LOOKING FOR PASSIONATE PEOPLE

To have passion is to have strong feelings about something. It exudes an intensity that often makes others uncomfortable. It consumes us – our time, our money, our energy, our creativity. We are more familiar with the object of our passion than with anything else. We praise it, write about it, read about it, talk with friends about it, attend its showings or events. It compels us & motivates us. It drives us to unusual sacrifices and is attended with the utmost enthusiasm. It knows no moderation, luke-warmness, restraint, or self-consciousness.

One of the most significant of our contemporary choruses says:

Give me one pure and holy passion;
Give me one magnificent obsession;
Give me one glorious ambition for my life –
To know and follow hard after you!

When I inspect Christianity, it often seems less like a passion than it does a pursuit. But someone in pursuit of something has yet to lay hold of it. Passion halts our pursuit and commences our feeding frenzy. If I were to evaluate Christ's devotees by their devotion and then tally the sum, few would make the cut. I'm not sure if I would make the cut.

How can we be so measured? What is dignity when it comes to Christ? An older gospel song said:

To write the love of God above
Would drain the oceans dry;
Nor could a scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Superlatives fail us! Finitude stands in our way! The zeal of our best days has not yet "eaten us up."

A DIFFERENT WAY TO LOOK AT PHILIPPIANS 4:13

I think this biblical reality can be conceived of in two different ways.

Both ways see a believer faced with some kind of life-difficulty. In the first way, the believer prays and asks God to give him the strength to meet this difficulty. His view, or sight, of the difficulty has not changed. It is still seen as problematical in some fashion. Through faith in the Lord, expressed through prayer, the believer assumes that God will infuse him with the power needed to meet the challenge posed by this life-difficulty. I would see this as the "sight" way

In the second way, the believer still expresses his faith in prayer, but rather than asking for strength, he asks for spiritual eyes to see this life-difficulty as a blessing to be welcomed and boasted of, because it will not only be good for him (Ja. 1:2-4), but will showcase the Lord's great power (II Cor 12:9-10). In this way, the believer is strengthened, not to victoriously beat the problem, but rather to view the problem through the eyes of faith, contrary to how the eyes of flesh are seeing it. I would see this as the faith way.

In summary -

The first way looks like this:

1. A believer encounters a life-difficulty.
2. He prays, asking the Lord for strength.
3. The lord infuses him with "strength" to address this life-difficulty as a problem to be solved, overcome, or endured.

The second way goes like this:

1. A believer encounters a life-difficulty.
2. He prays, asking the Lord to be able to see this life-difficulty, not by sight (a.k.a. as a problem), but by faith (a.k.a. as a blessing).
3. The Lord strengthens him to believe that this situation, which sight is telling him is a problem, is actually a blessing in disguise.

In the first way, strength is believed to be a product that comes directly from God, making the believer strong.

In the second way, strength is a by-product that comes indirectly from God whose power is showcased through the new eyes given to the believer.

In the first way, what is seen is the believer's strength.

In the second way, what is seen is the power of God that once again causes the blind to see.

THE BIBLE'S NOT A MAGIC BOOK, BUT GOD IS POWERFUL!

Now, don't get me wrong. I love the scriptures. I live in my Bible, but some people treat it like some kind of magic book. It doesn't claim to be that. It claims to be the word of Almighty God. It's powerful, not because it's magical, but because God is powerful, and His word alone is creative.

Only God's voice can bring something into existence that was never there before. Only God's voice can transform one thing into another. And only God's voice can separate the indivisible or join solitaries.

Practically speaking, the promises, commands, principles, truths, mysteries, et al do nothing at the intonations of the superstitious. They are inert to the ritualist and, like the little child who won't perform for strangers, dormant to mere onlookers.

Faith is the connecting grace, linking us less-than-specks to awesome cosmic power, us bag-of-needs to a bottomless abyss of supply, us pick-of-the-litter dullards to galactic genius and wisdom.

The Bible impresses me, but the Bible's Author is impressive!

FAITH IN THE "WIGGLE ROOM" OF LIFE

The Bible says, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." But what does someone do, if even the spirit seems "weak" and no longer "willing?"

The Bible also says that God is at work in his children "to will and to do" his "good pleasure." But what if this also seems not to be happening?

The sight of man, at his sanctified best, only "looks on the outward appearance." Only God can be trusted to see things as they really are. Sometimes faith only has the "seemings" as its wiggle room. Faith is most needed here, because its enemy (under the curse) is "sight." And under these circumstances, everything we seem to see is telling us exactly the opposite of the truth. What (or Whom) we "believe" at these times, defines us!

OUR PROPENSITY TOWARD PRECISION

Sherlock Holmes once said, "To the logician, everything must be exact." He said this indignantly when Watson referred to Holmes as "modest." He meant that what he had just said about the superior skills to his own in the observation and retention of facts that were possessed by his brother, Mycroft, was a matter of accuracy, not modesty.

In this age of scientific and engineering precision, we admire accuracy and precision in everything. Yet, I think in the process we have lost the ability to appreciate generalities.

Some would ascribe verbal precision to the scriptures as a part of what is meant by "verbal inspiration." After all, doesn't God speak precisely? No! I believe that precision is not a prerequisite of accuracy. God is always accurate, but is not always precise. The two words, "accurate and precise" do not mean the same thing.

On the original Star Trek Series, "Bones" was correct when he said it was three minutes after six o'clock. But Spock countered with the fact that it was actually three minutes and 20 seconds past six. Who was accurate? Who was correct? Both! Spock was more "precise" than Bones, but Bones was just as right.

Precision has its place, as in the "bore" of a cylinder. But precision is over-rated and often misunderstood in communication.

For instance, God's Word says in Exodus 1:5 that 70 persons went down to Egypt from Jacob's family. But, Acts 7:14 says it was 75. Mockers have often seen this as a contradiction in the Bible. After all, which account is correct? I sat both! As a round number, 70 is accurate, even though 75 has greater precision, but is no more correct.

I've read books that do some mathematical gymnastics to reconcile these two numbers. I just don't think they need reconciliation any more than "Bones" and Spock's different numbers needed reconciliation. In both cases, both numbers are correct. It's only because we require the Bible to have a "precision" that it makes no pretense to have.

In general, what I am trying to say is that the level of precision that we have become almost addicted to in the 21st century, in science, history, reporting, medicine, etc, leads us down paths of confusion when it comes to reading the Bible.

How many persons went down to Egypt? I think Deuteronomy 26:5 states what God accurately is seeking to communicate: "…few in number, and there he became a great nation.…" Ah, the beauty of the general!

INNOCENTS TO THE SLAUGHTER

They come out in droves – children, some old enough and excited enough to walk, some being carried in the arms of loving but naïve parents. Like hordes of locusts they descend upon us for treats and to show off their costumes. Such fun, such glamour, such festivities for the Prince of Darkness.

As a believer, I know that the entire world has been mesmerized by the Devourer of Souls. But many of those who have had their eyes opened to spiritual things seem to either be enthusiastic supporters of the day, or reluctant participants in its reverie.

I, who staggered through my parenting years in a glass house, shouldn't throw stones. I vacillated between the above mentioned options most of the time. I remember the smuggness of the latter and the enjoyment of the former. But in either case, my conscience never experienced any angst. In fact, I used to suffer the "fools" that think like I do now. All of them seemed like superstitious bigots.

Now, amidst the "tomfoolery," all I can see is a celebration of a predator's world – the one who keeps so many blinded to the misery he inflicts and to the Judgment he ridicules. And my heart wants to cry!

IS GOD SOVEREIGN - SOMETIMES, YOU SAY?

Most believers ascribe to God a sort of limited sovereignty, when it comes to evaluating how often God's hand is responsible for things in their lives. God is credited for the good things that happen to them, but not the bad things – that would be cruel, after all, or so they think!

That means that they would praise or thank the Lord when something happens to them that is advantageous, fair, freeing, or constructive. But if something happens that seems unfair, oppressive, abusive, or destructive, Satan or evil is blamed, depending on whether they gravitate toward the notion of a personal and malevolent Being or to an impersonal (and unbiblical) sense of Fate.

