Does the Center Hold?

By Keith Mathison 2/1/2009

     If I have heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times: “A Calvinist evangelist? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Calvinism undermines evangelism.” This accusation has been repeated so many times that few make the effort to argue it. Instead, it is simply assumed. Never mind that some of the church’s greatest evangelists have been Calvinists. One need only be reminded of men such as George Whitefield, David Brainerd, or “the father of modern missions,” William Carey. “Yes,” we are told, “these men were great evangelists and Calvinists, but that is because they were inconsistent.” But is this true?

     The fact of the matter is that Calvinism is not inconsistent with evangelism; it is only inconsistent with certain evangelistic methods. It is inconsistent, for example, with the emotionally manipulative methods created by revivalists such as Charles Finney. But these manipulative methods are themselves inconsistent with Scripture, so it is no fault to reject them. In order for evangelism to be pleasing to God, it must be consistent with the whole system of biblical teaching. But what does such evangelism look like?

     A classic answer to that question is found in R.B. Kuiper’s little book God Centred Evangelism. This book surveys the entire biblical scope of teaching on the subject of evangelism. Kuiper defines evangelism quite simply as “the promulgation of the evangel.” It is, in other words, the proclamation of the gospel. Kuiper explains that his book “is a plea for God–centered, in contradistinction to man-centered, evangelism.” The book, then, presents a theology of evangelism.

     The first chapters set forth some of the essential theological presuppositions for God-centered evangelism. Kuiper explains that God Himself is the author of evangelism, in that before the foundation of the world, He planned the salvation of sinners. This leads directly into chapter-length discussions of God’s love, His election of sinners, and His covenant. After setting forth these basic theological foundations, Kuiper then deals with various biblical aspects of evangelism, beginning with the sovereignty of God and the Great Commission.

     In the Great Commission, Jesus commands His followers to make disciples of “all nations.” The scope of evangelism, then, is universal. The gospel is to be proclaimed to all. If we truly believe what Scripture tells us about the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation, then the urgency of evangelism will become evident. A number of heterodox theologies undermine the urgency of evangelism by teaching that unbelievers will get a “second chance” after death. There is, however, no biblical warrant for such teaching, and to assert it is pure presumption.

     Our primary motivation for evangelism should be love of God and love of neighbor. Those who love God will joyfully obey His commission to evangelize and disciple. Those who love their neighbor will desire nothing greater for them than eternal life. Their aim will be to see God glorified through the salvation of sinners like themselves in order that the church would grow.

     The God-ordained means of evangelism is His own Word. It is through the proclamation of God’s Word that the Holy Spirit effectually works faith in men’s hearts. The specific message of evangelism is the gospel. Paul summarizes this message in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” When those who hear the gospel ask what they must do to be saved, Scripture tells us that the answer is: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31).

     In the final chapters of his book, Kuiper surveys issues such as zeal for evangelism, the biblical method of evangelism, cooperation in evangelism, resistance to evangelism, and the triumph of evangelism. He reminds us that we can proclaim the gospel with great hope, looking forward to seeing the fruits of our evangelism, a time when “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” will stand before the throne of the Lamb, clothed in white and crying out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:9–10).

     For too long, the church has attempted to achieve a worthy goal through worldly means. Let us heed Kuiper’s plea and leave man-centered Madison Avenue methods behind. May we fulfill the Great Commission in a God-glorifying manner.

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Per Amazon, Keith A. Mathison (MA, Reformed Theological Seminary; PhD, Whitefield Theological Seminary) is dean of the Ligonier Academy of Biblical and Theological Studies and an associate editor of Tabletalk magazine at Ligonier Ministries. He is editor of When Shall These Things Be: A Reformed Response to Hyper-Preterism and associate editor of The Reformation Study Bible. He lives in Lake Mary, Florida, with his wife and children.

• 1     Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Hope
• 2     The Shape of Sola Scriptura
• 3     Given for You: Reclaiming Calvin's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper
• 4     From Age to Age: The Unfolding of Biblical Eschatology
• 5     Dispensationalism: Rightly Dividing the People of God?
• 6     A Reformed Approach to Science and Scripture
• 7     Not a Chance: God, Science, and the Revolt against Reason
• 8     When Shall These Things Be?: A Reformed Response to Hyper-Preterism

For All the Saints

By R.C. Sproul Jr. 9/1/2009

     Unity matters. However, so does diversity. Indeed, unity and diversity unite in the very nature of God. God is three persons united in one essence. The world around us fails to see how God’s creation reflects the Trinity, and it always therefore either veers toward the imposition of the one or the disintegration of the many. It either blurs or destroys distinctives in the first case, or in the second, it fragments because, in the words of T.S. Eliot, the center cannot hold. It either dies the death of a single tone, or death by cacophony.

     As such, we ought to celebrate both unity and diversity, the one and the many, three persons and one essence. God, after all, does the same. The God we worship, God in three persons, knits together the church as one body. The God we worship calls out a people where there is no more Jew or Greek. Most importantly of all, He unites us with Himself through the atoning work of His Son. On the other hand, our God is likewise the God of divisions. Even as far back as the garden of Eden we see God at work dividing. He divided day and night, land and water, man and animal. And each day He saw what He had done, both creating and dividing, and called it good.

     That division hit its apex also in the garden. There God promised another division when He spoke to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring” (Gen. 3:15). This same division comes to its ultimate fruition at the end of all time when Jesus will separate the sheep and the goats for all eternity.

     Even as the serpent, from that time forward, has been busy trying to sow division among the people of God in order to destroy the unity we enjoy in the faith, so he has been busy trying to blur the chasm that separates the two seeds. He has encouraged the seed of the serpent to see themselves as God’s children when they are not. He has encouraged the seed of the woman to see themselves as at peace with all men when we are not. He has encouraged us to forget the war and to forget that those who walk among us outside the kingdom are not our kin but our enemies. Unity with them is, according to God’s judgment, an abomination.

