Answering your questions By Rev. Charles J. Paul

Joe,
Thank you for your questions. I pray that the questions are a blessing to everyone. Let’s take them one at a time.

1) You said that we sometimes question God. What do you mean by the term "question" God? What are some of the ways that we question God? The term question God was used to illustrate the way we sometimes view God. Our view of God can sometimes get so small that we find ourselves questioning His very majesty and Holiness. This will lead us to also look at our own personal and families spiritual growth as not the main focus that it must be.

2) We have clearly been given a great privilege as mankind has been created a little lower than God. Do we have responsibilities with this authority? What might be some of our responsibilities? First of all we must know that we are not God. But Stewarts of what God Himself has placed before us. Each of us has a very real responsibility to this call in our life. We are to daily conform to the image of the one True God who created us. And who also redeemed us from our fallen state of sin.

3) How do we keep the majesty of God in our minds and in our lives on an on-going, daily basis? Discipline. For me to tell you that this is easy would be false. It is hard work we must daily stay before Him in prayer and in the reading and studying of His Word. Also through the fellowship of other believers we will see our witness shine to this lost world. Remember it is a Holy Holy Holy God we serve.

Some questions from the sermon Man and God

preached by Rev. Charles J. Paul
Sunday, June 29, 2008 / Psalm 8

Pastor Chuck,

During your sermon this morning you made some statements that raised serveral questions in my mind, and perhaps in others' minds as well. I am hopeful you can clarify the following questions:

1) You said that we sometimes question God. What do you mean by the term "question" God? What are some of the ways that we question God?

2) We have clearly been given a great privilege as mankind has been created a little lower than God. Do we have responsibilities with this authority? What might be some of our responsibilities?

3) How do we keep the majesty of God in our minds and in our lives on an on-going, daily basis?

When to Leave Your Church By John MacArthur

Leaving a church is not something that should be done lightly. Too many people abandon churches for petty reasons. Disagreements over simple matters of preference are never a good reason to withdraw from a sound, Bible-believing church. Christians are commanded to respect, honor, and obey those whom God has placed in positions of leadership in the church (Heb.13:7, 17). However, there are times when it becomes necessary to leave a church for the sake of one’s own conscience, or out of a duty to obey God rather than men. Such circumstances would include:


If heresy on some fundamental truth is being taught from the pulpit (Gal. 1:7-9).

If the leaders of the church tolerate seriously errant doctrine from any who are given teaching authority in the fellowship (Rom. 16:17).

If the church is characterized by a wanton disregard for Scripture, such as a refusal to discipline members who are sinning blatantly (1 Cor. 5:1-7).

If unholy living is tolerated in the church (1 Cor. 5:9-11).

If the church is seriously out of step with the biblical pattern for the church (2 Thess. 3:6, 14).

If the church is marked by gross hypocrisy, giving lip service to biblical Christianity but refusing to acknowledge its true power (2 Tim. 3:5).


This is not to suggest that these are the only circumstances under which people are permitted to leave a church. There is certainly nothing wrong with moving one’s membership just because another church offers better teaching or more opportunities for growth and service. But those who transfer their membership for such reasons ought to take extreme care not to sow discord or division in the church they are leaving. And such moves ought to be made sparingly. Membership in a church is a commitment that ought to be taken seriously.

WORD OF THE DAY From The Pastor's Study

ad hominem

(Latin, “to the man”)

An argumentative tactic where a person fails to engage the substance of an argument, choosing instead to opt for a personal attack on the character of the one making the argument. A popular and humorous extreme of this would be to respond to someone by saying “Your a monkey’s uncle.” Another example might be saying “Your just a right-winged fundamentalist. How could you know what you are talking about?”

Sin Makes No Racial Distinctions (pt. 3) by John H. Gerstner

Let us now apply this doctrine to ourselves. First, let me apply it to myself. This doctrine means that, though I am a minister of the gospel, I am by nature a child of wrath. Even Paul, the greatest of ministers and apostles, included himself. "We also," he said. No privilege or opportunity can blind us to this sober fact. Indeed, a true minister is one who preaches as a dying man to dying men, telling them of a Savior who can save both him and them.
Second, as professing Christians we need to take warning. We have already shown that we too are "by nature children of wrath even as the rest." Let us not say to ourselves, "Abraham is our father." Nor let us say that we are Presbyterians, Lutherans, or Baptists. Let us not say that we come to church regularly, give our tithes, teach our class, and visit the sick. We are by nature children of wrath, just like the rest of this perishing world. If we have a hope of salvation, it must be on some other basis than what we are. By nature we are lost. Let us not say, "Lord, I thank Thee that I am not like other men. I am not like people who play golf on Sundays, or those who give less than a nickel a week to charity, or those who read licentious materials or tell dirty stories." We are by nature children of wrath, just like the rest.
There is no hope for us, no matter what we join or what we do or what we say unless we acknowledge that we are in ourselves reeking with corruption and in a lost condition by nature, a dwelling place for the devil, an enemy of God, a hypocrite, and a criminal. What has made the matter worse is that you have thought well of yourself all this time. You resent having anyone, even God, calling you names because you consider yourself a decent person, one who dwells among decent people.
But the Bible tells you that you are no saint. You must recognize yourself to be a sinner by both birth and by nature (Luke 18:13-14). Only one who recognizes that he is a sinner can ever be a saint. Sinners deny that they are sinners--for the sin of lying is part of their sin. Saints admit they are sinners by nature, for as saints they now tell the truth.
Third, those persons outside the church need to be warned. Professing Christians are presumably repentant (though by no means necessarily so, as we have already seen). Those outside the church are presumably impenitent (though there may be very rare exceptions). Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Generally, those outside the church do not hear the Word of God by which faith and salvation comes. That is, they do not hear it unless you tell them. Unless they hear it, they who, like you, are by nature children of wrath will most certainly perish under the judgment of God. The wrath of God is upon them now (John 3:36). His fury burns hot against them. Their life hangs by a thin thread and, when that thread is broken, they will go to their everlasting home of suffering. How shall they hear without a preacher? You, as a Christian, are their preacher. Do not worry only about what will happen to people who never hear the gospel. Worry about what will happen to you if you never tell them the gospel. They will perish, but you will be held responsible by God for your failure to give them the gospel.
There is positively no way by which they can escape the wrath which is to come, and that which is now, except through the only name given under heaven whereby men may be saved--the name of Jesus. You have that name; and if you truly believe in it and are trusting in Christ's grace for salvation, you will most certainly try, as opportunity affords, to win some. "Knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men," Paul said. And, knowing the love of the Lord, we should persuade men too. "We thus judge that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that He died for all, that they which live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). The love of Christ constrains men; the terror of Christ constrains men.
Fourth, nothing less than a change of nature is needed. If we are by nature children of wrath we can only become children of grace by a new nature. When we read that a very religious man of great influence and reputation came to Jesus and was told, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see [or enter] the kingdom of God," we realize that a radical change is necessary. This religious man had to be born from above; he had to be born again. He had to be born twice; he had to have a radical transformation of soul. The ruling disposition of his life had to be changed. Until that happened there was no hope for him. He was by nature a child of wrath just like the rest. He was a perishing sinner. Every moment that he lived he was odious to God. Every moment that he continued his impenitent way, he was storing up wrath against the day of wrath. Every mo¬ment that he lived, he was making the fires of hell that much hotter for himself. The time would come when he would wish that he had never been born. It would be better for that man if he had never been born, or if a millstone had been tied around his neck and he had been thrown into the sea. Being a child of wrath is as dreadful as being a child of God is wonderful.

