Happy 500!

In case you did not know, John Calvin turns 500 today.  Happy Birthday John, we thank God for you!

A Word on Controversy

There is no doubt that theologies of all kinds breed controversy.  These controversies are often paired with passion because emotions are so involved with the theology driving each person.  Some people think about controversy and make the conclusion, “I do not like controversy, therefore I must stay away from theology.  2 Tim. 2:14 says that we are to avoid foolish controversies and wrangles about words right?”  It does say that, but please do not think that avoiding theology is the answer here.

Why do I say that this is not the answer to controversy?  Jesus’ whole life was one of controversy, just as all the prophets were, and all the apostles were.  Paul debated in the market day to day, from morning to evening he would try to persaude the people.  So what do we do about controversy?  Do we just “buck up” and “be a man (woman)” about it?  No.  We must see something in Paul’s prohibition to Timothy about foolish controversies.  Paul forbids them, that is clear.  But often we learn something massive from Scripture if we look at the opposite of what is being taught.  Paul forbids being a part of foolish controversies, but does he forbid being a part of godly controversies?  Not at all, and I even think he encouraged it when you take into account his life, and the whole context of 2 Tim. 2:14-19.

The bottom line is this: don’t avoid studying theology because you want to avoid controversy.  Theology and knowing as much of it as you can is precisely what will get you through controversies.  Many people say that a truism (statement that is always true) for our culture is “Discuss anything but politics and religion.”  People say this because these two subjects cause so much controversy.  I would answer this truism with another truism from our culture, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”  When you do not know enough theology to know what is worth being controversial over, people are hurt, and pride is born.  When you do know enough theology to know what is worth being controversial over, people are protected against lies.

(These are my words on RC Sproul’s book “Essential Truths of the Christian Faith”, page 15)

Do I Preach Like an Arminian?

It is no secret that I am a Calvinist.  I love TULIP, and feast on Jesus through it.  Even though this is clear, some may say that I preach like an Arminian.  I want to address two things concerning this.  One, why would someone say this?  And two, how should a Calvinist preach, and why do I preach the way I do?

First: Why would someone say I a preach like an Arminian?  A couple reasons: this past Sunday I preached on John 3:14-15.  I called the lost in the congregation to look to Jesus for salvation just as the bitten Israelites looked to the bronze serpent in the wilderness for healing and new life (see John 3:14-15 and Numbers 21).  I then called the Christians in the congregation who have already looked to Jesus for salvation to make every effort to continue looking to Jesus daily.  After I challenged the believers I warned them that if they did not continue looking to Jesus for salvation daily, they will make a shipwreck of their faith.  To further impress this on them, I qouted Matthew 24:13 which says, “Only those who endure to the end will be saved.” I do think that some may wonder after hearing this, “Does he believe in Perseverance of the Saints, or doesn’t he?”  This is why (I think) some people think I preach like an Arminian; because it sounds like I do not believe in God’s sovereignty in salvation.

Second: How should a Calvinist preach?  This causes me to wonder, should a calvinist not call people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ because God is the One who actually does the work of salvation?  Should a calvinist not tell Christians to persevere to the end because it is actually God that causes and keeps His people to the end?  NO WAY!  Of all people, Calvinists ought to be the ones calling the lost to faith, and calling Christians to endure to the end!  Why do I think this way?  Because Jesus said these things, and if I am to be faithful to God’s Word, I will say them also.  Even though I know that it is God who works in the heart, raising it from the dead so that it can reach out to Jesus in faith, I will still call men to repent.  Even though I know that God will cause His elect to persevere to the end by working in them what is pleasing in His sight, I will still tell them to persevere in faith to the end!  Of course when I preach, I preach verse by verse or “expositonally”, and because of this I will explain God’s election and God’s keeping His people to the end when I get to them, and I will call all people to embrace God’s sovereignty in salvation and love it!  But I must ask you, what saves someone?  The doctrine of perseverance?  Or predestination?  No.  The thing that saves is the gospel.  So when I preach on John 3:14-15 or any other evangelistic passage, I will call men to faith as Jesus did.

So I do not preach like an Arminian, nor do I aim to preach like a Calvinist.  I aim to preach Biblically, using the language Jesus used, telling men what Jesus told them.

