Reflections on and Admirations of God 8

November 11, 2013

Hence we learn [see quote from Reflections on and Admirations of God 6] how all God’s love may be resolved into His love for and delight in Himself. His love to the creature is only His inclination to glorify Himself and communicate Himself, and His delight is in Himself glorified and in Himself communicated. There is His delight in the act and in the fruit. The act is the exercise of His own perfection, and the fruit is Himself expressed and communicated.        Jonathan Edwards

The quote from Edwards just above gets at several important points, but one of the main points to consider is what it means for the command to glorify God in all we do. This can be thought of in terms of love or joy. God commands His people to rejoice in Him, but where does that joy come from? If the joy comes from the human as to its origin, then the joy would be something a person gives to God that does not come from Him. If the soul has the ability to delight in God apart from the ability to delight in God that comes from God, then the soul has the ability to obey the commands of God with the power of obedience from itself. But Jesus clearly taught His people that apart from Him they could do nothing (John 15:4-5).

What we can clearly see from the quote above is that Edwards saw that anything that a human being did in the spiritual realm must come from God first. A human being does not have the power to work up spiritual things in his or her own power, but instead spiritual things that please God must come from the work of the Holy Spirit. This is to say that true spiritual fruit that comes through a human being is truly the fruit of the Spirit. When a human being loves another, that is the work of the Holy Spirit and that is the love of God for God being manifested. When a human being has true spiritual joy, that is the work and fruit of the Holy Spirit and that is the joy of God in God being manifested.

What we have, then, is a very beautiful picture. Human beings have no power or ability to glorify God as He commands them since they have no way to work any of the commands in their own power. But what God commands human beings to do, then, is to be instruments of His glory in the world. A person does not glorify God by doing what He commands in his own power of self, but God is only truly glorified when a human being is the instrument by which God manifests Himself. God exists in perfect love and joy and He is glorified in that when a human beings has that love and joy worked in him or her by God and then that love and joy flows from the throne of the living God in the human soul and is poured back out to God and to others. That is when the glory of God is manifested, but most of all it is for God Himself.

In order for this point to be crystal clear, we can think of the glory of God as being the beauty and delightfulness of God in all He is in Himself. A human being cannot be like God unless God works that in the soul of the human being. In the highest sense of the word, a human being cannot glorify God in the slightest (in this sense) since all true glory must come from God Himself. It is only when God shines out of Himself that He can truly be glorified. It is only when God shines out of Himself and communicates Himself to human beings that they can then be used to glorify Him. This is a critical point. The love that glorifies God must come from the love of God for Himself in order for Him to be truly glorified. The joy that glorifies God must come from the joy that God has in Himself in order for Him to be truly glorified.

Another point should be made for more clarity. It is not the fact that I have joy that glorifies God, not even if God is the object (in some sense) of my joy. The God is only glorified or manifested when it is the joy He has in Himself that is manifested. So God is only truly glorified in this sense in and through human beings when His joy is worked in them and then manifested through them. This is so vital if we are to understand Edwards, but more importantly if we are to understand the true nature of spiritual fruit. We cannot work spiritual fruit from self and human nature, but spiritual fruit must come from the Holy Spirit. We cannot glorify God from self and human nature, but this true glory must come from the One who alone is full of all true glory. This shows so clearly that God alone can regenerate a soul and God alone can work Himself in a soul and manifest His glory in and through that soul. Enough of the legalist and the libertine, those who love God and desire His glory should seek Christ Himself who alone is our hope of glory (Col 1:27). Enough of those who think they are saved by grace and yet sanctified by their own work. We are only sanctified to the degree that we die to self and His glory is worked in and through us.

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Reflections on and Admirations of God 7

November 11, 2013

Hence we learn [see quote from Reflections on and Admirations of God 6] how all God’s love may be resolved into His love for and delight in Himself. His love to the creature is only His inclination to glorify Himself and communicate Himself, and His delight is in Himself glorified and in Himself communicated. There is His delight in the act and in the fruit. The act is the exercise of His own perfection, and the fruit is Himself expressed and communicated. Jonathan Edwards

This paragraph brings some of the great truths of God into a focus and displays them in a way that has hardly seen the light of day in modern times. Here is a view of the greatness of the one and only God who is triune and all love is within Himself and for Himself. Here we see how the two Great Commandments are seen in God Himself. It is only in loving Himself (as triune) that God loves His creatures. As such, it is only when a human being (out of the love for Himself that God has poured into the human soul) loves God that a human being can really love another. It is a great truth and therefore a great comfort to realize that God loves His people based on His perfect and eternal love for Himself rather than a love that is based on their behavior. The behavior or moral life of people can truly only flow from a love for God rather than trying to earn His love. It is impossible to earn His love, but instead one should cry out to God for grace that one may have and live in that love.

