Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

I am going to start making Fridays, Jonathan Edwards day on my blog. To start, I am going to put up his most famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of Angry God. I will put up a part every week until the whole sermon is up. It isn't that long, about an hour read for the whole thing in one sitting, but I am going to do it slowly to hold your attention since you probably have blog ADD.

Here is the first snippet.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Jonathan
Edwards (1703-1758)
Enfield, Connecticut
July 8, 1741

Their foot shall slide in due time. Deuteronomy 32:35

In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God's visible people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works towards them, remained (as vers 28.) void of counsel, having no understanding in them. Under all the cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. -- The expression I have chosen for my text, their foot shall slide in due time, seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.

That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the manner of their destruction coming upon them, being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed, Psalm 73:18. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction."

It implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning: Which is also expressed in Psalm 73:18,19. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction: How are they brought into desolation as in a moment!"

Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.

That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.


The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this. -- "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." -- By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God's mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment. -- The truth of this observation may appear by the following considerations.

There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands. -- He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defence from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?

They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, "Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?" Luke 13:7. The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back.

They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell. John 3:18. "He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23. "Ye are from beneath:" And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.

They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell.

So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them.

The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The scripture represents them as his goods, Luke 11:12. The devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.

There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isa. 57:20. For the present, God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;" but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God's restraints, whereas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.

It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand. It is no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he does not see which way he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages, shows this is no evidence, that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into another world. The unseen, unthought-of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen. The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment. All the means that there are of sinners going out of the world, are so in God's hands, and so universally and absolutely subject to his power and determination, that it does not depend at all the less on the mere will of God, whether sinners shall at any moment go to hell, than if means were never made use of, or at all concerned in the case.

Natural men's prudence and care to preserve their own lives, or the care of others to preserve them, do not secure them a moment. To this, divine providence and universal experience do also bear testimony. There is this clear evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them from death; that if it were otherwise we should see some difference between the wise and politic men of the world, and others, with regard to their liableness to early and unexpected death: but how is it in fact? Eccles. 2:16. "How dieth the wise man? even as the fool."

All wicked men's pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.

But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself -- I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief -- Death outwitted me: God's wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me."

God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant.

So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men's earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.

So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.

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God's View on Divorce: Final Report

What about the two exceptions?

When speaking of divorce the first two things people seem to point to is the two exceptions mentioned in the Scriptures. I know that there are a lot of opinions on this, and I would love to hear what your thoughts are on this topic.

Jesus gave us one of the exceptions in Matthew 5 and that is the one of the unfaithful spouse. If your spouse cheats on you, God will allow divorce.

but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Matthew 5:32

The other is found in 1 Corinthians 7:10-16

Divorce is allowed if an unbelieving one decides to desert the other spouse. We are to keep the peace and allow them to go. 1 Timothy 5:8 would seem to conclude that the one who leaves his household is not only an unbeliever, but actually worse than an unbeliever.

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy 5:8

The question though, comes in this form: "If someone is unfaithful or an unbeliever are we supposed to just give up?:

Are we supposed to just write the divorce papers?


Again, through these two acts, we see the grace and love of Christ Jesus.

Here is the point of why these two things are of last resort and why the one that is the holy one in the marriage is supposed to be the forgiving one, and the righteous one. So, the one that has done nothing wrong, should forgive and show grace to the one at fault. Does this sound familiar? Sounds like redemption. Sounds like the true Christian in the marriage is supposed to be a picture of Christ in these instances.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

The one who forgives the spouse is the one who will showing the imitation of Christ, they will point the other, the one at fault, the Messiah, the One who was perfect, who died for the souls of the unrighteous and in return gave them His righteousness.

Further, what is the person in a marriage that cheats on their spouse called? An adulterer. They are a fornicator, both words are really nice ways to call someone a whore in the Hebrew.

Look to Jeremiah 3:1-14

When a spouse cheats and the one who has been offended shows forgiveness they are a picture of Christ.

When a spouse is cheated on they now get to understand what Christ goes through with his people who are whores, harlots, adulterers and run to other gods, instead of loving him with all their heart, soul and strength, and worshiping him alone.

The second exception that is given to us in 1 Corinthians is the person who is does not love Jesus and decides to leave the spouse. We find that again, the believing spouse, gets to show the love of Christ through this situation.

What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Luke 15:4-7

If Jesus Christ goes after our wandering and faithless hearts, then the spouse who tries to reconcile with the unbelieving spouse is also a picture of Christ. The believing spouse should do all that is possible to keep the marriage vows, but when all hope is lost, they should let them go to do as 1 Corinthians 7:15 tells us: to keep peace.

The last resort in both of these cases is divorce and we also see that God does the same thing to those who are unrepentant.

Look to Ezekiel 16:23-43

In the end, when a divorce happens, it is also a picture of what will happen to one who denies his God. He is allowed to follow after his desires as God turns them over to their desires to follow after their other gods, and ultimately they will be thrown into hell. The picture that is shown in divorce is ultimately the picture of Christ allowing those to follow after their own ways, which leads to hell, not the picture of the church and their spouse, Jesus Christ.

Can you really conclude that divorce is ultimately “okay” with God. He says he hates it, can you see why?

If marriage is a picture of the union with Christ then divorce is a picture of a man being plunged into the depths of hell. And God says in Ezekiel 33:11

Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?
Ezekiel 33:11

As our faithful God says this to the world, we should also say to a spouse who desires to be divorced.

In the latest polls taken, there is more divorce in the church than outside of the church. I just wonder if those that do this know how much disgust that they bring to the cross of Christ.

We have the perfect spouse, found in Jesus Christ. We are the unfaithful ones, we are the whores, we are the ones looking to other gods, we are the ones wanting to leave our God. What if Christ "divorced" us the first time we were unfaithful or desiring to follow after our own evil desires?

This is why in the old hymn, Come Thou Fount, by Robert Robinson he says in there,

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

This is why when faced with an “out” per se from marriage we are always to be forgiving and gracious and try our hardest to keep the marriage, for we show the glory of God through being imitators of him, for I would hate for my God to divorce me the first chance he got, because I am unfaithful, in some way, every day of my life.

May we marry for the glory of Christ and not for the glory of our self.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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God's View on Divorce: Part II

The Reasons Divorce is Hated

For I hate divorce, God says in Malachi 2:16. But why? Do you ever think of the laws that God says and simply ask, “why is it wrong to do so?” There is very much reason why divorce is so hated by God.

What is the answer? What is the answer of why God hates divorce?

Some preach sermons on this as just another moralistic way to live your life. Don’t divorce because God says so, they will say. But, what happens if we just don’t get divorced because God says so?

We will never fully understand how Christ is seen in it, nor will we see the love of God for us. Because marriage is a picture of Christ’s relationship with us. If we can see this relationship today, you will understand more clearly why divorce is so hated by God.

Jesus gives us a commentary, not only on Part I's Scripture, but also the original intent of marriage in Matthew 19.