     It may well be that the worst fruit of this confusion is simply a blurring of our calling. Because we fail to see the great divide between sheep and goats, we look at the world as a neutral place. Worse still, we look at our own telos, or purpose, in neutral terms. We measure success in our lives by the same standards as those outside the kingdom, seeing our faith as something we add to our lives rather than seeing our faith as our lives. We are, in a word, worldly. We who are called to walk by the Spirit too often are one flesh with the world. We deny that we have been called out, set apart — that we are to be separate from the world, to be holy. We refuse to follow the command of the Captain of our army who told us to set aside the petty concerns of the world and to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

     We will not seek first the kingdom of God until we come to realize that this kingdom is at war with the kingdom of men. God declared war in the garden in response to the attack of the serpent. At Calvary our Lord won the definitive victory, having His heel bruised even as He crushed the serpent’s head. Since Jesus walked out of His tomb victorious, our calling has been to be about the mop-up operation. He has already overcome the world, and so we, being of good cheer, go and make the victory known. We bring heaven down to earth by doing His will here as our spiritual fathers do His will there.

     Of course, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Of course, we are called to love our enemies. Of course, we are to seek, as much as is possible, to live in peace and quietness before all men. Such does not mean, of course, that we are not called to wage war. Such does not mean that we have no enemies. Such does not mean that all men are content to live in peace and quietness with us. We love our enemies by waging war. Our very peace and quietness rattles them like so much artillery bombardment. Indeed, we lose the war precisely when we lose our peace. And in turn, we fail to enjoy peace when we cease to wage war.

     We who have been called out are different from the world. Our loyalty is toward another King, and our citizenship is in another kingdom. We, His body, are united together. But we are divided from the rest of the world by a chasm as wide as the east is from the west and as thin as a scarlet thread. We are one, and we are promised this victory parade (from Wm. How’s “for all the Saints”):

     From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Alleluia! Alleluia!

What Stories Do

By Sally Lloyd-Jones 5/01/2013

     Almost overnight, my eight-year-old niece went from being a vivacious little girl who sang her way through life — as if she were singing the soundtrack of her own life the movie — and became a frightened, withdrawn child who spoke so softly you could barely hear her. It was as if she were literally losing her voice, losing herself. And then we found out she was being bullied at school.

     Later, she told me that she thought she wouldn’t get in trouble if she tried not to be herself. It broke my heart, and I wished she had a book to read before school to hear what God says about her, not what those bullies were saying about her. So I thought I better write one — it’s called Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing, and it has become a book of hope for children.

     Children look to us for everything. But in all that we’ve given children, have we forgotten to give them hope? Have we left them in despair, looking at what they should do but don’t? Looking at who they should be but aren’t? How, then, do we give hope to children?

     By helping them take the focus off themselves and put it back on God where it belongs. By telling them truths such as these:

God holds the oceans in the palm of his hand. If he can hold the oceans, he can hold you. (p. 106)
If God cares for the tiniest sparrow— how much more must he care for you, his child? (p. 152)
If Jesus can calm a storm on a lake, he can calm the storm in your heart. (p. 181)
God sees not just who you are— but who he is going to make you. (p. 145)

     We give hope to children when we tell them what matters most.

     They don’t need to be told to try harder, believe more, or do better. That just leaves them in despair. Taken by itself, the moral code always leaves us in despair. We can never live up to it.  We don’t need a moral code — we need a Rescuer.

     When I go to churches and speak to children, I ask them two questions: First, “how many people here sometimes think you have to be good for God to love you?” They tentatively raise their hands. I raise my hand along with them. Second, “How many people here sometimes think that if you aren’t good, God will stop loving you?” They look around and again raise their hands.

     These are children in Sunday schools who know the Bible, and yet they have somehow missed the most important thing of all. They have missed what the Bible is all about. They are children like I once was. I thought God couldn’t love me because I wasn’t doing it right.

     How, then, do we help them? What can we do?  We can teach children that the Bible is not about them.

     The Bible isn’t merely about them and what they should be doing. It’s about God and what He has done. It’s not merely a book of rules telling you how to behave so that God will love you. It’s not merely a book of heroes that gives you people to copy so that God will love you.

     Most of all, the Bible is the Story — the story of how God loves His children and comes to rescue them. And in spite of everything, no matter what, whatever it cost Him — God won’t ever stop loving His children with a wonderful, neverstopping, never-giving-up, unbreaking, always, and forever love. Are we telling children the Story — or teaching them a mere lesson?

     My niece didn’t need another lesson. What she needed to know was that she is loved — with a wonderful, never-stopping, never-giving- up, unbreaking, always, and forever love. What she needed was to be invited into the Story. What she needed was to meet the Hero and become part of His magnificent Story. That is because the rules don’t change you. But the Story — God’s Story — does.

     How, then, do we instill a love for God in children? Simply by telling them the Story — the Story of how God loves His children and comes to rescue them. By telling it well. Telling it faithfully. Telling it simply. Telling it without dumbing it down. Telling it without explaining it to death. Telling it without drilling it down into a moral lesson.

     Stories don’t tell the truth confrontationally. They don’t coerce you. They don’t argue with you to believe them. They just are. The power of the story isn’t in summing it up, drilling it down, or reducing it to an abstract idea. The power of the story isn’t in the lesson. The power of the story is the story.

     When God sent the prophet Nathan to King David (2 Sam. 12:1-4), Nathan didn’t confront David with a sermon about his sin but told him a story. David didn’t see it coming. The story got by his defenses.

     That’s the thing a true story does — it doesn’t come at you directly and raise a wall of defense. It comes around the side and captures your heart.

Click here to go to source

• Loved: The Lord’s Prayer (Jesus Storybook Bible)
• Lift the Flap Bible
• Found: Psalm 23 (Jesus Storybook Bible)
• Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing
• The Jesus Storybook Bible Gift Edition: Every Story Whispers His Name
• The Jesus Storybook Bible Deluxe Edition: With CDs
• How to Be a Baby . . . by Me, the Big Sister
• The Jesus Storybook Bible, Read-Aloud Edition: Every Story Whispers His Name
• Baby's Hug-a-Bible
• Baby Wren and the Great Gift
• The Ultimate Guide to Grandmas & Grandpas!
• Goldfish on Vacation
• The Story of God's Love for You
• By Lloyd-Jones, Sally, Shammas, Sam The Jesus Storybook Bible Curriculum Kit (2012) Hardcover
• Historias Bíblicas de Jesús para niños: Cada historia susurra su nombre (Jesus Storybook Bible) (Spanish Edition)
• The Jesus Storybook Bible Curriculum Kit Handouts, New Testament
• Just Because You're Mine
• Tiny Bear's Bible
• Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story
• Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing Deluxe Edition
• Skip to the Loo! A Potty Book
• Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing Deluxe Edition
• Bunny's First Spring
• Tiny Bear's Bible
• Little One, We Knew You'd Come
• My Merry Christmas (padded board book)
• Time to Say Goodnight
• By Sally Lloyd Jones My Merry Christmas: And the Real Reason for Christmas Joy (Board Book with die cut)
• Poor Doreen: A Fishy Tale
• How to Get Married ... by Me, the Bride (How To Series)

The Coming of the Kingdom part 27

By Dr. Andrew Woods 01/26/2015

Evangelical Confusion

We began scrutinizing New Testament texts that "kingdom now" theologians employ in their attempt to argue that the kingdom is a present reality. The purpose of this examination is to show that none of these passages, when rightly understood, teach a present, spiritual form of the kingdom. In last month's article, we began to scrutinize the typical texts from the Book of  Acts used by "kingdom now" theologians.

