For the past week, I have been meditating on Psalm 73:1. It is my spiritual goal to meditate on one verse of this Psalm each week until I finish it. I want to share some of my meditations with you.
Psalm 73:1 “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”
There is a longing in us that wants to believe in a benevolent God. We want to believe that God is good–all the time. Even when we hear the age old question: If God is so good, why does he let evil happen?, we still cling to the promise the Scripture gives of God’s omnibenevolence.
But why is it so hard to believe sometimes?
Asaph wrote Psalm 73. He doubted God’s goodness. This desperate poem and song to God truly meditates on the real experience of doubting God’s goodness. Verse one openly proclaims the truth that Asaph has come to doubt. It also answers the question I just proposed. Why is God’s goodness hard to believe? Because our hearts are not pure. I see two things that this verse communicates, both explicitly and implicitly.
1.) God is good, specifically in the person and work of Christ.
There is no doubt that the scriptures declare his goodness uniformly and specifically. Psalm 136 is the text of the congregational song of Israel. It repeats this phrase in its first verse: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” It is the phrase that the people of God sing to him when they meditate on his wonderous deeds. Psalm 118 describes this as well. The Psalmist who wrote the longest chapter in the Bible declared it completely: “You are good and do good; teach me your statutes” (119:68). When Moses pleaded to God to show him his glory, this is how the LORD answered him:
“I will make my all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.” And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19).
In the New Testament, Jesus chastizes one man for calling him “good teacher.”
“Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18).
It is the apostle John, however, who ties the encouter that Moses had with God with Jesus. He makes it clear that Jesus was not denying his own deity in Mark 10:18, but he was rather pointing out the heart of the man who approached him, for this man cared little about the goodness of God. Though Moses couldn’t see God (Ex. 33:20), Jesus is described as the only one who seen God and can perfectly reflect him.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…And from his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:14, 16-8).
John doesn’t so much emphasize the Mosaic law (condeming man) and Jesus (liberating man) as he is emphasizing God’s glory being made known perfectly in the person of Jesus Christ. “He has made him known.” It is here that we are given the undeniable truth that Jesus is the good God spoken of in the Old Testament.
Indeed, Christ’s miracles manifested his glory (Jn. 2:11), but most specifically, God’s glory in Christ is made known when evil men do not believe in him.
“Though he had done so may signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ [Isa. 53:1] Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them’ [Isa. 6:10]. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess, so they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:43).
It was that frightening vision of God’ s glory in Isaiah 6 that changed, justified, and atoned for Isaiah. It is here that John makes it clear: Isaiah saw Jesus Christ. “He is the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 4:3). “…the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6). Every bit of God’s glorious nature is found in Christ. Most especially, God’s goodness is found in Christ. If we look at 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, we see that the glory of God is found in his gospel.
This is the way the writer of Hebrews describes God’s good for his people-
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).
It is because of God’s goodness in the giving of the Son that we have “an eternal redemption” paid for “by means of his own blood.” This is the ultimate way God is good to his people. He gives us his Son so he can bring us to himself. He wants his goodness to be known to his people, so he provides the way for them to experience it. Notice how Jeremiah prophecies of this giving of the Son as the means by which God will finally dwell with his people:
“And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and soul” (Jeremiah 32:38-41).
God is good to his people-with all his heart and soul. This is amazing! But notice this passage’s emphasis on the heart. “I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good…” He even speaks of giving his people “one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever.” It is in this sense, then, that we see what God’s goodness does to our hearts.
2.) God’s goodness makes us pure in heart.
If God has nothing but good for his people, and this is most specifically manifested in the gospel, we must consider what the gospel does to us. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God“ The way in which we draw near to God (and this is the climax of Psalm 73) is through the gospel. The gospel purifies our hearts and thusly allows us to see God the clearest. Matthew 5:8 says it this way: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” There is a direct tie between purity of heart and seeing God for who he is. Note how the apostle John puts it:
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).
The very appearance of God (as he is) and the fervent meditation of God (as he is) inevitably leads to purity. Being near to God thus equals purity of heart. The apostle James says this:
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded” (James 4:8).
Conclusion:
Thusly, I think we see from Scripture that God’s goodness both demands purity and supplies what it demands. This is grace so amazing! By being close to God and considering him for who he is, the heart is purified.
Application:
If in those times of doubt, when you speculate and intellectualize over the goodness of God with a heart of unbelief, you are committing grievous sin. God’s goodness is not subject to your belief. Your belief is subject to his goodness! God is good to his people. Though evil surrounds you and doubt fills your minds, the goodness of God is not compromised. Your purity is compromised! Hoping in him as he says he is will result in a pure heart.
This has tremendous implications for our holiness because anytime we sin we demonstrate that we are 1.) impure in heart, 2.) far from the true and revealed God, 3.) doubtful of whether or not God is good. Anytime we sin we demonstrate that we doubt if God’s way (of holiness, godliness, honor, integrity, blamelessness, pleasure) is good. It is a heart of unbelief.
