Good, Evil and God

"Let us confess with the greatest benefit, what we believe with the greatest truth, that the God and Lord of all things who made all things very good --
both 
foreknew that evil was to arise out of good,
and 
knew that it belonged to  his most omnipotent goodness to bring good out of evil, rather than not permit evil to be, and so ordained the life of angels and men as to show in it --
first:
what free will could do, and
second:
what the benefit of his grace and his righteous judgment could do."
Augustine.

Scandal Monger

Proverbs 11:13  A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

The talebearer. Strong defines the Hebrew word râkı̂yl as “a scandal monger” and that, my friends, wins the definition of the day.

That is exactly was a talebearer is - a scandal monger. He is a purveyor of confidence, a seller of secrets, and dealer of confidence. And we like it, except when it is about us -- and then of course, it is awful, just awful. How dare he spread MY secrets. 

WARNING: the next tale the talebearer tells may bear your secret tale. 

Selah.

Prospects for the Future: M.D.Lloyd-Jones

A Queen and Two Kings

Here is a message I preached a couple weeks ago at the New Testament Baptist Church in Bristol, TN with Pastor Lewis Kiger. The message is when the Queen of Sheba went to meet one king, and he introduced her to a greater King.

You don't get Grace Gems?

If you are not getting the daily Grace Gems e-mail, then you are missing out on sound, Biblical daily devotions. They are always theologically deep and edifying. Click here to sign up.***

Here is a sample:

(J.C. Ryle, "HAPPINESS" 1878)
It is an utter mistake to suppose that PLEASURE-SEEKING and AMUSEMENTS alone can give happiness. Of all roads that men can take in order to be happy, this is the one that is most completely wrong! Of all weary, flat, dull and unprofitable ways of spending life--this exceeds all! To think of a sinful, dying creature, with an immortal soul, expecting happiness . . .
  in feasting and reveling,
  in dancing and singing,
  in dressing and visiting,
  in ball-going and card-playing,
  in races and fairs,
  in hunting and shooting,
  in crowds, in laughter, in noise, in music, in wine!
Surely it is a sight that is enough to make the devil laugh and the angels weep!Even a child will not play with its toys all day long! But when grown up men and women think to find happiness in a constant round of amusement--they sink far below a child! 

*** I'm not affiliated in any way with Grace Gems, but I highly recommend the daily devotions. This is a free service that doesn't shy away from the truth and continually blesses and encourages me.

The Best Form of Government

Here is an excerpt from The Golden Age: A treatise on the One Thousand Year Reign of Christ on Earth by A.W Pink and Luther C. Peak. From the Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street, everyone knows that there is a problem with government and everyone has a way to "fix" it - but the only way to fix it is to take care of the root of the problem that ruins all systems of government, and that is sin. When Christ comes to rule, his reign will bring peace and joy.

The form of Christ's [millennial] government with be theocratic, not democratic. (Zec 14:9)  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. Many have been the experiments of politicians and reformers for the establishing of a government that should be equitable, stable and pure; but all have been in vain. Ever since the Flood, 4,500 years ago, God has allowed man every opportunity to develop hi schemes, but ancient and modern, Oriental and Occidental, monarchies and republics all have served only to demonstrate that man is a colossal failure. The record of human government is tyranny and oppression, greed and discontentment, war and bloodshed. How all this serves to show the crying need for One who has all power and yet all compassion, One who is God and yet Man. Under the rule of Christ shall be solved every problem of capital and labor, wealth and poverty, war and peace.

Solomon, I have a question. What is the Purpose of Proverbs?

Reader - "Solomon, what is the purpose of Proverbs?"

Solomon - "Glad you asked! The purpose of the book of Proverbs is...

1. To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;   
2. To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;   
3. To give subtilty to the simple, 
4. to the young man knowledge and discretion.   
5. A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:  
6. To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.  
7. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

(Pro 1:1-7)

Proverbs takes us to Christ. No one can live up to the book of Proverbs, not even Solomon. No one, but Christ Jesus, the greater than Solomon, who the world will not heed. 

The Power and Influence of the Holy Spirit

A.W. Pink in his book The Holy Spirit said

“The greatest lack of all Christendom today is the absence of the Holy Spirit’s power and blessing. Review the activities of the past 30 years. Millions of dollars have been freely devoted to the support of professed Christian enterprises. Bible institutes and schools have turned out “Trained workers” by the thousands. Bible conferences have sprung up on every side like mushrooms. Countless booklets and tracts have been printed and circulated. Time and labors have been given by an almost incalculable number of “personal workers.”  And with what results? Has the standard of personal piety advanced? Are the churches less worldly? Are their members more Christ-like in their daily walk? Is there more godliness in the home? Are the children more obedient and respectful? Is the Sabbath day being increasingly sanctified and kept holy? Has the standard of honest in business been raised?

Isn’t this the case? Assemblies grow in size and wealth but have no power – no influence. Even among the Lord’s churches:

·         an apathy towards truth,

·         a coldness towards service

·         an indifference towards of godly living

·         an scoffing of separation until there is no difference between us and the world, let alone churches of Christ and worldly churches 

On one side of the road is the ditch of Pentecostalism that wrongly attributes the works of Satan and the works of their own fleshly desires to the Holy Spirit.

On the other side of the road is the ditch of intellectualism that makes Christianity nothing more than a topic  of discussion and logic exercises. 

The Holy Spirit is not merely a force, or a power, or an influence. He is a person. He is God. He is a "He" not an it. He is God, and without His power or influence, all of our feeble efforts are worthless. 

 Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. (Zech. 4:6)

Paul and the heart of a pastor

On Paul's pastoral heart in Acts 20:17-38 from the chapter The Focus of Paul's Ministry

"Here is a man sacrificial in love, selfless in service, earnest in labor, honest in dealing, conscientious in duty, sober in warning, fierce in defense, faithful in prayer, fixed upon Jesus, pouring himself out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of the faith of the church."  - A Portrait of Paul Ventura & Walker

The Church Needs MEN

BH Carroll was right on when he described the need of the Lord's men to act like men. Baptist churches need men to act like men. We need "creek swimming, brier cutting men" today. Men who will stand up and fulfill their roles God has called them to, namely to act like men. In I Corinthians 16:13 it says "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." God has challenged us, to BE A MAN. Carroll says:

"It is the creek-swimming men that shake the world—the brier-cutting men who will not allow obstacles to keep them from doing what God wants them to do.
Let a congregation get the idea of their pastor that he is pink of perfection, can beat anybody in town tying a cravat [neck tie], and wears the nicest little shoes, knows how to fasten a nose-gay in his vest, and how to enter a room and entertain company; carries an umbrella so as not to burn his delicate skin, then what will be his power to awaken and save the lost? An umbrella is all right in its place, but what I want to impress is this—that a stalwart man, a real man, will accomplish more of the great things in the work than all of these little fellows. He will not stop to consider a thousand things that absorb the mind of the trivial man, but will go right straightforward to the accomplishment of his great purpose. I have heard these dainty essayists preach. I have gone to their churches hungry and tried to -get something—and failed.
It reminds me of the story of a preacher who tells this of himself: During the civil war he went to a house to get some supper. Army rations were poor, and he was very hungry. They had just a little butter and they all wanted to make it go as far as possible, so each one tried to hurry through in order to get another chance at the butter before it disappeared. He said that he could not get rid of the butter in his plate. He even tried to sop it up with his bread, but it did not have any taste to it. At last he looked up and saw through knot-hole in the roof over his head that the moon was shining down through into his plate, and that all the time he had been sopping moonshine.”

