Waiting Patiently?

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” (James 5:7-9 ESV) We, who are believers, are waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is no surprise that there are many different reasons why the return of the Lord in glory to the earth is so eagerly sought after. Some reasons no doubt are more noble and glorious than other reasons, yet the hope of Christ’s return is strong. James has written to believers who have been scattered by persecution and suffering. He has found it to be necessary to write to these scattered and suffering believers a letter filled with extremely practical advice and directions. He has written to curb sinful tendencies and responses by human beings under the most trying of situations. James writes in the 5th chapter to wait patiently for the Lord. He encourages them that the Lord’s return is at hand, or immanent. He tells them to wait like a farmer who has planted his crops and now must wait for those crops to develop and grow. One thing stands out in his instructions – these believers are not to grumble or complain about their trials, testings, or tribulations. In fact, they are to patiently endure and refuse any prompting to avenge themselves of wrongs done to them or ill treatment. Right about now we would want to shout, whoa! James knew that under these circumstances that the natural response would be to “fold under pressure” and to respond in at least two ways: 1) When mistreated, especially wrongfully, the natural response is to attempt to avenge oneself. It is easy to take matters into ones own hands in order to get back at some one who is or has mistreated us 2) When under pressure, a natural response is to “loose it” and to take out our frustrations against those closest to us. We are only too aware that husbands and wives are guilt of this more than they would like to admit. James did not want these believers turning on one another in frustration, anger, fear, and impatience and in doing so create irreparable harm to the body of Christ. We must also be on guard both in our home and in the precious body of Christ against the temptation to snap under pressure and create harm to fellow believers. Waiting patiently is not our strong suit. Therefore, we must consistently turn to God through Jesus Christ and trust in the fact that God will right all wrongs when Christ returns to judge those who have mistreated us.

God will set the record straight!

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

Psalm 52:1 says – “The goodness of God endures continually.” The goodness of God refers to the absolute perfection of His nature. We need to understand that there is such absolute perfection in God’s nature and being that His character lacks nothing, there is nothing defective in His nature and nothing can be added to His Nature. Thomas Manton wrote: “He is originally good, good of Himself, Which nothing else is; for all creatures are good only by participation and communication from God. He is essentially good; not only good but goodness itself… He is infinitely good, He is eternally and Immutably good for He cannot be less good than He is…” Arthur Pink wrote: “God is summum bonum, the chiefest good.” Did you know that the original meaning of our English word God is “The Good” Psalm 119:68 says “Thou art good and doest good.” So, all that comes from God – His decrees, His creation, His laws, His providence can only be good. Take just a minute and think of where and when we see God’s goodness: We see the goodness of God in the variety of pleasures He has given to us. We see the goodness of God in His patient withholding of His wrath against sin We see the goodness of God when He gave His Son to redeem us & adopt us as sons Charles Spurgeon wrote: “When others behave badly to us, it should stir us up the more heartily to give thanks unto God, because He is good, and we ourselves are conscious that we are far from good, we should only the more reverently bless Him that He is good. We must never tolerate an instant of unbelief as to the goodness of God, whatever else may be questioned this is absolutely certain, that Jehovah is good, His dispensations may vary, but His nature is always the same.”

“The goodness of God endures continually.”

Happy Birthday John Calvin!

Today, much of the Christian community around the world will be marking and celebrating your birthday. What an impressive number of birthdays to contemplate, 500 of them! You had 54 birthdays it seems on this earth as we know it and now, some 446 in heaven. I would not imagine that they mark birthdays in heaven but how heaven has marked your life. I can not add anything to the hoopla, conferences, messages, and books, and all the adulation that have been and will be going on for quite some time. So, I will simply write you a note of congratulation's and thanks. If I understand scripture correctly you have not been rewarded yet for that which you accomplished for Christ and his cause while in the flesh. The dividends are still pouring in to the accounting room of heaven, even as I type these words. Only God knows the full and total impact your life will have made in the Christian community at large, in theology itself, and in the lives of individuals just like me. I remember early in my ministry hearing you vilified as an ungodly, unbearable, and worthless heretic. The acronym that came to be known as TULIP was hated and became a pejorative in my former circles. Of course, no one in my former circle understood the scripture or the character and nature of God as graciously revealed to us in His love letter that we know as the bible. I have come to understand the doctrines of Grace since the early days of my ministry. As a matter of fact I have come to not only understand them but to love them dearly, and would defend them, if need be with my life. John, you have helped me understand God more deeply and for this I am grateful. Thank you for accepting the pulpit at St Peters Church in Geneva. Thank you for the Institutes of Christian Religion. Thank you for your commentaries on the word of God. Thank you for your preaching and writing which by the way, has led me to a deeper understanding, appreciation, and love for our God. By the way, what is he like now that you are face to face? Thank you for being a theologian, pastor, servant, expositor, and such a man of God that I can emulate and hope to be like one day. I especially want to thank you for your dedication and devotion that has led me to make a similar commitment: my heart I offer to God promptly and sincerely!