Jesus tells us that divorce has never been permitted and it is because the original intent of marriage was that when the two come together to marry, they become one flesh. They are no longer two people, but one. We will get to the two reasons that divorce is permitted, but for now we are going to focus on the reason of marriage.


So, the first reason that Christ tells us that divorce is wrong is because the two have become one flesh. But this is really a picture. This marriage, this oneness, is a picture of conversion.

What happens at conversion? The Spirit of Christ lives within us. We are adopted in the family, we call God Abba, or daddy.

Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, "The two shall become one flesh." But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
1 Corinthians 6:16-17

For the most important reason of the marriage, look to Ephesians 5. This is a popular passage of Scripture, but we see the reason marriage is so vital, and in the end, why divorce is so detrimental.

Marriage is the picture of Christ to us. Marriage points people to Christ. Marriage points people to the Trinity.

Let’s look at the different ways:

The wives point us to our relationship with Christ:

What does verse 22 tell us about the wife?

The wife shows us how we are to be with our Lord. We are to be submissive to Christ. We are to realize that through watching the godly wife that we are seeing a picture of the Christian and his/her loving submissive relationship to the Christ.

In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,
1 Peter 3:1

What does verse 25 tell us about the husband?

Verse 25 is for us to see exactly how much Christ loves us. In that, Christ is not a ruler or king that simply gives out decrees and rules without care, but he truly loves us and wants the best for us. So much so, that Christ gave up his own life, his own kingdom, his own rule in heaven for the sake of our redemption for the glory of God. He comes along side of his children and shows them how much he loves them, instead of just demanding worship and adoration. Jesus got his "hands dirty" per se.

This is what the husband does for the world and for the wife. He shows the perfect leadership and love of Jesus Christ.

You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
1 Peter 3:7

This idea of the woman being weaker is not someone who is weak like weakminded or anything like that, as some dumb men would have people think, but more of someone who is like a prized vase that you take care of.

What do we learn of the church? That we are the prize for Christ, that we are the ones that are given to Christ.

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
Revelation 19:7

Lastly, look to Eph 5:21

and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Ephesians 5:21

Who shows us the perfect subjection to one another? The Trinity. So, marriage is also a showing of perfect subjection to one another so that all are equal, yet with different roles.

So, if we can see that marriage is a perfect picture of the oneness that comes about in conversion, if we can see that the wife points us to being subject to our Christ, that the husband shows us the loving leadership of Christ and marriage shows us the perfect subjection that the Trinity have with one another, can you see why divorce is so detrimental to the testimony of our great God?

Do you see that even marriage is not about ourselves, but is all about the glory of Jesus Christ?

The way to make sure that your life is not wasted is to continually point people to Jesus Christ through doing all things for the glory of Christ. This is why divorce is so detrimental, because it destroys the witness of pointing people to the glory of Christ.

In the next post we'll take a look at the exceptions that the New Testament gives us for grounds of divorce.

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God's View on Divorce: Part I

This is something that myself and one of my friends were talking about the other day, in relation to what is permissible under God's laws and the NT and then also what is permissible as far as remarriage. I figured I would do a short series on it and see what we can get as far as discussion. So, please, comment away and we'll try and search the Scriptures together to see if we can come to a conclusion.

Let's start in Deuteronomy 24:1-4

When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife,and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife,then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 24:1-4

At first glance, what do these verses seem to make okay? It seems to make okay the idea of divorce okay, so we need to take this verse for what it actually says, and not what the Pharisees took it to mean.

To understand verse 1, we must first understand where Moses is coming from back in these days of the middle east: divorce ran rampant, it wasn’t a big deal. You could basically do it for any reason you found fit. The man could just up and write a writ of divorce, then if he decided to later, remarry, divorce her again, find a new wife, divorce her, etc.

We see that these were petty reasons because of what we see here in the first verse. Notice that it says that the husband finds no favor in his wife anymore, or finds some indecency in her. Some have thought that the term indecency used here means that maybe the wife cheated on her husband or found that she really wasn’t a virgin when he married her. So, some have said, if the husband found out those things he could divorce her, but what do we find happens, in the Old Testament, if someone is found to be an adulterer or fornicator?

If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Leviticus 20:10

Basically, Moses is saying, if you divorce your wife because you feel like it here are some rules for you to follow concerning it.

So, we can see that what is happening in the days of Moses, is exactly like what is happening today. What is the most famous term used today for divorcing someone? "We just fell out of love" or "we had irreconcilable differences."

So, the first verse gives the action that is happening in the house of Israel, namely that people are getting divorced because of petty things and so Moses is going to set up some laws and have some pretty crazy words for those who get divorced for petty reasons and then get remarried.

So what do we find the situation has become in verses 2 and 3?

We see that after the divorce that the woman has become married to another man and then, that man has either divorced her or died.

What is the law concerning the first husband? Is he to marry her again? No.

Why?

Here are the words that are very harsh, yet true of the one who has divorced and the one who has married the divorced person.

Moses says that the woman has been defiled, therefore the man also is defiled.

The term defiled means to be unclean and is the same term when used in both Leviticus 18:20 and Numbers 5:13,14 when it says that the one who commits adultery is defiled.

So, Moses is saying that if one is divorced and remarries that both the man and the woman that remarry are committing adultery. We’ll get to the two ways that divorce is permitted in the NT, but these are not even represented here.

Divorce was happening for no reason in Israel and so Moses says, if you do it for these stupid, petty reasons, it is the same as committing adultery.

Does Moses ever say that divorce is permitted? No, but he knew that the tradition of divorce was so rampant that people would keep doing it, so he puts some serious laws on those who decided to get divorced.

In Malachi 2:16 God says, For I hate divorce. So, we know that Moses is not being flippant about divorce here or even permitting it in a lawful sense.

Now Moses says, basically, if you do it, you have to be single for the rest of your life or you are an adulterer.

You think this will slow down some of these divorces that were happening?

Here is what Christ says about the same thing:

but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Matthew 5:32

This is what Christ says about marriage. It is so important that if one decides to get divorced besides unchasity, and you get remarried, you are an adulterer. Those are some very harsh words, so we must ask, “why?”

That is what we'll cover in the next post.

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Piper and Edwards...together = good

Excerpt from "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper:

He preached a sermon when he was still in his early twenties with this main point: “The godly are designed for unknown and inconceivable happiness.” His text was 1 John 3:2, “And it doth not yet appear what we shall be” (kjv).

[The] glory of God [does not] consist merely in the creature’s perceiving his perfections: for the creature may perceive the power and wisdom of God, and yet take no delight in it, but abhor it. Those creatures that so do, don’t glorify God. Nor doth the glory of God consist especially in speaking of his perfections: for words avail not any otherwise than as they express the sentiment of the mind. This glory of God, therefore, [consists] in the creature’s admiring and rejoicing [and] exulting in the manifestation of his beauty and excellency.… The essence of glorifying … God consists, therefore, in the creature’s rejoicing in God’s manifestations of his beauty, which is the joy and happiness we speak of. So we see it comes to this at last: that the end of the creation is that God may communicate happiness to the creature; for if God created the world that he may be glorified in the creature, he created it that they might rejoice in his glory: for we have shown that they are the same.

