Have Fruit? 'Abiding' in the Vine

The theme verse for BCS this year is ''Walking the Spirit'. Here are some thoughts on living a more 'fruitful' life:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.“

John 15:1-8

Have you ever hit that point where your sense of God’s presence seems stale or distant? Does the weariness of the world and the contrary winds of culture make you want to chunk it all away?

Are you finding that you aren’t praying or sharing Jesus with others?

We always want to be very careful…. I have always found 2 Timothy 3:1-7 to be scary

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

And if we are honest… any anecdotal survey of CHURCH culture has numerous examples of this.

What Jesus describes in John 15 is an analogy of WHERE the source of power flows from and what our daily purpose should be.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

The source of power is the Triune God- the Creator of the Universe- the Almighty. And there is a purpose for His kingdom…’bear more fruit”.

What fruit are we talking about? There is both internal and external fruit that should, over time, flow out of the life of a Christian.

Internal Fruit:

We mentioned yesterday the internal fruit of the Holy Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

(Galatians 5:22-25 ESV)

External Fruit:

I believe an excellent argument could be shown that Scripture expects fruitful produce in life among His people based on God given talent and opportunity. These follow in the form of children, good works, multiplying disciples, adding to the church, service, and a productive life of excellence which glorifies God.

FRUIT IS NOT A REQUIREMENT FOR  JUSTIFICATION BUT IS A RESULT OF JUSTIFICATION

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

THE DAILY WALK WITH JESUS

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

What does it mean to abide in Jesus? Abiding is found in time, place, frequency, intensity, and duration.

TIME: This is a relationship that grows roots and shoots over a long period of time. ‘Hours for the world and mere minutes for Christ” is not a way to develop this abiding principle.

PLACE: God is everywhere and dwells within every believer- but I also believe ‘abiding’ incorporates a place where you get away and spend focused time with God. The gospels frequently mention about Jesus withdrawing to a desolate place, usually on a mountain and spending time in prayer. The best times of abiding in my life have been times where I had a designated time and place to get away from all distractions and contemplating deep thoughts and prayers to God.

FREQUENCY: “Abiding” also grows as we have these experiences with regular repetition.

INTENSITY: Abiding with Christ is not a 5 minute ‘Jesus Calling’ quick scan. It is not a checklist duty of the day. We need to bring our ‘A’ game to the meeting.

As a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?  (Psalm 42:1-2 ESV)

DURATION: Is there a set time? Absolutely not! And if I am honest, I will have periods of ‘routine’.. it is better to do it that no do it… but I encourage you to consider every now and then spending bigger segments of time abiding in the Lord, meditating on His Word, on your knees, praising Him with zeal!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE LOSE CONTACT?

If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

YIKES…These images! But have you ever noticed what happens when you remove a stick from a fire? It burns out. So do we, when we cease to abide, we burn out in a sad pile of human inability.

And we all experience this….

Look at the earlier statement:

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

When you get to those dark times or dry times- you are experiencing one of 2 things:

Either you are a true believer and you are being pruned for more effective gospel impact

or

You were never a part of Jesus in the first place.

Part of the answer is- are you miserable apart from Jesus or is it no big deal? Do you miss Him?

THE BEAUTIFUL PROMISE ATTACHED TO ABIDING:

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

When you spend time with Jesus and learn to rest in Him, be with Him, abide in Him- you find your heart being tuned to His desires and will. And you begin to pray according to His heart and will, and He responds with beautiful expressions of love and grace.

And is there ANYTHING more attractive than a man or women so in love with the Lord that their lives spread sweetness and encouragement, peace and strength, service and contentment to many around them?

I am convinced if we took the time and effort to abide in the true vine… we would see global expansion of the gospel like no other time in history.

Do you believe this?

A Two Front Battle and One Way Out

Like most of the country, I was burdened by the accumulation of tragic events this week that seemed to build into an avalanche of pain and despair. Between racial unrest, violence, and all too common terror attacks, we seem to be limping in distress.

And often when I write, I have this cynical voice in my head that mocks me as I type each letter.."Oh, and who are you to add to the noise?!"

But I feel the burden to share...  not that I am anyone special to do so... but I do have a conviction of truth.

