Seekers?

Michael Horton - "We cannot find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a police officer."

Rom 3:11 - "no one understands; no one seeks for God."

Everyone Prays Like a Calvinist

B. B. Warfield wrote this:

He who comes to God in prayer, comes not in a spirit of self-assertion, but in a spirit of trustful dependence. No one ever addressed God in prayer thus: "O God, thou knowest that I am the architect of my own fortunes and the determiner of my own destiny. Thou mayest indeed do something to help me in the securing of my purposes after I have determined upon them. But my heart is my own, and Thou canst not intrude into it; my will is my own, and Thou canst not bend it. When I wish Thy aid, I will call on Thee for it. Meanwhile, Thou must await my pleasure." Men may reason somewhat like this; but that is not the way they pray.

Poop and Fruit

Now that is probably the strangest title for a post that I've done. My students and I are reading through Luke and Acts this week. In our reading I came, again, across this text. "And he [Christ] told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’" (Luke 13:6-9).

Notice the relationship between fruit and manure. No fruit means more manure. Biblically, "fruit" means doing good works or thinking good thoughts. Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5)." Doing nothing means bearing no fruit. So, the parable in Luke 13 is warning us that doing nothing guarantees more stinky manure. When you lack good works (fruitlessness) you might need some manure. Manure fertilizes the soil. Good soil means more fruit. More fruit means you won't be wasting space in the vineyard or be cut down or cut off.

We all know that in life, "manure happens." Stinky stuff happens to us. What we fail to realize, many times, is that it is God who is doing it for our good. For "those who love God," Paul says, "all things work together for good" (Rom 8:29). God can take stinky, dirty manure and use it for good in our lives. He can use it to grow fruit. He uses it to make us grow and mature. You could say: "no stink, no sanctification." As Martin Luther beautifully put it: "This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness; not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not what we shall be but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is going on; this is not the end but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified." Yes, manure happens, but when it does we should rejoice in the Lord of the vineyard because fruit happens as well.

Judgment Day at Blockbuster

Spend your time, your every moment, as if someone was videoing your every move and your every thought in order to prepare a video recording of you that would be given to a Just and Holy God on judgment day.

Theology of Suffering

There is so much wrong thinking in the area of suffering. Mark Driscoll clears away a lot of unbiblical philosophies that people have about suffering. This is definitely worth the watch.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thes 5:18)

We ought to give thanks in ALL circumstances. This is a powerful and often ignored command even though it is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. All circumstances does mean all circumstances. Thanksgiving Day, obviously, is not the only circumstance where we should give thanks. In good times give thanks (do not forget the One who made the good times good). In bad times give thanks (do not forget the One who brings you through the bad times). In happy times give thanks for His blessings. In sad times give thanks for His comfort.

If you truly believe that God is completely sovereign and completely good than you must believe your circumstances are completely perfect. He could be rewarding you, blessing you, training you or testing you. Give thanks in prosperity, give thanks in adversity. Give thanks on the bed of roses; give thanks on the bed of sickness. Our prayers should not be only filled with requests but with thanksgiving. We should praise as much as we petition. We should extol as much as we entreat. God gave us His image, His breath, His world, His Word, His Covenant, His grace, His Spirit and His only begotten Son. Dare we grumble? Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

R. L. Dabney on Providence

We believe the Scriptures to teach, not only that God originated the whole universe, but that He bears a perpetual, active relation to it; and that these works of providence are "His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures, and all their actions."

It may be said that there are, besides this, three other theories concerning God’s relation to the Universe...

• That of the Epicurean, who, though admitting an intelligent deity, supposed it inconsistent with His blessedness and perfections, to have any likings or anger, care or concern in the multiform events of the worlds...
  
• That of the Rational Deists, Socinians, and many rationalists, that God’s concern with the Universe is not universal, special and perpetual, but only general, viz: by first endowing it with general laws of action, to the operation of which each individual being is then wholly left, God only exercising a general oversight of the laws, and not of specific agents...
  
• And that of the Pantheists, who identify all seeming substances with God, by making them mere modes of His self-development; so that there is no providential relation, but an actual identity; and all the events and acts of the Universe are simply God acting.

~ R. L. Dabney

Legacy: Multi-Generational Promise - Voddie Baucham

The Prayer of an unknown Confederate soldier:

The Prayer of an unknown Confederate soldier:

I asked God for strength that I might achieve . . .
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things . . .
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy . . .
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men . . .
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life . . .
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for,
but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself,
my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all,
most richly blessed!

John Piper Video - The Supremacy of Christ

John Piper on the Supremacy of Christ in ALL THINGS.