Sin Makes No Racial Distinctions (pt. 2) by John H. Gerstner

Reinhold Niebuhr, America's distinguished neo-orthodox theologian, lectured to the students and faculty of Harvard Divinity School in 1940. He was discussing original sin and gave this domestic illustration. He son, who was then seven, had been in a neighborhood brawl. Niebuhr was inclined to finish what the boys had begun, but the maid interceded. "Professor Niebuhr," she said, "it is not your son's fault. It is the company he keeps." The father replied, "It is not the company he keeps. It is his own little black heart."
What shows the iniquity of man most clearly of all is that infants themselves are contaminated with sin. Before babies learn how to think, speak, or act responsibly, they are by nature children of wrath. The Bible shows this first of all inferentially; that is, it teaches clearly that the wages of sin is death. Where there is no sin, there would be no death. If there were no sin, there would be no suffering; yet babies both suffer and die. Sometimes they suffer dreadfully and sometimes they die in agony. And John Wesley said, "Therefore children themselves are not innocent before God. They suffer, therefore they deserve to suffer." Or as the Lutheran theologian Sohnius put it, "Since infants die, as universal experience teaches, it is evident that they must be chargeable with sin; for Paul clearly represents sin as the cause of death--of the death of all men. 'For the wages of sin is death.' " John Calvin said, "We are by nature the children of wrath. But God does not condemn the innocent. Therefore, . . . ." And so Calvin argues that God's calling our natures guiltily corrupt proves that we are corrupt and, at the same time, responsible for our native corruption.
Some moderns have jumped to the conclusion that there is no necessary connection between sin and suffering and death. They do this because our Lord has told us that there is no necessary connection between a particular sin and a particular suffering. A calamity coming upon a particular person is no proof that the person is a greater sinner than one on whom that particular calamity did not come. But Christ nowhere says that suffering is unconnected with sin, or that there would be death where there was no sin.
Continuing with the sinfulness of infants, we call attention to the divinely commanded execution of some Midianite children, mentioned in Numbers 31:17. Moses there commanded the Israelites to slay all of the male children, as Saul was commanded on a later occasion to slay all the infants of the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15:3. In Psalm 137:9 we read, "Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." In his Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin, Jonathan Edwards said, "I proceed to take notice of something remarkable concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, represented in Ezekiel 9, when command was given [to them that had charge over the city] to destroy the inhabitants (verses 1-8). And this reason is given for it, that their iniquity required it, and it was a just recompense of their sin (verses 9-10). God, at the same time, was most particular and exact in His care that such as had proved by their behavior that they were not partakers in the abominations of the city should by no means be involved in the slaughter. Command was given to the angel to go through the city and set a mark upon their foreheads, and the destroying angel had a strict charge not to come near any man on whom was the mark; yet the infants were not marked nor a word said of sparing them. On the contrary, infants were expressly mentioned as those that should be utterly destroyed, without pity (verses 5-6). 'Go through the city and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity. Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark.' "
Sodom would have been spared by God if there had been ten righteous; since there must have been ten infants, these could not have been righteous. We read in Proverbs 22:15: "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." Matthew 18:11 says that the Son of man came "to save that which is lost." If therefore children who die are saved, as many believe, it is from a lost condition by nature.
Not only do the above passages teach us that any unconverted person is exposed to wrath, but they also teach that it is absolutely certain to come upon him. The expression "children of wrath" was a Hebrew idiom. It meant that the person so described was inevitably liable to wrath. It was an idiomatic way of saying what Paul says more conventionally in Romans 9, where he speaks of "vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." The expression "son of stripes" in Deuteronomy 25:2 is used to signify one who is to be beaten. The expression "son of death" in 2 Samuel 12:5 is used of one who is certain to die. Remember that Christ referred to Judas as "the son of perdition," the heir of hell, the one certain to receive that dread destiny. In Ephesians 2:2 Paul shows that the unconverted person is already under the "prince of the power of the air." Every soul is the habitation of unclean spirits, precisely because by nature he is a child of wrath.
So we have seen from the Ephesians text, from other statements of Scripture, from biblical references to "man" as being virtually synonymous with "sinner" and worse than an animal and more like a devil, from the lost condition even of babies, and from the inevitability of punishment that the unconverted are by nature--not by environment, and without respect to persons of distinction of race--children of wrath.

Sin Makes No Racial Distinctions (pt. 1) by John H. Gerstner

Speaking of God's providence we noticed sin incidentally. We now bring it into focus. One cannot think of God's holy ways without thinking of our unholy ones. We cannot think of ourselves without thinking of our sin. Sin is the most important conviction any man can have. It is a bad theology which thinks man is good. Any good theology must start with man as bad.
In the opening verses of Ephesians 2, Paul describes unconverted persons by many different expressions. They are called "dead through trespasses and sins." They are seen as walking in the "course of this world," walking "according to the prince of the power of the air," fulfilling "the lusts of the flesh and of the mind," and "by nature" they are "children of wrath." The former terms refer to the expressions of their character. The last expression, "children of wrath," is the root cause of their character. It is because the unconverted or unregenerate person is by nature a child of wrath that he is dead in trespasses and sin and walks according to the will of the world, the devil, and the flesh. These evil works re¬veal him as naturally liable to wrath--the wrath of God, His abiding fury. In other words, the unconverted person, whoever he may be, is by nature doomed to destruction; for sin is no respecter of persons. Whether he is a Gentile, like those to whom Paul wrote, or a Jew, like Paul himself, he is a child of wrath. Sin makes no racial distinctions.
All people, in and out of the church, are by nature children of wrath. Paul begins his description of the unconverted by referring to the Gentiles, the Ephesians, who were outside the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the promises of God, and so on. However, before he finishes his description, he includes Israel as well in the indictment, saying, "Among whom also we [we Israelites also] had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Paul thereby teaches that al-though Israelites had received circumcision, which was "the seal of righteousness by faith," they were not thereby changed in nature. Because they had been en-grafted into the visible church, they were not thereby necessarily engrafted into the invisible body of Christ. They, just like the Gentiles ("pagans"), whom they de-spised as being outside the law, needed to be born again. Though they were heirs of the promises, they still remained by nature children of wrath, even as the others. It was a Jew--and a Jewish ruler at that, Nicodemus--to whom Jesus had said, "Ye must be born again" (John 3:3).
What Ephesians says about the universal sinfulness of man permeates the entire Bible's teaching. It is corroborated everywhere in Scripture. David says in Psalm 51, "I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." In Psalm 58:3 we read: "The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." Eliphaz, one of Job's three friends, is very emphatic: "What is man, that he should be clean? And he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold, he putteth no trust in His saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in His sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?" (Job 15:14-16). In Job 14:14 Job asks, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" Job is here speaking expressly of man being born of a woman, as spoken of in verse 1. This is given as a reason for man's not being clean; that is, being a human creature, proceeding by ordinary generation, man is naturally polluted.
The Bible sees man so constantly and universally associated with sin that it virtually uses the term "man" as being synonymous with "sinner." For example, "Cursed is he that trusteth in man," the Lord said in Jeremiah 17:5. Christ said to Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan . . .for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men" (Matthew 16:23). This plainly signifies that to be carnal and vain, as opposed to what is spiritual and divine, is what properly belongs to men in their sinful state. Compare also 1 Corinthians 3:3; 1 Peter 4:2; Job 15:6.
That man is more wicked and destructive than even voracious and wild animals is clear from a somber re-mark our Lord made when He sent forth His disciples into the world to bear witness of Him: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves . . . but beware of men." It was as if He had said, "I send you forth as sheep among wolves. Why do I call them wolves? Because I am sending you forth into the wide world of men, who are far more dangerous than wolves."
Jonathan Edwards was justified in saying, "There is no one lust in the heart of the devil that is not in the heart of man. Natural men are in the image of the devil. The image of God is razed out and the image of the devil is stamped upon them" (from the sermon "Natural Men Are In a Dreadful Condition").
One writer tells of a Christian who in prayer cited the words of Jeremiah: "The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked," and then continued by saying, "O Lord, Thou knowest we no longer accept this interpretation." This amounts to saying that we no longer accept the Bible's interpretation of sin. But for us to reject the verdict of the Word of God about sin is a dreadful act of sin, is it not? So if we deny the sin which the Bible says is in our hearts, we prove that it is there, do we not? Perhaps the very best proof of the sin of our hearts is that we deny the sin of our hearts!
In or out of the church, then, the unconverted person's liability to eternal destruction is not occasioned by his environment, but by his inherited nature. "We are by nature children of wrath." It is not by what we do that we are children of wrath, but by what we are. We do not become children of wrath by doing evil things, but we do evil things because we are children of wrath. Of course, doing evil makes us more and more the children of wrath. As Christ said, the proselytes of the Pharisees became twofold more the children of hell than they were (Matthew 23:15). We are not the children of wrath by our environment, but by our nature. It is our nature which makes our environment evil, not the other way around. This is the startling thing that the inspired apostle taught in Ephesians 2:3.