America always has been called 'An Experiment'. Indeed, from the very beginning... the early pronouncements in the Declaration of Independence and the earliest drafts of our Constitution, men were persuaded to build a nation around the ideals of liberty.

As I have written over and over, and will say again and again until my last heart beat.. HOWEVER, as precious as liberty is... it was NEVER intended to be the ULTIMATE virtue.

Unfettered liberty only results in chaos. It is like having our busy Hwy 280 without traffic lights, directional streets, driving rules, and road markings. Can you imagine what rush hour traffic would look like if every car could drive in ANY WAY they pleased.

Freedom must always fit within a form or construct that allows for it to remain beneficial. In a generic way, that has always been the rule of law. We have freedom, but our freedom can be restrained by the boundaries of law.

But there is a higher authority than law or liberty- there HAS to be. There has to be, ultimately, an authority that defines law, liberty, charity, and prosperity. The framers of our country knew this and their assent to it is written in ALL of our founding documents.

AN EFFECTIVE TWO FRONT BATTLE

The CHURCH- battles a false theology like sharia with proclamations of gospel truth. It must always authenticate word with actions.

This is what is meant by Paul:

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.(2 Corinthians 10:3-6 ESV)

It is important though to also recognize the way the STATE battles the actions of evil:

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:3-4 ESV) 

Working together, these are two powerful and effective bulwarks against any evil perpetrated on humanity.

Sadly, though- both entities seem to be lacking the passion, plan, or will to fight at the level best.


THERE HAS TO BE AN ASSENT TO ONE CODE OF ULTIMATE VALUE

I tweeted why we are losing the battle vs fundamental Islamic terrorism recently:

WHY SECULARISM FAILS......

When the Supreme Court outlawed the 10 Commandments and Prayer in the 1960's, it was an attempt to wrestle with what the framers intended regarding the 'establishment clause' within the first amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

The mistake, I believe,  is that what the framers were intending was not to have the government select or establish an official denomination of the Christian church. It was not to publicly wipe away  Christian values...it was to protect them. There was already a Judeo-Christian assent to the importance of Theism (or Deism) in society and especially the moral code of the 10 commandments.

Ironically, the government actually violated the establishment clause in their actions. It replaced one religion for another. It removed Theism and established another religion, in its place: Secularism.

In America, we do have an official religion- and that is Secular Humanism and any other religious ideal was relegated to a private use only status.

Fruit of our Choices....

In the late 1980's, I was finishing up and education major at the University of Alabama when I first began to be concerned that the traditional and major constructs of our union were being unleashed from their moorings.

I was in a large lecture hall where we were in a discussion about a 'values free' or 'values neutral' approach to the classroom. Most in attendance were in wholehearted agreement that this was the way to go. We were being instructed by our professors that content had to be stripped away from any personal values to not hinder or offend others in their personal beliefs.

I was one of a few dissenting voices regarding concern that, though this sounded reasonable, the effect over time could be dangerous.

One of the professors became agitated at my polite disagreement.

She challenged me...

"Well then, if you think values need to be included in the curriculum, whose values do we chose?"

I responded, 'We have the tradition of being a nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles and on those I believe it is reasonable to promote those as American values." 

You would have thought I had advocated killing baby seals or blowing kilo-tons of carbon dioxide into the ozone!

An entire room jeered, mocked, and responded in several minutes of intense rebuttal.

Most of these were comments about Supreme Court decisions, the history of Christian atrocities, the arrogance of Christians, the hypocrisy of the Church., etc.

It felt like, even back then, that we were losing the cultural debate.

But my appeal and plea has not changed.... the history of Israel has proven to be a parallel prophecy of what happens to any nation who refuses to acknowledge God as sovereign.

Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13 ESV)

"REPENT' MEANS CHANGE- WE HAVE TO CHANGE

I want to declare one more time why it is important for us to have a national repentance, beginning with the church herself, if we are to see ANY hope of escaping the narrative of most nations.

And most people, when I write these things, really do not understand what that even looks like. It is not a hard thing to do and also it is impossible at the same time. And the craziest thing is this... there is no need to fear the virtues and values of Christianity. In fact, they are the grandest and highest ideals that humans can aspire to. Have they been used improperly in the past to dark and horrible ends? YES! But in all of those cases, those who press toward the truth of those values were able to subdue and correct those atrocities. There is a built in 'self-correction' of this value system.

