Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Musings 118

July 23, 2016

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Job 19:25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; 27 Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

1 Corinthians 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

A worldview can be defined as a set of beliefs through which we view the world and the events that happen in the world. It is a basic set of beliefs that our minds work to conform all events and other events to fit. A worldview can also be said to determine how we view and interpret events. This is a view that explains a lot of how the world operates and how it is that people can see the same event and yet interpret it so differently. This also shows us how a true Christian will view the world so differently from non-Christians and how professing Christians who are not true Christians can see the world just like non-professing Christians (unbelievers).

The true Christian views those who die in a certain way and the non-Christian most likely will view them in a different way. In the United States there are many, many people who think that there is a heaven and a hell, but they seem to think that all nice people or basically good people will end up in heaven. The only people that seem to be consigned to hell in their view are those who disagree with them. There are also those believe that all people will end up in a good place, though they don’t necessarily think it is heaven. Then there are those who believe that when people die they pass into non-existence and it is over. Of course there are those who believe in reincarnation, but that is really just another system of denying hell or works for a better life.

If should be readily seen that a different belief will lead to a different life. However, it is not just a minor belief that guides the life, but instead it must be the major belief. Of course Christians are not just guided by a set of beliefs as such, but they are guided by the life of Christ in them. The very life of the believer is Christ who dwells in them. But what must be seen as behind acts of violence and acts of terrorism are beliefs about a higher power and of life after death. It is also clear that those who die as a result of acts of terror or violence will be thought of as innocent or good or something on that order.

It is also the case that those who view those who die have beliefs about life and death that guide how they view people and events. Those who grieve as those who have no hope are really grieving for themselves. One can hear people interviewed who have had those close to them die and all they can talk about is how much this has hurt them and caused them pain and what a loss it is. It is true that some talk about what a loss it was to others because a person of promise was taken.

But where is the basic belief of a sovereign God in all of this? Religion does little good in times of distress, but only a true hope in the living God stands in the times of distress and trial. While people go around in their religious acts with some acknowledgment that there is an existence after death, that is not a firm hope in the living and sovereign God who holds all things, events, and beings in His sovereign hands. Those who are truly separate from Christ, regardless of their profession, have no real hope and live without God in the world.

While the politicians talk about serving humanity and doing good as the heart and unifier of their religions, the Christian must stand firm against that sort of thing. It is not doing good and it is not serving humanity which demonstrates true religion, it is loving God and having the true God manifest His glory through Christ who dwells in His people that does. The life of Christ dwelling in the believer changes the believer and only the believer can be a worker of true good in the world because only the true believer can truly love (I John 4:7-8). All the works of the unbeliever are simply acts of hate toward God who is the greatest good. How can acts that do not come from God and point to God who is the greatest good for people be good for people? Christ is the only true hope for any person or the world at large.

Posted in Musings, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Musings 117

July 20, 2016

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Job 19:25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; 27 Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

1 Corinthians 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

It is an astonishing comment that Paul makes regarding that if we have hoped in Christ in this life only then above all men we are most to be pitied. If we think of the beatings and hardships that Paul and those who were with him went through (the “we”), that is clearly true. If we only have a time on earth and during that time on earth we are abused for our belief in another life beyond the grave, then his statement is clearly true. However, for those who do not suffer much we don’t quite get the point of his statement beyond the logic of it. We see the misery that sin brings on people and we know that we have joy in Christ and as such we don’t quite get the point of Paul.

It is also likely the case that those who have no real suffering in this present world will understand Paul when he longed and panted for the next world. It is also likely that those who suffer little or seemingly none will not long for the time when they will be with Christ and He will comfort them and wipe away their tears. It is also highly likely that those who suffer little will understand that those with Christ do not grieve as those who don’t. It is through suffering and hardships that Christ works faith in our souls and it is by faith that we see the unseen world and know it as more real than this one.

It is so clear with the television coverage of the killings that have taken place that many people grieve as those with no hope. Indeed they may have some foggy notion of a better world, but that is not the same things as living in a certain hope of being with Christ in eternity. When Christ is your life here and now (Galatians 2:20), there is the hope of having more and more of Christ in eternity. It is Christ who is our joy and it is Christ Himself who is our hope. As the Psalm says, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth” (Psa 73:25). When the true hope, love, and desire of the soul is for Christ on earth, then that soul knows that there is nothing greater in heaven but more of Christ. He is our hope both here and there, both now and then.