John Piper - Suffering and Sovereignty

Here's another very short video clip telling the story of the suffering of Adoniram and Ann Judson and God's sovereignty in our own sufferings.

For Whom Did Christ Die?

by John Owen

The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:

• Premise 1- All the sins of all men.
• Premise 2- All the sins of some men (the elect), or
• Premise 3- Some of the sins of all men.

In which case it may be said--

• a. That if the third premise is true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so none are saved.
• b. That if the second premise is true, the Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth.
• c. But if the first premise is true, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins?

You answer. Because of 'unbelief'.

I ask, is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it is, then Christ either suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did die for the sin of 'unbelief', why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not die for their sin of 'unbelief', then He did not die for all their sins!

Jonathan Sarfati - What is Science?

This video is by the guy that my nephew David Kruse played chess against on our (David, Kaila and I) trip to North Carolina. This guy played chess with 30 people (including David) at the same time and he beat every one of them (even though David lasted a long time). He also played against 10 to 15 people (including David) at the same time while he was blindfolded and beat them all also. This video shows that evidence is not enough. Everyone interprets the evidence according to their presuppositions. Evolutionists don't have science; they have faith in their own preconceived anti-God ideas. Their conclusions are based on their assumptions. They suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1). The facts don't speak for themselves. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

By Grace Through Faith

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8-9) It is important for us to see here that it’s not saying we are saved BY faith but, rather, we are saved by grace THROUGH faith. Not only that, even that faith is a gift of God. It is God’s grace that gives us the gift of faith. Because God is gracious, therefore wicked and sinful men are forgiven, reborn, sanctified and saved. It is not because of anything in them but because of a merciful, gracious, good and loving God.

As Charles Spurgeon said, “Grace… is the fountain and source even of faith itself. Faith is the work of God's grace in us… Faith, which is coming to Christ, is the result of divine drawing. Grace is the first and last moving cause of salvation; and faith, essential as it is, is only an important part of the machinery which grace employs... Faith occupies the position of a channel or conduit pipe. Grace is the fountain and the stream; faith is the aqueduct along which the flood of mercy flows down to refresh the thirsty sons of men.”

God does it all!

He chooses, He calls, He commands, He consoles, He comforts and He confirms.

Look at 2 Thes 2:13-17:

“13. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation [HE CHOOSES] through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14. to which He called you by our gospel [HE CALLS], for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle [HE COMMANDS]. 16. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation [HE CONSOLES] and good hope by grace, 17. comfort your hearts [HE COMFORTS] and establish you [HE CONFIRMS] in every good word and work.”

Peekaboo! God sees you!

My little daughter Katrina loves to play Peekaboo. She covers her eyes and really believes that she cannot be seen. "If I cannot see", she thinks, "than no one can see me". All my kids have done this and they all believed that if their eyes were covered they were completely hidden from anyone who wanted to find them. As they grow older they slowly, but surely, start to realize they have to hide more than their eyes if they don't want to be found. Even when they get a little older, like 4 or 5, they might attempt to hide behind a bush or a small tree or a sheet on the bed. In their mind they are perfectly hidden even though you can see them right through the bush or their body is wider than the small tree or there is a big breathing bump on the bed under that sheet.

This reminds me of how we are with our Heavenly Father. We, as immature sons or daughters of God the Father, think we can hold our hands over our eyes and somehow be hidden from Him. Adam and Eve tried this in the garden. After they sinned they were ashamed and tried, unsuccessfully, to cover their nakedness and shame with fig leaves. Gen 3:9 says, "But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" This reminds me of when I say, "Where's Katrina?" Even though I know she is sitting there with her hands over her eyes I still say it and, of course, it is always followed up by a "there she is!" Adam and Eve tried to hide from God. We try to hide from God. When we really stop and think about it we realize how ridiculous it is but we do it all the time.

We somehow think that if we cover our eyes from the truth of God’s Word or cover our eyes from the mirror of God’s Law that is exposing our sin that we won’t be clearly seen by God. The Psalmist reminds us that our Father always sees and is always there no matter how good our hands are covering our own eyes. “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” (Psalms 139:7-12)

Having our hands cupped over our own eyes is a weak attempt to cover what only the blood of Christ can cover. In the garden, the fig leaves were insufficient. We’re told that God made garments of skin for Adam and Eve. He had to kill the animals in order to do that. Blood had to be shed in order for them to be truly covered. It was a picture, of course, of the Lamb of God. We can try to cover our eyes and pretend that we are not being seen. Or, through the blood of Christ, we can boldly come to the throne-room of God and not be ashamed. Trying to hide or trying to do good enough works is just as silly and just as ineffective as a child playing Peekaboo.