Monday, June 1, 2009

Two Reasons Why I Love Derek Webb.


der


Thankful

You know I ran across
An old box of letters
When I was bagging up some clothes for goodwill

But you know I had to laugh
At the same old struggles
That plagued me then are plaguing me still

‘Cause I know the road is long
From the ground to glory
But a boy can hope he’s getting some place

But you see I’m running from
The very clothes I’m wearing
And dressed like this I’m fit for the chase

You know there is none righteous
Not one who understands
There is none who seeks God no not one
No not one

So I am thankful that I’m incapable of doing any good on my own yeah
Said I’m so thankful that I’m incapable of doing any good on my own yeah

‘Cause we’re all still-born
Dead in our transgressions
Shackled up to the sin we hold so dear

What part can I play
In the work of redemption
‘Cause I can’t refuse and I cannot add a thing

‘Cause I am just like Lazarus
And I can hear your voice
And I stand and rub my eyes and walk to you

Because I have no choice
‘Cause it’s by grace I have been saved
And through faith it’s not my own

It is a gift of God and not by works
Lest anyone should boast-----


Table for Two

Danny and I spent another late night over pancakes
We talked about soccer and how every man’s just the same
And made speculation on the ‘who’s and the ‘when’s of our futures
And how everyone’s lonely but still we just couldn’t complain

And how we just hate being alone
Could I have left my only chance
And now I’m just wasting my time
Looking around

But you know I know better I’m not gonna worry ’bout nothing
‘Cause if the birds and the flowers survive then I’ll make it okay
If given a chance and a rock see which one breaks a window
And see which one keeps me up all night and into the day

Because I’m so scared of being alone
That I forgot what house I live in
But it’s not my job to wait by the phone
For her to call

Well this day’s been crazy but everything’s happened on schedule
From the rain and the cold to the drink that I spilled on my shirt
‘Cause You knew how You’d save me before I fell dead in the garden
And You knew this day long before You made me out of dirt

And You know the plan You have for me
And You can’t plan the ends and not plan the means
And so I suppose I just need some peace
To get me to sleep

Thursday, May 7, 2009

AOG Project, Chapter 8.


8. THE HOLINESS OF GOD


A chief emphasis is placed upon this perfection of God: God is oftener styled Holy than almighty, and set forth by this part of His dignity more than by any other. This is more fixed on as an epithet to His name than any other. You never find it expressed ‘His mighty name’ or ‘His wise name,’ but His great name, and most of all, His holy name. This is the greatest title of honour; in this latter doth the majesty and venerableness of His name appear (S. Charnock).

As it seems to challenge an excellency above all His other perfections, so it is the glory of all the rest; as it is the glory of the Godhead, so it is the glory of every perfection in the Godhead; as His power is the strength of them, so His holiness is the beauty of them; as all would be weak without almightiness to back them, so all would be uncomely without holiness to adorn them. Should this be sullied, all the rest would lose their honour; as at the same instant the sun should lose its light, it would lose its heat, its strength, its generative and quickening virtue. As sincerity is the luster of every grace in a Christian, so is purity the splendor of every attribute in the Godhead. His justice is a holy justice, His wisdom a holy wisdom, His arm of power a "holy arm" (Ps. 98:1), His truth or promise a "holy promise" (Ps. 105:42). His name, which signifies all His attributes in conjunction, "is holy," Psalm 103:1 (S. Charnock).

Not all the vials of judgment that have or shall be poured out upon the wicked world, nor the flaming furnace of a sinner’s conscience, nor the irreversible sentence pronounced against the rebellious demons, nor the groans of the damned creatures, give such a demonstration of God’s hatred of sin, as the wrath of God let loose upon His Son. Never did Divine holiness appear more beautiful and lovely than at the time our Saviour’s countenance was most marred in the midst of His dying groans. This Himself acknowledges in Psa. 22. When God had turned His smiling face from Him, and thrust His sharp knife into His heart, which forced that terrible cry from Him, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He adores this perfection—"Thou art holy," v. 3 (S. Charnock).

This is the prime way of honoring God. We do not so glorify God by elevated admiration, or eloquent expressions, or pompous services of Him, as when we aspire to a conversing with Him with unstained spirits, end live to Him in living like Him (S. Charnock).