Thankful for the Dentist

Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

I don't like going to the dentist, but I'm thankful for them. Friday morning I had to go to an oral surgeon and have two impacted wisdom teeth removed. Today, my face is swollen to the point I look like a greedy chipmunk, but I am thankful. I'm thankful for the skill of the dentist. I'm thankful that he was able to use medicine to put me to sleep during the procedure. I'm thankful for the medicine that is used to protect from infection. I'm thankful that the removal of these problem teeth. I'm thankful that the worst part thus far is the swelling. I live in a country and in a time where I can have this procedure done. 100 years ago, I would have put up with the pain. In another country today, I would have had to put up with the pain. God is so good.

It's not about you

"People are brought to faith in Jesus Christ not because a preacher happens to be exceptionally dynamic one Sunday morning, or because he finishes his sermon with a spell-binding story. Rather, in a mysterious works that is both sovereign in expression and divine in origin, the power of God unites with the proclamation of the word of God and produces effects that are in keeping with the purposes of God."

Spirit Empowered Preaching by Art Azurdia

Happy in God's Word

Happy is the man who doesn't walk with the worldly. Who shuns the conventional wisdom of the ungodly. He will not be in the majority and he will not be popular - but he will be happy.

Happy is the man who is happy in the Word of God.

Want to be sound? 
Want to be fruitful? 
What to prosper spiritually? 
Get in the Word of God and meditate on it day and night.

Psalm 1:1-2  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Family Man

Sweet song by Andrew Peterson.

Which way do I go? To fight or not to fight

Pro 26:4-5  Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

Which way do I go? How do I given an answer when I'm challenged or when I'm question? It isn't an easy question to answer and when you are standing at the proverbial fork, this passage might not seem to help much because sometimes the road to the left is good, and sometimes the same road is bad. Sometimes you need to answer and sometimes you don't. It would be much easier if we only had verse 4 or 5, we could be NASCAR drivers and always turn left. We get to the fork and the our directions say "it is necessary that you turn right - but sometimes you have to turn left."

What's the point then? You have to stop and think.* You have to consider the consequences of your words. You have to determine what kind of "fool" you are dealing with and where your answer will lead you and if your answer will help or hurt. You have to consider the wisdom in answering at all because once you answer, you have chosen your path. 

Just because you CAN win a fight doesn't mean that you should. Sometimes it is better to let someone wallow in their own foolishness. On the other hand, sometimes you can best glorify Jesus Christ by rebuking error. Often you can best show love to your neighbor by knocking the chair of conceit out from underneath him. 

This doesn't bode well for social media because internet fights are often like wildfires. They burn hot and they burn quick, but the damage lasts for a long time.

So, stop and think. Look down both paths. Pray and study God's Word and take the route that best glorifies Jesus Christ, even if that means you don't get to win. 

*Sometimes you don't have this luxury to spend hours in contemplation. Some situations require immediate decisions. Even so, we cannot be thoughtless in our response and must trust in God's grace and His good providence. 

Envy's Choice

Amiable Arminian Adam Clarke tells an apocryphal Jewish fable about Envy's choice.

There were two persons, one covetous and the other envious, to whom a certain person promised to grant whatever they should ask; but double to him who should ask last. The covetous man would not ask first, because he wished to get the double portion, and the envious man would not make the first request because he could not bear the thoughts of thus benefiting his neighbor. However, at last he requested that one of his eyes should be taken out, in order that his neighbor might lose both.

Particular Redemption

If the purpose of the cross was to save from sins, redeem from wrath, to deliver from the curse of the law and the guilt of the law to reconcile us to God, giving eternal life - then Christ only died for those unworthy souls that are saved, redeemed, delivered from the curse and guilt of the law and those that are reconciled. Since all are not saved and delivered and since all sinners will not be saved and delivered, then they could not have been the object of Christ’s work.

Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Did He or didn't He?


Before there was an angel, earth or sky, God chose, unto Himself a particular people, not according to their works, but according to His mercy. Those people were sinners, aliens and guilty in their sins. Christ, God the Son, loving those people came and offered Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice in the place of those beloved of God.

Jesus, while on the cross, made a full sacrifice for the sins of His people, paying for sin, satisfying God’s justice, paying the eternal debt due those elect. The end of that sacrifice was the people Christ came for, have eternal life and the forgiveness of sins. All that Christ redeemed shall be saved because of taht redemptive work.

Did He accomplish what He set out to do or didn't He?

If that was the aim of the Lord Jesus Christ in coming to Earth, did He accomplish what He set out to do?

Selah.

Ye must be born again

From Peter Van Mastricht's book A Treatise on Regeneration:

Without [regeneration] he can neither see the kingdom of God -- this is, mentally, since he is blind, and perceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them ,because they are spiritually discerned (I Corinthians 2:14) --nor, if he could see, could he enter in to the kingdom of God, since he is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (Romans 8:7. Of himself he is not sufficient to think anything spiritually good (II Corinthians 3:5), and therefore stands in absolute need of illumination by regeneration in order to see the kingdom of heaven and of a renovation of his will, in order to be willing to enter into it.

Mitt Romney is Not a Christian

Be careful.

The interesting thing about Christians who try and sit at the table with the political right -- when the political right no longer needs the Christian, the Christian will be the first to be eaten.

Over the last year, I have heard several of the talk radio types give some warnings about social issues: forget about them. Forget marriage, abortion -- we need to focus on getting republicans elected, to make sure taxes stay low.

We don't live in a theocracy and I am not going to hold my breathe and wait on a Baptist to win the presidency. Elections have consequences and the majority get to set the agenda.

Having said all that....in comes Mitt Romney and this is were the trouble is going to start, in my opinion.

Mitt Romney is a Mormon who is trying to pass himself off as a Christian. Mormon's are not Christians. Mormons have different gods, a different Jesus and different theology than Christians have. Conservative leaders have already begun to make their veiled threats against anyone who questions Romney's Christianity.

I'm not proposing that there is a standard of theology to run for president. But I am not going to support someone who lies about what they believe either. Christians cannot hide the fact that Romney claims to be a Christian when he is not. We MUST expose that. Not because of political purposes, but because of the gospel. On a national stage, there will be a leader corrupting the gospel, with thousands of talking heads confirming this damnable heresy for the sake of political power. We are being warned to keep our mouths shut about Romney's religion.

We can't stay quiet about this, and that is why the political right will turn on Christians in a heart beat if we don't "fall in line" when Romney gets the nomination. I cannot keep my mouth shut and put a pretty face on a damnable evil.

It will be interesting to see the fall out if he does get the nomination. Christians need to pray and be prepared to give an answer, because Mormonism is coming to the national stage in the clothes of Christianity.

How Deep the Father's Love

I have been particularly blessed by this song over the past week.

"Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom"

Spurgeon on "Salvation is of the Lord"

C.H. Spurgeon

"Salvation is of the Lord." That is just an essence of Calvinism; it is the sum and substance of it. If anyone should ask me what I mean by a Calvinist, I should reply, "He is one who says, Salvation is of the Lord." I cannot find in Scripture any other doctrine than this. It is the essence of the Bible. "He only is my rock and my salvation." Tell me anything contrary to this truth, and it will be a heresy; tell me a heresy, and I shall find its essence here, that it has departed from this great, this fundamental, this rock-truth, "God is my rock and my salvation."