Psalm 9

(Guest Post from Austin Wynn)

Psalm 9

Focus: The justice of the Lord

On thinking of the justice of the Lord, David is driven to thank the Lord and tell of His wonderful deeds. God’s justice drives David to be glad and exult in Him and sing praises to Him thanking Him. Though it may seem that there is no true justice in the world at times when wicked men experience great pleasures in this life, we like David, need to acknowledge that the Lord sits enthroned forever and praise Him for His justice. David then turns his attention to his enemies. He says they turn back, stumble, and perish before God’s presence because He has maintained David’s just cause and judged rightly. It appears that David is seeing God’s justice being acted out in helping David and in destroying those trying to kill David, a man of God. We can learn from this that the Lord will not pervert justice. He will fight for a just cause if He so desires to bring glory to Himself in that way. David then expresses how God punishes the wicked, a true sign of His righteous judgments. He expresses that God will be on the throne for all eternity judging justly. God is just in that He does not abandon those who call on His name, but is a stronghold for them in their troubles. Though those who trust in Him may be oppressed, this does not change the truth that God is judging rightly and is there refuge in the trials of life. It would be unjust if God were to forget the cry of the afflicted, but He never does and so David calls the reader to worship God the just Judge for His righteousness. David then, just after expressing how God hears the cry of the afflicted and judges rightly, calls upon God to see his own current affliction and give him grace in order that David might tell others of God’s justice and rejoice in God’s saving him. David doesn’t begin this Psalm by expressing his needs, but first acknowledges God’s justice and then calls upon God the just Judge to be just in dealing with his concerns. It is wise to first tell God of His just dealings and just nature before calling upon Him to deal justly in one’s life matters. David focuses then on the enemies of God and how the Lord has executed judgment in causing them to sink in the pit they made and catch their feet in the nets they have hid and be snared in the work of their own hands and also in how God will put them to death who forget God. God’s enemies are those who forget Him. Though they forget God, God never forgets the needy and the poor, for David says their hope will not perish forever though it may seem to perish in this life temporarily. David says there is a future hope for the children of God that the wicked do not have. David then calls upon God to rise up and judge the nations who are wicked in order that they may know they are but men. Acknowledging we are but men allows us to see that God is God and draws us to live humbly before Him.

Psalm 56

(Guest Post from Austin Wynn)

Psalm 56

A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life. For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God! You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
(Psa 56:1-13)

David writes this psalm when he is forced to act like a madman before King Achish because he fears what will happen to him. When David is “trampled on” by man, he turns to the One who can trample men. There is a Power far surpassing that which David has and David has the ability to tap into that Power source whenever he so desires. It is an important lesson for us to learn that when our circumstances look bleak and it seems man is against us, we have a Sovereign and Almighty God who created man and will fight for His Name. When fear strikes at the heart of David, he trusts. This flies in the face of fear. Though his fear is one of visible consequence, He trust is one of invisible promise. Though everything on the outside of our lives may appear to be all the reason we need to fear, everything in God’s Word teaches us to trust. Christians stand out in this regard. When the world sees every reason to fear, the Christian sees every reason to trust. We must be those who look not at our circumstances from face value, but those who see with spiritual eyes that God is fighting for us. David’s trust is built upon God. Since David knows God is trustworthy, there is absolutely nothing that will come into his life that is outside of God’s “all-seeing eye”. The Christian has a life marked by faith in God and one that causes the unbelieving world to question. Let the reader notice how David emphasizes more that once the statement, “in God”. He is making the point that his trust is rooted in God and not in his outward and visible circumstances. It is also quite interesting to note that David says, within the same sentence, “When I am afraid…..I shall not be afraid.” He acknowledges that fear is present within him when outward circumstances bring about such fear, but then he states that he will not be afraid because God is greater. We must not simply expect to always fear God. We must preach the truth to ourselves, that God is in control, whenever fear seems to be taking over in our lives. David was a man who sat himself down and preached to himself. He then received the truths of his own words, which came from God, and chose to live by faith in God. David not only goes from declaring that he will trust the almighty God of Israel, but he also questions the extent of the strength of man against him. He is asking, “How much damage can man really do if my God is in control?”. This is a rhetorical question that he asks himself to build up more faith in God. As Christians, we need to be in the habit of asking questions like this to ourselves whenever we find fear kicking in. There is only so much a person can do, whereas God can “destroy both soul and body in Hell”. David has “tossed” to and fro and cried many tears as a result of his life’s struggles, but he knows that God has been fully aware of each and every trial. There is never a point at which God becomes unaware of the Christian’s trials. David recites the same question and answer time to himself about God’s power with him and adds that “God is for [him]”. He then is driven in the midst of his fearful situation to worship God. He worships God while the enemies footsteps grow louder, knowing that God is fully aware of His servant’s needs. Can you worship God while the clutches of financial ruin appear to be gripping about your neck? Will you trust God when the bank account isn’t enough for the tuition deposit? God is the One who has delivered David’s soul from falling and He did it all so that David would know Him. God acts to secure the needs of His people because He longs to give them grace and thus receive the glory. We Christians can say along with David, “This I know, that God is for me.” We can also say along with Paul, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”

