hymn of the day

By Anne Steele [1717-1778]

My God, my Father, blissful Name

O may I call Thee mine

May I with sweet assurance claim

A portion so divine

This only can my fears control

And bid my sorrows fly

What harm can ever reach my soul

Beneath my Father's eye

Whate'er Thy providence denies

I calmly would resign

For Thou art just and good and wise

O bend my will to Thine

Whate'er Thy sacred will ordains

O give me strength to bear

And let me know my Father reigns

And trust His tender care

If pain and sickness rend this frame

And life almost depart

Is not Thy mercy still the same

To cheer my drooping heart

If cares and sorrows me surround

Their pow'r why should I fear

My inward peace they cannot wound

If Thou, my God, art near

SOVEREiGNTY and RESPONSiBiLiTY [part 2]

Holding the tension between the two is fun and tough. I heard the tension stated in the negative today. I liked the way it was put:

The Word of God knows nothing of an irresponsible man [not accountable for his own actions] or an unsovereign God [not wise and good over all things].

Holding this tension has contrition hard-wired into its appropriation. Bishop J. C. Ryle also adds discerning words:

I have long come to the conclusion that men may be more systematic in their statements of the Bible, and may be led into grave error by idolatrous veneration of a system.

SOVEREiGNTY and RESPONSiBiLiTY

Our pal Dr Piper reminds us that there is a mysterious tension that the Bible is ok with.

The Plague of Passivity and the Hyper-Spiritualizing of Decisions

This is an excerpt from Kevin DeYoung's book "Just Do Something" [pgs 50-51].

Passivity is a plague among Christians. It's not just that we don't do anything; it's that we feel spiritual for not doing anything. We imagine that our inactivity is patience and sensitivity to God's leading. At times it may be; but it's also quite possible we are just lazy. When we hype-spiritualize our decisions, we can veer off into impulsive and foolish decisions. But more likely as Christians we fall into endless patterns of vacillation, indecision, and regret. No doubt, selfish ambition is a danger for Christians, but so is complacency, listless wandering, and passivity that pawns itself off as spirituality. Perhaps our inactivity is not so much waiting on God as it is an expression of the fear of man, the love of the praise of man, and disbelief in God's providence.

BLAiSE PASCAL

"He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright."

ROMANS 11.33-36

The breakdown in Romans is chapters 1-4, 5-8, 9-11, and 12-16. All are distinct sections. All are thick and thorough. As you know, 9-11 is likely the toughest. However, thick thinking for Paul doesn't lead to theological restlessness or apathy or anything of the sort. In Paul's heart and from Paul's pen, deep thinking about God's plan leads to elaborate praise. For Paul theology leads to doxology. It must be the same for us.

Let's look at how he closes ch 11. Rom 11.33-36 gets more intense the more I muse over it. Here's a fun way to remember it: 2, 2, 3, 3

Paul lauds the great depth of WISDOM OF GOD and the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. That's your first 2.

He then asks, "how UNSEARCHABLE ARE HIS JUDGMENTS and how UNFATHOMABLE ARE HIS WAYS?" There's your second 2. 

Both of Paul's sets of three begin with the word "for" [NASB]. In Greek, this simply means that he is explaining something or continuing his train of thought. So, in 11.34-35 Paul asks three "who" questions. 

• WHO has known the mind of the Lord
  
• WHO has become His counselor
  
• WHO has first given to Him...

This is your first 3.

Lastly, Paul chooses three prepositional phrases to depict why glory will eternally and rightfully be to God. 11.36 reads, "For FROM Him and THROUGH Him and TO Him are all things. To Him be glory forever! Amen." This is your second 3.

So, in Rom 11.33-36 we have two exclamatory couplets that lead to two explanatory triplets, but that are all under one consuming goal - the fame of God.

Just this structure is enough to make me delight in God's wisdom and beauty. Now go read Rom 9-11 and see His mercy and it the will be greater grounds for glorying in and rejoicing in His goodness.

JOHN PiPER READS MY BLOG

Or at least it sure sounds like it.

Below is a video that echoes much of what I wrote yesterday. His outline in this video covers six issues: Womanhood, Race, Abortion, a prophetic perspective, God's sovereignty, and the Gospel. It is worth your time.

THE BiBLE and WORLD POLiTiCS

Pharaoh.

King Cyrus.

Caesar.