So, happy 500th birthday, John!

God Meant It For Good!

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people {or a numerous people} should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Gen50:20 ESV) We know the story only to well. When Joseph’s brothers knew that their father was dead, they became very afraid. They now thought that with their father dead he could no longer protect them and keep Joseph from doing them harm. Of course we know that Joseph never meant to do them any harm at all. He loved his brothers and had long forgiven them. There is no way to be sure if their father really said the things that his brothers told Joseph in Genesis 50:15-18. More than likely he did not say these things. Once again they colluded together to protect themselves. Of course, Joseph then made that great statement that has stood like a rock against a storm that even though their treatment of him was evil, God meant it for good! I believe that it was wrong or evil for the colonists to resist their English Government. I believe that it was sedition, treason, and rebellion as they threw off the crown’s claim on them and this land. The resisted government and therefore they resisted God. There is good, no great news! Even though the colonists were evil and resisted government with evil intentions; God took their sin and used it for his purposes and his glory. God took their rebellion and used it to establish a new nation on this continent with a new form of government that he could use for his glory. It is beyond human reasoning that God would in the light of such behavior bless this nation in such a manner that it would become the greatest nation on earth. We celebrate 233 years of independence not because of what our forefathers did, but in spite of it. The good that God has shed on us cannot be known nor told. If we had an eternity we could not give thanks to God nor praise him for all that he has done for this country in spite of our sin. Yet, when we think of how God has blessed this country we can not help but get teary eyed when he hears these words: O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! Thank you Lord for 233 years of giving us this opportunity of having such a wonderful place to live, raise our families, and worship thee! Happy Independence Day America! “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people {or a numerous people} should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Gen50:20 ESV)

Happy Independence Day America?

Paul told his young protégé, Titus, to: “…avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” (Titus3:9 ESV) There is certainly no doubt that this is good advice for any and all of us at all times. However, having said that, I am going to proffer a “foolish question” (KJV) this morning on our great 233 birthday. Of course, this foolish question comes on the heels of yesterday’s post. What are we really saying when we say, Happy Independence Day America? We are giving credence, congratulations, and confirmation to the end result of a war which was based on rebellion, disobedience, and the resisting of God ordained government. This leads us to several questions: 1) Did God need both the revolutionary war and its outcome in order to complete his glorious purposes?; 2) Would that then make our sovereign God dependent upon the fledgling colonies and their grit and determination to win the war for Independence?; 3) Did God truly do the newly formed United States of America a favor by “ensuring” the fact that we would win the war? These questions come as a result of thinking on Israel’s demand for a king in I Samuel. Israel wanted to be like the other nations and demanded that Samuel give them a king. Samuel was very displeased and tried to warn them about kings and the ways of kings. You know, as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story.” God told Samuel to warn and inform them and then give them what they wanted. This is a dangerous thing, it could possibly be the most dangerous reality possible, to be given what you want. Everything that we want or think we need is not always or necessarily good for us. It seems that there are times for our correction and training God gives us what we so vociferously demand. There is no argument that God is absolutely sovereign. There is no argument that God used the apostles and disciples to turn the world upside down and to evangelize the known world under Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero not to mention the lesser governors and rulers. God will, under any conditions redeem his elect! There is no argument had we either not rebelled against Great Britain or lost the revolutionary war, God would 1) still be absolutely sovereign and 2) would have stilled called out his elect through missionary efforts. It would be foolish to say that we needed to win the war and be free in order to be a missionary nation or that God could not have as successfully called out his elect among the heathens. Did God give us at that time what we wanted, even to our own hurt? Freedom is a precious commodity. Not many have known freedom. Freedom needs to be carefully guarded and monitored so that it does not become a “prison.” The amount of freedom and independence we have known hasn’t seemed to be much good for us. We are free to kill millions of unborn babies, advocate homosexual lifestyles and marriages, free to expel God from almost any organization in the country. We could certainly go on and on ad nausea. Honestly though, the revolutionary war and the desire for Independence was really over the issue of taxation without representation. The war was the culmination of the political American Revolution, whereby the colonists rejected the right of the Parliament of Great Britain to govern them without representation. In 1775, revolutionaries gained control of each of the thirteen colonial governments, set up the Second Continental Congress, and formed a Continental Army. Petitions to the king to intervene with the parliament on their behalf resulted in Congress being declared traitors and the states in rebellion the following year. The Americans responded by formally declaring their independence as a new nation, the United States of America, claiming sovereignty and rejecting any allegiance to the British monarchy. The war was on! How is today any different? Are we not being taxed beyond in reasonable rate? What? Is it different because we are now being taxed with representation? Even as I write this there are T. E. A. (taxed enough already) parties going on around our country protesting unfair, exorbitant, and out of control taxes. We have a government that is out of control and beyond fixing as it increases spending and taxes. Do we have another revolutionary war? Who do we declare independence from? Don’t get me wrong, I was born in the USA, raised here, served in the USMC during the Viet Nam conflict, and I have traveled to and lived in several other countries. I love our country. I love God more, I love his word more, and I love that he is a sovereign God who is able to accomplish his will and purpose irregardless of the powers that be. As a matter of fact it is he who establishes those powers that be and ordains there very existence. I just felt like asking a few questions on this our 233 Independence Day. Was it truly necessary? Was it in line with biblical principles? Did God really do us a favor by ordaining or permitting us to win our independence.

