Today's Heresy

If there is one common theme that I've noticed in modern Christianity, it is the defamation of and obstinance to intellectualism and supernaturalism.

Even as I write these words the built in reponse may already be brewing; the response welling to the accusation of pride and arrogance. The lesson that I've learned over and over again as I've studied theology is that there are proper ways to think. Likewise, there are improper ways to think and as a result, unless we are wise to the possibility and the implication we will be totally blind to their effect.

The reason I begin with intellectualism is because it represents what our nation, more than ever, requires to understand the scriptures, apart from the Spirits revelation. One of the leading causes of spiritual stupor and gospel deafness is the lack of a pursuit of the scriptures. We see the scriptures as a coffee table emblem, or poetry that can lighten our spirit but not remove our problems; change our perspective but not our plight, gives us hope, but not save us. It's the very sentiment talked about above that leads to that blindness. One of the primary causes of this whole effect is the concept of libertine, or free-will, relative to God.

If I was the enemy and I had the ability to do nothing more than influence you, the first thing I would do is remove your interest in the key to knowledge about God, then when you were suffeciently insulated from it, I would propose a self-sustaining belief system, that, so long as you never look outside of it, seems purposed and completely suffecient to all the causes of the world...having nothing to do with God. This IS Free-Will, compounded by the sin of hardness and arrogance toward God's word - as if they were not as Peter said; ...'the words of life; to whom shall we go?'

You may say, we have free-will...God wants us to freely love him.

I say that you are totally blind to what you're saying. At this exact moment a healthy dose of intellectualism would alleviate frustration, because we could pursue with vigor, the meaning, implication and effect of all of those words, strung together so haphazardly. Many have attempted, I believe quite successfully, to prove the meanings of these words. I'll not do that again here, suffice it to say however, I'll do this through a word picture.

If you believe the scriptures and you must to even attempt to call yourself a christian, you know that Christ is the groom. The church is the bride and the church is made up of people. That makes you the bride.

Imagine the scene...

Christ is the Lion of Judah. My imagination of God's power sees it as limitless and this is not imagination, it's what the scripture makes quite plain. Consider that even on earth we have pictures of strength. Look at Arnold Schwarzzenegger. No one would want to arm wrestle him in his prime. And yet are we not talking about Christ.

His name is above all names!

His beauty is so much that we do not even know what it is, and so are we forbidden to even imagine it. For the scripture says do not create images of God, in the likeness of anything in Heaven, or on Earth, or in the Sea below.

To my most dull sense and by the weakest of comparisons, this makes Christ, Ken, from Ken and Barbie.

What does that make us? Well if you take the scriptures in mind and you read Ezekial 16, you'd see that we are a bloody mess, born of parents who are Godless and moronic, having left us to die in our own blood just after birth. But, if you believed in free-will, this makes you the highest pursuit of God. Surely God would not waste his time on the ugly and less desirable.

Even more so, according to free-will, God has placed all the power of this dating relationship in the hands of the church...

So, quickly the dating relationship is shaping up; Christ is magnificient and his bride must also be if Christ who is the King and has all power has bestowed some of it on His bride...to date Him..."if she wants..."

Is your God that weak that he needs your permission?

Or do you have no concept that what is right does not come by mutual agreement or assent? What is right, is right, independent of what you think about it, or even if you resist it in ignorance. And let me ask you this, of the two of us, God and man, which of us knows for sure which is which? And if God, being full of glory and is the fullness of all majesty and power says that you are to be His bride...under what circumstance do you think He would need your permission to effect what IS right in His eyes?

This is free-will. It makes God a welp, Christ impotent and the church the highest prize of pursuit and affection. I can find no evidence, even in syllogism that the people of this planet or any other hold such a high standing in the eyes of God. Nor can I reconcile free-will to do anything other than to make a clay pot god and the potter his slave to do it's bidding...called modern day christianity.

The Acid Test of Being a Christian : By Dr. Tim Keller

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is." (1 John 3:1-3)

The mark of knowing God is that you see God's love for you as a miracle. Notice this [text]: it says "how great". In the old King James it says "behold, what manner of love." Here it says, "how great a love" [NAS]. There is a Greek word that is used here that they are translating as "great" and the problem with the word is that it is an idiom. Idiomatic expressions are very hard to translate literally. We have an idiomatic expression: "its raining cats and dogs." Ok so if you are trying to translate that into Cantonese, German or into Japanese -- if you just say literally in those languages "it's raining cats and dogs" they will look at you: "what are you talking about?" You will have to find an idiomatic expression that is parallel or coordinate to that. Literally it says "behold, what country this love comes from" What this statement is really saying is "from what planet... how unreal...off the scale".