The focus of the news, the politicians, and seemingly the vast number of the clergy is on the here and now. Whether it is on events, life and death, or whatever goes on we are blasted with views about those things from a worldly perspective. Whether the coming election gives us one party or the other, it is the sovereign hand of God behind it. Whether the coming weeks give us more ambushes or not, it is the sovereign hand of God hardening or softening as He pleases. If the near future brings terror attacks in this country and/or others, we can know that God is either judging or protecting and that His eternal purposes will be brought forth. Our hope is not in the government and our hope is not in men or the weapons of men. Our hope is in God and in Him alone.

While the entire world, all events, and every human heart is in the hand of God to do with as He pleases, we must not forget that He does work through means or second causes (so-called as to appearance). It is not that elections are unimportant and it is not that police and military actions are inconsequential. It is simply saying that God is sovereign over all of those things and we must learn to seek the Lord to give us spiritual eyes to behold these things which is to say that He will give us eyes to see His hand in all things. While the world appears to totter and appears to be completely falling apart, it has done so many times before. God is in control despite the appearances and nothing is happening that He did not ordain to happen from all eternity. We must hope in God for eternal things in the midst of our hope in Him while we live in the here and now. We must seek Him for grace to be content with Him and what He brings to pass.

Posted in Musings, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Musings 116

July 19, 2016

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Job 19:25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; 27 Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

1 Corinthians 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

In the last few weeks there have been a lot of protesting and a lot of policemen being killed and still others shot. We see people in deep grief and others in deep anger if not rejoicing. It is sad that people will not wait until all the facts are in and investigations are complete, but that is not the point of this post. It seems as if people want to make the deduction that because my relative, my friend, or my whatever has been shot that this person will go to heaven. On one side people seem to think that if a person dies in an unjust manner (whether real or perceived), that person is in heaven. On the other hand, many seem to think that if a policeman is shot then he will certainly go to his great reward. While this may seem calloused to many, the point is to point all to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It seems as if the doctrine of salvation by death is rampant in our nation. It seems as if the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been hidden from the eyes of so many and this is seen by what people say and of their actions as well. Whether a person is a policeman, a criminal, a housewife, an athlete, or anything else there is only one way of salvation. A person does not enter the gates of heaven because of his or her job, but the only way is the narrow gate and that gate is Christ Himself. A man or woman may be deeply religious, but being deeply religious may mean nothing more than being a Pharisee of sorts. Christ is the only way of salvation. A man or woman may be a minister of some sort, but that is not a way of salvation either. A person must really and truly have Jesus Christ and not just be religious or a member of some form of clergy.

As the media reports about each person that has died, the most important parts are missed because they are not going to report about spiritual realities and of the eternal destiny of the person that has died. The media will report on how great an athlete was or on how wonderful an actor was, but they never report on the adulterous relationships and things like that. We want a nice and sanitized view of things. However, I am not sure Christians are given that luxury. We are to look at these events through spiritual lenses and we are to see the hand of the sovereign God of the universe in all of these events. God is sovereign over all of these events in that He either brings His child home or He brings a person into eternal torment. We must see these things or we don’t see reality at all.

We must pray and ask God for eyes to see the reality of what is going on. As a nation we are reaping the consequences of our sin, but for individuals things may be different. Each person that dies is not dying by some cosmic accident, but each person dies at the exact moment that God has chosen for that person to die and that person dies in accordance with His eternal plan and purpose. With each murder that is committed, the One that is truly sinned against is God as each person is made in His image. I have never heard one person in the media ever say anything like that. However, with each murder God is attacked. When policeman are murdered, the rule of God through law is attacked. When we see open season on policemen, what we are seeing is a nation being turned over to hard hearts against God.