Jesus Currently Reigning On David's Throne?

Perhaps the primary reason advanced by "kingdom now" theologians in their attempt to equate God's present work in the church with the present, spiritual manifestation of the Messianic kingdom is that following His Ascension Christ supposedly took His seat on David's Throne in heaven. From this regal position He now orchestrates the spiritual Messianic kingdom through the church. As we shall see, "kingdom now" theologians build much of their case from  Acts 2. However, in general, it is far better to reject the notion that the Davidic Kingdom is present in any sense today and instead to maintain that the Davidic Kingdom will not be inaugurated until the millennial age. At least six reasons exist in support of this conclusion.

First, in the last article, we noted that the Old Testament consistently depicts the Davidic Throne in terrestrial rather than celestial terms. Second, because of this scriptural portrayal of the Davidic Throne, we observed that to argue that the Davidic Throne is now manifesting itself in this age from heaven is to place under unnatural duress the notions of progress of revelation and literal or normal, grammatical, historical hermeneutics. Progressive revelation is the idea that, although latter Scripture can clarify, explain, or specify what earlier Scripture has said, latter Scripture can never change the original promise. In the last article, we noted how both Amillennialists and Historic Premillennialists, by embracing a present, celestial interpretation of the Davidic Throne and Kingdom, depart from a normal understanding of progressive revelation. However, they are not the only ones.

Progressive Dispensationalists are those who maintain that the Davidic Kingdom is present in spiritual form. While still holding to a future or "not yet" earthly reign of Christ following Christ's Second Advent, Progressive Dispensationalists still argue that the Davidic Kingdom is "already" here in spiritual form. Thus, they also contend that Jesus now reigns from David's Throne in heaven over the church. They argue that "The Davidic throne and the heavenly throne of Jesus at the right hand of the Father are one and the same." [1] However, it is only possible to transfer David's Throne from earth to heaven in the Progressive Dispensational system if one a priori embraces a new hermeneutical methodology known as "complementary hermeneutics." This novel interpretive approach allows mere "crucial linking allusions," or "pictorial descriptions" of Jesus as the heir to David's Throne to expand the original terrestrial promise of the Davidic Throne so that it now encompasses a current spiritual form of the Davidic Kingdom with Jesus presently ruling from a celestial Davidic Throne. [2] Here is how Progressive Dispensationalists define "complementary hermeneutics": "the New Testament does introduce change and advance; it does not merely repeat Old Testament revelation. In making complementary additions, however, it does not jettison Old Testament promises. The enhancement is not at the expense of the original promise." [3]

Lightner explains why complementary hermeneutics is not the same thing as progressive revelation. "'Complementary hermeneutics' must not be confused with the historic orthodox doctrine of progressive revelation. The latter truth means that God revealed His truth gradually, sometimes over a long period of time. What was revealed later never changed the original revelation, however. The meaning and the recipients of the original promise always remain the same." [4] In other words, because Progressive Dispensationalists believe that the New Testament actually thrusts new meaning into an Old Testament passage rather than simply amplify or clarify what was originally there, complementary hermeneutics cannot be properly categorized as progressive revelation. Only by buying into the presupposition of "complementary hermeneutics" (that the New Testament based on mere allusions to Jesus as the Davidic heir in His present session adds meaning to or changes the original promise), and in the process rejecting a proper view of progressive revelation, is such a "Davidic kingdom now" theology even remotely possible.

Furthermore, one wonders what havoc could be wreaked upon other biblical doctrines if complementary hermeneutics were consistently applied. Ryrie asks whether the hermeneutic of Progressive Dispensationalism when consistently applied, might one day be used to argue for post-tribulationalism. After all, if the Davidic allusions of  Acts 2 can be used to extend the Davidic Covenant into the Church Age, then why cannot the temple allusion of  Revelation 11 be similarly used to extend the church, which the New Testament consistently portrays as a temple, into the Tribulation period? [5]

The authenticity of New Testament interpretations must be judged by their harmony and congruence with prior revelation. Determining what is true by its conformity to prior revelation is a principle that is taught throughout Scripture ( Deut. 13:1-5; Acts 17:11; Gal. 1:6-9; 1 Thess. 5:21; 1 Cor. 14:29; 1 John 4:1; Rev. 2:2 ). Because standard Progressive Dispensational interpretive methodology changes the original promise by placing Jesus on David's Throne in heaven in the present, based upon mere allusions to Him as Davidic heir despite the terrestrial nature of the original promise, the Progressive Dispensational system and theology are suspect. Hence, only through a departure from progressive revelation can any theological system involving a present celestial reign of Christ from David's Throne be sustained.

Third, no New Testament verse or passage clearly puts Christ on David's Throne in the present age. There is no single, irrefutable New Testament passage substantiating the doctrine that Jesus is currently reigning on David's Throne. The New Testament merely depicts Christ's present position as a return to the preincarnate glory that He experienced with the Father from eternity past ( John 13:3; 17:5; Acts 3:13 ). The fact that Christ is presently experiencing this glory as the ultimate heir to David's Throne does not necessarily mean that His Davidic Kingdom has been inaugurated.