God says he is good, and though you cannot now see every way in which his goodness is made known to you, you must hope in him as he says he is. But behold the manifold ways he has revealed his goodness! Have you forgotten the wonderous deeds of the Lord in your life? Have you spurned his blessing of life? Have you begrudged his blessing of family, friends, food, home, and other providences? There is always a reason to give thanks. But if, by some wise and gloriously good plan of God, you have nothing but loneliness, hunger, homelessness, persecutions, and sword, have you spurned God’s ultimate good blessing? Have you forgotten the gospel? He gave his Son! Is that not enough for you? If you, like Asaph, wonder if God is truly good to Israel, you must examine your heart, for it is not God who has ceased to be good, it is your heart that has ceased to be pure.
Fly to the gospel and thusly purify your hearts. What love the Father has made known to you in Him! His goodness and glory washes you from all uncleanliness and unbelief. Purify yourself, and wash your hands by drawing near to God, meditating on who he says he is.
I leave you with four truths from St. Augustine that have helped me:
1.) God always enables that which he commands.
“Lord command what you will, and will what you command.”
If he says to believe him, he will create that in your heart. Plead with him until he makes his goodness pass before you!
2.) Our hearts will never rest until they rest in God as he has reavealed himself to be.
“Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”
You will have a wayward, tossed, double-minded way about you until you rest finally in the truth of God’s goodness.
3.) Our love for God is compromised when we love anything apart from him.
“He loves thee too little who loves anything besides thee which he loves not for thee.”
God goodness wants you to enjoy his blessings. God’s goodness also wants you enjoy them for him. His goodness will thus take that from you which will result in your losing sight of his goodness. He gives! But he will take away, and this is his goodness, kindness, and mercy. Remember, however, that there is one thing God cannot take away: His promises in the gospel. Find your love for God in this love he has for you.
4.) To truly experience the goodness of God, we require one thing: Humility.
“If I should be asked what is the first thing in religion. I would say that the first, second and third thing therein is humility.”
Doubt and speculation are not admirable. Humble and contrite hearts that tremble at his word is what God looks to. Carnal speculation and fleshly intellectualism do not impress God. He does not command your theodicy; he commands your humility.
Working with you for purity,
Vince R.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon had me thinking just the other night. I was supposed to be reading the devotional for March 9, but somehow, I had been reading from March 10 that day. Well, it was exactly what I needed to read at that moment for God had ordained it. Read it here, but these words that stung hard.“Let us recollect the frail tenure upon which we hold our temporal mercies. If we would remember that all the trees of earth are marked for the woodman’s axe, we should not be so ready to build our nests in them. We should love, but we should love with the love which expects death, and which reckons upon separations. Our dear relations are but loaned to us, and the hour when we must return them to the lender’s hand may be even at the door.”
My heart began to melt for I sickened myself. So I turned to the text on which Spurgeon was writing.
“Man who is born of woman is few of days and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.” Job 14:1-2
And so I began some meditations on the fleetingness of man, the finitude of life, and the fragility of plans. I was brought low in a moment. Everyone I know will go away in the end. What is the point? Why study so much? Why labor as I do? Why care? I turned to Ecclesiastes and read the simple phrases again:
“For in much wisdom is much vexation; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrows.” Ecclesiastes 1:18
I have turned sorrowful of late, vexed with much wisdom and increasings of knowledge. The closer I grow to the Lord, the more sorrow is mixed with the joy. The closer I get to God, the more I know my own sinfulness. The more I know my own sinfulness, the more I know the grace of God. The more I know the grace of God, the more joyful I am to know him. The more joyful I am to know him, the more sorrowful I am that others do not.
The sinfulness of sin has vexed me much of late. I see it in others, and no longer does it make me mad. It has truly rended my heart in two. What have we done?
“The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.” Ecclesiastes 4:5
Man destroys himself, smiling and indifferent to his own decadence. I am seeing it all around. We drink down iniquity like water. There is much bread and idleness. And we sink lower and lower, deeper and deeper into self-mutilation. I was particularly sorrowful as I thought of these things.
“All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.” Ecclesiastes 6:7
We cannot get enough. Our hearts are drawn to iniquity. Only recently I had been reading through the first three chapters of Romans. Paul’s main objective there: To crush man under the condemnation of sin. Even as I read it, my flesh ached and my heart hurt.
“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” Ecclesiastes 7:20
My heart was engulfed with the exceeding sinfulness of sin. What is wrong with us? We supress the truth in unrighteousness and we destroy our own flesh with self-hatred. Though we love ourselves, we really hate ourselves if we love not God.
What hope is there for mankind? I was particularly distraught with hopelessnes. But then I knew…I looked to the cross and read.
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die–but God shows his love for us in that while were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Romans 5:6-9
“The cross has set me free,” I said. “All our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh” I recited Psalm 90:10-11. “The years of our life are seventy or even by reason of strength eighty, yet their span is but toil and trouble. They are soon gone and we fly away,” I continued quoting.
But the cross has set us free to fear God in our passing days.
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13
And that is the end of it. What else are those saved from God’s wrath to do but fear him and obey him? We are free, counted righteous by the one who once stood in judgment over us. We were objects of wrath, but now we are objects of delight. We can now enjoy his pleasure. We can now enjoy him. We can now enjoy his blessings. There is nothing better under the sun in the few days that God has given us. This is the end of the matter.
Working with you in these few days,
Vince R.