Psalm 27

(Guest Post from Austin Wynn)

Psalm 27

Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.” Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
(Psa 27:1-14)

Here we see David beginning this psalm declaring who the Lord is to him. David chooses two interesting things to call the Lord. His light, meaning probably that the Lord brings light into his darkened life, and his salvation, meaning probably that the Lord has rescued David from both physical harm time and again and from spiritual harm. David’s declaring who God is for him brings him to question the fear that seems to be knocking ever so loudly at the door of his emotions. This could be reworded as: How can I be afraid of anything when the Lord is on my side? One more thing the Lord is for David: the stronghold of his life. Notice how he says, “the stronghold” There is no other stronghold in his life outside of the Lord. The Lord has proven to be David’s stronghold, so how much more ought He to be ours? One trusts a stronghold. When the enemy is drawing in and there seems to be nowhere to run, the wise general leads his men to the stronghold or fortress where they find safety and can seek a counter attack without fear. The Lord was that stronghold for David. He could always turn to the Lord no matter what trial he was facing. There is no other who can set our hearts at rest in peace while in the midst of the storms of life like our Lord God. David’s repeating of the question of who he has to fear further emphasizes he knowledge that no opponent is worthy of fear when the Lord is your stronghold. Looking at his enemies, David acknowledges that they come to destruction by the Lord’s hand instead of bringing him to destruction. David declares that though everything seem to be up against him in life, he has reason to rejoice. How can a man so liberated by the truth that God is the sovereign and loving Father over every detail of his life be moved to fear, worry, or doubt when life gets rough? David’s deep desire and request of the Lord is to gaze upon Him and seek His counsel. David’s heartbeat is to know more of God and to know God more. David is a man who is God-consumed. Every fiber of his being longs for more of God. He will not be content until he has more of God. A man so God-centered in his thinking is a man whom the Lord will most definitely use to further His kingdom. As God Himself once stated that David was a man after His own heart. David has one desire. Do you have one desire or are there things that take precedence in your life where they ought not? We must always seek to be a people who have one desire and one heartbeat. David’s fourfold declaration of God’s providential protection over his life begins with the word for and probably is the root of the previous desire to gaze upon the Lord’s beauty. When we know of the depths of grace that we have in God being for us, (most clearly seen in Christ) our one desire will become gazing upon the Lord in all His glory. David now moves from a desire to a decision and makes a vow to the Lord that He will sing, make melody, cry aloud, and offer shouts of joy to the Lord. Such open expression of praise to God is given by David with a yearning for God’s response of grace. David will give these things, but he desires communion with God in such praise sacrifices more than anything else. David is given the command from God to seek His face. This is a calling for communion with his Heavenly Father and David will not pass this chance up. He longs to seek the Father’s face and know Him more personally and God longs for His children to do this. When a man like David finds that his desires are in step with God’s desires for him, there is great hope for remarkable spiritual growth. David then looks to those who have forsaken him in the past and prays that God would be different than those. In the very prayer that God not forsake him, David swoops in with the promise that God will take him in. There ought never be a prayer a Christian prays in which he does not remind himself of who God is. It is as though David were praying for God to simply be who He already was and reminded himself that God will always be God. David then seeks education from the Lord. Education in experience and the study of His Word. Once again David is seen praying for God’s deliverance and then promising that God will surely bring about this deliverance. Reassuring of the soul one could call it. David reassures his soul of the great truths of God’s Word so as to inform his prayer life. Gazing upon the beauty of the Lord is David’s desire at the end of this psalm as well. In order to one day get more of God as David so desires, he must be patient and wait for the Lord with a heart well-informed of God’s Word. David’s encouraging must indeed have been to himself. David is seen here preaching to himself once more that he ought to wait for the Lord with courage. Though the salvation is promised, it will be hard to live on a promise when the circumstances seem to bring doubt that the promise will be kept. David, however, will not let himself move to doubt God’s promises, but will all the more seek to submit his soul along with all its emotions to the truth that God is faithful.

