A Call to Wonder

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 ESV)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17 ESV)

By the Grace of God I Am What I Am

"By the grace of God I am what I am!" (1 Corinthians 15:10). This is the believer's eternal confession.

Grace found him a rebel--it leaves him a son. Grace found him wandering at the gates of hell--it leads him through the gates of heaven. Grace devised the scheme of Redemption: Justice never would; Reason never could. And it is grace which carries out that scheme.

No sinner would ever have sought his God but by grace. The thickets of Eden would have proved Adam's grave, had not grace called him out. Saul would have lived and died the haughty self-righteous persecutor, had not grace laid him low. The thief would have continued breathing out his blasphemies, had not grace arrested his tongue and tuned it for glory.

"Out of the knottiest timber," says Rutherford, "He can make vessels of mercy for service in the high palace of glory."

"I came, I saw, I conquered," says Toplady, "may be inscribed by the Saviour on every monument of grace." 'I came to the sinner; I looked upon him; and with a look of omnipotent love, I conquered.' "

My friend, we would have been this day wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness--Christless, hopeless, portionless--had not grace invited us, and grace constrained us.

"It is grace which, at this moment, keeps us. We have often been a Peter--forsaking our Lord, but brought back to him again. Why not a Demas or a Judas? "I have prayed for you that your faith fail not." Is not this our own comment and reflection on life's retrospect? "Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

"Oh, let us seek to realize our continual dependence on this grace every moment! 'More grace! more grace!' should be our continual cry. But the infinite supply is proportionate with the infinite need. The treasury of grace, though always emptying is always full; the key of prayer which opens it is always at hand: and the almighty Giver of the blessings of grace is always waiting to be gracious. The recorded promise never can be canceled or reversed:

"My grace is sufficient for you." (2 Corinthians 12:9).

TULIP

I am watching a seminar on TULIP taught by John Piper. TULIP is an acronym for the five points of Calvinism:

Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints

The seminar is broken up into nine parts. The videos and notes can be viewed and downloaded here: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Seminars/1727_TULIP_Part_1/

The Value of Wisdom

My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God.

For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He isa shield to those who walk uprightly;
He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.

When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,
To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,
From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,
Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
For her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—

So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.
For the upright will dwell in the land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

(Proverbs 2 NKJV )

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he answered, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

(Matthew 25:1-13 ESV)

On The Steps Of The Lincoln Memorial

Tony Miano is engaged in conversation by a member of the American Atheist Society, after Tony handed him an Obama Trillion Dollar bill gospel tract. The conversation took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

I am reading the book of Isaiah this month and came across this passage today, fittingly on the Sabbath Day. I will post both the NIV and NLT translation.

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
(Isaiah 58:13-14 NIV)

“Keep the Sabbath day holy.
Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,
but enjoy the Sabbath
and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.
Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,
and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.

Then the Lord will be your delight.
I will give you great honor
and satisfy you with the inheritance
I promised to your ancestor Jacob.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
(Isaiah 58:13-14 NLT)

Some may say that keeping the Sabbath Day holy is no longer necessary because Christ has come to wipe away legalism and he himself has become our Sabbath Rest. The Apostle Paul writes to the church at Colossae regarding this issue of legalism, saying, "Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." (Colossians 2:16-17 NKJV). For those in Christ, the handwriting of requirements has been taken away, being nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:13-15 NKJV). So how do we reconcile the call for Sabbath observance in the Old Testament and the wiping out of this requirement in the New Testament?

Simple. All through the Old Testament, we read account after account of God's people breaking His commandments. Under the curse of Adam's sin, the people could not keep the requirements of the law. This is why God sent His Son, the Messiah, by His mercy and grace, to save and redeem us. Did Christ come to abolish the law, so that we no longer have to be mindful of God's commandments? By no means! "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17-20 NKJV). The Son's heart and will is consistent with the Father's heart and will and does nothing to contradict His. What our Lord Jesus did was wipe out the guilty charge that was placed upon us, removing the massive indictment against us by placing it upon Himself on the cross. Only He could fulfill such a task. Now, we are no longer judged by whether we keep the Sabbath Day or not because that requirement has been fulfilled by Christ. However, is it still in the heart of God that we keep the Sabbath Day holy?

Yes! The Sabbath Day is a special day that God has set aside, that we may be especially blessed on that day. We are blessed when we mindfully set aside our selfish desires and instead set our desires on honoring Him. Then, we will find our joy in the Lord and be blessed by Him. As Paul stated, the substance is not the Sabbath Day, but it is Christ. And since Christ is risen and always present and with us, even residing in us, let not the Old Testament blessing be found only on one day of the week, but for all days, forever unto eternity.

Is God Evil?