How Does God Convert the Human Soul?

A group of interested believers met recently at Truth Chapel to look at this very question. We did so via a Cross TV video. What we learned came in the form of two questions and two statements:

1) Who is Vitally Necessary for All Men to Be Found in Christ?
2) What Prevents Men From Having this Vital Union With Christ?
3) The New Birth: It is a Work of God, Not Man
4) A History of Error

The following video is a good overview of this first segment, which we are reviewing at Truth Chapel every Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm from June 18-Aug 6th. We hope you will watch the clip below, and then join us next week for the continuation of this series at 3417 Main Street, Morgantown, PA 19543.

John Owen - How The Holy Spirit Prepares The Soul For His Work of Regeneration

It is impossible for us to regenerate ourselves. But this does not excuse us from our spiritual responsibility.We can go and hear the Word of God being preached (Rom 10:17). We can go determined to understand and receive the things revealed to us to be clearly from God.Many souls are eternally ruined because they simply will not let God speak to them and teach them from His Word. It is true that no man can regenerate himself, even although he hears and receives God's Word. But God is prepared to come to those who come to Him by the way He has told them. He meets souls where He says He will meet them.As the Word of God is preached, certain things begin to happen in the hearers as the Holy Spirit brings the Word home to them personally. These things usually happen to the person before he is 'born-again'.The first thing that happens is that the Holy Spirit illuminates or enlightens the understanding, enabling the person to know and to understand spiritually the spiritual truths revealed (1 Cor 2:9,11). This is quite different from a natural understanding of what is being preached by the use of reason only.The Spirit's work of illumination makes the Word clear to the mind (2 Pet 2:21). The Gospel is understood, not only as true, but as God's way of righteousness (Rom 1:17;10:3,4). Illumination helps the mind to agree to the truth (Acts 8:13; John 2:23; 12:42). Illumination brings a momentary joy (Luke 8:13; John 5:35). Along with illumination a person may receive some spiritual gifts (Matt 7:22).Illumination is not regeneration, nor does regeneration infallibly take place after illumination. When light is shone on God's saving grace, then the soul sees clearly what is being offered. So illumination prepares the soul for regeneration.The second thing that happens is that the Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. This is also brought about by the preaching of the Word (1 Cor 14:24,25). The soul begins to feel a disturbing sense of its guilt as it is brought to face the righteous demands of God's law. It begins to feel a sense of sorrow or grief for the sins it has done (2 Cor 7:10). They are now past and can no longer be put right (Rom 8:15). This leaves the soul to feel humbled for its sinfulness (1 Kings 21:29). Now, unless the soul is swallowed up in despair, it begins to look for a way out of its present state of misery (Acts 2:37; 16:30). Often the person begins to reform his life and great a change of attitude follows (Matt 13:20; 12:44; 2 Pet 2:20).Some neglect this light and conviction or seek to stifle it. Some are overwhelmed by the power and strength of their lusts, the love of sin and the power of temptations. Some think that being enlightened is quite enough and that this is all that God intends to do with them.All these things which are brought on people by the preaching of the Word are in fact the actions of the Holy Spirit working along with that preaching (Isa 49:4; Jer 15:20; Ezek 33:31,32; John 8:59; Acts 13:41,45,46). Those 'enlightened' are said to be made 'partakers of the Holy Spirit' (Heb 6:4).Objection: If this preparatory work of the Holy Spirit does not lead to regeneration, does the Holy Spirit intend only to do a weak and imperfect work in that soul, or is He unable to bring that soul to 'New Birth'?Answer: In some, real conversion does take place. This initial work of the Holy Spirit is neither weak nor imperfect, but it can be willfully and stubbornly resisted. In the 'elect' the Holy Spirit, of His own sovereign grace, removes this wilful stubbornness. The rest He leaves to suffer the righteous rewards of their evil deeds. The Holy Spirit is perfectly free to do what He wants to do. He does what pleases Him, when it pleases Him and how it pleases Him. However, His works are always good and holy. He fully and perfectly accomplishes what He freely planned and purposed to accomplished.Illumination No Guarantee of Salvation.There is an 'illumination' which does not lead to salvation. It does not change man's will and does not give the mind a delight and satisfaction in spiritual things. The mind does not delight in God (Rom 6:17; 12:2; 1 Cor 2:13-15; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:6). It gives no spiritual insight into the glory of God's grace.Neither does this illumination purge the conscience from dead works to serve the Living God (Heb 9:14). It only convicts the soul of sin and rouses it to condemn many things of which before it heartily approved. Such illumination works on the feelings, arousing fear, sorrow, joy and delight. But it does not fix them on heavenly things (Col 3:1,2). Nor does it tear out evil desires and fill the heart with heavenly joys. It often leads to a major reformation in lifestyle, even producing the appearance of godliness. But there are three great defects in this illumination.The first is that it allows raging and reigning sins of ignorance to continue, as it did in Paul before his conversion.The second is that the reformation of life it stimulates the person to attain seldom leads to getting rid of all know sins, unless for a while the soul is engaged in a flagrant pursuit of self-righteousness.The third is that this reformation of life, although it may be strong at first, soon fades and decays. Eventually it leaves people as spiritual skeletons.Taken from The Holy Spirit by John Owen, Abridged, pp52-55.