This was the great coming together for me—the breakthrough. What was life about? What was it for? Why do I exist? Why am I here? To be happy? Or to glorify God? Unspoken for years, there was in me the feeling that these two were at odds. Either you glorify God or you pursue happiness. One seemed absolutely right; the other seemed absolutely inevitable. And that is why I was confused and frustrated for so long.

Compounding the problem was that many who seemed to emphasize the glory of God in their thinking did not seem to enjoy him much. And many who seemed to enjoy God most were defective in their thinking about his glory. But now here was the greatest mind of early America, Jonathan Edwards, saying that God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are one passion.

When I saw this, I knew, at last, what a wasted life would be and how to avoid it.

God created me—and you—to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion—namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. Enjoying and displaying are both crucial. If we try to display the excellence of God without joy in it, we will display a shell of hypocrisy and create scorn or legalism. But if we claim to enjoy his excellence and do not display it for others to see and admire, we deceive ourselves, because the mark of God-enthralled joy is to overflow and expand by extending itself into the hearts of others. The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

Piper, J. (2003). Don't waste your life (30). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.

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All About Jesus...seriously...It is.

How has everyone been? Crazy here in Seattle, to be honest. I have been out for a while and have received multiple emails to ask if I had fallen off the side of the earth. To tell you the truth it has been a little bit of a dry period in my life, both physically and spiritually. I really like the outlet of blogging but it was taking a toll on me and sometimes I am a real pansy so I just laid low for a while. But, you know what I found? I really like blogging and having the internet community to tell me I am an idiot or to tell me that they are encouraged by my writing and thoughts. Both are actually welcomed on this site, as far as comments, and the former is probably more accurate in it's depiction of my wisdom and skillz at writing. Yeah, that's right, I used a "z" instead of an "s", how ya like that ghetto feel? I have had a lot of inquiries into my 10 Steps to Legalism posts, so I figured I need to continue in it and get it done so that people get all 10 steps and don't leave anything out. Because the legalist in all of us have said that if Seth doesn't finish all 10 then he is going to hell for lying.

Here is something that I have been challenged with by a pastor in Alabama. I actually met him through friends and he is pretty funny and a great expositor of the word of God. If you want, you can check him out here at Riverwood Presbyterian Church. His name is Tim Lien and although he is a Presbyterian, I still will call him a brother in Christ, as long as he doesn't try and sprinkle my kids with water.


Tim's focus in his sermons are always about Jesus Christ. I know that some of you will laugh and say, "aren't they supposed to be?" Well, yes, but not all pastors get this. Tim once pointed out that the story of David and Goliath is not about the great faith of David and if you just muster up enough faith God can use you too. This would be obvious if it wasn't for the mere fact that it has always been taught to me in that way, all through my life. Tim pointed to the fact that if the point of the story is not God and his redemption, then you just have a moralistic story of faith and more finger pointing to self, instead of the great Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Tim went on to point to the fact that if you are a pastor, or teacher, and you don't continually point to Christ, then all your teachings will end up being a moralistic tale of the self, instead of the liberating work of Christ on the cross.

This has been huge for me and my teachings. I now ask, "Where is Christ and his fulfillment of this Scripture?" Where is the grace and mercy found through this text? Where does God show his greatness for his glory and majesty? So, now, everything I teach does not end with something that we change or do to gratify self, but it ends up being a teaching of changes that take place because of my great love of Christ's accomplished work on the cross for the glory of God!

I told my pastor this morning that I now "grade sermons" based on how many times the pastor mentions the name of Jesus in his sermon. Because isn't that the litmus test in life? How many times is Jesus seen and mentioned because of our lives? So why not our sermons?

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A Prayer for the Lost

Dear Lord.
I thank you for your grace. I thank you for your patience with me. I thank you for how you have given me the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. My God, I know that you own everything, that you are above everything, that you created everything, that you know everything and that you are in control of everything. I know that you did not need me, but you wanted me. You did not have to save me, but in your will, and for your glory you did so. My Lord, I thank you for my salvation and benefits of having a loving relationship with you, my Abba, my Father, My Master, My Lord. I cannot fathom to be without you.

Dear Lord.
I earnestly pray for John that you would place your grace upon him. I pray that you would open his eyes to see your glory. Open his ears so that he can hear your gospel call. Open his mind, so that he can understand the depths of your Scriptures. Open his heart, so that he can follow you all the days of his life.

My God, I pray that you would earnestly seek him, and lay hold of him, so that the light of the gospel would shine upon him that he would turn to you and away from his wicked ways, from following Satan, to following his Creator and Saviour. I plead that you show mercy and give grace to him that he would be saved from the bondage of sin to the loving arms of your Son, and become a slave to righteousness. I pray that you would give him the same gift of salvation that you have bestowed on this undeserved sinner.

God, I say this all as your child and not your master. I don't pretend to know all things, or understand all things, so I surrender this request at your feet. I know that all your ways are good, just and right and that you are most holy. I know that no purpose of yours can be undone and I trust you in your ways, for you are God and I am, as Job put it, but dust and ashes.

So, as I bring this to my God I ask out of ignorance, but I also ask out of love for John and plead for his soul, but I also beg that your will would be done.

So God, I leave this to you and your will and ask that your name be glorified in it. I ask that you continue to use me to show the Gospel to John. I pray that I would be your vesel and that the seed would be planted and that the Holy Spirit would be able to use the seed that I planted to fulfill your will for John.

Out of the respect of Your Word where you command that we make our requests be made known to you I now ask simply that you would open John's eyes to your Gospel and that he would become a warrior for the cause of Christ for the glory of You.

Through your Son's blood, because of His name, I pray these things to my Father, my Creator, My God.

Amen.

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Calvinistic Evangelism is not Jumbo Shrimp

The one thing that tires me the most with those who try and defame Calvinism and the doctrines of grace is the fact that the haters always say that Calvinism kills evangelism. What is weird is that if they even read a little about church history, and I mean very little, they will see that some of the most amazing evangelist in church history were Calvinists. To name a few, check out John Calvin himself, John Knox, Jonathan Edwards, J. Gresham Machen and Asahel Nettleton. Again...start there and when your head stops spinning, call me and I will give you more. No doubt there have also been some great Arminian evangelists as well, but I don't hear any Calvinists saying that Arminianism kills evangelism so there is no need to go there.

I hava a good friend who is an evangelist in Austria and also goes into Iraq every once in a while to play "preach Jesus and hope you don't get shot." He is an evangelist also to some guys at the United Nations. He has been leading a small group Bible study there for years and has some pretty amazing contacts as he has been able to preach Jesus to many "high-ups" for many different nations across the world. His stories that he tells me about are far above amazing and I can't put everything here that has been said, and I can't even type his name as it would put him in to danger next time he heads into Iraq.

