But God Is Faithful

"No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised"  (Rom. 4:20-21, ESV).

"... [For] I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me"  (2 Tim. 1:12, ESV). 

God is faithful, even when we aren't.  "... [Great] is [God's] faithfulness" (Lam. 3:23, NIV). We are invited to "feed on His faithfulness" (cf. Psalm 37:3).   The same verse in the ESV says to "befriend faithfulness."  Likewise, the HCSB says to "cultivate faithfulness."  David says, "...your faithfulness [reaches] to the skies" (Psalm 36:5, NIV).  Will you make known His faithfulness (cf. Psalm 89:1)? Will you declare His faithfulness (cf. Psalm 40:10, NIV)?   Shall it be declared in the grave (cf. Psalm 88:11)?  "... [With] my mouth I will make known thy faithfulness to all generations"  (Psalm 89:1, KJV).  God is known by His faithfulness:  "Your faithfulness surrounds you";  "You are entirely faithful" (Psalm 89:8, NIV, NLT).

Our security in Christ depends on God's faithfulness, not ours: "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself"  (2 Tim. 2:13, KJV).  He betroths us to Himself in faithfulness (cf. Hos. 2:20).  We endure in Christ and overcome because of God's faithfulness: He preserves as we persevere!  We are "kept by the power of God" (cf. 1 Pet. 1:5). For we can do nothing apart from Christ (cf. John 15:5).  God gets the glory for our salvation.

"The righteous man shall live by his faithfulness" (cf. Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:37-38; Hab. 2:4).  We must be careful not to divorce faithfulness from faith!  They go hand in hand and come as one package--the righteous live by faith and go from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:17), ever-increasing in faithfulness.  Never divorce the two, for what God has joined together, let not man put asunder (cf. Mark 10:9).  If we are not faithful, we lack faith, and the flip side is valid also:  if we are lack faith, we'll be unfaithful!  We will hear Jesus commend us:  "Well done, thou good and faithful servant!"  We are not rewarded according to our faith if it's not put into action and applied.  We are rewarded according to the faithfulness we exercise in doing works by faith and as a result and byproduct of faith (cf. Rom. 2:6).

Faith must produce good works, and good works must result from a living and saving faith, or the faith is bogus (as James 2:20 says, "...[Faith] without works is dead").  The Reformed formula was: "We are justified by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone" (which would be antinomianism, or libertinism and lawlessness).  Not having good works to validate your faith makes it suspect!  You could say that faith and faithfulness can be distinguished, but not separated; they never are independent of each other, but work as a team. Faith is merely the flip side of faithfulness!  In the Hebrew, there is one word used for faith and faithfulness--Hab. 2:4 is translated with both words: "The righteous shall walk [live] by faith [by faithfulness]."

The point is that saving and genuine faith expresses itself (you see it in action!); the saints of old all pleased God by their acts of faith (Heb. 11:8, NLT, says, "...it was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him..."); obedience is the true measure of faith, not experiences, feelings, or ecstasies. God is not looking for our achievements, but our obedience! He wants us, not our works are done in the flesh!  Lip service and head belief or intellectual assent don't cut it as the real thing, God wants reliance, trust, and obedience to the Jesus as Lord--the only way "to be happy in Jesus is to trust and obey," the hymn goes!  Jesus promised that he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much to emphasize the value of faith.     Soli Deo Gloria! 

Second-guessing God

"But the LORD will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay.  ... I will fulfill whatever I say,  ...." (cf. Ezek. 12:25, NIV).  "'But have you not heard?  I decided this long ago.  Long ago I planned it, and now I am making it happen..." (Isaiah 37:26, cf. 2 Kings 19:25, NLT).  God is no spectator in man's affairs, but, as the Westminster divines wrote, He:  "...doth uphold, direct, dispose and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence...." "No one can tell him what to do, or say to him, 'You have done wrong'"(Job 36:23, NLT).  "... Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'" (cf. Job 9:12, NIV). 

God doesn't owe us an explanation for His sovereignty.  Even if God were to explain Himself, He is too deep for us to understand.  God is all-wise and knows best and also good.   God is not accountable to us, but we are to Him!  If God were comprehensible, He wouldn't be worthy of worship and not infinite. This is the profundity of God--there's always more to Him than we apprehend; He boggles the mind!  We cannot ever put God in a box and limit Him to our dimensions--obviously, He lives outside our four dimensions, since He created all four.  Martin Luther wrote Erasmus:  "Your thoughts of God are too human!" Our God is not too small for us!  How big is your God?  Even the dimension of time is a corollary of space and matter, for God created the time-space continuum (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9, Titus 1:2; Gen. 1:1).

"...' It will all happen as I have planned.  It will be as I have decided ... who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him?'" (Isaiah 14:24, 27, NLT).  No one can challenge Him as to what He is doing (Job 9:12, NLT, says, "...Who dares to ask, 'What are you doing?'"). Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:35, NLT) concluded:  "...No one can stop him or say to him, 'What do you mean by doing these things?'" God has no Plan B or contingency exit strategy and cannot fail!  That is where faith comes in:  We must accept the fact that He knows best and will bring about what is good for us in His will.  We will not understand everything and we are not to get curious and inquire into things that are out of our realm and domain:  Deut. 29:29, ESV, says, "'The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us...."  His decreed, hidden, secret, or sovereign will is none of our business!

We must be careful not to put God in a box or make Him one-dimensional or limited to our specs. We must not be guilty of labeling Him either.  When we fail to appreciate His sovereignty and think God owes us anything, we are limiting Him.  Certain things defy explanation and we must realize that humans are limited and that "the finite cannot contain [or grasp] the infinite" (Finitum non capax Infinitum).  God is not the kind Grandfather who'll let boys be boys!  He intervenes in the affairs of men and directs our activities.  Jer. 10:23, NLT, says,  "I know LORD, that our lives are not our own.  We are not able to plan our own course. Prov. 20:24, NLT, says, The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?"  Prov. 16:9, NLT, says, "We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps."

