Review of Discovering God's Will by Sinclair Ferguson

This book is a gem. Yogi Berra once quipped, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." I think that some Christians view their decision making processes much in the same way. They make the choice and then think about their decision making process latter when the consequences come. What is a Christian to do when we come to a fork in the road of our life and multiple choices seem to be before us? Which way do we go? What path to we choose? Many people, when they want guidance just want someone to tell them exactly what to do. They want a sign, they want specific directions.

Sinclair Ferguson deals with the issue of guidance Biblically and gives the reader the foundation and principles needed to make wise decisions. The foundation of knowing what to do is God's Word. Will the Bible tell you which girl to marry? No, but it will tell you what you should be looking for in a wife. God wants us to think and that is not an unnatural exercise. This is the kind of book that I think should be required reading for young Christians. This would be a great tool for Christian teenagers to read and digest while still at home prior to making many choices that will set the course for the rest of their lives. It is better to know and have the principles before a big decision has to be made.

What I appreciate is the fact that the book is founded on the principles of the sufficiency of scripture, but does not deny the spiritual aspects of the Word. This book may be extremely helpful for those who tend to bend towards the Charismatic side in their idea of what the will of God is and what guidance actually entails. 

Good book.

Paul said to shut it...

Romans 3:19 ‭Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.‭

"How do you know whether a man is a Christian? The answer is that his mouth is ‘shut’. I like this forthrightness of the Gospel. People need to have their mouths shut, ‘stopped’. They are for ever talking about God, and criticizing God, and pontificating about what God should or should not do, and asking ‘Why does God allow this and that?’ You do not begin to be a Christian until your mouth is shut, is stopped, and you are speechless and have nothing to say."

Romans: Atonement and Justification, D.M. Lloyd Jones

When I consider thy heavens

Psalm 8 (To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David.) O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

We are really, really small. Our God is really, really awesome. To Him be honor and glory forever.

Check out the article and the zoom feature HERE.

Pray for All

Tuesdays With Timothy  # 14

1 Timothy 1:1-8 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

One evening a grabbed a novel and sat with my boys and  I opened to a random page in the middle of the book and read the second half of a long sentence. I asked them “what does the character mean by that phrase?” They laughed at me because the request was absurd. “Daddy, how can we know what the person meant by half a sentence? We don’t even know what the book is about and who is talking!” It was a silly thing for me to request. It is also a silly thing for a person to build a theology that way. No, it isn’t silly it is dangerous. I Timothy 2:4 is the second half of a sentence that is part of a larger thought. To rip half a sentence out of its immediate context and then use it as a proof text for universal atonement is dangerous proposition.

In verse one, Paul exhorts Timothy and the church to prayer. In verse eight, Paul exhorts men to pray. Wonder what Paul has in mind? In verse two, Paul tells us who to pray for and why. In verse three, he tells us why prayer is a good thing, and verses 4-6 tell us why we can have confidence in our prayers for the salvation of men, and verse seven tells us that Paul is a missionary to the very people that he request prayer for. So, verse eight is men, pray. The overall message is for people to pray for others, not a discourse in soteriology. That is the context.

Why should we pray for all men? If we back up a little further to the end of chapter one, Paul told us how that God saved the chief of sinners. He was an example to the saving grace of God, that God is gracious and can save even the worst sinners. If God can save Paul, he can save anyone. So, pray for all men.

Verse three immediately takes the focus to different types of people groups. Paul tells Timothy to pray for everyone, including those in authority so that they would lead a peaceable life. The only way this makes sense is if we are talking about all types of men. It is not possible to pray for every single person. It isn't even possible to pray for every single leader and person in authority. Paul specifies that the prayer for all types of people include those in authority so that THEY would be able to live in peace. Praying for a king in Egypt or a tribal chieftain in Europe where the gospel had not yet been proclaimed, would not provide peaceful living for Paul and Timothy. The "all in authority" cannot mean pray for every single person in authority in the world, but for those in authority over them, that they might live in peace.