When you consider how many bad things happen in this world that evidently God is helpless to keep from happening, and when you consider how few truly or purely good things happen, the notion of God's sovereignty would seem quite limited.

That would make me very uncomfortable, to think that God is helpless to prevent bad things from happening to me. Bad things will, and do, happen to me. God comforts me with the knowledge that I can know that (not how) they happen by sovereign design and for good reasons.

Do bad things still hurt sometimes? Yes, but they do me no harm. You mean I can be hurt without being harmed? Yes! Hurt involves mental, emotional, or physical pain. Harm involves my standing in grace. Let life bring us what it will. Let it deprive us of its smile – even unto death. It cannot harm those God has sworn to protect, even if it kills us.

MY LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH JOHN PIPER

I'm sort of glad I don't know John Piper intimately, or even personally. That would put such pressure on my frail-because-schizophrenic self that its duality would too easily be seen. Why? I love John Piper & I hate John Piper.

The reasons I love John Piper are too numerous to mention, but the most outstanding two are: 1) his profound insights into Scripture; and 2) his passion. He never fails to stir me or challenge me, whether I read him or listen to him!

But then why do I hate him? I hate him because he always exposes me! I am a prideful, selfish, worldly man who fears close inspection. I can't jump the high bar he sets. I don't like what I see in me when he writes or speaks. Everything ungodly in me joins in outcry against him. The picture he paints of the Christian embarrasses me, and makes me feel so small and failing. I suspect that these same feelings keep some away from him, some jealous of him, and many downright critical of him.

My struggles with Piper are natural extensions of two things: 1) I am a renewed creature in Christ, whose flesh deceives me too often; and 2) I live in the natural tension brought on by this time of the overlap of the ages, when we must walk by faith and not sight.

He also reminds me how blest I will be to be glorified by the Beatific Vision that will destroy my flesh, perfect my life, and render me capable of completely enjoying the Inapproachable Light for all eternity.

DECEIT, THY NAME IS BAGEL

I have no aspirations to become the Andy Rooney of the Evangelical world, but I'm trying to find out what there is about a bagel, or what mischievous purpose some chef de cuisine cooked up (pardon the pun!) for that sugarless confection, that requires it to advertise itself as "sliced," all the while prankishly knowing it was really joined in the middle!

How often have I pulled one of those round (sometimes oval) little bakery delights from its grocery store bag, thinking it would welcome my waiting cream cheese, but finding it tenaciously resisting a speedy journey to fulfill the created purpose of its impish existence.

What should a godly man do under such recalcitrance? Certainly he would patiently acquire a sharp knife from the drawer and firmly split that stubborn culinary freak in two.

But since, at that time, I am more hungry than godly, I try to quickly claw it open with my less than dextrous pair of hands. Result? Two pieces of torn-to-shedded bagel parts that are no longer suited to my snacking aspirations. And I think to myself, "Oh, the intolerable burden of life. Fooled again!" I find myself feeling like Charlie Brown – fodder again for Lucy's fiendish delight. Will I never learn? Why don't they put a warning sign on those bags to forearm the "galactically stupid" of their deceitful intentions?

What do I do now? Easy! There's always the straightforward pretzel – twisted, but transparently honest.

THE "DECEIFULNESS" OF RICHES

I just checked out the Christian PF (personal finance) website. They consistently make texts that, in their immediate context do indeed refer to money or material wealth, mean primarily that. There is no sense that the concept of "true riches" is what the canonical understanding should be. The website freezes a concept in its temporary place in the progress of revelation - a revelation that is flowing forward to the true riches in Christ and cannot be understood properly apart from the cross.

Christ was not concerned with "making money, saving money, growing money, budgeting money," ad material wealth nauseum. They list 250 verses they believe talk about money. There is no concern to understand these verses in any Christ-centered way.

Now, this is not Copeland or Hagin. It is "evangelical" and, in my opinion, misleading exegesis. We're continuing to inuendo (at least) that the Lord's blessing has material prosperity inclinations. I find this totally contrary to what the Lord is trying to teach us in the redemptive historical progression of the Bible.

Amway (or whatever it's called now), our conservative "American Dream" bastion of Republican orthodoxy is just a prosperity cult in marketing clothes.

I usually vote Republican, but mostly because of the abortion issue. I find much of its fiscal-economic policies, so attractive to multiple thousands of evangelicals, to be simply the voice of "unrighteous mammon," deceiving and distracting so many of God's people.

Many Evangelicals, again in my opinion (and I would certainly class myself as a brand of them), are theologically naive and culturally conditioned in an out-of-control way. I'm personally committed to seeing every book and every theme in the Bible as primarily a part of the grand meta-narrative of redemptive history, with Christ as its interpretive key.

WEALTH OR WISDOM

I'm a little hot under the collar right now; I just got finished reading a Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin inspired, message on why the Lord wants to make you rich. He used Proverbs 10:22 as one of his key texts.

Then, I made the mistake of looking at other things on Proverbs 10:22 that were on the internet, including Matthew Henry and Charles Bridges. Now, I respect the commenting of these two men, but I felt that each fell a little short of bluntly saying "When the entire Bible is taken into consideration, wealth does not indicate God's blessing & God's blessing does not indicate wealth." Now maybe they said as much in their quaint styles, but I missed it in my stroked condition. If they actually agree with the statement in quotes, they have my apologies for my inexcusable "pot-shotting."

Certainly, on the basis of Luke 16:11, we can dismiss the notion that material wealth is the "true blessing" rather than the "unrighteous mammon" it is called. But I don't even believe that the book of Proverbs, itself, is holding out Proverbs 10:22 as its monolithic teaching on riches or being rich. The same book also says:

How much better to get wisdom than gold!
To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

The Bible, considered as a whole, and even the Book of Proverbs, rightly understood, holds out the superiority of wisdom over wealth. Between the two, wisdom is the true blessing; wisdom, understanding, prudence, insight, and discernment, the true riches of life.

So, away with the Copelands & Hagins of the world! May their tribe decrease!

HOW YO APPLY THE SCRIPTURES

"We must never move immediately from ancient text to modern hearer. We must always go from the text to Christ to whom the text testifies, and only then to the hearer. This order is as true experientially as it is theologically and hermeneutically. Relating to God outside of Jesus Christ is to relate to him as Judge, not as Savior. Why would we want to apply any text of God’s Word without first moving through the text’s fulfillment in Jesus’ saving person and work? "Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?" asks the Psalmist. "He who has clean hands and a pure heart" is the answer (Ps. 24:3-4). That’s not me. My heart isn’t pure. But Christ’s is, and because I am united to him by faith I can boldly ascend to the Lord’s throne (Heb. 4:16)!" Paul Alexander in a review of a Graeme Goldswothy book.

MEDICINE

MY HILLS OF PILLS CURE ALL MY ILLS.
THEY CHILL THE WILL AND KILL THE THRILL.
I DOWN THE SWILL OF MY OWN FREEWILL,
UNTIL A REFILL RESTARTS THE DRILL.

WHEN YOU DON'T "FEEL" FORGIVEN!

When God forgives our sin by means of the sacrificial death of his Son, He no longer holds those sins against us, but two possible dynamics may still be slow to die.

First, we may still hold those sins against ourselves, especially if they were committed after our conversion, even though our head knows that God no longer does. The more shameful we see a sin (even a forgiven one) to have been, our incurably humanistic, "religious" flesh feeds on it, often causing continued inner turmoil and spiritual paralysis. It will not acknowledge the completeness and fullness of our forgiveness, since it has only been bestowed by God (to whom it won't submit).

The second dynamic comes from Satan, the enemy of our souls. In Rev. 12, we see him cast out of heaven. What does that mean? Apart from the death of Christ, Satan could successfully accuse us to God. But, since the death and exaltation of Christ, he no longer has any unpardoned sins of a child of God to legally accuse them of to God. His case against us was thrown out of court. The only accusations against us he can lodge now are to us. We'll listen! They have no legal basis, of course, but when we listen, we afflict ourselves with the feelings of a non-existent (except in our imaginations) guilt or shame.These enemies must be fought daily with faith. Hear God! Believe God! Pray that God might strengthen your faith in his promise to not only forgive your sin, but to cleanse you from your unrighteousness - especially your conscience.

