non” of Dispensationalism prove to be utterly unbiblical and are explicitly argued against in the scriptures.

 

Monergism Copyright © 2008

How May We Know Whether We Have True Love to Jesus Christ?

How May We Know Whether We Have True Love to Jesus Christ?

by Thomas Vincent

---

Here you may know whether you are true Christians—by the trial of your love unto Jesus Christ. Examine yourselves, therefore, whether you love Jesus Christ, whom you have never seen. The most in the world do love truly those people and things only which they have seen; but can you say that you sincerely and chiefly love Jesus Christ, whom you have not seen? The love of the most, arises from the notice which the eye gives of the object beloved; but does your love arise from the notice which the ear has given by the word of the amiableness which there is in Christ?

Question. How may we know whether we have true love to Jesus Christ?

Answer. You may know the truth of your love to Jesus Christ,

first, by your desires after Christ's presence;

second, by your prizing and frequenting those ways wherein Christ is to be found, and seeking Him therein;

third, by your love of Christ's image;

fourth, by your obedience to Christ's commandments.

First, by your desires after Christ's presence. Wherever there is a great love to any person, there is a desire after the presence of that person. Do you sincerely and earnestly desire Christ's presence? There is a twofold presence of Christ: His gracious presence here—and His glorious presence at the last day.

1. There is Christ's GRACIOUS presence here, John 14:18, "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you." You desire that such friends and relations would come unto you—but do you desire chiefly that Christ would come unto you? Christ comes to His disciples in a way of graciouscommunication, in a way of gracious manifestation, and in a way of sweet consolation, which results from both.

(1) Do you desire that Christ would come unto you in a way of gracious communication? Are your desires after communication of spiritual light from Christ to teach and guide you; of spiritual life from Christ to quicken and encourage you; of spiritual strength from Christ to support you under burdens, and enable you unto duties? Do you earnestly desire communications of all kinds, and further degrees of grace, out of that fullness of grace which is in Christ? Do you hunger and thirst after Christ's righteousness; not only that it may be imputed to you for your justification—but also that it may be more and more imparted unto you for your further sanctification; that you might be brought, and hereby wrought, into a more perfect conformity and likeness unto Jesus Christ? This is an evidence of true love to Christ.

(2) Do you desire that Christ would come unto you in a way of gracious manifestation? John 14:21, "He who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him." Do you earnestly desire the fulfilling of this promise so that Christ would reveal to you more of the loveliness of His person and the love of His heart? Are you grieved when your Beloved withdraws Himself; when the curtain is drawn, and a cloud interposes between you and this Sun of righteousness; when He hides and veils His face from you; and do you long after Christ's return and the discoveries of Himself unto you?

"Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly; be as a roe, or a young deer upon the mountains of spices. Leap over the mountains, skip over the hills, and make haste unto my soul, which is love-sick for You in Your absence from me. O that I might see Your face which is so fair! That I might hear Your voice which is so sweet! That I might feel Your presence which is so refreshing! O that I might behold Your heart-ravishing smiles!"

"Lord, I am Yours and You are mine! You have loved me and given Yourself for me. Your love to me was from everlasting and is unchangeable."

Are these like the breathings of your soul? Such are the breathings of love to Christ.

(3) Do you desire that Christ would come unto you in a way of sweet consolation, which results from this communication and manifestation? Are you desirous after the oil of gladness which Christ is anointed with; that He would give you the unction of the Spirit—not only to sanctify you—but also to comfort you? Do you desire that your hearts may be filled with spiritual joys, the joys of the Holy Spirit, which are unspeakable and full of glory? Do you desire the comforts which Christ gives—beyond all the comforts which the world and the flesh can give; the comforts which come in at the door of faith—beyond all the comforts that come in at the door of sense; those joys which are in Christ—beyond all joys that can be found in the most sweet and desirable creature enjoyment? This evidences true love to Christ. Thus do you desire Christ's gracious presence.