It is good to do so because "God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." Who are the "all men"? The fact that Paul is speaking in general terms to all men being in groups of people in prayer, Paul is speaking that God wills that all types or all sorts of people will be saved. Paul was ordained a preacher and apostle to the Gentiles. Another class of people. Is Paul the preacher to every single Gentile on Earth? Or is his ministry to the people of group? He has the idea in mind of groups of people, not every single person on earth.

My Arminian friends may be up in arms at this point say “ALL MEANS ALL!” But only the Universalist believes that all men means all men. Is the rich man in Luke 16 a man? He lifted up his eyes in Hell, did he not? Does this verse apply to him? Will this man also come to the knowledge of the truth and should we pray for souls in Hell to be saved? No, of course not, unless, you are a Universalist. So the Arminian also restricts the usage of the word all to all LIVING men and himself doesn’t believe “all means all.”

 We see from other passages of scripture that Christ did not give his life a ransom for all people, but for many (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). But Paul’s point was we pray for all people because there is not group of people excluded from the gospel of salvation. Salvation is no longer predominantly to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but the gospel is to be proclaimed high and low throughout the world. Think about it this way, you may hear regularly people pray for our leaders in prayer meetings. We ask the Lord to give our leaders wisdom, or for God to protect us from our leaders. But how often do we pray that God would save them? How often do we pray that God would bring repentance to the halls of Congress? Maybe because we don’t think God will save them. Maybe because we think that group of people are beyond salvation because they are in power. Maybe we don’t pray for them because we don’t like their politics or their attitudes towards the gospel and towards Christianity. This goes to the heart of what Paul was saying. Pray for them, God wills that all people groups be saved, and that is why he goes and preaches to the Gentiles. This passage is about our Christian service, about Timothy as the man of God directing God’s people. Timothy, you pray for all men because God saves all sorts of men, the chief of sinners and the chiefs of nations. Pray for all men because Christ is the Saviour of the world.

Run John Run

Run, John, run. The law commands
But gives neither feet nor hands.
Better news the gospel brings;
It bids us fly and gives us wings.

John Bunyan

“God strengthens me,” and “God is my strength" a Vital Difference

Elijah the Tishbite by Friedrich W Krummacher 

"If God strengthen me, then, through his grace, I experience within me a Divine power, by which I can accomplish something, and feel myself arrayed and armed with a courageous and joyful spirit; I smile at partition-walls that would confine me, and at barricades that would exclude me, and I fear nothing.

But if, finding nothing but weakness in my soul, and trembling at the sight of the danger that surrounds me, and at the immense mountains of difficulties which lie before me – yet, with all the shrinking of nature, I advance with holy boldness to meet them, hoping on against reason and feeling, in simple faith on Him who is eternally near, who will go with me, and to whom it is an easy thing to rebuke, with a word, the ocean’s waves, and to thrash the mountains so that they shall become a plain; and if I walk by faith on the waves of nature’s terrors, destitute of courage and yet a hero, out of weakness made strong, and out of despondency valiant – then I can exult and say, “God is my strength;” and my feet are placed upon a rock. What a wonderful thing is faith, which lays hold of a power to do all things, through Christ strengthening us; which brings man, who is a worm, into fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, and is the means whereby strength is ordained, and praise perfected out of the mouth of babes and sucklings!"

The Children's Hour

Psalm 127:3-4 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.


The Children's Hour
By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Between the dark and the daylight,
      When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
      That is known as the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
      The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
      And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
      Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
      And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
      Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
      To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
      A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
      They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
      O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
      They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
      Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
      In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
      Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
      Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
      And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
      In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
      Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
      And moulder in dust away!

A Powerful Introduction to Elijah

Winston Churchill once said "opening amenities are opening inanities." He never wasted the good opportunity the opening minutes provided him. A good introduction can draw the listener in and capture his attention. For example, notice how Friedrich Krummacher in his book Elijah the Tishbite sets the scene through word pictures. Not only has he given an apt description of the spiritual times in which Elijah burst into the pages of Scripture, but how he gives us a feel for the darkness of a land given over to idolatry.