Remember there was a movie called "The Fisher King"? You wouldn't since hardly anybody saw this. Amanda Plummer plays this really klutzy, mousy, wallflower who has no friends. Robin Williams takes her out. At the end of the day he takes her in and says "I want to talk to you". She says "no, no, if you got to know me you would not like me. I am tired of rejection ... it was nice to go out. But everyone who gets to know me doesn't like me, so thanks." And Robin Williams says, "I do know you. I know that you think you are awkward. I know that you think you are clumsy. I know that you are kind of clumsy but I want you to know that I know who you are and I love you, and I will never leave you and I will never or forsake you." And she looks at him and its as if she is looking into the heart of what she thought was an enemy and she sees there understanding and love and she says, "Are you real?". This is a miracle that you love me.

[like this movie] This is saying, here is the way you can tell whether you are a Christian or just a moral person ... a Christian or a religious person. A real Christian is a person who says, "it is an absolute miracle that God's loves me. "It's just a miracle that I am a Christian." This is actually an acid test; let me just lay it on you here at the end. There are two kinds of people that go to church: there's religious people and real Christians. And the way you can tell the difference is that a Real Christian is somebody who sees everything that comes as a gift. In other words a real Christian sees that you are totally in debt to God, but a religious person is someone who is working hard and making an effort and trying to be good, going to Bible studies and just saying "no" everywhere, and denying themselves a lot of pleasures, and so forth, and a religious person is someone who is trying to put God in their debt. That is the difference. A religious person is someone who is trying to save themselves through their good works. A religious person is somebody who thinks they are putting God in their debt since they have tried so hard. A Christian is somebody who sees themselves as in God's debt.

Here is the acid test: If you are a Christian you have a spirit of wonder that permeates your life. You are always saying "how miraculous", "how interplanetary", "how unreal". You are always looking at yourself and saying, "me a Christian ... incredible, miraculous, unbelievable, a joke!!! " but a person who is trying to put God in their debt - there is none of that spirit of wonder at all. For example, when you show up to get your paycheck. I am assuming that most of you work hard for your money. When you show up for your paycheck do you say "Ah, BEHOLD!!!, you've paid me, you've given me money!!! Oh!! Are you real?." No, you don't do that, you say "of course you paid me, I worked." If you ask a religious person who does not understand the grace of God. you say, "Are you a Christian?" They say "Of course I am a Christian, I have always been a Christian. Sure I am a Christian. " My friends, if you are a Christian there is no "sure" about it and there is no "of courseness" about it, not a bit.

The acid test is your spirit of wonder stays there even when things go bad. You see when things go bad, when problems happen, here you can tell the difference between a moralist and a Christian. A moralist says, "what good is all my religion, what good is going to God, I have tried hard to be a Christian, I am trying hard to be obedient to God, and what good is it? God owes me." And you see you get mad. You say, "I have been trying hard and look what's going on in my love life, look what's going on in my career", and you get bitter. Why? because God owes you. But A Christian keeps that spirit of wonder. A Christian may say "my career has not gone too well, my love life has not gone too well, it's astonishing... Its amazing that God is as good as He is to me. Its all grace. Its all grace. That spirit of wonder. That sense of being a miracle. That everything that comes to you being an absolute mercy. That is an acid test. In fact, in some ways I have made a dichotomy that is unrealistic. Christians, to the degree that you behold the free grace of God, to the degree that you meditate on it and you let it become a holy fire in your heart, to the degree you experience and behold the love of God, to that degree you are going to find that to difficulties you will be able to say "oh well, my Father must have a purpose here because He loves me, and besides that, He does not owe me a good life. He owes me a far worse life than I've got." You can handle anything. And when good things come you will say "Behold! what a miracle" And the very fact you can get up in the morning and say, "I am a Christian. Who would have thought it?" There is a spirit of wonder about you, and if you have lost that you are slipping back into moralism, you are slipping back into thinking "well I guess what it means to be a Christian is just to do." Here is Christianity:

And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior's blood!
Died he for me? who caused his pain!
For me? who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

The wonder is a mark that you know the Lord. The ability to handle anything with that sense of almost childlike wonder. That sense of being a miracle. That tells you that you know him.