2. And do you desire also Christ's GLORIOUS presence at the last day? When He promises, "Surely I come quickly!" can your hearts make answer, as Revelation 22:20, "Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus!" Are you glad you live so near the end of the world, that the Lord is at hand, and that the coming of the Lord draws nearer and nearer every day? Can you lift up your heads with joy when you look towards the place where the Lord Jesus Christ is, at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high; and think with comfort that yet a little while, and He who shall come, will come, and will not now tarry much longer; that within a short while Christ will descend from heaven with a shout, the Lord with the sound of the trumpet, and that your eyes shall see Him in the brightness of His glory and majesty? Do you look and long for the day of Christ's glorious appearance from heaven, when you shall be awakened out of your graves (where you may take a short sleep before), and be gathered together by the angels and be caught up in the clouds, and there (in shining garments of immortality on your bodies, and of Christ's unspotted righteousness in your souls) be brought with shoutings and acclamations of joy and triumph into His presence, who will then acquit you graciously for all sin and punishment, own you openly for His faithful servants, crown you gloriously before the whole world, and receive you to live and reign with Him to all eternity? Have you such desires as these?

If some of you say you are afraid of Christ's glorious appearance lest then you should be rejected because you fear you are not ready and prepared; yet can you say also from your hearts that you desire above all things that you may be ready; that you endeavor to make ready; that it is your grief that you are no more ready; and that, if you were ready, and were assured of your interest in Christ, you could desire that Christ would come immediately, and that you desire no greater happiness and felicity than to live with Christ in glory; and that you account the presence of Christ in heaven to be the happiness of heaven? These are evidences of true desires after Christ's glorious presence, and of sincere love to Christ.

Secondly, you may know your love to Christ by your prizing and frequenting those ways wherein Christ is to be found, and seeking Him therein. Such are the ways of His ordinances, both public and private. Christ's way is His sanctuary, and in His ordinances He may be found. Do you give your attendance unto ordinances, public prayer, the preaching of the Word, the Lord's Supper; and do you prize these ordinances because of the stamp of Christ's institution upon them, because of Christ's presence in them, and because they are a means of bringing you and Christ together? And, when you are under ordinances—do you diligently seek after Christ in ordinances? Do not you rest in the outside and carnal part of ordinances—in meeting with God's people there? Or do you design, desire, and endeavor after something more inward, spiritual, and incomparably sweet—so that you may meet with Christ there; that you may have fellowship with the Father and the Son there? And, upon this account, can you say as David, "How lovely are Your tabernacles, O Lord! A day in Your courts is better than a thousand!" Psalm 84:10. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after—that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple!" Psalm 27:4. Do you also seek after Christ in your families and in your closets? Do you seek Him in secret prayer and meditation? Your love to Christ expresses itself in your desires; your desires show themselves in your seeking after Christ in His ways.

Thirdly, you may know your love to Christ by your love of Christ's image. There is the image of Christ on His Word, and there is the image of Christ on His people.

(1) Do you love the image of Christ on His WORD? As Caesar's coin bore Caesar's image and superscription, so the Word of the Scriptures, which is the Word of Christ, bears Christ's image and superscription. Do you love the Scriptures, because of Christ's image which is upon them? Do You love the Word of doctrine in the Scriptures because of the image of Christ's truth and wisdom upon it? Do you love the Word of precepts in the Scriptures, because of the image of Christ's holiness upon it? Do you love the Word of threatenings in the Scriptures, because of the image of Christ's righteousness upon it? Do you love the Word of promises in the Scriptures, because of the image of Christ's goodness, grace, and love upon it? You have Christ's Word in your Bibles, and sometimes sounding in your ears—but does the Word of Christ dwell in your hearts? You receive Christ's Word in the light of it, do you receive His word in the love of it?

(2) Do you love Christ's image on His PEOPLE? If you do not love your brother whom you have seen, how can you love your Lord whom you have not seen? All of Christ's disciples bear Christ's image; if you love the original you will love the picture, although it is but imperfectly drawn. If you love the perfect goodness and holiness which is in Christ—you will love the goodness and holiness which you see in the saints, although they have it but in an imperfect measure. Do you love Christ's disciples, and that because of Christ's image, although they differ from you in some secondary matters?

Fourthly, you may know your love to Christ by your obedience unto His commandments. John 14:15, 21, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. He who has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is who loves Me." You have Christ's commandments—do you keep them? You know them, do you practice them? Your love to Christ—is known by your obedience unto Christ. If Christ is your beloved—He is also your Lord; if you have true affection for Him—you will yield subjection unto Him. If you love Christ, you are careful to please Christ; you are not the servants of the flesh, to take care to please the flesh—but you are the servants of Christ to take care above all people and all things—to please Christ.