“And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” (1 Kings 17:1)
Thus commences the brief record of the prophet Elijah, abruptly setting us at once in the midst of his life. At this very first mention of him we see the whole man living and moving, in spirit and in conduct. This manner of his introduction to our notice is itself remarkable. In the preceding chapters, the inspired historian had, as it were, dug through the wall, and discovered to us the horrible abominations in which Israel, during those melancholy times, was so deeply immersed. Clouds and thick darkness cover the whole land; the images of Baalim and Ashtaroth fearfully gleam on every side; idolatrous temples and heathen altars occupy the sacred soil; every hill smokes with their sacrifices, every vale resounds with the blasphemous yells of a cruel priesthood. The people drink in iniquity like water, and sport in shameless rites around their idols. Alas! alas! how is the glory of Israel departed! how is Abraham’s seed no longer discernible! their light is become darkness, the salt has lost its savour, the fine gold has become dim! And now, while darkness reigns throughout the land; while no cheering star gleams through the universal blackness, on a sudden the history changes, with the words, “And Elijah said.” – The man seems as if dropped from heaven into the midst of this awful night-piece, without father, without mother, without descent, as is written of Melchisedec. Lo, he stands forth in the midst of the desolation, but not without his God. Almost the only grain of salt in the general corruption, the only leaven that is to leaven the whole mass – and that we may learn at once who he is, he commences his career with an unheard-of act of faith, by closing, in the name of his Lord, the heavens over Israel, and changing the firmament into iron and brass. Thanks be to God! the night is no longer so horrible, for a man of God now appears, like the rising moon, in the midst of it."

This was a powerful introduction because it not only gave us the information, but draws us in to make us want the rest of the story.

It is Good to Pray

Tuesdays With Timothy  # 13

1 Timothy 2: 1-6 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Why should we pray for all men and why should we desire to live quiet and peaceable lives in godliness and honesty? Because this is good and acceptable in the sight of God Saviour. If for no other reason than because God says it is good for us to do so. God says it is both good and acceptable that we pray for others. I believe much is lost by the imbalance of some to say that God is indifferent towards our service because of justification, or that somehow God looks at our service to Him as Christians and says “imperfect, I don’t accept.” While at most, we are unprofitable servants, this doesn’t mean that our service is not pleasing to God or that we are unable to do anything, as Christians, that please our Father. In Christ, we are able to please the Father, and though our service will never be anything but imperfect, through and in His dear Son, we can please God through our following Him by faith. We cannot please God to earn salvation, but as His children, washed in the blood and in Christ we can please God by faithful obedience. It is good and acceptable in God’s sight when we bow the knee to Him and plead for the souls of our fellow man. Our God declares this a good thing for us to do. Our Saviour says that prayer for others is an acceptable act.

We are to pray for all types of men because Christ will save all types of men and bring all types of men to the knowledge of the truth. We are to pray for our fellow man, that God would save them. We are to intercede on their behalf unto our God and Saviour who is the only one who can intercede between man and God. As men we pray unto the man Christ Jesus, as He, the Godman, mediates our prayers as our great high priest.

We pray to the only true God, through the only mediator between man and God, who is the only Saviour of men and the only ransom that can redeem sinners, making Christ Jesus the only hope for man in life and death. God would have His people to pray for our fellow man for their good, for our good, and for God’s glory. We must pray for others who are also made in the image of God that the man Christ Jesus, would save and bring to the truth our fellow man, through His sacrifice on Calvary.

If this gets your Arminian blood boiling or you think I haven’t given these passages justice, stay tuned and I'll answer the objections and consider the great doctrines laid out in these passages. However, I do believe that the previous paragraph relates the overall point that Paul was getting at here - and it is not the death knell to Calvinism. It is a blow to the hyper-Calvinist hardshell's, but not to the doctrines of grace.

Monday Verse - To Any Reader

To Any Reader
Robert Louis Stevenson

As from the house your mother sees

You playing round the garden trees,

So you may see, if you will look

Through the windows of this book,

Another child, far, far away,

And in another garden, play.

But do not think you can at all,

By knocking on the window, call

That child to hear you. He intent

Is all on his play-business bent.

He does not hear; he will not look,

Nor yet be lured out of this book.

For, long ago, the truth to say,

He has grown up and gone away,

And it is but a child of air

That lingers in the garden there.