My Daily Protection with Milton Vincent
November 18, 2008
“As long as I am inside the gospel, I experience all the protection I need from the powers of evil that rage against me. It is for this reason that the Bible tells me to ‘take up‘* and ‘put on‘* the whole armor of God; and the pieces of armor it tells me to put on are all merely synonyms for the gospel. Translated literally from the Greek, they are: ‘…the salvation…the justification…truth…the gospel of peace…the faith…[and the]…word of God.‘* What are all these expressions but various ways of describing the gospel? Therefore, if I wish to stand victorious in Jesus, I must do as the songwriter suggests and ‘put on the gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer.’*
That God would tell me to ‘take up’ and ‘put on’ this gospel armor alerts me to the fact that I do not automatically come into each day protected by the gospel. In fact, these commands imply that I am vulnerable to defeat and injury unless I seize upon the gospel and arm myself with it from head to toe. And what better way is there to do this than to preach the gospel to myself and to make it the obsession of my heart throughout the day?”-Milton Vincent (bold emphasis mine).
*”Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day…” Ephesians 6:13
*”Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:11-12
*”Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:14-17
*”Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you, Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armor, Each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger, Be never wanting there.”–”Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus,” written by George Duffield, Jr., (1818-1888).
Working with you to make war on the flesh with the gospel armor,
Vince R.
Quoted from: Vincent, Milton. The Gospel Primer. Moreno Vally: Focus, 2008.
Wielding Psalm 119 in Affliction
November 13, 2008
Psalm 119. It seems that in affliction the Psalmist’s hope and stay was found in God’s word. The promises of God upheld his soul. They were his delight when the world crumbled around him. When he was alone, God’s word was that company which strenghtened his weak knees and lifted his drooping head with sweet and tender whispers of holiness and joy. In my recent reading of this sweet, succulent and soul-reviving chapter, I was awed when savoring this truth. God’s word is powerfully and inextricibly linked with the sanctifying suffering of his people. Indeed, a saint will not suffer well without it. The world needs to know what upheld you in those times. These words showcase the treasure of God’s elucidating truth in the darkening storm. These words from God pour forth with radiant and sonorous beauty the life-giving song of his word into our hearts which restores and sanctifies his people, even when his rod administers mercy and compassion.
Here I recount those verses which specifically use the word “affliction” and its verbal variations. Followed after each verse, I have provided a line which like a sword the believer may prayerfully and faithfully wield to preach to himself those truths which the fickle depravity of the heart is prone to forget. One would do well to find similar verses in the chapter which communicate the same message and thereafter to formulate their own war-making truth-lines.
Verse 50 “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.”
This is your comfort afflicted O my soul: God’s promise gives you life.
Verse 67 “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
Before this affliction you were not as sanctified as you are now, my heart. Now you keep God’s word.
Verse 71 “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.”
It is a good and merciful time to be afflicted by God, my soul. You are learning to treasure God’s holy commands.
Verse 75 “I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”
God’s rules are righteous, o my soul. To show this, he displays his faithfulness to you and everyone when he has afflicted you.
Verse 92 “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.”
Delight in his law even now, my soul, lest you perish in unbelief.
Verse 107 “I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word!”
Cry out to the LORD! He gives life just as he said he would. Do you believe what he has said? Bring to him this promise with importunate faithfulness.
Verse 153 “Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law.”
He will look upon your sad state, and he will deliver you! Never forget his holy law.
His word is that lamp. Do you believe it?
Make war until you do.
Working with you “to pull the word of promise from its scabbard and wield it with holy violence,” _CH
Vince R.
Only yesterday, I received some distressing news. In fact, the news went with me to bed. It lay next to me and stared into my open eyes. It was on the ceiling, and it whispered in my ear. It haunted me until the ebb and flow of consiousness exited, and sleep took hold in a blur of restful worry.
It was this simple statement: “[They are] going to see if Rob Bell can come to Wayland and speak at chapel.”
Some of you don’t really understand how much that worries me or for that matter, why it worries me. While this is not a post about the harms of a ministry like that of Rob Bell’s, I will say that my first concern is not for what is there in his ministry. Rather, it is a concern for what is not there. Namely, the gospel of God, clearly taught and preached. I know that this comes from a lack of respect for God’s Word. Where you find a lack of respect for God’s word in a ministry, there you will find a lack of faith in God’s Word in a ministry. Where a minister has a lack of faith in God’s Word, there you will find those to whom he ministers lacking faith in God’s Word, too. Frighteningly enough, very few of today’s evangelical church members even know what the gospel is, and this is due to an infantile and weak understanding of the Bible and of the very religion to which we hold. What’s more, while they will be held accountable for not searching deeply and heartily the Scriptures on their own, their pastors, entrusted by God to guide them, will be held accountable all the more. May they tremble at that truth. You who seek to lead God’s people through the preaching and teaching of the Word, tremble at that truth, too.
That is all I will say about Rob Bell. Unfortunately, many of my friends really like him. I say this to them with respect, gentleness, but honest and concerned boldness: If you want to grow closer to God, you could do a whole lot better than to listen to this man.
Nevertheless, my point is this: Worry haunted me into the night.
How does one fight this?
I suggest this one truth: preach the gospel to yourself.
Listen to the edifying and eloquent preaching of a newborn heart, and spurn the dismantling and eloquent taunting of indwelling sin.
It comes to this: To whom will you listen? The fleshly man or the spiritual man.