What is the heresy of Rome, but the addition of something to the perfect merits of Jesus Christ—the bringing in of the works of the flesh, to assist in our justification? And what is the heresy of Arminianism but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touchstone, will discover itself here.

I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a gospel I abhor.”

Speak with conviction, you know?

HT:Challies.

Able to Read the Word of God

"No event in any nation's history can be more momentous and far-reaching than giving to them of the Word of God in their mother tongue and allowing it to be an open book at every fireside, with no page or promise or precept darkened by the proscriptive shadow of priest or state."

BH Carroll

Are We Christians?

Amos 6:1

What do we say to . . .
our self-indulgence,
our sloth,
our love of ease,
our avoidance of hardship,
our luxury,
our pampering of the body,
our costly feasts,
our silken couches,
our brilliant furniture,
our gay attire,
our braided hair,
our jeweled fingers,
our idle mirth,
our voluptuous music,
our jovial tables, loaded with every variety of rich viands?

Are we Christians? Or are we worldlings? Where is the self-denial of the New Testament days?

Where is the separation from a self-pleasing luxurious
world? Where is the cross, the true badge of discipleship,
to be seen–except in useless religious ornaments for the
body, or worse than useless decorations for the sanctuary?

“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!” Is not this
the description of multitudes who name the name of
Christ? They may not always be “living in debauchery,
lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable
idolatry.” But even where these are absent, there is
‘high living’–luxury of the table or the wardrobe–
in conformity to ‘this present evil world.’

‘At ease in Zion!’ Yes! there is the shrinking . . .
from hard service;
from ‘spending and being spent;’
from toil and burden-bearing and conflict;
from self-sacrifice and noble adventure,
for the Master’s sake.

There is conformity to the world, instead of conformity
to Christ! There is a laying down, instead of a taking up
of the cross. Or there is a lining of the cross with velvet,
lest it should gall our shoulders as we carry it! Or there
is an adorning of the cross, that it may suite the taste
and the manners of our refined and intellectual age.

Anything but the bare, rugged and simple cross!

We think that we can make the strait gate wider, and
the narrow way broader, so as to be able to walk more
comfortably to the heavenly kingdom. We try to prove
that ‘modern enlightenment’ has so elevated the race,
that there is no longer the battle or the burden or the
discipline; or has so refined ‘the world and its pleasures’,
that we may safely drink the poisoned cup, and give
ourselves up to the inebriation of the Siren song.

‘At ease in Zion!’ Even when the walls of our city are
besieged, and the citadel is being stormed! Instead of
grasping our weapons, we lie down upon our couches!

Instead of the armor, we put on the silken robe!

We are cowards, when we should be brave!
We are faint-hearted, when we should be bold!
We are lukewarm, when we should be fervent!
We are cold, when we should be full of zeal!

We compromise and shuffle and apologize, when
we should lift up our voice like a trumpet! We pare
down truth, or palliate error, or extenuate sin–in
order to placate the world, or suit the spirit of the
age, or ‘unify’ the Church.

Learn self-denying Christianity. Not the form or name,
but the living thing. Let us renounce the lazy, luxurious,
self-pleasing, fashionable religion of the present day!

A self-indulgent religion has nothing in common with
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ; or with that cross of
ours which He has commanded us to take up and carry
after Him–renouncing ease and denying self.

Our time,
our gifts,
our money,
our strength,
are all to be laid upon the altar.


My thanks to witherblog.com. I googled the sermon title and found the transcript there.

He knows our frame

An excerpt from John MacDuff's excellent devotional on suffering-“A Bow in the Clouds”:

“There are many sensitive fibers in the soul, which the best and most tender human sympathy cannot touch. But the Prince of Sufferers, He who led the way in the path of sorrow, "knows our frame." When crushing bereavement lies like ice on the heart, when the dearest earthly friend cannot enter into the peculiarities of our grief-Jesus can, Jesus does! He who once bore my sins--also carried my sorrows. That eye, now on the throne, was once dim with weeping! I can think in all my afflictions-"He was afflicted;" in all my tears--"Jesus wept."

The Next Story By Tim Challies

“Do you own your technology or does it own you?"

Tim Challies book, The Next Story: Life and Faith after the digital explosion takes an in-depth look at how are lives are being affected by the changes in our digital technology--from a Christian perspective.

Our world is different than it was 50 years ago because of how our technology has changed. My great-grandfather told of how their evenings were spent in the kitchen playing music. My grandfather purchased the first color TV in his family. My Dad told of Saturday Night Movies on television – the only place to catch movies you didn’t see at the theatre. I recall going to the movie rental store for the first time after we had purchased a VCR (after a long deliberation, we decided NOT to go with Beta). Now, my kids are growing up in the streaming video world – countless choices on demand, instantly.

The Next Story takes a step back from the technology and considers what it is we are doing to ourselves, our minds bodies and souls with the plethora of technology that “controls” our lives. Technology has changed our lives – but not for the better in every case. I grew up in a house without an air conditioner for a time. It was much better to be outside in the evening instead of sitting on the couch because it was much cooler outside and more desirable to be outside. Today, with the A/C, technology has enabled your house to be as hot or cold as you want it. I have a friend who lives up North, and he said the winters up there don't bother him at all, because it is 72 degrees inside his house, no matter how much snow is outside. That one advance in technology is a blessing, but it has changed the way we live. The world is changing so fast and we can easily be caught up in the changes, without carfully considering the consequences of our actions.

Challies main thrust throughout the book is that we should not abandon technology, but we should not blindly accept all that it sells us. Every product, every advance in technology is selling us something and will in some way affect us for better or worse. The latest and greatest will not give us joy, peace, security, happiness and often times it steal it away.

This is a good book, especially for parents or teenagers who are immersed in the digital world. Facebook, Twitter and the other social media sites can be a great danger to young people. Challies demonstrates how technology can hurt our relationships rather than help them. Whether by text, e-mail or instant messaging, relationships can suffer because of a lack of intimacy. Websites give you the ability to create your online persona were the weak can act strong, the shy can be bold, the lonely can be popular. But that is not who we are, that is who we are when we sit in front of the screen.

Challies brings about a great point about information and that it is not necessarily a blessing. The ability to get your phone out and google the answer to a trivia question does not equate to having wisdom. Much of the news that is covered on 24 hours news stations relates information and news that either will not impact me at all, or if it does, there is little I can do about it. I had to stop and think about all the news sites I read, and wondered how the information I was reading on these sites impacted me. I realized that much of what I was reading and listening to was just information that could not help me in any way, nor did it really inform me of things that I didn't already know or tell me anything I could either do anything about or affect me other than irritating me.

My favorite chapter to read was chapter 3 A Digital History. Challies is a skilled story teller and I found myself in this chapter drawn into the story of our digital landscape. As I finished the chapter, I felt it was too short – in my opinion, he was be a great biographer.

And it isn’t a review if I don’t say something negative, right? ENDNOTES – NOOOO!!!! I am thankful that the endnotes were almost exclusively (with one exception) giving the name of the book or article.

The “creation mandate” bothered me. I worked as a sheet metal worker in a factory for a while, and I would take a flat sheet of metal approximately 5 foot by 8 foot and when we would get finished with it, it would be a kitchen appliance. But all along the walls of our shop were tools, screws, welders, rivets and a number of other tools and parts. We didn’t “create” anything, we made something. Only God can create. Also, even if we COULD create something,where is the COMMAND to create? If God commands men to create we are sinning if we do not. How much and how often must we create? What did Abraham create? What did Paul create?