Zephaniah 3:14-17 gives us a beautiful picture of God. “14 Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The LORD has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. 16 In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” If we look at this from a view that is centered and focused on human beings, we will think that God is responding to what His people has done and is rejoicing over that. But if we think of His people doing what they do because God is working in them to manifest Himself, the picture we get is that God is delighting in Himself and the glory He has expressed in and through His people. The people are blessed in that and so join in His rejoicing. God rejoices in His own glory and His people rejoice in the sight of His glory because they love Him and His glory above all.

Edwards makes a very important distinction when he says, “There is His delight in the act and in the fruit.” The actions of God are the exercises of His perfections which God loves to exercise and manifest. The fruit, that is, the result of what He does is really Himself expressed and communicated. In a very real sense we can also make a distinction between God expressing Himself and communicating Himself as well, but in terms of the people of God bearing fruit, it is more of a helpful way of thinking than it is two things that are distinct from each other. God can express Himself in ways where He has not communicated Himself in the sense where His presence and glory are actually communicated a person.

When we think of the nature of true love, therefore, we can see why it is only a true believer who can truly love (see I John 4:7-8). Only believers are spiritual people which means only a believer has the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, which means that only those who have the Holy Spirit and those that the Holy Spirit is working in have true love and truly love. If we trace that back to the source, what we see is that God as triune is always in the act of His perfections in Himself and to His people. The Holy Spirit (who is fully God) expresses love from God to His people and that love is then communicated to them because the Spirit dwells in them and works Himself in them. In this sense communicating love is not just telling people about it, but it is part of the very nature of God that He shares with and works in His people. So when the people of God receive this communication of love from God, they will love others. When a believer truly loves, that is really the manifestation of the very love of God in and through that person. The love that a believer shows others is really the fruit of the of the act of God who is exercising the perfection of love in Himself and then sharing it and communicating it to His people.

When we see true believers loving God and others, it is nothing that they should be applauded for, but it is something that God should be worshipped for. When believers love others in truth, that is the very perfection of God being worked in and through His people and so it is God on display and it is God glorified. So the delight of God in seeing a true believer love is really the delight of God in Himself displayed. A believer should grow to where the believer can delight in the glory of God shining in and through him or her rather than being proud of what s/he has done. There is nothing to boast about in ourselves, but in truth we can do nothing good but what comes through Jesus Christ. He is the vine and we are the branches. All true fruit that we bear comes from Him and all the glory and praise is His.

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Reflections on and Admirations of God 6

November 10, 2013

As He delights in His own goodness, so He delights in the exercise of His goodness, and therefore He delights to make the creature happy, and delights to see him made happy as He delights in exercising goodness or communicating happiness. This is no proper addition to the happiness of God, because it is that which He eternally and unalterably had. The happiness that God experiences when He beholds His own glory shining forth in His image in the creature, and when He beholds the creature made happy from the exercise of His goodness, does not increase, because those and all things are from eternity equally present with God. This delight in God cannot properly be said to be received from the creature because it consists only in a delight in giving to the creature. Neither will it hence follow that God is dependent on the creature for any of His joy, because it is His own act only that this delight is dependent on, and the creature is absolutely dependent on God for that excellency and happiness that God delights in. God cannot be said to be more happy because of the creature because He is infinitely happy in Himself. He is not dependent on the creature for anything, nor has He received any addition from the creature.     Jonathan Edwards

It is a delightful thing for the creature to think of him or herself as being totally dependent on God for all things, even joy. While some try to represent reality as if God looks to us to come up with joy or to respond with joy in our own strength, that is really nothing but false theology. God Himself is the origin and spring of all true joy and all true joy must come from Him and Him alone. For a creature to have true joy is for a creature to have that in him or her from God. That true joy is really the joy God has in Himself and is a work of the grace of God in the soul in giving that creature a joy and delight in Himself. God, as an infinite and perfect being, cannot obtain joy from any other source and is full of joy in Himself. He is worthy to be adored, admired, and worshiped for who He is as a God of infinite joy in Himself.

