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Monday, 14 May 2012

Is your Cup Half-Empty or Half-Full?

Is your Cup Half-Empty or Half-Full?

Now that is a good question. Unfortunately, the answers offered are usually only two. The pessimists says that the glass is half empty. The optimists says that it is half-full. There is truth in all this, of course, but this is not the whole story.

What about the Christian? The Christian says -- or should say - My glass overflows! Psalm 23:5

That is what we should say, but, to be honest, we don't. I don't always say that. We look back at better days, back when the glass was not only fuller, but the contents had a better taste. We ask ourselves (and maybe God?) “Why were the former days better than these?” Ecc. 7:10. The wise King Solomon tells us that this question is an unwise one. I think he meant that it was not good to dwell on this pessimistically, but to keep looking to God as the only answer to the sin-sorrowed soul. However, to be honest with you, Solomon is a very hard read.

The father is not wholly like the son. The son is not holy like the father.

David's cup overflowed (though he also had his bitter drafts). Solomon's cup didn't, it seems to me.

I have wondered why this wisest of kings did not have the same exuberant peaks that his father did. Has wisdom failed the test? Or is true success a matter of the heart more than of the mind? Surely this is the case.

“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;

But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,” says the Lord." Jer. 9:23-24

David knew and understood His God. More than his richly blessed son. In the day of David's sad spiritual lapse, when he presumptuously mandated a census of his kingdom and faced great judgment, still had the presence of heart to declare that it was much better to entrust judgment to God than enemies. He knew deep in his soul that he would still always be a friend of God. True faith of a very high mettle kept him from the pronounced and long-lasting backsliddenness that we see in his son Solomon.

Well, this post has turned out to be a bit of a ramble. I start out speaking of cups, empty and otherwise, and proceed to a comparison of David and Solomon, and the foundation of each. But I will leave this just as it is. Tomorrow I will be 59. As I get older I think more and more on the quality of my life. I understand much more clearly that being righteous is much more important than being right.

For the record:
I am a Christian, New Covenant Baptist, Old-style Reformationist, Preterist.

But more importantly:
I am a sinner who stumbled onto grace and forgiveness.
Who knows just a little of the glorious majesty of the God I have entrusted my life with.

Knowledge is very important, especially biblical knowledge.

But I would much rather have David's heart than Solomon's wisdom.

Wednesday, 28 March 2012

We Know so Little about our Infinite God

We Know so Little about God
But we use big words as if we didn't (know so little).

Every statement from us about Christ is bound to be an understatement (because of verses like Isa. 55:9). Even if we have the words right (and that is usually when we are closest to just using Scripture) we still understate in the sense that we don't really understand the concepts we use of God.

I am not yet speaking about God, but of the words themselves. Words, in the final analysis, are pitiful instruments to tell of the wonderful truths of God - or many other things in this life. Very often, whether in some other branch of knowledge or in theology, we use words, not to come to grips with something hard to understand - but to make it go away. We do this with a semblance of "having tackled the problem".

We give a name to the strange force of electricity. We tag it and bag it with eleven letters and neatly slot it away from our consciousness. But what is this electricity? Really?
Gravity?
Galaxy?
Photosynthesis?

Such knowledge is too wonderful for us.

Eternity?
I have a chart, for instance, I have used both in teaching at church and at the school to show that we don't really fathom what is involved by glibly saying God is infinite.

The demonstration works like this: I first ask them a "stupid" question, as one of my students might have categorized it: "How many infinities are there?" They almost invariably say "one".

Then I draw an X/Y chart on the board, showing, first of all, how there is an infinite number of positive numbers from zero to infinity. This is a no-brainer.

Then I draw another line from zero backwards to negative infinity. Heads start scratching here - the more insightful ones. This, after all, is another infinite set, and we have only drawn two lines!

I can then show them that there seems to be ( I stay away from the indicative mode at this point. I want conclusions to come from them, or not at all) an infinite number of sets.

We have an infinity of all odd numbers,
Of all even numbers,
Of all multiples of, say, 8
And this can go on, well, ad infinitum, each set trailing off into its own domain of infinity. All separate yet, so it seemed at first, equal.

An infinite number of infinities!

I finally end my demonstration with putting a large circle around the whole chart, saying that this represents all that we can fathom about infinity. Then I write a large "G" in front. And a large "D" at the other end, spelling "GOD". This spells out the truth that God is bigger than we can ever imagine.

(I have since found out that my "discovery" has long been made by a mathematician of two centuries ago, George Cantor, and that there is a whole branch of math called "set theory".)

We say God is "infinite". But we are saying much more than we can comprehend.

How is God infinite?
Infinite in time: Eternality.
Moses saidof Him (Psalm 90:2) “From everlasting to everlasting You are God.” (“everlasting to everlasting”= Eternal). Only God is truly eternal.Though Christians have eternal life, it is only so from this timeforward, not backward. See also Deut. 32:40; 1st Tim. 6:16.

Infinite in Knowledge: Omniscient: (“all-knowing”).Psalm 139 describes this and the following two aspects of God(omnipotent and omnipresence). Verses 1- 6 refer to omniscience. AlsoPsa. 147:4- 5.
Everything God planned, He did from eternity past?

He knows the future because His will is done in it and His wisdom and omnipotence brings it about.

Infinite in Power: Omnipotent: (“All-powerful”) “El Shaddai”. This is God’s total ability to achieve His perfect will. “Is anything too hard for God?” (Jer. 32:17, 27)

Infinite in Space (Immensity): Omnipresent: He is everywhere. Psalm 139:7- 12.
God fills every part of space with His whole Being! “Do I not fill heaven and Earth?”: I Kings 8:27. See also Isa. 66:1, Jer. 23:23- 24.

