encouragement – Page 74

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not

Posted on June 30, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

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Does it feel to you that the darkness has grown so dark it’s unmanageable, unalterable, unassailable? I read someone’s comment that 6/26 is the American Christian’s 9/11. That was the day that the Supreme Court of the United States legalized homosexual marriage in all 50 states, on a ruling that the Justice dissenters said was not founded on law but on personal will, foreboding ill for the Republic, for Christians, and for marriage itself.

After that day did it feel to you like the darkness was deep and your own light puny against it?

Does it feel like there are simply no solid Christian around you with whom you can commiserate? Or that there is not a good local church in which you can even half-way trust the teachings from the pulpit or Sunday School? Or if there is a Christian around you, that he or she is flying in a different direction than you are?

It is not so! None of it!

Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8b-10)

It seems that secular society has segmented into ever smaller bits and groups and factions as each group seeks its own agenda. No one is for anyone else and all are against each other. Yet for Christians, this is the opposite of the truth. Paul wrote,

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

We are one in Him, aligned into one Body for one common purpose- to glorify Jesus. Society splinters as sin rises yet Jesus keeps His Bride whole and united. Stark contrast. We might feel all over the place, alone in the darkness with only a puny light to shine, but we are One in Christ.

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

A lot of ‘ones’ there:

One Body
One Spirit
One Hope
One Lord
One Faith
One Baptism
One God

ONE

You might feel like a little, ineffective firefly, but no matter where you are, remember that you are not in Light, you ARE the Light, because you are one with Jesus, who is the Light. So don’t fear any ineffectiveness of your light in this great darkness. You and I were darkness itself but when we came into Jesus we came into His light.

But now are ye light in the Lord; either in, or by the Lord Jesus Christ, the light of men, from whom all spiritual light comes; or by the Lord the Spirit, by whom the eyes of their understandings were enlightened, to see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, in heart and life; the insufficiency of their own righteousness and moral virtues, to justify them before God; and the true and right way of righteousness, life and salvation by Christ; and to have some light into the several doctrines of the Gospel, and even a glimpse of the invisible glories and realities of another world: and this light is so great, that they are not only said to be enlightened, but to be light itself; and this they have not of, and from themselves, but the Lord; and therefore should walk as children of light; not in sins, which are works of darkness, but in faith, truth, and holiness. Gill’s Exposition of Eph 5:8.

We are one with Him, who is this:

church, discernment, encouragement, john macarthur, shepherd, shepherds conference, tribute

John MacArthur: An Honorable and Trustworthy Shepherd

Posted on June 29, 2015December 4, 2018 by elizabethprata

Wikipedia

The Lord sends us honorable and trustworthy overseers, no matter the generation in which we live. He sent the early church fathers, the generation after the Apostles, many of them martyrs: Polycarp, Ignatius, Clement…and He has sent us men from then until now. I’d like to focus on the now and one of these trustworthy and honorable men: Dr. John F. MacArthur

Dr John Fullerton MacArthur was born on June 19, 1939, last week he turned 76 years old. He has been serving as a pastor continuously since 1964. He is pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley California, part of LA and has been the senior pastor-teacher there for 46 years.

He has preached over 3000 sermons. He has written over 150 books. He has authored innumerable essays. He is currently President of The Master’s College and The Master’s Seminary, the seminary he founded specifically to raise up men in the faith and strengthen them in solid doctrine. He has participated in countless conferences, one of which he founded, The Shepherds’ Conference, a gathering designed to minister to men.

I could list all his accomplishments and activities but this isn’t a reproduction of his resume. Instead, this bare listing of achievements and activities is presented to illustrate a commitment, diligence, and a Godly effort all in the sphere of tasks in which God has put forth in certain, specific men of the faith.

From Grace Community Church website

I consider him part of the theological genealogy of extraordinary men the Lord has raised up, and many others do as well. This is a line that includes Hus, Edwards, Spurgeon. Moreover, Jesus not only planted him in a place where ministry flourished, but He then allowed MacArthur to stay and stay and stay. In these years of church-hopping, ambitious pastors whose length of term usually only lasts 3-5 years, staying at one church and preaching 30, 40, 50 years is unheard of. During a sermon some years ago, MacArthur joked that the Lord led him to Grace Community Church in 1969 and “sort of just left me here.” As a result, we are blessed with sermons explaining each and every verse of the New Testament. To my knowledge MacArthur is the only preacher to have taught expositorily through the whole New Testament, and from one church no less. Even more of a blessing, each and every one of those sermons are recorded and transcribed. And best of all, they are all available for free online for the edification of the body.

Here is a first-hand account of the unprecedented achievement of having preached through the entire New Testament verse-by-verse from a congregant who was there as MacArthur closed in on the last verse.

Sunday, June 05, 2011
John MacArthur – Unprecedented Preaching Achievement
By any standard Grace Community is a big and successful Church, and with good reason, for sound fundamental Christianity is taught there verse by verse every week. The teaching of John MacArthur feeds the need for honest down to earth understandable exposition of God’s Word. You can doubt all you want, but once you have heard it you will know the truth of it.

Today was a milestone in the history of this amazing worship center. In a sanctuary packed as usual, John MacArthur brought to a close what can only be described as a nearly unprecedented achievement in his or any other preacher’s long career as shepherd of his flock. Today as he brought to a conclusion his study of the Gospel of Mark, he completed a forty three year sojourn through the entire New Testament. All these sermons were from the same pulpit.