A prayer is an act of faith, putting it into practice, and entrusting everything to God's sovereignty: We must pray as if everything depends on God, but work as if everything depends on us, as they say. Consequently, we must live like God is in charge and we have accepted this as fact and reality so that we are never in rebellion or opposition to His perfect will.  We don't have the power to frustrate God's will or sovereignty, and our freedom doesn't limit it either.  God can work His will with or without our cooperation, but we are esteemed by God to be vessels of honor.  Like Paul said, "I venture not to speak of anything, but of what Christ has accomplished through me" (cf. Rom. 15:18).

We can thwart God's preceptive will, (written and revealed), but not His directive, hidden, secret, or decreed will.  "...For who can resist his will?"  (Rom. 9:19, ESV).  We are not to resign ourselves to fate and say, "Que sera, sera, what will be, will be," like Doris Day sang, but trust that God has a purpose for everything that happens (cf. Prov. 16:4).  True faith adheres to God through thick and thin, come whatever may. Even so-called calamity comes from God and the bad times as well as the good times (cf. Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6; Lam. 3:38).  And so, let the chips fall where they may and when the chips are down we must still trust in Christ our Rock.

Remember, God's decreed will is none of our business and when we judge His will, we violate His justice, for He is the moral center of the universe and judges us.  We must conclude with Benjamin Franklin that "God governs in the affairs of men."  And realize God's sovereignty over all as John Wycliffe concluded in his tenet:  "Everything comes to pass of necessity."  The same was true of what Joseph said to his brothers:  "...[You] meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..."  (cf. Gen. 50:20). He found out that "Everything works together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose," (cf. Romans 8:28). 

God even makes the wrath of man to bring Him praise (cf. Psalm 76:10).  God can work through the most diabolical of events, for He was in control at the crucifixion (cf. Acts 2:23; 4:28).  It is not fortuitous that Christ died on Passover to be our Paschal lamb!  Indeed, a full appreciation of the providence of God leads to a walk by faith trusting and thanking God in all things coming to pass.   Soli Deo Gloria!  

"Speak, Your Servant Is Listening"

"... 'Listen to me, you wise men.  Pay attention, you who have knowledge'"  (Job 34:1, NLT).
"Now listen to me if you are wise. Pay attention to what I say" (Job 34:16, NLT). 
"Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart..." (Jer. 15:16, ESV).

Samuel was advised to assure God he was listening under the condition that God would surely speak and he was God's servant. God speaks to His servants!   Samuel was all ears, so to speak, and was attentive to God's message from then on: "Speak, for your servant hears."   For at Shiloh God revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word (cf. 1 Sam. 3:21)--the primary channel of communication.  People often have a failure to communicate with God and turn a deaf ear to Him; however, God says that "to hearken is better than the fat of rams,"  (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22).  We must always be ready and have the communication link open to God in prayer, as we walk with God and "practice the presence of God", like Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century Carmelite monk, wrote about and experienced.

 When we are in sync with God and in tune with His will He speaks through the Word, which is exalted above all (cf. Ps. 138:2) and we rejoice as one who finds great spoil (cf. Ps. 119:162).  Jeremiah rejoiced at God's Word and delighted in what he read as you might call an "Aha!" moment (cf. Jer. 15:16).  God hasn't retired dreams or visions (cf. Joel 2:28), but He chooses to teach us and speak through His Word primarily.  Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice and those who are of the truth hear Him (cf. John 10:27, 37).  We learn to listen up as God speaks to us and is ready, no matter the means of communication.

Just because we have the written Word doesn't preclude God's audible voice today--God can speak through an air vent or duct if He so chooses, but this is highly unusual. "For God does speak--now one way, now another --though no one perceives it--in a dream, in a vision of the night when deep sleep falls on people as the slumber in their beds, e may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings," (cf. Job 33;14-16, NIV).   The command is given to Israel which became their credo was called the Shema or "to hearken" in English (cf. Deut. 6:4).  We are not to get mystical and seek experiences with our emotions or extra-biblical revelation.  C. S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains.  It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."  We can grow spiritually hard-of-hearing and need to be disciplined by God to get back on track and in His will.

God promises that His Word "will not return void " and He will honor it wherever it goes (cf. Isaiah 55:11).  Sometimes we are the ears and voice of God and He uses us to get through to stubborn, prodigal, or wayward children.  The Bible is to be taken seriously, as also Bible study and church preaching and it's not entertainment, a way to pass time or just something to do in our boredom.  To turn away from hearing God makes our prayers an abomination (cf. Prov. 28:9).  We are to pay attention to God's plumb line of our spiritual progress and not grieve the Spirit or ignore the Word.  We have the privilege of interpreting the Word, but with this comes the responsibility of doing it right.

No one has a monopoly on wisdom and no prophecy is of any private interpretation (cf. 2 Pet. 1:20); God will not reveal some far-fetched revelation to us from some isolated passage that He shows no one else or belongs only to you.  There is safety in the multitude of counselors and he who heeds advice is wise, not thinking he knows it all or is wise in his own eyes.

Prayer is a two-way link with God, whereby we boldly enter His throne room (cf. Heb. 4:16) and into His dimension and God will speak to us in that inner voice if we listen (cf. Isaiah 30:21, "You shall hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it").  We are all called to be listeners and sometimes listening is a greater gift than speaking and someone may need a sympathetic ear.  We can tell them, "I hear you!"  We should be all ears and readily offer love by listening. Jesus told John that whoever has an ear to hear, should hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  If we don't listen, God will harden our hearts and we will become insensitive and stubborn (cf. Isaiah 6:10).

God can speak through anyone He chooses and we are vessels of honor and can be used:  Augustine heard the voice of a child say, "Take and read, take and read."  This led to his conversion and he was convinced God spoke through that child to his inner need.  Remember, it's an honor to be used by God and be ready to offer a listening ear and say, "I'm all ears," to anyone in need.  We are always vigilant and prepared to obey God's voice no matter the message:  Do you hear what I hear? or just what you want to hear?    Soli Deo Gloria!  