Jesus never taught violence on any human being. Christianity is the true religion of peace. When the church has opposed this they are being disobedient to the Founder. When other faith traditions carry out violence, they are not in disobedience.

WHY EVEN AN ATHEIST SHOULD CONSENT TO A RETURN TO  JUDEO-CHRISTIAN VALUES

When Thomas Paine sent a copy of his book, The Age of Reason, to Ben Franklin. Franklin wrote him back and said, "Do NOT publish this book. If men be bad with religion think how much worse they will be without it."

Nietzsche understood this as well. In his parable, The Madman:

What did we do when we loosened this earth from its sun? Whither does it now move? Whither do we move? Away from all suns? Do we not dash on unceasingly? backwards, sideways, forwards, in all directions? Is there still an above and below? Do we not stray, as through infinite nothingness? Does not empty space breathe upon us? Has it not become colder? Does not night come on continually, darker and darker? Shall we not have to light lanterns in the morning? Do we not hear the noise of the grave-diggers who are burying God? Do we not smell the divine putrefaction: -- for even Gods putrefy? God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife,-- who will wipe the blood from us? With what water could we cleanse ourselves? What lustrums, what sacred games shall we have to devise? Is not the magnitude of this deed too great for us? 

I believe we can trace ALL of our societal ills to a national refusal to submit or acknowledge the importance of the moral laws of God.

Steve Turner captured our current chaos in chilling detail:

Here is the creed for the modern thinker. We believe in Marx, Freud and Darwin. We believe everything is okay, as long as you don’t hurt anyone to the best of your definition of hurt and to your best definition of knowledge. We believe in sex before, during and after marriage. We believe in the therapy of sin. We believe that adultery is fun. We believe that sodomy is okay. We believe that taboos are taboo. We believe that everything is getting better despite evidence to the contrary. The evidence must be investigated and you can prove anything with evidence. We believe there is something in horoscopes, UFO’s, and bent spoons. Jesus was a good man just like Buddha, Mohammad and ourselves. He was a good moral teacher, although we think basically his good morals were really bad. We believe that all religions are the basically the same, at least the ones we read were. They all believe in love and goodness. They only differ on matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God and salvation. We believe that after death comes nothing because when you ask the dead what happens they say nothing. If death is not the end, and if the dead have lied, then it’s compulsively heaven for all except perhaps Hitler, Stalin and Chingis Khan. We believe in Masters and Johnson. What is selected is average, what’s average is normal, and what’s normal is good. We believe in total disarmament. We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed. Americans should beat their guns into tractors and the Russians would be sure to follow. We believe that man is essentially good-it’s only his behavior that lets him down. This is the fault of society; society’s the fault of condition; and conditions are the fault of society. We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him and reality will adapt accordingly; the universe will readjust and history will alter. We believe that there is no absolute truth, except the truth that there is no absolute truth. We believe in the rejection of creeds and the flowering of individual thought.
If Chance be the Father of all flesh, disaster is His rainbow in the sky. And when you hear: “State of Emergency,” “Sniper Kills Ten,” “Troops on Rampage,” “Youths go Looting,” “Bomb Blasts School,” it is but the sound man worshiping his maker.

Modern Thinker's Creed

Steve Turner, English journalist 

WHY THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR

This would never happen- and I'm sure it would receive charges of 'Theocracy" .... but the following responses would begin a national cure for national ills.



REPENTANCE BY THE STATE

We, the duly appointed representatives of all the people of these United States, declare today that we have violated the moral code of God and declare a return of our constitution under the sovereign protection and provision of our Creator.

In dong so, none of our American liberties are removed from us, they are enhanced. The benefits of the moral law of God include love, hope, forgiveness, service, temperance, equality, honesty, and honor.

However, we also recognize that there are restraints against evil and a recognition that men follow a natural course of moral inability. The moral law of God requires a collective commitment to restrain evil including murder, violence, immorality, theft, discrimination, dishonesty, and greed. These will be restrained through a just application of law and with a national intent to teach and correct our behavior, not out of anger... but out of love.