Here is a concept by Dr. Paul Tripp, a Biblical counselor whom I discovered through the ministry of C.J. Mahaney,
“No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do. You’re in an unending conversation with yourself. You’re thinking to yourself all the time, interpreting, organizing, and analyzing what’s going on inside you and around you.”
It’s really true. Who do you hear most of all? Not mom, not dad, not friend, not pastor, not brother or sister, not girlfriend or boyfriend. More than anybody else, you hear…you.
Isn’t that an amazing truth? It’s true because you live inside yourself. The only one who knows you better than you is God, so as far as mankind is concerned, you are the most influentual person in your life.
So, you have to decide: When should I listen to myself?
First and foremost, you must understand, how incredibly depraved you really are.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick, who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9
Must I also type out all of Romans 7 for you to display and present the complexities of the human condition. Paul knew it…you know it.
So friend, who do you listen to? I share with you one quotation from D. Martyn-Lloyd Jones’ book Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures:
“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?”
Did you see that? Read it again.
My problem last night was that I was not telling myself what is true.
That statement from Martyn-Lloyd Jones set me free last September when I first read it. It set me FREE.
What do I need to do? Preach the gospel to myself.
Jesus Christ, the living and abiding Son of God, came to earth and lived a sinless life. He NEVER sinned. EVER! He lived a sinless life, and he was scourged and beaten and mocked and reviled and hated until he was led like lamb to be slaughtered on a device of torture, that bloody-yet oh so beautiful-cross. That’s the most beautiful blood in the World! It poured and spilt to the ground as he died, praying for those who killed him. And on that cross, he bore my sins. When he died, reigning sin in my life died, too. Death died, too! There is nothing in my future that will take that from me! Nothing! Christ has finished it. What’s more, three days later he rose again. He killed my sin, and he killed my shame. I am free in Christ. What have I to worry about. “He who did not spare his own son but freely gave him up for us all-how will he not with him freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32
Because of Christ, what have I to worry about? It’s finished. Seek first his rightousness, that rightousness imputed to me by faith in Him. That is the gospel.
My response: Repentance and belief.
If you are worrying about tomorrow, repent and believe the gospel of God.
If you are worrying about this country, repent and believe the gospel of God.
If you are worrying about your friends because many times, they don’t seem to be concerned about holiness, repent and believe the gospel of God.
Preach the gospel to yourself.
I suggest C.J. Mahaney’s sermon from New Attitude 2008 entitled God’s Word and our Feelings at www.newattitude.org. In it, he exposits Psalm 42.
It set my brother free, and it will set you free, too. So what can I say about the possiblity of this guest speaker coming to speak to lost souls who need the gospel here at my school? I cite this truth:
“And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole word as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come….false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” Matthew 24:10-14, 24-25
I think the key here is that people like this man will come and lead many astray. “See, [he has told us] beforehand.” People will even attempt to lead astray God’s elect. But Jesus is so careful when he adds, “if possible.” I praise God’s name that a man like Rob Bell has no power to touch God’ s elect. It’s not possible. In addition, the gospel WILL be proclaimed to all the nations. There is no doubt about that because my Lord said it will be.
I am arrogant and prideful to think that Rob Bell has enough power to thwart God’s will. And oh how many are much worse than he. Even Oprah and her pluralistic mysticism can’t touch my Lord and his sovereign will to gather his people to himself.
Truth has set me free from worry. Listen to the truth of the newborn heart, born again by the living and abiding word of God. Cultivate that truth in your heart by hiding it there. Do you even what’s true? I tell you where to find it: God’s own Word. Know the Word, and you’ll know how to fight worry. That’s how I do it.
Working with you to listen intently to the eloquent preaching of a newborn heart,
Vince R.
I’m quickly approaching the end. In fact, as I write this I still have two lesson plans to write that are due tomorrow. I’m speaking of my education class. Education 3302: Instructional Strategies. In a furious minimester of 12 days, I am having the Texas Education Agency shoved down my throat as I’m being taught how to survive the suffocation. Needless to say, I’ve gagged many times.
I’ve always had a disdain for the TEA, but I’ve never had it as much as I have now. However, this subject is not my point. Forget the way the No Child Left Behind Act takes teachers by the throat and shoves their noses in the feces of high school failures. “Bad teacher!”
This has to do with worldview clash.
I’ve learned about worldview this Summer in a savage way. Thanks to Dr. Mohler, whom I’ve taken the habit of listening to as much as I am able, I have learned, for the past month or so, some of the most tragic examples of the decadence of a post-Genesis 3 world. His Christian engagement with news bits and signs of the times have taken me from minor reactions of bothered tsks to major reactions of downright sorrow. I’m so burdened with what the future holds for God’s people. Especially…my own children. I’m actually frightened to place them in the public school system.
We will suffer: mark it. I’m not the one whose promised it. See II Timothy 3 and Matthew 24 and also the whole last book of the Bible.
Morever, as I’ve heard the ways my professor lines out for us to successfully ‘beat the man,’ as she so eloquently puts it with her Southern dialect (I absolutely love it, by the way!), I have experienced a heavy heart and even downright despair. The State is on its way to controlling everything. Satan controls the State.