John MacArthur is firm and forthright, never wavering in his criticism of sins of our time. He fully recognizes that Christianity is under attack and teaches us the basic truths to which we must attend if we are to achieve the gift of eternal life with our Lord.

His sermons are packed with substantial insights into the real meaning of every verse. Never have I enjoyed the Word of God so clearly explained.

Together with his unfaltering teaching style there is a humor that is playful and understanding of our human foibles. Showing his humanity and ongoing love for his wife, John presented Patricia with a beautiful rose to thank her for all her support during this academic and preaching epic.

I asked John how he managed to collect and collate all the information he has used to produce the over three thousand five hundred sermons, which are all recorded and available on line through Grace To You, and how big his staff was. His answer, “Neil, I mine all my own data.”

Dr. MacArthur, President of the Master’s College, and pastor of Grace Community Church is nothing short of phenomenal.

His Spirit-led ministry has delivered spiritual blessings to me and many others, as the above testimony attests. The emails and comments my sisters send me that bring me to tears the most are the ones where someone says they found MacArthur through my site or another’s, and were led out of a Charismatic church…or their faith was strengthened, or they now understand the Doctrines of Grace, or they have been blessed spiritually in some other way from material MacArthur has preached or written. He has touched countless lives for the betterment of the faith, more than any other one person in this generation, I maintain.

He is not only learned, but he lives the life that is expected of pastors. He’s wise, kind, and humble. There has never been a hint of a scandal nor a waver of one inch, not even an hour, from solid doctrine. Those qualities are in such short supply it is refreshing to be given opportunity to revel in preaching that is from God’s heart and not man’s pride or the devil’s error.

In example of his wisdom and caring for his flock and the flock in general, on May 24 he preached a sermon called “Hope for a doomed nation.” He usually goes on vacation in June for three or four weeks. He prepared this sermon for his flock just prior to his departure, saying,

So as we look at our nation – and I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few weeks when I’m not here. I’m just kind of preempting that a little bit by helping you to be able to think through whatever happens.

Since that date we as a nation have experienced the Charleston SC church shootings, the embarrassing mega-pastor Tullian Tchividjian adultery and resignation from one of the most famous churches in America, and the Supreme Court’s nationalization of homosexual perversity and with it, opening the door to actual Christian persecution in the US.

Even then, on vacation but never vacating his duty as an under-shepherd, MacArthur issued a sensitive and wise statement on the Charleston church shooting, prescient blog essays just days before the Tchividjian resignation naming Tchividjian as a hyper-grace addict and warning us of it, and sent an open letter to all Master’s Seminary alumni comforting and advising them in the aftermath of the SCOTUS decision. He is a calming influence.

In addition, there is solace in trusting a man who has continued to live a holy life and is a leading example of godliness right before our eyes. We mourn but are also saddened and angry when authors, theologians, professors and pastors we had trusted fall, one after another.

MacArthur with his wife Patricia on the day he completed
preaching the New Testament verse by verse. 43 years! Source

MacArthur preached at the 2001 Ligonier Conference titled Holiness. The sermon MacArthur delivered is “A Call to Holiness“. It is one of those sermons where the listener feels even after years have passed since it was spoken, the strength of the Spirit’s presence within the words uttered is tangibly felt. There is no transcript but I transcribed the part which speaks to a pastor persevering in a long, well-lived, holy life. He said:

“People come to me so often, if I can be personal for a moment, and say, “I’m praying for you”. A lady stopped me out in the hall and said ‘I’m praying for you. We’re praying that you don’t fall into some sin… as so many have and disappointed us so greatly. People will ask me, how do you live your life to prevent that? To whom are you accountable? Do you have an accountability group? Let me tell you something. I have a group of elders that surround me. Among those elders are some very precious friends. They spend a lot of time with me day in and day out. They’re exposed to everything there is to see and know about me. I’m a fairly transparent person. They are there and I want them to tell me whenever I’ve overstepped a line that would bring dishonor to the Lord.

Even tighter than that, I have four children that love Christ and walk with Christ. The three older ones are married. The three older ones and their spouses have these immense and probably unrealistic expectations of me. My son who lives in Chicago called me a few months ago. “Dad I’ve just been thinking about you and praying about you and I called to tell you, ‘don’t mess up.’ ” [audience laughter]. This is my son, this is what I told him. “Dad do you know what it would do to me and the other kids if you ever messed up your life and did something immoral?” I told him, Mark, thank you for your prayers and your concern. It means everything to me.”

And then, I have 11 little grandchildren. They expect their Papa to live the way God expects us to live. I look into their little faces and I read them bible stories and I pray with them so often as Patricia and I gather with them around our kitchen table. And I look into their shining faces and I cannot find it in me to do anything to destroy their trust in Christ. It would kill me.

But the most intimate point of accountability humanly speaking is my beloved treasure Patricia. She is right here in the second row. Most of you don’t know her, you should. [gesturing for her to stand]. Honey let them see how God blessed me. Now, this lady expects me to live what I preach all the time. I want to be Christ to her. I don’t want her to be disappointed in her pastor. I don’t want her heart turned away from Christ. I don’t want the standard lowered. That’s the accountability. Her expectations and my love for her is the accountability.

But you know in the end, as precious as all those people are, as intimately as they are connected to my life, even they don’t know what I think. And if you are going to be holy, my friends, you have to win the battle on the inside.