If you love Christ, you are fearful of giving just occasion of offense unto men but, above all, you are fearful of displeasing and offending your Lord. Do you labor so to walk that you may please Christ in the way of sincere and universal obedience? Are you hearty in your obedience unto Christ? Have you a respect to all His commandments? Is it your grief—that you fall short in your obedience unto Christ? If you can say in the presence of the Lord and your hearts (do not give your tongues the lie) that you do not live and allow yourselves in the practice of any known sin which Christ forbids, nor in the neglect of any known duty which Christ commands—this is a sure evidence of true love to Jesus Christ. Thus for the trial of your love unto Christ.

Excerpt from The True Christian's Love to the Unseen Christ by Thomas Vincent

It's Not For You To Know The Times and The Epochs...

You know I've struggled some time with this idea of foreknowledge. Specifically the pursuit of deeper knowledge, or advanced, lost, overlooked, mystical or spiritual knowledge. The very practice of such a thing regarding Godly pursuits leads to idolatry and specifically Gnosticism.


It occurred to me a few days ago how absolutely humbling it is, to experience a process whereby your entire foundational knowledge is shaken, turn upside down, poured out and replaced. As you consider the transition, you realize that you once "believed" you were right, and with every outward confidence, you walked in accordance with what you believed to be right. (Possibly overlooking how you did NOT adhere in spirit, what you believed/knew/learned in principle). Then, you are shaken, only to realize that you have a new confidence....strangely enough, how can you miss questioning that confidence, since you were once confident, yet, inconspicuously ignorant before?


It would be easy to chase knowledge...severing at the neck the very idea that you would be lost again. But, what is more appropriate is to realize that it isn't you who understands, but God who gives understanding. It's not you who earns, but God who gives graciously. It's not you that stymies defeat, but God who stays the hand of the evil one. It is not YOU who saves yourself, but God who gives Grace. 


I've learned that when we stay too long on these points, and try to push them too hard, try to  press them for every possible meaning, what I often end up doing is creating an idol out of God's revelation. I begin to take my focus off God, and what he's already done, rather than to thank him for the revelation and keep moving.


In my example, the Apostle was now in front of, with full knowledge, all truth. Certainly if he knew his Bible, which he seemed to, he would want to ask all the trivia questions...and so he did. Consider this;


In Acts, an Apostle asked the risen Christ; "are you here to setup the kingdom and be the conquerer for Israel?"


Christ: "It is not for you to know the time and epochs by which the Father has fixed by HIS OWN AUTHORITY"....


Why? Aren't we in Christ? Doesn't Paul say "may you be filled with the fullness, the summing of all things Christ?"


We're in God's plan, by his good will. It pleases God to reveal himself in us at HIS choosing. It pleases God to fill in us the knowledge of the LOVE of Christ that surpasses ALL KNOWLEDGE! But to know every secret, of the secret places and secret powers....that is not for you to know. We are his witnesses. We are redeemed. Slaves at the will and mercy of our Father in Heaven. Why then should we pursue and idolize such knowledge? 


Sin desires to place ourselves in the Throne of God! You must master it!


I say, to myself, get in the Bible. Let the Spirit of God work by you opening the words that are not convincing because they are clever, rather by the POWER OF GOD! Our mind is not open because we assimilate the words. The book has no power...it's GOD! You understand because by some unknown supernatural process, handled entirely by God HIMSELF, WILLS YOU TO UNDERSTAND! You know how huge that is????!!!!


Now to him who is able to do more than ALL we can THINK OR ASK! Praise be to the Father of whom there are none beside, the Son, whom has been granted the greatest name of all ages, in this and this to come, and the Spirit who dwells in those who are called and finish the work started, and teach the mind of Christ! Peace to you. Not peace between foes for there are surely to be battles and one should already seek peace of that kind, but I'm writing of a peace of assurance, peace of serenity, peace of divine appointment. Know that to all who are called, you are in Christ and he is in God. We are one. May God bless you and keep you to his appointed time and may we all know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge.