Thanks be to God that the Cross of Christ is my victory. Thanks be to God that the king’s heart is like a stream in his hands. Otherwise, all my enemies would swallow me alive. When I gather myself after class, I tell myself to keep going and just take it one day at a time. (That’s always the key, my suffering brethren.) Sufficient for the day is its trouble.
One day, I know I will face a classroom of troubled young youths. The majority of their parents don’t care, the majority of student attitudes will reflect it. They will hate my subject and resent me for trying to teach it to them. But that’s not the part that burdens me.
What burdens me? The secularization of education has drained it of all semblance of its origin. Where did schools come from? What is the point of education? My heart tells me one thing, and you can see this on my facebook if you go there. It is a quote a friend shared with me, and it has captured me ever since.
“The chief design of your academic pursuits is to prepare you more extensively to glorify God in the salvation of sinners. Let this thought be the constant inmate of your soul. Let it rise up with you in the morning and lie down with you at night. Wherever you go, whatever you do, let it attend and direct you.”
-John Angell James
That’s the point of my existence: to make much of Christ so others can see and marval at Him. That’s it. That’s the chief end of education.
Sadly, however, in a fallen world, the lines are so hard to find. Satan prowls around seeking to devour me. That’s where my heart has been for the last 3 weeks: Running from Satan as he tries to steal my joy in God about my future.
Here is a blog published today (not coincidentally) by Dr. Mohler entitled Just What Are Schools to Do? The Aims and Purposes of Education. I knew I had to share it with you when I saw it. God seems to be working on me. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=1183
But thanks be to God for relieving me this past Sunday. In twofold mediums, he set me free from the burden. Before church, I wanted to read the Morning devotional from Charles Spurgeon for July 6. I took it with me, and I read it aloud for my girlfriend and I as she drove us to the church building. It was the beginning of my liberty.
“Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell in safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” -Proverbs 1:33
“Divine love is rendered conspicuous when it shines in the midst of judgments. Fair is that lone star which smiles through the rifts of the thunder clouds; bright is the oasis which blooms in the wilderness of sand; so fair and so bright is love in the midst of wrath. When the Israelites provoked the Most High by their continued idolatry, He punished them by withholding both dew and rain, so that their land was visited by a sore famine; but while He did this, He took care that His own chosen ones should be secure. If all other brooks are dry, yet shall there be one reserved for Elijah; and when that fails, God shall still preserve for him a place of sustenance; nay, not only so, the Lord had not simply one ‘Elijah,’ but He had a remnant according to the election of grace, who were hidden by fifties in a cave, and though the whole land was subject to famine, yet these fifties in the cave were fed, and fed from Ahab’s table too by His faithful, God-fearing steward, Obadiah. Let us from this draw the inference, that come what may, God’s people are safe. Let convulsions shake the solid earth, let the skies themselves be rent in twain, yet amid the wreck of worlds the believer shall be as secure as in the calmest hour of rest. If God cannot save His people under heaven, He will save them in heaven. If the world becomes too hot to hold them, then heaven shall be the place of their reception and their safety. Be ye confident, when ye hear of wars, and rumours of wars. Let no agitation distress you, but be quiet from fear of evil. Whatsoever cometh upon the earth, you, beneath the broad wings of Jehovah, shall be secure. Stay yourself upon His promise; rest in His faithfulness, and bid defiance to the blackest future, for there is nothing in it direful for you. Your sole concern should be to show forth to the world the blessedness of hearkening to the voice of wisdom.”
Thank you Father, for using this Saint of old, to minister to my soul.
A quiet repetition of Van Deventer’s I Surrender All was the resolution of my liberty.
“All to Jesus I surrender;
all to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
in his presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.”
I was free…I am free.
Working with you to stand in defiance to the blackest future where no direful thing waits for God’s people,
Vince R.
Morning and Evening. Charles H. Spurgeon. Hendrickson Publishers. Feb. 2005, p. 376.
When Civilization Crumbles…where are the Men of God?
June 20, 2008
I don’t really know “what possessed me,” as they say, (my thesis is that it was the Holy Spirit) but a conversation yesterday with a brother in Christ began and continued most strangely and most gloriously. It took place at that wonderfully Post-Modern invention known as “Starbucks.” I’ve taken a long break from caffeine, so I had a passion tea lemonade which I was told had very little caffeine so as not to notice anything. Well, I slept well that night, so I guess the server knew her Starbucks arsenal well. Bravo! Starbucks has been an amazing place for “intelligent Christian conversation,” as Dr. Mohler would put it. I find a new desire to use Starbucks for the glory of God a lot more for as long as he wishes to uphold it.
As long as you are smiling now, let me begin to turn that smile into a different facial feature. I hope that this article breaks your heart. I hope it also brings you joy in God’s own Son and in the redemption he brings. He will stand up from that right hand, and he will restore his people to himself. That is indubious.
Anyway…
It found our conversation’s obtuse beginnings in the subject of the presidential election and the immigration policies of Obama versus those of McCain. Well, we didn’t discuss the acutal policies very much. In fact, our conversation didn’t even really continue on ‘politics’ as such. The conversation did continue and eventually found its mark on the issue of biblical gender roles.
We discussed the recent California supreme court decision to allow same-sex marriage in that state and its remarkable purpose to redefine marriage and thus mark its contribution toward American civilization’s end. We discussed abortion and its horrifying reality as well as God’s own right to take and give life as he deems fit. We dicussed feminism and its God-defying and unbiblical agenda. Lastly, we discussed the cowardess of men and the need for men to start acting like men.