The last point, and this is just a minor point, but the book wore me out on the recapping. In a sermon it is a mark of great preaching and communicating to tell where you are going in your message, tell the message, then recap where you have been. But with a book in my hand, I can turn the pages back and read again if I need to, I don’t need to read the same thing three times in one chapter.

I enjoyed this book, and it was a blessing to me and I recommend it to you. After reading it, I evaluated my use of technology and I trimmed down my usage of some of the technology that, unbeknownst to me, had enslaved me. Truthfully, not only do I not miss it, but am happier with it gone.

The World's Only Hope

Martyn Lloyd-Jones from Courageous Christianity: Studies in the book of Acts; volume II.

The times in which you and I are living are too desperate for any of us to indulge in some historical or antiquarian interest. We are looking at [Acts 4:1-10] because unfortunately the attitude we see here is still true of so many men and women today As I am trying to show, this attitude is the supreme tragedy of the world. Our world is a world in trouble, a world in confusion, a world toying with forces and powers that could put an end to civilization as we know it. But to such a world there still comes the message of the Christian Gospel. It is the only hope for that world, and yet the world is rejecting it.

These sermons were originally preached in London, England in 1965. The world has waxed worse and worse but the answer remains the same. The only hope for the world is Jesus Christ.

The Voice of the Bride of Christ

She is the voice of brotherly love that “saluted her sister churches”
She is the voice of praise in the gospel throughout the churches
She is the voice like goads- exhorting in the truth
She is the voice like nails – piercing the hearts and minds
She is the voice as a honeycomb – delivering the sweet words of life
She is the voice of apples of gold in pictures of silver –fitly spoken in honor of the Lord
She is the voice of life to those who hear it
She is the voice of health to those who perceive it
She is the voice of warning to those in danger
She is the voice of encouragement to those who are feeble
She is the voice of comfort to those who mourn
She is the voice of grace to those who stumble
She is the voice of love to the Groom

Distracted

From The Next Story by Tim Challies

"During a time of singing at a recent conference, I spotted a woman raising one hand in worship while sending a text message with the other one. We mix worship with our work and pleasure. Why are we surprised then when we can only give partial attention to any one of them?"

Can we really worship God with all our hearts when one eye is on the text and the other on the phone? When we are thinking about sending/receiving texts or facebook updates about the message or the song?

The Lord our Righteousness

Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Robert Haldane said of this passage

"This righteousness is also said to be of God by faith-- that is sinners become partakers of it by faith. The righteousness of God, then, is not a method of justification, but the thing itself which God has provided, and which He [gives it] through faith. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, because it reveals God’s righteousness, that righteousness which fulfils the demand of His law, which His justice will accept, and which is upon all them that believe."

What a glorious thought, the imputed righteousness of Christ! Oh that we could grasp being "in Christ" - what joy, what peace that would bring.

Many mistake the Old Testament as being a covenant of works for salvation however nothing could be further from the truth.

Jer 33:14-16 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.

The LORD our righteousness. Our own righteousness being filthy rags, dung, worthless and vile being taken away, and by faith, receiving the righteousness of Christ making Jesus the Lord OUR righteousness. I have righteousness, but not mine, His imputed to my account that I am reckoned as righteous in the sight of God, that I will be presented in the courts of Heaven guiltless, blameless, perfect in His sight.

Eye of Faith

"Faith is the least self-regarding of the virtues. It is by its very nature scarcely conscious of its own existence. Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance."

The Pursuit of God AW Tozer

Don't Leave Your Cows in the Field

God had providentially led Moses from the palace of Pharaoh to the wilderness as a shepherd- then he called him to lead his people, Israel, from Egyptian bondage.

Pharaoh, not wanting to release his slaves, would not let God's people free to worship the Lord. God showed His power through a series of plagues- each resulting in much pain & suffering and the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart not to let God's people go.

Exodus 9:13-26 is the description of the 7th of these awful plagues. Moses went early in the morning to Pharaoh to tell him to let the people go so they could serve God. God would send more plagues to show him and all the Earth that the Lord, He is God by smiting the powerful Pharaoh.

In fact, the very reason God raised up Egypt to a world power and specifically Pharaoh to the height of worldly power was to show GOD'S power in removing Pharaoh.

A plague of rain, hail, and fire threatened. Not just any storm. A storm so fierce that it would not be equaled since the nation of Egypt had been in existence. The people were warned by the Word of the Lord to flee to safety.

Exodus 9:20-21 He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.

Those that heard and feared God's Word obeyed. Those that did not regard God's Word, did what they wanted to- and reaped the consequences.

This is the arrogant pride of man refusing to head God's Word. The Bible gives warning after warning of the consequences of sin- yet we do not heed. God is SO good in giving us His Word and often we take it and scoff at it, which is scoffing at God. There are eternal warnings of Hell and the Lake of Fire, there are warnings to repent and that judgment is coming- yet man leaves not just his cows in the field, but his soul.

Think about it- why would the Egyptians at this point DOUBT that another plague would come?

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.

They did not like to retain God. They just did not want to.

Unbelief. This is a picture of what Biblical unbelief really boils down to. Biblical unbelief is not regarding the Word of God. It wasn't that the people did not believe the Lord Jehovah existed- they most certainly did. And it wasn't that the people did not believe that God had the power or the will to send another plague - they did. The people did not regard God's Word- they just didn't care.

When you do not listen to God's Word, follow His commands, heed His warnings you are living in unbelief. You may believe that God exists and know for a fact that God is almighty and sovereign, but you do not regard His Word, you do not believe His Word.

Don't leave your cows in the field. God is faithful that promised. Both in the promises of blessing and the promises of judgment and chastisement.

A Good Contest

The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes

"It would be a good contest amongst Christians, one to labour to give no offence, and the other to labour to take none. The best men are severe to themselves, tender over others."

Church Authority Online Message

I was privileged to preach at the Kings Addition Missionary Baptist Church this weekend at their Bible conference. The theme was on the Lord's church and I started things off preaching first on "church authority".

The message stresses the need for the work of God to be done through the Lord's local church.

If you would like to hear me preach on church authority, I start about the 13:00 minute mark.


Watch live video from kingsadditionbaptist on Justin.tv

Unicorns and the Bible

New Testament Synonyms

Sometimes we can miss the forest for the trees when it comes to reading the Bible. Robert Thomas, in dealing with eternal punishment in the Fall 1998 edition of the Master's Seminary Journal points out a common flaw in the interpretation of NT synonyms.

"A basic principle for interpreting NT synonyms dictates that a distinction in meaning between two words does not necessarily exist unless they occur in the same immediate context. That principle applies to pairs such as "I love" (agapao)/"I love" (phileo) and "other" (allos)/ "other" (heteros).

Unless they occur together, an interpreter cannot press for differences.

The same apples to kolasis/timoria (punishment/vengence). It is poor exegetical methodology to try to evade the teaching of eternal punishment on the basis of a distinction in vocabulary."

Jesus View of Eternal Punishment by Robert L. Thomas

Justice of God in Damning Sinners

Excerpts from Jonathan Edwards sermon "The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners."

“There is something peculiarly heinous in sinning against the mercy of God more than other attributes. There is such base and horrid ingratitude, in being the worse to God BECAUSE he is a being of infinite goodness and grace…. above all things [this ingratitude] renders a [sinners] wickedness vile and detestable. This ought to win us, and engage us to serve God better; but instead…[man] sins against him the more.