I'm not trying to scare anyone with this paragraph. I have no desire to burden the soul of a born-again Christian. But, perhaps the reason you just can't believe God is because he has never given your soul true life. Hence, saving faith is impossible for you. Your guilt is there because you don't possess genuine faith in Christ, so God has not yet taken your guilt away. Your conscience still bothers you because you have never received God's cleansing from the stain with which sin has soiled your heart.

Is there any hope for you? Yes! If you are not a Christian, but guilt and shame are "alive and well" in your life, there is, yet, hope. Your conscience is still doing its job. By it, you care about the fact that your own conscience would condemn you, if God were to accuse you.

Faith is still the answer! The horror of your sin is not that you are being tortured by it, but that you know you have no way to answer God for it. I say to you, bow your knee to Christ, the Lord of the universe, the one who new that you could not stand on the Day of Judgment, the one whose blood was shed to save sinners such as yourself. He is a beautiful Savior and a bountiful Master.

SHOULD BELIEVERS BE READERS?

In every ministry, one has disappointments. Mine is no exception. But my church is not among them. They have allowed me to preach freely, cared for me during my months of recovery from a stroke, and have been charitable toward my blunders.

However, one of my hopes was to open their minds toward excellent Christian literature and set the pace in reading for inquisitive learners. Don't get me wrong; I don't think what I feel in this regard applies to all members of my church, but neither do I feel like I've left my mark on many in this regard. If any of them are readers now, they probably were already one before I came into their lives. If any of them were never great readers before my appearance on their scene, they probably still aren't. I know that's a sweeping generality, and, like all sweeping generalities, there are notable exceptions. This matter is no exception to the rule, but most should recognize its general accuracy. Over the years, I have set before them varied inducements, but to little avail.

So, let me offer yet another incentive - obedience to apostolic example. There certainly is no command in place here, and the exact identity of the literature involved is not clear. But, with those provisos, II Timothy 4:13 may very well indicate for us the high value Paul placed on the Scriptures (the "books") and other expensive, codex-like "parchments" that he was accustomed to reading. Were these "sacred works?" from the rabbis & scribes? Perhaps, perhaps not. Was there some secular or legal material among them? Probably. We know that Paul was familiar with compositions from outside Judaism (Acts 17:28; Titus 1:12).

Since the nature of this literature is unclear, I hesitate to rule any decent literature out. I think the apostle's reading habits were dictated more by "why" he read them than by "what" he read. But at least we can safely say, "He was a reader."

Believers should be known for their frequent, God-honoring reading pursuits. Are you an avid reader? Do you read "in love," i.e. is the Glory of God your ultimate interest, or is it self-interest? Is there anything wrong with reading for pleasure? It depends what you mean by that. Is it wrong to mainly read for one's own pleasure? I think it may be so. Is it wrong to get pleasure from reading? Absolutely not. Not sure where to start? I may have some suggestions that might fit your current Godly interests. Any of the classics among the world's great literature can be selected for discerning reading. Christianity has also produced some great sacred classics that are always good reading.

I close with some words from John Piper (talking about D.A. Carson's great book on prayer, "Spiritual Reformation."

"Read great Christian writers who know God deeply and saturate their writing with the Bible and take you deep into its spirit.
"They are like reading the Bible through the mind and heart of great knowers and lovers of God. Don't let long books daunt you. Finishing the book does not matter. Growing by it matters. But finishing is not as hard as you might think.
"Suppose you read slowly like I do—about the same speed as you speak—200 words a minute. If you read 15 minutes a day for one year (just 15 minutes, say just before supper, or just before bed), you will read 5,475 minutes in the year. Multiply that by 200 words a minute and you get 1,095,000 words that you would read in a year. Now the average book has about 360 words per page (that's what Carson's book has). So you would have read 360 words into 1,095,000, or 3,041 pages in one year. That's 13 books the size of Carson's book, or reading his in 21 days. All that in 15 minutes a day.
"The point is: the words of Jesus will abide in you more deeply and more powerfully if you give yourself to some serious reading of great books that are saturated with Scripture."

THE SPIRITUAL LOGIC FOR A SATAN

If, as I John 1:5 says, "God is light and in him is no darkness," how can evil, in any sense, be attributed to God? Wouldn't Satan have to be credited as the ultimate author of evil? God forbid! But why do I say this? According to Ephesians 1:11, God "works all things according to the counsel of his will." That means that Satan exists by God's decree, evil exists by God's decree, sin exists by God's decree, error exists by God's decree – everything that exists, exists because God willed it to. Why? For the complete knowledge of His glorious character and the fulfillment of His purpose to "unite all things in him (Christ)!"

Satan is not an independent agent. He is the hardest worker for God's glory in the plan of God. He doesn't believe that all his adversarial work is accomplishing the will of God to exalt his holy name and his Son, but it is! The more he flexes his muscles, schemes his schemes, or heralods his errors and deceits, the more he contributes to the ultimate purpose of God. We are to polish the monuments that God builds from the rubble of the work of the Destroyer.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH CALLING IT "LIMITED ATONEMENT?"

Limited atonement is a confusing way to describe the Calvinistic view of the extent of the atonement. Particular redemption or definite atonement are more precise ways to say it. It involves no limitation on the value OF Christ's work, when Calvinists say that Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice with the purpose of saving his elect.

This view asserts that Christ perfectly saved the ones He intended to save, while at the same time denying the possibility of making an atonement for anyone who never savingly benefits from it. There is no failure in the work of Christ; He accomplished (real atonement) for all those for whom he died (the elect).

FOR WHOM DID CHRIST DIE? SEE FOR YOURSELF!

11Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see[a] and be satisfied;by his knowledge shall(A) the righteous one, my servant, (B) make many to be accounted righteous, (C) and he shall bear their iniquities.12(D) Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,[b] (E) and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,[c]because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors;(F) yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Not all, but many. God's stance of mercy is extended to all, but Christ was only a divine Substitute and Sin-bearer for those he makes righteous.

DOES 1 JOHN 2:2 CONTRADICT 5 PT. CALVINISM?

This modest inquiry into the answer to its leading question, will neither attempt to, nor succeed in, laying out a defense of a 5 pt. Interpretation of this verse. What it will do, however, is set out how I would go about establishing this verse's true meaning over against the truckload of Arminian & Amyraldian thought that has obscured it for most 21st century readers.

In addressing interpreters of our target verse, I would ask them to answer several questions with sound exegesis and Biblical Theology:

1. Does the sacrifice of Christ truly, finally, and forever deal with the wrath of God for a sinner's sin? In other words, did the death of Christ save the sinner, or merely render him saveable?

2. Why does the author uses "peri" rather the "huper," if he really intended the word to have causal force? In other words, why couldn't "for" mean something other than "on behalf of?"

3. Who is the "our" to which he refers? Can it only mean all who, along with him, were already saved at that minute, or may it carry a more restricted focus?

4. What are the possible understandings in this verse of "the whole world?" Is "every person alive on the face of the earth" the only choice we have?

Arminianism is certainly the vox populi at present among evangelicals. Even the Calvinism that may seek to combat it is typically of the 4 pt. variety. Unfortunately, they would understand I John 2:2 in exactly the same way. I John 2:2 is simply a small battlefield of the much larger issue of whether or not the Bible teaches a definite atonement (and therefore "limited" in this respect), which was only intended for, and applicable to, the elect, or whether the atonement was merely hypothetical and potential.

I John 2:2 can legitimately yield interpretations that can be shown to be: 1) sustained by the overall teaching and implications of the Bible, and 2) consistent with Pauline, Augustinian, and Reformational theology.