We talk about every month to catch up and encourage one another in prayer. Try telling someone who leads a Bible study at the U.N. and goes to Iraq for the purpose of proclaiming Christ, that ministry is difficult. I almost laugh everytime I ask him to pray for me in these areas, but he is very patient and very gracious and truly prays for me and never scoffs at my requests.

Last week we had our time of conversation and he told me a story of a certain high up bio nuclear scientist for a certain nation. I really can't give specifics on which nation he represents as it is just too dangerous. This scientist used to meet at this small group Bible study and then some years ago told my friend that he would no longer attend because he just didn't believe anything that was said at the small group. My friend wanted to keep in contact so they continued to go out to dinner every three months to make sure that the friendship was kept in tack.

This past month they were at dinner for over three hours and this scientist admitted that my friend's thoughts on Jesus and the Bible were now starting to "make sense" and that he felt like "something inside him was convicting him of these truths." One of the scientists issues was the fact that if he believed in what my friend was telling him that his whole life (the scientist is in his 60's) would have been a waste, because everything he believed would be put to the side. My friend said, "What if God was using everything in your life until now, to bring you to this very point of understanding?" The scientist was blown away, and merely said, "good point." The scientist then remarked that he would "lose face" with many of his friends and co-workers. My friend simply asked, "Who do you want to 'lose face' with more, your friends or the one who will judge you when you die?" Again...touche.

At the end of the night, the scientist simply said that he wasn't ready to completely surrender to the truths that were being represented.

Before we move on from here, let me ask, "How would you respond to someone who you have had contact with for years, seems like they are ready to surrender to Christ, but then they simply said, "I am not ready tonight." What would you say? Would you beg and ask, "What if you die tonight?" Would you think that you don't want this to "slip away?" Would you try and get him to "repeat after me and you will be saved?"

Here is what my friend said:

That is okay. God has a hold of you and he won't let you go. Take your time, you don't have to decide tonight.

I wonder how an Arminian would have responded?

The one who believes in complete sovereignty in salvation isn't looking for a prayer but looking for God's timing. The Calvinist can sleep at night knowing that God has his plans for his elect and it will happen in his time. The Calvinist doesn't have to try and convince even further at the dinner table in fear that the man might get hit by a truck on the way home and "surprise God."

The Calvinistic Evangelist rests all his hope, not on the method of evangelism, but on the sovereignty of his Creator and the sustainer of his faith.

You see, Calvinistic Evangelism is not Jumbo Shrimp. It is not an oxymoron, but it is the complete rest in the sovereignty of our Lord who bought us with a price. Calvinism doesn't kill evangelism but allows evangelism to rest not on the presenter, but on the Creator. It puts away pragmatism and places it's hopes on the glory and will of God. I believe that the Calvinistic Evangelist is the best way to evangelize and the way that the trust in God is completely at rest.

So, tonight, if you are a Calvinist and you have friends that you continually share the gospel with, sleep well and eat some jumbo shrimp tomorrow.

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5 Guarantees by the Church

This past week I got another really lame flyer in the mail about how the Bible and the church is all about me and how I am destined for greatness. As I was throwing up, I noticed that on the back, under the late 30-something pastor in clothing from Abercrombie and Fitch, that this "church" had five guarantees to the visitor if they would come to their church. At some point I feel like these guys are used car salesmen, "What do I have to do to get you in our church today?" Funny, yet sad, one church in our area was handing out gas cards if they would just come to the church. Then, on my way to work the other day, I saw a huge sign on a Honda dealership promising free gas with a new car purchase.

This whole flyer never mentions the name of Jesus and the only time that they mention God is when they say, "Your kids will learn about God's love!" Yet they have the gall to name themselves with the name "Christian" in the title.

Here are the five guarantees of this "church":

1. A Casual & Relaxed Atmosphere!
2. The Music will be Contemporary!
3. The Kids Will Love it!
4. You are our Guest! You will be Welcomed and Accepted!
5. The Talk will be Positive & Encouraging!


Yes, they did actually put exclamation points at the end of each point like a guy with a bullhorn at the circus. This two page car ad, I mean church ad, had 18 exclamation points! Didn't they watch Seinfeld? Too many exclamation points is just overkill. But, look at what they are promising. They promise nothing about Jesus. They promise nothing about God. They promise what you would expect from a dinner and a show, not a church whose focus is on the blood of Christ and the redemption of a sinful people. When are we going to understand that the church is not about the glorification of people but of glorification of God? Plus, what if my kid hated it? What if someone doesn't say hello? What if the pastors talk isn't encouraging because I am looking for hope because my wife just got cancer? What if I don't like the Dove Award winners being sung in church? Not only are these guarantees completely people oriented but they are empty and cannot be guaranteed to everyone that gets this ad in the mail.

What had me thinking is, what would my church guarantee if we were to send out this type of postcard? What would your church guarantee if you were to send out this type of postcard? Here are my five guarantees to anyone who wants to visit our church:

1. God will be glorified
2. The Word of God will be preached
3. The proclamation of the Gospel will be heralded
4. You will know that you are a sinner in need of salvation
5. We will show you the hope found only in Christ

Every week that you come to our church these five will be shown in every area of our ministries. From Sunday school, to children's church, to worship in song, to worship in the word, to fellowship and to the corporate worship, these five are promised week in and week out.

Is this a casual and relaxed atmosphere? Sometimes. But, sometimes those who are in sin and hear about judgment might not be so relaxed until they here about the hope in Jesus. Is the music contemporary? Sometimes. More importantly our music is Christ focused and God honoring. Will your kids love it? I don't know. Probably depends on how you prepare them for worship on Sundays. Do you prepare your kid to be entertained the entire time? Then they probably won't like it. Do you prepare your child that the Lord's Day is about learning about Jesus? Then that will be accomplished. Are you our guest? Are you welcomed and accepted? Sure. Are we going to change our service to make it all about you? No, that is idolatry. Our church is about glorifying Christ, not the sinner. Will the talk be positive and encouraging? Maybe. Sometimes I walk out of our service wondering why Jesus loves me. I see my sin, see my struggles, but I am always encouraged because of the hope found in Christ.

I get frustrated everytime I get one of these in the mail that focuses so much on people instead of on God and Jesus Christ. The church is for the glory of Christ, not the glory of man. It disturbs me to see that these churches will do anything to get people to come in the doors. It also causes me to examine myself to make sure that I am doing everything that I can do to leave the doors of the church and proclaim the word of Christ to my neighbors and to encourage them to join us in worship.

So, what are the five guarantees of your church?

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Our Visit to Oikos Fellowship...

As I said last Friday, my wife and I headed up to Bellingham,WA to get some relaxation in for her birthday. Since we were up there, we decided to visit Oikos Fellowship which is pastored by Pete Williamson. I thought I would just share our time with everyone and what we came away with.