Tips for Self-Discipline

Here are some things that have helped me through the years:


1. Start Small. Start with your room. Clean it, then keep it clean. When something is out of place, train yourself to put it where it belongs. Then extend the discipline of neatness to the rest of your home.
2. Be on time. That may not seem very spiritual, but it’s important. If you’re supposed to be somewhere at a specific time, be there on time. Develop the ability to discipline your desires, activities, and demands so that you can arrive on time.
3. Do the hardest job first. When you do that, you will find it easier to do the simpler tasks.
4. Organize your life. Plan the use of your time; don’t just react to circumstances. Use a calendar and make a daily list of things you need to accomplish. If you don’t control your time, everything else will.
5. Accept correction. Correction helps make you more disciplined because it shows you what you need to avoid. Don’t avoid criticism; accept it gladly.
6. Practice self-denial. Learn to say no to your feelings. Learn to do what you know to be right even if you don’t feel like doing it. Sometimes it’s even beneficial to deny yourself things that are acceptable to have, like a doughnut in the morning or dessert after dinner. Exercising such self-restraint helps you develop the habit of keeping other things under control. Cultivating discipline in the physical realm will help you become disciplined in your spiritual life.
7. Welcome responsibility. When you have an opportunity to do something that needs to be done, volunteer for it if you have talent in that area. Accepting responsibility can force you to organize yourself.

Kiss the Son by R.C. Sproul Jr.

There is no such thing as the "More Party." They do not run campaigns seeking to unseat sitting officials of the "Less Party." Both "more" and "less" need more context and less ambiguity. We need to know what we are getting more or less of. In like manner, the question of pluralism begs a previous question -- plural what? What is it the pluralists want more of? On the surface it might seem that what they want more of is religions. One religion isn't enough. We need to construct, according to these people, a world with plenty of room for Hindus and Hottentots, for Muslims and Mormons, for Buddhists and Baptists. When we look deeper, however, we run headlong into an inescapable spiritual reality, that every religion in the end is all about authority. What they want is multiple authorities. If there is, in the end, only one authority, and I am not that authority, then I am under authority. But, if there are lots of authorities, which is another way of saying there is no authority, then I am free to rule my own world. Then there is not only room for Shintoism, but for Sheila-ism. There is not only room for Roman Catholicism, but for R.C. Sproulicism.When the apostle Paul writes in Romans 1 that the natural man suppresses the knowledge of God in unrighteousness, that he denies what he knows, we understand that he does this so that he might continue to sin without fear of reprisal. The natural man constructs a view of the world wherein he never need fear facing the judgment of God. This construct not only will actually require the facing of the judgment of God, but is in fact already a judgment of God. It is the very foolishness that God gives their minds over to.But what about us? Pluralism isn't the exclusive province of the unbeliever. We who profess the lordship of Christ, more often than not, in turn find pluralism appealing. We who have been given new hearts presumably are about the business of putting to death our desire for self-rule. We ought, it would seem, to be of the "Less Party." I fear our motives are scarcely more honorable than our unbelieving friends' motives. It is a different twist on the question of authority. They will not affirm the lordship of Christ over them because they fear that Christ will reign over them. We are fearful of affirming the lordship of Christ over all things, including our neighbors, because we are afraid of our neighbors ruling over us. Pluralism is a half-hearted attempt at a compromise of convenience -- we won't condemn you if you won't condemn us. We won't say you are wrong, if you won't say that we are wrong. We won't find your views backwards and repugnant, if you won't find our views backwards and repugnant. What a deal? And all it costs us is the central and first affirmation of our own faith: Jesus is Lord. All we have to give up to win peace with our neighbors is the proclamation of the Gospel.Jesus is all too aware of our fears. He knows how painful it is to be scorned by the broader culture. He knows what its like to have a single dominant religion find your religion to be foolish and superstitious. He has experience in suffering under a single monolithic power. He's entered into this reality and conquered it. And He commands of us that we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. He commands that we put our worries away, and trust in Him. We evangelicals make the foolish mistake of thinking that when enough souls decide to make Jesus the Lord of their lives, that He will become the Lord of all things. The reality is that Jesus is already Lord over all things. His kingdom, strictly speaking, does not expand, for even now it knows no borders. He does not, therefore, engage in some sort of power sharing arrangement with other pretenders to His throne, whether they be false deities, or those who falsely worship them. His lordship is not something we accomplish. It is something we recognize and submit to. It is not something we negotiate; it is something we proclaim.That Jesus is Lord, however, is not some grim reality that we proclaim with all the grace of a desert prophet. It is something we proclaim with all the grace of joy. It was our Lord Himself, after all, who commanded us to "Take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). It's over. The kingdom is here, and Jesus has won. What fools we are to rush off to negotiate with the enemy to save our skins. His victory, of course, does not mean that we rush off to kill all our enemies. It means instead that we are to love them. Our love for them must be strong enough, however, to tell them with both passion and compassion, that their hopes are in vain, that their gods are mute and dumb, and that there is only one name under heaven by which a man must be saved. Our love for them does not present the Christian Gospel as an option. It does not lead us to argue that it's a good option that has worked well for us. Our love instead commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel, lest they perish. Our love calls on all our enemies to kiss the Son, lest He be angry and they perish along the way (Ps. 2:12).

In a Father’s Footsteps

READ John 13:14-17
Motivating our children to pursue the path of godliness isn’t always easy, but the rewards are great. It involves several things including commitment to love God with our entire heart. We should teach our children about His loving care.The path of godliness for our children also involves sacrifice. We should give up those pleasures and habits that interfere with raising godly sons and daughters. We also need to show our children courage. We need to admit we’re wrong and ask for forgiveness when we make mistakes. Our family, who already know our weaknesses, will see Christ’s power as we adjust our behavior.The path of godliness also involves perseverance. We should show our children how to stay the course and not lose heart. It takes time for children to develop godly habits.Prayer is another important aspect of godly parenting. Pray that your children will grow in understanding the Lord’s character, plans, and purposes, and His love. Faithfully practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study. The path of godliness for our children means we must learn to live by faith. We should trust in God and please Him. Recognize our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. We should return to the Lord a portion of our children’s time, talents, and treasure. And, we should speak to others about Jesus.
Give your children the gift of a godly role model. As they follow in your footsteps, you’ll experience the joy of watching them grow in holiness.

In a Father’s Footsteps

READ John 13:14-17
Motivating our children to pursue the path of godliness isn’t always easy, but the rewards are great. It involves several things including commitment to love God with our entire heart. We should teach our children about His loving care.The path of godliness for our children also involves sacrifice. We should give up those pleasures and habits that interfere with raising godly sons and daughters. We also need to show our children courage. We need to admit we’re wrong and ask for forgiveness when we make mistakes. Our family, who already know our weaknesses, will see Christ’s power as we adjust our behavior.The path of godliness also involves perseverance. We should show our children how to stay the course and not lose heart. It takes time for children to develop godly habits.Prayer is another important aspect of godly parenting. Pray that your children will grow in understanding the Lord’s character, plans, and purposes, and His love. Faithfully practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study. The path of godliness for our children means we must learn to live by faith. We should trust in God and please Him. Recognize our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. We should return to the Lord a portion of our children’s time, talents, and treasure. And, we should speak to others about Jesus.
Give your children the gift of a godly role model. As they follow in your footsteps, you’ll experience the joy of watching them grow in holiness.