Humanity seeks after happiness and joy in all things that are done, but in doing what they do apart from God they show that they are obtaining joy in themselves and for themselves based on themselves. People seek joy and happiness in sin, yet sin is what brings misery. People will not seek God as their joy, which is a different thing than seeking God for joy, but instead they are like Adam and Eve who want to determine what is good for themselves. While it is true that seeking joy in sin will bring a certain amount of good feelings, those things are transient pleasures of this life. But those transient pleasures are so deceptive and seem to hold out promises of more joy. That deception, however, is really from pride and self. The sinful self longs for joy and so the things of the world gives it some taste of good feeling, but those good feelings are from self and self can never be the source of true joy. So self looks and looks at the world and tries to find joy, but since it cannot obtain true joy from them it keeps searching and has to have more and more to have any amount of good feeling. The heart being full of pride does not want to admit that it cannot obtain true joy in its sown way. So those without the Spirit of joy continue in their vain search for joy in the pursuit of self.

But God does not search for joy, but instead He exists in perfect and infinite joy. As such, for a human being to have true joy that human being must have Christ obtain joy for him or her and for the Spirit of Christ who is the Spirit of joy dwell in that soul. The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy (and so on). When the Spirit of Christ who alone can work joy in the soul actually works that joy in the soul, that soul has nothing more and nothing less than the very joy God that has in Himself in the soul. In other words, God shares His joy with that soul and so the joy has a true joy and delight in God Himself. If God’s perfect and infinite joy is in Himself, then He can give no greater joy than giving a soul a true joy in Himself.

The soul that has the joy and delight of God in the soul is a soul that God works in with and by His own joy. So when God beholds the soul that He dwells in and gives His joy, that is really the living God delighting in Himself. The creature, then, which is the image of God, can give nothing to God, but is simply a means by which God delights in Himself and manifests His own glory to Himself. The creature must learn that he cannot and must not try to reflect self back to God, but in striving to have more of God in the soul the creature should be a reflection of God back to Himself. In this we can see that the creature should have a joy and delight in the joy and delight of God. How utterly glorious it is for a human being to be humbled and broken from self and pride and to stop seeking to find joy in self, but instead to find joy and delight in God’s sharing of His own joy and delight in Himself. That is true grace found only in Christ and worked in human beings by the Spirit.

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The Sinful Heart 87

November 9, 2013

Why are we more alarmed and concerned at breaches of duty to man than God, but because they are seen and observed? What then is our principle of action? (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

The statement by Adam just above is very striking, though it can be thought of as just another slightly convicting statement. Instead of that, however, with a few moments reflection it can be seen as striking at the heart of sin and of the sin of the Pharisees in one aspect. The Pharisees appeared to do what they did out of a concern for what the appearance was before men. Such is the heart of man that his self-love and pride are/is so great that he is more concerned to be righteous before men than he is to seek a true righteousness to stand before the living God.

Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Matthew 23:5 “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.

John 12:42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

The passages above demonstrate to all who read that the Pharisees were concerned with the appearance of righteousness before men. For some reason, most likely the hidden atheism in the heart due to pride and self-love, men want to appear righteous to men more than they want to be righteous before God. The Pharisees, then, in their zealousness in things that were religious were actually more zealous to appear righteous before men. They wanted to obtain honor from men for their religious actions. They sought status and stature in the religious world by the way they prayed, giving to the poor, and of fasting. They did all their deeds to be noticed by men.

The same thing can be true (and is in so many places) in our day. We can pray and do all we do in order to be honored by men. We can evangelize and get people to pray a prayer in order to be honored by men. We can preach in order to be honored by men. We can give money in order to be honored by men. We can build buildings in order to be honored by men. We can build ministries in order to be honored by men. We can obtain terminal degrees in order to be honored by men. We can write papers and books in order to be honored by men. We can be seminary professors in order to be honored by men. We can appear godly in order to be honored by men. The heart is so deceitful that it can take any thing that is good in and of itself and turn it into an act that we try to obtain honor by.