Romans 2:4-5 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God

....Your own conscience can give testimony to it, that this has made you refuse God's calls, and has made you [uncaring] of his repeated commands. Now, how righteous would it be if God should swear in his wrath, that you should never be the better for his being infinitely merciful!”

Who are we to judge God?



(I updated some language indicated by the bracketed words.)

The valley of Hinnom by Albert Barnes

"The valley of Hinnom. This was formerly a pleasant valley near to Jerusalem, on the south. A small brook or torrent usually ran through it and partly encompassed the city. This valley the idolatrous Israelites devoted formerly to the horrid worship of Moloch, 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chron. 28:3.

In that worship, the ancient Jewish writers inform us, the idol of Moloch was of brass, adorned with a royal crown, having the head of a calf, and his arms extended as if to embrace anyone. When they offered children to him they heated the statue within by a great fire, and when it was burning hot they put the miserable child into his arms, where it was soon consumed by the heat; and, in order that the cries of the child might not be heard, they made a great noise with drums and other instruments about the idol."

Moloch is still worshiped today. We just call him Abortion.




DPN

She Did What She Could

I'm studying for this mornings message and wanted to share a portion of a message I was reading from Charles Spurgeon from a message he preached on the woman who broke the alabaster box in Mark 14 titled "To Lovers of Jesus -- an Example."

“And oh, Brothers and Sisters, let us always carry our case into the highest court and live before the Lord and not as the slaves of men! If we are conscious that we have sincerely done what we have done as unto the Lord and if we feel sure that He has approved our service, it is of the smallest possible consequence what men shall say about us! Let us never provoke our Brothers and Sisters to be ill-tempered with us, neither let us do anything that can be rightly censured—but if we have gone somewhat beyond common custom in the fervor of our spirit, let us reply with young David to his envious brethren, “Is there not a cause?” The opinions of other men are no rule to us—we have our own obligations to discharge and, as our debt of love is larger than usual, let us take liberty to be as full of love and zeal as we can be—only regretting that we cannot go still further in the way of sacred service.”

C.H. Spurgeon

Walking to church

I always thought it would be nice to live so close to church that I could walk. How far is too far to walk to church? Well, I suppose it depends on how bad you want to go to church.

The following is from Compendium of Baptist History by J.A. Shackleford.

Beaver Dam church, Ohio county, Kentucky, is one of the oldest churches in that state, it having been constituted as early as 1798. Some of its members lived twenty miles distant, but were regular in their attendance. They would leave their homes on Friday afternoon, many times on foot, and go part of the way, stopping to hold prayer meeting at night with some brother on the road. The journey would be finished the next morning in time for the eleven o’clock sermon. There would be preaching on Saturday both in the morning and at night, also on Sunday at eleven o’clock and at night. Monday morning the members living distant would return to their homes. There were conversions and baptisms at almost every meeting of the church. If such were not the case the members would consider the church in a very luke-warm condition, and the next meeting was usually preceded by fasting and prayer.

Such consecration and earnestness would not doubt be attended with the like results at the present day. The indifference of many church members to the interests of their church work is a said commentary upon their profession.

People do what they want to do. These people wanted to go to church, so they walked.

The Word of God is Not Bound

I like to read about the Civil War. There are so many fascinating stories, people and event that took place during this tragic war. One thing that I always find fascinating is how the war impacted people in areas that I had not before considered, especially in the churches.

The following was published in the TENNESSEE BAPTIST, August 31, 1861 by J.R. Graves,that I was directed to by Pastor David Green.

The title of the article is The Word of God is Not Bound.

“The first set of plates for printing pocket Bibles and Testaments ever owned and worked in the South were laid upon the press of the Southwestern Publishing House last Wednesday, and it can now be said for the first time that the South is independent of the North for the Word of God. Lincoln no longer binds the Word of God.

These plates for the Bible and Testament have cost, including tariff, ($150), freight and other expenses connected with them, some $1250. More than one-half of this sum was contributed by the brethren and citizens of West Tennessee and North Alabama to us personally—to enable the Publishing House to print cheap Bibles and Testaments for the Confederate soldiers. There is not another set of plates on which a pocket Bible or pocket Testament can be printed in the Southern Confederacy to-day.

Believing that the balance for the plates will be contributed as a voluntary offering to the enterprise, the Southwestern Publishing House offers to print Bibles and Testaments for the Confederate army at the following rates:
Pocket Testaments.—Plain $12.50 per 100—15 cts. retail; Gilt Sides $15 per 100—20 cts. retail.
Pocket Bibles.--$7.50 to $12 per dozen, according to style and binding. Fine bound copies, with name in gilt letters, from $2 to $5 per copy. Let every community that has sent out a company forward each soldier a Bible or Testament, and a package of religious tracts—price 25 cents per package of 300 page.

Will all our exchanges in the South call attention to this enterprise, and to the fact that the Southwestern Publishing House offers to supply 100,000 Bibles and Testaments for the Confederate army at cost of material and labor?”

There were a few thoughts I had about this.

1. Baptists love God's Word.
2. Even in the midst of Civil War, God's people must care for souls.
3. Prior to higher textual criticism, when people spoke of the Bible they thought of the Word of God, not about translations.
4. The GREATEST need in any nations is Jesus Christ.

On yard work, apples, grapes and agricultural empires

There is something about having my hand in the soil that makes me happy. As a child, I hated weeding in the garden almost as much as I hated picking green beans. It wasn't so much the work as it was not wanting to do work of any kind, and gardening was the kind I had to do. Now, I do it because I like to do it. I'm not post-modern enough to say that it is therapeutic, but gardening does make me feel better.

I've moved four times in six years, and have only had one garden in all that time, and that was a shared garden with the owner of the house I was renting. I probably won't get to have a garden this year either. The house that we bought sits on an acre, but the yard was/is in a mess. I've done a lot of work to it over the last two years, but have a lot more to go. I would like to have the land worked enough to have a garden next year, Lord willing. Today, I started planing instead of destroying, which made me happy.

Thus far, my work has consisted of deconstruction, which is really a lot of fun too. I LOVE cutting down trees. Cleaning up after? Not so much. But breaking, tearing down, cutting off is so much easier. Today marks the first day of replenishing lawn maintenance, when I have come, not to kill or destroy, but to plant.

My vast agricultural empire will consist of one Golden Delicious apple tree and four Concord Grape plants. It will be a few years before I reap any fruit, but these things take time. One thing that you don't get in moving around is the time to plant. My grandpa has trees that he planted almost 60 years ago in his yard, and a whole orchard of trees he has planted, pruned, and kept up for decades. But still, this is vanity. Those trees will eventually die, they will stop yielding fruit and will be fit for nothing but the fire. Yet the gospel seed is eternal and will reap eternal blessings. Having a farm, or a garden, or a place to plant is such a blessing but I wouldn't trade it for what God has called me to do in the ministry.

Pro-choice video

I saw this video today at challies.com. It is intentionally provocative, but needfully so. Thinking in these terms you can see how effective the pro-abortion advocates were at defining the terms. So I've decided to define the terms of my post. This is the choice.

Never say baby, use the medical term "fetus".
Never make the issue about abortion, make it about "choice".
Never say pro-abortion, say pro-choice, everyone loves to make their own choices.

Matthew 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men.

This includes abortion.

Up a Tree

I walked outside, looked up in tree in our yard and saw C.W. up in the tree. It is amazing how boys survive, with both the lack of fear, and that lack of thinking one step ahead, like "how am I going to get down?" or "I wonder if this little twig I'm standing on will hold my weight?" (look real close, can you see the limb he is standing on? Yeah, me either.)