An interesting parallel is found in the career of David. An interim period transpired between David's anointing as king ( 1 Sam. 16 ) and his actual enthronement ( 2 Sam. 2; 5 ). During this interim period Saul was still reigning as king. People were forced to chose to either walk by sight and follow Saul or walk by faith and follow David. They did the latter by trusting God's promise that the anointed David would one day reign after Saul had been deposed. A similar interim period exists between Christ's anointing as the Davidic heir and His enjoyment of glory at the right hand of the Father ( Acts 2:33-35 ) and when He will actually rule on the Throne of David during the Millennium ( Matt. 25:31; Rev. 20:1-10 ). [6] During this present interim period a Saul-like entity, Satan, is reigning as king ( Luke 4:5-8; John 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 1 John 5:19 ). Thus, people today are being similarly forced to choose to either walk by sight and follow Satan or walk by faith and follow a David - like individual, Christ. They do the latter by trusting God's promise that the anointed Christ would one day reign after Satan has been deposed.

Moreover, rather than describing Christ's present position as reigning on David's Throne, the New Testament simply describes Christ's present position as being at the right hand of the Father ( Acts 7:55-56; Rom. 8:34; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Pet. 3:22 ). Other passages indicate that Christ was caught up to God's throne following His ascension ( Rev. 12:5 ) but the New Testament never calls God's celestial throne David's Throne. In fact, 60 years after His Ascension Christ, in  Revelation 3:21, drew a sharp distinction between His present position on His Father's celestial throne and His future, terrestrial Davidic Throne. In  Revelation 3:21, Jesus says, "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne." Regarding this verse, Couch makes the following observation: "Christ is here saying that, those who are spiritually victorious, will be rewarded (future tense of didomi) by joining Him in His earthly Messianic reign, just as He overcame (aorist or past tense) and sat down (aorist or past tense) with His Father on His throne." [7] Putting all of the pieces together, we can safely surmise that in  Revelation 3:21 Christ's throne refers to His future Davidic terrestrial throne while the Father's throne refers to the celestial throne of God ( Ps. 110, Dan. 7 ).

The early chapters of  Acts are frequently appealed to in order to demonstrate the present, celestial Davidic enthronement of Christ. Yet in  Acts 1:6-7, the disciples asked the Lord if He was now going to restore the kingdom to Israel. Such a restoration is a reference to the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant. In verse  7, Christ responded, "It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority." Of this response, Pentecost observes, "This passage makes it clear that while the covenanted form of the Theocracy has not been cancelled and has only been postponed, this present age is definitely not a development of the Davidic form of the kingdom." [8]

ENDNOTES

A Pastor’s Love for Christ

By Nicholas Batzig 5/01/2013

     Dr. John H. Skilton was professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia for almost fifty-eight years (1939–1998). He was one of the most scholarly men in the church. Rumors have circulated over the years that he had memorized the entire Greek New Testament, together with every textual variant. His doctoral dissertation, “The Translation of the New Testament into English, 1881–1950,” which he lost on a public bus in Philadelphia and then reconstructed from memory, shows something of his unique breadth of knowledge in theology and linguistics. In addition, John served as the editor of The Westminster Theological Journal from 1968 to 1973.

     While John’s commitment to biblical scholarship is certainly worthy of the highest commendation and imitation, it is not that for which he is most affectionately remembered. When John retired from full-time professorship in 1973, he opened his home in the Vietnamese section of Philadelphia to missionaries, pastors, believers, neighbors, and the homeless. Quite appropriately, this place of mercy and love became known as “The Skilton House.” Some of my fondest childhood memories were spent observing this man, whom I’ve subsequently heard others refer to as “the most loving man I’ve ever met.”

     What was the secret to John’s greatness in ministry? Was it his intellectual acumen? Was it personal ambition? Was it a desire to bring about change in the world? While all of these things have their place, at its core, the secret to John’s greatness in ministry was a heart full of love for the Christ who first loved him (John 11:5; 13:1, 32; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20; 1 John 4:19). Like the Apostle John, Dr. Skilton was a model of what it means for a minister to express love for the Lord and His people in ministry (John 15:9–13; 13:34–35; 1 John 2:5; 2:15; 5:1). Every pastor ought to carry out Christian service from a heart full of love for God.

     Sadly, many in the pastorate often neglect this all-important aspect of ministry. It is far too easy for a minister to slide into a mode of fleshly dependence and self-interest. This becomes the modus operandi when love for God is forsaken. When we are motivated by self-interest, then pride, worldly pursuits, discontentment, complacency, or discouragement begin to characterize our ministry. When internal enemies battle for the driver’s seat of the heart, love for the church tends to wane as well.

     Ministers may inadvertently neglect love to God for a variety of reasons. An awareness of how far short we fall of God’s command to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength may sometimes lie behind a neglect of love for God. We may adopt a sinful complacency since we know that we will inevitably fail to love God as we ought. For others,  an overemphasis on the objective truth of Scripture to the neglect of the subjective experience of it in our lives  can lead to lovelessness toward God in the heart. No matter how spiritually aware of personal weakness or doctrinally sound pastors may be, we are ever in danger of falling into this trap.

     So what can ministers do to cultivate an unswerving love for Christ? The loveless heart will be cured only when we know and are convinced of the love that Christ has for unworthy sinners like us. The Apostle Paul taught that this was the secret to his self-sacrificing ministry (2 Cor. 5:14). He expressed his own experiential grasp of Christ’s love for him when he wrote, “The life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Love for God will always be absent until we remember our sinfulness and look in faith to the crucified Savior who loved us and gave Himself for us.

     We also see how love for Christ flows from the love of Christ in the account of the sinful woman who came to Jesus in selfless abandonment and brokenness (Luke 7:36–50). Our Lord explained that “she loved much” because her sins had been forgiven, but “to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (Luke 7:47). So it is for ministers of the gospel. The pastor who knows that he has been forgiven of much will love much, but he who forgets how much he has been forgiven will love little.

     All pastors can slide into seasons of lovelessness in ministry. We would be wise to heed the words of one whose life and ministry was preeminently characterized by love to Christ:

     We must ever guard against doing what is formally right without putting our heart in what we are doing… . We must remember that though we bestow all our goods to feed the poor and have not love, it profits us nothing. Be not like those who draw nigh to God with their mouth and honor Him with their lips, but whose heart is far from Him. Let us keep … our hearts with a faith that works by love — a faith that is genuine and true, which joyously and spontaneously expresses itself in deeds of compassion and love. (John H. Skilton, Think on These Things)

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By John Walvoord (1990)

Prophecy In The Pauline Epistles |  Romans

     In the epistle to the  Romans, the apostle Paul, guided by the Spirit, stated the basic theology of Scripture, including Old Testament revelation, but also the new revelation that came through the first coming of Christ. Many of the major doctrines of the Christian faith are to some extent revealed in the Old Testament, but fuller revelation came with the declaration of God’s purpose to call out the church, composed of both Jews and Gentiles, forming a new entity that the Old Testament had not predicted.