We see private persons and the police alike crying out that we must stop the violence. Why should the violence stop? Well, so that people would not be hurt so much and so that we can live in peace. Yet, we teach our children that they have evolved in a purposeless universe and are headed toward eternal extinction. When the children are taught that, they have no real reason not to be violent. They will have a short life and when they die (they try to convince themselves) they will have no consequences. While it is true that those people are deceived and have deceived themselves, let us also know that as a nation we have set out the foundation for all of this violence because we have turned from God. To be rude and blunt about it, yet quite biblical, when we hear people say we should pray, let us not deceive ourselves in this matter too. Why would God hear our prayers? We have turned from Him, we have rejected Him, and we have demonstrated hate toward Him. The professing churches need to repent as they are far from God as well. We need to return to God and yet we cannot in our own strength. We are in His hands to do with as He pleases.

Posted in Musings, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Worship 25

July 17, 2016

John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Amos 5:21 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. 23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; Matthew 15:8 ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME 9 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'”

1 Peter 4:11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Peter is very clear at many points and in many things. The person who has speaking gifts (preaching) is to speak and preach as if he is speaking the very utterances of God, and in a sense that person is speaking the very utterances of God. True preaching (John Calvin held this as well) is when a man has been gripped by the Spirit of God and stands up and speaks to the people the words of God. In a sense the man is used of God to speak to the people. Men are not to stand and preach the fruits of their own brains, but instead they are to be the instruments of God and their mouths are to be the mouthpieces of God.

The person that serves is to serve “by the strength which God supplies. Why is the person to do that? It is so that “in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” The “so that” also includes the preaching as well, but notice again that preaching and serving are God-centered. The person who is preaching and the person who is serving are to do so in a God-centered way and fashion so that God would be glorified through Jesus Christ. After all, as the text sets out, the glory and dominion belongs to Him. If we do anything apart from doing it that God would be glorified through Jesus Christ we are doing it for the glory of self. This would be in one sense attempted theft of the glory of God.

In looking at how this applies to worship, one does not have to look very far at all. Preaching is worship in the specific sense, though one can argue that serving can be in the more general sense. However, the text tells us that whatever we do it is to be done in a way that God would be glorified through Jesus Christ. This means that we are to worship in a way where God is glorified through Jesus Christ. If we look at the text of Scripture again, we see that what glorifies God is when we speak we are to speak as speaking His utterances and we are to serve in His strength. The deduction for worship is obvious. We worship in spirit and truth when we worship according to the truth of His utterances and our worship comes from the strength He supplies.

When we worship in accordance with His truth and we worship with the strength He supplies, then our worship glorifies God through Jesus Christ. We are to serve in the strength that He supplies so that God would be glorified through Jesus Christ, so when worship in the strength He supplies so He will be glorified through Jesus Christ. If we don’t worship according to His truth and in the strength He supplies, then our worship is guided by our fallen understandings and our worship would be from the strength the flesh supplies. This should strike a nerve in our souls and cause a shiver to run up and down our spine.

Do we strive to worship God and yet worship in the strength of the flesh? Do we seek the Lord for true humility and lowliness of heart and seek Him to give us the strength to worship Him? Are we concerned at all where the strength comes from that we worship (or assume we worship) with and in? We worship the God that Christ has revealed and we also worship by the strength He purchased and grants us to come to the Father with. We can do nothing apart from Him (nothing spiritual), so we must worship in the strength that comes from Him. Following the bulletin in the required things is not enough, we must have Christ and the Spirit of Christ to truly worship.

Posted in Uncategorized, Worship | Leave a Comment »

Worship 24

July 16, 2016

John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Amos 5:21 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. 23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; Matthew 15:8 ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME 9 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'”

1 Peter 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

In essentially any verse one turns to regarding worship, when looked at with any degree of care the focus is on God and the purposes of God. If we look at I Peter 2:9 we can see the purposes of God. Why did God choose a people so that they are called a chosen race? For His purpose of them proclaiming His excellencies.. Why did God make a royal priesthood out of His people? For His purpose of them proclaiming His excellencies. . Why did God make a holy nation out of His people? For His purpose of them proclaiming His excellencies. Why did God take a people and now they are His own possession? For His purpose of them proclaiming His excellencies. Why did God call a people out of darkness into His marvelous light? For His purposes of them proclaiming His excellencies.