This is how God made boys. Boys who test boundaries, who explore, who attempt feats of strength are our future dad's, future soldiers, future police officers and future preachers.

The duty of every parent of boys is NOT to keep them from being boys, but to mold them into men. To take what God has given them by way of nature and personality and then prune, bend, shape, mold them as best we can, by God's grace, into what they should be. We have failed if we turn our boys into sissies, but we have also failed if we turn our boys into selfish, reckless, arrogant men. I worked as a 4th generation apple farmer before I moved to NC. I know a little about pruning trees, especially young ones. You can prune a tree so much that you ruin it forever. You can bend a young tree until it breaks. But, it is just as bad and just as disastrous to let the tree grow wild without any pruning. My Grandpa wouldn't let anyone prune his young trees, he had to do it because he didn't trust anyone else to work on them at such a critical age. Are our kids more valuable than trees? He that hath an ear, let him hear.

That being said, all boys are different. Mine are very different, and only one of the four attempted to scale the tree. Since all boys are different, all boys needed to be molded and shaped and pruned differently. Not by what society says boys should be, but what God says boys should be. Reading through Proverbs (a book written to boys specifically: 'my son') you don't read a lot about sports, but much about the soul.

Hebrews 13:5-6

Hebrews 13:5-6

O, let my life be
without murmuring.
To live with such things
You've given to me.

The Great I AM spake
this promise I hold;
He'll never forsake
nor leave me alone

With boldness, dare say
in man, I'll not fear;
The LORD, He's my stay
In Christ I'll not fear.

My fears have no place
God's Word spoke to me,
says His Sovereign Grace
tis sufficient form me.

The Legacy of the King James Bible: A book review

The Legacy of the King James Bible
By
Leland Ryken

“But approximation is not duplication.”

“To adapt a quip by Mark Twain (when his death was erroneously reported in a news paper), rumors of the demise of the King James have been greatly exaggerated.”

I was reluctant to purchase this book. I am a little gun shy on reading books about the King James, on either side of the issue. Even when someone who doesn't use the King James praises it for any reason, there is always the obligatory “apology” for praising said aspect. I recently read someone pointing out the 400th anniversary of the KJB and the first half of the sentence was amazement at the endurance, the second half was the “BUT…”; I guess to keep the street cred you have to say something badd too? Not really.

For some people, it is difficult for them to say nice things about the KJV without the "but..." comes from groups that go so far in the other direction who follow Peter Ruckman and Gail Riplinger. No doubt there are such groups, but just because a person uses the King James doesn't mean they are part of these groups.

This characterization is just as dishonest or illinformed as the errors of Riplinger and Ruckman. This is why I didn't want to read the book, I so did not want to pay money to read a book, only to be categorized, in a cartoon-like manner, with groups that I am not part of, or want to be part of.

Through a series of events, I had a lot of credit on my Amazon account, and decided to give the book a try. I am pleased to say that I am happy that I got the book. Not only does Dr. Ryken not feel it necessary to apologize for the KJB, he defends and sings its praises. So I'm the one that has to apologize for judging the book before I read it.

Now, to the book itself.

The author not only does not use the King James personally, he has not in several decades. In fact,he worked as the literary advisor on the English Standard Version (ESV). So, naturally, there are several plugs for the ESV and a few other translations, but even at that, he does not come out to claim superiority, nor does he feel it necessary to trash the King James to uplift his preference. Ryken addresses this issue in the book. I was pleasantly surprised to find such a fair, charitable dealing with the Bible.

There are many aspects of the book that I did not agree with, and this is defiantly not a King James Only book. However, I enjoyed the book for its overall theme. The English speaking world is better off for the King James, and worse off without it.

Ryken deals with the history of the translation and the translators in how we got our English Bible. I don’t know his theological views, but he seemed to get right to the edge of the providential aspect of the translation, but never quite getting there. Regardless of your opinion of the KJV, it is undeniable that it was THE English Bible for 350 years, and regardless of the WHY it happened, it was providential that it did. This point is made several times and from several different perspectives.

The main focus of the book is dealing with the influence of the King James primarily in English literature (which makes sense, Ryken is a literary professor, so this is his wheelhouse). He labors on showing how the King James has influenced authors (religious and secular) in the last 400 years. It is surprising to read how authors were influenced by the KJV both directly and indirectly. Though toward the end, it seemed a tad redundant to one who isn't familiar with some of the authors. But, that is my fault, not his. My ears perked up when he mentioned Charles Dickens, and Hemingway, so if you are familiar with all the case points, I doubt it would seem redundant or tedious.

There is another theme running throughout the book; the denigration of the culture and the rise of modern translation coincide. Does one thing have anything to do with the other? Perhaps, and I believe that it does. Ryken slays the “archaic” argument, and shows how the even the soft endings (runneth, instead of runs)takes away from the translation. Even better than pointing this out, he tells you WHY this is, from a literary perspective.

"The sentiment is widely held that because today we find the KJB archaic and difficult, it must have been equally archaic and difficult for readers in previous eras. It is a great fallacy. Readers of the KJV through the centuries did not struggle with its language, just as modern readers who never relinquished the KJV manage just fine with it. Are we better off today without the KJV than Christendom was for three centuries with it? NO: those eras had many advantages over us. Although we cannot turn back the clock, we should lament what has been lost, not claim an illusory superiority."

Now, I don't think the KJV is "lost" and he kind of contradicts himself when earlier in the book he says that the King James Bible is still consistently in the top three of Bible sales. How can a "lost" book be in the top three? But, as for the overall point he is making, I thought it was spot on.

Here is how he sums what we have lost.

"What has been lost? A common English Bible, nearly universal reverence for the Bible as an authoritative book, and biblical literacy. Finally we have lost the affective and literary power of the King James Bible – not in an absolute sense, inasmuch as the RSV, NKJV, and ESV do a wonderful job of approximating the qualities of the KJV in updated English vocabulary. But approximation is not duplication. OF course dynamic equivalent and colloquial translations do not come close to the King James standard, and modern readers of those translations have no reason to gloat; they have exchanged a birthright of excellence for something manifestly inferior."

He also weighs in on the profitability of multiple English versions.

“If Bible knowledge in our day has declined across the board, where is the alleged gain from modern translations? The very proliferation of translations has discouraged the Christian public from seeking to know what the Bible actually says.”

Indeed. Where is the fruit? Look at our English culture and can we say that Biblical knowledge and literacy is higher than it was 100 years ago? Even 50? There could be many factors that play into that, but it is certainly an interesting thought to consider the rise of multiple Bible translation with the fall and degeneration of society in the English Speaking West. Could higher textual criticism have caused society to distrust and disregard the Bible? There is a danger in always telling people why their Bible is wrong (even if you mean "translation" the hearer often hears "words" and many times won't make the connection).

I enjoyed the book and found it refreshing to read a book that had good things to say about the Bible I have used all of my life and will continue to do so, without apology.

Turn my eyes

Psalms 119:37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

We cannot close our eyes to the world we live in, and you cannot drive down the road without coming in contact with vanity of one form or another.

On a drive to the supermarket, you may have to encounter:

1. sinful billboards


2. covetousness over the nicer cars


3. road rage


4. immodest joggers

just to name a few, and I'm sure you can name many more. The point being, we cannot stay in our homes (as if the dangers are any less) or we cannot drive with our eyes closed, or at least we couldn't drive for very LONG with our eyes closed.