Monday, May 4, 2009

Chpt. 7, The Immutability of God, The Photos.

aog


Joshua, Maine.

J7

[ Who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God? But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters and set my feet upon a rock. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. (2 Sam 22, Isa 57, Ps 40) ]


Jessica, Massachusetts.

JK7

[ It's a photo I took when I was in Warsaw of an old Jewish cemetery. It represents two things to me: The ancient and holy history of the Jewish people, with the Hebrew on the tombstones not much different than the Hebrew of the Bible, and the mutability of man as we fight and kill each other with our changing ideologies and passions. Which is, of course, in contrast to the steadiness and unchangeableness of God. ]


Monday, April 27, 2009

Unshrivel My Heart.

"It astonishes me how many Christians watch the same banal, empty, silly, trivial, titillating, suggestive, immodest TV shows that most unbelievers watch - and then wonder why their spiritual lives are weak and their worship experience is shallow with no intensity. If you really want to hear the Word of God the way he means to be heard in truth and joy and power, turn off the television on Saturday night and read something true and great and beautiful and pure and honorable and excellent and worthy of praise (see Philippians 4:8). Then watch your heart unshrivel and begin to hunger for the word of God."

John Piper, Take Care How You Listen (II)


Monday, April 20, 2009

April Book Recommendation.

robinson_crusoe

Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe

I caused Friday to gather all the skulls, bones, flesh, and whatever remained, and lay them together in a heap, and make a great fire upon it, and burn them all to ashes. I found Friday had still a hankering stomach after some of the flesh, and was still a cannibal in his nature; but I showed so much abhorrence at the very thoughts of it, and at the least appearance of it, that he durst not discover it: for I had, by some means, let him know that I would kill him if he offered it.

When he had done this, we came back to our castle; and there I fell to work for my man Friday; and first of all, I gave him a pair of linen drawers, which I had out of the poor gunner's chest I mentioned, which I found in the wreck, and which, with a little alteration, fitted him very well; and then I made him a jerkin of goat's skin, as well as my skill would allow (for I was now grown a tolerably good tailor); and I gave him a cap which I made of hare's skin, very convenient, and fashionable enough; and thus he was clothed, for the present, tolerably well, and was mighty well pleased to see himself almost as well clothed as his master. It is true he went awkwardly in these clothes at first: wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and the sleeves of the waistcoat galled his shoulders and the inside of his arms; but a little easing them where he complained they hurt him, and using himself to them, he took to them at length very well.

The next day, after I came home to my hutch with him, I began to consider where I should lodge him: and that I might do well for him and yet be perfectly easy myself, I made a little tent for him in the vacant place between my two fortifications, in the inside of the last, and in the outside of the first. As there was a door or entrance there into my cave, I made a formal framed door-case, and a door to it, of boards, and set it up in the passage, a little within the entrance; and, causing the door to open in the inside, I barred it up in the night, taking in my ladders, too; so that Friday could no way come at me in the inside of my innermost wall, without making so much noise in getting over that it must needs awaken me; for my first wall had now a complete roof over it of long poles, covering all my tent, and leaning up to the side of the hill; which was again laid across with smaller sticks, instead of laths, and then thatched over a great thickness with the rice- straw, which was strong, like reeds; and at the hole or place which was left to go in or out by the ladder I had placed a kind of trap- door, which, if it had been attempted on the outside, would not have opened at all, but would have fallen down and made a great noise - as to weapons, I took them all into my side every night. But I needed none of all this precaution; for never man had a more faithful, loving, sincere servant than Friday was to me: without passions, sullenness, or designs, perfectly obliged and engaged; his very affections were tied to me, like those of a child to a father; and I daresay he would have sacrificed his life to save mine upon any occasion whatsoever - the many testimonies he gave me of this put it out of doubt, and soon convinced me that I needed to use no precautions for my safety on his account.