Who Moved The Stone?

"For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead"  (Acts 17:31, NLT).  

A huge stone was rolled in front of the tomb and soldiers were set to guard it till the third day, for the Pharisees knew Christ had foretold his resurrection and they were given permission to make it as secure as they knew how.  This stone would've required several men to move it and couldn't have been done in the middle of the night secretly without waking the guards if they were sleeping--but they would be in trouble for sleeping on duty--punishment could be death.  The soldiers testified that someone stole the body while they were asleep!  Never in the history of jurisprudence has the testimony of someone been accepted from while they were asleep.

There is much circumstantial evidence that Christ rose from the dead:  the graveclothes were undisturbed as if Christ had passed through them in spirit (who would steal a body without clothes?);  the most convincing proof is that the body was gone--how does one explain that?  Everyone knew where the tomb was and could've verified this fact--Christ was missing in action!  If you could produce a body the movement of Christianity would be stopped!  Look at all the martyrs as witnesses, and the record of the apostles, as eyewitnesses:  People will die for what they believe is true, but not for a known lie!

Note that Christ was seen by eyewitnesses who went to their deaths testifying of their veracity and truth--they could've saved their own skins by admitting a hoax--one usually tells the truth when facing death!  Note that they were in a position to know the truth, and not just fanatics convinced by some tall tale, myth or fable!   But the biggest miracle of all is the transformation of the lives of the apostles from demoralized followers to bold witnesses not afraid of death anymore.

Other circumstantial evidence is amazing and cannot be explained away so easily:  the changing of the worship day to Sunday or the Lord's Day; the rise of the church; the way the disciples turned the world upside down; the miracle of the New Testament and its historical proofs and accuracy.  Many theories have been advanced that attempt to explain away the resurrection:  the swoon theory that Christ didn't actually die (this is debunked by the fact that no one could have survived in a cold tomb half-dead and then convince the followers that he conquered death and give them hope of eternal life); the wrong tomb theory is debunked because everyone knew where it was and could've verified or debunked the testimony of the apostles; the theory that the apostle or even the authorities stole the body is not worth refuting because they had no motive!  The authorities and the Jews were trying to quash the rumors and refute their spirited preaching!

Paul preached the resurrection at Mars Hill in Athens where intellectuals gathered and it was the philosophical capital of the known world and they scoffed at the idea of a resurrection, but some believed!   People were skeptical back then just as they are today!  Luke opens his book of Acts saying that there are "many infallible proofs" of the resurrection!  Thomas Arnold, a famous historian, said that no fact in history is better attested than the resurrection.  Finally, you can "taste and see that the Lord is good" and find out for yourself:  I don't have to prove it to you because you can experience Christ personally and find out for yourself!

God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself to any honest seeker of truth who doesn't close his mind and searches out the evidence.  In fact, according to evidence experts from jurisprudence, if the facts of the resurrection were presented to any objective jury in the world, it would conclude and render the verdict that Christ actually did rise from the dead--there's no evidence to the contrary!  If you examine the evidence with an open mind you will be convinced, even against your will because it cannot be denied as fact.

The only way to deny without committing intellectual suicide is to have the presupposition that Christ couldn't have risen from the dead and that the historical records are thus inaccurate and unreliable. The question of whether God can raise the dead is philosophical, not scientific, and it ultimately depends upon the veracity of the witnesses and the credibility of the records presented as evidence. Just because men don't generally rise from the dead doesn't prove that God can't do it!  All science can posit is that people don't usually rise from the dead; miracles are unusual events caused by God.

This Gibraltar of the faith is either the biggest and cruelest hoax perpetrated on mankind, or it's the most wonderful, blessed newsworthy gospel message ever heard or disseminated.   It's not a matter of faith versus reason, but which set of presuppositions you commence within your reasoning. The resurrection, according to Dr. D. James Kennedy, is arguably the best-attested fact of antiquity. "Indeed, taking all the evidence together ... there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.  Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficiency of the proof of it" (Canon B. F. Westcott, a scholar at Cambridge).  One-time historical events are not subject to scientific verification or scrutiny! Indeed,  His cruel death was not the end of Him!   Soli Deo Gloria!  

The Burden Of Proof

"Jesus of Nazareth is easily the dominant figure in all history...."  (H. G. Wells, historian, and author of Outline of History)

The skeptic cannot get away with dismissing the Bible so lightly by asking the believer to prove it to him: the legal burden of proof is on the skeptic to disprove the legal document.  There is no credible reason to disbelieve it outside the presupposition that miracles don't exist, specifically that Christ didn't rise from the dead.  The conclusion of any matter depends upon the presuppositions one brings to the problem.  By the way, a person doesn't have to be fully convinced of the Bible's infallibility to be saved--Paul preached to this kind of Greek himself.  When the skeptic asks you to prove the Bible, you only have to counter that he can prove it himself, by reading it (the Bible can defend itself, much like a caged lion).

Many scholars, including famed archaeologists, have endeavored to disprove the historical accuracy of Scripture and failed, even becoming believers as a result of their research. Over 25,000 digs have verified its historical reliability and accuracy.   The Bible has never been proven wrong, either historically, geographically, scientifically, archaeologically, or theologically.  In fact, the reason some don't believe is that they think that secular scholars know the most about the Bible--if two facts are in dispute, the world generally accepts the authority and word of the secular scholar over the Bible scholar, though the Bible has never been controverted by any so-called fact.

There is plenty of evidence for the Bible, and one should take its spiritual truth for face value and seriously, because of its historical reliability--why should it be distrusted on spiritual matters when no other matter is in question?  The Bible asks you to believe nothing counter to evidence or against reason!  We have sound reasons to believe it and there are compelling reasons and much evidence to give ample reason to lend credence to it (point in fact:  Sir Isaac Newton said, "No science is better attested than the religion of the  Bible.").  One can never discount it due to lack of evidence; one goes in the direction of the preponderance of the evidence legally, and the evidence points in favor of this historical document (for the Bible is the basis of a religion based on history and no other religion is based on history or appeals to it with evidence to back it up).