RESIST SOCIETY'S "DEFRAGGING" OF GOD

God does not need to be compacted, or even re-organized to gain efficiency. Yet, that's what modern man is always doing. In some way God is portrayed as either taking up too much of our limited space, or not moving properly through that space. And so it "defrags" God into a form that will better serve us. It is thought that the God of the Scriptures needs some kind of overhaul to be better adapted to a society on the fast track that has downloaded too much of itself and no longer has room for what Francis Schaeffer called true truth.

WHEN BELIEVERS SERVE SATAN

One of the most difficult realities for me to come to grips with in the Christian life is the reality that Satan will spill my "soul's blood" using other believers to do it. In general, it is easy for me to say (i.e. the tally isn't even close) that I have suffered emotionally and spiritually more at the hands of believers than I ever experienced from unbelievers. Most of them may be ignorant and apathetic ("I don't know & I don't care"), but they rarely cut me to the heart.

Little did I realize when I began my walk with the Lord as a teenager decades ago that most of the "flesh and blood" realities of Ephesians 6:12 would be from other believers.

Do I sound a little jaded? Well, I am! I just returned from one of the most disillusioning experiences of my life. My cynical flesh reminds me that I should have anticipated this, but I didn't. I was thoroughly blindsided, and I'm still reeling from it and embarrassed for others.

I don't "suffer fools" well, so I have an even greater difficulty forgiving them. I find it easier to forgive immorality than I do stupidity, but my course is clear. My flesh wants to ridicule them, give them a piece of my mind, and warn my flock, but my heart knows its duty. If the Lord has bid them "Be dumb!" I must give way.

ISLAM'S VS. CALVIN'S PREDESTINATION

1. ONLY A SURFACE SIMILARITY

One of the features of Islam, whether one agrees with it or disagrees with it, is that it presents Allah as a god whose great power brought forth all things. That he is the ruler of the universe whose will all things must obey. Samuel Zwemer called Islam the “Calvinism of the orient. But do Islam and Calvin agree on the nature of predestination?

2. DIFFERENCES

In Islam, second causes are practically ignored. It finds no place for the uncoerced activity of the human will. Allah‘s will, like fatalism, is not merely an inevitable necessity, but implies an arbitrary automatic control over human wills, an unchangeable pathway each person will walk, a control-over-but-no-involvement in human affairs, and a capricious mood-driven unpredictability. It is a predestination of ends with little-to-no regard for ways and means or purpose

“A ship crowded with Christians and Muslims was ploughing through the waves. One of the passengers fell overboard. The Muslims said, ‘if it is written in the book of destiny that he shall be saved, he will be saved. If not, he will perish.’ The Christians said, ‘perhaps it is written that we should save him?’”

Many of the terms may be the same, the results of their reasonings are far apart. The further one probes each doctrine, the more superficial does the resemblance become. Islam reduces Allah to a category of will and makes him similar to an oriental despot, whose stance toward humanity is remote and uncaring. Submission is not just the ultimate issue, but the only issue. The Islamic god can be held to no standard, even one dictated by consistency to his own being.

Zanchius wrote that Islam’s kind of predestination is a sort of blind, rapid, overbearing impetus which, right or wrong, with means or without, carries all things violently before it, with little or no attention to the peculiar and respective nature of second causes.

In Islam, there is no understanding of the Fatherhood of God and no purpose of redemption to soften decrees and give them focus for the benefit of humanity. The attribute of love is absent from Allah. And the notion of a personal relationship between God and man is a strange, blasphemous idea to a Muslim.

But, due to Redemption and the Fatherhood of God – religion clothed in the warmth of relationship - Christianity affirms that the sovereign, predestinating God has an awesome cosmic power that is guided by wisdom, compatible with human agency, has Trinitarian connectedness, and is directed toward destruction for rebels joy-overflowing for the redeemed!

PREDESTINATION IN ISLAM

HALLOWEEN IS NOW A SEASON

I grew up having Christmas exploited by Mdison Avenue as a "season." And, somewhere in my early days, Easter morphed into a "season." But because each of these had some association with "religious" thinking, however distorted, I guess it just seemed natural to my boyish thinking.

But now the "money muse" wants me to accept Halloween as a "season." I look forward to Easter; I barely tolerate Christmas, but can I bend so far as to look the other way when the minions of hell, superstition, and therapeutic scare are given their own "season," too?

What has the spirit of the age done to Reformation Day? Why isn't it a "season? How can the Church bear to see a recovery of such religious significance buried underneath costumes, candy, and haunted houses? How the mighty have fallen! How Belagosi has thrived!

WHEN WAR IS THE ANSWER

The beleaguered economy is down-sizing, or at least running "lean and mean," to try and weather our current economic mangling. "Fat," in the form of expendable jobs, overtime, benefits, insurance, over-inflated pay-scales, gratuitous bonuses, over-multiplied middle management, etc., are either being eliminated or diminished.

As usual, the "establishment's ways of dealing with its systemic problems are ruthless, unfair, and not a little self-serving, but my purpose here is not to comment on earth-dweller morality.

The business scramble to stay alive reminds me of the situation of the Church here in the West. We're too comfortable and too fat. After decades of pampering ourselves by ignoring biblically supported priorities in favor of some baptized form of the American Dream, we've life-styled ourselves right out of the only pursuit in life – glorifying the Lord.

The Lord will still get His glory and will still achieve His objectives – a perk of sovereignty. We are the losers – "fiddling while Rome burns," so to speak.

Do I have any suggestion? Yes! One in general: "Trim the Fat." I was tempted to say: "Self-Denial," but that's too big a jump for us. We're too flabby and out of shape, myself included. Trimming the fat seems like a do-able compromise. We've turned the Christian life from one of combat, with its "ripped" warriors, seasoned sages, servant leaders, inviolable codes, and heroic sacrifices into that of pageantry, with its pomp, costumes, garish norms, and hero worship. Re-tooling for war is the only answer!

SNAKES AND STONES

In illustrating how good God the Father is to His children, Jesus gave an example of an earthly father who, though being evil, would not think about giving his son a rock if he asked for bread, or giving him a snake if he asked for a fish. The logical connection is that if evil people act benevolently towards their own children, then God, Who is all good, will take care of His children all the more so.

But what if God's children DO ask for a snake or a stone? Would a the "good father" model have Him give these? No! The good father paradigm would prevent Him from so doing. Aren't you glad?

When the Bible asserts that God answers prayer, you shouldn't understand that as if there were no content conditions assumed. A good father would never categorically promise his children to give them anything they asked for - Higher Life teaching notwithstanding.

COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM

Our Christian tolerance should not encourage us to deviate, in our recreations or diversions, from the principles of God's Word. There we read that the desires of the flesh, and of the eyes, and of the pride of life, constitute the "spirit" of the world, its way of pandering to the unsaved mindset, which stands in direct opposition to His grace. Those who do not perceive this opposition to many of this world's usual pursuits and pleasures are some way or another defective in their views of the gospel.

That Christianity which does not engage the whole heart for the Lord is Christianity in name only. The new nature and the old nature each have their proper nourishment, suited to their respective appetites. Natural life that has undergone little to no worldview change feeds the natural man. Sanctified pursuits feed the spiritual man.

The best that can be said of those who undiscerningly involve themselves in the past-times of earth-dwellers is that, if they are not entirely dead, they are at least lamentably sick. They either have never had a savor of divine things, or have forgotten their sweetness. Parents, teens, young adults – all who associate yourselves in any way with Jesus Christ – our lives must be lived on a different plane from this world. Our diversions must have godly point. Give yourselves no rest until the entire life has been brought under the Lordship of Christ. Jesus Christ is Lord!

THE ETERNAL GOD IS THY REFUGE - DEUT 33:27

"...the word rendered 'refuge' signifies more generally a habitation: or, as we say, a home. The eternal God is the believer's dwelling place. This dwelling place I consider in two respects: First -- a hiding place; and this like-wise two-fold, -- a sanctuary from guilt and punishment, and a castle or place of security from enemies. Second, -- a resting place, where provision is made for every want, and such satisfaction is enjoyed as the world cannot afford...a believer, like a snail, go where he will, has his house with him and is always at home, because he dwells in God." -- John Newton

UMPTION IN MY GUMPTION

"Give me umption in my gumption; keep me functionin', functionin', functionin'. Give me umption in my gumption, I pray." We used to sing this ditty when I was a much younger man, and thought that my gumption would never need a divine infusion of umption, so I'd never have to ask!