     The theology of the church provided a new, more comprehensive statement. Accordingly, in the epistle to the  Romans, the apostle Paul presented the doctrine of sanctification, the relationship of God’s present purpose in the church to His declared purposes for Israel, and the major principles of Christian life, which are the practical applications of the great doctrines of theology. As Paul was especially concerned with how the doctrine of the church related to the promises given to Israel, three chapters were devoted to this ( Rom. 9–11 ).

     It is probable that the epistle to the  Romans was preceded by  1 and  2 Thessalonians, Galatians, and  1 Corinthians. Having already stated, particularly in the  Thessalonian epistles and in  1 Corinthians, the doctrine of the rapture of the church, Paul did not consider it necessary to restate this doctrine in the epistle to the  Romans.

     As the epistle concerns itself primarily with the theology that existed at the time of Paul’s writing the epistle, the book does not provide an extensive prophetic outline of the future. Only occasionally in  Romans are future events predicted, but those that are mentioned are of essential character, including prophecies concerning Israel that will be fulfilled after the present age. Though the epistle to the  Romans emphasized the situation at the time Paul lived, as is always the case, doctrine realized in the present has an implication and fulfillment in the future. Accordingly, when the epistle touches on prophecy, it deals with important future events.

The Implications of a Doctrine of Sin to Future Divine Judgment

     Romans 2:5–16. The doctrine of sin and guilt always has a present application, while also implying future judgment. In dealing especially with Gentile sin and rebellion against God, Paul revealed that there will be certain divine judgment. He stated, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger” (vv.  5–8 ).

     Earlier in this chapter Paul argued that all men have fallen short of God’s moral standards and that therefore they should not pass judgment on others. He summarized, “So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?” (v.  3 ) Since all have sinned, as Paul made clear later in this epistle, salvation is by faith and by grace.

     There is, however, a different quality of life in those who are saved from those who are not saved. Those who persist in being unrepentant, as Paul stated, face certain judgment from God. In speaking of “the day of God’s wrath” (v.  5 ), Paul was not referring to any specific day though, as Scripture unfolds the series of judgments that will characterize the judgment of all men, the final judgment will come at the end of the millennial kingdom ( Rev. 20:11–15 ). Those who are saved have a different quality of life that demonstrates they have come to God in repentance and faith. Accordingly, their manner of life will be rewarded and result in eternal life. The life of doing good and receiving eternal life is obviously not possible unless a person believes and accepts the truth of God’s gospel ( Rom. 2:6–8 ).

     Though Paul was dealing primarily with Gentiles, he made it clear that Jews are in the same situation: “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism” (vv.  9–11 ). The difference between Jew and Gentile is that the Jew has been given the revelation of the Law and the Gentile has not, but this does not change the fundamental requirements of doing what is right in God’s sight.

     Paul specifically addressed the distinction between those who sin who know the Law and those who do not: “All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it those who obey the law who will be declared righteous” (vv.  12–13 ).

     Paul used the word law in a number of different senses in his epistles. The point he made is that those who are under the Mosaic law who are Jews will be judged by it; but that the Gentiles have a general moral law, and if they are living in the will of God, they will, to some extent, conform to the Mosaic law in its moral teachings.

     Paul stated, “(Indeed, when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares” (vv.  14–16 ).

     Because all men have a conscience that to some extent distinguishes right from wrong, and because God deals with the hearts of men, even if they are not Jews under the Mosaic law, they will be judged on the moral code they recognize as witnessed by their conscience.

     In dealing with the day of judgment, Paul had in mind that God will judge Christians at the time of the rapture, as brought out in his previous writing in  1 Corinthians 3:11–15; 9:24–27. The unsaved, however, will not be judged finally until after the millennial kingdom. In life, however, God also deals judgment to those who rebel against Him, and they experience the wrath of God as it is expressed in history. The final judgment, however, will determine the ultimate destiny of the soul. This will be especially evident at the great tribulation preceding the second coming of Christ.

Reconciliation through Justification

     Romans 5:9–11; 6:8; 8:1. Having demonstrated the need for salvation because of the universal condemnation described in  Romans 1:18–20, and having expounded the doctrine of justification, Paul then turned to the wonderful reconciliation that justification provides: “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” ( 5:9–11 ).

     Justification has declared the one who trusts in Christ to be righteous in his position before God because God sees him in the person and work of His Son. The argument is that if we were saved from God’s wrath by justification in time, how much more, having been reconciled, will Christians enjoy salvation in this life and the life to come!

     Later, Paul revealed further light on this subject of being seen in the life of Christ: “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears then you also will appear with him in glory” ( Col. 3:3–4 ). Justification as a particular act of God occurs at the moment of salvation. Thereafter, we enjoy justification because God sees us through His Son. This will become especially evident in the final judgment. Not only have we been justified already but we also have been reconciled to God by the death of His Son ( Rom. 5:11 ).

     Here, as in all of his discussions on salvation, Paul made clear that salvation is something God does for those who trust in Christ, and justification and reconciliation are true for every believer from the moment of his salvation. The enjoyment of it in time and eternity demonstrates the wonderful fact of salvation in Christ.

     A similar thought of how salvation is manifest in life is expressed in  Romans 6:8, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” Just as death precedes resurrection, so those who are identified with Christ in His death are also identified with Him in His resurrection. This is a present benefit as well as a guarantee of future blessing. The one who is in Christ will not come into condemnation ( 8:1 ).

Prophecy of a Believer as Son and Heir Inheriting Glory

     Romans 8:12–39. The true believer in Christ is described as having no condemnation (v.  1 ) and as one who is living under the control of the Holy Spirit. Even though this does not produce a perfect moral life, it nevertheless characterizes the believer who is living under the new nature rather than the old (v.  13 ). Present experience of salvation is the forerunner of that which is prophesied. If the believer is now a child of God (v.  17 ), then he is also the heir of God (v.  17 ). As such, we may share some sufferings in this present life, but we also will share in the glory to come.