This may seem to many a rather startling conclusion, but the text does not really leave us an alternative. God saves sinners and makes them into great things for the purpose of proclaiming His excellencies. This text does not teach us what to sing or preach or anything like that, but the focus is to teach us why God saves sinners. The context demands that we take this view as the chosen of God are contrasted with the previous verse where it speaks of a doom that some were appointed to. We are not just to bow before God and thank Him for saving us, but the purpose of Him saving us is to declare the wonders and the glories of the excellencies of God. It is the Gospel of grace alone that sets forth the beauty and wonder of God in Christ. It is in the Gospel that we behold the glories of a free-grace by which Christ saves sinners to the glory of the Father.

It is the Gospel of free-grace that frees sinners from self-love and pride (not perfectly, but just as He has ordained) that their hearts may be loosed from the things of self and the world that they may proclaim the wonders and excellencies of God that He has demonstrated and manifested in the Gospel. It is in the face of Christ that God has manifested His glory in the Gospel of the glory of Christ (II Cor 4:4-6). The Gospel is not just some bits of information we tell people so they can make a decision or pray a prayer in order to be saved, but it is the good news of the glory of God in Christ. The true Gospel is filled with and manifests the excellencies of God. Therefore, we were saved in order to praise those excellencies.

True worship, once again and perhaps to beat a dead horse, is not about human beings and their feelings being the central thing in worship, but true worship is about the glory of God. True worship is about proclaiming the excellencies of God that has been and is continuing to be displayed in the Gospel and in and through His Church. Sinners are saved by the acts of God set forth in the Gospel and sinners are to worship the excellencies of God as set forth in His acts that have manifested His glory. Because of who God is, a God-centered God, the Gospel is all about God. Those who are saved by Him should praise Him because of who He is and they are saved in order to be all about Him as well. It is only when the churches are all about God that they are like Him.

Posted in Uncategorized, Worship | Leave a Comment »