The model for our national discourse will be the humble and loving example of Jesus Christ, a friend to sinners and the savior of the world.

His greatest encouragement to all U.S. citizens is "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and is an application of His command to "love your neighbor as yourself".

We have behaved selfishly out of personal agendas- please, Lord of heaven grant us the eyes to see the needs of others and to serve.


REPENTANCE BY THE CHURCH

The Presbyterian Church in America has posted a powerful statement regarding our response to God in light of Biblical truth and the gospel of Christ.

Turn to God. In the OT, God commands people to turn or return to Him, and so be saved (e.g., Isa. 6:10; Jer. 18:8). In the NT, Christ preached that people should turn to God, and Paul summarized his account of his preaching with that phrase: “that they [everyone] should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance” (Acts 26:20; cf. Acts 26:18). Thus, as Paul said earlier, he preached “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). To repent means to turn. And the turning that we are called to do in order to be saved is fundamentally a turning to God. James could refer to the Gentiles who “turn to God” (Acts 15:19). To “turn to,” in this sense in the Bible, is to orient your life toward someone. As God’s people—those who are being saved—we are to play the part of the Prodigal Son who, though conscious of sin, guilt, and folly, flees to the Father (Luke 15:20). Paul at Lystra calls the people to turn to the living God (Acts 14:15). Paul refers to the Galatian Christians as those who had come to “know God” (Gal. 4:9); this is what we do in repentance: we repent to, we turn to God,and henceforth know Him as the God who forgives our sins and accepts us for Christ’s sake. 

Turn away from sin. Turning to God necessarily implies our turning away from sin. The whole Bible—OT and NT—clearly teaches that to repent is to “acknowledge [God’s] name and turn from [our] sins” (1 Kings 8:35; cf. 2 Chron. 7:14; Jer. 36:3; Ezek. 14:6; 18:30; Acts 3:19; 8:22; 26:18; Rev. 2:21-22; 9:20-21; 16:11). We cannot start to pursue God and sin at the same time. First John makes it clear that our basic way of life will either be oriented toward God and his light, or toward the darkness of sin. Christians in this life still sin, but against our deepest desires and better judgment; our lives are not guided and directed by sin as before. We are no longer enslaved to sin. Though we still struggle with it (Gal. 5:17), God has given us the gift of repentance (Acts 11:18), and we have been freed from sin’s dominating power.

Believe and trust. Put another way, our response is to believe and trust God’s promises in Christ, and to commit ourselves to Christ, the living Lord, as his disciples. Among Jesus’ first words in Mark’s Gospel are “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The obedience that typifies God’s people, beginning with repentance, is to result from the faith and trust we have in Him and His Word (e.g., Josh. 22:16; Acts 27:25). Thus sins are sometimes called “breaking faith with God” (e.g., Ezra 10:2, 10). Having faith in Christ, which seals our union with Him through the Holy Spirit, is the means by which God accounts Christ’s righteousness as our own (Rom. 3:21-26; 5:17-21; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9; Phil. 3:9). Paul could refer to “salvation through faith in Christ” (2 Tim. 3:15). Frequently this initial repentance and faith can be simply expressed to God Himself in prayer.

Grow in godliness and battle for holiness. Such saving faith is something that we exercise, but even so it is a gift from God. Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). At the same time, Paul explained that Christians know an internal battle: “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Gal. 5:17). God’s gift of salvation has been given to Christians, but the evidence of that salvation is lived out in the continual work of God’s Spirit. We can deceive ourselves, and so Paul encourages his readers to “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). Peter encourages Christians to grow in godliness and so become more confident of their election (2 Peter 1). We don’t create our own salvation by our actions, but we reflect and express it and so grow in our certainty of it. Because we Christians are liable to deceive ourselves, we should give ourselves to the study of God’s Word to be instructed and encouraged in our salvation, and to learn what is inconsistent with it. Jesus’ descriptions of His followers (see Matthew 5-7), or Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit’s work in us (see Gal. 5:22-23), act as spiritual maps that help us locate ourselves to see if we are on the path of salvation.

source: http://www.pcaac.org/ The Administrative Committee of the PCA 

If there was a church and state repentance... there would be freedom and tolerance like we do not have right now.