There are many people who claim they don't believe the Bible but have never read it--this is blind faith.  If they even say they have read it, ask them what its main point is!  Surely, if they don't believe it they must know what its main message is or at least understand it!  This type of challenge to the skeptic is called finding the fulcrum in the opponent's stance, whereby you attack at his weakest point where the leverage is in your favor and throw them off balance unexpectantly and doing what they aren't prepared for.  Asking this question will give you the opportunity to present the message of salvation to the skeptic.  A doubter can also have faith at the same time--honest doubt is no sin, in fact one doubter told Jesus:  "I believe, help thou mine unbelief" in Mark 9:24.

Let me point out the theme of the Bible:  salvation only in Jesus, who is God in the flesh. The Bible, in a nutshell, is about our generation, degeneration, and regeneration (it has been wisely put).  It's all about our creation, fall, redemption plan, and restoration of God's kingdom and final Judgment Day. History in the Bible is about revelation, fulfillment, and consummation of history--yes, history has a beginning of time, a climax, a turning point, and a conclusion, and is not circular but headed somewhere.  

The Bible, in a nutshell, reveals God's redemptive plan for man being unfolded in real-time and progresses from eternity past into the eternity of the future all through Jesus as its common thread.  The Bible answers all our innermost needs and questions and solves all our dilemmas, including sin, sorrow, and death.  The Bible could be easily dismissed if one could disprove the resurrection, but it's never been done--its truth stands the test of time.  The Bible certainly isn't guilty of not going out on a limb--more than 2,000 prophecies have been fulfilled to prove its divine origin.

There were those who attacked the apostles' testimony in the beginning, but they countered that it was not fable or myth, but they had been eyewitnesses.  It wasn't long ago when scholars were doubting the historicity of Jesus (no reputable one would today), and ascribed the miracles to legend!  It shouldn't be surprising that the Jews of the time didn't deny his miracles, but only attributed them to Satan!

People who say they don't believe the miracle of the resurrection are really against the whole concept of miracles themselves, which is a philosophical and theological issue, and can only be resolved if the historical documents and witnesses are credible and reliable--if there's a God, there are miracles by consequence, because God can overrule his own natural laws and is not bound by them by definition.  The Bible is a supernatural book in that it was superintended by the Holy Spirit or God-breathed, and is inerrant and infallible, which has never been disproved--and you know who has the burden of proof legally now and no reasonable person can deny its fidelity without committing intellectual suicide by not examining the evidence, i.e., if they have any cerebral pride.

We must avoid Eve's retrogression:  she doubted God's Word, disbelieved it; believed Satan, and then disobeyed God.  In retort, one may challenge:  What proof or evidence have you found to disbelieve the Holy Scriptures?  In conclusion, let me quote Sir Frederic Kenyon, famed archaeologist:  "Both the authenticity and general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established."   Soli Deo Gloria!  

Down And Out In Church

Just being a churchgoer doesn't guarantee a happy-go-lucky life; there's no such thing as Pollyanna Christianity, where we have no problems and trials or even tribulations--Acts 14:22 says we must enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations. We are not given a bed of roses, but we are not to get a martyr's complex either, thinking that the more we suffer, the holier we are.

It is a good thing to feel bad sometimes:  how would you like it if you never felt shame, guilt, embarrassment, sadness, sorrow, or grief?  It is good that we feel so bad because it's the warning sign or wakeup call to arouse us from our spiritual slumber.  If we never felt guilt, we would never know right and wrong or good and evil--bad feelings are a telltale sign to address and can be therapeutic.

We are human and the good news is that Jesus was human too and was "touched with a feeling of our infirmities."  He was "tempted in all manner like we are, yet without sin!"  He feels our pain and relates to us in our dilemma.  The comfort is of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and its unction or anointing.  The comfort God gives us we can share with others in their grief (cf. 2 Cor. 1:7).  We may feel downcast or in the pits as believers, for even the psalmist did in Psalm 42-43, and in Psalm 147 he says his depression deepens.

We must experience the whole gamut of emotion to relate to others one-on-one in a personal manner.  We may be feeling down, but we are never out of it as far as being out of the state of grace, but we can be out of fellowship and need restoration by virtue of confession.  There will be times when we feel out of it, but this is only so we appreciate the ministry of the Spirit all the more, and learn how to help others in their dilemmas.  Job wondered where God was when it hurt (cf. Job 23:3).  That's what fellowship may be seen as two fellows in the same ship.

One can play church or be into Churchianity and not even be saved, just going through the motions and memorizing the dance of the pious.  God forbid that we become callous and blase to the Spirit and not listen to the voice of God speaking to us and our hearts, in that we become hard-of-hearing spiritually speaking.   It is important to note that no believer is an island that doesn't need the body to have fellowship with and to grow with--no one's a rock except Christ!

In our infirmity we must learn to not depend on feelings and learn to walk by faith:  the divine order is fact; faith; feeling--in that order!   We must grow up and stop going by feeling thinking that we must always feel like it to do it, like feel like praying to pray or to witness or read Scripture; our feelings will vary like a weather vane in a whirlwind!   Remember, that God withdrew from King Hezekiah to see what was on his heart and we are also subject to a test of our inner, true motives.  God is not impassable or without feeling, and is a person with emotion too.

We are in the image of God and are persons too like God (we act, we feel, we will).  We must never think that God has given up on us or that our salvation is by our own power or willpower even, but we are "kept by the power of God" (cf. 1 Pet. 1:5) unto salvation.  God holds us in His divine hands and won't let go no matter how we feel or what we think.  Our faith was a gift in the first place and it won't fail, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance (cf. Rom. 11:29).

We must all endure trials, tests, temptations, and troubles, noting that our faith must be tested--and that Christ didn't even exempt Himself from trouble, and our so-called crosses pale in comparison to His burden on our behalf.  Our burdens are eclipsed by His who paid the penalty we deserved. Note that we are not punished for our sins--rather, it's been said, but we are punished by our sins!