What do you think?

Pardon Me, While I Play Devil's Advocate

One of the most difficult roles to play is that of “devil’s advocate.” In common usage a devil's advocate is someone who takes a position, usually a position he or she disagrees with, for the sake of argument. Of course we know that the reason this process is used is to test the quality of the original argument and identify weaknesses in its structure. Having stated this definition, I am going to attempt to play the devil’s advocate in this post. My reason is quite simple, a former professor of mine, (whom I love, respect, and have no issue with at all) recently made this statement: “I believe it is no mistake that the America War for independence followed hot on the heels of the Great Awakening: spiritual revival first, then political liberty built on this foundation.” I am going to take the other side for sake of argument because I find this a very difficult position to defend. The question that begs to be answered, is there a correlation or relationship between spiritual revival and political liberty? It seems that when one would be truly revived by God’s Spirit one would be led to humble submission not rebellion and war. Did Paul not tell us in Romans 13:1-7 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” I wonder how the early revolutionists would have responded to the English Parliament had they been asked about their understanding and the intended application of this passage? Do we pick and choose those passages that we want to submit to or do we really believe what they say? How does this passage govern the decision to resist the founding authorities at that time? Another thing about the statement that “spiritual revival first, then political liberty” troubles me – when the Holy Spirit was moving through the Roman Empire and when “the entire world was turned upside down”, there was no revolutionary war to establish political liberty in the Roman Empire. The apostles never called for a new government founded on political liberty. We know Paul wrote Romans 13 under the rule of Nero.

Were the colonists truly following God’s will in resisting their government? Were they right in establishing independence from Great Britain? I would hate to think that the moving of God’s Holy Spirit during the mid 1700’s would be adequate support for sedition, treason, rebellion, and war some 30 or 40 years later.

The Cross: A Depiction of God's Glory

In our Adult Bible Class we have been looking at the nature and character of God for quiet some time. It has been an eye-opening, breath-taking, and humbling journey. Recently we touched on an area that led us to contemplate the area in which we saw God‘s glory most depicted. I think the answer may have shocked many of those in our class. The answer was actually very simple; God’s glory is best seen by the cross of Jesus Christ. John Piper wrote: “The death of Christ is the wisdom of God by which the love of God saves sinners from the wrath of God, and all the while upholds and demonstrates the righteousness of God.” As you contemplate the horrors of the cross it is significant to understand the lengths that Christ went in order to preserve and uphold His Father’s glory. You must ask yourself, what was God saying about His glory when he was pleased to bruise and crush (Isaiah 53) His own Son on Calvary’s cross? What was Jesus saying about His Father’s glory when He willingly endured the horrors of the cross? John Piper also wrote: “…the cross demonstrates the infinite worth of God’s glory since Christ was willing to go to such great lengths to uphold the value of His Father’s holy name. It shows that God the Father is an all glorious God who refuses to settle for anything less than being all glorious, and that God the Son loves His Father infinitely and therefore places infinite worth on His glory.” If God, and the Son, take God’s glory so seriously, shouldn’t we? Of course! Let me share a few things to include in your prayer time that will help you promote, preserve, and protect God’s infinite glory. Pray for: An abhorrence of sin To know Christ’s loathsomeness of sin To know by the cross the awful miseries from which you were saved For the ability to ponder the meaning of the cross To adhere to Christ with firm faith To be devoted to Christ with all of your being To detest sin as strong as Christ’s love for you

That holiness is the atmosphere in which you live