Let us love and sing and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior's Name!
He has hushed the law's loud thunder,
He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame.
He has wash'd us with His blood,
He has brought us nigh to God.

 

 

Excerpt from the Sermon Series: Beholding the Love of God: Knowing that We Know God - 1 John 3:1-3" Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA)

Posted to Servant of God   by: Andrew Smith

Untitled

Rock of Ages

 

1.          Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

let me hide myself in thee;

let the water and the blood,

from thy wounded side which flowed,

be of sin the double cure;

save from wrath and make me pure.

 

2.         Not the labors of my hands

can fulfill thy law's commands;

could my zeal no respite know,

could my tears forever flow,

all for sin could not atone;

thou must save, and thou alone.

 

3.         Nothing in my hand I bring,

simply to the cross I cling;

naked, come to thee for dress;

helpless, look to thee for grace;

foul, I to the fountain fly;

wash me, Savior, or I die.

 

4.         While I draw this fleeting breath,

when mine eyes shall close in death,

when I soar to worlds unknown,

see thee on thy judgment throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

let me hide myself in thee.

 

Author- Augustus M. Toplady, 1740-1778

Composer-Thomas Hastings, 1784-1872

Tune Name-"Toplady" Meter-77.77.77

 

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers ... did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: And that Rock was Christ. I Corinthians 10:1, 4

 

 This hymn has traditionally been ranked as one of the most popular hymns ever written. It is certainly one of the best-known in the English language. It has been described as a "hymn that meets the spiritual needs of all sorts and conditions of men from the derelict snatched from the gutter by the Salvation Army to Prime Minister Gladstone, at whose funeral it echoed through the dim spaces of Westminster Abbey. " Whereas most hymns have been written out of some deep personal need or experience, this hymn evidently was born in a spirit of passionate controversy.

 Augustus Toplady was converted to Christ as a young boy of sixteen years of age while visiting in Ireland. Of his conversion Toplady has written, Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means of grace in England, should be brought right with God in an obscure part of Ireland, midst a handful of people met together in a barn, and by the ministry of one who could hardly spell his own name. Surely it was the Lord's doing and is marvellous.

For a time Toplady was attracted to the ministry of John and Charles Wesley and the Methodists. As time went on, however, he became a strong follower of the "election" doctrines of John Calvin and was vehemently opposed to the Arminian views promoted by the Wesleys and their supporters. By means of public debates, pamphlets and sermons, Toplady and the Wesleys carried on theological warfare. The following are several of their recorded statements:

Toplady-I believe him (John Wesley) to be the most rancorous hater of the gospel system that ever appeared in this Island.... Wesley is guilty of Satanic shamelessness ... of uniting the sophistry of a Jesuit with the authority of a pope.

 Wesley- I dare not speak of the deep things of God in the spirit of a prize fighter or a stage player, and I do not fight with chimney sweeps.

 In 1776 Toplady published this hymn text in The Gospel Magazine as a climax to an article attempting to prove his argument that even as England could never pay her national debt, so man through his own efforts could never satisfy the eternal justice of a holy God. He entitled the hymn "A Living and Dying Prayer for the Holiest Believer in the World. " Some of the expressions in Toplady's hymn text are quite obviously satirical swipes at such Wesleyan teachings as the need for contrite and remorseful repentance and the Arminian concept of sanctification-the belief that it is possible for any believer to live without consciously sinning and thereby to find the promised "rest, " the state of moral perfection as described in Hebrews 4:9. Note Toplady's rebuttal in the second stanza:

 Could my tears forever flow, could my zeal no languor know, these for sin could not atone-Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Dr. Louis J. Benson, a noted hymnologist, in Studies of Familiar Hymns, calls attention to the fact that Toplady actually plagiarized his text from a hymn Charles Wesley had written thirty years earlier in a collection, Hymns on the Lord's Supper. A paragraph of the preface from this collection reads as follows: O Rock of Israel, Rock of Salvation, Rock struck for me, let those two streams of Blood and Water which once gushed out of Thy side, bring down Pardon and Holiness into my soul. And let me thirst after them now, as if I stood upon the Mountain whence sprang this Water; and near the Cleft of that Rock, the Wounds of my Lord, whence gushed this Sacred Blood.