And thus, my point…
In that amazingly God-blessed conversation, a certain statement came out of my mouth, and I was scared to have said it. Why was I scared? Because I know it is true. I will share that statement with you at the end of this essay, but first let me show what I mean.
As C.S. Lewis once put it, and I paraphrase: At one time, we approached God with such fear and trembling as though we were in the dock of judgment before a holy God. Today, we have placed God in the dock and he is to be judged by the supremacy of the human reason.
Today, I think, our civilization places God in the dock, and he is to be judged by the supremacy of human rights. Although, and I qualify, both of these ideas have always been true.
Throughout the Bible, men demanded that God stay subject to their reason. And they also demanded that God grant them rights.
There is nothing new under the sun. “There are no new heresies. Only constant repackagings,” as John Piper once put it.
In light of this culture, that is, this present evil age, Satan’s trumpetering fluidity of mistruths and halftruths have found their way quickly onto the shelves of our Christian book stores, into the classrooms of our Christian seminaries, and into the pulpits of our Christian churches.
“How then shall we live?” as Schaeffer once questioned.
I propose this: “Meaning precedes existence.”
Someone has already decided for you, o man, what is truth. It defines who you are, what you are, what is required of you, and why you even exist.
His name is God and his will and word is that truth.
Dr. David Wells of Gordon-Tidwell Theological Seminary was asked a serious question by Dr. Mohler on the June 5, 2008 episode of the Albert Mohler Program. You can follow the link here if you wish to download the entire conversation. (I would always highly suggest to my readers that they listen to the Albert Mohler Program and its resources.) http://www.albertmohler.com/radio_show.php?cdate=2008-06-05
Here was his question for Dr. Wells:
“[Concerning] how evangelical Christians should pray and hope to see evangelical Christianity recover the truth, what would you have the local pastor to do?”
His answer was both encouraging and shockingly relevant to my current personal walk.
“Well, I think these two steps that I mentioned: taking seriously the truth God’s given us in the Scriptures and taking more seriously the world around us, are really the key. It’s like breathing out and breathing in. The point about the truth that we have in Scripture is that it corresponds to what’s in reality. This is not simply about learning a Bible verse, although that is a good thing to do, but that we’ve got to understand that this is real, that we’re talking about what’s in the character of God and what’s in the character of human beings and what life is about. Christianity is not simply a technique or a therapy. This is real stuff. On the otherhand, we’ve got to understand the world around us, and if I could point to what I think is a prevailing weakness in our churches, it is right here. It takes a lot of time and thought and work to know how exactly, if you are a pastor, to apply the truth of a biblical passage to our world. You can get that truth, if you are a biblical preacher, fairly quickly by looking at commontries. But applying it is another matter, and that is I think a besetting weakness in the evangelical world. If I were to be asked, would I prefer to hear a topical sermon on ’how to get on with your mother-in-law’ or to hear a sermon on a biblical text which wasn’t applied, of course I’d prefer to hear the text preached, but I’d most of all like to know how that text applies. And that is where I think our preachers are weakest, and many people who are reading their Bibles, day by day, don’t see the connections. They therefore come to think of Christianity as a sort of private comfort to them, but they don’t understand that we are in a ‘worldview conflict,’ and the day they step out of their houses, onto the train, into their car, into the workplace, they are in conflict with other worldviews whether they know it or not…we are now reaping the harvest from not having been preaching expository sermons. So people come into the pews uninstructed but at the same time yearning for some sort of internal comfort because this is a brutal world. And that combination of…infantile understanding of biblical truth [and] the serious pressures of living and competing in this modern world, that combination has proved lethal to biblical Christianity.”
I encourage you to do something I am unable to do right now. Pick up Dr. David Wells newest book, “The Courage to be Protestant: Truth-lovers, Marketers, and the Emergent.”
Friends, I am at a point in my spiritual walk where I am coming face to face with the doctrine which I espouse, and I am being asked to evaluate and prove it. Just as Dr. Wells put it, when I walk out that door, I am at war with other worldviews. It is most definitely sad when I have defend it against other “Christians.” Now here is the statement I shared with my friend, and I was personally shocked to here myself say it:
“I say all of this because I fear that sooner or later your religious liberty is going to be stripped away in the the name of liberty. You are going to have to take your wife and your son and your daughter and place them here in this part of your home and then go to the front door and stand blocking the way saying ’No untruth will come into this house.’ I know that it is coming. The day is coming and it is only going to get worse. So what are you going to do about it now while there is still time?”
I felt my face turn pale when I said it. Yup, it is only going to get worse isn’t it?
“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. just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.” 2 Timothy 3:1-9
I am awestruck at how 2 Timothy has been such a mighty tool in helping me understand what it means to grow up. Nevertheless, as discouraging as Paul’s true statements are in these first nine verses, his next verses are a call to stand on one thing. Note his comparison between those described in the first verses of this chapter and Timothy himself in these:
“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” 2 Timothy 3:10-12
Note the “however” that automatically opposes Timothy to those other men. By contrast, Timothy has followed the teaching of his wiser mentor who heeded the teaching of God, the conduct of Paul’s committment to Christ, the aim of Paul’s life to preach the gospel, the faith of Paul in Christ, the patience of Paul with his opponents, the love of Paul for the lost, the steadfastness of Paul to Christ’s steadfastness for him, and the persuction and suffering that attends all who desire to be obedient to Christ. Yet just the same, Christ delivered him ”from them all.” That’s what he means in verse 12. If you want to be godly, you will be hated for it.