     Contrasting our present suffering with future glory helps a Christian to realize what Paul stated: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (v.  18 ). The sufferings of a Christian are paralleled by sufferings in the world as a whole, for all creation is groaning and suffering like a woman giving birth (vv.  22–23 ). When a Christian experiences suffering, he all the more anticipates the full meaning of being adopted as a son of God. Though this takes place in our present life, when God recognizes a Christian as His son, it gives a basis for hope that ultimately the sufferings will cease and makes it possible to hope patiently (v.  25 ). Even though a Christian may not know how to pray under some circumstances, the promise is given that the Holy Spirit will pray as his intercessor (vv.  26–27 ).

     Having been saved, a Christian enters into the divine process of ultimate glorification described by Paul: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (vv.  29–30 ).

     On the basis of God’s sovereign work for a believer, which will not be consummated until he is presented perfect in glory, Paul stated the great truth that a Christian can “know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (v.  28 ). The point is that a Christian was predestined before he was saved, and he was called and justified when he was saved. Now being justified and declared righteous by God, his next state will be one of glorification.

     All of this, of course, is based on grace because a Christian has been chosen, and his salvation has been possible because God did not spare His own Son (v.  32 ). There is no danger of a Christian ever coming into condemnation and being declared lost. This is because he is seen in Christ who died and was resurrected and is supported by His present intercession in heaven: “Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (v.  34 ).

     The complete safety of the believer is presented in the classic conclusion of this chapter, in which Paul declared that nothing can separate a Christian from the love of Christ (v.  35 ). While it is true that a Christian may face death and suffering as a martyr, it is also true that a Christian conquers through Christ who loves him.

     Paul declared his own faith and the content of every Christian’s faith: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv.  38–39 ). This detailed summary covers the whole gospel experience of man. Like all other aspects of our salvation, it is based on grace rather than reward. But having entered by faith into the grace that is in Christ Jesus, the believer has the certain hope that what is promised will certainly be fulfilled.

God’s Mercy Is under His Sovereign Will

     Romans 9:10–33. The doctrine of the sovereignty of God, so firmly embedded in history and prophecy, was discussed at length by Paul, who used Jacob and Esau as illustrations. Concerning this important point in God’s manifesting His choice of Israel as a special nation, Paul declared, “Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad — in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls — she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ Just as it is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated’” (vv.  10–13 ).

     The quotation referring to Jacob being loved and Esau being hated is derived from  Malachi 1:2–3. This must be understood in the wider revelation of the entire Bible because  John 3:16 declares that God loves the world, which would include Esau. In other words, the choice is relative. Jacob He loved in advance, and Esau He did not. Now Paul brings up the question as to whether this is unjust: “What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” ( Rom. 9:14–16 ).

     Using the illustration of Pharaoh, Paul pointed out that God’s hardening of an unrepentant sinner is often based on an additional offering of forgiveness. As in the case of Pharaoh, Paul wrote, “‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’

     Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (vv.  17–18). As Paul pointed out, the way God hardened Pharaoh’s heart was by giving him repeated opportunities to yield to the will of God regarding Israel. The final chapter was written when Pharaoh pursued them into the Red Sea and was drowned. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart came not from the heart of God but from the heart of Pharaoh.

     Paul used another illustration to demonstrate why God is sovereign. Describing a potter making a clay pot, he asked the question, “‘Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” (vv.  20–21).

     The process of enduring with patience those people who are destined to the wrath of God is justified by the fact that this makes the riches of the glory of His grace all the more evident, both for Jews and for Gentiles (vv.  23–24 ).

     Recognizing the importance of this is a major doctrine of Scripture. Paul then quoted from  Hosea 2:23: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one” ( Rom. 9:25 ). This passage calls attention to a fine point in exegesis in which interpretation and application are different. The passage quoted is to show that God in general is sovereign in His mercies, whether to Jew or Gentile. The quotation from  Hosea 2:23, however, is in reference to Israel who, because of her sins, was declared not to be the people of God and then in grace is restored. The fact that he is here referring to Israel, not Gentiles, as interpretation is concerned, is brought out in his further quotation of  Hosea 1:10, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God’” ( Rom. 9:26 ). Paul used this illustration of God’s mercy with Israel, however, to support his concept of mercy also given to the Gentiles and, while not interpreting the book of Hosea, to make an application. At stake is the distinction made throughout Scripture that Israel is separate from Gentile nations, and this must be understood in this passage.

     Further light is given from the book of  Isaiah ( 10:22–23 ): “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality” ( Rom. 9:27–28 ). Even for Israel, the covenanted people, only those who come to the Lord will be received in mercy and grace, and probably the great bulk of the nation will be lost.

     Paul further supported this in a quotation from  Isaiah: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah” (v.  29 ).

     As a conclusion to this complicated argument, Paul stated that the Gentiles, even though not the favored people of God, will have righteousness as they turn to God, but the people of Israel, who would normally be considered the ones who should pursue the law of righteousness, will not attain it because they have not put trust in Jesus Christ. “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the ‘stumbling stone.’ As it is written: ‘See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame’” (vv.  30–33 ).

     Christ as the stone is presented in Scripture in various characterizations. He was the smitten rock ( Ex. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4 ); He was portrayed as the foundation and chief cornerstone of the church ( Eph. 2:20 ). Here, as is also true for the Jews at His first coming, He is a “stumbling block” (cf.  1 Cor. 1:23 ). He will be the stone that is the capstone of the corner when He comes in His second coming ( Zech. 4:7 ). According to  Daniel 2:34, He will be the smiting stone that destroys Gentile power. Also in verse  35, he will be the stone that expands and fills the earth when He takes over the earth as His kingdom. To unbelievers also, He is a crushing stone ( Matt. 21:44 ).

     All of these illustrations combine to emphasize the sovereign character of God and on the other hand, the responsibility of man to respond to God’s message of grace and salvation. The same truth that saves one will condemn another. Taken as a whole,  Romans 9 accounts for the extension of the gospel to the Gentiles because the Jews did not respond in faith to Jesus Christ. This sets the stage for  Romans 10, dealing with Israel’s present opportunity, and  Romans 11, Israel’s future restoration.