Augustus Montague Toplady was born at Farnham, England, on November 4, 1740, the son of a Major Richard Toplady, who died in the service while his son was in infancy. Later young Toplady was graduated from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and was ordained in 1762 to the ministry of the Anglican Church. His various pastorates included the French Calvinist Chapel at Leicester Fields, London, where he was known as a powerful and zealous evangelical preacher. Because of his frail constitution he died of overwork and tuberculosis at the early age of thirty-eight. Though known as a controversial preacher in his crusade against Arminian theology, Toplady was highly respected as a deeply spiritual, evangelical leader. His final statements just before his death are noteworthy: My heart beats every day stronger and stronger for glory. Sickness is no affliction, pain no cause, death itself no dissolution.... My prayers are now all converted into praise.   The tune for Toplady's text was composed in 1830 by a well-known American church musician, Thomas Hastings. Hastings was the first musician of sacred music to dedicate his life to the task of elevating and improving the music of the churches in this country. He once wrote, "The homage that we owe Almighty God calls for the noblest and most reverential tribute that music can render. " Thomas Hastings was born on October 15, 1784, at Washington, Connecticut. Though his formal musical training was meager, and as an albino he was afflicted with eye problems throughout his life, yet he wrote no less than fifty volumes of church music, including 1000 hymn tunes and more than 600 original hymn texts as well as editing more than fifty music collections. In 1858 the University of the City of New York conferred the degree of Doctor of Music upon him in recognition of his accomplishments. Along with Lowell Mason, Thomas Hastings is generally credited with being the person most instrumental in shaping the development of church music in the United States. Other hymns by Thomas Hastings include "From Every Stormy Wind That Blows" (No. 24), "Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned" (No. 56), and "Come, Ye Disconsolate" (101 More Hymn Stories, No. 17). It is encouraging to realize that, despite the original belligerent intent behind this text, God in His providence has chosen to preserve this hymn for the past two hundred years so that congregations of believers of both Calvinistic and Arminian theological persuasion can sing this hymn with spiritual profit and blessing.

 

Posted by: Andrew M. Smith

 

Kenneth W. Osbeck. 101 Hymn Stories (Kindle Locations 1812-1823). Kindle Edition.

The Greatness of God, Through His Servant David

11. Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.

12. Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and under the sun.

13. Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "the LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die".

14. However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.

15. So Nathan went to his house. Then the LORD struck the child that Uriah's widow bore to David so that he was very sick

16. David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground.

22. While the child was still alive I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who knows, the LORD may be gracious to me, that the child may live'.

23. But now that he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again?

I was reading this passage as a part of my, as of yet, unfinished devotion this morning. I must admit I'm lacking lately in my devotion, to my devotion in the reading of scripture. Though I was not left unimpacted by the greatness of the Most High God in Heaven. I'm writing this to expound the scripture in the way I recieved it. I offer it to you for thought, reflection, worship and testing.

We pick up in the scripture after most of the comic book bibles end the story. We pick up where God is announcing the thing that he will do.

11. Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion and he will liie with your wives in broad daylight.

The implications here are fascinating. No matter what you think about God, you cannot deny that by the mouth of the prophet Nathan, God himself is declaring that he will bring forth this evil upon David. This evil that he will be bringing is a righteous response to David's sin. Yet, it is evil none-the-less. What evil does He promise? The future scripture reveals several evils that we can only surmise this passage is to account for; namely David's brother luring Ammon into raping Tamar, Absolom killing Ammon, David's refusal to punish Ammon for the rape, David's unwillingness to forgive Absolom publicly; but then He goes further. He will even take David's wives and give them to someone else, ostensibly while David is yet living so that they can be violated. How seriously God takes sin!

God makes clear that He's so definite about His plan that He will accomplish this in broad daylight and in the sight of Israel. I presume this to mean that David will suffer the loss and humiliation of the people knowing that God is against him, in this way.

13. Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "the LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die".

David had said previously that the man in the story deserved to die. Interestingly enough, this is different than what Saul said, that the man in question would surely die, speaking of his son; and then he did; just an interesting thought about the meaning of words regardless of intent.

David repents; he recognizes his sin; perhaps for the first time. In so doing Nathan reassures him with the most blessed words a man can possibly hear; "the LORD has taken away your sin; you shall not die". This just struck me as beyond gracious. Beyond all comparison and beyond words befitting the description necessary for their cause. God has taken away David's sin. In so doing we know that God alone is the one who imputes sin and does not David remind us of this when he offers in the Psalm, "Blessed is he whom God does not impute sin!".