What is actually happening when we try to take the commands of Scripture and turn them into ways to obtain honor for ourselves? It is an act of enmity toward God and our fellow man. The reality of the matter is that our deceptive hearts wants the honor that only belongs to God and use it to obtain honor for ourselves. When we try to get people to honor us, we are actually hating them because they are to love God and honor God with all of their beings. The principle of action that people go by is that they are willing to be religious or non-religious as long as they can gain the attention of others and obtain honor from others. A person will be very religious as long as he can fulfill the desires of his wicked heart in obtaining attention, distinction, and honor for it. That is simply wicked.

Surely this shows that the heart must be changed from its enmity with God to have a love for God so that it may seek the glory and honor of God rather than self. Oh how understanding the heart can open our eyes to our need of grace and the wonder and glory of grace. God alone can be holy in seeking His own honor and glory, while in reality man is as wicked as he can be in seeking his own honor and glory. On the other hand, the holiest of men pant after and seek the honor and glory of God as their chief end and love.

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Regeneration by God 8

November 7, 2013

John 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” James 1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

The great and glorious doctrine of regeneration, though largely ignored in the modern world of religion, is found in various ways throughout Scripture though the language is not always the same. John 1:13 speaks of being born of God, John 3:3-5 speaks of being born again (or from above), and there are other passages that speak to this doctrine in their own ways. For example, Ephesians 2:1-5 goes not use the word “birth” or “born” or anything just like that, but it is speaking of the same great truth.

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)

The text in Ephesians sets out man as being dead in trespasses and sin, a slave to the prince of the power of the air, a slave to the lusts of the flesh and mind; and then of being by nature a child of wrath. The contrast to all of those things is of being made alive together with Christ by grace. But what must happen to a person that is dead if that person is going to be with Christ in a form of life? That person must be made alive. In other words, that person must be born from above or born again. The person that is spiritually dead must be made spiritually alive way if that person is going to be a spiritual person.

What must happen to a person that is a slave to the prince of the power of the air? That person must be made free from that prince. When a person is a slave in the sense that a person is a slave to sin, that person must be freed from the slavery of sin. But this can only happen when that person is freed from the bondage of sin and of spiritual death, so again that person must be made alive in Christ Jesus.

What must happen to a person that is a slave to the lusts of the flesh and of the mind? As Galatians sets out for us in chapter five of that book, the flesh wars against the Spirit. Those who are controlled by the fleshly nature are those that are not controlled by the Spirit who works spiritual things in those with spiritual natures. Men must be made alive by the Spirit and be born of the Spirit in order to be made spiritual men. It is not just that men must stop having certain desires of the flesh and of the mind, which come from the fleshly nature, but instead they must have a new nature and so have new desires of the Spirit and of the mind. This person must be made alive and be born from above by the Spirit in order to have those things.

What must happen to a person that by nature is a child of wrath? That person must be born from above in order to have a nature that is from God and so be a child of God. All men are born in a nature that shows them to be children of the devil, which is to be born in a state of wrath. That nature must be changed by a new birth so that a person can become a child of the living God. In other words, it is impossible for a person to be saved from the wrath of God until a person has his nature changed. If a person is by nature a child of wrath, then that nature must be changed for the person to be something other than a child of wrath. So many people want salvation to come to them for praying a prayer, an act of the will, or by changing the behavior. But that simply cannot be. As long as a person has the same nature that s/he was born with, that person will be by nature a child of wrath. That nature cannot be changed by that nature and that nature cannot be changed by the person in any way. The nature must be changed by the living God who alone can cause a child of wrath to be a new creation in Christ Jesus. How desperately men need to be regenerate or to be born again, and yet they go sleepily on their way to everlasting wrath as long as they remain in the nature they were born with. You must be born again.

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Edwards on the God Centeredness of God 7

November 4, 2013

THE END FOR WHICH GOD CREATED THE WORLD

Whatsoever is good and valuable in itself is worthy that God should value it with an ultimate respect. It is therefore worthy to be made the last end of his operation, if it be properly capable of being attained. For it may be supposed that some things, valuable and excellent in themselves, are not properly capable of being attained in any divine operation; because their existence, in all possible respects, must be conceived of as prior to any divine operation. Thus God’s existence and infinite perfection, though infinitely valuable in themselves, cannot be supposed to be the end of any divine operation; for we cannot conceive of them as in any respect consequent on any works of God. But whatever is in itself valuable, absolutely so, and is capable of being sought and attained, is worthy to be made a last end of the divine operation. (Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World)