We must, by God's power, be vigilant in turning from sin and temptation and seeing sin for what it is. I like what Albert Barnes said on this verse:

"An ugly object loses much of its deformity when we look often upon it; and this is a benevolent law, lest we should be miserable when we are under a necessity of looking on it. Sin follows this general law, and is to be avoided altogether, even in its contemplation, if we would be safe. A man should be thankful in this world that he has eyelids; and as he can close his eyes, so he should often do it."

When we see such things on the highway (or any place for that matter), we should turn away from the sin, and our hearts should break for the sinners and desire they turn (repent) too. Instead of indulging the flesh in sin, we should weep for the lost. Instead of becoming hermits, we should preach the gospel. We must not indulge the flesh and we must turn our eyes from sin but be careful all the while, not to close our eyes to the sinner who needs Christ.

When PEOPLE are BIG and God is Small: A book review

"We need to need people less and love people more."

When PEOPLE are BIG and God is Small by Edward T. Welch.

This is an excellent book dealing with the fear of man. The fear of man goes so much further than merely being "afraid" of people. The fear of man is setting up people as idols, with our thoughts, actions and affections being controlled by men and not God.
Part one deals with identifying the fear of man in our lives, part two deals with dealing with the fear of God in our lives.

The remedies are not self help remedies, but they are scriptural and immensely practical. The book is not superficial, nor worldly in its focus or application. This deals a death blow to the "self-esteem" controlled times in which we live. The solution is clearly laid out, but this is such a deep running sin issue that only the power of God in us can break this idol of the fear of man. Many will read this book and find that they have been lied to their entire lives and it will be a painful, but profitable look at the deep seated sin that permeates the lives of a great number of Christians.

We need to fear God, not man. The more fear of God a Christian has, the less fear of man there will be. The reoccurring theme is that "we need to need people less, and love people more." Welch shines the light of God's word in the dark regions of the heart where we have those secret hidden idols that we give colorful and pretty names to; self-esteem, needs, peer-pressure, and on and on.
I recommend this book highly. Parents of teenagers, or pre-teens may find this book extremely helpful in helping to identify and help others deal with the fear of man in their lives.

So thankful that I read this book, and it has been one of those books that God has used to minister to my soul. Lord willing, this will be a book that I return to over and over again.

Quote of the day

I love it when I come across a well crafted sentence that compels me to stop, go back and read it again two or three times. Here is such a sentence.

"My interest is not hypothetical reality, but actual reality."

Leland Ryken from his book The Legacy of the King James Bible.

Stay tuned. Later this week I hope to have a review of this book; Lord willing.

A little help? What kind of fish is this?

Does anyone know what kind of fish we are looking at here?



My father-in-law caught it at Falls Lake, NC last week, but I'm not sure what kind of fish he caught. I looked on the species list for Falls Lake, and whatever it is, it wasn't supposed to be in there. It looked like a muskie, in the mouth, sharp teeth and all, but I'm not sure. I like to fly-fish the rivers and am not much of a lake fisherman.

So a little frivolity this Saturday for catch of the day.

God's Search for a Good Man

Psalms 14:2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

I mean no irreverence to suggest that God is lacking in knowledge, the Bible does not teach that; but in our Psalm, God is described as looking to see if he could find a good person. This is a poetic view showing God looking for a few good men. Will he find any? What will we discover in God’s search? What will God find? What will God see? What will be His verdict, and His sentence?

Here is the answer.

I have combinded Psalm 14 then Psalm 53 then Romans 3:9-12 to show the truth about man.

We have in our reading, the Word of the Almighty God, who, as Spurgeon said ‘does not exaggerate or mistake’. God searched the whole of humanity, looking for one that understood, one, even one that sought after Him. One whom could be said ‘doeth good’, yet we have read the result of the finding.

There is none that doeth good (Psalm 14:1)
There is none that doeth good (Psalm 53:1)
There is none that doeth good (Romans 3:10)

They are all gone aside (Psalm 14:3)
They are all together become filthy (Psalm 14:3)

Every one of them is gone back (Psalm 53:3)
They are altogether become filthy (Psalm 53:3)
They are all gone out of the way (Romans 3:12)
They are together become unprofitable (Romans 3:12)

There is none righteous (Romans 3:12)

No not one (Psalm 14:3)
No not one (Psalm 53:3)
No not one (Romans 3:10)
No not one (Romans 3:12)

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Yes, that means you too, that means you are a sinner, in need of a Saviour.

Tell me again how Glenn Beck is a Christian?

In a segment speaking about meeting with Billing Graham, notice how he signs off with ” “higher self.

Last August, and the months leading up to Glenn Beck’s I was told how Glenn is leading American “back to God” and how bold it was for a man to talk about God and the Bible.

My response was “which god?” Which god is Glenn leading America too, and if it is not the God of the Bible, then is that really a good thing? The answer, of course, is no. It is not good that American turns to a god and becomes more religious. Would it be better for America to turn from a god of pleasure to a god of legalistic bondage? Or a god of self-interest to a god of patriotism, if they are all false gods? It would be like Israel forsaking the golden calf to worship a golden cat. The only difference would be the presentation.

I used to watch a show when I was a kid called “Mr. Cartoon” and Mr. Cartoon would sign off every day saying “go to the church or synagogue of your choice”. That was the message of 8-28. That whatever truth you come to, that is your truth and hold to that. That is the age we live in; we can have our own "truth" and our truths can be different and even opposite. In the real world, truth cannot contradict itself. 2+2=4, that is an axiom of truth. It doesn't matter how much you want 2+2=5 to be right, and how much you believe it in your heart to be right, it is wrong. There is one God, and one way to God, and it doesn't matter how much you want in your heart to believe that your god is the right god and your way is the right way, it is still WRONG and false if you do not come to God, through faith in Jesus Christ.

I was told and I read how Mr. Beck was a Christian, and he really knows the Christian doctrines and that he wasn’t really a Mormon, in belief, he just didn’t know it. How that Glenn didn’t hold to Mormon doctrine and that once he grows, he’ll leave. On and on.
Your “higher self” and “I am that I am…use it to create who you want to be, I am _____” (2:44).
I’ll not give the link to where I find this definition as I don’t want to send any traffic to their damnable website, but here is a new age cultist speaking on what “higher self” means.

What is your Higher Self?
There are many great words to describe Who or What your highest identity or Self truly is. Below are just a few:
* Higher Self
* I Am Presence
* I Am That I Am
* Pure Being
* Love
* Spirit
* Essence of Life
* Cosmic Consciousness
* Universal Mind
* The Tao
* God
*Christ
* Holy Spirit
And the list goes on...

Depending upon your spiritual path, background, or religious influence, you may be attracted to one or more of these terms. Ultimately, these words are only ideas that point to the unlimited and infinite nature of your True Self. In the end, it does not matter which words you use. It is directly experiencing your Higher Self that you ultimately seek in your heart.

Now that we know what he is urging you to be (your own god), still think that he is a Christian? He is a dangerous man, not because of his political leanings. In fact, I am a conservative and would agree with a lot of his political stances. No, because there is something much more important that this Republic. The soul.

There is only one I AM that I AM, and that is the God of the Bible, Jehovah, Jesus Christ Lord of Glory. There is only one way of salvation, and that is in Jesus Christ through repentant faith, by His marvelous graces, trusting in the His shed blood on the Cross to wash yours sins, that you are forgiven and justified by the receiving Christ Jesus as Saviour.