14. However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.

I don't know specifically if the age, even generally is known by scholars. My expectation is that the child is most probably less than 3 years old and probably not an infant. Everything about the story as I read it, gives me the sense that this string of events was not in a 5 minute period of time. I draw this conclusion from the start of the chapter where the whole story begins. I'm also not convinced it matters much, just to say that David knew this child and was imtimate with him. You can draw that from the text.

One thing that is clear that God required the life of the child as payment for David's sin. This should make us wonder why God would take account of any man; how much more that He would sacrifice anyone on our account; how much more the blameless Christ, His only begotton Son?

16. David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground.

When I've read this in seasons past, I may have believed David to be selfish and insolent. He KNEW that God required the life of the child, yet what was His response?

This is of course a completely wrong understanding of the text. David's fasting and weeping could very well be worship of God. The text reveals clearly that it is once the child dies. For David get's up, cleans himself, eats and explains to those who did not understand David's actions.

 

22. While the child was still alive I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who knows, the LORD may be gracious to me, that the child may live'.

David trusted that God would be gracious and he sought His face. He prayed, he wept, he fasted and he lay prostrate on the ground. David did these things in absolute faith that his Father in Heaven would do what was good in His sight. When David finally understood that the death of the child was a decree and required, he accpted with joy the Father's decision. How do I say with Joy? David did not idly consider for one moment what could have been different, nor did he lament the death of the child but understood with stern recognition that it was the will of the Father to take Him and that it is the will of the Father for David to come to the child and not the reverse.

 

Immediately David cleansed himself and ate food. This case can be made obviously in David's calm response to his servants. They expected him to fly off the handle. Yet, he responds with the peace and contentment given to the servants of God when His will is accomplished.

23. But now that he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again?

I will go to him, but he will not return to me. 

In summary, There was a high cost for the sin, but the ulimate result is a measure of what is in the heart...not the sin. David's sin led to his face being on the ground in worship of God; this is how we know we're sons of God. This is how we know that we serve the Most High God and that He is gracious beyond all comparison. 

How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 Talk about long pastorates! John Rippon pastored Carter’s Lane Baptist Church in London for 63 years, beginning in 1775. He had been born in 1751, so he was in his mid-twenties when he first mounted the Carter’s Lane pulpit following his education at the Baptist College in Bristol, England. During the years of Carter’s Lane, John developed a vision for a church hymnal, which he edited, assisted by his Minister of Music, Robert Keene. The resulting volume, A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, Intended to Be an Appendix to Dr. Watts’ Psalms and Hymns, was published in 1787. It was a runaway hit, especially among the Baptists, going through eleven British editions during Rippon’s lifetime. An American edition appeared in 1820. ‘‘How Firm a Foundation’’ first appeared here. No one knows its author, for the line reserved for the author’s name simply bore the letter ‘‘K.’’ Many scholars attribute the composition to Keene. The unique power of this hymn is due to the fact that each of the seven original stanzas were based on various biblical promises. The first verse established the hymnist’s theme—God’s Word is a sufficient foundation for our faith. The author then selected precious promises from the Bible, and converted these into hymn stanzas, among them: Isaiah 41:10—Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 43:2—When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. 2 Corinthians 12:9—My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Hebrews 13:5—For He Himself has said, ‘‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’’ No wonder this hymn was first published under the title, ‘‘Exceedingly Great and Precious Promises.’’

 

Morgan, Robert J. (2003-02-05). Then Sings My Soul (p. 84). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit
Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has
been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow
down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense,
and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight
walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions,
mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or
popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised,
regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by
patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my
way is rough, my companions few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted,
or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the
presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the
pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of
mediocrity.

I won't give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I've preached up, prayed
up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am a
disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop,
preach until all know, and work until He comes.

And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My
colors will be clear for "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the
power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.." (Romans 1:16)

~Author Unknown (to me anyway)

 

How Do We Know If We Love Christ?