We cannot escape the reality that "adversity, discipline, sufferings, and trials will inevitably come" to us all one way or another--no one's exempt; Christ didn't even exempt Himself!  Remember when God seems far away that He will never leave us nor forsake us and will be with us to the very end.  If God got you to it; He'll get you through it!  When we pass through the waters, He will be with us (cf. Isa. 43:2).  We will never be overwhelmed by trouble or burden with God on our side.

We are never alone, for the Spirit abides in us and comforts us in our affliction, and we cannot lose for God is on our side--if God is for us, who can be against us?  Note that we are to solace and comfort one another and to share burdens with one another.

And in conclusion, when we are out of it, we can bounce back into fellowship and get back into the race set before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus!  No matter what we've done, God won't give up on us, for we are His children whom He loves unconditionally.  We are never to lose heart, break faith, nor grow slack in the work of the Lord, but to be ever zealous.     Soli Deo Gloria!    

Believing In The Heart

"What then?  Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking.  The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened"  (Rom. 11:7, ESV).  

"[Because], if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved"  (Rom. 10:9-10, ESV).  

"If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed.  Our Lord, come!"  (1 Cor. 16:22, NLT). 

"The king's heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he guides it wherever he pleases" (Prov. 21:2, NLT).  

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs [issues] of life"  (Prov. 4:23, ESV).  
"Only fools say in their hearts, 'There is no God'..." (Psalm 14:1, NLT).  

Some who make a profession of Christ merely have so-called head belief and don't register any faith in their hearts--they have no room for Jesus in their lives (cf. Rev. 3:20)--it's all in their heads!  We must believe in our hearts to have a valid, living, and growing faith and a vital personal relationship with Christ:  We don't just debate or talk about Him, we talk to Him and serve Him wholeheartedly.  Of course, our minds play a role:  we must understand with our minds before our hearts can sense or feel any love attachment, and I don't mean mere sentimentality or maudlin feelings.  Some are stoical and that must be respected, as long as they don't go to the ball game and get all excited and demonstrative there--that would prove we love sports more than our Lord.  Some are just naturally reserved and inhibited and need to grow in their confidence of expressing themselves, doing what is natural to a surrendered heart.

"Change your hearts and lives!  Turn back to God so that your sins may be wiped away"  (Acts 3:19, CEV).  We need to get our whole heart and soul saved (Acts 26:20 says, "...My message was that they should change their hearts and lives and turn to God and that they should demonstrate this change in their behavior."):  our mind or intellect; our will or volition; and our feelings or emotional output.  Our wills are also infected and fallen into sin, depraved, and need salvation--they are not unaffected by the fall--the will is bound by the sin nature and not free to obey God, or even to believe in Him apart from the grace of God ("Apart from Me you can do nothing," says John 15:5).

We must realize that faith is a gift because our wills are bound by sin and since we are accustomed to doing evil, we cannot do good, no more than a leopard can change its spots or an Ethiopian his skin (cf. Jer. 13:23).  Our lives are not our own and we cannot plan out our lives (cf. Jer. 10:23, NLT):  "The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?"  (Prov. 20:24, NLT). "We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps" (Prov. 16:9, NLT).

Yes, we need our thinking straightened out and put into conformity to God's worldview and viewpoint, eliminating all the carnality that affects it (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5). "...[B]ut be transformed by the renewing of your minds..." (Rom. 12:2, CEV).   The Bible isn't just to inform us but to change our way of thinking as well as our life.  We must learn to have the mind of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 2:16) in us and think godly thoughts.

Our hearts are radically corrupt also and we tend to be excited by the things of the world and what the world offers (cf. 1 John 2:15), even cheap thrills that don't last and destroy our soul.  The problem with man is that the heart of the matter of his salvation is a matter of the heart--he is in rebellion against God and won't love his Creator without regeneration.  Once we've tasted that the Lord is good (cf. Psalm 34:8; 1 Pet. 2:3) and God's love for us we want to pass it on and get the word out about the love of God expressed in Jesus.

The most radically corrupt part of us is our will; it is in a state of rebellion against our God (cf. Isa. 59:13) and is very stubborn (cf. Jer. 18:12; Ps. 81:12), and resistant to grace, and we must thank God for His irresistible grace (cf. Rom. 5:21) that melts us, molds, fills us, and uses us for His glory.  He regenerates us and takes our heart of stone (cf. Ezek. 36:26) and makes it into a heart of flesh!  The biggest miracle of all is the changing of our wills to ones that want to obey Christ. Everyone is doing his own thing (Isa. 53:6).   For "to obey is better than sacrifice"  (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22).   No man can come to Christ (cf. John 6:44, 65) apart from the grace of God wooing him and drawing him--his privilege is with God's permission and election (cf. Acts 13:48).

According to Martin Luther, free will is too grandiose a term for our will, and we must realize that very little of our decision to follow Christ was because of our wills anyway.  God decided our nationality, our family, our church background, our education, our genes, our nature (i.e., choleric, melancholy, sanguine, phlegmatic, etc.), and so forth, and our wills had very little input.  How do you know that if you had been born in Russia that you would believe in Jesus?  Our destiny is ultimately in God's hands, and this is called predestination, mentioned in Scripture (cf. Acts 13:48, ESV; Eph. 1:5, 11, HCSB; also implied in Psalm 31:15, NLT).  Jer. 20:7, NLT ("...You stronger than I am, and you overpowered me...") says that Jeremiah's will was overcome by God and He prevailed!

God is stronger than us and has the power to make believers out of the most stubborn--look at Saul of Tarsus!  Note that the Reformed view is that we are elected unto faith, not because of it, which is called the prescient view of Arminians. A careful reading of Romans 8:29-30 militates against this fallacious interpretation of election.  Romans 9:16 says that it is not of him who wills, but of God who shows mercy!  God reserves the right to have mercy on whom He will.  And no one can resist His will (cf. Rom 9:19)!