Psalm 88

(Guest Post from Austin Wynn)

Psalm 88

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength, like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you. Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. O LORD, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me? Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. Your wrath has swept over me; your dreadful assaults destroy me. They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together. You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.
(Psa 88:1-18)

First focus of the psalm is the Lord. First attribute about the Lord that is brought to mind is His saving power. The psalmist has learned that God is a God who saves simply from experience. He has seen the Lord save him out of all his distresses and so it is only right to describe Him as the God of his salvation. This must be a particular case whereby the psalmist needed the saving hand of God to intervene in his life. It ought to be the practice of every Christian to call upon the Lord when they are encountering trials and tribulations and even more accurate would be to acknowledge the Lord as the true hope for your soul as that particular request is lifted. One who is experiencing sinful habits can call on the Lord saying, “Oh Lord, perfect, sinless, and just God”. One who is enduring a time of suffering can call on the Lord saying, “Oh Lord, God who hears the cry of your servant’s heart”. One experiencing a time of great rejoicing can call on the Lord saying, “Oh Lord, Giver of all good things”. Christians must learn to live all of life and pray every prayer in light of God’s presence in it. The psalmist cries out more than just once. There is a pattern of prayer that he intentionally develops because his prayer is urgent and the Lord is listening. The psalmist does not give up when no sign of the prayer being answered is given. He makes it his custom to pour out his requests all the time so as to be in close communion with the Father about his every need always. The psalmist fully expresses his desire to the Lord to be heard by Him. The psalmist does not seek the Lord’s face this fervently because the Lord is busy doing other things and needs to be aroused to his aide, but rather he seeks the Lord constantly because He knows the Lord loves when His servant lifts an empty hand and shows desperate dependence. The dependence of God’s people upon Him greatly exalts His all-sufficiency. The psalmist holds nothing back from the Lord, but instead thoroughly describes his need for God’s saving power. The next step in the psalmist’s prayer is quite informative of his theology. He declares that all the distresses in his life are ultimately from the hand of the very God to whom he seeks refuge. The rest of the psalm is one that many Christians do not recall reading because they do not see it fitting into their theology. The psalmist is not about painting the faith-filled life out to be some bed of roses, but is very clear in his expression of God’s action in his life. Notice that the psalmist is in no way blaming God or accusing God, but he is rather, like a child who understands their father knows what he is doing, expressing his trust in the Lord’s guidance by praying. The psalmist does not end joyfully because life usually does not seem to get better. The psalmist leaves the ending off because this is meant to be a prayer to be prayed to God in the midst of great trial in life and one in which the Lord will come to the aide of each of us on that Day. This is a prayer that sums up the life of a Christian on the earth….we must pour our hearts out before the Lord who will save us from every persecution we endure for the glory of His name.

Psalm 20

(Guest Post from Austin Wynn)

Psalm 20

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans! May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions! Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. O LORD, save the king! May he answer us when we call.
(Psa 20:1-9)

In this psalm, David is giving his best wishes to those who would be seeking the Lord in prayer and desiring to see Him work in some particular way for His glory. David acknowledges that he is not the only servant of the Lord who is pouring his heart out like water before the Lord. He speaks as though he knows many others know the joy of seeking help from the God of Jacob and wants to encourage them in their petitions. In a way, David spurring them on to trust in God for the answer to their prayers and is thus giving them incentive to pray more often. David, the great man of prayer, is giving his readers the benefits of seeking the Lord’s face in prayer in all situations and circumstances. The first seven statements and the last statement David gives are all expressing the desire of David’s heart for the Lord to come to the aide of the reader’s prayers. David has had the Lord come to his aide in each of these eight ways so many times that he finds it important to encourage the reader with God’s possible working with their prayer. The last few statements he makes to the reader are truths and assertions about the Lord when His people pray to Him. These are: He saves His anointed, He will answer His anointed from heaven with his mighty saving hand, and we will rise and stand upright though our enemies will fall. Here David shows the reader that God’s children are His anointed and therefore are those who are set apart in His heart. The Lord loves the prayers of His people for they are special to His heart and therefore He comes to their aide when they call on Him for help. There is not a prayer lifted by a troubled saint that the Lord does not delight to answer with saving help, but not all prayers will be answered in the same way. The Lord will surely help His children when they pray, but it may not be the way His children think He will. He may help a suffering saint by taking their life or by giving them a certain illness so that they may serve the Lord in it. All we know is, the Lord loves His people and will surely help them when they call upon Him. David then looks to others who do not know the Lord but who seek help from man. While believers put their trust in the sovereign, omnipotent God, others put their trust in weak, frail, shifting man. One thing is sure here; those who put their trust in man will be disappointed. When hope is built on shifting sand, it will soon be destroyed. David paints a picture of the godly man who seeks the Lord for help next to the ungodly man who trusts in flesh side by side. The godly man is rising and standing upright like a firmly rooted tree, while the ungodly man is collapsing and falling like a termite-infected house. Though it may not always appear visible on the outside that the godly man’s hope in God is more secure than the ungodly, the last day will prove that the Lord alone is the faithful God. As believers, this should challenge us to seek only the Lord and to seek always the Lord. As Paul says, we must pray without ceasing and pray in everything. Prayer here is the way in which the Lord can show His mighty power to save His anointed. If His people do not pray, how can He be expected to show His mighty power on their behalf? If we long to seek His glory, what better way them by seeking Him in prayer so that He may show Himself glorious? If the practice of prayer is ceased in a believer’s life, then that person is not seeking the Lord to be glorified in their life.