Countless dozens of battles later with one member or another of the unholy trinity – the world, the flesh, and the devil – have taught me differently. They've relentlessly so encrusted my heart and motivations, that I find myself often too weary of struggle to go on.

"O Lord, knowing physician of my beaten up soul, heal me, re-invigorate me, forgive my sorry efforts at holiness and understanding. I can't go another step, or at least it feels that way. I'm so thankful your mercies are new every morning. That promise gives me hope for tomorrow, and a longing for bed."

O LORD, ALWAYS SO NEAR

Wherever we are; whenever we are; however we are - You are there! How forgotten we feel - an emotional lie we too often believe. As You fill up the universe, You fill up our lives. The eyes and ears of our bodies give us no help in seeing You or hearing You. You are beyond the touch of our hands. By your Spirit we see the Invisible, hear the Inaudible, and are touched by the Untouchable.

PRAY WITH ME!

Our Powerful Ruler of the Universe,

You have stooped to draw us to Yourself with a strong, yet tender, embrace of compassion and kindness. By your Son's blood, You have removed our sins from us, removing them from us as far as the East is from the West, burying them in the deepest sea. By His endless life, You have infused our dead spirits with life. By uniting us with Him, You have united us with Yourself. Our spirits are one with Yours - a thought most blasphemous, except You have told us its truth. You have poured out upon us staggering blessings. By your Spirit, help us to draw near You with our hearts, when we draw near You with our lips. Separate us from our darling sins as you draw us near to Yourself. The glorious light that surrounds You, clearly shows us the blackness of our sins, but we are powerless to rid ourselves of them. You, and You alone, can cut them away without killing us. Move our hearts to seek You as You let us lay hold of Omnipotence with our weakness. Amen.

IN HEAVEN GOLD IS JUST PAVEMENT

The joke says, "A rich man who died and went to heaven complained that he wasn't allowed to bring his wealth with him, so he was encouraged to return and bring back just one suitcase full of his possessions. Our rich man was smart and filled his one suitcase with the gold bars into which he had converted his extensive wealth. When he returned to heaven he was asked to show everyone what was in his sutcase. Upon revealing its contents, one of the inhabitants of heaven asked the man, 'Why did you bring back pavement?'"

The obvious point of this story is that our greatest earthly treasures are worth nothing in eternity. The poet Anne Bradstreet wrote, after watching a fire destroy all her possessions:

And when I could no longer look,
I blest his Name that gave and took,
That layd my goods now in the dust:
Yea so it was, and so 'twas just.

Jesus said, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

A CHURCH COMMAND

At the time of William Carey, the Church limited the directive of Matthew 28:19 to the Apostles. Since Carey's day the Church has tended to view this "commission" as a personal one. But I think we should consider the possibility that it belongs to the Church.

Only the Church can go to every nation. Only the Church exists to "the end of the age." Only the Church should baptize. The Church is where both Evangelism, Discipleship, and teaching flourish. And only the Church can teach "all things."

I'm only being suggestive, but it seems worthy of consideration!

THE IDOLATRY OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST

Don't get me wrong! I love the Church, but I love Christ more. I believe that Christ is building His Church, even out of the blemished blocks here in the West. The "block" that is the local church I have the privilege of co-pastoring, is, at very least, "marred" (I say this with the utmost humility and regard, but I am including even the best of us) with some of the contemporary blemishes I abhor.

"Blemishes" (plural), I say, because there are many. But for the moment, I am going to mention only one – the tendency to manufacture an image of what God is like partly from the Scriptures and partly from our cultural preferences – an image of God that has no stumbling-block for 21st century man

My mind was immersed in such thoughts this morning as I was reading from The Institutes of the Christian Religion, by John Calvin. Let me give you a taste:

"…they think that any zeal for religion, however preposterous, is sufficient…[but] God ever remains like Himself, and is not…to be transformed according to anyone's whim."

We live in a day of evangelical "zeal." It is a zeal that is often born of "preposterous" notions about God and his ways. It is easy to construct an image built of sentimental notions that appeal to the fallen religious instincts of men of our culture. Their worldview can embrace a God that nearly approximates their idea of a "good" human.

Again, reference Calvin:

"Unless they had first fashioned a God to match the absurdity of their trifling, they would have no means dare trifle with God in this way."

I fear for the West! I even fear for the Church hammered out in the West's cultural image. This Church holds out to the culture a God unlike Himself, but Who hates being misrepresented. The anger fueled by this hatred would have cosmic dimensions, if it could be measure at all.

God calls upon men to repent of the idols of their heart, but also the idols that go under the name of Gospel. False prophets say "Peace, Peace, when there is no peace." Get to know and love the God of the Scriptures, who has been made known by the Christ, about whom it was said after He turned over the tables in the temple and threw out the money-changers, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up."

MY STAKES ARE DRIVEN - B. HAYS

I will believe; I will submit;
I will adore the Son,
Who can alone my guilt acquit,
And turn me into one
Of the redeemed, the chosen few,
Who shall receive the gift
Of eyes that see the world’s true hue,
And heav’n’s eternal bliss!

IN JERUSALEM

When the Lord gave us the Great Commission in geographical form in Acts 1:8, He told his disciples to begin "in Jerusalem." What mercy! "Why," you say? Only a few weeks earlier, our Lord had wept over a Christ-rejecting Jerusalem. He had endured a Christ-killing Jerusalem. He had listened to the cries and disgusts of a Jerusalem mob shouting "Away with this man!" He had to contend with the superficial, fickle adoration of a Jerusalem crowd who would bless Him in the name of the Lord on a Sunday, and call for His crucifixion on Friday. And now this same Lord tells his disciples to begin their evangelism among these people. If that isn't mercy, what is? If the Lord would condescend to give inhabitants of this city, that crucified the Prince of Life, an invitation to life, who can believe themselves to be beyond his mercy?

LOVE IS NOT A WARM PUPPY

I. The inclination of the soul toward God that causes it to:

Seek His exaltation with all its powers

With all its strength -
With all its heart -
With all its soul -
With all its mind -


Ii. The inclination of the soul toward some person or object that causes it to:

Seek the exaltation of God in and through that person or object

Love does no harm
Love edifies
Love spends and is spent

Newton Again!

True religion is not a science of the head, so much as an inward and hearfelt perception....Here the learned have no real advantage above the ignorant; both see when the eyes of the understanding are enlightened; till then both are equally blind.

Blessed Wretches

The ability to enjoy much of the Christian Life comes as the result of God showing His children how to hold together in their experience seemingly opposing conditions. For a clear example of this, let's consider joy and sorrow. The Christian Life is neither one of nothing but joy nor untempered sorrow. I Pet. 1:6 & II Cor. 6:10 bring these two Christian Life Realities together into a Christian Life Experience. We are "rejoicing sorrowers" who experience both of these realities, and often simultaneously!

What instruction does the Lord give us to keep us authentically experiencing both at the same time? We find our answer in Ja. 1:2-4! When we find ourselves in the midst of saddening, uncomfortable, painful, constricting, convicting, etc, trials, we are to "count it pure joy" (NIV) by understanding their purpose ("testing of your faith") and end ("that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing").

The "rejoicing sorrowers"-experience presents us with a model that will also apply to the "blessed wretches"-experience. Let's break it down a bit!

The initial task we have to accomplish is to truly lay hold upon each of these two Christian Life Realities - "wretchedness" and "blessedness." One at a time!