The Problem of Pain - RC Sproul

The Problem of Pain

by R.C. Sproul

The problem of evil has been defined as the Achilles’ heel of the Christian faith. For centuries people have wrestled with the conundrum, how a good and loving God could allow evil and pain to be so prevalent in His creation. The philosophical problems have generated an abundance of reflection and discussion, some of which will be reiterated in this issue, but in the final analysis, the problem is one that quickly moves from the abstract level into the realm of human experience. The philosophical bumps into the existential.

Historically, evil has been defined in terms of privation (privatio) and negation (negatio), especially in the works of Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas. The point of such definitions is to define evil in terms of a lack of, or negation of, the good. We define sin, for example, as any want of conformity to, or transgression of, the law of God. Sin is characteristically defined in negative terms. We speak of sin as disobedience, lawlessness, immorality, unethical behavior, and the like. So that, above and beyond the problem of evil always stands the standard of good by which evil is determined to be evil. In this regard, evil is parasitic. It depends upon a host outside of itself for its very definition. Nothing can be said to be evil without the prior standard of the good. Nevertheless, as much as we speak of evil as a privation or negation of the good, we can’t escape the power of its reality.

At the time of the Reformation, the magisterial Reformers embraced the definition of evil they inherited from the earlier church fathers in terms of privatio, of privation and negation. They modified it with one critical word. Privatio began to be described as privatio actuosa (an actual, or real, privation). The point of this distinction was to call attention to the reality of evil. If we think of evil and pain simply in terms of negation and privation, and seek to avoid the actuality of it, we can easily slip into the absurd error of considering evil an illusion.

Whatever else evil is, it is not illusory. We experience the pangs of its impact, not only in an individual sense, but in a cosmic sense. The whole creation groans, we are told by Scripture, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. The judgment of God upon the human race was a judgment that extended to all things over which Adam and Eve had dominion, including the whole earth. The curse is spread far beyond the house of Adam into every crevice of God’s creation. The reality of this curse puts a weighty burden and uncomfortable cloak upon all of life. It is indeed a cloak of pain.

Many years ago I had a dear Christian friend who was in the hospital going through a rigorous series of chemotherapy treatments. The chemotherapy at that time provoked a violent nausea in her. When I spoke to her about her experience, I asked her how her faith was standing up in the midst of this trial. She replied, “R.C., it is hard to be a Christian with your head in the toilet.” This graphic response to my question made a lasting impression on me. Faith is difficult when our physical bodies are writhing in pain. And yet, it is at this point perhaps more than any other that the Christian flees to the Word of God for comfort. It is for this reason that foundational to the Christian faith is the affirmation that God is sovereign over evil and over all pain. It will not do to dismiss the problem of pain to the realm of Satan. Satan can do nothing except under the sovereign authority of God. He cannot throw a single fiery dart our way without the sovereign will of our heavenly Father.

There is no portion of Scripture that more dramatically communicates this point than the entire Old Testament book of Job. The book of Job tells of a man who is pushed to the absolute limit of endurance with the problem of pain. God allows Job to be an unprotected target for the malice of Satan. Everything dear to Job is stripped from him, including his family, his worldly goods, and his own physical health. Yet, at the end of the day, in the midst of his misery, while his home is atop a dunghill, Job cries out: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord” (1:21). It is easy to quote this utterance from Job in a glib and smug manner. But we must go beyond the glib and penetrate to the very heart of this man in the midst of his misery. He was not putting on a spiritual act or trying to sound pious in the midst of his pain. Rather, he exhibited an astonishing level of abiding trust in his Creator. The ultimate expression of that trust came in his words, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (13:5). Job prefigures the Christian life, a life that is lived not on Fifth Avenue, the venue of the Easter parade, but on the Via Dolorosa, the way of sorrows that ends at the foot of the cross. The Christian life is a life that embraces the sacrament of baptism, which signifies, among other things, that we are baptized into the death, humiliation, and the afflictions of Jesus Christ. We are warned in Scripture that if we are not willing to embrace those afflictions, then we will not participate in Jesus’ exaltation. The Christian faith baptizes a person not only into pain, but also into the resurrection of Christ. Whatever pain we experience in this world may be acute, but it is always temporary. In every moment that we experience the anguish of suffering, there beats in our hearts the hope of heaven — that evil and pain are temporary and are under the judgment of God, the same God who gave a promise to His people that there will be a time when pain will be no more. The privatio and the negatio will be trumped by the presence of Christ.