Great Quotes

July 15, 2016

Christ is all, and in all – the words are a Proposition. In which we have the Subject, Christ; But Christ; and the Predicate, He is all, and in all. He is all things that are necessary to salvation and that in all persons, who do believe in him, who are renewed and regenerated by his grace. – Christ is all by way of merit. Jesus Christ is meritoriously all in all to believers. Whatsoever they are, whatsoever they have, whatsoever they do, or can expect, is only upon the score and account of his purchase and merit. They enjoy no good thing upon any other terms, but only upon the consideration of Christ’s merits. Because he hath done and suffered for them, and in their stead, therefore do they partake of those blessings which make them happy to all eternity. The Patriarchs in the Old Testament, Christians in the New Testament, have pleaded with God for all blessings only upon the account of Christ. “Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.” {Dan.9:17} Of this the Apostle speaks, when he saith, that Christ is made unto us of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. {I Cor.1:30} Christ doth bestow upon us, and God is pleased to accept for us the merit of Christ’s Passion, Death, Obedience, and Righteousness. 2. Christ is all in all to them by way of conveyance. As he hath merited all for them; so ’tis from him and through him that all good things are communicated to them. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.” {Jn.14:6} As we have all propter Christum, so we receive all we have per Christum through Christ. He is not only the Fountain, but the Medium and Conduit through whom all a believer hath is conveyed to him. Jesus Christ is a believer’s Root. “I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.” {Jn.15:5} Now as all the sap which is in the branches is communicated through the root, so all the good which a believer hath is derived through Christ. God hath put all that good he intends to bestow upon his Elect into Christ’s hands as a Feoffee in trust, and from him as the great Lord-steward is all communicated unto them. Of this the Apostle speaks; from Christ the Head, the whole body by “joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” {Col.2:19} Jesus Christ is, as it were, the hand of God, through which all good things are sent in to us. He is the door; “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.” {Jn.10:7} 3. Christ is all in all to them, by way of efficiency and causality. He it is that works all in all in his Saints; “there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.” {I Cor.12:6} This our Saviour bears witness unto, when he tells us, that without him we can do nothing. {Jn.15:5} The soul is the principle of all action in man, Jesus Christ is the principle of all motion and spiritual action in his Saints, for he is the soul of their soul. Not a good desire, not a good thought but what is inspired by Jesus Christ. The Apostle doth freely acknowledge this. “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;” {Gal.2:20;} so “work out your own salvation, &c. for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” {Phil.2:12,13} 4. Christ is all in all to them virtually; he is instead of all things to them. Solomon saith that money answereth all things, for it is meat, drink, clothes, house, lands, &c., {Ecles.10:19,} all things that are vendible may be procured by money. Jesus Christ is virtually all things, for he makes up all things that are wanting. Hence it is that he is in Scripture compared to all things, to food, to clothing, to physick, to gold, to health, &c., because he stands for all these things unto the souls of his Saints. Hence is that promise; “he that overcometh shall inherit all things. {Rev.21:7} Jesus Christ is for all uses and purposes. This is in the text; he is Circumcision to the Gentile, wisdom to the Barbarian, &c. 5. Christ is all in all to them by way of benediction and sanctification. It is from him that any good they enjoy becomes a blessing to them. He makes everything effectual for those ends for which they are appointed. No good thing would be good to us without the benediction of Christ; yea were it not for his blessing, every good thing would prove a snare, a cross and a curse to us, as they do to them, who have no interest in Christ. This is that which Solomon saith, “the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich.” {PV.10:22} Thy health would be thy greatest sickness, thy wealth would be thy ruin, thy parts and abilities would be a snare to thee, did not Jesus Christ sanctify them by his blessing. All the good the Saints enjoy depends upon Christ’s blessings to make them good to them. The Application follows: Use 1. How injurious to Jesus Christ are they who mingle other things with Jesus Christ as the causes of their salvation. The Papists mingle their own merits, and righteousness, indulgences, the sufferings of other men, with the merits of Christ, as the causes of their justification and salvation. What else is this but to deny the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ? If he be all in all for justification and salvation, he needs not have his merits eked out with such kind of helps as these are. If Christ be all in all, then these are superfluous; yea, the addition of these doth derogate from, and destroy the fullness and all-sufficiency of Christ. Yea, Christ who is all in all to believers, will be nothing at all to them who are not contented with him alone. “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” {Gal.5:4} Consider this you that are self justifyers. Use 2. If Christ be all in all, then is nothing anything at all without Jesus Christ. All the world, the riches, pleasures, honors of the world is but emptiness without Christ. “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity;” {Ecles.1:2;} that man hath just nothing, that hath not Christ who is all things; the world is but complete loss without Christ. Thy wisdom, thy parts, thy children, thy offices, thy preferments, thy lands and revenues, all thou hast, if thou want him that is all things, can amount to nothing. They are but cyphers without a figure. O that men would consider this! Use 3. What rich inheritance have all those who are truly interested in Jesus Christ! My God and My All. They possess him that is all in all, and in possessing him they possess all. I have all things my brother, saith Jacob to Esau, {Gen.33:11,} for he that hath him that is all in all, cannot want anything. All things are yours, {saith the Apostle} whether things present, or things to come, and you are Christ’s. {I Cor.3:22,23} A true believer, let him be never so poor outwardly, is in truth the richest man in all the world; he hath all in all, and what can be added to all? Use 4. It shows the reason why the Saints are so fearful of losing Jesus Christ. They value all things at a low rate in comparison of him. They would rather lose all then Christ, they are contented to part with liberty, estate, life, rather than with Christ. Is there not cause for it? Christ is better than all things else. Riches are something, liberty is something, life is something, but Christ is all in all. There is nothing besides Jesus Christ that is good for all uses. Garments are good to cover, but not for food; meat is good to feed, but not to warm, &c., but Jesus Christ is good for every use, for all persons, for all times, for all sexes, for all conditions. They know if they lose Christ, they lose all things. If a man had all his estate in one jewel, you would not blame him to be very careful of keeping that. Jesus Christ is their all, they seek him when they are deprived of him, with greatest care; they keep him when they have him, with the greatest diligence. “I found him whom my soul loveth; I held him, and would not let him go;” {Cant.3:4;} do not wonder at it; for he is their all in all. Use 5. That no soul esteems Christ aright, that doth not esteem him all in all. To esteem anything equal to Christ is to disesteem Christ. Thou dost never truly account him anything, till thou do account him all things; yea, better than all things, and all things as nothing in respect of him. If thou canst not make up all things in Christ, thou makest him but a poor Christ. If thou canst not make him a friend in the want of a friend; an habitation in the want of an habitation; if thou canst not make him riches in poverty; if there be any condition in which Christ will not suffice thee; if Christ be too little to satisfy thee, thou dost but undervalue him; he is never truly accounted anything, till he be accounted all things. Use 6. Learn hence, the misery of those that want Christ. He that wants Christ, wants all things. “Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless,” saith Abraham. {Gen.15:2} Abraham had much, and yet because he wanted a child, he wanted everything. The soul that wants Jesus Christ hath indeed nothing. The Apostle possessed all things when he had nothing; “as having nothing, and yet possessing all things;” {II Cor.6:10;} having Christ he possessed all things. Those that want a saving interest in Christ possess nothing, though they seem to have all things; all they have is emptiness; yea, all they have is a curse, because they have not Christ. O that God would convince men of this truth!