You know why so many who read that last sentence will simply agree and go on nonchalantly? Because they read it, but they have never experienced it. Are you being godly? This passage says a good sign is that people will persecute you for it.
Yet just the same, Paul goes on and contrasts men of God with men of the world in verse 13.
“…while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
He continues in verse 14-17 by showing what is the definitive and most remarkable difference between men of God and men of the world. This is the passage that we use and quote so often, but the context escapes us to the point of misunderstanding its power and urgent call. What makes Timothy different from those in verses 1-9 and verse 13?
It is an unyielding and immovable devotion to standing firmly on God’s own infallible, inerrant, and totally trustworthy and authoritative word. Just look at it again:
“But as for you continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
Childhood had its devotion to Scripture, now how much more should manhood? I plead with my brethren, don’t play games with God’s own word. It will bring judgement on you both in this life and that to come. If you aim to lead God’s people in the pastorate or as a teacher or preacher, your unyielding devotion to God’s word is all the more paramount. “for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness…”
I fear for the men who aim to lead God’s people yet have no respect for God’s Word…and yes, you have no respect for it when you say it has error.
I fear for your soul, and I fear for the souls of those you lead. Turn…and believe.
As for the rest of us, stand and fight, you men of God.
“He did not consider that republic flourishing whose walls stand, but whose morals are in ruins. But the seductions of evil-minded devils had more influence with you than the precautions of prudent men.”
-St. Augustine, City of God
Be prudent men and be bold men, for “If God is for us. Who can be against us?” Romans 8:31
Working with you to fight as men on the side of the Most High God,
Vince R.
My Sin Cannot Imply it!
June 15, 2008
My Sin Cannot Imply it!
By Vince Robles
Micah 7:8 “Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; When I fall, I shall rise”
Oh, the sin of God’s own chosen!
Who of Jesus Christ do claim,
They who wander from their savior,
Find their joy is gone away.
Fruit the Master does not gather,
Thistles rather from this tree.
Oh my God! Your burning anger!
See your Son and turn from me.
Godliness and Christ-like loving,
Traded for deceit of sin.
Oh, this wretched mortal body!
Wicked heart that dwells within!
Hatred for the Father’s glory,
Spurning life to treasure death.
Moments thought I walked so closely,
Now the law has stol’n my breath.
“Woe to you!” the devil taunts me
“Favored one now gone astray.”
“Jesus once did find you lovely.”
“Now He sees your wicked ways.”
Rejoice not over me my en’my.
When I fall, again I’ll rise.
When I sit in darkness lowly,
Holy truth shall be my light!
Rebuked I stand with loving ang’r,
Rightly bearing scolding face.
I rebelled and sought to wander,
But my Christ will plead my case.
He pleads his blood and brok’n body,
Naming me as His own kin.
Though my sin is black and ugly,
All it’s judgment’s poured on Him.
Enemy I soon will see you,
Covered under shame and scorn.
I am washed in blood and made new.
Sin’s dominion is no more!
So when my heart has gone astray,
His word provides assurance.
His grace sufficient leads the way,
And calls me to endurance.
His grace abounds to even me.
My Sin cannot imply it!
That Christ’s blood’s not set me free to
Enjoy and glorify Him.
Working with you to cling to the Cross when the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak,
Vince R.
I can think of many verses to fight the battle against unbelief, but this one really captured me the other day as I was reading in the Psalms.
“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Psalm 94:19
So simple is this verse, so eloquent and so appropriate.
The cares of your past sins will burden you, the cares of your present loneliness will burden you, and the cares of your future will burden you, too. How can saints face this? There is but one way: By wielding the sword of promise against their mortal flesh.
The Question…
Look at this verse from Psalm 42.
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” Psalm 42:5
The Psalmist asks his soul a very good question. Ask your soul the same. Now read…
Yesterday: Battling Guilt
So many are the cares of your past, Christian. When the sins of yesterday speak lies into your ears today, reminding you of the guilt within, Psalm 94:19 says the consolation of the cross cheers your soul! Your desires took you amiss yesterday, but today the blood-stained cross consoles you! He cancelled ” the record of debt that stood against [you] with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” “It is finished!” Behold, the consolations of his nails!
Colossians 2:14; John 19:30
Today: Battling Loneliness
But what of today? So many are its cares, Christian. When you sit alone in silence and reverberating emptiness, Psalm 94:19 says the consolation of the cross cheers your soul in loneliness You are reconciled with God Almighty. No longer are you at war with your creator, he made “peace by the blood of his cross.” You who were once ”alienated and hostile in mind” to him are “now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death.” You are the friend of God, lonely Christian! Behold the consolations of his friendship!