We decided to take a look at the church on Saturday to just make sure that we could find it on Sunday morning, as I hate showing up late to church, so I figured that we could make sure that we didn't by running by the day before. As we pulled up you could tell that the church must have been the old "First Baptist Church," or something of the sort, as the building had old wooden architechture, no stained glass and the sign outside was made of wood with a little "roof" on top of it. It didn't take CSI to figure out that this church had been around a while. What was great to see was the new more modern sign inside the old sign, that was black with modern letters that simply read, "Oikos Fellowship". Gone were the days of the sign reading, "Prayer is the Ultimate Wireless Connection" or "The Rapture: Separation of Church and State".

The next day as we entered into the building we were greeted by the young folk at the door and took our usual "visitors" seats in the back of the room so that we wouldn't be a distraction. Actually, I did this on purpose because, this sounds weird, I didn't want people to waste their time on us, when they needed to be encouraging one another and also meeting actual guests that were checking out this church to be their new fellowship. Of course this never works at a welcoming church as we were still greeted and welcomed by those around us, which was cool to see the church welcome new people.

The church met in a small "sanctuary", where the inside had obviously had some work done to it, and it looked very nice. Nothing in the room was going to take your eyes off worship, but the room was very warm and felt like a place of worship (whatever that means). The band began to play and right away Stacy and I looked at each other and were marveled at how well they sounded and how much the attention was not on them, but on the worship. Very encouraging to see from a group of young people. The worship in song was a mixture of old hymns to more modern songs, where both focused on the worship and glorification of the Trinity.

Pastor Williamson wasn't preaching today, as you could tell when he stood up to encourage with the reading of the word, because he brought the reading of the word as any pastor would that truly loves its proclamation: with zeal and honor.

After we sang, read from the word, sang the doxology, and sang some more, Mike came and brought the word to us. Mike focused in on Psalm 46 and it encouraged me to see a young man so in love with God's greatness and concerned with our desires and where our comfort lies. Mike seemed very comfortable in the pulpit and we were encouraged by the word of God through Mike and in the end, what I was able to glean from the Scriptures was just an awe for my omnipotent God who is my "refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

After the message we took communion, sang some more and then we were dismissed. I have to say that for a smaller church, they seem to really be ready to take on their community and try and help out the spreading of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was good to see a church so focused on the glorification of Christ and not on themselves. It was good to see the room filled with young people sitting under the preaching of the Word of God, filled with compassion and zeal.

I now have another church that I can be praying for. I have a pastor that I can encourage with prayer, and when I think of Bellingham, WA I know that the gospel is going forth and the kingdom is being represented well.

So, I thank Oikos for allowing us to worship with them, and look forward to that day that I worship with these fellow brothers and sisters in Christ for eternity, when we all sit under the throne of our great King, worshiping and enjoying Him forever.

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Some Links...

I am off this weekend to celebrate my wife's birthday in beautiful Bellingham,WA, where we will find a weekend of snow. The cool thing is that I get to visit a new found friend's church up there on Sunday. I love seeing how the kingdom is being affected in other parts of my state. The church we will be visiting is Pete Williamson's Oikos Fellowship. The bummer part is that Pete is at Together for the Gospel this week so he won't be preaching. But, I know that God has placed the person in the pulpit this week with the message that I need to hear. Amazing that God is making me go all the way to Bellingham and listen to a "fill in" to get his message to me. But, God is amazing in his providence, so I can't wait to see what he reveals to me. Here are some links in the meantime, and I hope you have a great weekend.

Tony is bringing it once again and has put up the audio clip that will probably start to cause some ripples among Reformers as James White denies God's Universal Saving Will. I would really encourage you to read this post and look around at the blog at some of the other resources that Tony has put together on this topic.

Trey Austin also puts together some thoughts on James White's views as they were expressed in a debate between him and Steve Gregg

erik at Irish Calvinist gives out some info on the new Ben Stein movie: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed and also a review of a book entitled, "The Dawkin's Letters"

Arthur Sido did some blogging at the Together for the Gospel conference.

One of my new favorite blog titles is a blog that is fun to read: Poop is Emergent Too and the author, David Drake, is starting a new collaborative effort over at Garage Reformation.

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Global Warming?

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Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be

This book was written by two guys who couldn't be more different in their background and writing styles. Kevin DeYoung is the young, Reformed pastor, that takes this subject on a very subjective theological level, exposing carefully the doctrinal errors found in the Emergent church. Ted Kluck is just the opposite. Also, young, but a former athlete (he would love to hear that I said former), former semi professional football player, current sportswriter, and unapologetically sarcastic and whimsical. He takes on the subject much like I would, exposing the errors with witty banter and "low hanging fruit."

The book layout was great. Each author took a subject and then the chapters went back and forth throughout. So, you would get hit with the longer, theological, linear chapters of DeYoung, and then read the shorter stories and witty rebuttals from Kluck. I really enjoyed this as you really got the feel from two totally different perspectives of what is going on in the Emergent church.

The book's purpose is to really help people just better understand what the Emergent church is and what it does, or maybe better put, doesn't stand for. The main people that are refuted would be the same if you looked on any blog, namely, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell and Tony Jones. What seemed to be the main focus of the entirety of the book would be the Emergent's focus on Kingdom living, instead of the totality of the work of Christ. In other words, more focused on morality, than understanding what is the first importance: the gospel.

DeYoung and Kluck came to the same conclusion that I have with the Emergent church and others that think just like them, which would be the fact that they are reacting to the more fundamental, legalistic churches, but doing so in the wrong manner. DeYoung and Kluck show that some of the questions that the Emergents bring to light are true and helpful to/against the mainstream church in America, but the way that they answer those questions are not only wrong, but actually harmful, and in some cases, flat out heretical.

The authors did much research for the material, so much so that they went to the different churches and events of this movement to "get their hands dirty". I found this book very helpful and know that those who are in the Emergent church will just see this as another "conversation" not worth having. But, for those who are on the fence or are starting to understand the Emergent problems, will find this a very helpful book on understanding the things that are going on with the Emergent leaders.

Actually, the best part of the book was in the epilogue, when DeYoung went through the churches in Revelation with special focus on Ephesus, Pergamum and Thyratira. This part was very balanced and showed how every church should try to take the good out of each of these churches and learn from them and also learn from the admonishment that Christ gives each as well. Of course, in the end, the idea was for the Emergent church to take a look at what is missing in their movement, which would be the very strongest part in the Ephesian church: defense of doctrine.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand the Emergent church in more detail. I just hope that people are able to learn from this book from within the movement and it isn't just used as ammunition to debate with. Link to Buy

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10 Steps to Become a Legalist: Step 6

When you pray, how do you pray? Is it long? short? in the morning? in the evening? sitting up? laying down? standing up? To be a good legalist, it isn't about what is correct, but what you deem as correct. Sometimes even if you sound more like a Muslim than a Christian. There are at least two things you need to take a stand on when you look at prayer: When and How.

1. When

When do you pray? In the morning, evening or afternoon? All three? You can really be a good legalist if you do all three, because if someone misses one of these times, you can show them how much closer you are to God and how far they are. Like most things when being a legalist, you really need to find some verses that will make you sound correct to the average Joe, so when he comes to you, you can really make him look stupid. Because that really is the goal of any good legalist, to show how holy you are, and how stupid or immature everyone else is. With legalists and prayer it usually comes in two ways, "I pray three times a day and they are times I have set aside" and the other is, "I don't need to set any time aside, but I pray all day to God." Most will pick one of these and run with it. So do you, if you want to become a forerunner for the contemporary legalist.

If you are a "three times a dayer" then a great verse to pick out is Daniel 6:10

Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.
Daniel 6:10

Clearly Daniel is Jesus incarnate making a command here to pray three times per day. Nevermind the fact that if you followed other ways of Daniel you would also not be homeschooled but schooled by the local government, as a command. Making all homeschoolers crazy and in sin. But, again, as a legalist, just ignore the first part of Daniel's life and really focus on the prayer part. It's just easier that way, plus, those immature Christian's that don't pray three times a day probably don't even know where the book of Daniel is located and just think he is some dude that fell in lion's cage and didn't get eaten because he was in the ark and was swallowed by a whale. Morons.

On the other side. If you are one to think that you should just pray as you feel led, then you should really just ignore Daniel and say that he was a crazy Old Testament guy and they had to do that because they didn't have the Holy Spirit. Nevermind this never works anywhere else in our lives consistantly...I mean, who is ever "felt led" to pay their bills? Or felt led to send out those corny Christmas cards with your kids and dog in matching sweaters? Oh wait...I just offended most of you...sorry...still funny, especially when the dog is front and center and your children are fighting to get in the picture.

To work out this thought process it would be good to use the following Scripture:

Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Psalm 32:6a

Skip the fact that this is Old Testament too and your argument for Daniel has weakened. Use this verse to really show that you should just pray when you feel like it. God is always listening. So, pray to him in your car, on a walk, at work, or on the toilet, who cares where or when, just pray when you want, but to schedule a time is too "formal".

2. How

How do you pray? Do you pray really long prayers that sound like King James himself is speaking? or Do you pray really short prayers that sound more like prayers from
a hippie talking to a tie dyed salesman? Whichever one you are stick to it and then really poke fun of the others.

If you are the former, then this might flow from step 3 of our study on how to become a legalist. For some reason, most KJO folks, love to speak in that same way and their prayers are longer than a Billy Graham alter call. So go all the way. Use terms like "thee" and "thou" and put the letters "eth" on the end of everyeth wordeth. So, when you pray, no one can understand you, so how could they ever rebuke you? Plus God only hears those who babble for hours and use all these Old English terms. Sucks to be a non-English speaking "Christian". Remember, the longer the prayer, the more you love Jesus.

If you are into the short, lax prayers of the seeker movement, go for it. People have short attention spans so shorten up these prayers not only in public, but in your life as well. Plus, it will go really well with your "One Minute Bible." You can pray and read your Bible all during your bathroom break during commercials of Desperate Housewives, what a deal. Make sure that you laugh at all those who have long prayers, who use words you don't understand like "sin", "repentance" and "atonement"...who needs those words anyway?

Okay...enough with all this nonsense. Here is where I stand with prayer. We are told many things in the Bible about prayer. My belief on prayer is that we must take things from what we see in the Bible as a whole and apply them in our lives. I think we should definitely have set aside times to pray to make sure "we get it done." Sounds terrible to say (getting it done), but to be disciplined in prayer is a good thing. But, it isn't the only thing either. I always like to take a look to see what Jesus did. What a concept. We find Jesus doing both long prayers and short prayers. Taking specific times to pray and then also just lifting up his eyes at times and praying.

The Lord's Prayer is about a ten second prayer. The high priestly prayer was longer as was Christ's prayer in Garden (at least long enough to make people sleep...reminds me of my grandpa). The point is pray until you don't. Don't just repeat stuff to sound more holy and don't do a short prayer to appease those around you. Be mindful, but know that you are talking to God. We find that Jesus would "often slip away to pray" and that Jesus would also go off in the morning to a secluded place and pray. It seemed as though Christ had some appointed times of prayer but that he also would just start praying. His greatest, and if you were there you probably would have been caught off guard, was his high priestly prayer. It just says that they were talking and then all of the sudden Jesus, "lifted up his eyes to heaven." Jesus did this in the middle of a conversation. Now, this is Jesus so it was cool, but can you imagine doing this at a dinner party? You are talking about football with someone and all the sudden they break out in prayer? The point is that Christ not only appointed times of prayer, but prayed when he felt like praying as well.

So, for us to learn from this, I would say to have a time to pray and also pray throughout the day to the Lord. Pray long or short, I don't care, but pray as God leads you and pray like you would if you were talking to someone you knew instead of talking like some theologian from the 1600's. But, as you pray also know that you are praying to your Creator and so don't just be flippant, but reverant.

May God be praised and may we pray when we don't want to and when we desire to, this is the idea behind the great verse of Paul:

Pray without ceasing
1 Thess 5:17

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American Idol Gives Back...with Jesus?

My wife and I were bored to tears tonight and watched the American Idol Gives Back special on Fox. They are actually doing some amazing things around the world and in the U.S. to raise money for the poor and uneducated. What struck me was the last song that they were to sing was "Shout to the Lord." I was busy at my computer but this made my ears perk up when I heard it. If you aren't familiar with the song, it starts with:

My Jesus, My Savior
Lord there is none like You
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My Comfort, My Shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You

As I was watching Idol I was pretty down to think that all these people are trying to give hope to people without Christ. I believe their efforts are very good ones and much needed and should spur us Christians to make sure that we are also giving the gift of physical life to people around the world. Of course what we can offer alongside this is much greater and much more important, namely, the water that will make them thirst no more. The only thing that makes me a little queasy about these things is all the praise that is given to all the celebrities that help out, but whatever, I understand. But, as they announced the last song, I was thinking, "I can't believe that we are going to hear the very name of Jesus said on national TV, during a very emotional fund raiser by a secular show and station. But, I was led astray. I was baited and switched.

The song starts off in the original, "My Jesus, my Savior" but as the Idols started to sing out the words it came out flat and offensive, because they instead took the very name of Christ and omitted it from the line. Instead they sang, "My Shepherd, My Savior." Once again, proving that the name of God doesn't offend, but Jesus does. Again, showing that no one wants to offend anyone, besides the Christ fearing Christian. Sad, but true.

If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
John 15:18

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12

So, American Idol, not wanting to offend, decided to offend me, by purposely leaving out the very name that was given to us to save us. The very name that was given to me and saved me.

Even though Idol doesn't know it or believe it, I do know and do believe that He is truly,
My Jesus, My Saviour and there is no other name under heaven by which man can be saved.