This frequently gave me occasion to observe, and that with wonder, that however it had pleased God in His providence, and in the government of the works of His hands, to take from so great a part of the world of His creatures the best uses to which their faculties and the powers of their souls are adapted, yet that He has bestowed upon them the same powers, the same reason, the same affections, the same sentiments of kindness and obligation, the same passions and resentments of wrongs, the same sense of gratitude, sincerity, fidelity, and all the capacities of doing good and receiving good that He has given to us; and that when He pleases to offer them occasions of exerting these, they are as ready, nay, more ready, to apply them to the right uses for which they were bestowed than we are. This made me very melancholy sometimes, in reflecting, as the several occasions presented, how mean a use we make of all these, even though we have these powers enlightened by the great lamp of instruction, the Spirit of God, and by the knowledge of His word added to our understanding; and why it has pleased God to hide the like saving knowledge from so many millions of souls, who, if I might judge by this poor savage, would make a much better use of it than we did. From hence I sometimes was led too far, to invade the sovereignty of Providence, and, as it were, arraign the justice of so arbitrary a disposition of things, that should hide that sight from some, and reveal it - to others, and yet expect a like duty from both; but I shut it up, and checked my thoughts with this conclusion: first, that we did not know by what light and law these should be condemned; but that as God was necessarily, and by the nature of His being, infinitely holy and just, so it could not be, but if these creatures were all sentenced to absence from Himself, it was on account of sinning against that light which, as the Scripture says, was a law to themselves, and by such rules as their consciences would acknowledge to be just, though the foundation was not discovered to us; and secondly, that still as we all are the clay in the hand of the potter, no vessel could say to him, "Why hast thou formed me thus?"

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Lord's Lake.


Ryan
and I had the privilege to meet up with two fellow heirs in the grace of life last weekend for a time of communion with each other and nature. Michael Spotts is a fellow blogger from the west coast, whose didactic posts have been a blessing to me over the past year+, and whose encouraging fellowship I already miss. His, and now our, Wisconsinite friend Erin also joined us at the newly dubbed 'Lord's Lake', where we spent the day hiking, conversing and photomagraph taking. All four of us had our cameras, so be checking their respective blogs over the next couple of days to see their takes on the landscape.



LL1



The rest of the photos from the trip can be found HERE, and entrance to the gallery is granted with the magic code of '1892'. You'll notice that the processing is pretty schizophrenic - I guess that's just where I am right now.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Heartcry Attributes of God Conference 2005.

If anyone wants more teaching on the attributes of God apart from our good friend Pink's wonderful work, I recommend the sermons below. In fact, I urge you to listen to them. I know there are a plethora of 'Christian' conferences that are going on at all seasons of every year, but this is one that changed my life and may very well change yours. The names of these preachers may be unfamiliar to you at present, but I assure you if you just give them a listen they may become very dear friends.

Thirteen messages seem like too much to handle? Just start with the first one and commit to listening to the first ten minutes. That's not to difficult, is it?


1. The Holiness of God - Paul Washer

2. The Justice of God - Michael Durham

3. The Power of God - Paul Washer

4. The Sovereignty of God - Mack Tomlinson

5. The Truth of God - Jeff Noblit

6. The Love of God - Mike Morrow

7. The Mercy and Grace of God - Paul Washer

8. The Glory of God Pt. 1 - Charles Leiter

9. The Glory of God Pt. 2 - Charles Leiter

10. Seeking God - Bob Jennings

11. The Ability of God - Randall Easter

12. The Wrath of God - Charles Leiter

13. Conference Q&A - Various


Florida Pt. 2 - The People.



Florida2

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Chpt. 5, The Sovereignty of God - The Photos.





Graeme, Iowa

GP6

AoG Project, Chapter 7.



(Send me any and all of your art before next Monday the 13th, and I'll post them on Monday the 27rd. If you would like to memorize some verses pertaining to the attribute of God's Immutability I recommend Duet. 32:4, James 1:17, Jer. 31:3, Psalm 100:5
. If your coming into this project a little late, HERE is an explanation as to what it's all about. If would like to read any of the previous chapters, they can be found HERE.)

7. THE IMMUTABILITY OF GOD


The Divine immutability, like the cloud which interposed between the Israelites and the Egyptian army, has a dark as well as a light side. It insures the execution of His threatenings, as well as the performance of His promises; and destroys the hope which the guilty fondly cherish, that He will be all lenity to His frail and erring creatures, and that they will be much more lightly dealt with than the declarations of His own Word would lead us to expect. We oppose to these deceitful and presumptuous speculations the solemn truth, that God is unchanging in veracity and purpose, in faithfulness and justice. (J. Dick, 1850).



