Sovereignty & Mortals

(The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination; Boettner, Loraine)      

       In Isaiah 10:5-15 we have a very remarkable illustration of the way in which divine sovereignty and human freedom work together in perfect harmony: "Ho, Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation! I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. For he saith, Are not my princes all of them kings? Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and Samaria; shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

"Wherefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. For he hath said, by the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding; and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and like a valiant man I have brought down them that sit on thrones; and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathereth eggs that are forsaken, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped. "Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that wieldeth it? As if a rod should wield them that lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood."

Concerning this passage Rice says: "What is the obvious meaning of this passage? It does most unequivocally teach, in the first place, that the king of Assyria, though a proud and ungodly man, was but an instrument in the hands of God, just as the axe, the saw, or the rod in the hands of a man, to execute His purposes upon the Jews; and that God had perfect control of him. It teaches, in the second place that the free agency of the king was not destroyed or impaired by this control, but that he was perfectly free to form his own plans and to be governed by his own desires. For it is declared that he did not design to execute God's purposes, but to promote his own ambitious projects. 'Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and to cut off nations not a few.' It consequently teaches, thirdly, that the king was justly held responsible for his pride, and wickedness, although God so overruled him that he fulfilled His wise
purposes. God decreed to chastise the Jews for their sin. He chose to employ the king of Assyria to execute His purpose, and therefore sent him against them. He would afterward punish the king for his wicked plans. Is it not evident, then, beyond all cavil, that the Scriptures teach that God can and does, so control men, even wicked men, as to bring to pass His wise purposes without interfering with their free agency?"

(The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination; Boettner, Loraine)

If God knew Abraham would obey...

(The Problem of Pain, CS Lewis, 100-101)

If God knew Abraham would obey, why, then, this needless torture?

    A familiar example: Abraham's 'trial' when he was ordered to sacrifice Isaac. With the historicity or the morality of that story I am not now concerned, but with the obvious question, "If God is omniscient He must have known what Abraham would do, without any experiment; why, then, this needless torture?" But as St. Augustine points out (De Civitate Dei, XVI, xxxii), whatever God knew, Abraham at any rate did not know that his obedience could endure such a command until the event taught him: and the obedience which he did not know that he would choose, he cannot be said to have chosen. The reality of Abraham's obedience was the act itself; and what God knew in knowing that Abraham 'would obey' was Abraham's actual obedience on that mountain top at that moment. To say that God 'need not have tried the experiment' is to say that because God knows, the thing known by God need not exist.

(The Problem of Pain, CS Lewis, 100-101)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Ephesians 1:3-14
English Standard Version (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.


Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The Real Deal

            I will start with describing the Prosperity Gospel* and then move into this concept of continuously and increasingly knowing God. The Prosperity Gospel flips the role of God and things...creator and created. It flips the roles in such a way that God becomes the means by which we acquire things making things the all-inclusive end. This completely backward teaching is the Prosperity Gospel. People all over the world are being deceived.

• "I'll have your Jesus if he will give me food on the table!" 
• "I'll have your Jesus if he is how I can finally get that BMW!" 
• "Oh, and I don't get to go to Hell? Perfect!" 

God must be the end and not the means. We use things as a means to get to Him. For example, money. We [can] use money to buy a Bible (to get close to Him) instead of using God as a means to money. 

• "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Mat. 13:44)

          Knowing God

          Knowing God is the greatest gift God gives us. Knowing His glory, His love, His justice, His everything. Remember that "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). To keep in context of this work as a whole, we will focus on the glory of God, an end toward which things work. 

           The Death of Lazarus

           Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."⁴But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." (John 11:1-4)

          Even death  is used as a means to glorify God. Remember Romans 8:28. Instead of preventing Lazarus' death God planned this for them who loved Him to get more of Him so that "the Son of God may be glorified through it." Nothing is off-limits for God.


           Knowing God II


           Knowing God is knowing the ultimate, infinite being. Nothing compares - not knowing business, knowing money, knowing social dynamics, or anything else! Therefore, knowing God is the ultimate gift. So much so, that "He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

• "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:54)

*Any teaching that has another word in front of the word, "Gospel", is no longer the Gospel.

"You're On Your Own"

   I used to be told all the time to join a group of believers - to grow in my faith, because without the support of others, one who was going through life solo would surely fall away. Even Paul had community! He had Timothy, Barnabas, and Luke among many others. ...But I didn't listen to them. So slowly but surely, I fell away.

What does it look like to have real community? And how is it formed? Is it just something that happens when we meet together regularly with other Christians? Or is there something more to it than just meeting and gathering? 

In this 2 minute video clip from a full talk at the Verge Conference, Francis Chan begins to answer the question that so many of us are asking – how can we have real community? The answer that Francis gives, though, might surprise you.

Think back to a time when you experienced deep and meaningful community. What were things that brought you together? Maybe it was a task, an ordeal or a cause that brought you together. Maybe it was an emergency, an unplanned event or a great vision. 

In this video, Francis shows us that the Bible is clear about community. He says that a simple reading of the Bible would not lead to focusing first on gathering. Instead, the Bible makes it clear that what is most important is the mission to make disciples. 

We are to go out on a mission to reach people. We are to teach them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded. And as we are on that mission to reach and disciple people, we would naturally find other people that are on that same mission. 

We would stick out because we would be some of the weirdest people on earth. We would stick out because we would be living lives that are radically different than most other Christians.
We would need each other. We would actually need brothers and sisters to come alongside us. We would need brothers and sisters in Christ to help us. We would need a community of people in order to accomplish the mission. We would need to work together and encourage each other to stay on mission. And we would even suffer together as a community.

(Source: http://www.vergenetwork.org/2011/09/13/francis-chan-how-to-have-real-community-video/)

What is your life?

 Life. We can get caught up in it - making the most irrelevant seem most important...whether good or bad...prosperity or sufferings. But "what is [our] life? For it is but a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (James 4:14).

World Population

     We all go through struggles and hardships just as Jesus said would happen in Luke 6:46-49. Whether you are built on the rock or have been built without a foundation the floods will come! But let us strive to finish the race (Philippians 3:13-14). For Paul "considered that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18). This truth is why Jesus told us to "not lay up for [ourselves] treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:19-20).

      What is the Kingdom? And what does it have to do with my life (and my stuff)? Jesus said, in Matthew 13:44, that the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

How people change

2 Corinthians 3:18

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.