If God should value what is in itself most valuable and value it with an ultimate respect, that would be what God would aim at in terms of His highest goal or the true end of it. We cannot imagine a perfectly just God who is perfectly holy having a goal that has something lesser than that which is in itself the most valuable and most loved by Himself. The points above that are given by Edwards show us something of the beauty and glory of God if we are willing to look and if God gives us eyes to see. An object that is good and valuable in itself is worthy that God should value it and seek it with an ultimate respect. The contrary position, however, is also true. An object that is not good and valuable in itself is not worthy that God should value it with an ultimate respect. This means, it seems clear enough, that a thrice holy God would only seek what is more valuable and value it with ultimate respect.

We can also see that even for God there may be things that He cannot attain, though that should not be thought of as a weakness bur rather as a strength. It is not a weakness in God that He cannot sin, but is rather a strength of His. It is not a weakness in God that He cannot actually carry out a contradiction, but is rather a strength of His. In much the same way it is not a weakness with God that He cannot seek His own existence and to be perfect, since He already exists in a way that He cannot go out of existence and He is perfect in all ways and as such cannot be less than perfect. So the goals that God seeks must be those things that He can actually do, which is to say that they are not contradictions and that they are things He is able to attain. It is more proper, then, to think of God manifesting His perfections rather than it is to say that He seeks His perfection. It is more proper, then, to think of God displaying His existence rather than seeking His existence as a goal.

What else can be worthy for God to actually desire and seek but that which is in itself valuable and that absolutely so? To put the matter plainly, what else is worthy for God to seek other than Himself and His own glory? While His existence is not capable of being sought or attained, the glory of His self-existence is certainly worthy to be displayed and to seek to be manifested. What other goal can we possibly think is worthy for God to seek? Fallen man wants to seek himself, wants others to do what he thinks is good for himself, and he even wants God to seek what he wants and do what he wants for God to do. But surely after a bit of reflection (based on the truths of Scripture) we can see that it is utterly sinful, wicked, and a horrible idolatry for man to do that. That is for man to make himself worthy of being the center of all creation.

As we begin to see some ramifications of what it means for God to actually desire and seek that which is valuable in and of itself, the nature of sin (man as self-focused and doing all for self) begins to be seen. Satan promised our first parents that they would be like God, but that was certainly twisted. Indeed they became like God but in a way that is absolutely and horribly wicked. They began to seek themselves as their own goal and as the standard for all other things. But God alone is to be sought as that which is good and valuable in and of itself.

We are now left with three logical options. One, God can seek Himself and His own glory as the greatest good in the universe. Two, God can seek a created being or created beings as the greatest good in the universe. Three, there is another greater good somewhere. I would argue that God alone is the great I AM and there is no other good in the universe. When God seeks Himself and His own glory, He is seeking the greatest good that there can possibly be. As a holy, holy, holy God, there is nothing greater and no other thing more valuable that God can seek other than Himself and His own glory. Therefore, in creating all things God sought His own glory in creating them.

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The Sinful Heart 86

November 4, 2013

Why are we more alarmed and concerned at breaches of duty to man than God, but because they are seen and observed? What then is our principle of action? (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Many people, though not all, are horrified at the thought of a breach of duty or of civility toward another human being or while at a civic function or perhaps a ceremony of some kind. We will go to great lengths to do things so that others will not think we are odd or rude or just simply less than informed. It is self-love that drives us to most of these, though it is not thought of in that way. But when it comes to being rude to God or not giving Him the proper respect or having a breach of duty to Him, if we notice at all it is of no real concern to us.

Most people are also horrified to be thought of as having a breach of duty at church, but not because they see themselves as living before God and under the Great Commandment of doing all out of love for Him and His glory, but because they don’t want to be seen by others as not being faithful or good or a host of other reasons. Human beings will go to great lengths at doing an outward duty because they want to appear as holy before men. What virtually all don’t seem to realize in this day where such an appalling disregard of God is on display is that to disregard God is the worst sin of all and it is a wicked act of idolatry to want others to respect us for our duty while we don’t do it for God primarily on two counts. One, it is an act of idolatry in my own heart if I think of myself rather than God. Two, it is a wicked act against my neighbor if I want them to honor me and I don’t intend for them to honor God in what I do.