Monday, March 30, 2009

Florida Pt. 1 - The Places.

Did not have much time to shoot the 'scapes while I was down south,
but here are a few humble offerings.

Florida1

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Updates and Stuff.








Lots of stuff to cover, so let's get started shall we?








+ I've discovered (only took a few weeks) that the 'Attributes' project is moving a little too quickly for everyone, including myself, so I've decided to make it a bi-weekly event instead of a weekly one. This will give us more time to meditate on these measureless doctrines, as well as more time to get our creative juices flowing and our shutters primed. In related news, the absence of certain people from ever participating in this project is quite befuddling to me, especially since they consider themselves professionals in the craft. I won't reveal their names on here for the sake of their flower-delicate feelings, but consider this your public admonition and invitation to join us.

---

+ I will be updated 'my sermonshelf' over the next few days (located on the right side of this page in the links), and I invite any of you out there to explore it's contents whenever you have a free moment. Sermons are a powerful tool used by those God has called to preach, and the ones I have gathered there have significantly impacted my life. These preachers won't tickle your ears with easy, self-esteem inducing words or try keep your attention through the use of dynamic 'cutting-edge' media presentations. What they will give you is truth, and sometimes it comes with a blade, but that's what we need - radical surgurey. Remember, one of the tell-tale signs of a false prophet: they will tell you everything you want to hear. I hope you will make use of these sermons if you haven't already.

---

+ Michael Spotts has written a great post on the Gospel over at The Open Life. I recommend you read (or listen) to his important summary of the acropolis of our faith. I need to hear it everyday.

---

+ A few book recommendations this month.

J.I. Packer's 'Knowing God'
has impressed upon me even more the desperation of my state and the fickleness of all my actions if I do not have a proper relationship with my God. Not a mental knowledge of His doctrines, but a relationship and an abiding with my Creator.

C.J. Mahaney's 'Worldliness'
is another work that has been a challenger in my life. If we can only get off our antinomian high horses and stop denouncing any and all specific strictures on our life as 'legalism' we can learn much from the Biblical truth presented in this work.

Boris Pasternak's 'Dr. Zhivago' contains beautiful descriptions of the landscapes and peoples of Russia in the early 1900's. You may have to fight your way through the first 100 pages or so, struggling to memorize the names (and surnames...and nicknames) of the 30 or so characters he introduces, but your endurance will be rewarded. A powerful book - I'm interested in seeing how it ends.


"As the apostle says to Timothy, so also he says to every-one, 'Give yourself to reading.' ... He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own... You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers, and expositions of the Bible... the best way for you to spend your leisure is to be either reading or praying." - Spurgeon

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Chpt. 5, The Supremacy of God, The Photos.




Nathan, Tennessee

NP5



[ I've never really thought about how much we humanize God. To think of Him as a supreme being, unlike anything or anyone else, can often make us as humans uncomfortable, so to make ourselves feel better, we make Him like us. At least, I know I do. He isn't subject to the same faults we are; He doesn't get confused or forget about us and our difficulties; in fact, we are His primary concern, and how comforting is that? Psalm 136:2-5 Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who by understanding made the heavens, for His steadfast love endures forever... vs. 23-26 It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for His steadfast love endures forever; and rescued us from our foes, for His steadfast love endures forever; He who gives food to all flesh, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever. ]

----

Joshua and Julia, Maine

JK5



[ “…thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself…” Ps 50:21

Natural man puts God in a box and then views Him through a man-shaped hole. He sees God in the image of a man. The Gospel rips that box open, manifesting the all-consuming Light which has no such boundaries.

"…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." 1 Jn 1:5

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor 4:6

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” Isa 60:1 ]

Monday, March 16, 2009

AoG Project, Chapter 6.



(Send me any and all of your art before next Sunday the 22nd, and I'll post them on Monday the 23rd. If you would like to memorize some verses pertaining to the attribute of God's sovereignty I recommend Romans 9:18, Isa. 45:9, 2nd Timothy 1:19, Matt. 20:15. If your coming into this project a little late, HERE is an explanation as to what it's all about. If would like to read any of the previous chapters, they can be found HERE.)


6. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD


There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that Sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought more earnestly to contend than the doctrine of their Master over all creation—the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands—the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that Throne. On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties. They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash their teeth, and we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter; then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on His throne is not the God they love. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon His throne whom we trust.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Florida For a Week.


I will be down in Florida for a dear brother's wedding until Monday 3/16, so ya'll have an extra week for Chapter 5's photos.

Pray for our safe travel, and that we would have a God glorifying week down there as we share in our friend's union.

If you're good I may bring you back a Disney snow-globe.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Monday, March 2, 2009

Chpt 4., The Foreknowledge of God - The Photos.




Kim, Minnesota



[ ...I know thee by name...Ex. 33:17

...Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee...Jer. 1:5 ]

----

Graeme, Iowa



[ I don't have many profound or new thoughts on the subject, but this chapter granted me a little more grace to repent for my non-reverence to this God who knew me before anything we know as 'creation' existed. I especially enjoyed the first paragraph. This characteristic is essential in knowing who the God of the scriptures really is. Hard as it is to understand or explain, it's clear and scripture and we must present Him as such - foreknowing, choosing, and as we'll see in the next chapter, supreme. ]

AoG Project, Chapter 5.

(Send me any and all of your art before next Sunday the 1st, and I'll post them on Monday the 2nd. If you would like to memorize some verses pertaining to the attribute of God's knowledge I recommend 1 Chron. 29:11, 12, Job 23:13, Prov. 21:1, Jas. 4:13,15, Ps. 31:15. If your coming into this project a little late, HERE is an explanation as to what it's all about. If would like to read any of the previous chapters, they can be found HERE.)

5. THE SUPREMACY OF GOD


Monday, February 23, 2009

Chpt. 3, The Knowledge of God - The Photos.



Josh, Maine.

JK3


[ "Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. … If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." Ps 139:2-3, 11-16

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee…" Jer 1:5

O God our Father, not only are You a God a far off but also a God at hand. You know my frame, O LORD. You know my innermost thoughts and affections. You are intimately acquainted with every fiber of my being. Yea, in You I live, move, and have my being. God, in this I find repose. I find solace in Your presence, LORD. Channel my affections as a river, O God. Turn them whithersoever You desire. LORD, make me to drink of the river of Thy pleasures, for with Thee is the fountain life. ]

----

Graeme, Iowa.

GP3


[ "Men would strip Deity of His omniscience if they could—what a proof that "the carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7)! The wicked do as naturally hate this Divine perfection as much as they are naturally compelled to acknowledge it. They wish there might be no Witness of their sins, no Searcher of their hearts, no Judge of their deeds. They seek to banish such a God from their thoughts: "They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness" (Hosea 7:2). How solemn is Psalm 90:8! Good reason has every Christ-rejecter for trembling before it: Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance." ]




AoG Project, Chapt. 4.


(Send me any and all of your art before next Sunday the 1st, and I'll post them on Monday the 2nd. If you would like to memorize some verses pertaining to the attribute of God's knowledge I recommend Jer. 1:5, Acts. 2:23, Rom. 8:29-30, 1st Peter 1:1-2. If your coming into this project a little late, HERE is an explanation as to what it's all about. If would like to read any of the previous chapters, they can be found HERE.)

4. THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD


What controversies have been engendered by this subject in the past! But what truth of Holy Scripture is there which has not been made the occasion of theological and ecclesiastical battles? The deity of Christ, His virgin birth, His atoning death, His second advent; the believer’s justification, sanctification, security; the church, its organization, officers, discipline; baptism, the Lord’s supper, and a score of other precious truths might be mentioned. Yet, the controversies which have been waged over them did not close the mouths of God’s faithful servants; why, then, should we avoid the vexed question of God’s Foreknowledge, because, forsooth, there are some who will charge us with fomenting strife? Let others contend if they will, our duty is to bear witness according to the light vouchsafed us.
There are two things concerning the Foreknowledge of God about which many are in ignorance: the meaning of the term, its Scriptural scope. Because this ignorance is so widespread, it is an easy matter for preachers and teachers to palm off perversions of this subject, even upon the people of God. There is only one safeguard against error, and that is to be established in the faith; and for that, there has to be prayerful and diligent study, and a receiving with meekness the engrafted Word of God. Only then are we fortified against the attacks of those who assail us. There are those today who are misusing this very truth in order to discredit and deny the absolute sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners. Just as higher critics are repudiating the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures; evolutionists, the work of God in creation; so some pseudo Bible teachers are perverting His foreknowledge in order to set aside His unconditional election unto eternal life.
When the solemn and blessed subject of Divine foreordination is expounded, when God’s eternal choice of certain ones to be conformed to the image of His Son is set forth, the Enemy sends along some man to argue that election is based upon the foreknowledge of God, and this "foreknowledge" is interpreted to mean that God foresaw certain ones would be more pliable than others, that they would respond more readily to the strivings of the Spirit, and that because God knew they would believe, He, accordingly, predestinated them unto salvation. But such a statement is radically wrong. It repudiates the truth of total depravity, for it argues that there is something good in some men. It takes away the independency of God, for it makes His decrees rest upon what He discovers in the creature. It completely turns things upside down, for in saying God foresaw certain sinners would believe in Christ, and that because of this, He predestinated them unto salvation, is the very reverse of the truth. Scripture affirms that God, in His high sovereignty, singled out certain ones to be recipients of His distinguishing favors (Acts 13:48), and therefore He determined to bestow upon them the gift of faith. False theology makes God’s foreknowledge of our believing the cause of His election to salvation; whereas, God’s election is the cause, and our believing in Christ is the effect.
Ere proceeding further with our discussion of this much misunderstood theme, let us pause and define our terms. What is meant by "foreknowledge?" "To know beforehand," is the ready reply of many. But we must not jump at conclusions, nor must we turn to Webster’s dictionary as the final court of appeal, for it is not a matter of the etymology of the term employed. What is needed is to find out how the word is used in Scripture. The Holy Spirit’s usage of an expression always defines its meaning and scope. It is failure to apply this simple, rule which is responsible for so much confusion and error. So many people assume they already know the signification of a certain word used in Scripture, and then they are too dilatory to test their assumptions by means of a concordance. Let us amplify this point.
Take the word "flesh." Its meaning appears to be so obvious that many would regard it as a waste of time to look up its various connections in Scripture. It is hastily assumed that the word is synonymous with the physical body, and so no inquiry is made. But, in fact, "flesh" in Scripture frequently includes far more than what is corporeal; all that is embraced by the term can only be ascertained by a diligent comparison of every occurrence of it and by a study of each separate context. Take the word "world." The average reader of the Bible imagines this word is the equivalent for the human race, and consequently, many passages where the term is found are wrongly interpreted. Take the word immortality. Surely it requires no study! Obviously it has reference to the indestructibility of the soul. Ah, my reader, it is foolish and wrong to assume anything where the Word of God is concerned. If the reader will take the trouble to carefully examine each passage where "mortal" and "immortal" are found, it will be seen these words are never applied to the soul, but always to the body.
Now what has just been said on "flesh," the "world," immortality, applies with equal force to the terms know and "foreknow." Instead of imagining that these words signify no more than a simple cognition, the different passages in which they occur require to be carefully weighed. The word "foreknowledge" is not found in the Old Testament. But know occurs there frequently. When that term is used in connection with God, it often signifies to regard with favour, denoting not mere cognition but an affection for the object in view. "I know thee by name" (Ex. 33:17). "Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you" (Deut. 9:24). "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee" (Jer. 1:5). "They have made princes and I knew it not" (Hos. 8:4). "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). In these passages knew signifies either loved or appointed.
In like manner, the word "know" is frequently used in the New Testament, in the same sense as in the Old Testament. "Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you" (Matt. 7:23). "I am the good shepherd and know My sheep and am known of Mine" (John 10:14). "If any man love God, the same is known of Him" (1 Cor. 8:3). "The Lord knoweth them that are His" (2 Tim. 2:19).