Knowing Scripture

I just finished a book that a friend gave me, titled Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul of Ligonier Ministries. R.C. talks about the importance of studying the Bible and interpreting it accurately and with fidelity to the Author's intent. The book contains six sections:

1. Why Study the Bible
2. Personal Bible Study & Private Interpretation
3. Hermeneutics: The Science of Interpretation
4. Practical Rules for Biblical Interpretation
5. Culture & the Bible
6. Practical Tools for Bible Study

R.C Sproul lays out the foundation in how the Bible should be studied so that we may avoid misinterpretations and misconceptions of certain texts that result in a distortion of sound doctrine, and instead, obtain a clearer understanding of the pure and life-changing Word of God.

The Holiness of God

That's My King!

HALLELUJAH!

Our God Reigns!

40 million babies lost to God's great orphanage,
It’s a modern day genocide and a modern day disgrace
If this is a human right then why aren’t we free?
The only freedom we have is in a Man nailed to a tree.

100 million faces, staring at the sky,
Wondering if this HIV will ever pass us by.
The devil stole the rain and hope trickles down the plug,
But still my Chinese take away could pay for someone’s drugs.

Our God reigns, Our God reigns,
Forever Your kingdom reigns.

The west has found a gun and it’s loaded with ‘unsure’
Nip and tuck if you have the bucks in a race to find a cure.
Psalm 139 is the conscience to our selfish crime,
God didn’t screw up when He made you,
He’s a father who loves to parade you.

Yes He reigns, yes You reign, yes You reign,
For there is only one true God,
But we’ve lost the reins on this world,
Forgive us all, forgive us please,
As we fight for this broken world on our knees.

Freedom Reigns!

Where the Spirit of the Lord is
There is freedom
Where the Spirit of the Lord is
There is freedom

If you're tired and you are thirsty
There is freedom
If you're tired and you are thirsty
There is freedom

.......

CHORUS
Freedom reigns in this place
Showers of mercy and grace
Falling on every face
There is freedom

Jesus reigns in this place
Showers of mercy and grace
Falling on every face
There is freedom

.......

Where the Spirit of the Lord is
There is freedom
Where the Spirit of the Lord is
There is freedom

We lift our eyes to Jesus
There is freedom
We lift our eyes to Jesus
There is freedom

.......

Whatever you're burdened with tonight
Whatever you struggle with tonight
There is freedom
There is freedom

Nobody is looking at you tonight
Nobody is looking at you tonight
The eyes of the Lord are moving to and fro throughout the Earth
Seeking a heart that's completely His

Jesus you reign in this place
Showers of mercy and grace
Falling on every face
There is freedom

Freedom reigns in this place
Showers of mercy and grace
Falling on every face
There is freedom

The Imputation of Sin

“And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.” (Leviticus 1:4)

Our Lord’s being made “sin for us” is set forth here by the very significant transfer of sin to the bullock, which was made by the elders of the people. The laying of the hand was not a mere touch of contact, for in some other places of Scripture the original word has the meaning of leaning heavily, as in the expression, “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me” (Psalm 88:7). Surely this is the very essence and nature of faith, which doth not only bring us into contact with the great Substitute, but teaches us to lean upon him with all the burden of our guilt. Jehovah made to meet upon the head of the Substitute all the offenses of his covenant people, but each one of the chosen is brought personally to ratify this solemn covenant act, when by grace he is enabled by faith to lay his hand upon the head of the “Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world.” Believer, do you remember that rapturous day when you first realized pardon through Jesus the sin-bearer? Can you not make glad confession, and join with the writer in saying, "My soul recalls her day of deliverance with delight. Laden with guilt and full of fears, I saw my Saviour as my Substitute, and I laid my hand upon him; oh! how timidly at first, but courage grew and confidence was confirmed until I leaned my soul entirely upon him; and now it is my unceasing joy to know that my sins are no longer imputed to me, but laid on him, and like the debts of the wounded traveler, Jesus, like the good Samaritan, has said of all my future sinfulness, ‘Set that to my account.’" Blessed discovery! Eternal solace of a grateful heart!

“My numerous sins transferr’d to him,
Shall never more be found,
Lost in his blood’s atoning stream,
Where every crime is drown’d!”

--Charles Spurgeon, Morning by Evening, April 13

A Spiritual Revival and a Display of Grace in the Old Testament

Praise God for allowing our minds to be enlightened by the truth of His word. As He dealt with the people of Israel long ago, so He deals with us today, calling us to repentance and faith, and commanding us to turn to Him and seek after Him with a heart full of praise. After a long string of kings who did not follow the Lord and who caused Israel to sin and go down a dark path of immorality, the Lord raised up a young 25-year old king who did what was right His eyes. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remained faithful, though his people did not, and His glorious light was again ready to be shed upon this nation.

Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east and said to them, "Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place. For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs. They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. Therefore the wrath of the LORD came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. My sons, do not now be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him."
(2 Chronicles 29:1-11 ESV)


It starts with a call to holiness and consecration before the Lord. The people responded, and holy worship was reestablished.