One may say that we have unlimited free will and that God's sovereignty is limited by it, and some do posit this allegation.  But God's sovereignty is absolute and not limited by our so-called freedom. God is free and unable to sin, isn't He?  We are free to sin and to choose our own poison, you might say! Augustine said we are "free but not freed!" We are free to act according to our God-given nature!  We have lost our ability and liberty, and only have limited freedom or faculty of choice intact, but we have lost all inclination toward God and are naturally evil and depraved, not good.  We have remained human since the Fall, but we have lost the tendency to love God.

The biggest miracle of all is the transformation of a hardened heart into an obedient soul who loves Jesus--he can give himself no credit, no not any.  We go from being as bad off as we can possibly be (not as bad, though), to being as well off as we can be in this life, secure in Christ forever.  Those who believe our will is totally free want to give themselves some credit for their own salvation and don't realize that "salvation is of the LORD," as Jonah said in Jon. 2:9. 

We do not cooperate at all (nor do any so-called presalvation effort or work to please God), but salvation is totally monergistic or a one-sided act of God, it's not synergistic or a cooperative venture in which we help God save us. We are passive in our regeneration, and this results in active faith and repentance.  Salvation is not of man and God, nor of man alone, but of God alone!  It is not of anything we have done (cf. Titus 3:5) or can do that we are saved--it's grace all the way, from beginning to end.  No one will boast in God's presence (cf. Eph. 2:9)!

Those who think free will means we can do anything we want or that eternal security is a violation of it, must wonder about our state in heaven, where we will not be free to sin and can only do good!  The problem is that man is a voluntary slave (i.e., we feel no outside force or fate)--he wants to sin and chooses to do it freely--God doesn't force anyone to believe against his will, but He can convert the unwilling by an act of irresistible grace.  In heaven, we won't want to sin, and that's the miracle of regeneration and glorification.  God has free will, but cannot act out of character, and being holy, that eliminates all evil and sin.  As believers, we still have the power to sin and the power not to sin, we don't have to sin but have two natures fighting each other and the one that wins is usually the one we feed the most and give into.

The only saved believers are those who live out the gospel and love Jesus in their hearts, desiring to obey, serve, and worship Him.  It isn't a matter of acquiescence or assent; this is only the first step!  We must trust Christ, rely on Him, and surrender our wills to His!   But we cannot do this without the grace of God enabling us.  We believe through grace (cf. Acts 18:27).  The miracle is that we want to obey and serve Christ--we don't feel we have to, but that we want to--showing a real conversion experience.

There are several passages of Scripture that point to man's stubborn, fallen will or volition (which is the deciding factor in our decisions between heart and mind).  "So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels"  (Psalm 81:12, ESV).  "... We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart"  (Jer. 18:12, ESV).  "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"  (Jer. 17:9, ESV).  "O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?"  (Isa. 63:17, ESV).  Note that the will is part of the heart in Scripture, though we commonly interchange and even confuse heart and emotion.   In Scripture, the heart contains the intellect (cf. Matt. 15:19), the emotional being (cf. Ps. 37:4), and the will (cf. Ex. 7:22).  The heart is thus the seat of man's inner personality and character.  God doesn't make us do anything we don't want to do, though He is "at work within [us] both to do and to will of His good pleasure" (cf. Phil. 2:13).

In our conversion experience, God never forces us to do anything we don't want to do (coercion) and our destiny is not a fate that we have no input into (determinism), but God is able to make us willing and able to believe.  He can make the unwilling willing (cf. Psalm 110:3; Phil 2:13; Psalm 51:12, NLT)!  Man's will really has two dimensions, which must be distinguished:  the mundane and the spiritual or moral.  Man retains all mundane ability and power of choice, such as what his favorite foods are; however he loses the ability to choose God independently--grace must lead the way and melt his heart into obedience.

Martin Luther called this the bondage of the will and wrote De Servo Arbitrio (The Bondage of the Will) to counter Erasmus' Catholic version of free will.  It has long been Roman Catholic tradition that man chooses Christ totally of his own free will without God's interference with it.  Martin Luther said that this doctrine confuses the gospel and that one doesn't grasp man's bondage in his will, he fails to apprehend the gospel.  When you realize that you don't need free will, but wills made free, you understand grace in salvation; we are not born free, as people think, but born in bondage and must be set free by Christ (as John 8:36 says, "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed").

In the final analysis, all that matters is that the person's heart is in the right place and that one love the Lord, not that his doctrine be impeccably correct or that he can split hairs!  We must keep the main thing the main thing and not get sidetracked just being content to be doctrinally correct.     Soli Deo Gloria!  

Dialogue With God

"For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds"  (Job 33:14-15, ESV). 
"All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer"  (Acts 2:42, NLT). 
"He is there, and He is not silent."  (Francis Schaeffer)  

In our prayer life, we seek intimacy with our Lord, withholding nothing and bringing everything to Him.  In effect, we worry about nothing, pray about anything, and thank about everything.  One will never realize the voice of God in answer to prayer apart from the Word of God, His promised vehicle of communication, though He hasn't retired dreams, visions, or voices--He primarily speaks through the Word--we should learn to be attentive to that voice. Note Samuel attending to God's Word:  "And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD"  (1 Sam. 3:21, ESV).   Also, note that C. S. Lewis is credited with saying, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, and shouts in our pains; it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

It has been said that most of us don't need a lecture on prayer, we just need to pray; but this is what the disciple asked Jesus to teach them, of all things!  I don't really have a well-thought-out theology on prayer, I just pray and learn by OJT or trial and error.  George Mueller recorded some 50,000 answers to prayer in his life, and many other prayer warriors have prayed earnestly till they got answers; for example, Cotton Mather prayed for 20 years for revival and the Great Awakening occurred the year he died.  The idea, according to Luke 18:1, is never to give up or to lose heart.