How to Be a Christian Father

It is hard enough to be a good father in today's society. It is even more difficult to be a Christian father. Even though it is hard to do facing the things the world throws at us, it is not impossible. Here are a few tips on being a Christian father.

Give the television a rest and reconnect with the kids. Get to know your kids and what they are up to. You will find playing games and other non-television related activities you will develop a closer personal relationship with your kids.

Discipline with love and not with anger." My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." - Proverbs 3: 11-12Discipline is no doubt the hardest thing in parenting for a father. Work with your children to establish boundaries and appropriate punishments for crossing the line. Consistency is the key to discipline, so make sure your punishment is consistent with the action.
Make a good impression - lead by example. Your children whether you realize it or not observe your daily behavior. Before you expect godly behavior from your children you have to set an example your self.

Teach your children the ways of the Lord. God holds each parent accountable to teach their children His ways. As a father and head of the family, it is your responsibility to make sure your family is God-centered. Children need to learn to apply godly principles to their lives at an early age. This I not only in church-related matters, but also in every aspect of daily life.

Treat your children's mother with respect. Your relationship with your wife is where children first learn about relationships between men and women. When your son sees how you treat your wife with respect, it sets the tone in how he will treat women in the future. Your daughters it will set the standard for future relationships with men and will settle for nothing less than respect in a relationship.

Do not be afraid to show affection. Your kids' need a hug and an "I love you" just as your wife does. "Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him." - Luke 15: 17-24

Learn patience and forgiveness. Despite your love and guidance, your children will make mistakes. Your children need to know that you will be patient and forgiving. " The mark of a loving parent is the willingness to forgive." - Luke 15: 17-24

When your children speak, make sure you listen. You need to understand before trying to be understood. Many fathers do the wrong thing by laying down the law before listening to their children and trying to understand why their child is acting up. This is especially true in teenagers. You need to carefully listen to your children to understand from their point of view.
Combine your church family and your family. Instead of purchasing, the latest parenting book, talk to other parents in your church. There is a good chance they have been where you are now.

The most important thing is to love your children. Make sure you tell your children you love them and show them through your godly character. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres." - I Corinthians 13: 4-7God gives us the miracle of having children. Do not waste this gift by rushing through life on things of less importance. As it has been said before, "anyone can be a father, it takes a special person to be a daddy."

Pluralistic Worship by Terry L. Johnson

During the Reformation era, debates raged over what things must be considered crucial to Christian faith and practice, and what could be considered adiaphora (Latin for "things indifferent"). All sides agreed that the doctrines of the Trinity, the atonement, and justification were central. But what about worship issues? What about the elements of worship, sacramental theology, church architecture, and furnishings?Theological considerations drove the Reformers to insist upon biblical preaching, congregational singing, vernacular Bible readings and services, and sacramental practices that were consistent with their rejection of a sacrificial understanding of the Eucharist. The Reformers did not always agree on the details, but the principle was clear: "Let us, therefore, repudiate everything that smacks of sacrifice," said Luther in his Formula Missae (1523). One could argue (I wouldn't, but one could) that there is nothing wrong with a minister standing in front of the table, with turning his back on the people as he mumbles the words of institution, with elevating the host, with fencing the altar with a rail that keeps the laity at a distance, with serving a communion wafer that won't crumble. All of these could perhaps be justified with reference to reverence for the eucharistic service, with the aim of maintaining dignity and order. One could argue that they are adiaphora. However, to many Protestants they were not adiaphora, because, they argued, these practices grew out of the doctrine of transubstantiation and implied a sacrificial understanding of the mass. Is the sacramental host a sacrificial offering of Christ's flesh and blood placed by a priest on an altar that satisfies, even propitiates a holy God? Yes, said the medieval church, Tridentine, and even post-Vatican II (1960s) Roman Catholicism. If so, then of course one should perform the miracle of the mass at a distance from carnal curiosity seekers; of course the host should be elevated and adored -- it is, after all, the actual body of Christ; of course great pains should be taken to prevent clumsy or careless lay people from spilling the wine (so deny them the cup) or dropping crumbs of Christ's flesh (hence wafers). But since (in a Protestant understanding of things) none of these things is true, language, gestures, and furnishings that imply that they are true cannot be regarded as adiaphora. They must be purged from the church's eucharistic practices. Priests must be called "ministers" or "pastors," and altars must be replaced with tables. As Luther put it: "everything that smacks of sacrifice" must be repudiated. Everything that implies sacrifice must be removed. Calvin summarized: "[The Lord] has given us a table at which to feast, not an altar on which a victim is to be offered; he has not consecrated priests to make sacrifice, but servants [ministros] to distribute the sacred feast" (Institutes, 4.18.12). Neo-medievalists in conservative evangelical circles would do well to learn the language of church architecture, furnishings, and gestures, and not naively reinstate that which we theologically reject.But the real point of this article is not the Lord's Supper. We regard as axiomatic the principle that worship cannot be entertainment. Worship as entertainment is idolatry. By definition worship must be about God, not my amusement. Here is where disagreement exists: stages, theater-lighting, bands, dancers, dramatists, hand-held microphones, all up front, the service performed on behalf of an audience relaxing in theater-style seating. Is this adiaphora? Normally, issues of seating, lighting, placement of musicians, style of platform might have qualified as things indifferent, just as the elevation and adoration of the host might have been considered adiaphora. But a line has been crossed in our generation. Much of what passes for worship today is nothing more than lightly baptized entertainment, and therefore is idolatrous. It is idolatry from which serious churches must distance themselves. Our principle must be (with apologies to Luther): "Let us, therefore, repudiate everything that smacks of entertainment."Has the time come when the sanctuaries of evangelical Protestantism must be cleansed of everything that reflects the world of entertainment? Our Reformed forefathers took axes to the altars, and they whitewashed the walls of medieval churches. If our analysis of worship that entertains is correct, similar iconoclastic fury must be shown, and soon, in our houses of worship lest they become houses of mirth: theater seats pulled out; stages broken up; dancers and actors banished; musicians' and choirs' roles redefined as that of simply supporting and enhancing congregational singing; pulpit, table, and font restored to their proper places; pastors moved back behind pulpits; and simple services of the Word read, preached, sung, prayed, and seen (in the sacraments) reestablished. What was once indifferent can be considered indifferent no more, not if Reformed Protestantism is to continue to practice purity in its worship and avoid idolatry. "Little children," says the apostle John, "keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21).