First, as believers, the Bible assures us that in Christ we have received "every spiritual blessing" (Eph. 1:3) and have "riches" we may not yet even be aware of (Eph. 1:18). Our saved condition is considered "glorious" (Ps 45:13). We are called "oaks of righteousness" (Is. 61:3), "jewels" (Mal. 3:17), "lights" (Eph. 5:8). And hasn't the blood of Christ "perfected" us (Heb. 10:14) even while we are being "sanctified" (Heb. 10:14)? Our blessed condition certainly gives us permission to experience joy!

Second, before God saved us, the Bible taught us that we were wretches, using words or phrases like "maggot" (Job 25:6), "worm" (Job 25:6), "vile" (job 40:4), "corrupt" (Titus 1:15), "desperately wicked" (Jer. 17:9), like an exposed and untreated body full of "wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores" (Is. 1:6). The thought of this condition, and the condemnation under which it brought us, drove us to Christ.

Some Christians believe that these descriptions no longer apply to the saints. They think they have been freed them from this pitiable condition. Now, if we saw the saint as being 100% renewed (as will be true in the New Heavens and New Earth), perhaps we could have some sympathy with this thought. But, the truth of the matter is that our regeneration has still left us wretches in our flesh. The penalty, power, and pleasure of sin is gone, but not its presence in us or around us. Rev. 3:17 is written to a church that Christ says He loves and, therefore chastens. At the same time, He tells them that (in some sense) they must see themselves as still "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."

How can this be, given the "blessed" description of them that we wrote about earlier? Here's where our model gives us help.

We can "rejoice" in our trials and in our experiences of unworthiness, because:

First, we are to count, reckon, or regard these distressing times as also "blessed." Faith and the Holy Spirit are always helping us to see beyond what comes to our attention through the senses – to see the unseen (Heb. 11:1)!

Second, we are to understand the purpose and end of such distressing times. Their purpose (or intent) is to prove and stretch our faith. Their end is to make us like the Christ who found joy in His humiliation (Heb. 12:2.

Typically, Christians have one of three responses when they are either going through distressing times or feeling the weight of their ongoing depravity and remaining sin: 1) the "triumphalist" response of glossing over or eliminating their negative feelings, as if to have them or speak at all of them is unbelieving and ungodly – a denial of their joy; 2) the "realist" response, which sees authentic Christianity and true humility in putting their pitiable condition or circumstance at the forefront; 3) the "biblical" response which knows something that to hurt is okay, but there's more to consider than just that.

Something is wrong with the first two of these responses. #1 exalts the positive at the expense of the negative. #2 exalts the negative at the expense of the positive. Only #3 is where we should find ourselves! It is here that our faith is to fight for our joy, against the onslaught of our flesh and trials, without denying the felt experience of either!



What should the right response look like? Even if we acknowledge a range of diversity due to personality and maturity differences, is there a "norm" we can strive for? Yes!! Both are to be held onto simultaneously, with our perspective being dominated by our "blessed" condition.

It's like a camera! If the little "r" realities and experiences (temporal realities and experiences) of our wretchedness dominate, it is like the zoom lens. The pictures of our lives taken this way are up too up close and personal, detail accentuated, wanting to dominate our attention. If our big "R" Realities (spiritual blessings) dominate, it is like the wide angle lens. Now those pictures of scenes in our lives give us "true" pictures because they are now inclusive of those (big-R) Realities that form the grand context of any given (little-r)reality. Any given picture now includes the landscape that adds a biblical perspective on what would otherwise look only morose and painful.

With #3, the picture doesn't gloss over or eliminate the negative experiences, as it does with #1. With #3, the personal tragedies, disappointments, failures, etc. aren't given the dominate place as in #2. With #3 there is always hope that the Holy Spirit will help us to join together the joy and the sorrow, but the joys that are attached to our spiritual realities will dominate the horizon!

Moving from analogy to actual experience, Holy Spirit empowered faith doesn't actually make the positive bigger or the negative smaller. It shows us how big our "blessed" condition truly is, giving it the greater personal significance it deserves! It puts our spiritual blessedness and blessings "in our face" where they should be. It allows us to see what is really going on versus what just appears to be happening. We still know we're wretches – just blessed wretches! We still know we're under duress, but gloriously so!

The result of the proper combining of these two elements, "blessedness" and "wretchedness," yields a very interesting by-product – biblical humility. Always remember, if there's a "biblical" humility, there are counterfeits ready to pounce. With #1, the counterfeit is pride disguised as "happy-all-the-time in the Lord." With #2, the counterfeit is pride calling attention to its misery, or calling attention to the self as it puts the self down. #3 embraces the "toughness" of humility, because it requires us to experience blessing in-the-midst of the humiliations of life – fully feeling the eroding effects of flesh and curse, but feeling our spiritual heritage more!

With the faith-way, the more intense the negative, the more pronounced the positive will need to be. Big "R" Reality must increase in our experience as little "r" realities increase in them, but that's what faith does. When our feelings of distress or wretchedness are mixed with faith in the unseen, they give us a joy that is deeper, and a humility that is truer!

At one and the same time, we are "blessed wretches!" We must live with the tension this brings as we seek to hold them together. During the days of our flesh, the one should never be separated from the other! The precious fruit of holding these two together is HUMILITY!! Humility comes when a believer faces ALL of his/her reality, then walks away personally puzzled, yet thankfully stunned to be grace's recipient.


Pastor Bruce Hays

THE TENSION BETWEEN FORM AND SPIRIT N PRAYER

PROBABLY ALL OF US ARE CURSED WITH THIS TENSION IN PUBLIC OR CORPORATE PRAYER, BUT I FIND IT EVEN PLAGUES ME IN MY PRIVATE PRAYING - NOT ALWAYS, BUT SOMETIMES.

THE FREE SPIRIT IN ME WANTS TO THROW OF ALL FORMS IN PRAYER - ALWAYS - SO I DECIDED TO DO A SURVEY OF BIBLE PRAYERS, SO THAT I COULD TAKE THE MORAL HIGH GROUND. WHAT A SHOCK!! I FOUND THAT THEY HAD FORM, BUT IT WASN'T THE FORM I FELT WAS RESTRICTING MY PRAYING. THEIR FORM WAS DOMINATED BY A GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS, WHILE MINE WERE PREDICTABLY NEED-CENTERED.

I FEEL ADRIFT! HOW DISGUSTED THE LORD MUST BE WITH SUCH PRAYING AS I'VE BEEN USED TO DOING.

I Can't Remember

I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT ITS LIKE:
TO WALK WITH EVEN GATE
TO TALK WITH RAPID PACE
TO SEE WITHOUT A SQUINT
TO THINK WITHOUT A HINT

I CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS:
I SANG WITH PLEASING TONE
I THREW A PLAYER OUT AT HOME
I CARRIED A GLASS INTO THE ROOM
I DIDN'T HAVE TO FIGHT THE GLOOM

I CAN'T REMEMBER ALL THE TIMES:
I WENT HOGWILD
I HELD A CHILD
I DRIBBLED A BALL
I YELLED A CALL

THESE SCENES HAVE FADED QUITE AWAY
HID IN CRACKS OF YESTERDAY
THE ONLY THINGS I NOW SEE CLEAR
ARE HARD TO REACH, BUT MUCH MORE DEAR
THAN E'RE THEY SEEMED TO ME TO BE
WHEN I NEEDED NO MEMORY

AH, BUT I REMEMBER WELL THE EVIL OF THOSE DAYS
THE SIN THAT HELD ME IN ITS GRASP AND TARNISHED ALL MY WAYS
LET THESE THOUGHTS OF SENSE AND SOUND BE FOREVER LOST
BUT LET ME NE'RE FORGET THE GRACE THAT BROUGHT ME TO THE CROSS

COMMITTMENT

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

THE AWAKENED SINNER

In our study of "Pilgrim's Progress," we meet up with the Puritan understanding for the need of "awakening." Pilgrim is the awakened sinner! God has grabbed hold of him, showed him the reality of his sin and the awfulness of his condemnation, as well as the inevitable outpouring of God's wrath upon him.