Nebuchadnezzar. 

If you've read your Bible at all, you'll know that these are big-time political leaders found in the Old and New Testaments. These are just a couple. There are dozens more. What's unique about these fellas and their political counterparts is that they were pawns in God's huge, providential hand. God was always working through and against world politics to bring about His purposes for His covenant people.

The use of the two prepositions in the above sentence is massively intentional. Politics is never an end or a goal. It is a means. I know that we will always wrestle until "the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ" [Rev 11.15], but why do Christians live like one tiny slice of the political pie is the end all. Further, if you don't see eye to eye with them, you are often deemed a lesser believer in their mind.

Let me repeat those prepositions again. God works THROUGH and AGAINST world politics. That is the biblical paradigm. I don't feel as if many believers live like it is. Yes, render to Caesar what is Caesar's [Mk 12]. Yes, submit to authority [Rom 13]. But please, don't rush to the polls as if you are doing God a favor. We must be upstanding citizens, but we are strangers and aliens here [1 Pe 1 and 2] and our true citizenship is in heaven [Phil 3]. We have to live like that is true.

email discussion on DETERMINISM

There's a pal of mine who is a sophomore in college. He's the man and has a hunger for knowledge and for the Lord. He emailed me this question this week. I was happy with the answer our Father gave me to give him. So, here's nuttin:

FRIEND: "How much of a determinist would you consider yourself? Someone told me today, in a very summarized way, what determinism is and I've just been contemplating it."

MYSELF: "Determinism is more of a scientific and philosophical [and generally post-Enlightenment] category. It is the agnostic version of fatalism. Both are non-theological categories. Some would say that people who are rigid Calvinists are merely spiritual and/or theological determinists. This is looking through a scratched lens. Knowing and cherishing God's beautiful providence and sovereignty [which transcends the puny category of Calvinism] is a relational reality. Determinism and fatalism are are merely theoretical and not relational. They have no capacity for intimacy or fellowship. However, being in love with and being bought by a God who is in control of every falling sparrow and every hair follicle - this is what we were made for and it surpasses all categories and theories. It might have to be described by categories and theology sometimes, but it is most certainly not bound by them."

"DO NOT FEAR!"

I love reading the Scriptures. It's fun, convicting, hope-giving, puzzling, and enlightening. I specifically love reading the Scriptures when Southern Baptist sermon outlines jump off the page at me. Here's the one that leaped out of Matthew 10 this morning [read the passage here].



Jesus was teaching his disciples about discipleship and about what they would face as they went out. He said that if they "called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign" you [10.25]? But then he commanded them not to fear [10.26]. Those who hate you [10.22] can only kill the body, but God can cast both body and soul into hell [10.28].

Dang.

But then, immediately following his shuttering statement about God throwing people's bodies and souls into hell, he mentions cute little birdies [10.29]. He says that one of them never dies apart from the Father. Then, if his previous transition from hell to cute little birdies wasn't odd enough, he goes from cute little birdies to the Father's precision in counting each hair on your head [10.30]. Finally, he returns to the little birdies by saying, "So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows" [10.31].

The primary thing Jesus is saying to his disciples in 10.24-31 is simple - "Do not fear!" But why the mention of birds and stuff?

[here is where the mighty SBC sermon outline kicks in]

Jesus is etching in the brains of his followers that his Father is sovereign and wise over SOULS, SPARROWS, and SCALPS. He is the one who can throw bodies and souls into hell. He is the one watches over every sparrow. He is the one who know the 740 hairs on your uncle's head and the 20,740 on yours.

So, if the Father is wields His good providence over all things and you are out to make Him known - "Do not fear! He's in control of souls, sparrows, and scalps."

esto es el mundo de mi padre

This is my Father’s world
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong
Seems oft so strong
God is the ruler yet

the problem with the problem of evil?

Along with Tom Wright, Bart Ehrman is one of the world's leading New Testament scholars. Last year, NT Wright released his book on the problem of evil called Evil and the Justice of God. Wright provided fresh and biblical thoughts on the subject by including how terrorism, global disease, and relativistic postmodernism have brought it to the surface again. But now it's Bart's turn. His new book, God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question - Why We Suffer, is due out this week. It should prove to be a provoking read.