God's Providence: A Two-edged Sword (pt. 3) by John H. Gerstner

Positive Providence
When considering the definition of negative providence, we used Ed Wynn's comic parody of the poet. Now, considering positive providence, we consider the poet himself:
There is a destiny which shapes our ends, Rough hew them though we may.
The "rough hew" needs explanation. If the poet means "sin as we please," if he suggests that a positive providence comes about irrespective of our behavior, if things are going to work out well although we always behave badly--then he errs in the opposite direction. Just as there is no destiny that shapes our ends rough, hew them how we may, neither is there any destiny which shapes our ends well, hew them how we may. The shaping and the hewing are integrally related. God shapes as we hew; we hew as God shapes. So, then, the definition of positive providence is: The divine appointment of good and beneficial events, but not apart from (rather, through) the willing determinations of men.
Again, there are two forms of positive providence, and the first is external. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). That includes external and temporal events as well as the internal and eternal. "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6-7). "We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter," but nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:36, 39). "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And, not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience" (Romans 5:1-3).
So these adversities are transformed by divine grace and wisdom into blessings. The same event which is negative providence for the wicked is positive providence for the children of God. The meek, Jesus said, shall inherit the earth. Righteousness exalts a nation. The wicked may appear to prosper, but their way perishes while he who meditates on the law of God day and night shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water (Psalm 1:2).
Honesty may work a temporary, temporal disadvantage, but in the long run, even in this evil world, honesty pays. Crime may be a temporary, temporal advantage, but in the long run, even in this evil world, crime does not pay. They who take the sword shall perish with the sword, while the peacemakers shall be called, even in this world, "the children of God."
The second form of positive providence is internal. If there is no rest for the wicked even in this world, there is rest for the righteous even in this world. They have peace with God, access to grace, and hope of glory. For them to live is Christ and for them to die is gain, only because they will then have even more of Christ. For the Christian it is all this and heaven too.
Note how this internal joy transforms even the temporal bodily pain to which Christians are subject in this life. A former president of Colgate University was stricken and suffered almost incessantly. His son could not refrain from saying, "Father, I wish I could bear some of your pain for you." To which this man replied, "Son, I do not have a pain to spare."
A woman in a congregation where this story was told said, "That man must never have had gall bladder trouble!" But, seriously, a Christian has no pain to spare.
What shall it be for you? A positive or negative providence? Do you wish divine destiny to shape things rough or smooth? In this world and that which is to come?
Remember that providence is not fatalism. Your hewing is related to God's shaping, and God's shaping is related to your hewing.

God's Providence: A Two-edged Sword (pt. 2) by John H. Gerstner

Negative Providence
What do we mean by negative providence? Suppose we begin with the late comedian Ed Wynn's definition based on a slight alteration of some famous lines:
There is a destiny that shapes our ends rough; Hew them how we may.
This is negative enough, but is it providence? No, this is Greek fatalism rather than Christian providence. Why? Because human behavior is disregarded. "Hew them how we may"--that makes no difference. Compare, for an example of this type of thinking, the great Greek tragedian Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. This king, Oedipus, is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. No matter how innocent of either he may try to be, he unknowingly and inevitably does both. Though he consciously strives to avoid these sins, he does them nonetheless and is held guilty for them. So his mother commits suicide, and he gouges out his eyes and goes into solitary and hopeless exile.
The certainty of the end is present in this tragic definition of negative providence. In the Wynn satire the man "hews"; in Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus does all in his power to avoid fate. Neither actor is a puppet; each one strives, though to no avail. But what is lacking in these two accounts? It is the connection between the end and the means. There is no connection between end and means, between destiny and striving. The end comes to pass regardless of striving; indeed, it comes in spite of striving against it. The destiny shapes ends rough, hew them how we may--that is, though we hew to the moral line in an endeavor to make our destiny smooth, it remains rough. Oedipus is essentially a moral person, generally admired by his family and subjects. But all this means nothing for he is destined to commit the accursed crimes of patricide and incest (and accursed crimes they remain although he intends neither of them).
What a contrast to all of this is the negative providence of Scripture! Compare Acts 2:23: "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked men's hands have crucified and slain." Judas and others indeed delivered Christ up according to the eternal counsel and foreknowledge of God, but they did so by "wicked hands." Their "hands" were not inactive; they were certainly not opposed to this dreadful deed. On the contrary, they willfully chose to do the awful deed, for they were denominated "wicked hands." This illustrates the constant Bible teaching about negative providence, namely that the doers are always voluntary doers, willing actors, guilty men.
Putting the picture together, this is what we find: Negative providence is the divine appointment even of wicked and calamitous events, but not apart from--rather, through--the willing, though wicked, determinations of men.
There are two forms of negative providence. The first is external.
Providence applies to the totality of things. Since we are here concerned only with the human creature, we note that providence applies to the total person. The total human person is a composite one. Thomas Aquinas observed that man, in possessing a spirit, resembles angels; in possessing a body, he resembles animals. Furthermore, in addition to man's having two parts to his personality, body and spirit, he has two periods, time and eternity. Providence relates to both the temporal and the eternal.
So we consider first that form of negative providence which affects the external, bodily, and temporal aspects of the human personality. Christ referred to temporal providence when He spoke of the hairs of our head being numbered. Both our temporal lives and our environment are part of providence, but the tragic as well as the beneficent elements of the external and temporal are part of providence. For example, Christ said that He must go as it was written of Him, that He must be killed at Jerusalem, and that the Shepherd would be smitten, and the like. All of these evil events concerning death are therefore of divine foreordination.
There is a time coming, the Bible says, when God will reveal more fully the displeasure which He now feels. Meanwhile, it appears to the psalmist as if God is slumbering and needs to be aroused. But God is waiting until the "cup of iniquity" is full. Thus He withholds His judgment against the Amorites: "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (Genesis 15:16). But though it might seem that God's judgments are delayed, Moses warned the Israelites, "Be sure your sins will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). He told them in his farewell address, as well as on other occasions, of the curses which were sure to overtake those who turned away from Jehovah.
We have impressive illustrations of this negative providence pertaining to the externals here and now. Consider, for example, the fall of Jerusalem. Christ was crucified and nothing happened--then. Later, in the lifetime of the same generation, the city was besieged, and civil war, famine, butchery, and indescribable suffering took place. Mothers devoured their own children as the wrath of God came upon the city that crucified His Son.
Nor are visitations of wrath only in the form of military woes and desolations. Roger Babson once made an investigation of bankruptcies in the United States during a certain number of years. Some of these business collapses were traceable to a lack of competence, but only a few. The majority were owing to a lack of integrity and honesty.
The eminent historian of the American scene, Charles Beard, said that one of the lessons he learned from his studies was that the mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. Still another scholar said in a class that if he were intimately familiar with the condition of a community, he could predict its downfall within a hundred years. Then he revised that statement, claiming that he could predict the downfall within the space of ten years.
Not only do the scholars recognize the temporal judgments which come on mankind, and the brimstone which is scattered over all the possessions of wicked men, but even the man on the street knows it and even jokes about it sometimes. For example, I used to go bowling with my church people one night a week. Occasionally I would bowl the ball in the corner properly and it would move over to center as it ought and a strike appeared certain. I would start to walk back to the bench. But, alas, all the pins would not fall down--the two farthest apart still stood! My men should have said, "You were robbed, pastor," or, "You should have had a strike, pastor," or even, "Too bad, pastor." Instead they said, "You don't live right, pastor."
The second form of negative providence is internal. "Your sins will find you out," Moses said. However, not all visitation is upon the bodies of sinners; it comes upon their souls also. God may wait to pour out wrath upon the external world until the cup of iniquity is full, but apparently He pours out this invisible cup on the soul as soon as it sins. He may seem to slumber as He delays external punishment, but not so in the administration of internal suffering. A person may sin and retribution upon his body not be forthcoming, but his conscience is immediately afflicted. He may, indeed, get away with it, but he never gets away from it. "The wicked flee when no man pursueth," that is, their consciences are alarmed when there is no outward apprehension. "God is angry with the wicked every day" (Psalm 7:11). That is, though the wicked prosper outwardly as the green bay tree, they are inwardly blighted. The wicked are as the surging of the sea (Isaiah 57:20). That is, however tranquil his situation may appear to be, he has no true peace within. John Calvin says the sinner sometimes has tranquillity because he is too "thick" to understand the judgment of God against him. But he is not tranquil about his tranquillity. That is, he is disturbed about his peace of mind. There is no rest for the wicked even when they are resting because they still vaguely and apprehensively wonder whether they should rest, whether all is well with their soul.