Psalm 51

(Guest Post from Austin Wynn)

Psalm 51

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
(Psa 51:1-19)

Psalm 51 is the classic psalm of contrition and repentance. David, in 2 Sam. 11, commits adultery with Bathsheba, then plots to hide it by having her husband Urriah come sleep with her, then orders that Urriah is murdered in battle in a way so as to hide this as well. The Lord has seen all his deception and wickedness and sends Nathan the prophet to rebuke David and call him to repentance. Psalm 51 is David’s prayer after having been confronted by the Lord about his sin. The first sentence displays David’s deep brokenness over his sinful actions. When one is confronted with their sin, they need only to plead His mercy by His steadfast love. The only ground David has of being forgiven by God is the unshakable record of steadfast love the Lord has displayed. David here, does not plead mercy from another but directly from the Lord. His first cry is to his God whom he has offended, not to the woman he has just dishonored. There is no other who is truly offended as much as God here, so David rightfully acknowledges that God’s forgiveness of His sin is the very forgiveness he needs. David desires that his sin not only be forgiven by God, but that it also be forgotten by Him. God has the ability to wipe away the memory of such sin in our lives because of His awesome majesty, whereas we are left with remembering how much it affected us. Sin is described in a few different terms in this psalm: transgression, iniquity, sin, evil, and blood guiltiness. Transgression is a word describing the revolt or rebellion against the holy law of God that every person commits. Iniquity speaks of the perversity that goes on when someone indulges in that which is not pleasing to God. The word sin is used when speaking of an offense committed against the holy God of heaven. Just as it is not enough to use the term “love” for ice cream, dogs, and your spouse, so it is also not enough to use the word sin for the deep, multifaceted levels of betrayal against the sovereign God of heaven. David sees the sin first as his own. We learn hear from the great man after God’s own heart that accountability to our own sin is a must when seeking forgiveness from God. There is to be no blame game with the God of heaven, for He knows the secrets and intentions of our hearts. Only blatant confession and brokenness will do. David was unwilling to confess this sin to the Lord until his friend Nathan brought it out in the open. David was too busy plotting and hiding and sneaking around to slide his sin under the rug out of God’s sight to desire to let the holy light of God’s law shine in his darkened situation. Until we acknowledge that God sees all the intents of our hearts, we cannot expect to be forgiven and our foolish, sinful hearts will lead us to believe that we can hide our sin. Only when one is open before the Lord can true revival begin and sometimes we need close brothers and friends to help us see sins we may not. The practice of self-examination, which Jonathon Edwards so clearly described, must be a practice of every Christian on a regular basis. David acknowledges that his sin is first and foremost a sin against God before it is against people. When we do something that is offends another person, we offend the great Lawgiver and life-giver primarily. David obviously does not mean that his sin did not affect anyone else, but he uses the phrase, “against You only have I sinned” to show that God is the one he has offended the most. As David did, we must call a spade a spade. He openly confessed that he had done what was evil in God’s sight. God sees evil with a lens we cannot. God is supremely righteous and just and evil to Him is not as easily noticeable as it is to us humans born into sin and who have only known sin every day of our lives. For a Being outside of sin to even exist is awesome in itself, for every fiber of our existence has always been sin-soaked from the beginning and there is nothing about man that has not been tainted by sin. In David’s guilty mindset, he is only concerned with the Lord being just in his judging. There comes a point when a man no longer desires to be right, but desires to allow the Lord to have His just sentencing against the man. A man who openly confesses and calls the Lord to search him out is a man who knows the Lord can change him. When David speaks of being “brought forth in iniquity”, it is clear that he is referencing original sin. Each baby that comes crying from its mother’s womb is a rebel to the ways of God and does not know God until conversion has occurred and the old heart is replaced by the new one. David longs for God to not only justly sentence him, but also to forgive and cleanse him from all sin. David hates the man he has been and longs to be a new man. All believers long to be rid of their sin and to be more deeply filled with the Savior. David not only pleads for his sin debt to be removed in several ways: purge me, wash me, let me hear joy, hide Your face, blot out….but he also prays that God will give him a new heart that longs to obey and please Him. The essence of the new birth is seen here when David asks God to create within him a clean heart. At this point, David is already a man after God’s own heart, but his plea echoes that gracious moving of the Holy Spirit that first brought him to new life. He is calling on God to give him new life and a life that clings to the ways of God. A new heart that loves God will change everything about his way of living. Until we all have new hearts, as Ezekiel speaks of, we will never walk in the ways of God’s Law. David once again acknowledges, as the prodigal son did in Jesus’ parable, that his sin rightfully deserves God’s just punishment and he calls on God to withhold such sentencing. This sentencing was ultimately not withheld, but simply averted to the sinless Son of God on Good Friday. A joyful restoration of the Spirit’s work in his heart must take place in David’s heart for him to escape his guilt and shame over recent sins. When a person confesses there sin, there ought not to be any emotion of gaiety or joy, but simply brokenness and a godly fear. The end response of David being reconciled by God is that he will carry on the ministry of reconciliation with the lost around him. Those who have been forgiven much, will love much and that love will play out in obedient service. David then acknowledges something everyone must acknowledge when he says that God does not delight in sacrifice, but rather in broken-hearted confession and reverent submission to His will. All that God cares about is whether His people, who are called by His Name, will humble themselves and return to Him. David states rightly that God will not despise such true repentance and Jesus Himself states this when He says He will in no wise cast out those who come to Him. There is no individual who can come to the Lord without receiving His abundant mercy and grace. All who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved! Once the Spirit of God has indwelt this broken-hearted and repentance sinner, the Lord will actually be pleased with any offerings they bring in the future. God loves the praises and obedience of His people, but despises and shuns the false obedience of those who would do holy activities without themselves knowing Him.