The purpose of prayer is prayer!  That may sound simplistic, but we must learn to enjoy our encounters with the Almighty and realize that prayer changes us, it doesn't change God.  We don't pray to get our will done on earth, but God's will done--God forbid that He would grant us our will and we end up lousing up our lives as a result of our foolishness.  Bear in mind, that God knows best and sometimes He answers "no," but He will always answer--sometimes with something better!  Prayer is efficacious because God has ordained this as the means to His ends, although He is sovereign and knows all things and doesn't need our prayers--it's the plan!  We must learn to boldly approach the dimension of the throne room of God and be attentive and alert to His presence and anointing in our prayers.

If God has placed a burden on your heart, He wants prayer effort and support in return.  We must practice prayer the best we can because it opens doors and changes things; we must always pray as if everything depends on God, while we work and live like it all depends on us.  Prayer is effective according to the will of God, for this is a condition, and the more sensitive and aware of God's will we become, the more effective are the results and answers.  We have a weapon in prayer in that God will always listen and we have clout as believers in Christ and children of God.

Our fellowship is dependent upon our prayer life; you cannot be walking with the Lord without ongoing dialogue and open communication and channels to His will and voice. This fellowship is a two-way street and we must become sensitive to God's will and voice (like it says that if you hear His voice, don't harden your heart--to learn to listen!).  It's the same as any human fellowship (we keep in touch!)--it takes experience and practice to develop prayer muscle and to become adept at the art; for some may have anemic and feeble prayers, but God doesn't judge like we do and it's more important to have feelings without words than words without feelings--for the Holy Spirit is able to put our sighs into words that God can understand on our behalf (cf. Rom. 8:27).

Successful prayer is not one of eloquence or one that's long-winded, or emotional, but one that touches base and is in sync with God's will and has a genuine encounter with God to change us!  You could say that it's an exercise to get on the same page as God and to get charged up for doing His will.  Prayer is reaching out to God and making contact on His terms, submitting to His will and being changed or transformed by the encounter.

Since Jesus said, quoting Isaiah 56:7, that His "house shall be called a house of prayer," it is paramount that prayer be exercised and practiced in the assembling together of ourselves, for OJT is the best way to learn--we learn by doing!   Everyone can participate in corporate prayer and learn from each other.  As we gain confidence in our prayer life, we learn to keep the channel open and conversation going, as seventeenth-century Carmelite monk Bro. Lawrence called it, "the practice of the presence of God."  When it seems like you have nowhere else to go, go to your knees!  Soli Deo Gloria! 

Proper Teaching Style

"But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine"  (Titus 2:1, ESV).
"But even if I'm uneducated in public speaking, I'm not uneducated in knowledge"  (2 Cor. 11:6, CEV).

There is hardly a comparison between teaching and preaching, and between a Bible study or class and a sermon--viva la difference!  In Bible studies or Sunday school, there is an encouragement of student involvement and participation, while people are basically passive and attentive during a sermon, though they can take notes.  The two are separate gifts and all teachers don't necessarily make good preachers and vice versa. Teaching is not a performance where one is judged by his dramatics or personal style.  Reading is usually considered a no-no by professors of homiletics, but some preachers are such good readers and know their material so well they get away with breaking the so-called rules--on the other hand, reading notes and hand-outs for listeners are practically always appropriate for Bible studies.

God is able to work through personalities and use them accordingly--Scripture was even written respecting individual personality and style.  Paul was known for being "bold from far away" or in letters, but "timid in person" (cf. 2 Cor. 10:1, NLT).  He probably wasn't your typical type A personality or mover-and-shaker spokesman like Peter most likely was.  We must be careful in judging teachers and/or preachers by their personality or charisma, for false teachers shall arise and deceive many--we are to test the Spirit, and to hold them accountable to true doctrine, exposing heresy.  Truth does matter and we are sanctified by the truth.  When the preacher is done, he doesn't want to hear, if he knows the Lord, that he did a good job, or that he's a good speaker, he wants to know if God spoke to their hearts, touched, and convicted them!  There are many good speakers out there who are characters and heretics, but people are nevertheless fooled and deceived.

One of the biggest lies today in the church is the presence and dissemination of prosperity theology, or that it's always God's will to prosper believers financially and they should cash in on the spiritual lottery.   The Bible makes it clear that some people's reward is in this life, and that the wicked to indeed prosper. Prosperity is no sign of God's blessing nor a litmus test that He is delighted in you.  Obedience is the only measure of faith, not even ecstasies, experiences, or achievements.

Just because a church has become a megachurch doesn't mean we can infer that it's doing God's will, and some pastors are simply great entrepreneurs and businessmen, not spiritual leaders.  Religion was never meant as a means of getting rich or to cash in on one's faith.  We must have a quest for the truth and being ever vigilant to heresy in the church, for when we become blase to it, we lose the focus and aren't keeping the main thing the main thing.   You're better off in a church with an expositor of the Word, or great biblicist of the first order, or even old-fashioned exegete than one who knows how to gather crowds by preaching what's popular, like eschatological themes, i.e., prophecy and end times.   We aren't looking for great leadership ability, because the preacher and teacher are basically servants of all the church members in toto and should be dedicating his time to study and disseminating the Word.

The studious preacher or teacher doesn't spoon-feed the flock of God, but feeds the sheep as well as the lambs, giving meat in due season, and not neglecting the milk of the Word for those not ready for solid food--there's something for everyone, with no one going away unspoken to through the ministry of the Lord's anointing.  The wise preacher knows where the sheep are spiritually, and doesn't ever preach over their heads, nor talk down to them either, but meets everyone's needs and God is able to speak to their hearts so they will know to recognize the voice of the Lord.

Note that the exhortation is to teach sound doctrine, not to teach with the homiletic devices of charisma, histrionics, or personality--it is of utmost value that the preacher/teacher knows his way around the block theologically and not to ever bail out theologically either, but to be ever vigilant to heresy creeping in and defiling many through false teachers, who may be personable and have magnetic personas.  It is much more important than the disseminator of truth use sound, biblical interpretive techniques that he is trained in public speaking or oratorical skill.  The faith must be in the Word of God not in some show the preacher puts on or exercise of his brilliance or scholarship that is intended to impress and wow the listener.