God's Providence: A Two-edged Sword (pt. 1) by John H. Gerstner

According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, "God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, powerful preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions." This comprehensive statement says that God's providence encompasses all, and not merely some, of the acts of His creatures. Such a definition would include big events and trifles as well--good things, but also evil ones too. Does not Jeremiah teach the same doctrine? "Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?" (Lamentations 3:37). Is Acts 15:18 any different? "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." If all His deeds are known to God from the beginning, there is nothing not known to Him. Nothing escapes His purposes, not a single hair or a falling sparrow.
Neither you nor I would be here to discuss providence if Providence had not brought us together in this fashion, if God had not done His will in the earth. How conscious we are of all the little details on which our lives to this point have turned. I do not know the trifles in your life, but I do know those in my own. Let me mention one. If a child had dropped a marble one inch more to the left, or if for some reason I had put my foot down one inch more to the right as I went down a fire escape, I would not now, perhaps, be writing about providence at all.
Not only in your life and mine, but in the lives of historic public figures the same significance of detail is apparent. A.H. Strong, in his Systematic Theology, reminds us that Mohammed's life was once suspended by a literal thread. The prophet, fleeing his enemies, hid in a cave across which a spider quickly spun a web. When his pursuers saw it, they were convinced that there was no one in the cave and went on. Mohammed was spared, and his religion today numbers more than three-hundred million adherents.
But if trifles are vital parts of divine providence, what about evil? Evil is often vastly significant. The most important event which ever occurred was, in one aspect, horrible evil. The crucifixion of Jesus, from the standpoint of the crucifiers, was grotesquely wicked. Yet, even though the killing of Christ was an atrocity itself, what event was so vital, and its effects so beneficial, as the death of Christ? If God's providence does not include evil, it does not include the most important event which ever took place.
So we say providence is a two-edged sword. It cuts both ways bringing both the good and the evil (differently, to be sure, but bringing them nonetheless). If we deny either, we deny providence. If we deny providence, we deny God. If we deny the benign, we deny the goodness of God. If we deny the evil, we deny the severity of God. The Bible denies neither, but affirms each. "Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness--otherwise thou also shalt be cut off" (Romans 11:22).
Let us consider, then, these two aspects of divine providence. But first we will examine what I will call "negative providence."

Generation to Generation by Niel Nielson

Recently, an acquaintance of mine gathered these statistics on the choices available today: 200 cable channels; 255 ways to order a Big Mac; 19,000 possible combinations for coffee at Starbucks and 78,998 for ice cream and toppings at Cold Stone Creamery; and more than 500,000 mathematical possibilities for pizza in America.Now add the amazing variety of cultures around the world, each with its own wide range of choices and traditions and practices, and it is clear that we live in a pluralistic world gone crazy -- a world awash in choices, options, alternatives, and which calls to us, "Come, follow me." One of our long-time philosophy professors at Covenant College speaks of the "recommendations" that come at us from all directions, recommendations about what to like, what to think, what to buy, what to believe, and how to live. Some of these recommendations are relatively innocuous, like "buy Adidas"; some are more important, like "vote for me rather than my opponent"; and some are deadly serious and carry huge consequences, like "follow my religion" or "believe this about sex."At the heart of true education is learning to hear these voices clearly, to recognize their sources, and to respond in godly ways, whether in school, at work, at church, in a recreational context, in a relationship, or in those moments of utter personal privacy when no one is watching.While our choices today may far outnumber those in previous generations, this challenge of discerning and responding biblically has been around since creation. Our first human parents faced it: a choice between two recommendations, as it were -- one from the God who had created them and expected them to obey Him, and the other from the enemy of God who wooed them into doubting God's words and choosing their own way in place of His.This is the focus of Jude's short letter, which he tells us isn't the letter he first intended to write: "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (v. 3). Jude is compelled to address the very problem we are discussing here: recommendations coming to his readers from "certain people" who "have crept in unnoticed" and "who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ" (v. 4). Notice that Jude isn't writing to them about voices calling from outside the visible fellowship of faith. These people have "crept in unnoticed," that is, they are inside the congregation of God's people. In other words, the problem of pluralism is not just "out there" in the world; it's also "in here" even among those who call themselves Christians. In fact, the deadliest recommendations may come from those who claim to be fellow believers, because they masquerade as people of the light, they use "Christian" vocabulary, and they assert that their views are faithful to our most holy faith.Jude directs some of the harshest language in all the Bible at such people: they are blasphemers, children of Cain, waterless clouds and fruitless trees, ungodly and loud-mouthed boasters. God has already designated their condemnation. And yet Jude's burden for his readers is to urge them to contend -- to fight earnestly -- for the faith once for all delivered to the saints -- to reject recommendations that would lead them away into unbelief and unholiness.What is this faith once for all delivered? For Jude's readers and for us, it is clearly a reference to our faith laid out in the Word of God written in ages past and now faithfully delivered to us. It is "once for all" revelation from God, gloriously complete in providing all we need to know about God and His plan, purpose, and expectations for His creation.Jude gives his readers two clues for recognizing these false teachers and their recommendations: they pervert the grace of our God into sensuality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (v. 4). While this short list is not exhaustive, it provides very helpful tests.First, does a particular viewpoint rationalize sexual sin, in this case by co-opting the very grace of God? Beware, Jude is saying, of any teaching or perspective that would use the grace and love of God as the means for justifying sexual sin, whether heterosexual or homosexual.Second, does a particular viewpoint diminish the exclusive glory and truth of Jesus Christ as the only King and Savior? Beware, Jude is saying, of any teaching or perspective that undermines His deity, diminishes His uniqueness, doubts His kingly claims over the creation, or adds or subtracts from His Gospel.For the Tabletalk readers of my three sons' generation -- your choices are many, and recommendations are coming continually at you for what to think, to love, to look at, to believe, and to hope for. With joy and tears I urge you to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, written for us in the Holy Scriptures and able to sustain and strengthen you until the day of our Lord's return.

WORD OF THE DAY From The Pastor's Study

Metaphysics

[meh’-tuh-fiz‘-uh-kul]

(Greek meta, “after” + Greek phusika, “physics”)

The branch of philosophy that is concerned with the study of ultimate reality, often referring to those things that transcend the physical (mind, essence, time, meaning, God, etc.). The term “physical” was originally pre-fixed by “meta” with regards to the works of Aristotle, specifically those chapters that came “after” those on the physical (”meta-physical”). Most commonly today, metaphysics refers to those matters of knowledge that are by nature non-empirical.