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The Lord of the Flies

In Sunday School we have been studying through the Old Testament and we came across the golden calf about 2 weeks ago and I thought of something that was of some interest. The story goes that Moses comes off the mountain and finds Aaron and all these morons dancing and worshiping around a golden calf. (See dancing is a sin...kidding...but still funny). Moses is pretty peeved and does something pretty interesting. It is found in Exodus 32:20

He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.
Exodus 32:20

Now, most commentators say that the reason that this happened was because of the bitterness that the gold would turn the water's taste into, hence, Israel could see the bitterness of their sin. But, what if there is more to this?

When looking at our sin, we see that it is very grotesque in the sight of the Lord. Not only this, but anytime we find false prophets, God loves to make an example of them, sometimes even making fun of them. Jeremiah says that they are "committing adultery with stones and trees" and Jesus calls false prophets blind, snakes and sons of the devil.

When we look to sin Paul is one of the most descriptive of his legalism in Phil 3:8 when he says that he counts all his fleshly honor as "rubbish." Which is a very strong word that means "dung" or "crap" or other very strong words meaning animal excretion. Isaiah even tells us that our righteous deeds are like "dirty menstrual rags" or for those less versed, they are like bloody tampons. If you want to know how terrible sin is just read Ezekiel's accounts (Ezekiel 16)of the sins of Israel as he tells them that are like whores with their legs open to any that pass by. If this all isn't enough, the five sacrifices mentioned in Leviticus 1-7 should be enough to convince us that sin is truly an ugly thing to our God.

When we start to piece some things together, I think that the punishment of the golden calf is a little more than we think. When Elijah is on Mount Carmel comparing Baal to God, he says some pretty funny stuff but he also makes a suggestion that is pretty grotesque. Here is the verse that I am looking to:

It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.”
1 Kings 18:27

Pretty funny stuff. What is more funny is what Elijah suggests Baal is doing. The Hebrew word "siyach" or "occupied" is a term that was used of someone relieving himself. Elijah was asking if their god was on the toilet.

What connection does this have with Exodus 32? Here is the connection, and I believe God was giving the Israelites a word picture of what they did. 1 Corinthians 10:20 tells us that when the Gentiles sacrifice, or worship, someone other than God, they sacrifice to demons. We know that Satan is the head of the demons (Matt 12:24; Mark 3:22) and one of the words that is used of Satan in the New Testament is the term "Beezelbul" in Luke 11:18. When you do some searching you learn that this name is also used in the Old Testament and the term is of a god which means, "Lord of the Flies" or "Lord of Crap." Which shows why Elijah would make such a statement. Elijah saying that maybe their god is worshiping himself on the toilet.

Here is the picture that God is giving the Israelites. When the Israelites drink this water with their god in it, they will not pee this god out, but they will literally crap out their god. God shows the Israelites exactly what their god is, what he is god of and what good he is. God gives a great picture to the Israelites so that they will know exactly who is in charge and what kind of worth their golden calf is. Elijah suggested it, the Israelites had to experience it. Crazy stuff.

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Where Do Babies Go When They Die? Part II

I wanted to give some additional thoughts on the issue of where babies go when they die. I will be honest that I have not studied out these thoughts as much as I would have liked before posting, but I don't mind to put it out there and see what others think. Again, I want to say that through this, I still don't believe that we can be dogmatic about the stance of these thoughts. I would say that God gives us some great clues on what the final stance is, but not dogmatic ones. So, like most things that I teach or write, I sound very dogmatic about it because they are my convictions, but I don't want any to think that I believe that I have arrived in my theology or that I see this as a dead issue with no debate left to wrestle with. With that said, here are some further thoughts on this issue.

Reason #4 that all children go to heaven (click here for previous post to see reasons 1-3)

Jesus died for the sin of Adam.

From a historical reformed position, John 1:29 was seen by many to mean that Jesus died for the sin of Adam for all people.

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29

Notice what Christ takes away for the world: sin. It is singular, not plural in this verse. What singular, or one, sin could John be talking about?

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
Romans 5:18

Notice that the one act of righteousness by Christ resulted in justification of life to all men. How could this be? Well, if we are talking about the singular headship sin of Adam to all men, then we could speak of Christ removing this sin by the cross. Because the result of Adam's sin is spiritual death. This death results in men not being able to respond to God, the things of God being foolishness to them, men becoming useless because of it. This is why we need regeneration. So, Adam's sin has been taken away by the cross of Christ. So, then, babies would not go to hell based on Adam's sin.

Reason #5: People go to hell for their deeds

We have to ask, "why do people go to hell?" Is it because of Adam's sin, or the sin of the sinner? From what I have been able to study, and I am up for correction in this, we go to hell because of our sin, not because of Adam's.

Look at these two verses (there are many others):

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;
1 Peter 1:17

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:12-15

It looks like the reason that people will not be found in the book of life, besides election, is because of their evil deeds. This is why they will go to hell. It will be because of their sin, not because of God. When someone stands at the judgment seat, they cannot say that they did not sin, or that they don't believe that Adam was their head. They will be shown their actual sin that they committed and they will know it is sin because of Romans 2:15,16:

in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
Romans 2:15-16

So, ignorance cannot be a reason. One might ask, "don't children sin?" The answer is definitely, "yes", but again in my last post we also have to ask the question of "do they know their sin?" To this I would say, "no, they do not 'know' their sin" and God is merciful towards this as he was to the children of the Israelites in Deuteronomy 1 when it states,"And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it." I would also add that from what tree did Adam and Eve die from? Was it not from the tree of KNOWLEDGE of good and evil? I would like to do some more study on this thought, but it seems that the knowing of sin is of great importance to God. This knowing of your sin is from what you die eternally for, not just the sin itself. This has great implications of our children and their sin.

I know that this is not conclusive evidence, but it definitely points me to the understanding that David definitely had, namely, if one of my children dies before knowing sin, I believe that I will return to them in my death, and I will tell any mother who loses their child the very same thing, with confidence.

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Where Do Babies Go When They Die?

This question was posed to me last night by one of my students. I thought I would put my thoughts here as a post and discuss. This is a very close to home subject for me, as my wife has had two, possibly three, miscarriages, so this really is a theology from both the mind and from the heart for me. I also have two children (pictured above) at the ages of 5 and 2 that are not old enough to fully "repent and believe." So, what am I to believe if one of them were taken from me? From what I understand, there are three thoughts on this:

1. All babies go to heaven when they die
2. All babies go to hell when they die
3. God elects some babies to heaven and leaves some as the reprobate

I am not going to go into a discussion with all three of these, but will say that I respect the third point and think those that believe that all babies go to hell need to rethink their theology and also the love of God. I really have a hard time with people who believe that all babies will go to hell when they die and don't have much patience with them. Those who believe the third point, I respect greatly because they say they are going to leave this decision to God and trust Him in his perfect wisdom. I respect it, but don't believe that they are correct.

I believe in the first. Namely, that all babies go to heaven when they die. Let me give you some reasons.