Ralph Robinson (Christ All in All)

Posted in Great Quotes, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Worship 23

July 14, 2016

John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Amos 5:21 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. 23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; Matthew 15:8 ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME 9 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'”

Isaiah 43:21 “The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise.

In going back just a little to expand on a thought, there is a huge difference between a man-centered God (concept 1) and a God-centered God (concept 2). The concept and practice of true worship in many respects revolves and hinges on that difference. If we think of God as being focused on man and His main goal is to help man and bless man (concept 1), then we will worship Him as the One who helps us and will only worship Him if He helps us. This is to say that concept 1 makes or leaves men in their self-centeredness and that all they do is moved by a version or form of self-love.

If we think of God as from all eternity doing nothing but what will glorify Himself and in love for Himself as triune, then we see what He does in a far different way. The Gospel is not just His helping man and saving man from harm, but the Gospel is really God manifesting His glory and enabling men to enjoy Him as their chief goal and love. In other words, the Gospel saves men from self-love and enables them to love God for Himself and to join His joy in Himself. God justifies sinners in order that He may dwell in them and manifest His glory in and through them and He does so for the glory of His own name and that He might enjoy Himself manifested.

For true worship to occur the justified soul is enabled to worship God for His own glory and the soul worships God for Himself. A person is not justified for his own sake, but for the sake of God. A person that does not worship for the sake of God is instead in worship of self (for the sake of self) in some way. A worship that is not for His own glory (in truth) is for the glory of self. Fundamentally, then, true worship must be for a God who seeks His own glory or it cannot be true worship. True worship is not the response of the flesh to some perceived benefit, it is being enabled by God or being an instrument of God to shine forth His glory and then adore that glory. It is to share in His joy in Himself and for His joy to be the very joy of the believer.

While Isaiah 43:21 can be taken to refer to the nation of Israel, we can also see that as spiritual Israel for all time as well. God has to create a people (new birth, new creation) for them to praise Him. In fact, He created them for that purpose and as the newborn baby cries for milk so the newborn soul cries out in praise and worship. Worship is not primarily for the benefit of believers, though it benefits them, but true worship is God expressing Himself and His glory in and through His people who are new creations in Christ. Not only does God save sinners to the praise of the glory of His grace, but He saves sinners that they may and will praise Him for the glory of His grace.

We must begin to see, understand, and practice worship as those that God has justified by His grace so that they may enjoy His grace and worship Him by grace in exalting Him as a God of grace. It is grace alone that can subdue a sinful heart and turn it to where it is pliable and exalting in God rather than self. It is grace alone that can soften a hard heart and make it melt with rays of glory upon it that it might now reflect His glory for who he is. Worship is not following the bulletin in an order of prayer, singing, and preaching; but it is an eternal plan for those chosen from all eternity to be a means by which God declares His glory through the mouths and hearts of human beings. If God is not the true focus in the time of worship, then self is. If God is focused on man in the time of worship, then it is not wrong for man to focus on man in the time of worship. However, in true worship the God-centered God is focused on Himself and therefore He brings the hearts of His people to be caught up in adoration and admiration of Himself.