Praying for Church Leaders by Robert M. Norris

I am not used to being considered a heretic. Yet recently, when a colleague and I visited a friend who teaches theology at a famous British university, we found ourselves faced with this charge! In a conversation that had quickly turned to the subject of theology, we found ourselves defending the idea that the death of Jesus Christ was that of a penal substitution in which He in our place bore the wrath of God that rightfully should have been visited upon us. This understanding is both biblical and the historic confession of the church, yet it was this that earned for us the charge of heresy from one who is a self-confessed evangelical theologian. Subsequently, I have realized that this doctrine of penal substitution is increasingly being challenged both by theologians and preachers as an example of "cosmic child-abuse" with no part in an authentic proclamation of the Christian Gospel. This situation provides insight as to why it is important to pray for church leaders. Yet it is symptomatic of a sad truth. If praying for church leaders seems to have gone out of style, perhaps an underlying reason for this is that the church often adopts the standards and ideas of the world. In our pursuit of success where the obvious mark of that success is size, influence, power, and money, church leaders are under constant pressure to produce evidence of growth, and technique and program are the obvious means by which this is achieved. In this framework there is no place given for prayer, which speaks of a supernatural framework of thought that is alien to the modern world.In order to be successful, congregations look to their leaders to be endowed with entrepreneurial spirits and the necessary charisma to meet all expectations. Superstars are exalted and those who do not have that magnetism nor share in those gifts are compared unfavorably with those who can generate success. Thus, criticism, not prayer, becomes the norm for congregations. Nor is the blame to lie solely with congregations because often their leaders are the very ones who have reduced Christian ministry to techniques and programs, and have substituted methodology for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, looking to human plans rather than divine guidance and blessing. As a consequence, they do not look for prayer as the vital need for their ministries. Divine blessing is seen only in terms of human success.This is a very different picture than the one offered by the apostle Paul who understood that the nature of his ministry was essentially spiritual. It was because of this understanding that he sought the prayers of the congregations to which he ministered.His requests were marked by urgency because he knew that he both wanted and needed the prayers of God's people. The apostle was well aware that the work in which he was engaged was spiritual and had eternal consequences. He was aware that entrusted to his care was the proclamation of the Gospel, the careful unfolding of God's truth, and the diligent defense of that Gospel against all distortion. He recognized that such a ministry required more than human ability and could not be undertaken without prayer. The partnership with the congregations to whom he ministered was vital: "I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf" (Rom. 15:30).Paul was aware that he needed the prayers of the congregations that he served because he was a sinner and was aware that he could be tempted and could easily give in to those temptations. Clearly Paul knew that he faced intimidation and the ever-present temptation to compromise the nature of the Gospel message in the interests of peace and tolerance, which is why he requested and needed the prayers of God's people. He saw the role of those he served to support him with their prayers. In fact, when writing to the church at Ephesus he was clear that the role of prayerful support created a partnership in the work of the Gospel ministry. As such, he clearly regarded it as a high privilege that involved "striving," and, far from being passive, was an active and vital ministry: "[pray] also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel" (Eph. 6:19).He saw that the work of the Gospel is an essentially spiritual work. Paul knew nothing of being dependent upon technique or program to accomplish his work, and his appeal was for spiritual support because he knew that he was battling spiritual powers that were arrayed against Him and were hostile to God and His purpose. Today it is easy to be seduced by the secular mindset into dismissing the spiritual nature of Christian ministry and fail to see that there is a combating of dark and hostile spiritual forces that can be met only with humble dependence upon God, diligence in the study of His Word, and devotion to the Gospel of Christ.It is the role of the church leader to keep watch over the souls of God's people. And to be effective in this role, as in all the other aspects of ministry, he needs the prayers of God's people.

Don't Be So Open-minded by Burk Parsons

Our enemy's supreme deception is in his attempt to convince us that he doesn't exist. Toward that end, he has launched his assault against us with every weapon in his carefully fashioned arsenal. Perhaps his greatest success is in persuading us that being open-minded is a good thing. For it is precisely when we accept the notion that open-mindedness is a Christian virtue that we fall into the same devilish trap by which our first parents were ensnared. Once our minds are open to open-mindedness, all ideas, no matter how absurd, can come and go as they please -- with our sanction.


We thus become headless and brainless philosophers who just want to get along. One such philosopher and self-proclaimed theologian has written: "So I believe we have radically to rethink our understanding of the place of Christianity in the global religious picture. And we have to face the fact that it is one path amongst others, and then reform our belief-system to be compatible with this. This is the big new challenge that theologians and church leaders have yet to face. We have to become consciously what are called religious pluralists." This is the mantra of religious pluralists: Liberate your mind, lose your faith, and feel the love.Although many professed evangelicals have become precarious evanjellyfish, I would like to think that most have not yet succumbed to the most blatant sort of religious pluralism. Nevertheless, being the narrow-minded biblical fundamentalist that I am, I am decidedly closed-minded to anything that is not biblical, and I concur with John Calvin: "Wherefore all theology, when separated from Christ, is not only vain and confused, but is also mad, deceitful, and spurious; for, though the philosophers sometimes utter excellent sayings, yet they have nothing but what is short-lived, and even mixed up with wicked and erroneous sentiments." As the closed-minded, Christ-minded faithful we must join arms against the satanic pluralism of our day, whether it is decreed from the Vatican or broadcast from Mecca. We live and breathe for Christ alone and proclaim that there is only one way to God. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

The Christian's Responsibilities To Members Of The Church

As a member of the church the Christian is a part of the family of God (1 Tim. 3:15). Being a family member carries responsibilities. As a part of the universal church one has responsibilities to all Christians worldwide.

Being a member of a local church, though, he sustains peculiar responsibilities to those who are his fellow-members in that local body. It is like being a part of the physical family. When one is born he becomes a part of a large family with aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., to whom he has responsibilities. But he also is part of a nuclear family of mother, father, sisters and brothers to whom he has special moral and spiritual obligations over and above those he has to the rest of his relatives.

Some of the Christian's responsibilities to other members of the church include:

• Love (1 Pet. 1:22)
• Edify (Eph. 4:16)
• Encourage (Heb. 10:24)
• Teach and Admonish (Col. 3:16)
• Bear Burdens (Gal. 6:2)
• Comfort (1 Thes. 4:18)
• Forgive (Eph. 4:32; Matt. 6:14-15)
• Work Together (Phil. 1:27)

I pray that, with God's grace, you will be able to fully live up to all your responsibilities to others members of your local church as well as the Church universal.

The Garden

author unknown

FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING, PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:

1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:
1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:

1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another

NO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS:

1. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one another

TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME:

1. Thyme for studying God’s Word
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends

WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE.

THERE WILL BE MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU WILL REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

The Heidelberg Catechism, This Lord's Day week 22

Q57: What comfort do you receive from the "resurrection of the body"?

A57: That not only my soul after this life shall be immediately taken up to Christ its Head,[1] but also that this my body, raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul, and made like unto the glorious body of Christ.[2]
1. Luke 23:43; Phil. 1:21-232. I Cor. 15:53-54; Job 19:25-27; I John 3:2
Q58: What comfort do you receive from the article "life everlasting"?

A58: That, inasmuch as I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy,[1] I shall after this life possess complete blessedness, such as eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man,[2] therein to praise God forever.[3]
1. II Cor. 5:2-32. I Cor. 2:93. John 17:3; Rom. 8:23; I Peter 1:8