We are not our own gods, we have no “higher self”. Here is our higher self.
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The Hebrew word translated “filthy” is literally defined “menstruation”. That is our “higher self”. We are sinners, impure, rebellious, vile in the sight of a Holy God, and we dare rise up and use His name to “create”? We DARE speak of the god within us? There is nothing in us but a sinful, wicked deceitful heart.

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:10-18)

Be careful, and don’t be deceived. The little comments like “higher self” are not expounded, they are just slipped in every now and then. Over and over, you’ll hear things like that, until it starts to sink in, this is how false teachers operate. Do you think it is a coincidence? Why did he want to go and talk to Billy Graham? Why would he talk about Billy Graham and sign off with being your own little god? To deceive. To co-opt a Christian name and ministry and attach it to his new age pot luck religion.

Bringing in the... what?

Psalms 126:5-6
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

If you don't know what "sheaves" are, here is Vincent Van Gogh's Sheaves of Wheat in a Field.



Sheaves are bundles of wheat gathered after the reaping. So, with that being said, bellow is the song I sang as a child that I didn't understand because I didn't know what sheaves were. It would have been nice to have had this picture opposite of the hymn. Isn't it interesting how a picture can change how we understand things? That is why parables and illustrations are so important. They are word pictures. Ages prior to ours, sheaves didn't have to be explained, no more than a gallon of milk needs to be explained today. But for people who are unfamiliar, the picture helps drive the point home and often explains the point.

It is also interesting how you can know the words to a song by heart and yet have no idea what the lyrics mean. We sang this song at church so much as a child I could have easily rattled of the verses from memory. In fact, it has been several years since I sang this song, but I still know the lyrics by heart. And yet for the longest time, I didn't have a clue what sheaves were. It wasn't until a preacher got up after we sang that song and asked "I wonder how many of you know what you just sang about? If I asked each of you, could you tell me?" My first reaction was horror that he might actually ask me, but my second thought was what am I singing about and if I don't know why am I singing?

Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,

Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,
Fearing neither clouds nor winter’s chilling breeze;
By and by the harvest, and the labor ended,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master,
Though the loss sustained our spirit often grieves;
When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

The Cross, the Crook and the Crown

If there was a list of the most well known passages of scriptures, Psalm 23 would have to be toward the top of the list. Even people who don’t have a clue what it means know the psalm, or at least have heard it often enough. Truly a beautiful Psalm. Psalm 23 is really part two of a three part Messianic Trilogy. Many of the Psalms are Messianic Psalms, meaning simply, they are about the Messiah; they are Jesus Psalms. They are prophecies, praises, and promises of the coming Messiah.

I was reading a book by BH Carroll, and he mentioned that he preached a message on the Cross, the Crook and the Crown. I looked but I couldn’t find that message he preached (it sounded like a good one) but I did like that title, so I used and adapted his title in my message this morning: The Cross, the Crook and the Crown. The three psalms tell a story of our blessed Saviour.

I. The Cross of the Good Shepherd (Psalm 22/John 10:11)
II. The Crook of the Great Shepherd (Psalm 23/Hebrews 13:20)
III. The Crown of the Chief Shepherd (Psalm 24/I Peter 5:4)

I have chosen the way of truth

Psalms 119:29-30 Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.

C.H. Spurgeon on the Christians responsibility in Christian living in light of God's Sovereignty.

“As [David] abhorred the way of lying, so he chose the way of truth: a man must choose one or the other, for there cannot be any neutrality in the case. Men do not drop into the right way by chance; they must choose it, and continue to choose it, or they will soon wander from it. Those whom God has chosen in due time choose his way. There is a doctrinal way of truth which we ought to choose, rejecting every dogma of man’s devising; there is a ceremonial way of truth which we should follow, detesting all the forms which apostate churches have invented; and then there is a practical way of truth, the way of holiness, to which we must adhere whatever may be our temptation to forsake it. Let our election be made, and made irrevocably. Let us answer to all seducers, “I have chosen, and what I have chose I have chosen.” O Lord, by thy grace lead us with a hearty free-will to choose to do they will; thus shall thine eternal choice of us bring for the end which it designs.”

It stares you in the face

I was doing some reading about the King James Version, and came upon an interesting quote from in a book entitled The Works of Augustus Toplady volume 2, 1794. My studies were geared toward opinions of the Geneva Bible, specifically the notes as I wondered what was the mind of the people during this time.

The quote that really struck me was why Toplady applauded the removal of the study notes, even though they were Calvinistic in nature.

Toplady is dealing historically with England and the doctrines of grace and Arminianism. There is one chapter devoted to King James I. I've linked to the particular section I'm referring to, and I've done my best to update the spelling of words to their modern spelling and all emphasis are mine.

In 1611, that translation (used at this day) was finished by the excellent divines, to whose care this great work had been assigned, and who had spent about three years in the important employ. Instead of human annotations, the margin of this version is very properly filled with references to parallel Scriptures: so that the Bible is now a commentary on itself. If it be asked 'Whether the ancient notes were omitted, with a simple view to render the Scripture its own interpreter?' I must confess, that this is a question which I can answer by conjection alone.** And my conjecture is, that Jame's suspicious policy was afraid to entrust even the bishops and clergymen of the church of England, concerned in this translation, with the insertion of any marginal notes at all; left some remark or other might flip in, tending to emblazon the wickedness and absurdity of despotic power.

He was a better textary, than to be ignorant, that there are a multitude of passages, and of instance, in the inspired volume which grind the doctrine of non-resistance to powder, and disperse its atoms in empty air. Better, therefore, in James opinion, to forgo all explications whatever, than to run the risque of render those unfavourable passages more visible than they render themselves. This I conceive to have been the true cause of the simplicity, by which our present version is distinguished.

As to the Calvinistic doctrines, there is no need, nor was there any need from the first, of erecting marginal banners, to distinguish in what places of Scripture they are to be found. What I observed, several years ago, concerning the liturgy; I now observe, concerning the Bible; open God's Word where you will, Calvinism stares you in the face.

**(Note: there is a footnote in the text that where he gives an account of the Hampton-court converence in refernce to omitting the study notes of the new translation, to which Toplady says his conjecture is proved to be "...the true and undoubted cause of the said omission.")

The first thing I noted was that Toplady felt the translation to be a "great work". Only those that have an agenda could possibly deny that fact even if they don't read or preach from the KJV. But I thought it good to read some original source words of men of his era giving his opinion of the KJV.

But what really caught my attention was the quote on the omission of the study notes. Toplady was a STRONG Calvinist, and was known for his battles against Arminianism with Charles Wesley. Yet he applauded the removed of the study notes. Why?

They were not needed for the truth to preserver. I agree with his assertion that "open God's Word where you will, Calvinism stares you in the face". The Bible, as its own interpreter is what the child of God needs, and the truth will not falter. The truth IS THERE, and if you open the Bible, you will find God's Grace written there.

I truly believe that if a child of God sat down with an open heart and an open Bible, they would leave the study a Baptist, in belief anyway, because the truths Baptist hold to are taught in God's Word. I don't need a catechism and a theological framework to understand the doctrines of grace, or believers baptism. The truth is there as scripture interprets scripture. Certainly study helps are wonderful tools, but what is wonderful about the truth of God's grace and God's Word is that it isn't dependent upon men because it was not invented by men or is not perpetuated by men. The wonderful truth of grace is found on every page of God's inspired Word and will endure forever because it is God's Word and it is God's Grace.