Now the word "foreknowledge" as it is used in the New Testament is less ambiguous than in its simple form "to know." If every passage in which it occurs is carefully studied, it will be discovered that it is a moot point whether it ever has reference to the mere perception of events which are yet to take place. The fact is that "foreknowledge" is never used in Scripture in connection with events or actions; instead, it always has reference to persons. It is persons God is said to "foreknow," not the actions of those persons. In proof of this we shall now quote each passage where this expression is found.
The first occurrence is in Acts 2:23. There we read, "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." If careful attention is paid to the wording of this verse it will be seen that the apostle was not there speaking of God’s foreknowledge of the act of the crucifixion, but of the Person crucified: "Him (Christ) being delivered by," etc.
The second occurrence is in Romans 8;29,30. "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image, of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called," etc. Weigh well the pronoun that is used here. It is not what He did foreknow, but whom He did. It is not the surrendering of their wills nor the believing of their hearts but the persons themselves, which is here in view.
"God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew" (Rom. 11:2). Once more the plain reference is to persons, and to persons only.
The last mention is in 1 Peter 1:2: "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." Who are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father? The previous verse tells us: the reference is to the "strangers scattered" i.e. the Diaspora, the Dispersion, the believing Jews. Thus, here too the reference is to persons, and not to their foreseen acts.
Now in view of these passages (and there are no more) what scriptural ground is there for anyone saying God "foreknew" the acts of certain ones, viz., their "repenting and believing," and that because of those acts He elected them unto salvation? The answer is, None whatever. Scripture never speaks of repentance and faith as being foreseen or foreknown by God. Truly, He did know from all eternity that certain ones would repent and believe, yet this is not what Scripture refers to as the object of God’s "foreknowledge." The word uniformly refers to God’s foreknowing persons; then let us "hold fast the form of sound words" (2 Tim. 1:13).
Another thing to which we desire to call particular attention is that the first two passages quoted above show plainly and teach implicitly that God’s "foreknowledge" is not causative, that instead, something else lies behind, precedes it, and that something is His own sovereign decree. Christ was "delivered by the (1) determinate counsel and (2) foreknowledge of God." (Acts 2:23). His "counsel" or decree was the ground of His foreknowledge. So again in Romans 8:29. That verse opens with the word "for," which tells us to look back to what immediately precedes. What, then, does the previous verse say? This, "all things work together for good to them. . . .who are the called according to His purpose." Thus God’s foreknowledge is based upon His purpose or decree (see Ps. 2:7).
God foreknows what will be because He has decreed what shall be. It is therefore a reversing of the order of Scripture, a putting of the cart before the horse, to affirm that God elects because He foreknows people. The truth is, He "foreknows" because He has elected. This removes the ground or cause of election from outside the creature, and places it in God’s own sovereign will. God purposed in Himself to elect a certain people, not because of anything good in them or from them, either actual or foreseen, but solely out of His own mere pleasure. As to why He chose the ones He did, we do not know, and can only say, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight." The plain truth of Romans 8:29 is that God, before the foundation of the world, singled out certain sinners and appointed them unto salvation (2 Thess. 2:13). This is clear from the concluding words of the verse: "Predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son," etc. God did not predestinate those whom He foreknew were "conformed," but, on the contrary, those whom He "foreknew" (i.e., loved and elected) He predestinated to be conformed. Their conformity to Christ is not the cause, but the effect of God’s foreknowledge and predestination.
God did not elect any sinner because He foresaw that he would believe, for the simple but sufficient reason that no sinner ever does believe until God gives him faith; just as no man sees until God gives him sight. Sight is God’s gift, seeing is the consequence of my using His gift. So faith is God’s gift (Eph. 1:8,9), believing is the consequence of my using His gift. If it were true that God had elected certain ones to be saved because in due time they would believe, then that would make believing a meritorious act, and in that event the saved sinner would have ground for "boasting," which Scripture emphatically denies: Ephesians 2:9.
Surely God’s Word is plain enough in teaching that believing is not a meritorious act. It affirms that Christians are a people "who have believed through grace" (Acts 18:27). If then, they have believed "through grace," there is absolutely nothing meritorious about "believing," and if nothing meritorious, it could not be the ground or cause which moved God to choose them. No; God’s choice proceeds not from anything in us, or anything from us, but solely from His own sovereign pleasure. Once more, in Romans 11:5, we read of "a remnant according to the election of grace." There it is, plain enough; election itself is of grace, and grace is unmerited favour something for which we had no claim upon God whatsoever.
It thus appears that it is highly important for us to have clear and scriptural views of the "foreknowledge" of God. Erroneous conceptions about it lead inevitably to thoughts most dishonoring to Him. The popular idea of Divine foreknowledge is altogether inadequate. God not only knew the end from the beginning, but He planned, fixed, predestinated everything from the beginning. And, as cause stands to effect, so God’s purpose is the ground of His prescience. If then the reader be a real Christian, he is so because God chose him in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), and chose not because He foresaw you would believe, but chose simply because it pleased Him to choose: chose you notwithstanding your natural unbelief. This being so, all the glory and praise belongs alone to Him. You have no ground for taking any credit to yourself. You have "believed through grace" (Acts 18:27), and that, because your very election was "of grace" (Rom. 11:5).