As unlikely as this will EVER be... does this cause you to FEAR? I would say no- even to those who do not believe.

PUSHBACK:

There would be many offended... but the goal is not to eliminate offense, the goal is to press toward the highest ideals that allow patience and tolerance in the midst of disagreement. The churches would have to lead the way in showing that those of opposing religious tenants and value systems should be loved and protected. Only Christianity allows for such.

WAITING ON HIS RETURN

As unlikely as a national repentance and revival seems, it is still Ok for me to pray and press for such an event.

And I am OK with whatever the Lord allows... and eagerly await His return.

Some non-believers have suggested that this focus on the world to come has made Christians lax in improving this current world.

I have to disagree with that sentiment.

This is how C.S. Lewis said it:

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. 

I will never give in to despair .... God Bless America, Land that I love!

The Greatest Prayer I Can Pray

Within the greatest sermon ever proclaimed is the greatest prayer ever given.

It is so easy to skim over this part of the Sermon on the Mount because we have echoed these words for years... ironically, the teaching Jesus gives us is to NOT pray with meaningless repetition! Yet, sadly, I have mindlessly done it hundreds of times!

(Matthew 6:5-15 ESV) “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The greatest prayer you can pray is an honest prayer intentionally directed at the Living God... the One Jesus calls, Father.

The greatest prayer you can pray is not a public prayer (though this is not a prohibition of public prayer), it is a secret prayer with the faith that you know it is being heard and answered by God “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

The effective power of prayer is in GOD HIMSELF. It is not the time, the number of prayers, the place, it is not even the amount of faith.... but we are encouraged and admonished to pray!

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

The first part of this prayer is directed UPWARD. How often my prayers begin with me. Jesus directs prayer to the Father first.... the greatest prayers are more interested in God's agenda than personal agendas.

THY WILL BE DONE

Hillary Scott (of Lady Antebellum) has written and performed an amazing song around the idea of "Thy Will Be Done". She wrote it while wrestling with the aftermath of a miscarriage. The song will be a part of an entire album "Love Remains" that features Hillary and her family singing about matters of faith.

I'm so confusedI know I heard you loud and clear
So, I followed through
Somehow I ended up here
I don't wanna think
I may never understand
That my broken heart is a part of your plan
When I try to pray
All I've got is hurt and these four words
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
I know you're good
But this don't feel good right now
And I know you think
Of things I could never think about
It's hard to count it all joy
Distracted by the noise
Just trying to make sense
Of all your promises
Sometimes I gotta stop
Remember that you're God
And I am not
I know you see me
I know you hear me, Lord
Your plans are for me
Goodness you have in store
Songwriters
BERNIE HERMS, HILLARY SCOTT, EMILY LYNN WEISBAND

When we pray "Thy Will Be Done" ... it isn't giving God permission to do His will...He will do it (as in heaven).. it is more of an embracing of God's will. When we allow our will to be molded into God's will, we are better, stronger, and more at peace.

THE HORIZONTAL PART OF THE PRAYER

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

As I pray this part of the prayer, I am encouraged! God does care about me and it is OK to ask for things... including forgiveness.

But forgiveness is claimed in the environment of a heart conditioned by God.

True forgiveness from God is confirmed in the fruit of our response... our willingness to forgive and our desire to live in humility and holiness.

That is why Jesus stresses it again... with emphasis: For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

How is your heart right now? Are you lonely? Hurting? Weighed down by sin? Do you feel distant from God? Are you angry? Bitter?

Maybe you're just great right now.....

Quietly pray this familiar prayer... maybe use your own language:

My gracious Father!

You rule the heavens and the earth... the Sovereign King of all creation.

I want your name to be proclaimed over all the earth!

I so wish all people would come to know You and Your amazing ways and experience the power, peace, and freedom of your kingdom!

Lord, please help me submit to You in a deeper and fuller way everyday!

YOUR WILL BE DONE!

Lord, I need help. Without You I have nothing.

I need Your provision and Your protection!

And most of all, I need Your forgiveness..I AM A SINNER!

And Father, may I not live in a caustic attitude of judgement and condemnation of others. I plea for all men to experience Your mercy. You have forgiven me and I need to forgive others!

And Father, I fall so easily to temptation...teach me to live a life worthy of Your gospel. It is a better way to live!

Let it be so in my life! (AMEN) This is how good He is..... He hears and rains down love overflowing.... Open your heart and let the healing begin!

Ageless War

I appreciate the poem Invictus, especially when you think of how it helped sustain Nelson Mandela for 27 years while he was in prison. I understand the power and application of Invictus..... and I never want to ever squash the God-given desire to live, to create, to conquer, to win, to compete, to own.

When you read various survival stories... the one who survives has a deep 'will to win' that surpasses the limits of nature and imagination.

But 'INVICTUS' carried to its ultimate end is eternally dangerous. What is true about Invictus is always borrowed from THE TRUTH. A personal resolve to persevere is one thing... but to acknowledge the only, true, and living God in the midst of struggles is a much better thing!

We need to constantly ask ourselves.. what mode of salvation are we 'trusting in'?

There are fundamentally only two doctrines of salvation : that salvation is from God, and that salvation is from ourselves. The former is the doctrine of common Christianity; the latter is the doctrine of universal heathenism. "The principle of heathenism," remarks Dr. Herman Bavinck, "is, negatively, the denial of the true God, and of the gift of his grace; and, positively, the notion that salvation can be secured by man's own power and wisdom. 'Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name.' Gen. 11 : 4.

Whether the works through which heathenism seeks the way of salvation bear a more ritual or a more ethical character, whether they are of a more positive or of a more negative nature, in any case man remains his own saviour; all religions except the Christian are autosoteric (self salvation).

BB Warfield 'The Plan of Salvation'

Self-salvation that carries no thought of God at all slowly and inevitably takes a toll.

My oldest daughter has spent the last year as an ER nurse at a hospital. Her stories have been eye-opening to say the least!

One case had her securing the head of a gunshot victim because the family had driven the victim right to their door.

The saddest commentary she relates is how death is so common where she works that there seems to be a loss of the sanctity of life. Sometimes the surviving family members don't even cry, it is like it is just the common lot of human beings trapped in a cycle of crime, dependency, isolation, and decay.

The cheapening of life has dramatic social consequences. As life loses its value homicidal and suicidal actions can be just a whimsical choice colored by the flavor of the day.

Can the loss of the beauty of life be connected to the erosion of the knowledge of God?

I often wonder about this.

If we thought more of God, would there be a greater concern for the afterlife?

And if we thought more of eternity...would it make us pause in reverence and fear regarding our choices?

When was the last time you heard a good, thoughtful Bible based exposition on the reality of hell?

How about a few famous quotes from C.S. Lewis?

The safest road to hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. –C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’–C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

“There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this (hell), if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason” –C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

 “I have met no people who fully disbelieved in hell and also had a living and life-giving belief in Heaven” –C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

In the long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell is itself a question: “What are you asking God to do?” To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But he has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what he does. 

 “The damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; the doors of hell are locked on the inside. . . . They enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved.”

“the demand of the loveless and the self-imprisoned that they should be allowed to blackmail the universe: that till they consent to be happy (on their own terms) no one else shall taste joy: that theirs should be the final power; that hell should be able to veto heaven.” –C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Who spoke more of hell than anyone?

" I have read the speculations of Schleirmacher, Bultman, Tillich, Brunner, Barth, and Moltmann, to say nothing of Plato, Kant, Hume, Feurbach, Lenin, and Bertrand Russell. All offer logical explanations used to discredit the notion of eternal punishment.....While I am deeply impressed by the arguments of brilliant thinkers like Schleirmacher, Tillich, and others, I prefer our Lord's words to theirs.

Those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord cannot escape the clear, unambiguous language with which He warns of the awful truth of eternal punishment." Kenneth Kantzer (quoted by Robert A. Peterson) 

In the Bible, Jesus spoke more about hell than anyone else did. He referred to hell as a real place (Matthew 10:28; 13:40–42; Mark 9:43–48). He described it in graphic terms: a fire that burns but doesn’t consume, an undying worm that eats away at the damned, and a lonely, foreboding darkness. These are likely only symbols of something worse that we can imagine.

Robert A. Peterson outlines just in the Gospel of Matthew four distinct truths that Jesus teaches regarding hell.

Listen to these warnings from Jesus Himself!

Hell is real 

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:22 ESV)

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30 ESV)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. (Matthew 23:15 ESV)

You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? (Matthew 23:33 ESV)

Hell is ruled by God

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28 ESV)

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41 ESV)

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46 ESV)

Hell involves rejection

And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:23 ESV)

I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:11-12 ESV)

Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 22:13 ESV)

And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 25:30 ESV)

Hell involves pain

Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:30 ESV)

Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:40-43 ESV)

So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:49-50 ESV)

...but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. (Matthew 18:6-9 ESV)

the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:50-51 ESV)

John Piper agrees that Jesus is very clear:

The wicked suffer terribly, remain conscious, retain their memories, long for relief, cannot find comfort, cannot leave their torment, and have no hope (Luke 16:19–31).

Are you tired of the battle? Could it be that you are fighting One with eternal power?

Carefully consider this truth...

An 'absolute' is basically an unchanging point of reference by which all other changes are measured. For the Christian, the starting point is always God. He is the eternally existent one, the absolute, from whom we draw all definitions for life's purpose and destiny.God does not expect us to come to Him in a vacuum. He has so framed this world and our minds that the laws of reason and logic that we use lead us to the certainty of His being, and assure us that we may know Him who is the source of all truth.

It's OK to lose when the result of losing is winning.

It is OK to humbly bow to a more powerful foe when that foe really wants to be your Father.

You don't have to know all the 'whys' ... just be embraced by the WHO.

It is never too late.. your sin is never too great.....

Let the Savior in and embrace Him... He is ready and loving beyond comprehension!

God's Proximate Motivation in Salvation?

Can I indulge you a little in some theology? In times past, good men with impressive Biblical knowledge gathered in local taverns and contemplated the thoughts and ways of God.

I challenge you to push through this one and be encouraged by the very heart of God.

Is doctrine dangerous? In some sense, all deep underpinnings of people can be. But human thinking detached from the Bible is darker and more deviant than any person who is stretching at the boundaries of the Bible.

B.B. Warfield gave five lectures at Princeton in June of 1914. It was later published as a book, "The Plan of Salvation" and printed by the Presbyterian Board of Publication in Philadelphia.

I decided to write a blog post that captures the heart of his message.

 Is there a plan or process that ends in the salvation of a human being revealed in the Bible?

But the deeper question.. one that has pushed me harder than any comes down to salvation as a monergistic or synergistic act. Is it God alone? What is man's part? Did God choose or does man respond?

And the hardest one of all... if God chooses some but not all... does it discount Him as a God worthy of worship?

So here I am, today.. being helped by a saint who departed this earth a long time ago. But he was used mightily as the Holy Spirit poured out on me as I read this work.

Warfield does not take time to debate whether God acts upon a plan. Warfield says that once we establish the reality of a personal God the case is closed.

"If we believe in a personal God, then, and much more if, being Theists, we believe in the immediate control by this personal God of the world He has made, we must believe in a plan underlying all that God does, and therefore also in a plan of salvation."

In his preface, Warfield takes time to offer a survey of 'varying views' to this subject:

The first division is between 'naturalistic' and 'supernaturalistic' views. His explanation of this division is a difference of opinion whether 'God has planned simply to leave men. with more or less completeness, to save themselves, or whether he has planned Himself to intervene to save them." in other words...'Does man save himself or does God save him?'

The most consistent naturalistic view is the doctrine of Pelagianism.

According to Warfield, "Pelagianismin its purity, affirms that all the power exerted in saving man is native to man himself."

However, 'pure Pelagiansim' rarely exists...but varieties of this scheme is found in a wide spread fashion throughout church history and indeed in the present age.

There are 'intermediate views' of Pelagianism that do allow God some part in the process, but are still 'naturalistic' since they all come down to man taking the ultimate step of salvation by a man's native power.

Supernaturalism declares 'with emphasis that it is God the Lord and not man himself who saves the soul'.

The supernaturalist rests in one statement.

The supernaturalist is not content to say 'some of the power' or 'most of the power' or even 'almost all the power'... He asserts that ALL the power that is exerted in saving the soul is from God.

Now, this creates division- and Warfield continues to explain these 'differences which are not small or unimportant'.

The most 'deeply cutting' difference is between Sacerdotalists and Evangelicals.

The basis from which this difference is revealed is the question whether God (the only source of saving power) saves men by dealing with them individually  or by 'establishing supernaturally endowed instrumentalities' in the world by which people are saved.

The typical form of Sacerdotalists is found primarily among Roman Catholics in teaching that the church is held to be the institution of salvation. "Outside the church and its ordinances salvation is not supposed to be found; grace is communicated by and through the minstrations of the church".

Against this view, according to Warfield, is evangelicalism. Evangelicalism 'sweeps away every intermediary between the soul and its God'. This leaves the soul totally dependent on God alone... it is directly upon God and not the means of grace...  the Holy Spirit may act where and when and how He will.

Now it is true that evangelicalism is indeed Protestant... but within Protestant views there are both naturalistic and supernaturalistic views.

Warfield drills down to a division in evangelical supernaturalism by labeling them 'universalistic' and 'particularistic'. This division is found in answering the question 'whether God is conceived to have planned actually Himself to save men by His almighty and certainly efficacious grace, or only so to pour out His grace upon men as to enable them to be saved, without actually securing, however, in any particular cases that they shall be saved'.

A 'problem' with a generalized universalism is that it naturally leads to universal salvation, a point from which many evangelicals have pulled back from because of Scriptural evidence that seems to indicate that not all men are saved.

Over and against this, theologians have adopted 'particularism' in the saving process - 'they plead that God deals throughout the whole process of salvation not with men in the mass but with individual men'...'one by one, upon each of whom he lays hold with His grace, and each of whom he by His grace brings to salvation.'

Thus all men owe their salvation..not to the general opportunities of God but by His specific actions. 'And, therefore, to Him and Him alone belongs in each instance all the glory, which none can share with Him.'

And to keep consistent with the ever fracturing of men.... there is differences even within the 'Particularists'. He labels this a "Hypothetical Universalism". This separates those who struggle with the question does God's work open up the possibility for all men to be saved or does the redemptive work of Christ secure the salvation those who were chosen for it to be wrought?

So after this, we are left to explore the divisions:

Men must be either naturalists or supernaturalists.
Supernaturalists must be Sacerdotalists or Evangelicals.
Evangelicals must be Universalistic or Particularistic.
Particularists must particularistic with respect to only some or respect to all of God's saving operations.

Not to bore you, but there are four possible distinctions inside particularism that can be considered:
(Supralapsarianism, Sub(or Infra-) lapsarianism, Post-redemptionism (otherwise called Amyraldianism, or Hypothetical Universalism), and Pajonism (otherwise called Congruism).

These have a lot to do with the timing of choice  (whether it is pre-Creation...pre-fall... or pre-conversion) and the application of regeneration- (divine wooing or almighty re-creation).

By the way... there is NOTHING wrong with these discussions, debates, and thoughts... they drive us to Scripture and they elevate the wonder of the mysteries of God.

Then Warfield goes into some thoughts regarding God's intention... and this is where I love reading Warfield's heart.

The bottom line is this......  what is the discrimination on God's part between those whom He chooses and those He does not based upon? Is it variety?  a whim?

Consider his explanation:

The motive that moves God is an unwillingness that all mankind should perish in their sins; and, therefore in order to gratify the promptings of His compassion, He intervenes to rescue from their ruin and misery an innumerable multitude which no man can number- as many as under the pressure of His sense of right He can obtain the consent of His whole nature to relieve from the just penalties of their sins- by an expedient in which his justice and mercy meet and kiss each other.

I sat back from this statement and pondered it a long time. Here is the true 'weight of glory'...God is wrestling against Himself and all His truth in all His perfections in all His attributes.

How many can He save and still be faithful to all that justice requires?

The natural heart of man is to regard all authority with skepticism and doubt the good intentions of that authority- and when it comes to man, I sadly agree that the pessimism is justified.

But not so with God..... His heart is pressing because of the weight of His compassion, mercy, and love.

Who knows what we will finally see?