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized, Worship | Leave a Comment »

Musings 115

July 13, 2016

Matthew 22:37 And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

Matthew 22:39 “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

I Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Isaiah 64:7 There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

When we think of what is going on in our world today, it is not the same world and we do not live in the same country we used to. While our country has the same title, it is far from being the same country that it was even ten years ago, much less than 40 years ago. What we have to come to grips with, however, is that the real problem is not political, but instead it is spiritual. The real problem that our nation has is with God. It is the true and living God who is fighting against us and it is God who is hardening our hearts and turning us over to our sins.

It is true that the previous paragraph sounds in the modern ear like it was written or spoken by a crazy person. The way people look at the world is through the lenses of naturalism as if the world ran according to natural law rather than according to God. It is thought that we are making great progress in our day, and that is true if one judges progress by technology and ease of life. However, if one judges progress by how much people are growing in their love and obedience for God, then it is easily seen that we are going down the hill at a rapid rate.

Do people in our nation love God more than themselves? Do people in our nation love their neighbors as they love themselves? Are people being conformed to their lusts in their ignorance of God or are they pursuing holiness which is to be like God? When people are not doing those things, but instead are going the opposite direction, it is evident that God has hidden His face from us and has delivered us into the power of our iniquities. While the citizens of the United States pride themselves on the freedoms set out in the Constitution, they are actually going backward more and more into a spiritual slavery that is far worse than they can possibly imagine.

While so many in our nation (and world) is suppressing the truth of God as hard and as fast as they can, what is happening is that the living God that they try to deny is turning them over to a hardened heart and they are becoming more and more foolish in their understanding. While so many in the world try to deny God in all ways, there are many outwardly religions people who deny things about God so that they can have a god of their own understanding. While they hate the true God, they can come up with a false god that is tolerable to them and so they love that God (they think). They can come up with their own standards of loving their neighbors and as such they can come up will all kinds of self-righteousness as they attend church each Sunday morning (and perhaps other times as well) and do their religious duties.

The real issue with our nation is that the professing churches are fleeing from the truth of God and are settling for tradition, for some modern idea, or just about anything that is not the true God. As the professing churches are fleeing from the true God, both conservative and liberal, they are being hardened toward the true God and the nation no longer has salt and light. The problem is not a lack of religion or a lack of belief about some things people believe to be true, it is about a lack of true faith and love to the true God. Some people have a high level of commitment to their idea of God, but they have left the true God behind and have embraced a false one. Our nation is grappling with ideas of racism and the economy and on and on it goes, but apart from the light that God gives our nation is in utter blindness and do what they do in their blindness. We have political leaders who do not bow to God and as such they are the blind leading the blind while we have religious leaders who have false gods and as such they are the blind leading the blind. Apart from God giving us grace to seek His face, the churches cannot turn to God. We are in the hands of the one and only God, the sovereign God. We must seek Him.

Posted in Musings, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Worship 22

July 11, 2016

John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Amos 5:21 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. 23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

Matthew 15:8 ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME 9 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'”

While being guilty of repetition, it is so vital to grasp the biblical fact that it is not worship when people say things about God and yet their hearts are far from Him. All that a person does is in vain if they teach as doctrines the precepts of men. All that men offer up in the name of God that comes from the flesh is not worship in spirit. All that men teach about God, doctrine, and worship that is not from God and is not centered upon God as God-centered is nothing more than the precepts of men. The Scriptures are quite clear that worship is not something that is in the power and ability of man and as such it is dangerous business to bring worship down to the level and ability of man.

When Isaiah 57:15 tells us that God dwells with the contrite and lowly of spirit, that tells us a lot about two vital issues regarding worship. One, God dwells among His people. Two, a lowly heart is necessary for God to dwell among people. While this has been discussed, it has not been discussed in the context of worship being God-centered and God-focused. Worship is not man coming to God in man’s own strength, but worship is when God brings His people into the joy of exalting Him and in Him. God brings His people into the joy of exalting Him when He comes down and dwells in His people and communicates truths to their minds and joy to their souls.