J. C. Ryle writes:

1. If we love a person, we like to think about him. We do not need to be reminded of him. We do not forget his name or his appearance or his character or his opinions or his tastes or his position or his occupation... Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
2. If we love a person, we like to hear about him. We find a pleasure in listening to those who speak of him. We feel an interest in any report which others make of him... Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
3. If we love a person, we like to read about him. What intense pleasure a letter from an absent husband gives to a wife, or a letter from an absent son to his mother... Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
4. If we love a person, we like to please him. We are glad to consult his tastes and opinions, to act upon his advice and do the things which he approves... Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
5. If we love a person, we like his friends. We are favorably inclined to them, even before we know them. We are drawn to them by the common tie of common love to one and the same person... Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
6. If we love a person, we are jealous about his name and honor. We do not like to hear him spoken against, without speaking up for him and defending him... Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
7. If we love a person, we like to talk to him. We tell him all our thoughts, and pour out all our heart to him. We find no difficulty in discovering subjects of conversation... Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
8. Finally, if we love a person, we like to be always with him. Thinking and hearing and reading and occasionally talking are all well in their way. But when we really love people we want something more... Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!

Holiness, (Darlington, England: Evangelical Press) 247-249.

________

Recent posts from "They Still Speak" —

• An Impulse You Should Never Ignore (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
• Ready for Work This Week? (John Calvin and Martin Luther)
• Why Love for God Is Not a Vague Feeling (Augustine)

Be Blameless

Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;  walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

How does God command Abram to "be" something he cannot possibly "be" unless the being of which was bestowed upon him?

Does God ask Abram to be Blameless; or does he tell him to be? Then, was Abram allowed to be blameless, or decreed to be blameless? In this we have a perfect picture of the inner working of the Holy Spirit; who through the command of the LORD, instructs us, removes defect, and perfectly obeys the Father God. He obeys the command to Be Blameless.

Abram was blameless because God commanded him to be blameless and whatsoever God commands, he shall necessarily bring to pass, through counsel of His Most High will. There is No God, like our Father God. The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. The God of our fathers...the God who's power was made known to Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Canaan and soon the whole of all of the parts of the furthermost world. 

Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Our Father

I was thinking about something today; at church we were gathered into a circle and a number of people were praying over a mission trip. Everyone opened up the prayer like this; "Father..."

It struck me in a way that I really hadn't thought of before, which leads me to try to make obvious how much salvation is a work of God alone. Let us compare some biblical texts. Here's the setup. You've got Jesus talking to the Pharisees about how they serve the Devil.

"I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin...If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does...You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." 

Now he's talking to the disciples about how to pray to their heavenly Father.

Matthew 6:9-13

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁹ Pray like this:

   Our Father in heaven,
      may your name be kept holy.
   ¹⁰ May your Kingdom come soon.

Christ makes clear that there are two factions of people. There are those who should pray to their heavenly Father, God and those who serve their earthly Father, the Devil. Colossians and 2 Timothy also says this;

Colossians 1:13

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 ^13 [a]For He rescued us from the ^[b]domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^[c]His beloved Son,

2 Timothy 2:24-26

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, ²⁵ with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive ^[i]by him to do his will.

 

So then, it is obvious that from birth you are in the dominion of darkness. Born there to suffer the torment of your depravity, until such time as you were elected to be transfered from that dominion, into the dominion of God. Since brother Paul says we're dead in our trespasses and it's not until we're brought back to life that we can even see the kingdom, how then can we say it's our 'choice'? Jesus also says this very thing to Nicodemus.

John 3:3

King James Version (KJV)

 ³Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

How does one make a choice to see something, that they can't see, until that choice is already made? We've got an antecendent problem, a logic problem and an exegetical error. The short answer is you can't. That would be like visualizing a tree, before you're born. You can't possibily do that because at a minimum there is no causal relationship between you and sight. You're not even born. Which takes me to the final point; which of us chose to be born and to which family?

 

Clearly; none of us. When we pray, let us make certain that our election is sure and that we pray to our heavenly Father and do not serve the Father of Lies.

How Should We Respond to Unjust Laws?

Too often Christians are wrapped up in politics to the degree that they think they are powerless or the world is going to end if we lose the battle for some law. But the gospel is not hindered by whatever government, unjust law or persecution that we may suffer. Unjust/unholy laws enacted by pagans/secularists do make a dent against God eternal plan. In fact God often in the midst of harsh persecution reveals his power and advances the gospel more than he would under prosperity (consider the current advance of the gospel in closed countries in Asia as an example). ... It is a great witness of Jesus Christ to the world when we work for what is just but don't bitterly complain when things don't go our way in the secular sphere. This is not to say we should not work for a just government and God-honoring laws within our legal limits but the world does not end if they do not come into existence. God laughs at such trifles because he will prevail.