In Pilgrim, we probably see the more intense manifestations of awakening. It will be a little different for each man. At its inception, awakening may only be manifested as simple interest. Before a sinner's awakening, he may even have been opposed to, or put off by, gospel truth. He could have been a profligate or one of the many seeking to plead their own acceptability with God. He will almost certainly try to reform his life in some fashion.

Can we know his election of God at this point? No! Awakening is a part of the doctrine of "drawing" not of "regeneration." The gospel call goes out to all. Many are granted the mercy of awakening (like Demas), many are attracted to the blessings of the gospel (like Pliable), many of these are pronounced saved by well-meaning churches and believers (like Talkative, yet to come), but they are not regenerated and so have never truly repented and believed from the heart.

The baptism of children becomes a thorny issue because of awakening. Some children have been truly awakened, but have not yet experienced regeneration from God. Embracing them as redeemed or even covenant children exposes them to deception about their spiritual condition. How can we tell which child is truly saved? We can't! But if the doctrine of a believers-only church is the ideal, we must wisely discern, relying heavily on the Lord. Because we cannot do this process perfectly, we must be ready to distinguish between real and merely self-deceived professing believers. The church itself must always see it is in need of continued gospelizing.

This puts parents in a very difficult position. All godly parents will want to see their child baptized.

Sometimes evangelism awakens someone, but that someone is not yet saved. Watering needs to take place. What is watering? It is not restricted to recitations of the gospel at later dates. All that happens between when Pilgrim left the City of Destruction and when he finally came to the Wicket Gate and the Place of Deliverance may be seen as watering. Can someone get saved without such a protracted process? Yes! But in these days of gospel confusion and anemia, it is the exception rather than the rule.

What are some of the characteristics of the awakened but unregenerate sinner? (He will rarely have all of these. This is just a limited profile). 1) He'll show interest in spiritual things. 2) He'll want to involve himself more with Christians, the Bible, and perhaps even church. 3) He's liable to experience conviction, guilt, fear of dying, and doubts that he can be forgiven. 4) He will be teachable. 5) His life will experience some reformation while sin still dogs his steps. 6) He will be unfamiliar with the range of conditional gospel promises (the only kind there are). 7) He may still be too tied to family, friends, and this world. 8) He will have trouble truly believing and acting upon a promise of God. 9) His thinking remains quite simple, sometimes carnal – like a mere man. 10) He will give off very mixed signals.

Get used to dealing with awakened sinners who are not yet regenerated. Your evangelism should have some of these kinds of people. Don't be too quick to judge them believers. Just as much as a midwife looks for the birth to happen, you will often be the "coach" that helps with labor.

MY PERSONAL OPINION ON "AWAKENING"

The point of my previous article was simply to explain the Puritan concept of the "awakened sinner" – truly seeking, but not yet regenerated. This brings forth the obvious question regarding my own personal evaluation of this view.

In general, I'm in agreement with this notion. It helps explain many experiences and observations. But I think it can be seen as a rigid model that does not admit of many exceptions. Just as Bunyan relied heavily on his own experience before conversion when he wrote "Pilgrim's Progress," so we can forget that Eccl. 11:5-6 & John 3:8 remind us that the ways of God are mysterious and can't be put into a box. The drawing of some of the elect takes longer than with others.

That proviso having been given, I find the category to be helpful in considering what may really be happening in a person's life!

Speaking the Truth in Valium? Eph. 3:15

Immediate Context

Beginning in verse 11, Paul refers to 5 leader gifts (5 kinds of gifted men who are given to the church to start, teach, and care for Christ's people). The combined task of these leaders is to perform the kind of preparation that would equip God's people for ministry that would in turn lead to the building-up and spiritual increase of the church, i.e. its increasing maturity in Christ.

The Theme

Maturity in unity is clearly the theme of Eph. 4:11-16. Vs. 11-12 tell what key people God will use to accomplish this them. Vs. 13 gives us the standard by which to measure such maturity
Evidences

After "setting the bar" for us, the apostle Paul gives us three evidences of this kind of maturity: 1) stability amidst the gusts of contrary doctrine (vs. 14); 2) properly aimed truth (vs. 15); 3) many chefs making a good stew (vs. 16).

Verse 15

The Bible speaks of "speaking the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15) as a sign of spiritual maturity. This involves two things: 1) speaking the truth; 2) with love as its goal and regulating ethic.
"Speaking the truth" means more than just not telling a lie, intentionally or unintentionally. It mainly refers to sound doctrine and practice - an evidence that the mind has been saturated with the word of God and is acting and speaking under its influence.

"In love" is more frequently misunderstood. "love" here is not the same thing as "a loving manner," especially as conceived of by our culture - kind, soft, without intensity, etc. This would make Paul's phrase the equivalent of "speaking the truth in valium."

Love is a goal in the Bible (I Tim. 1:5)! The biblical ethic of love not only illuminates how we say and do things, but what we do and say, as well as why we do and say them. (by "why" I am referring to purpose, not motive!) For what we say to qualify as the spoken truth in love, it first needs to be consistent with how biblical love is described and operates in the Bible.

Was Jesus unloving when he drove out the money changers? Most of us would see the anger that erupted that day as an exhibition of righteous indignation resulting from long held convictions. Truthful words and truthful actions are not always polite and nice.

What about when Jesus verbally dressed down the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers? Since Jesus never sinned in his life, this verbal barrage would have to be in keeping with the goal of love.
What about those times when the patience of Jesus seemed to give way to frustration and disappointment with the unbelief and slowness to believe around him? Or in reference to his disciples lack of faith? Can love make you frustrated, disappointed, or impatient? Evidently it can!

In John 18:23, when Jesus was slapped across the face for speaking insolently to the high priest, he made the truthfulness of what he said, rather than its manner, the test that needed to judge his behavior.

Will "love" affect "manner?" Certainly! But many "manners" - anger, frustration, impatience, sarcasm, etc. - manners we often judge to be inconsistent with love (and many times they truly are) - are actually not only consistent with love at times, but are required by it!

LIVING IN THE TEMPLE

WHEN JESUS CAME, WE FOUND OUT THAT THE ANTITYPE FOR OUR OT TEMPLE WAS HIM (JN. 1:14), SPECIFICALLY HIS BODY (JN. 2:19-22). BY EXTENSION, THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL ENTERS INTO THAT FULFILLMENT (EPH. 2:20-22). IN I COR. 3:17; 12:22, THE LOCAL CHURCH ENTERS INTO THIS FULFILLMENT. IN I COR 6:19-20, THE SAVED INDIVIDUAL ENTERS INTO THIS FULFILLMENT.

IT IS SURPRISING TO HEAR THAT THE NEW HEAVENS & THE NEW EARTH HAS NO TEMPLE (REV. 21:22), UNTIL WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE NEW JERUSALEM (ANOTHER NAME FOR THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH), SIMILAR TO EZEKIEL'S VISION, IS TEMPLE-LIKE AS A CUBE (21:16).

IN REALITY, JESUS IS THE TEMPLE, BECAUSE HE IS THE PRESENCE OF GOD THAT WILL BE WITH US. WE WILL SEE HIS FACE (REV. 22:3-4). THIS IS THE EQUIVALENT OF I JN. 3:2).

HOW TO READ YOUR BIBLE

A. READ THE WORD WITH REGULARITY AND ATTENTION (I TIM. 4:13)
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
B. RECEIVE THE WORD WITH SUBMISSION AND PASSION (JA. 1:21; JER. 15:16)
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty.
C. MEDITATE UPON THE WORD WITH DELIGHT (PS. 1:2)
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
D. LIFT UP YOUR SOUL BY THE WORD WITH RELIEF (PS. 143:8)
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
E. LOOK FOR CHRIST IN THE WORD WITH EXPECTATION AND NEW COVENANT HOPE (JN. 5:39-40)
You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
F. GET COMFORTABLE WITH THE WORD, BUT WITH TREMBLING (COL. 3:16; ISA. 66:2)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.

FAITH - THE TRUE USE OF OUR SENSES!