Monday, February 16, 2009

Chpt. 2, God's Decrees - The Photos.

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Joshua, Maine


[ "“Every purpose is established by counsel…” Proverbs 20:18
“…who hath been his counsellor?” Rom 11:34
“Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” Act 15:18
“…according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” Eph 1:11

What blessed truth! O Father of infinite wisdom, thank You. Do you not see all my ways, and count all my steps? Surely, O LORD, my steps are ordered by You. Order them in Your word, O God. Guide my feet in a straight path that I may sing praise unto You. Let my mouth sing unto God, for You have done excellent things and this is known in all the earth. Let all the earth rejoice and sing praise unto You, God Most High! Amen." ]

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Gregory, Iowa



[ It is hard to contemplate the eternality of God's decrees, and even more in the face of trials and suffering, but even so, He has counted every hair that has fallen and will fall from my beard. ]

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Kim, Minnesota



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Nathan, Tennessee



[ I know it may be a little cliche, but the lines left on this piece of bark reminded me of a maze, which in turn made me think of how what we see (being stuck in the maze) is so drastically different than what our Lord sees (the whole picture). He created this world and this life, and to assume that anything that happens could ever take Him by surprise is ridiculous. A god who could not see past, present and future all at once, who was sometimes forced to change his plan, or who saw and knew the same things we did, would not be God. To think that our God has no need of us, knows we will very frequently make mistakes, and yet still loves us enough to sacrifice Himself is mind-blowing. ]

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Bethany, Tennessee



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Heidi, Iowa



[ As creatures of linear time (and myriad other limitations), we see through a glass darkly. (But we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is!) Here and now is one sliver of reality. Our God exists outside of time. God looks through all these slivers simultaneously, seeing each part of the story in the same moment, finished. (It was for our benefit, Sweet Jesus, that You entered time and moved painstakingly through it to finally proclaim, "It is finished!") God sees completely--then, now, always, everything: the moment of the creation of light; a star over a stable in Bethlehem; an understated but Holy Baptism in the River Jordan; Jesus' agony in the garden; God nailed to a cross (did Satan, who is NOT-God, briefly think he might have actually won?? Enter the "deeper magic from before the dawn of time"): Empty Tomb!; Holy Spirit working in and through souls living in a kingdom as temporary as the air of which its leader is prince; bands of believers holding onto the hope of the Blood of Jesus in an age of airplanes and facebook and genetic engineering; that future point at the end of time-as-we-know-it when Jesus finally claims His victory over all. God sees, now, the end of this story which--from our perspective--hasn't happened yet, but which in God's reality (the only reality), has; the future end in whose present reality we hope, live, move, breathe, and have our being. Imagine: Our Jesus blessed us who, though we have not seen Him, yet believe. Seen His face we haven't, but tasted and seen that He is good, we surely have. And believe we do. I already know the shape of this story--ending included--though I am incapable of imagining its scope or its brilliance. Still, I stake every bit of my hope in that end. I love that Jesus knows and sees it now. I love that Satan and his servants know it too, and tremble. Through linear time, I hold on. I try to remember to live as if the ending already happened, because it has. (Outside of time. In God's reality.) While many days I groan along with all of creation plodding through time and waiting for completion, I try to remember the unfathomable nature of our God, about whom is made the outrageous claim: "the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Show us the broken chains of death. Make us finally fit our names. Have Your day before Your creatures. Begin the never-ending, glorious epilogue. Shake the shakeable, and establish Your Kingdom forever. And for now, in Your great mercy, remind me every step of the way: This is the shadow. You are the Sun. ]

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Diego, Columbia



[ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

There are so many things about God that we are unable to know yet he is worthy of our Praise and Worship. ]

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