If we will look in our own hearts and take the motions of the soul and the intents and motives of the heart seriously, we will see a pattern in our hearts that is most like the Pharisees. When we “pray” or whatever it really is, we are more concerned to utter words that are for the health and temporal welfare of men rather than of respect and honor for God. Why is it that people never (or seemingly never) seek the Lord and pray for His name to be hallowed, His kingdom to come, and His will and pleasure to be done? Why is it that we can pray for the temporal concerns for ourselves and others while we seemingly ignore the interests of God and the eternal welfare of others? Is it not, as Adams suggests in the quote above, that it is because those things are seen and observed? If that is correct, and while it may not be the one and only explanation, it is certainly true, then we need to repent.

The Scriptures tell us that we are to walk (live) by faith rather than by sight. So why is it that we live and pray by sight? Has Christianity become nothing more than a rational philosophy an external morality? Is it true that what distinguishes Reformed theology in our day is little more than a written document or creed but the essence is self-serving religion lived before men? If we could simply ask the question, where is God in most of our daily lives and in the churches? If He left, though He may have left already, what would the difference be? We could still hear a nice sermon based on correct theology and remain unmoved. We could still hear a nice moral lecture and remain unmoved. We could all speak words into the air and sing songs into the air and leave the building much the same as when we entered it. As long as we do out duties before men during the day, out family at night, and the church on Sundays and perhaps another meeting or two, we have done all that could be expected (or so we seem to think).

While we live out our lives doing out duty to please men, we are getting closer and closer to eternity. During the meantime some of our families and some of our friends enter eternity and we do what is expected of us before men in our nice and tidy little lives. But where is God? If God is our basic principle of action in all of life, wouldn’t we speak of Him more and love Him more? But where is God? Where is God in our preaching, our praying, and our living? Is He nothing more than a word we use to help convince us that we are doing our duty while what we really want is ease of life and to please men? Where is God in our lives? Where is God in our hearts? Is it not apparent that the vast majority (to be kind) of professing Christians are living in a way that is essentially without God while they take His name on their lips? Do we not hear theological lectures that are essentially without God and certainly without a real intent to hallow His name? What principles are we living by when the true and living God is not needed in our churches because we are getting along quite well (we think) without Him? Are things okay as long as the preacher and the bills are paid and no one is disturbed? Isn’t that really the case? Where is God?

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Reformation Day 2013

October 31, 2013

Today is Reformation Day in 2013. What was the big deal about this and why should it even be remembered? Do people remember these days just to keep themselves from Halloween activities? One could only hope that is not the case. The Reformation was a huge movement of God and it is good to remember that. It was a time that God has started working in men earlier than Luther, but during the life of Luther the Reformation came to a head. The glorious doctrines of God were set out and stated in ways that provide a foundational way of thinking for all time.

The most magnificent theme of the Reformation was Soli Deo Gloria (To God alone be the Glory). While one may disagree with that and assert that justification by faith alone was the main issue, I would argue that one cannot understand justification by faith alone in its biblical context apart from the glory of God. Roman Catholicism had worked and worked and ended up having its teaching essentially being man-centered and putting the works and acts of men over those of God, or at least where man was still in control. During the time of the Reformation the Roman Catholic teaching was jettisoned and refuted for the biblical teaching of a thorough God-centeredness.

One can look at justification by faith alone and have a man-centered way of looking at it, but when one does that the biblical Gospel is distorted and turned into a false Gospel. When man is at the center, man must come up with his own faith and that is what God responds to. But in the biblical Gospel it is God who gives faith and therefore man responds to God with a faith given to him by God. In the man-centered gospel, man’s faith is the issue and so in the modern day the focus is on man praying a prayer, stating an agreement to some propositional truths, or perhaps just making an act of the will. But when God is at the center of the Gospel as He really is, man must pray for God to give him a new heart by which he can have faith. When God is at the center of the Gospel, the glory of God is seen and propositional truths (thought important and even vital) go along with the spiritual sight of the soul beholding the glory of God. When God is at the center of the Gospel, the important act of the will (just as in John 1:12-13) is that of God. The vital act of will is that God must will so that man can believe from a new heart.