Christian, You are a Thinker, so Think Well!

2 Tim. 2:7 says, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you insight in all.”

Paul calls Timothy to be an active thinker, and gives him hope in his thinking, by saying God will be an active giver of insight. In a time when the Christian community is set against most things cerebral or intellectual, we need to hear Paul’s word to Timothy here.  I think people do not like thinking about “thinking” is because they feel it is egotistical, arrogant, or unspiritual to think deeply about God and His Word.

Many people feel that thinking would take faith out of a heart centered child-likeness by bringing it into the realm of the mind.  But we should remember, our faith should be child-like, not child-ish.  It is child-ish to think that “thinking” is taking faith out of the heart and into the mind.  It is mature (and child-like) to think that “thinking” should involve both the heart and the mind.  After all, is not God in the business of “renewing the mind” (Romans 12:2)?  There is a danger in becoming those who worship “thinking” more than God, or those who admire ourselves as being “thinkers” more than admiring God; but just because this possiblity exists does not mean that we ought to stay away from “thinking”.  In fact, no one can stay away from it.  Even in “thinking” on these things, do you not see that “thinking” is a necessary for it?  Even when people make objections against “thinking”, they think!  No matter what, you cannot escape thinking!  Therefore, because all people think, Christians ought to be those who “think” well, and those who “think” to the glory of God.

How do we do this?  Listen to the Bible further on this:

“Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.” (1 Cor. 14:20)

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, cutting straight the Word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15)

“Come let us reason together.” (Isaiah 1:18)

“Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments.” (Psalm 119:66)

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your MIND, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)

Therefore, do not be Christians who settle for fit bodies and fat minds, exercise your “thinking” and “think” well to the glory of God.

The Humility To Read

“I am one person in one place at one time.  My experiences and perceptions are limited and colored by the environment in which I live.  Therefore, it would be profoundly arrogant of me to think that I can best grow in the knowledge of God through Scripture by myself.  Certainly the Holy Spirit is graciously given to all God’s children to enable us to comprehend and be conformed to the truths of the Bible.  Nevertheless, one of the primary means of grace God uses in the process of our transformation is the universal-historical community of believers.  Within that community, God graciously provides leaders of few and leaders of many to equip the saints for the work of ministry.  It is a humbling thing for me to read a book.  Most books take at least several hours of combined time to process, and I have to forsake other distractions in order to focus and benefit from what I am reading.  Most of all, I can’t talk back.  I am forced to just listen, patiently follow and receive, to think another man’s thoughts after him.  One of the new desires placed into the heart of every believer is the desire to think God’s
thoughts after him. Let’s pursue humility by receiving the thoughts of those who have led us and spoken the word of God to us in the most enduring of all earthly mediums: the book.”