The Opportunity of Salvation in the Present Age

     Romans 10:8–21. Though it is true that God has temporarily set aside Israel as a nation and moved in Gentiles for their blessing in the present age, it is also true that every individual, whether Jew or Gentile, can be saved by coming to Christ. Paul speaks of the word of faith that is the message of salvation, “‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame’” (vv.  8–11 ).

     Not only is the gospel open to all, but both Jews and Gentiles can be saved in the same way: “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (vv.  12–13 ).

     Here there is a repetition of the truth also extended in  Romans 9:33 that individuals who trust in God, whether Jews or Gentiles, can be saved. Accordingly, though Israel as a nation has been temporarily set aside, and progress in its prophetic program as outlined in the Old Testament has stopped, individual Jews can still be saved in exactly the same way that Gentiles can be saved.

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Every Prophecy of the Bible: Clear Explanations for Uncertain Times

The Look of Faith (Prayer)

By Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

     OUR Father, we have listened to Thy gracious words. Truly Thy paths drop fatness. Wherever Thou art, mercy abounds. Before Thy feet rivers of grace spring up. When Thou comest to man it is with the fulness of pardoning love. Thou hast bidden us come to Thee and seek Thee while Thou mayest be found. We would come now. May Thy holy Spirit help us ! May Jesus lead the way and be our Mediator now !

     Blessed be Thy name ; there are many who sought Thy face many years ago. We have since then tasted that Thou art gracious, and we know by a delightful experience that Thou dost indeed give milk and honey to such as trust Thee. Oh! we wish we had known Thee earlier.

     Lord, Thou hast been full of truth and faithfulness to us throughout every step of our journey, and though Thou hast not withheld the rod of the covenant from us, we are as grateful for that this morning as for the kisses of Thy lips. Thou hast dealt well with Thy servants according to Thy Word. Blessed be Thy name for ever and ever.

     But there are some who have never come to Thee ; they are hearers, but hearers only ; they have listened to gracious invitations thousands of times, but they have never accepted them. Say unto them, " Thereto hast thou gone, but no further shalt thou proceed in thy carelessness and trifling.

     Here shalt thou stay and turn unto Thy God." O Saviour, Thou hast all power in heaven and earth, therefore Thou canst through the preaching of Thy Word influence the hearts of men. Turn them, and they shall be turned. Oh ! do it this day.

     We would now in our prayers come ; as we came at first would we come again ; we would renew our vows, we would again repeat our repentance and our faith, and then look at the brazen serpent and touch but the border of Thy garment. We would begin again. O, Lord, help us to do it in sincerity and truth. And first we: do confess that we are by nature lost and by practice ruined. We are altogether as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We would lie at those dear pierced feet bleeding at heart because of sin, wounded, mangled, crushed by the fall and by our own transgression. We confess that if Thou shouldst number our sins upon us and deal with us accordingly we should be sent to the lowest hell.

     We have no merit, no claim, no righteousness of our own. Oh! now, dear Saviour, we look up to Thee. Oh ! that some might look for the first time, and those of us that have long looked would fix our happy gaze again upon that blessed substitutionary sacrifice wherein is all our hope. Dear Saviour, we do take Thee to be everything to us, our sinbearer and our sin-destroyer. We have not a shadow of a shade of a hope anywhere but in Thyself, Thy life. Thy death, Thy resurrection, Thine ascension, Thy glory, Thy reign. Thy second advent ; these are the only stars in our sky.

     We look up to Thee and are filled with light. But O Thou dear, dear Saviour, we dare not turn to ordinances, we dare not turn to our own prayers, and tears, and almsgivings, we dare not look to our own works, we only look to Thee ; Thy wounds, Immanuel, these bleed the balm that heals our wounds, Thy crowned head once girt with thorns, Thy body once laid in the silent tomb, Thy Godhead once covered and concealed from man, but now resplendent amidst triumphant hosts. If we can perish trusting in Thee we must perish, but we know we cannot, for Thou hast bound up our salvation with Thy glory, and because Thou art a glorious Saviour for ever, none that trust in Thee shall ever be confounded.

     But we do trust Thee now. If all our past experience has been a mistake, yet we will begin at the cross today ; or if we have never had any experience of Thee before we would begin today. Oh ! hear Thou, hear Thou the prayer :—

          " Dear Saviour, draw reluctant hearts,
          To Thee let sinners fly."

     By His agony and bloody sweat, by His cross and passion, by His precious death and burial, we beseech Thee hear us now! We plead with Thee for some that are not pleading for themselves. O Spirit of God, let it not be so any longer. Now sweetly use Thy key to open the fast-closed door, and come into men's hearts and dwell there that they may live. We have a thousand things to ask. We should like to plead for our country and for all countries ; we shoud like to plead with Thee for the sick and for the dying, for the poor and for the fatherless. We have innumerable blessings to ask, but somehow they all go away from our prayer just now, and this is our one cry : Save, Lord, we beseech Thee, even now send salvation ! Come Holy Spirit to open blind eyes and unstop deaf ears and quicken dead hearts.

     Father, glorify Thy Son that Thy Son may glorify Thee. Holy Spirit, do Thine office and take of these things of Christ and reveal them unto us. We gather up all our prayers in that salvation through the blood of the Lamb. Amen.

Let No Man Tear Asunder

By R.C. Sproul Jr. 6/01/2013

     My favorite theologian of all time is wont to argue that the defining task of the theologian is to make distinctions. That’s what we do. We bring clarity through precision, precision through distinction. The man who may well be my favorite theologian’s favorite theologian, Francis Turretin, published his three-volume work Institutes of Elenctic Theology (3 Volume Set) as a sort of systematic theology by contrast. Each point is broken down, compared and contrasted, and examined in light of its opposite.

     One could argue that theologians are here following the path of their Maker. We serve a God who delights in distinctions. Reading through the creation account, for instance, we see not only the creation of light, but the separation of light and darkness, not only the creation of land, but the separation of land and sea, or land and sky.

     On the other hand, the same God who delights in distinctions warns us against tearing asunder what He has brought together. He is a God who brings people of every tongue and tribe together into a holy nation, a royal priesthood. He makes of many grains one loaf.

     Reformed theologians especially are given, at least when dealing with the critical issue of our salvation, to razor-thin distinctions. The links in our chain of the ordo salutis, or “order of salvation,” are strong, unbreakable, but nevertheless rather small. There is good reason for this, but also some danger. Sometimes the wedges we drive between concepts go too deep.