First, Jesus seems to infer this

“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 18:3-6,10

But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14

Jesus seems to really dismiss any who would say that all infants go to hell. Jesus says that heaven belongs to the children. That you must have faith as a child and humble yourself like a child. This isn't definitive to dismiss point three from above, or prove my point beyond doubt, but it's a start.


Second, David believed his child was going to heaven

When David and Bathsheba had a child out of wedlock, God punished them by killing the baby. When we watch David he is very telling of his theology of infant salvation and the healing power and grace of God. David knew that the child should die, but he also knew the grace of God the healer. So, as the child was alive he fasted, prayed and wept for the child to be shown mercy. But, when the child died, it simply says:

So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the Lord and bworshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate.
2 Samuel 12:20

Basically, life went back to normal. When asked about this, David gives his reasoning for assurance:

“But now 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.”
2 Samuel 12:23

David says that he will go to him. Unless you believe that David was headed to hell, this pretty good evidence that David is confident that his child is in heaven.

We also know that David was a man that God was not afraid to rebuke for not only his sins, but also for bad theology as well. When David didn't listen to God about how to carry the ark of the covenant, but placed it on a cart like the Philistines and Uzzah touched it and died, David wasn't happy. But, notice that after the fact, he no longer put the ark on a cart, but people carried it (2 Samuel 6:13) like they were supposed to. The point is that God corrected David and his bad theology on how to carry the ark and David responded by changing his method.

I believe for infant salvation the passage in 2 Samuel 12:23 looms very large. This is David who believed this, not some shmuck. David had close communication with God, was just rebuked by God through Nathan, and yet when David believes his child is in heaven, God doesn't rebuke him or speak against him in any way concerning these thoughts.

Lastly, we find the final clincher. It is found in Deuteronomy 1:34-39:

When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: “Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.” Because of you the Lord became angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either. But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it. And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.

Now, I don't believe in an actual age of accountability, but I do believe that God shows grace to those who are born into sin and yet don't have the capacity to call out on the Lord Jesus Christ to save them from their sin. I believe that Christ died for all men on the cross and covered their sin completely, but only through belief, is Christ's righteousness imputed to the man and his sins wiped away. But, because children cannot believe because of their youth, I believe God shows grace as he did to these children in Deuteronomy 1. He literally says that they do not know good from bad. Now, we know that children know if they are lying or being rebellious even at a young age, but the word "know" is a larger intention. The understanding is not to know what sin is, but a real understanding of the depths it has on the relationship with the Lord and the implications of it. It is an intimate knowledge, not merely a factual one. Children don't have the capacity to have an intimate knowledge of their sin and the impacts it has on their true Father God.

I am not sure when children come to this knowledge, as I believe that all children are different. Some may never come to this knowledge because they have downs syndrome. I think when we put all these together, we can confidently say that God shows grace to the children and that heaven will indeed be filled with infants, all praising God for his grace, as we will.

Now, let every mother and father here present know assuredly that it is well with the child, if God hath taken it away from you in its infant days. You never heard its declaration of faith, it was not capable of such a thing, it was not baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ, not buried with him in baptism; it was not capable of giving that "answer of a good conscience towards God;" nevertheless, you may rest assured that it is well with the child, well in a higher and a better sense than it is well with yourselves; well without limitation, well without exception, well infinitely, "well" eternally.
Charles Spurgeon

"I hope you are both well reconciled to the death of your child. I cannot be sorry for the death of infants. How many storms do they escape! Nor can I doubt, in my private judgment, that they are included in the election of grace."
John Newton (writing to friends who lost a child)

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Offices of Christ Video

Here is a video I put together on the Offices of Christ that I preached a couple of months ago. Enjoy.

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10 Steps to Become a Legalist: Step 5

To be a true legalist, you have to get a little bit silly on some stuff, and this is one of them. You need to know that the way, the time and the when you study your Bible is exactly how all should do so. Anyone that doesn't study just like you do, is just not as mature as you and you need to bring them up to speed.

How do you study the Bible? Do you just simply read a chapter? Do you break down the verse like you are a back woods surgeon? Which ever way you do it, make sure you preach that it is the only way to do it, and that everyone else is as crazy as a TBN salesman...uhum...I meant TBN preacher.

You must take the verse, "Your word I have treasured in my heart," to mean whatever you want it to mean for your study.

So, if you break down verse by verse and parse it like you are going to teach a class in Hebrew and Greek, then that is the only way to do it. Those people who just read their Bible are as shallow as a kiddie pool, or a Presbyterian baptismal, and need to get to some real study. I mean how will they know that Jesus died for their sins, unless they know that the term "died" in the Greek means, "died"?

But, if you are a Presbyterian baptismal, then you must assert that those who do more than just read the Bible are going a little far. They are just cold theologians who love their knowledge more than Jesus. Don't they know that Paul said, "knowledge puffs up"? Keep saying that the reason that you read the Bible like you do is because they were letters written to be read in one sitting. If the Corinthians didn't sit around parsing sentences then why should I? Wait...the Corinthians knew Greek? And lived in that culture? Hmmmm...maybe I should study some more?

Not only should you press everyone to study just like you but you also should make sure that they study at the same time and for as long as you do. Everyone knows the best time to study is in the morning. You have to start your day off with Jesus or there is no way that you can be a strong Christian throughout the day. You're not a morning person? Get over it, you have to be, to be a strong mature Christian. Not only should you start your day with Jesus but if you don't study, or read your Bible (if you're one of those), for at least an hour, how do you get anything out of the Bible? What do you do, read your Bible for 20 minutes and then pray? You do? You must be a shallow Christian. What? You read the Bible at other times during the day too? You are also reading Christian books and listening to sermons? You live out your Christian study by serving others? Hmmm...not sure what you are getting at but those things need to be put to the side to make sure that you study for an hour.

This post seems silly and is silly. But, I have run into many people that not only believe that their way of study is a good way, but the only way. I have run into people who believe that if you don't spend an hour a day, in the morning, with a complete understanding of Greek and Hebrew, then you are not really doing Bible study. Not only this, but if they speak to anyone who doesn't study the way that they do, they look down on them. I don't mind people who try and help others with Bible study, but some take this so seriously that it makes me laugh. Some forget that people learn in different ways and at different times. Some are morning people some are night people. I have given much advice on this issue, but I used to be really weird in my views of how "it should be done." I used to be one of these, "only in the morning, and at least for 30 minutes," kind of guys. I was weird. Still am, but that is way beyond the point.

I think both of the views of Bible study I gave above could learn from each other. I have found at times myself breaking down one verse for days on end, and have also found myself simply reading through different passages to get a full view of things. But, to say that "one size fits all" works about as good as that big ugly shirt in the corner of your closet does, that you got because you were one of the first 3,000 fans at the minor league baseball game.

Let's be gracious in this. Let's learn from each other in this. Let's find what works for others and do something amazing with that information...try it for ourselves. Maybe you will find a way that you didn't think would work in the past for you, but actually opens up the Scriptures in ways you haven't seen in the past.

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