Colossians 1:20; 21, 22
Tomorrow: Battling Anxious Despair
“But tomorrow!” you retort, “What will it bring?” That is not for you to know. Don’t boast in your arrogance. “All such boasting is evil.” Simply trust the Lord. This verse says that the consolation of the cross cheers your despairing soul. God chose to make known to you “the mystery of the hidden ages and generations.” What is that mystery? “…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” You have hope! What business is it of the saint of God to despair about the future? Christ is in you. Therefore, “…the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is be revealed to us.” Behold, the consolations of future glory!
James 4:16, Colossians 1:27; Romans 8:18
Now, the rebuke…
Finish the verse from Psalm 42.
“Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation, and my God.” Psalm 42:5-6
The Psalmist exhorts his despairing soul to hope, praise and exalt…God.
Working with you to cheer your soul by rebuking it with vigorous resolve,
Vince R.
New Attitude 2008: What I learned
May 31, 2008
I have finally heard (live and in person) many of the Bible teachers whom I frequently read and to whom I frequently listen via the internet. These mighty men of God taught me much this past May 24-May 27 at New Attitude 2008 in Louisville, Kentucky. New Attitude is an annually held conference organized by Joshua Harris, C.J. Mahaney, Eric Simmons and many others of Sovereign Grace Ministries which is stationed in Gaithersburg, MD. This year’s conference emphasized the sufficiency and necessity of God’s own Word. This verse was the theme of the conference:
“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16
Session 1: Pastor Joshua Harris-Ripping, Burning Eating: A Right Response to God’s Word
Session 2: Pastor Mark Dever-The Authority of Scripture
Session 3: Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. (President of SBTS)- Bible Q & A
Session 4: Pastor C.J. Mahaney-The Troubled Soul: God’s Word and Our Feelings
Session 5: Pastor Eric Simmons-What is the Point?: Growing in Vision for Diligent Study
Session 6: Pastor John Piper-William Tyndale: A Life Transformed by God’s Word
Session 7: Pastor John Piper-Fighting for Faith with God’s Word
Session 8: Pastor C.J. Mahaney-God as Father: Understanding the Doctrine of Adoption in God’s Word
Interspersed was amazingly orthodox worship through music led by Bob and Devon Kauflin and the Sovereign Grace Band. (No light show, no entertainment, just corporate worship through doctrinally sound and Christ-centered songs…)
Each morning, we met in community groups led by Sovereign Grace pastors, and family groups led by young men of Sovereign grace churches.
To top it all off, I experienced all of this in the fellowship of two dearly beloved brothers in Christ, one of many years of friendship and the other of many years of wisdom (and I hope many coming years of friendship).
Of the experience, I will say one thing I think that summarizes it:
The LORD blesses a commitment to his Word and an exaltation of his Son.
Oh, the riches of his grace…
I have ten points summarizing what the LORD taught me at Na:
1.) God is there, totally infinite, supremely valuable, immutable and holy, satisfied in his own fellowship, lacking nothing and needing nothing.
2.) God, in his own good pleasure, creates (by his word) a creation called earth and allows a created (by his word) man, aided by his helper called woman, to govern it and live in perfect fellowship with him.
3.) God, in his own good pleasure, banishes a rebellious man and woman from his paradise promising to redeem a radically depraved people out of a fallen mankind in the ages to come.
4.) God, in his own good pleasure, sovereignly chooses to make himself known by speaking. (We serve a speaking God.)
5.) God, in his own good pleasure, sovereignly chooses men to write down his word, uniting their sinful wills to his own so that, as they write, they are kept by his power from error or imperfection.
6.) God, in his own good pleasure, preserves his written word for centuries, until its fulfillment comes in the person of his son Jesus Christ, fully God and fully Man.
7.) God, in his own good pleasure, fulfills his written word by crushing his Christ, making him the propitiation for the sins of those found in him.
8.) God, in his own good pleasure, fulfills his written word by resurrecting his son from the dead and setting him at his own side to reign until the second advent.
9.) God, in his own good pleasure, fulfills his written word by sending his Holy Spirit into the hearts of his people, writing his law on their hearts and guarding them until the day he glorifies them for himself.
10.) God, in his own good pleasure, fulfills his written word by preserving his word in two separate testimonies, working through them by his Holy Spirit to redeem and sanctify his people until the fullness of them comes into his kingdom.
Application: Delight, cherish and obey the words of the God who makes himself known to you through them.
How convicting, how cleansing, and how glorious!
All of the Bible is about God and what he did! I am to come to it, expecting to delight in God, himself, through the glorious gospel of the blessed God.
I close with this quotation from Charles Spurgeon:
“Observe, concerning the first advent, that the Lord was moving in it towards man. ‘When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son.’ We moved not towards the Lord, but the Lord towards us. I do not find that the world in repentance sought after its Maker. No, but the offended God himself in infinite compassion broke the silence, and came forth to bless his enemies. All good things begin with him.”
Working with you to cherish God’s word and to love God through it,
Vince R.
Visit the new attitude website if you wish to download and listen to the sermons. I HIGHLY suggest that you do!
http://www.newattitude.org/liveblog/
P.S.
I also want to thank Brother Hank (go read his blog at lawngospel.wordpress.com) for much insight from his own experience in his personal walk and from his first year at seminary, most especially through what he has heard from his professor, the Dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Russell Moore. Look him up!
Oh yeah,
New Attitude 2009 (Baltimore, MD). I will pray about attending this. The Lord just might let me go (and maybe with more people).