Martin Luther once said, "I will not have recourse to arms and bloodshed in defense of the Gospel. By the Word the earth has been subdued; by the Word the Church has been saved; and by the Word also it shall be reestablished."

Original Article

The Problem Is Choice ~Neo

When Neo is confronted by the Architect the final issue he's presented with is the one he's been working through the whole time.

Consider a few scenes earlier with the Oracle:

Oracle: "Would you like some candy?"

Neo: "But you already know if I'm going to take it, Right?"

Oracle: "Wouldn't be much of an oracle if I didn't"

Neo: "How can I make a choice, if you already know what I'm going to do?"

Oracle: "Because you didn't come here to make the choice, you've already made it, you came here to understand it."

Let me explain why I love this piece of thinking. In God's reality everything is already complete. He's seen it all. It's already happened. All my choices are forever determined, either by 1Consider a quote from the earlier movie;

Oracle: "Don't worry about the vase"

Neo: "What vase? (Crash)"

Oracle: "How did you...?"

Neo: "What's really going to boil your noodle later is, would you still have broken it if I hadn't said anything?"

If you watch the movie again, you'll see that Neo is stuggling not with fatalism, or determinism, but free-will. He believes that he's ultimately the result of his choices and they are free and immutable; that is, they stand on their own and are unchangeable. He's the ultimate cause of them. Yet, he experiences a person who seems to continually demonstrate that he's not the ultimate cause. Because, if he was, then how could anyone know what he's going to do, before he's done it? Unless your thoughts, or even pre-thoughts exist on some cosmic ticker tape that people can read?

This is exactly the problem we have. As Neo so adeptly puts it. Choice. The problem is choice. It's a confusing master. It deludes you into a sense of power, or control. When ultimately it's real purpose is to set you away from the King.

The Bible makes it clear that God not only knows, but he also chooses and plans the destiny and the comings and goings of man. Man has the ability to think, and act and choose, in the same sense that he has the capacity for these things, but ultimately he cannot do them on his own. He's not the first cause of anything.

It's interesting to me that the foe of Neo understands this concept, while Neo, the Christo-Hero of the movie does not. But whatever, it's just a movie.

The reason I wanted to point this out is because, while I'm not saying that what the Oracle says is completely in-line with scripture, it gives me an angle to think about God's sovereignty. This is the reality, all of our choices ARE already made. It's all done already. So then, thinking about the meaning and purpose of them can be more useful than trying to think through the "right" choice. I can also tell you what I'm sure of, the point of our choices IS NOT the making of them, but rather how the results totally glorify God in all His majesty. SO, in that sense of "understanding your choice" I totally agree with the Oracle. If you spent your whole life trying to understand God, this would be a life well spent. 

 

^{1 - note; I do not believe our choices are determined by anything but God. I made this point to demonstrate how even foreknowledge demonstrates that choices are determined despite, free thinking, sentient capability or causality.}

Repost: I Know He's Angry

I'm listening to John Piper's series on Romans. http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/by-series/romans-the-greatest-letter-ever-written

I'm 2/3's of the way through it. I find it astonishing that it was delivered in 1998. It's as real and potent to me now as though it were the day it was said. God is real, and this is proof. I fully recommend that you listen to it.

 

Dear Daddy,

I know that you're angry:

he's angry with me

I don't desire God because I'm unrighteous

I cannot know Godliness because 

I'm in love with sin, I'm in love with

distortion and truth bending

I'm in love with my self-centered,

self-appointed, self-directed, god of self

who cannot know God, does not 

seek God and supresses the truth 

in unrighteousness.

Thanks be to God our Father

who in his mercy and by the washing

and renewing of His Holy Spirit

appointed us as sons for adoption

to be conformed to the image of His Son

Jesus Christ, whom he poured out

that we might be Justified. That we 

might be made righteous. Blessed is the man

whom God does not impute his sin to.

I'm not righteous, Christ is righteous and

his rightouesness has been given to me

without anything I could do or could have

done. I cannot repay. I stand in forever

adoration and thankfulness that my 

life is counted righteous, not because

I will it so, but because my Daddy did.

I love you Daddy and I'm very very very very sorry. Please forgive me, Joshy!

 

The gloriousness of this, is He has. He loves me and I love him. I praise him because it seems reasonable service owed only to the person who brought me back to life. He's my Hero, he's my Father, he's my God and I am his child and his portion. Praise be to God always.