Exodus 40:33 He erected the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the veil for the gateway of the court. Thus Moses finished the work. 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Exodus 40 has a lot to teach us about worship if we have ears to hear. In the earlier part of the chapter we see the particulars of animal sacrifice and of the ceremonial aspects of Old Testament worship in the tabernacle. What we should take notice of, however, is that after the Tabernacle and the priests were as the Lord had commanded and the proper sacrifice had been offered, the glory of God came down and filled the tabernacle. There is a cleansing of the people and an appropriate sacrifice and God came down in glory. We see this in another way in Leviticus 9:24 that when the fire of God consumed the sacrifice the people shouted and fell on their faces. True worship does not come from human flesh as such, but instead true worship can only occur when there is an acceptable sacrifice offered to God and He comes down among His people.

When the congregations of God assemble they should seek to worship the living God. This means that they must seek to worship Him in a way that is built on the perfect and acceptable sacrifice of Christ. This means that they must seek for humbled and broken hearts for God to come down and dwell among His people. The Gospel of the glory of God is the good news that God has accepted a sacrifice in the place of His people and the people should shout and fall on their faces (at least figuratively). The Gospel of Christ is in one sense how Christ has opened a way into the Holy of Holies and how the people of God have access to Him and now He can come to His people and dwell in them by and through Christ. The Gospel is the Gospel of the glory of God and as we behold His glory in the Gospel we behold the beauties and glories of a satisfied God who is satisfied with Christ. In the Gospel we can behold the glorious truth that the “riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). We must seek to worship in light of the Gospel of a crucified Savior and in light of a Savior who saves sinners that He might dwell in them and manifest His glory to them. Then we worship.

Posted in Uncategorized, Worship | Leave a Comment »

Worship 21

July 9, 2016

John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Amos 5:21 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. 23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

Matthew 15:8 ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME 9 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'”

There can be no real question that in light of the verses above (as representative of Scripture) that there can be no possibility of true worship apart from the worship of the entire soul. We cannot settle for bulletins that outline our worship, but instead we are to seek the Lord for hearts that worship. We cannot just assume that we are going to worship instead of just going to a building to do religious acts. We cannot assume that we actually worship just because we sing songs, say words we think of as prayer, and give or listen to a man up front saying things about God from the Bible. God is real and God is everywhere. Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead and He lives in His people. He is the life of His people. Those who truly believe are said to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.

If we really believe that the paragraph above is even close to true, something must change if we are going to truly worship. While this may sound radical to some if not many, we must quit thinking of worship in an Arminian manner and seek it as if comes by free-grace. It seems that the norm of the Arminian way of worship is for people to assume that if they beat their own wills into submission, show up at “church”, and go through the steps outlined in the bulletin that they have engaged in worship. In that type of thinking (though the creed and the stated theology is different) worship happens when people decide to do so and they do the external acts. Some, though based in the Arminian type of thinking, will try to fire up the feelings of others as if their music and hyper-activities can fire people up and get them to worship.

I will argue in what remains in this post that true worship can only happen if it is moved by the free-grace of God. Yes, this has been stated before, but it is such a vital point it needs to be repeated several times. If God is sovereign and God sovereignly reveals Himself and sovereignly moves the affections and will as He pleases, then true worship can only occur when the work is God’s. We should seek the Lord to reveal Himself to us and open our hearts that we may truly worship. We cannot worship with proud hearts and hearts full of self, so we should seek Him to humble us and bring us low that we may worship in spirit and truth. We cannot bring the sacrifice of praise until our hearts are sacrificed to Him, which is to say that our hearts are broken from self and pride and we are irrevocably given over to Him and His glory.

I have read of a preacher who did not want to enter the pulpit until he had the presence of the Lord with him. The congregation would sing and sometimes for a longer period of time until the man thought the Lord was with him. It was said that the elders would watch out of the window and would see the preacher step off of the trail and bow in prayer seeking the Lord for His presence. Indeed this is what preachers should do, but this is also what the people should do in order to praise the Lord. We never earn His presence and we never earn His blessings, but we are to seek Him to empty us of self and pride so that His grace would work in us. We must always remember that worship is a blessing and it is by free-grace. We do not and cannot deserve to worship the living God, so we must always approach worship in that way. God must grant it by free-grace and come to us and share Himself with us. Oh that the Lord would open our eyes to what true worship is and how it comes so that we may seek it at the throne of grace and seek it as we would true grace.

Posted in Uncategorized, Worship | Leave a Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »