TELL HIM YOU ARE LOST AND UNDONE

 No, you must come in full dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ, looking on him as the Lord who died to save sinners. Go to him, tell him you are lost, undone, miserable sinner, and that you deserve nothing but hell. And when you thus go to the Lord Jesus Christ out of yourself, in full dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will find him an able and a willing Savior.

George Whitefield

Delight in God not Dead Orthodoxy

 “Calvinism is natively experiential. Before it is a theological system, Calvinism is deeply affectional, God-centered, cross-magnifying religion.

“A man may loudly trumpet his adherence to the distinctive tenets of Calvinism, but if his life is not marked by delight in God and His gospel, his professed Calvinism is a sham.

“In other words, there is no such thing as ‘dead Calvinism.’ Such is a theological oxymoron for one simple reason: Calvinism claims to be biblical religion, and biblical religion is not only profoundly theological, it is deeply experiential and engagingly affectional!

“Wherever men and women claim to be Calvinists, their lives and their ministries will pulse with life—the life of living, Spirit-inspired, Christ-glorifying, God-centered truth.”

— Ian Hamilton

Optimistic Amillennialism

 A Case For Optimistic Amillennialism -- An Article from Mason S. Craig.

Introduction This post presents a case for optimistic amillennialism, which is somewhat of an eclectic position drawing upon both classic amillennialism and postmillennialism. This post doesn’t convey a complete eschatology, but highlights and clarifies a few points. Although my distinctions may seem slight to some, I aim to convey my current view, which doesn’t seem to fit neatly into either of the previously mentioned eschatological camps. As one of my professors once said, “The higher in theology you go, the more precise your theology must become.” --- The Kingdom of God The Expectation of Kingdom Expansion on Earth Throughout the gospel narratives, Jesus’ teachings regarding the Kingdom of God suggest an expectation that the Kingdom would expand. The Lord’s Prayer not only anticipates the kingdom, but earnestly asks for it to come (Matt 6:10). The parables of the Mustard Seed and Leaven foretell the inevitable growth of the kingdom (Matt 13:31-33). Jesus Christ proclaims his Church will be built and says, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). In The Great Commission, Christ grounds his command to make disciples in the statement, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18). Since the gates of hell will not prevail, Christ has authority and disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities of this world at the cross, and he is with us always, we can have a humble confidence that the Kingdom of God will continue to grow through the success of the gospel going forth in power. Now to be clear, Christ’s kingdom is not derived from this world (Jn 18:36), but that doesn’t discount the fact that Christ condescended to His earthly creatures, in an earthly body, to establish his earthly church. Everything about our existence as we know it happens on earth, so to think of the kingdom of God as wholly unearthly is to deny a dimension of its presence in our existence. So, technically, the Kingdom of God is not of this world, but we can expect its effects to be seen in this world. Ongoing Hostility Although I am convinced and confident that Christ’s kingdom will grow through the gospel’s success, I also believe that in ever age until Christ’s return, there will be hostility towards the Church. Whether Christianity spreads to 1%, 10%, 51%, or 99% of the world, the Scriptures seem to also teach that believers must be prepared to endure ongoing suffering. The wheat field will continue to grow with tares within it. That is not to say that a Christian majority is impossible, but that in every age, Christians will have to grow up alongside sons of the evil one (Matt 13:24-30, 36-43). --- The Millennium The Binding of Satan Common to both amillennialism and postmillennialism is the present limited state of Satan. In Revelation 20:1-3, John depicts Satan as bound and sealed within the bottomless pit “so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended” (Rev 20:3). The triumph of Christ over all cosmic powers occurred with His crucifixion and resurrection, which simultaneously limited Satan’s ability to deceive on a national level and prepared the way for the gospel to spread on a national level, as Christ commands in the Great Commission. With the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth, Satan’s ability to deceive is fleeting. The Millennium is Now In Revelation 20:4-6, John writes of a time when believers will reign with Christ for a thousand years. According to amillennial thought, this period is currently taking place and constitutes the entire church age, beginning at Christ’s first advent and terminating in His second coming. In contrast to classic postmillennialism, I do not believe the Millennium to be a distinguishable future golden-age. Rather, saints are reigning in heaven with Christ as we speak! --- Christ’s Second Coming According to traditional amillennial thought, Christ’s second coming will simultaneously actuate the final defeat of Satan, the resurrection of believers and unbelievers, the Final Judgment, and the new creation. Also, just as the old man passes away and believers are regenerated into new creations, our current world will also pass away and be renewed (2 Cor 5:16-17). Romans 8:19-22 discusses the current condition of creation under the curse of sin, anticipating the coming day when it will be set free from its bondage. Also, in 2 Peter 3, the day of the Lord is depicted as a refinement rather than destruction. We can expect this “glorification” of the cosmos to occur at Christ’s second and to be the foundation for the new creation. --- Conclusion While these may be elementary for some, I needed to record my current eschatological position. My primary aim is to simultaneously hold the Lordship of Christ over all and the success of the gospel without the triumphalist mentality that disregards potential suffering and pushback to the gospel in every age. Thus, the label optimistic amillennialism. Thank you for taking the time to read it, and if you have any questions, comments, or any other concepts I should consider, please comment below. Or, if you just want to talk theology, I am free until the end of the age!

Precious Promises

 2 Peter 1:4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises.

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For a promise to be considered precious, especially within the context of Christian theology, it signifies that the promise holds immense value, importance, and worth to the believer. Here are some key aspects of what it means for a promise to be precious:

Divine Assurance: A precious promise often originates from God, who is faithful and unchanging. Such promises are guaranteed by God's character, making them utterly reliable and trustworthy. For example, God's promise of salvation through Jesus Christ is precious because it is rooted in His eternal nature and unwavering love (2 Peter 1:4).

Spiritual Richness: Precious promises provide profound spiritual benefits. They offer comfort, hope, and strength to believers, particularly in times of trial and suffering. The promises of God's presence, guidance, and ultimate victory over sin and death are examples of spiritual richness that believers treasure deeply (Romans 8:28-39).

Eternal Perspective: These promises often have an eternal dimension, pointing beyond the temporal and transient nature of earthly life to the everlasting joy and fulfillment in God's presence. The promise of eternal life with Christ is invaluable to believers, giving them a hopeful perspective that transcends present circumstances (John 14:1-3).

Personal Relevance: Precious promises are personally meaningful and applicable to the individual believer's life. They speak directly to personal needs, fears, and desires, offering assurance that God is intimately involved in every aspect of their lives. This personal relevance enhances their value, making them a source of constant encouragement and motivation (Psalm 23).

Moral and Ethical Guidance: These promises often come with moral imperatives or ethical guidance, helping believers live in a manner that is pleasing to God. For instance, the promise of wisdom in James 1:5 is precious because it guides believers in making godly decisions that reflect their faith.

Fulfillment in Christ: Many precious promises find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He embodies God's faithfulness and love, making Him the ultimate recipient and fulfiller of God's promises. This Christocentric fulfillment underscores the preciousness of these promises, as they lead believers to a deeper relationship with their Savior (2 Corinthians 1:20).

In summary, a promise is precious when it is divinely assured, spiritually enriching, eternally significant, personally relevant, morally guiding, and ultimately fulfilled in Christ. These attributes combine to make God's promises invaluable treasures for the believer's faith and daily life.

Freewill Post

 Jonathan Edwards: "God did not choose us because He foresaw we would come to Christ. Faith is the consequence of election, not the cause of it. You contribute nothing to salvation except the sin that made it necessary."

"The greatest judgment which God himself can, in the present life, inflict upon a man is to leave him in the hand of his own boasted 'free'-will." Augustus Toplady

Martin Luther: "If any man describes anything of salvation, even the very least thing, to the free will of man, he knows nothing of grace, and he has not learned Jesus Christ rightly."

John MacArthur: "You and I believed the gospel, not because we were wiser or more righteous than anyone else, but because God graciously intervened, opening our hearts to heed His Word and believe."

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God must miraculously change a sinner's heart before he will choose to repent and believe in Christ. The sinner does not have a completely free will. His will is in bondage to sin. Yes, he freely chooses to do what he wants to do, but he cannot and will not do what he should do apart from God's enabling grace.

"Free will is not...

1. Free will is not what many think it is. The bible clearly teaches that unregenerate people cannot freely choose to do what they should do. Unregenerate sinners will not and cannot choose by their own willpower to repent and to be truly righteous, but, according to the Scriptures, people always choose to do what they want to do and make decisions according to their natures -- their hearts. So even though all people freely choose to do what they want to do, they cannot all choose to do what they ought to do.

2. Free will is not what saves sinners. The wills of unregenerate sinners are in bondage to sin. Unregenerate sinners have sinful, rebellious hearts and therefore cannot and will not choose to surrender to the Lord and trust in Christ unless the Lord changes their hearts. And if God grants repentance to a sinner, if God regenerates a sinner, that person will freely and immediately repent, love and trust Jesus.

3. Free will is not the ultimate determining will in the universe. Even though people are fully responsible for their choices, and even though their choices result in certain consequences, God's sovereign will is the final determining will in all instances. God's sovereign will trumps the wills of human beings. Ultimately God is the one who determines what will happen. He causes all that is good and permits those things that are evil, but is He alone is the Architect of a plan that cannot be thwarted by humans or Satan, and a foreordained plan that will most certainly happen.

No one has ever been saved by exercising his or her free will. The sinner's will is in bondage and it refuses to surrender.

Keep in mind that God is dealing with sinners who deserve hell. No one has ever deserved to be saved. No one will repent, no one will believe in Christ, unless God first changes his heart. Justice would leave sinners under the wrath of God. Mercy and grace is shown to those who were appointed for salvation.

Acts 13:48 "All who were appointed for eternal life believed."

God both saves some sinners and damns other sinners as He manifests his various attributes. He does what He does for his own glory. His justice, power and wrath are demonstrated with those who are condemned and his mercy, grace and compassion are demonstrated with those who are saved. God's supreme commitment is not to the welfare of mankind, but to his own glory." (Exodus 9:16; 14:4, 17-18) hfd

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Scriptures

Romans 3:10 "There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.

Romans 8:7 "The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God."

Genesis 8:21 "The Lord said...Every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood."

1 Corinthians 2:14 "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit."

Romans 9:16 "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy."

2 Thessalonians 2:10 "They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 12 ...All will be condemned — those who did not believe the truth but delighted in unrighteousness."

2 Timothy 2:24 "The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, 25 instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth. 26 Then they may come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will."

Ephesians 2:1 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!"

Ezekiel 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."

John 6:37 "Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 65 He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father."

Romans 6:22 "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life."

Philippians 2:13 "It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."

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Quotes

Kevin DeYoung: "God does not turn anyone away who genuinely comes to him in faith. But if you come, it is only because God has supernaturally, unilaterally, sovereignly, and effectually enabled you to come."

J.I. Packer: "Evangelism is man's work, but the giving of faith is God's."

R.C. Sproul: "The greatest act of mercy that God performs is giving the gift of faith. Faith is the fruit of regeneration, not the cause of it."

Louis Berkhof: "Election does not in any way depend on the foreseen faith or good works of man, as the Arminians teach, but exclusively on the sovereign good pleasure of God, who is also the originator of faith and good works.

Dr. MacArthur: "...Well, the doctrine of election simply means that God, uninfluenced and before creation, predetermined certain people to be saved..."

Alistair Begg: "Faith is not ultimately a condition of salvation; faith is really an evidence of salvation. The very faith by which we believe is a gift from God Himself."

C.H. Spurgeon: “Free will has carried many souls to hell, but yet never a soul to heaven.”

C.H. Spurgeon: “I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ. My hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, “You are mine, and you shall be mine. I claim you for myself.” My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will.”

Comfort Rests on Christ

When a man’s peace and comfort rests only and always upon his sanctification: surely, when the joy of sanctification is greater than the joy of justification, it is an evidence of a legal temper.

  Ralph Erskine, (Law-Death, Gospel-Life, p.87)

It concerns every minister

 It concerns every minister of the gospel to put a stop to any opinion which hath the least tendency to Arminianism. We are not as idle spectators, to stand by with patience to see the truths of the gospel either openly invaded, or secretly supplanted, but as long as we are able to frame a thought, or hold a pen, it is our duty to make a vigorous opposition. Thomas Goodwin

ORDERED BY INFINITE LOVE

 She was 23.  They had three children. All the children died.   The first baby Nameless.  They drop (the baby) in the water between India and Rangoon.   The second, Roger Williams Judson 17 months old dies.   The third, Maria Elizabeth Butterworth Judson outlives her mother by two months or six months and dies.  

 Now Anne who lost two children then died and another child died wrote this after her second child died.   

 “Our hearts were bound up with this child.  We felt he was our earthly all.  Our

only source of innocent recreation in this heathen land.  But God saw it was

necessary to remind us of our error and to strip us of our only little all. Oh

may it not be in vain that He has done it.  May we so improve it that he will

stay his hand and say it is enough.”

 

I preach to produce mothers like mothers like that.  There are not many around.  

 Judson inherited a deep belief in the sovereignty of God; and, the great

importance of stressing that here for me is not primarily soteriological, though

it had that function of course for the way he understood people getting saved

in Burma. But it mainly, and my point here is that it stabilized him in the midst

of incredible and never-ending calamities in his life.   

 

Let me read you a beautiful sentence that I hope you all will be able to say.

 

“If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings.” 

 

There's another reason why I want to build fences around the sovereignty of

God.  I listen to the people in my church.  I listen especially to the suffering

people in my church.   and I don't know what I would tell them, if I could not

tell them,  

 

“This has been ordered by infinite love and mercy, not --- he just

didn't know this was gonna happen.”

The Love of the Father is Prior

 "Christ did not first by his work move the Father to love and grace, for the love of the Father is antecedent [in other words: prior] and comes to manifestation in Christ, who is himself the gift of God’s love.”

—Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 3:368