In the God-centered Gospel justification is not primarily for the sake of man, but for the glory of the grace of God. The biblical emphasis of faith is really on Christ and grace, but when man turns that emphasis on self, man has rejected the true nature of faith and of grace. God saves to the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph 1:5-7) and not because man came up with faith and not because man is so worth it. The glory of God is worth God saving man or man would not be saved at all.

The cross of Jesus Christ declares that God will glorify Himself in the salvation of man rather than God declaring the worth of man and how He couldn’t live without man. At the cross we see the glory of God put on display in ways that should put man on his knees in utter amazement rather than think of himself as worthy in some way. The cross declares the glory of God in saving sinners because of Himself and His own commitment to His own glory rather than anything good about man. The cross declares the perfect justice of God because He saves sinners in a perfectly just way. The cross declares the perfect holiness of God because He does all for His own glory. The cross declares the perfect love of God because the Father loved Himself so much that He sent the Son to die for sinners to the glory of His own name. The cross declares the perfect love of God because the Son loved the Father so much that He went to save sinners that the Father had chosen. The cross declares the perfect love of God because the Holy Spirit was purchased at the cross by Christ who then applies the love of God to sinners He has chosen to love. The cross declares the power of God because in it we see His power over death and His power to win sinners and grant to sinners a new heart and a new life by the resurrected Savior.

Essentially, then, the Reformation is a declaration of the glory of God and His commitment to His own glory in and over all things. This primary thought must be taken to heart by the professing Church today and bow before the living God. If the professing Church stays focused on scholarship (not bad in and of itself) and teaching doctrine in a man-centered and as a philosophy rather than on the glory of God, we will find ourselves in great need of a new Reformation. Perhaps, however, we already are. What we see are professing churches seeking everything instead of the God of glory to come in and among them in great power in order to manifest His glory in and through them. This shows that we have become man-centered (among the Reformed in name too) and are in great need of our great God to turn us back to Himself. Nothing will turn us except God Himself. How badly we need that lesson today.

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Regeneration by God 7

October 28, 2013

John 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” James 1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

John 1:13 tells us that a believing person is not born (to belief or again) by the will of any man, but rather by the will of God. Jesus told us that without this new birth, a person cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. James wrote that the word must be received in humility. All of these points are utterly vital when considering the absolute and utter necessity of the new birth. A proud person will not look to God and cannot see the kingdom, so the proud person will not receive the word. There is an absolute necessity for the soul to be humbled in order for the soul to look away from self and look to God for the new birth. There is an absolute necessity for the soul to be delivered from the ravages of pride and self before it can in humility receive the word.

Matthew 18:3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

This verse from Matthew should also be taken into account when considering the new birth. In much the same language as John 3, Matthew records the words of Jesus as telling people that they must be turned and become like children or they would not enter the kingdom of heaven. John records Jesus as saying that a person must be born from above (or again) to enter the kingdom and Matthew says that a person must be converted and become like a child or that person will not enter the kingdom. These statements were given at different times and to different people, but they are not contradictory at all. Instead, they describe a great change that must take place in the soul.

The Greek word used in Matthew 18:3 (strafh/te) has the meaning of to turn, though in this text it is in the passive and so it is something else or someone else that must do the turning. The soul must be turned by another so that the soul would become like a young child or even an infant. What is the point of this? In the context Jesus was asked about who was the greatest in the kingdom. He basically told them that they must become like young children or infants, who do not worry about who the greatest is and simply receive all they obtain, to even enter the kingdom. Young children or infants do not worry about things like trying to obtain honor, they are very needy and receive all things that they have,

Man is born very proud and full of self, so the teaching of Jesus goes right to the point and is quite consistent with John 1:13; 3:3-8, and James 1:21. The soul must be turned (passive) which means that another must do the turning, which shows that God must will and do the turning because no one else can. For a soul to be turned from self and pride to become like an infant or young child, that is likened to the new birth. The soul that was born of self and pride (and as such a child of the devil), is now born from above and is now a humble child of the living God. This is not the result of a mere choice, but is the result of the work of God in changing the core of the person.