This is not pantheism. God is everywhere, but He is not everything. “Immensity” means not just that God is everywhere, but that He is fully present in every place.

All of God is in the room in which you, my reading friend, are reading these words, wherever you are.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me. - Psalm 139:7-10

Sunday, 25 March 2012

Taring up the Church of God

Taring up the Church of God

There is an historical reason for the issue of (supposed)loss of salvation. Ever since the "easier" way of being aChristian offered by preachers like Charles Finney (and all the restwho "hit the sawdust trail"), the ranks of the Christianshas been swelled by many who have been emotionally, though temporarily, touched by themessage, but never spiritually awakened. Subsequently, many of these,when they realize that their newly-found faith isn't working, are toldthat they just need to "stand on the promises of God" and ontheir initial commitment, when in fact what they need to do is to cometo Christ as a desperate, needy sinner - something they did not do thefirst time.

The modern "easier" way is contrasted to Christ's narrowway: They often come because of manipulative incentives. Christtells would be converts right at the beginning to count the cost. Theysell Christ as one who meets all your needs (and, yes, He does).However, Christ did not come to meet our felt needs, but our deep-down real need - Christ Himself, mercy, salvation, a new heart.

Christ came to castfire on the Earth and division. In order to receive the good news wehave to first confront the shocking bad news: Christ tells us that weare rebels and just a heartbeat from Hell ("Unless you repent,you shall likewise perish").

No wonder the issue of assurance and the Once-saved-always-saved topic keeps coming up. Theissue is not loss of something God promised (Christ is the Amen of allthe promises of God), but the necessary soul-searching to see whetherthe person did not, instead of coming to Christ as a desperate sinner,crawl over the wall like a thief. Right now many thieves andwhitewashed sepulchres are being assured of a salvation they neverhad.

Today people are being told to hammer down their assurance by justbelieving certain verses ("These things are written that you may know you have eternal life"), instead of by applying God's means of assurance - 2nd Peter 1:5- 10, 2 Cor. 13:5.

Saturday, 24 March 2012

The Shepherd's Successful Search: His Sheep!

The Shepherd's Successful Search: His Sheep!

Two verses:
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. (Luke 19:10)

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners---of whom I am the worst (1 Timothy1:15).

Both of these verses are more familiar than known. It is those verses we are familiar with (i.e. we think we know) that often prove most elusive when it comes to learning from. Many read that first verse as if it merely said "Christ came to seek the lost".

But the verse says more than that. It teaches a doctrine that is actually fairly unpopular among some modern Christians. It teaches that Christ came to save the lost, not just seek them. That means that the first coming of Christ, culminating here on what he did on the Cross, had the announced purpose of saving certain people. It was a mission accomplished!

That is, on the cross Christ died to actually give salvation to the lost, not just make salvation possible for the lost.

"Why that's heresy, Tom! You are saying that everyone will be saved!"

No, I am only saying that those designated as "lost" here will be saved. In the same way that "world" does not always mean "world", so here the "lost" does not mean "all of those who are not saved".

But notice what the two verse do not say (nor does any verse in the Bible): They do not say that Christ's death made salvation possible - that "possible" is the assumption of modern theologians. It is actually a limitation of the power of the Atonement. The Biblical teaching is that those who are saved at the cross (and there is no other place to be saved - Acts 4:12) will be saved to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25). That is the true Atonement teaching that really satisfies and comforts. He who started our salvation in us will perfect it until the Day of Christ Jesus. The teaching of the hand-wringing I did-all-I-can-do Jesus is a contrivance of more recent times. No wonder that this sovereignless Jesus does not command respect or awe. No wonder that the modern church has to think up gimmicks and entertainments to trick the unchurched inside their walls to lend an ear for five minutes to this forlorn jesus.

Friday, 23 March 2012

Heavenly Incentives with Earthly Images

Heavenly Incentives with Earthly Images

I remembered reading "In Harm's Way", the story of the sinking of the Battle Cruiser Indianapolis in the last two weeks of World War Two, and the subsequent ordeal of drifting for four or five days in the ocean, mostly raftless, in some cases even without life-vests. By the time they were rescued only one-fourth of the crew was alive. Over 900 had died, either in the initial torpedo attack or due to the later ordeal of shark attacks, exposure, dehydration, succumbing to wounds, and other tragedies.

When help finally came, many, amazingly, could not be coaxed onto the rescue crafts! They thought they were the enemy, that it was some kind of trick. So the rescuers had to do some quick thinking. They said that the sailors were being invited to an "ice cream party". They need to get in line for this. In other cases they used other incentives.

This reminded me of the incentives that God uses when He speaks to us of heaven, He refers to a Supper, a Wedding, to receiving Crowns and Rewards. It seems to me that these are all incentives to those whom he has called, to associate earthly desires - the better kinds - with an essentially unspeakable heavenly reward. It is unspeakable because we have no frame of earthly reference. Perception and understanding, after all, are built largely from experience and observation. (As Christians we have the mind of the Christ, the Spirit of Christ enlightening for us all the riches we have in the Savior.)

However, getting back to those earthly images: There are many who focus too specifically on those images used (crowns, supper and so on) and don't see the underlying truth. For instance there are some who speak of one type of crown versus the another, not seeing that all of these crowns (sic) are all just referring to our being glorified in Heaven. This mistake comes from overvaluing the "Golden Rule" of hermeneutics, imposing a literal grid over certain truths that are better taken spiritually.

God uses these incentives because many are way too comfortable with the familiar sin-infested waters of this present age and don't realize the pressing need to change our thinking and all of our energies to our Heavenward calling. There are other ways that God changes our desires, of course, but this method used here seems to be one of them.