And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king's seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets. The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped. And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.
(2 Chronicles 29:25-30,36 ESV)

Notice in verse 36 that the people rejoiced because "God had prepared for the people." The KJV states that the people rejoiced because "God had prepared the people" and the NIV states they rejoiced at "what God had brought about for His people." This thing came about not by years and years of planning, but in a matter days. "For the thing came about suddenly." This is not a thing of man, but a mighty work of God. We respond to His revelation. It reminds me of the revival of 1735 in Northampton, in which God did a marvelous work, as part of a sequence of events now known as the Great Awakening. Jonathan Edwards testifies:

"The fact that God would use a weak instrument like myself is analogous to other circumstances of the work of God. God has ordered the work in such a way as to show that it is His own particular and immediate work. Through all the circumstances surrounding the revival, God has intended to secure the glory of it wholly to His almighty power and sovereign grace. Whatever the means have been to carry on this work, and though we are so unworthy, yet it has pleased God to work in such a way. We are evidently a people blessed by God! For here, in this corner of the world, God dwells and manifests His glory."

Oh, that God will again show His mighty hand in igniting our hearts to desire Him once more!

When something this glorious takes place, it is natural that the godly rulers of the land invite all people to join.

So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying,

"O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the LORD God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him."
(2 Chronicles 30:6-9 ESV)

So the call went out to all the towns, but the people scored and ridiculed them. Nevertheless, there were those who humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. To those that were there, the hand of God was upon them, giving them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord. A very large crowd assembled to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread (The Passover) in the second month. The feast was appointed to be celebrated in the first month but they could not this time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not all gathered in Jerusalem. Also, many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, and thus were not ceremonially clean, so the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs to the Lord for them. Some had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written.

But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of his fathers—even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary." And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
(2 Chronicles 30:18-20 NIV)

What grace! God is not a stickler to rules when it comes to jubilant celebrations such as this, especially after the sun has just begun to dawn over a land that has experienced years of darkness. There was much to celebrate and the praises of the Lord filled the city. It was so good that after the traditional one week of celebration was over, the whole assembly agreed to celebrate a second week.

There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.
(2 Chronicles 30:26-27 NIV)

Oh, that the Good Lord will again show His glory! People of this land, return to the Lord and He will not turn His face from you. If we return to the Lord, we will see that He is gracious and compassionate and will cleanse and heal us. Set your hearts on seeking God and praise Him all the days of your life!

The Conversion Experience

Converting influences commonly bring an extraordinary conviction of the certainty of the great things of religion. Of course, in some people this is much greater some time after conversion than it was at first. They see and taste of the divine excellency of the Gospel, which more effectively convinces them than reading many volumes of arguments about it. It seems to me that in many instances, when the glory of Christian truths has been set before a person and he has at the same time seen and tasted and felt the divinity of them, he is as far from doubting their truth as he is from doubting whether there is a sun when his eyes are open under a clear sky.

Indeed, the strong blaze of God's light overcomes all objections. And yet many of these people, if we were to ask them why they believed those things to be true, would not be able to adequately express or communicate a sufficient reason to satisfy our inquiries. Perhaps they would give no other answer except that they see that God is true. Even so, if someone were to have a deeper conversation with these new converts, he would be satisfied that, by their answer, they mean to say that they have intuitively seen and immediately felt the most glorious works and the powerful evidence of divinity in them.

In this way, some are convinced of the universal truth of the Gospel and that the Scriptures are the Word of God. Others set their minds more specifically on some particular doctrine of the Gospel, or on some particular truth that they are meditating on or reading about in some portion of Scripture. Some have such conviction in a much more remarkable manner than others. And there are some who never before had a special sense of the certainty of divine things impressed on them with so extreme a degree of inward evidence and strength.

The latter also have very clear displays of grace -- love for God, repentance, and holiness. And if they are more particularly examined, they appear to have been inwardly convinced of the reality of divine things, though they were not quite so persuaded of these things before their conversion.

Those who have the clearest discoveries of divine truth in the manner that has been mentioned cannot always have them in view. When the sense and relish of the divine excellency of these things fade, when the Spirit of God seems to withdraw, they do not have their conviction of the truth at command. In a dull state of mind, they cannot perfectly recall the idea and inward sense they had; things appear very dim when compared with how they looked before. There still remains a strong, habitual persuasion in them, yet not to such a degree that temptations to unbelief are excluded or that all possibility of doubting is erased.

But, then, by God's help, the same sense of things revives again at particular times, like fire that lay hidden in ashes. The grounds of such a conviction of the truth of divine things are just and rational; yet God makes use of the minds of some much more obviously than He does in others. Oftentimes, people have (as far as others can tell) received the first saving conviction from reasonings that they have heard from the pulpit; and often in the course of such reasoning, they are led into their own meditations. The arguments are the same ones that they have heard hundreds of times, but the force of the arguments, and their conviction by them, is altogether new. The words come with a new and previously unexperienced power. Before, they heard it was so, and they allowed it to be so; but now they see it to be so indeed.

--Jonathan Edwards, The Surprising Work of God (pg. 86-89)