     Consider faith and repentance. There is good reason to see these as two distinct things. With one, we look with hope to the provision of God in Christ. With the other, we acknowledge and confess our need for that work. Hypothetically, one could affirm that Jesus died for sinners and miss the glaring truth that the one making the affirmation is a sinner. One could more easily recognize the reality of his sin but know nothing of the provision in Christ. Thus, the two are two, and both equally needful.

     On the other hand, one could argue that the two things are actually one, or at the very least that they flow from the same source. Faith is indeed the coming together of understanding, agreement, and trust. But on a more fundamental level, faith is simply this — believing God. Faith is displayed when God speaks and we say, “Amen.”

     The devil, of course, knows that God is true. He is quite informed on the sacrifice of Christ. He knows to his very core, from the very longing of his heart by which he misses those who slipped through his fingers, that Jesus came to save sinners. He is also quite well aware of what and who he is — a sinner. All of this knowledge will make his eternity that much more painful.

     Faith and repentance, then, might be at their closest when we confess that, as He says, we are sinners, and as we cry out, as He has commanded, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). God says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and we say, “Lord, Your judgments are true.” When God says, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Tim. 1:15), we do not merely affirm our agreement, but we sing it with hallelujahs and amens.

     For all the important nuances, for all the valuable precision, the simple truth of the matter is we fell in the garden because we failed to believe God. All sin is a failure to believe God. The good news is that we are rescued from our sins by believing Him, both His judgment and His promise. That is, we are gifted with faith and repentance.

     Just as we can make theology more complex than it need be, just as we are called, in seeking orthodoxy, to say our amens to what God has revealed about Himself, so we can make the living of our lives in faithfulness, the seeking of orthopraxy, more complex than it need be. Here, too, we are to say our amens about what God has revealed about His promises for us, about His law. He commands that we not worry about what we will eat or wear, and we are called to repent of our fears and believe His promises. He commands us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and we are called to repent for our pursuit of personal peace and affluence, and to believe His promises.

     It is true that God is true and all men are liars. It is true, in turn, that every man is miserly while God is extravagant. Were we wise, we would repent expansively, even as we would believe with both deep conviction and broad expectation. Our sin is simple — we do not believe God, and so do not obey God. The solution is simple — believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household (Acts 16:31). We do not merely believe this once and then nevermore; rather, we believe it both evermore and evermore.

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Read The Psalms In "1" Year

Psalm 104

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.

5 He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.

The Blessing of Persecution

By Cal Thomas 6/01/2013

     “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33; NIV).
     “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt. 5:11; NIV)
     In 1997, while in Hong Kong to write about the British handover of that city to the mainland government, I visited the pastor of one of the largest house churches in China with a missionary friend who knew him. Pastor Lamb, as he was called, was in his 70s at the time. He told me he had spent half his life in prison for preaching the gospel. I asked him if the Public Security Bureau still came around to observe his activities.

     “Not so much now,” he replied.

     “Why not?” I asked.

     “Because,” he said, “every time they threw me in prison, the church grew.”

     We Americans know nothing about such persecution. We think we are being persecuted when a newspaper editorial criticizes us, or someone uses the Lord’s name in vain in our presence, or calls us religious fanatics. Most of the world understands persecution in terms of jail, torture, beheadings, and ostracism from family and friends.

     Jesus said, “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).

     In effect, this means that if you are being persecuted, it isn’t you they are persecuting; rather, it is Jesus in you who is their target. Jesus exposes sin. He is the “smell of death” (2 Cor. 2:16) to those who are perishing, as my pastor, Dr. Robert Norris, once preached in a sermon. People don’t like the smell of death, which, it might be argued is their smell, not ours, because we are alive in Christ and they are dead in their sins. Some try to get rid of the “smell” by persecuting believers.

     The small price I have paid for my faith—angry letters to the editor, some cancellations of my column by a few newspapers (though many more retain it), the social cost of not being invited places because as one person admitted to me, “I was afraid you would start quoting Bible verses”—is nothing compared to my fellow believers in the rest of the world today and throughout history.

     If one seeks to live a life pleasing to God, one will be persecuted, according to no less an authority than Jesus. It is not something to be avoided; it is something to be accepted if the persecution is for the right reason.  It (Persection) validates our life in Christ and His life in us.

     Note that Jesus said in Matthew 5 that we are blessed if we are persecuted by those who “falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” If we are persecuted because of a judgmental attitude, a condemning spirit, or just because we behave in a boorish fashion towards unbelievers, then we get no “credit” from Jesus.

     Suffering is a companion to persecution. Only masochists enjoy suffering, but if one is a follower of Jesus, it comes with the territory. If we seek to avoid persecution and suffering, we are denying Christ because He said we will be persecuted. By seeking to accommodate ourselves to the world in order to avoid persecution and suffering, we are keeping Jesus bottled-up inside and not allowing Him to get out where He can turn our suffering into a powerful witness.

     We live in a relativistic age that says to all of us: you have your “truth,” I have my “truth,” and whatever makes you feel good ought to be fine with everyone else. That this philosophy has produced a social train wreck has not deterred those who believe and behave this way to change their minds.

     If you presume to speak of the truth, as in “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6), you will be called all sorts of things. I have been. So was Jesus.

     The price one pays for public criticism in my business is nothing compared to the rewards that are to come. I have not won many prizes or awards and don’t expect to. My rewards are not denied; they are just deferred. The rewards Jesus gives are far more valuable than any framed document, gold statue, or large check the world can offer.

      Deferring rewards and gratification is the antithesis of the spirit of our age, or any age.  Believing there is something better ahead is viewed as fanaticism and “pie in the sky” by those who are perishing. To the rest of us, it’s called faith.

     Only Jesus could claim to have overcome the world, and because He did, we can accept persecution, suffering and criticism, knowing He will wipe away every tear and make all things new. Great will be the reward of those who think, believe and act this way, not in spite of persecution, but because of it.

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The Continual Burnt Offering (Romans 8:1)

By H.A. Ironside - 1941

September 17

No condemnation! Blessed is the word!
No separation! Forever with the Lord.
By His blood He bought us,
Cleansed our every stain;
With rapture now we’ll praise Him,
The Lamb for sinners slain.