In the final analysis, God rewards faithfulness more than sheer skill or natural talent, or even education (D. L. Moody never went to a seminary, yet God just chose to anoint him to preach the gospel, not to mention the Prince of Preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon!). Before preaching we ought to have done our homework, prepared ourselves spiritually, and have faith God will use us.  Always "Preach the Word (cf. 2 Tim. 4:2), and do not give in to "itching ears," giving people what they crave or are curious about.  Consequently, we ought to make it our aim to preach, not like we have studied preaching and know the art, but that it be demonstrated we know the Lord.  Above all, aim to be praised by God, not man!    Soli Deo Gloria! 

Worshiping Faux Gods

"... You must acknowledge no God but me, for there is no other savior" (Hosea 13:4, NLT).

There are pseudo-gods, because there is a genuine God, who is the real thing, and all other so-called gods are counterfeits, poor excuses for, and a parody of the Real McCoy.  Evil is not the opposite of good, and couldn't exist apart from good.  It's the perversion and parasite of good and the lack or depravity of it.  It is a leech on the goodness of God and thrives by imitation and dependence since Satan is no original, but a copycat or spoiler.  People tend to think that the more gods they have the safer or more secure they are.  This was the case with Israel with Elijah when he asked them which one they will serve, as they halted between the two--Baal or God.  Baal was the god of fertility (family, fields, and flock) and they felt it couldn't hurt to have him on their side.

If we have the Almighty God of All-Sufficient One (El Shaddai) on our side, we need no other gods and have all we need.  God is sufficient to meet all our needs and fulfill our hearts, making us complete in Christ.  That's precisely what the Jehovah texts mean and the great I AM implies--God is everything to us and all we could ever need or want to be fulfilled. If we possess Him, we have all we need! 

The trouble with false gods is that they don't satisfy and leave a desire for more and other gods.  As Augustine said, "You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you."  Pascal described our heart and soul as having a vacuum only God can fill!  You can never get enough fame to be satisfied, nor enough money to feel totally happy and content neither can power fulfill, since power corrupts and only makes you crave for more.  Lust is the unhealthy desire for something, and there can be a righteous acquisition of fame, power, or wealth that has God's blessing, but this only happens when one puts God first:  "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you"  (cf. Matt. 6:33, KJV).  God does promise to meet all our needs per Phil. 4:19, but not necessarily our felt needs or wants, and we must trust that God has our benefit in mind as our Benefactor.  It is unfortunate that some seek the benefits apart from the Benefactor though.

There are several false gods that can overwhelm a Christian and lead him astray:  money or mammon (note that Proverbs says that he who loves money is never satisfied with money and Job objects self-righteously that he has never made gold his security); success or achievements (God doesn't want your achievements--He wants your obedience and most importantly He wants you!); science and technology (this is neutral in itself, but we can get over fascinated and obsessed with it--modern achievements tend to lesson our faith in the power of God); sexual lust or libido gone awry; heroes or people in general (think of how celebrities, politicians, and athletes inspire us and people emulate and idolize them); family or children; (we are to "hate" our mother, father, etc., i.e., compared to Christ, and we never should put our hopes and security in these relationships--too many live vicariously through them and don't find personal fulfillment); glory (we may have our fifteen minutes of fame, and get a fatal taste of it only to seek it lustfully); our time as leisure and pleasure that we think belongs to us, but our times are in His hand (cf. Psalm  31:15).   Remember, God can endure no rival and is a jealous God that demands absolute loyalty and undivided hearts that are fully committed to Him and seek His will and glory (cf. 2 Chron. 16:9).

We must do some soul searching and take a spiritual inventory to determine where our ultimate loyalty lies (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).  We can only be satisfied with the blessings God gives us when we put Him first and use the blessings for His glory.  Our decision to take up our cross and follow Him is a daily exercise and must be renewed constantly, as the devil will not cease to throw roadblocks in our way.  The question of our ultimate loyalty and allegiance, and which God or god we serve is bound up in whom or what we love--"for where your treasure is, there your heart shall be also."

Sad to say, some are more loyal to their politics than their religion!  One must be willing to die for and lay down one's life for the Lord's sake and that is total commitment.  Some believers are committed to a school of thought or doctrine more than to the Lord and seek to be divisive, contentious, argumentative, and judgmental.  We must ultimately throw down the gauntlet and not waver in unbelief:  "How long will you halt between two opinions?"  (Cf. 1 Kings 18:21).

The modern secular notion is that we are still evolving and are becoming gods and will eventually achieve immortality and utopia on earth.  This is the opposition to the faith and the flip side of believing in God--as Satan told Eve that she "would be as the gods, knowing good and evil."  Note that the greatest commandment is to love God (cf. Matt. 22:37) with all our being and in the Decalogue, the first one is to "have no other gods before" Him--God deserves first place and priority in our lives and we must suppress all ungodly goals, desires, and ambitions.  Only when we worship one God and have total devotion to Him is our heart undivided and totally complete.

Not to be remiss to mention that worshiping the one God in a false or inadequate way (not in the Spirit or in the truth) is also worshiping a false God and is by definition idolatry:  e.g.,  when we make God one-dimensional or put Him in a box, like saying,  "I like to think of God as the Great Spirit, or the man upstairs, as kind Father Time, or the Mean Judge, etc."  We must take all the attributes of God into consideration in our apprehension of God for who He is.

Some people have "thoughts of God that are too human"  (as Martin Luther told Erasmus), and don't realize that it's not how big our faith is, but how big our God.  It's not the faith, but the object of the faith!  Christians ought to be able to say, "My God is bigger than yours!" They may deny there is a supernatural God, but they will inevitably worship someone or something--we're wired that way.  (I refer to J. B. Phillips book, Your God Is Too Small.)  Soli Deo Gloria!