What is interesting to me is that these men are two of the leading minds on the Bible and they cannot get over this issue. Regardless of what approach one takes on this, man is always left scratching his finite head. No one can put this behind them as resolved. The results are usually either haunting or humbling.

I don't know if this a good question or if it is daring or if I'm just thinking too much or what, but what does God think about the problem of evil? It is certainly not a "problem" to him like it is to us, is it? After praying, reading, and racking my brain thinking about this, the following two thoughts have often brought comfort.

First... The omnipotent, all-wise, all-knowing, omnibenevolent, and loving God of the universe and of the Bible does not sit on his throne and ponder the extent of his sovereignty. This is what it means to be God.

Second [and I stole this from somewhere in Edwards] and metaphorically speaking... "the sun is not the cause of cold and darkness."

I sure hope Bart's words will help to offer peace to those who are on the verge of being made spiritually impotent because of this fragile matter.

my very own southern baptist sermon outline on the sovereignty of God in Jonah

1. the wind [1.4]
2. the whale [1.17]
3. the word [3.1-6]
4. the weed [4.6]
5. the worm [4.7]

SOVEREiGN OVER SiN?

It plagued my heart and humbled my mind for at least three years. It is now being discussed again here, here, here, and elsewhere.

Is God sovereign over sin?

Before a definitive "yes" or "no" one must consider the theological ramifications of their answer. If you submit that He is then you might jump to the unbiblical conclusion that He is the immediate or primary cause of sin in the universe. Or, if you answer negatively then you could suggest that He can do nothing about sin because He is not sovereign over it. So, the following is a very brief biblical survey concerning this issue.

Every time the phrase "evil spirit" appears in the OT, it says that it is from God [Jdg 9.23; 1 Sam 16.14, 16.15, 16.16, 16.23, 18.10, 19.9]. Job declares that YHWH gives and He takes away in 1.21. He also asks if we should accept good from God and not "calamity" [rah in Hebrew] in 2.10. Isaiah says that God creates this same "calamity" in 45.7. In a very summative fashion, Elihu says that "whether for correction, or for His world, or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen" [Job 37.13]. Peter doesn't hesitate to say that Herod, Pilate, and all those responsible for Jesus' bloody death were to accomplish "whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur" [Ac 4.28]. These texts barely scratch the surface of the biblical data that should be considered when these questions are in view. Others include: Ps 33.14-15, 105.25, 115.3, 135.6; Pro 16.1-4, 16.33, 21.1; Is 29.16, 63.17; Rom 9.11-24; Ex 4.21, 7.3, 9.12, 10.20, 10.27, 14.4, 14.8, 11.10; Mt 10.29; Heb 1.3; 1 Kgs 11.23; Lam 3.37-38; Amos 3.6; Ac 2.22-24; 2 Ths 2.11-12; 1 Pe 2.8; and more.

Brothers from a Catholic, Wesleyan, or Arminian background generally attempt to explain this by turning to man's free will. However, this line of argument simply restates the issue at hand and is also another discussion that is not as closely related as they think.

To ask the question in another way: What verb should be used to feebly attempt to express God's relationship to sin? Did He cause it? Allow it? Decree it? Permit it? Ordain it? Take your pick and ground it on the objectivity of God's Word. The reality is that our Lord and King does not sit upon His throne in the heavens and scratch His head over the extent of His sovereignty. It is our finiteness, our sin, and our creatureliness that gives way to our ignorance.

So, what does all this entail for the believer? It means that we must bow before "the only wise God" [Rom 16.27] and the mystery of His providence. It means that we get to trust and know that His ways aren't like ours and still be a part off His plan. It means that the contrition and humility with which we walk should be evident to those around us. Lastly, we must know that we are always accountable before Him and that He is always reigning and governing all things as "the King eternal, immortal, invisible" [1 Tim 1.17; also see Eph 1.11, Col 1.16-17; Rom 11.33-36].

"shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay?” [isaiah 29.16]

All befuddling and unanswerable questions concerning theology, theodicy, philosophy, psychology, biology, quantum physics and every realm of study must be duly discerned in view of God’s wisdom, His multi-dimensional eternality, His providence, His power, our sin, our finitude, and our limited knowledge on the truth of everything in this list. However, this must not and will not deter us in pursuing His glory in each of these disciplines. If anything, it should cause us to dig deeper, study harder, think broader, and live more humbly.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen [Ro 11.33-34, 36; 16.27].