Matthew 18:3 does show the necessity of the new birth, but it also shows the necessity of a humbling before a person can be truly saved. James speaks of that humility that is necessary to receive the word. The new birth does not come to the person that decides of his or her own free-will, but instead it comes to those who are humbled by God and look to God alone to give it the new birth. The new birth does not come to those who think that they can essentially convert themselves by an act of their own will, but instead those who trust in their own will are not trusting in the will of God. Those who are proud and lean on self are not those who are humbled and lean on grace alone that is found only in Christ. Oh how hard it is for proud sinners to hear the words of Christ in John 3 and Matthew 18. The proud sinner not only has no power to save self, but the only power that s/he has is to resist Christ. As long as the sinner remains proud and full of self, that sinner has no hope of entering the kingdom. As long as the proud sinner tries to be humble in the power of self or tries to work up faith in self, that proud sinner is resisting and fighting true conversion. Men must be humbled and become as little children or they will perish in hell for all eternity. The words of Jesus can mean no less than that.

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Reflections on and Admirations of God 5

October 28, 2013

God stands in no need of creatures, and is not profited by them. Neither can His happiness be said to be added to by the creature; yet God has a real and proper delight in the excellency and happiness of His creatures. He has a real delight in the excellency and loveliness of the creature in His own image in the creature, as that is a manifestation, an expression, and shining forth of His own loveliness. God has a real delight in His own loveliness, and He also has a real delight in the shining forth and glorifying of it. As it is a fit and decent thing that God’s glory should shine forth, so God delights in its shining forth. So God has a real delight in the spiritual loveliness of the saints, which delight is not a delight distinct from what He has in Himself, but is to be resolved into the delight He has in Himself. For He delights in His image in the creature as He delights in His own being glorified, or as He delights in it that His own glory shines forth. And so He has real, proper delight in the happiness of His creatures, which also is not distinct from the delight He has in Himself, for it is to be resolved into the delight that He has in His own goodness.
                                                                                                                                                             Jonathan Edwards

Human beings spend too little time reflecting and admiring the glory and wonders of God and too much time reflecting on themselves. Human beings need to spend more time in the mirror of the Scriptures with meditation and prayer than primping themselves in front of the mirrors at home. When a human being is in front of the mirror at home, that usually means that the human is not in front of the mirror of the Word. The mirror at home reflects what we look like and we spend a lot of time trying to improve what we look like in order to obtain praise of others or to think well of ourselves. However, spending time in front of the mirror of the Word will reflect things to us of our ugly our soul is apart from Christ.

It is only when human beings begin to be more concerned (even far more) with how their soul appears to God than how they appear to themselves or others in the physical realm that they can begin to understand that they are to be mirrors (in a sense) of the glory of God to Himself. Indeed Christ is the perfect image of the Father and the shining forth of His glory, but all human beings were created in His image and they are to shine forth His glory rather than try to obtain glory for themselves. When God looks at a human being, He looks primarily at their soul because that is what either reflects Him or it reflects the devil. In a very real sense sanctification is the process by which a human being grows in grace and becomes a more accurate mirror of God to behold His own glory by. If a human being loves God, then that human being will desire to be one that God can behold and see His own glory.

Human beings must begin to see their own frailty and utter nothingness in one and very important sense. They can do nothing for God and He has no need of them at all. What can they do to make God look good? Surely just asking the question shows the absurdity of the thought. Yes, it is true, God delights in the creature but it is His own glory that He delights in. The creature cannot do anything in one sense to make God look good to Himself, so the creature must seek to have more of Christ so that when the Father beholds the creature what He really sees is Christ Himself. This line of thinking should show human beings how utterly worthless their filthy rags of righteousness are and how much they need Christ who alone can shine forth the glory of God back to Himself. But instead humans wonder around on earth thinking that they can do something themselves to glorify God and be righteous enough for Him to count them righteous.

The only thing that a human being can really do is to seek grace in order to be an empty vessel which God can fill with His glory with Christ and then behold Himself shining forth in Christ. This is one reason why self-righteousness is so repugnant to God. Self-righteousness is not possible and is not wanted to God. It is only His own glory in the face of Christ that He desires to behold in us. For God to have a proper delight, He can only delight in Himself. The human being must keep that in mind in all aspects of life. When a human being meditates on and longs for the true glory of God to shine forth from him or her, that is precisely what God desires. The human should desire to glorify God that God may be pleased rather than try to do something to glorify God so that the human can earn something before God. What a great and glorious God that would shine forth His glory in and through human beings and delight in Himself on display in them. How utterly beautiful and how ravishing it is to the soul that loves the Father through the Son and beholds the glory God in and through the Son as the Son dwells in the souls of men.

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