When a man truly believes, his heart senses the reality of the gospel. Otherwise he's like a blind man having the Grand Canyon described to him. He may be able to gain a mental appreciation of it, but he can never see its beauty. Or he's like a deaf man being taught about music. He may be able to understand its composition, and even feel pulsing rhythm or moving vibrations, but he can never hear melody or harmony. Or he's like a man whose tongue has no taste buds. He can see the golden color of honey, feel its thick and sticky consistency, even smell its clover pollen scent, but he can never taste sweetness. The very concept of honey will always remain a personal mystery to him no matter how much else he learns about honey.

WHEN MY WORLD MAKES NO SENSE!

AS LIGHT IN THE LORD, I KNOW THAT I WILL ALWAYS STAND IN OPPOSITION TO MEN OF DARKNESS - MEN BLINDED BY THE ENEMY OF SOULS. BUT, I DON'T FIND THAT MY MAJOR BATTLES ARE WITH THEM. MOST OF MY HEART-ACHES ARE GIVEN TO ME BY THOSE I WOULD NEVER SUSPECT - PROFESSED BELIEVERS!

I THINK THIS IS TRUE, BECAUSE IT'S STILL THE INEVITABLE RESULT OF THE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS. IT'S JUST THAT SO MUCH DARKNESS HAS BEEN EMBRACED BY THE CHURCH!

IF I'M NOT THE ONE WHO IS DECEIVED ON SUCH MATTERS, I CAN TAKE COMFORT IN REVELATION 3:4, "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy."

IS THIS ARROGATION ON MY PART. I'M CERTAINLY NOT VERY COMPATIBLE WITH "FAMILY," BUT NEITHER WERE JOSHUA AND CALEB! MY FLESH CRAVES DIVINE VINDICATION LIKE THEY RECEIVED. BUT IT DOES NOT COME.

I AM SO SLOW TO LEARN II CORINTHIANS 12:9, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." IT ONLY TOOK PAUL THREE MISFIRES! I PASSED THAT YEARS AGO! I'M STILL SHOOTING BLANKS, AND WONDERING WHY I DON'T HIT ANYTHING!

HUMILITY - ILLUSIVE IS THY NAME! I NEED GRACE TO FIND THEE, BUT I NEED THEE TO FIND GRACE (JAMES 4:6)! YET, I AM UNDER COMMAND TO EMPLOY THEE WHEN THE LORD'S HAND IS HEAVY UPON ME (I PETER 5:6). PRAISE GOD, THE HAND THAT CREATES MY BURDEN IS THE HAND THAT UPHOLDS ME - ISAIAH 41:10, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

HOW TO PREPARE FOR JUDGMENT

IT'S PROBABLY NO SURPRISE THAT I LINK PREPARATION FOR JUDGMENT WITH JESUS CHRIST. BUT YOU MAY NOT UNDERSTAND HOW, SO LET ME FIRST GIVE YOU SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR WRONG WAYS TO PREPARE FOR JUDGMENT THAT MISUNDERSTAND TO WORK OF CHRIST.



1. I'M GOING TO BE THE BEST PERSON I CAN BE, SORT OF LIKE CHRIST! WRONG! NO ONE CAN BE GOOD ENOUGH TO SURVIVE THE JUDGMENT. ROMANS 3:12 SAYS,"They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." YOU CANNOT MAKE YOURSELF A CHRISTIAN!



2. I'M GOING TO DO WHAT JESUS TELLS ME TO DO TO SAVE MYSELF! WRONG! JESUS DID NOT COME TO SHOW US HOW TO SAVE OURSELVES; HE CAME TO SAVE US! EPHESIANS 1:7 SAYS, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace" (N.I.V.). THE ESSENCE OF THE GOSPEL IS THAT JESUS DID SOMETHING FOR US THAT WE COULD NOT DO!



3. THE CROSS SHOWS US A GLORIOUS DISPLAY OF GOD'S LOVE, TELLING US THAT HE IS READY TO FORGIVE! WRONG! THAT'S NOT WHAT THE CROSS WAS ALL ABOUT. THE CROSS PROCURED FORGIVENESS. IT DID NOT DISPLAY IT! LISTEN TO ROMANS 3:25, "God gave him as a sacrifice to pay for sins" (N.I.V. READER'S VERSION).

OKAY, THEN, WHAT'S THE RIGHT WAY? FAITH!! EXPLAIN FAITH! "to so believe in Christ that I give him my worship in word and deed by resting in his will, trusting in his provisions, praising & obeying him in every circumstance of my life, turning to him in my time of need, and displaying his value to me by showing myself satisfied in him." FAITH IS NOT JUST BELIEVING IN ANY OLD FASHION, BUT ONE THAT MAGNIFIES THE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST IN YOUR LIFE!

TWO WORLDS, TWO WISDOMS

James 3:15 (King James Version)

"This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish."

OUR BIBLE TELLS US ABOUT TWO VERY DIFFERENT WORLDS THAT ARE ANIMATED BY TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDINGS OF WHAT IS WISE! THE LARGER-BY-FAR OF THESE TWO WORLDS IS POPULATED BY EARTH-DWELLERS - HUMANITY! A GREAT DEAL SMALLER IS THE WORLD OF THOSE WHOSE AFFECTIONS LIVE ON HIGH - BELIEVERS!

THE WISDOM OF EARTH-DWELLERS RELIES ON INFORMATION FROM ONLY THE NATURAL WORLD, GATHERED IN BY THEIR SENSES, BUT MANIPULATED BY MALEVOLENT FORCES. THE WISDOM OF HEAVEN IS JUST THE OPPOSITE. IT RELIES COMPLETELY ON SUPERNATURAL INFORMATION, GATHERED IN BY FAITH, AND BEYOND THE REACH OF DEMONIC TAMPERING.

THIS EARTH-IMPRISONED WISDOM IS DISTORTED, UNRELIABLE, AND DECEPTIVE. GOD'S WISDOM COMES SATRAIGHT FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD, AND IS, THEREFORE, TRUSTWORTHY. IT WILL NEVER LEAD ASTRAY! A ROCK-SOLID LIFE AND WORLDVIEW CAN BE BASED UPON IT.

THE MOST PERNICIOUS CHARACTERISTIC OF EARTH-BOUND WISDOM IS THE WAY IT MESMERIZES THE EARTH-TETHERED SOUL. PROVERBS 14:12 WARNS US, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." IT SEEMS RIGHT TO NATURAL REASON. BELIEVING THEMSELVES TO BE RIGHT IN THEIR TRUTH-SCHEMES, THEY GO UNSUSPECTINGLY TO THE GRAVE, SURPRISED TO DISCOVER THAT TRUE TRUTH HAD ELUDED THEM.

BUT DISAPPOINTMENT WILL BE THE LEAST OF THEIR PROBLEMS. HEBREWS 9:27 ASSURES US, "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." JUDGMENT? YES! HAD THEY LISTENED TO THE WISDOM FROM ABOVE, THEY WOULD NOT ONLY HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE JUDGMENT, BUT COULD HAVE LEARNED HOW TO PROPERLY PREPARE FOR IT.

BUT THAT WILL BE MY NEXT POST....

"FOR MY NAME'S SAKE" - I SAM. 12:22

"Once saved always saved!" Do I believe this slogan? No & yes! "No," since it may 1) deceive someone into a mechanistic way of conceiving how their security works; and 2) lead them into the trap of thinking that justification is the end of the journey rather than its beginning. "Yes," since the "name" of God is at stake (I Sam. 12:22). The Lord's zeal for His own glory, not my fickle & feeble efforts, is the effective cause behind the certainty of the believer's security! Does this mean a believer's efforts are irrelevant to his security? Again I answer, "Yes & No!" "Yes," if the ultimate foundation is in view. "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9 KJV). And I would add a clarifying statement, "From beginning to end!" In the Bible, the believer is the receiver, God is the Giver - not the other way around. "No," since what God gives to the believer is not simple "preservation," but "perseverance."The gift of perseverance is not given "in spite of" the believer's carnal lifestyle, but comes to him as the "sustainer of" a believing lifestyle!

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test blog...more to come