This came from Monergism’s  Reader’s Guide for the Christian Life.  I encourage you to read the whole thing, it is great!

Be Glad that They Are

Romans 1:19-20 says, “…that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

This past weekend, I was in Ohio visiting my Mother.  On the road trip up there, I drove through my favorite section of I-75, Northern Tennessee and Southern Kentucky.  Perhaps you know this section as well.  This section is my favorite because it has some of the most glorious views of God’s creation that the South has to offer.  Every time I see it, it makes me wonder in awe of God’s power and handiwork.  This reminded me of how powerful we can see and feel God through creation, so I think it would do us good to reflect on seeing God in nature.  To do this, we turn to a man named Clyde Kilby.  He has given 11 resolutions to stay alive to the beauty of God’s world.  I think this will be very useful to you, especially the next time you find yourself stunned because of a glorious scene in nature. (I especially like number 6!)

1) At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above me and about me.

2) Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death, when he said: “There is darkness without and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendour, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.”

3) I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4) I shall not turn my life into a thin straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5) I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6) I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what C.S. Lewis calls their “divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic” existence.

7) I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the “child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder.”

8) I shall follow Darwin’s advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9) I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, “fulfill the moment as the moment.” I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is just now.

10) If for nothing more than the sake of a change of view, I shall assume my ancestry to be from the heavens rather than from the caves.

11) Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life in the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls Himself Alpha and Omega.

Enjoying God,
Adam

Refusing God in Word & Deed

2 Timothy 2:12b says, “If we will refuse Him, He also will refuse us.”

This is a conditional statement.  Conditional statements automatically assume  that one of two things will happen.  In this case, either God will refuse us, or God will not refuse but embrace us.  Paul tell us these two options are based on whether or not we refuse Him.  We can refuse God in two ways: in word and in deed.

IN WORD: Although some people do, not many people go around refusing God in their language, actually saying something like “I refuse you God!”  I think it is true to say that more people fit into Peter’s category of verbal denial; where they for fear of embarrassment, persecution, etc., verbally deny knowing Jesus.  Those that do such verbal refusing desire to be in happy company with the world more than desiring to be in happy company with Jesus.  Perhaps by loving the applause of men they do not speak, but hold their tongue, or take part in sin with others for fear of not fitting in with the world.  When it comes down to it, your words can refuse God.  Are they?

IN DEED: Refusing God and His Christ is not only limited to the actions or silence of the tongue, it can flow from our deeds or actions as well.  1 Tim. 5:8 says that we deny the faith by not taking care of our families.  2 Pet. 2:1 says that we deny the faith by teaching and taking part in destructive heresies.  Titus 1:16 says that we deny the faith when we are disobedient to His commands.  Each of these show us that deeds have consequences, either good ones or bad ones.  If we refuse God by our actions, we will reap the bad ones, but if we do not refuse God in our actions, we will reap the good ones.  This teaches us that refusing or denying God is bigger than just what we say, we can refuse God by the ways in which we live.  Are you living in a way that would be considered refusing God or His Word?

This all comes down to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 10:33, “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” To comment on this, I’ll just let Matthew Henry speak:

It is our duty, honour, and happiness to confess Christ before men.  This may expose us to reproach and trouble now, but we shall be abundantly recompensed for that in the resurrection of the just.  Those who honour Christ, He will thus honour.  They honour Him before men; that is a small thing.  He will honour them before His Father; that is a great thing.

Where are you?

Are You Commiting Theological Treason?

I came to faith in Christ during my sophomore year at Valdosta State University.  Shortly thereafter I switched majors from Business Management to Religious Studies because I wanted to know  as much about the Bible as I could.  Little did I know what I was getting myself into.  One of my first classes was Old Testament and I was excited, until I began to skim through my textbooks and attend lectures.  I realized after my first class that I was not going to be taught what the Bible teaches, I was going to be taught why we cannot trust the Bible, and why it is not true.  Abraham Kuyper once said, “Biblical criticism has become Biblical vandalism.”  The strange thing about it was that the professors only treated Christianity this way.  Never did you hear a lecture on why the Koran is untrustworthy, or why Buddha never really existed, or why the Dalai Lama lies to people.  Only Jesus.  To put it mildly, I was crushed.  But I labored in those classes until graduation, fighting all the way through to do my best to show that we can trust the Bible and the God who wrote it.

Why do I tell you this?  Because I am concerned with the state of our universities.  I am even more concerned about the minds and hearts of the students sitting under these teachings.  How did this desire for Biblical undercutting come about?  Why has the academy turned against Jesus?  We can learn from history here.  Who were the biggest critics of Jesus in His own day?  The theologians and the clergy!  They were the ones who tried to undercut everything Jesus did and said, just as they still do today.  They committed theological treason in doing so.

But there is another kind of theological treason that we should be careful not to commit on the other side.  If we see those theologians committing theological treason and become convinced and calloused that all theology is bad, we commit theological treason as well.  ”To reject theology is to reject the knowledge of God, and that is not an option for the Christian.” (RC Sproul)  What do we do about this?  Pray for our universities, that God would show them the error of their ways and give them a true knowledge of God.  And pray for yourself, that God would give you and keep giving you a love and desire to know Him in truth (Psalm 111:2, 145:18).  That is, as His Word defines Him.

God’s Infinite Mercy Through His Infinite Wrath

Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

Isn’t it interesting that Paul speaks of God’s wrath so early in his letter to Rome?  I think that shows that God’s wrath has a primary role in Paul’s theology, and therefore it should have the same role in ours.

What is God’s wrath? The Infinite omnipotent anger of God. God intensely hates and responds with anger to all sin and rebellion. God hates every threat to what He loves. The best illustration I can think of to capture this in my mind is a to picture a huge tsunami coming violently towards the beach. That is full of wrath is it not? Very much so, but it is still finite. How much greater is the infinite, unending wrath of God? Wow.

God’s wrath is also shown in that God hates sin. Psalm 5:5 says, “God hates all who do iniquity.” Psalm 11:5 says, “God hates the one whose soul loves violence.” I came to faith in Christ when I was 20 years old. Therefore it is right for me to say that for the 20 years prior to my conversion God hated Adam Powers with His wrath. That is not an overstatement. God hated me because I lived in sin and loved violence in my heart. At any moment my foot could have slid and God could have taken me out, and it would have been just and right for Him to do so, because every time I sinned, I wanted to. Does God still hate me? No. I still sin now that I am a Christian, but God does not hate me because He chose to show me mercy. I now no longer come to God as Judge, but as Father. When I sin now, He is displeased. I will face the consequences of my sin and His Fatherly displeasure because of it. But we should notice that the aim of God’s discipline is to show love to His children, not wrath. (Hebrews 12)

I want to talk of two things here:
a) God’s wrath, the gospel, and mercy.
-Daniel Fuller said, “God delights far more in His mercy than in His wrath. So in order to show the priority of His mercy, He must place it against the backdrop of His wrath. How could God’s mercy appear fully as His great mercy unless it was extended to a people who were under His wrath and therefore could only ask for mercy? It would be impossible for them to share with God the delight He has in His mercy unless they saw clearly the awfulness of the almighty wrath from which His mercy delivers them.” This quote says that God delights in something. How often do we forget this? Our God is an infinitely happy God that delights in things! He loves and takes pleasure in things! And He loves when we delight in the same things He delights in. Just as a white garment is clearly seen against a black background, so too God’s mercy shines most brightly when it is displayed against the background of His wrath. How is this so? Think about the cross. God’s mercy was displayed most fully by being revealed in the most wrathful act of history! Have you ever thought that without wrath, no one would have mercy? Wrath placed Jesus on the cross. The cross brings us mercy. Infinite wrath brought us infinite mercy!  When we see this mercy, we delight in it. When we see the awe-filled wrath of God, we gain a greater awareness of what we have been saved from through God’s mercy. Out of all the ways that God could have displayed His mercy to the world, He chose to do it most fully, through displaying His wrath! Just as God brought us mercy through wrath, we would receive nothing but wrath from God if it wasn’t for the cross. Jesus absorbed the wrath of God that was aimed at us!

b) God’s wrath, and evangelism:
-This is a short point but it is necessary to touch on. Wrath not only leads us to see mercy in a great and God-centered way, it leads us to a bold evangelism. 2 Cor. 5:11 says, “Knowing the fear (or terror) of the Lord, we persuade men…” Do you see what a knowledge of the wrath and terror of God produces? A bold evangelism! When you know the wrath of God, you know what all men stand under if they do not repent of their sins and trust in Jesus. How could you claim to love anyone and not tell them of these things?! For Paul, a knowledge of the wrath of God led him to boldly proclaim the gospel to all men.

Does it do this for you?