Screen shot from MacArthur’s testimony

He continued the sermon from the text explaining just how to do that. And for the last 58 years since he committed his life to Christ, MacArthur has remained above reproach, with no scandal. You notice in the text his focus was first on not bringing reproach onto the Lord, and also being an example to his children, grandchildren, and to properly lead his wife. His life as a witness is powerful and his credibility as a preacher of the holy word is thus credible in the highest order.

This last one is a double blessing because over time, one can listen to sermons from MacArthur from every decade since he arrived at GCC in February 1969 and bask in the pure, unadulterated Word of God. I’ve done so, having listened to sermons from every era in which he has preached, and have not found any major threads of apostasy, error, or swerving from the narrow path the Lord has laid out to us in His word. Oftentimes pastors have a blind spot or some kind of error in one area. Sometimes they start out well, like Andy Stanley, and then just kind of collapse in front of our eyes, descending into liberalism and then error. Not so John MacArthur. The Lord has kept him.

My friend R. Craig Fulford wrote in an email (and gave permission for this to be excerpted and published):

Dr. MacArthur’s Grace to You Website has always been amazingly good but over the last year they have made huge efforts to increase the user friendly aspect.

When you have made the many contributions he has, it becomes quite difficult to archive those efforts. However, his staff has really improved on how to search his efforts in any number of different ways. Frank Barker told me once that Dr. MacArthur was the most prolific contributor to the Reformed Doctrine he had ever seen. But with that comes the difficult task of making sure all of those wonderful efforts do not get lost in the shuffle.

Over the last several months, I have spent a great deal of time just examining his web site and discovering the many different ways to locate what I’m interested in whether it be by exposition, topic, scriptural reference or any other of the myriad of ways we might want to examine Scripture. You would think with the amount of his available documentation, created over almost a half a century of time, you would see a number of contradictions within his teachings but that is just not the case. There is, however, a notable growth in the level of his discernment and Christian maturity, as you might expect.

There is also a conspicuous lack of “fund raising” activities and over a period of time there are few resources left with any cost, except for his most current publications. That is particularly impressive when you stop and consider the millions and millions of dollars that could have been generated by his efforts. As a matter of fact, when “The Gospel of Jesus” was first published, the only book that out sold it under the category of Christianity was the Bible itself.

And now Dr. MacArthur has completed decades of work on his 33 volume commentary of the New Testament. It is available in print and in a Kindle format. I have both and don’t know why every Christian on planet earth doesn’t if they don’t. Especially at its hugely discounted price.

Do you get the idea that MacArthur is a gift to us, a blessing of manifold and untold reverberations throughout Christendom? I do not exaggerate. In listening to many of his sermons, occasionally he offers a small glimpse of his behind-the-scenes work. He doesn’t say much about himself or his interactions with others, lay-people or fellow pastors. Only once in a while. His call to Mark Driscoll after the Scotland debacle where Driscoll shocked the people with his profane and lascivious “sermon” on the Song of Solomon…an encounter with Robert Schuller, counseling a prostitute, dealing with an unwarranted lawsuit, holding the hand of a homosexual man in the hospital dying of AIDS, flying hours upon hours to remote nations to teach new pastors in closed countries eager for the word, smuggling bibles into China… his tireless work seen and unseen for the cause of Christ is an example to us.

In 2010, a brand-new volume by Hughes Oliphant Old was published. It is titled, The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church, Volume 7: Our Own Time, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), The guys at TeamPyro (at that time led by Phil Johnson, Executive Director of John MacArthur’s Grace To You website and one of the preachers at MacArthur’s Grace Community Church, published an excerpt from Olds’ book. Between pages 551 and 558, one of the pastors the book highlights is the preaching of Dr. John MacArthur.

Now, the Hughes Olds is kind of a strange duck. He openly admits to disbelieving in satan, demons and demon possession. He admits to having doubts about the authority of scripture. Yet he marvels at the authority that MacArthur preaches, noting “part of the foundation of his effectiveness as an interpreter” is that his “basic assumption [is] that the text of Scripture is reliable.” His review should be taken as someone who is perhaps an unbeliever or a weak believer astonished at the preaching of a man with a settled belief in the integrity, authority, and reliability of scripture. From that perspective, Olds’ review is remarkable. Here is an excerpt.

In the review, Olds wrote in his conclusion,

Why do so many people listen to MacArthur, this product of all the wrong schools? How can he pack out a church on Sunday morning in an age in which church attendance has seriously lagged? Here is a preacher who has nothing in the way of a winning personality, good looks, or charm. Here is a preacher who offers us nothing in the way of sophisticated homiletical packaging. No one would suggest that he is a master of the art of oratory. What he seems to have is a witness to true authority. He recognizes in Scripture the Word of God, and when he preaches, it is Scripture that one hears. It is not that the words of John MacArthur are so interesting as it is that the Word of God is of surpassing interest. That is why one listens.

Now, I am not a sycophant. I’m not an uncritical flunky mindlessly parroting plaudits. I still do test what he says against scripture. I do listen to other pastors, my own, of course, and Phil Johnson, S. Lewis Johnson, Adrian Rogers, Lloyd-Jones, Don Green, Paul Washer… I do read other commentaries besides his, including Gill’s Exposition and Matthew Henry. I do enjoy other authors on the topics of scripture besides MacArthur, including Bridges, Spurgeon, Flavel, and Edwards. I think it would be a problem to follow one man alone and proclaim him to the world, that would be idolatry.

But I do adore John MacArthur for all the right reasons. I commend him and his vast ministry to you. I proclaim him in the strongest possible terms as trustworthy and edifying. When Charles Haddon Spurgeon died in January 1892, a Memorial Edition of his Life and Works was published that same year. I am serious when I say MacArthur is in a genealogical line of specially empowered raised up men who edify the brethren and advance the faith. Here is one of the tributes to Spurgeon written in the biography:

You ask a brief estimate of Mr Spurgeon’s life and work. Volumes would not do them justice. The world is his debtor. Charles Haddon Spurgeon was called a Baptist, but was one of those men too great to be claimed by any denomination. Millions of believers of every name were edified by his words, and quickened by the example of his wonderful life.

Among his many admirable traits, and at the root of them, lay his clear apprehension of divine truth, his firm grasp of it, inflexible loyalty to it, and incessant proclamation of it. He was a man of a whole Bible. From Genesis to Revelation it was to him “the true Word of the true God.”

If he was conspicuous for anything, he was conspicuous for his unswerving allegiance to ‘the Word.’ His theology was as broad and as narrow as the Bible. With him, “thus saith the Lord” settled everything.

With a warm heart and a very clear head, a very busy hand and a supreme devotion to the Master he served, men may call him narrow if they please. God has set the seal of divine approval, passing contradiction, on the work of the London Tabernacle pastor, and called him to his reward. What a reward!”

In 2006 I was a new Christian, having moved from my home environment in New England all the way to Georgia, where I knew no one. I was alone. I began attending church for the first time in my 43 years of life, and I had not a clue as to how to study the bible, much less read it. I mentioned before that prior to moving to Georgia I had not gone to church but had relied on radio and TV for preaching. I listened to Joel Osteen, the biggest and most popular tv preacher in the US, which I thought was the proper barometer for assessing the ministry of preachers. I also listened to Endtime Ministries’ radio prophecy personality Irvin Baxter. After a short while, Baxter’s fervent fixation on the post-tribulation rapture began to bother me. The Spirit graciously led me away from that man’s erroneous and personally unique interpretations of eschatology. However I began to realize that it was a wild and woolly, sometimes scary, world of preaching out there and I felt adrift and exposed. I had not known that there were different interpretations of scripture and that many men preaching it were just plain wrong. This was a new idea to me. I sought the Holy Spirit’s wisdom to know whom to listen to and whom to trust.

That was when He led me to John MacArthur. It was, as so many sisters have commented and emailed me, literally a God-send. I tested what was being preached against scripture and happily found it to be true. The reliability of his preaching, his humble and clean life, and frankly, the free or nearly free resources at his website were a boon to my impoverished but seeking heart and my poor battered checkbook. From there, I grew. I found Phil Johnson, his editor and executive director of Grace To You, and I found S. Lewis Johnson, a pastor of a former generation MacArthur recommended. And so on, the circles widened.

The tribute I posted above which is dedicated to Spurgeon contains similar if not exact words that can be applied to the life and ministry of Dr John F. MacArthur. Too much? Hardly. The benefit we as Christians have received from this tireless man’s Godly dedication and efforts in Christ’s name are uncountable, and manifold. I can’t wait for the day they will be revealed in the throne room of heaven. He is the Pastor for our generation.

I believe that recognizing this and affirming this glorifies Christ because it acknowledges His Spirit’s work in the Body. I began this essay by saying “The Lord sends us honorable and trustworthy overseers” and I end it with praise and thanks by saying the same thing. He used MacArthur to snatch me from the jaws of a wolf like Osteen and confusing men like Baxter and only the Lord knows who else if I had stayed on that muddled path. Who knows what other wolf would have dragged me off in false doctrine and poor Godly examples. Raising up good men is the Lord’s doing because He has care and concern for the people of His church. Peter wrote of overseers,

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. (1 Peter 5:1-4)

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An encouraging day in Christ!

Posted on June 29, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

What a wonderful wonderful day. We are so blessed as Christians, BLESSED!

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

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I sing praises to the Savior who hears prayer. I thank the Holy Spirit for moving in the two people at our campground ministry to be baptized in the river today. There is nothing greater than a regenerated heart, saved by grace.

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)

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I praise and thank the Savior for drawing many to Him, some of whom are emerging from besetting sins to once again live a holy life in these last days.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

I praise Him for raising up good pastors who preach the word from the Living Water and edify their sheep.

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What a refreshing, encouraging day. The Holy Spirit is moving in the world, maybe not widely, but deeply, soul by soul.

He is as ever, open for business.

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My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. (Psalm 145:21)

discernment, encouragement, gay marriage, homosexuality, prophecy, spiritual battle

What does Birmingham’s gay pastor, churches in debt, free speech, and the SCOTUS decision have in common?

Posted on June 27, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I found this news article a few days ago and saved it for when the Supreme Court decided. Here are some of my personal thoughts on the nationalization of homosexuality in America.

Birmingham church hires gay pastor; he’s ready to do same-sex weddings

The Rev. Paul Eknes-Tucker was named senior pastor
of Pilgrim Church on June 1
and preached his first sermon on June 14.

The historic Pilgrim Church in Birmingham [a UCC denomination] has hired an openly gay senior pastor who is ready to officiate same-sex weddings. … He is ready in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court rules to make gay marriage legal nationwide, which could happen next week. “I’m cautiously optimistic that it’s going to happen,” Tucker said.

The United Church of Christ has been a pioneer among Protestant denominations in ordaining women pastors and openly gay ministers. It’s a historic, predominantly white denomination that embraced the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Tucker married his partner, Bill Eknes-Tucker, in Toronto in 2005. Bill is a retired nurse. Tucker said he knows first-hand how his marriage not being legally recognized in Tennessee and Alabama has been a hardship. … The congregation could serve as a major hub for gay weddings. “We’re ready Day One (that gay marriage is ruled legal in Alabama),” he said. “They wanted someone who was ready to do that.

The first gay marriage in my adopted state of Georgia took place at 12:31 pm on the day SCOTUS ruled. This is the “Bible Belt”, the “Deep South”.

We can see that the homosexual lobby is ready to advance their banner. Are we ready to advance ours? The Banner of Christ? (Exodus 17:15)

I see a few things ahead. Not prophetically, lol, just following the train tracks to the horizon. It’s pretty clear. It is only going to become harder from here on out.

OK, first this SCOTUS ruling allowing gay marriage for all the land will usher in a new phase that will ramp up persecution in America toward churches and Christians. For one, free speech will be squelched. It started already-

Newspaper editorial page bans op-eds opposing gay marriage

Second, as churches and pastors speak out, or refuse to perform homosexual weddings, they will lose their tax-exempt status. This is a problem. Through the early part of the 2000’s, many churches went emergent and in a frenzy, bought bigger buildings. Thus they unwisely (in my opinion) became saddled with a mortgage and/or construction debt, or otherwise chained themselves to capital plans they could not afford. I pray that any upcoming decisions to be made regarding homosexual pressure infiltrating the local churches will not have this reality factored in. However, it is equally true that many pastors are pragmatic and I fear that pragmatism will pollute or at least influence faithful decision making.

Randy Alcorn said it well: [HT to Glenn]

Many churches spend more on interest payments than on world missions. Debt ties the church’s hands. If attendance drops, the economy suffers, or giving dips, then pastors or missionaries must go unpaid. The building completed eight years ago, already needing repairs, keeps demanding those monthly payments, mostly going to interest. . . . When a church overextends itself financially, it inevitably spends time during services trying to persuade people to give to the building fund. This changes the focus from worshiping Christ, studying the Scriptures, and meeting the needs of the community, to concerns about buildings, mortgages, and money.

Third, this ruling has brought out many who believe that homosexuality is not a problem, and I’m not talking about pagans. Self-professed Christians by the droves are applauding it. I have had more than one solid sister or brother in the faith marvel at the number of people who say they are in the faith but exalted a different Jesus and a different Gospel when the Supreme Court decision was handed down. Those who are not with Jesus are scattering for sure.

An aerial photograph showing opposing trenches
and no man’s land between, during World War I. Wikipedia

Fourth, the Birmingham church ready to marry gays by a married, gay pastor. The true church will shrink, become invisible in all the hullaballoo of false “churches” making much of this lifestyle. A cultural Christianity represented in the Birmingham church will take over and surround the true church. The Birmingham church will be seen as the real church of Jesus Christ, (blasphemously).

The true church is not in danger, mind you, I’m not saying that. But the cultural churches like the one in Birmingham will become visible, and if the the true church is seen at all, it will be seen as outdated at the least, and dangerous at the most. The timid pastors unwilling to stand for the faith will become absorbed in the flow, which yesterday became tsunami force. Fearing their position, or their paycheck, or their liberal deacons, or the neighborhood…they will change their position and weaken. Many churches will become like the Birmingham church, sadly. If it only took satan 20 years to fully change America’s position on homosexuality so that the highest court in the land would nationalize perversity. What hay do you think satan can make of false churches now that the pendulum has swung so far?

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)

Gill’s Exposition on Matthew 12:30,

and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth: Christ is the good shepherd, that gathers his sheep to himself, and into his fold, by the external ministry of the word, and internal efficacy of his grace; Satan is the wolf, that catches and scatters the sheep, and seeks to kill and destroy them: and since there is such an open war proclaimed and carried on between Christ and the devil, none ought to be neutral; whoever is not on the side of Christ, is reckoned as an enemy; and whoever is not concerned by prayer or preaching, or other means to gather souls to his word and ordinances, and to his church, and to himself, is deemed by him a scatterer of them.

There is no middle ground. There is no No Man’s Land where no trench is dug from one side or the other. A person is either in one trench, or the other. Even those who declare their neutrality are actually with satan because they are not overtly with Jesus, as the Matthew 12:30 verse reminds us.

My advice is:

To remain prayerfully vigilant, in prayer, by praying. Do you see the theme? Pray! Our connection in Jesus is our strength, His strength, energized by prayer.
Prepare to have your views challenged and be ready to answer all with a meek but firm response. 1 Peter 3:15 REALLY comes into play now more than ever.
Thus, read the Bible. If you have been woefully neglectful of late, stop it. Soldiers do not ignore orders, policemen do not neglect what their Captain tells them. Jesus is our Commander-in-Chief. His battle plan IS the Bible. Neglect it no longer.
Believe the spiritual battle is real. Believe you are a target.

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32).

Did you catch that? ‘when you have turned again’. Jesus was predicting Peter’s denial and restoration. Blessedly, our enemy’s plans are also in Jehovah-Nissi’s Bible! We are not unaware of satan’s schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:11)

Therefore pray for each other that our faith may not fail when put to the test.

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)

—————————————
Further Reading:

The faithful in the Lord’s warfare–

The LORD is our Banner, Jehovah Nissi, a study by Alexander MacLaren

Precept Austin: The LORD is our Banner, an inductive study of Exodus 17:8-16. (Scroll down a bit)

Focus on the Family: Prayer and the Spiritual Battle

GotQuestions: What does the Bible say about spiritual warfare?

encouragement, gay marriage, homosexual, judgment, lot, sodom, supreme court

Take comfort: God knows how to rescue the Godly from trials

Posted on June 26, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, John Martin, 1852.

if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. (2 Peter 2:6-10).

Imagine being Lot. A just and righteous man, he must have been greatly upset by what he saw all around him. We tease and laugh at Lot’s unwise decisions, choosing the city over the plain when separating from Abraham. We chidingly say, “Why didn’t Lot move out?” But by now he had a life there, economic entanglements, a family. He sat by the gate, which meant he was a town elder. Perhaps Lot thought he could do some good with what influence he had. Perhaps the slide toward almost total wickedness crept up on him. In the United States it really only took about 20 years for a reversal from east to west, from top to bottom, a change of nation-wide magnitude to happen.

Though many are mourning the Supreme Court’s decision to allow homosexual marriage in all the land, we aren’t righteous Lot. He had only two other truly righteous people around him, his daughters. His wife was later unmasked as false, unfortunately. Only Lot and his daughters. He did not have the Holy Spirit in Him, either, for comfort. Nor did he belong to the Body of Christ and thereby take comfort from fellow believers. It was just Lot, two daughters, and a city full of sodomites.

We are blessed! We have churches free and open (for now). We have blogs to express our thoughts and books we can be edified from and the Bible freely sold to learn about our holy God and brethren far away but as near as Skype to encourage and be encouraged by. We have prayer and a High Priest who intercedes for us!

SO! If the LORD God knew how to rescue righteous Lot, then He knows how to rescue the godly from trials. Our God is a God who sees the plight of the oppressed! (Genesis 16:13)

Our God is a God who hears!

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. (1 John 5:14)

But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. (Psalm 66:19)

Our God is not a distant, unaware, aloof God! He is intimately involved with His people and with the world!

Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” (Genesis 18:20-21)

The Lord going down is explained in Jamieson-Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible:

language used after the manner of men. These cities were to be made examples to all future ages of God’s severity; and therefore ample proof given that the judgment was neither rash nor excessive (Ez 18:23; Je 18:7).

God is patient, but aware. The righteous will be rescued and the wicked will be punished. I glory in both of these attributes, His long-suffering and His holy justice to come. His patience is so that many will come to repentance. Therefore, far from crying today I am worshiping our Great God. He hears the cries of the oppressed and of the righteous. He is omnipotent, all-powerful the great Amen. He’s got this!

encouragement, God, praise, secret

Does God Keep Secrets?

Posted on June 23, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

He is God and He does have secrets.

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deut 29:29.)

However, God also reveals things to us. Sometimes all at once, (creation) sometimes way before the time, (Daniel’s 70 weeks) and sometimes incrementally (Adam’s protoevangelium of the Messiah’s coming).

He is God and He does have secrets. Here are at least 4 things known only secretly to God (according to Gill’s Exposition of Deuteronomy 29:29)

1. Gill: particularly the times and seasons of their accomplishment, which he retains in his own power, Acts 1:6.

1a. Amos 3:7 says, “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” So by this we know that He keeps His own counsel until the time He decides to reveal His plans to us.

2. Gill: “There are many secret things in nature, which cannot be found out and accounted for by men, which the Lord only knows;”

2a. As anyone who follows physics knows, the more that men search for the secret to the universe and believe they have found it, (quarks! neutrinos! Bosons!) the more they know that the secret to His creation is unknowable. God has revealed his creation to us.

Romans 1:20a says, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” So we can see His attributes revealed in creation but we cannot know fully the Mind that created it.

3. Gill: and there are many things in Providence, which are unsearchable, and past finding out by finite minds, especially the true causes and reasons of them;

3a. God will reveal Himself by making known His purposes and intentions for us if we diligently seek Him:

—But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice. (Deuteronomy 4:29-30)

—And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:26-27)

He is a treasure and you have to seek, dig, find treasure. It does take some work on our behalf to open the secrets of the Bible He has revealed to us. Fortunately, He has sent a Helper to illuminate these to us when we do seek!

Alternately, Parables were open secrets designed to illuminate insights about God and His kingdom to those who have the mind of God and remain hidden in plain sight from those at enmity with Him. In addition, Job searched for a purpose to the things happening to him, but as Gill said, there are many things in Providence which are unsearchable. Yet, though His purpose for troubling Job was never revealed to Job, God revealed His purpose for Job’s trial to us.

4. Gill: and there are many things relating to God himself, which remain secret with him; But those things which are revealed to us are revealed forever.

4a. Amen!

Some thoughts about God, our precious Jesus who came to seek and save the lost, make Himself known to us, and to bring us to His abode when the (secret) time is ready. Here is praise for our knowable/unknowable God:

O Lord My God, You Are Very Great
Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. (Psalm 104:1-4)

commandments, encouragement, father's day, honor

How to honor the dishonorable father

Posted on June 21, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

It’s Father’s Day. I live down south. Fathers are big around here. There are many Facebook posts going up which honor Daddy and Husband. I like to see those, even when they’re not during Father’s Day. I love to see photos of happy families, children loving their Dad.

Respect and honor to the father is commanded in the Fifth Commandment. It is the first Commandment that comes with a promise, too. In listening to RC Sproul yesterday on RefNet radio, he explained The Fifth Commandment by saying the first four commandments define man’s relationship with God. Obeying the first four teaches us the magnitude of His power and name so that we can properly worship Him. The fifth commandment is the first of those that regulate man’s relationship with other human beings.

“Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16)

I’m glad for those children who have or have had great fathers, and for the wives who honor their husband as the father of the family. But when of the people who have not had a great dad? Who had one who was a divorcer, philanderer, adulterer, fornicator? Who was not saved by grace and sinned mightily with anger and violence within the family? One who was mean with words and chose to be aloof from the children, considering them a drag on his high life? Who absolutely and with finality repudiated all his children? Who was a vicious alcoholic? Abuser?

Here is Ligonier with an excerpt from a short essay about the fifth commandment:

Honor the Dishonorable

Intractable lovers of self, we find honoring others too difficult—actually, we find it impossible. So we cast about for a way out. Many have good reasons. An anguished young man once asked me, “How am I supposed to honor my father after what he’s done to my mother?” It was a good question. I knew what this father had done. He’d run off with another woman, leaving his pregnant wife to pick up the pieces of the domestic disaster created by his profoundly dishonorable behavior. Nevertheless, God tells this young man to honor his father.

The Pharisees thought they had landed on the ultimate exception clause to honoring parents. They had cooked up a tradition that said when they declared their resources given to God, they were off the hook on the fifth commandment. Jesus exposed the fraud: “So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me’ ” (Matt. 15:6–8).

Only hearts that have been brought near to God in Christ can truly honor mother and father, even parents who have acted dishonorably. Just as “children obey your parents” does not include obeying their sinful commands, so “honor your father” does not include honoring his dishonorable behavior.

Clearly, if Peter can urge first-century believers to honor everyone, including Emperor Nero (1 Peter 2:17), then the command to honor parents isn’t made void by having a dishonorable parent, any more than the command to love our neighbor is void when we have a neighbor who lobs beer cans over our fence. God’s commands still apply in a broken world of imperfect neighbors and dishonorable parents; they were gifted to us by our gracious heavenly Father for just such a world.

Yes, but how? Something that was helpful in the Sproul sermon The Fifth Commandment was this anecdote-

“At the heart of this idea was the dimension of respect.” …

Then Sproul explained when he was in Pittsburgh he worked with a man in labor mediation in the steel industry. Sproul was at one point in a room with people from all different political and spiritual stripes. He and this man had developed a labor-management program based on three principles: love, dignity, and respect. Sproul asked one question to the assembled people in the room:

“How many of you want to be treated with dignity?” And every single person would raise their hand. I could not get a crowd that big to have complete, unified agreement on any other topic, I don’t think. Some were Democrats, some were Republicans, some were Pirates fans, others weren’t. But what they all wanted was to be treated with dignity. And to be treated with respect. Nobody likes to be insulted. Nobody likes to be demeaned.

What we’re talking about here is honor. Because to honor someone is to be respectful of them, to show respect to them. Now this respect in the Decalogue begins with how children are to behave toward their parents. Honor your father and your mother. That’s where the whole concept begins with showing respect to human beings, and respect toward Divinely constituted levels of authority. It is an acknowledgement that God has delegated to parents a certain authority, by which the home is governed.

Then Sproul goes on for a while, then returns to this concept: adult children.

After a child is grown and is not expected to offer slavish obedience to parents, and no longer lives under their roof, at what point in our lives does the mandate to honor our father and mother end? Never. If you look at Israel in the ways the children showed respect to the matriarch or patriarch, whenever the father or head of the house walked int he room, it was the custom of all the children, even the adult children, to rise. They stand in the presence of the father or of the mother, to show respect and honor.

Sproul asks the question, what if my father is not honorable?

God doesn’t say ‘honor your father and mother only when they’re honorable. Theirs is a position. They hold an office. And even if they are unworthy of that office, the office itself is still to be honored.

If your father was a dishonorable person, abusive even, when you think of him, don’t think of the person. Think of the office of father. Honor the office. If it helps, if it is too hard to honor the father who sinned so greatly in adultery, alcoholism, abuse, rejection or abandonment, whatever it is, because you certainly don’t honor sins, but if it helps, honor the office. That way you will be honoring your Father in Heaven, God.

encouragement, sift, spurgeon

"Satan, like a drudge…"

Posted on June 20, 2015July 29, 2025 by elizabethprata

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning Devotional for June 20

“For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.”
— Amos 9:9

Every sifting comes by divine command and permission. Satan must ask leave before he can lay a finger upon Job. Nay, more, in some sense our siftings are directly the work of heaven, for the text says, “I will sift the house of Israel.” Satan, like a drudge, may hold the sieve, hoping to destroy the corn; but the overruling hand of the Master is accomplishing the purity of the grain by the very process which the enemy intended to be destructive. Precious, but much sifted corn of the Lord’s floor, be comforted by the blessed fact that the Lord directeth both flail and sieve to his own glory, and to thine eternal profit.

Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening: Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

LOL, “Like a drudge”. That’s all satan can do before God, do with whatever crumb God allows him to have. Always remember the great truth in this devotional: “the Lord directeth both flail and sieve to his own glory, and to thine eternal profit.”

I thought this devotional was comforting in its word-picture and its implicit explanation of Providence. If you are being sifted right now, may this encourage you.

body, charles spurgeon, church life, encouragement

Seeking the perfect church

Posted on June 20, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

EPrata photo

The quote is a little longer than the video. Read the quote then watch the clip. It’s only a few seconds.

Give yourself to the Church. You that are members of the Church have not found it perfect and I hope that you feel almost glad that you have not. If I had never joined a Church till I had found one that was perfect, I would never have joined one at all!

And the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect Church after I had become a member of it. Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth to us…

All who have first given themselves to the Lord, should, as speedily as possible, also give themselves to the Lord’s people. How else is there to be a Church on the earth? If it is right for anyone to refrain from membership in the Church, it is right for everyone, and then the testimony for God would be lost to the world!

As I have already said, the Church is faulty, but that is no excuse for your not joining it, if you are the Lord’s. Nor need your own faults keep you back, for the Church is not an institution for perfect people, but a sanctuary for sinners saved by Grace, who, though they are saved, are still sinners and need all the help they can derive from the sympathy and guidance of their fellow Believers.

The Church is the nursery for God’s weak children where they are nourished and grow strong. It is the fold for Christ’s sheep—the home for Christ’s family.”

Charles Spurgeon, “The Best Donation,” (No. 2234) an exposition of 2 Corinthians 8:5 delivered on April 5, 1891 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England.

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Further reading

Essay: Pew-Hoppers: How to Shepherd Church Shoppers – Part 1
Essay: Pew-Hoppers: How to Shepherd Church Shoppers – Part 2

Sermon: Personal commitment to the church – Part 1

arminianism, calvinism, charles spurgeon, doctrines of grace, encouragement, reformed

"Calvinism is not new to Baptists", and other Calvinistic thoughts

Posted on June 16, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

With the Southern Baptist Convention going on and its recent history of fighting against the doctrines of grace, AND fighting against the people who bring them, it might be good to get a little perspective. Here are two. Thomas Kidd at Desiring God, writes about the doctrines of grace in church history. And S. Lewis Johnson preaches on the inconsistent stance of four-point Calvinists.

For those unfamiliar with the terms, here are some quick definitions first. Calvinism is a position where those who adhere to it have

a very high view of Scripture and seeks to derive its theological formulations based solely on God’s Word. It focuses on God’s sovereignty–stating that God is able and willing by virtue of His omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence to do whatever He desires with His creation. It also maintains that within the Bible are the following teachings: That God, by His sovereign grace, predestines people into salvation and that Jesus died only for those predestined and that God regenerates the individual to where he is then able to and wants to choose God and that it is impossible for those who are redeemed to lose their salvation.

The Arminian’s flower is the Daisy.
“He loves me, He loves me not…” JK!

Arminianism, on the other hand, maintains that God predestined but not in an absolute sense. Rather, He looked into the future to see who would pick him, and then He chose them. Jesus died for all peoples’ sins who have ever lived and ever will live–not just the Christians. Each person is the one who decides if he wants to be saved or not. And finally, it is possible to lose your salvation (some Arminians believe you cannot lose your salvation).

Miracle Max was an Arminian.

GotQuestions has a good overview. Here is an excerpt-

The five points of Calvinism can be summarized by the acronym TULIP. T stands for total depravity, U for unconditional election, L for limited atonement, I for irresistible grace, and P for perseverance of the saints.

Other terms for Calvinism are Reformed Theology or Doctrines of Grace.

SBC logo

Irrespective of any activity at the Southern Baptist Convention, Thomas Kidd asks, Did you know Calvinism is not new to Baptists?

Calvinists once dominated Baptist church life in America. In a 1793 survey, early Baptist historian John Asplund estimated that there were 1,032 Baptist churches in America. Out of those, 956 were Calvinist congregations. These were “Particular Baptists,” for they believed in a definite atonement (or “particular redemption”), that Christ had died to save the elect decisively.

This was maintained until well into the nineteenth century. Then Kidd asks,

How did Calvinism lose its dominant position among Baptists? The American Revolution, with its focus on liberty, gave new life to “free will” theology in traditionally Calvinist denominations. But Calvinism remained ascendant among Baptists well into the nineteenth century. As Baptist churches spread into America’s frontier, they took Calvinist commitments with them. The newly-formed Elkhorn Baptist Association of Kentucky, for example, decided in 1785 to require assent to the Philadelphia Baptist confession of faith, which closely followed the 1689 London Baptist confession. Among other points, the Elkhorn Association affirmed that “by the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are pre-destinated, or fore-ordinated to eternal life, through Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace; others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of his glorious justice.”

By the 1830s, the stage was set for the slow weakening of Calvinism among mainstream Baptists. But Arminian theology would never become as dominant among Baptists as Calvinism once was. When groups such as Desiring God and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary began to reinvigorate Calvinist theology for Baptists and other evangelicals in the late twentieth century, some Arminian Baptists insisted that free will and general atonement were the “traditional” Baptist positions on those issues. A deeper historical look, however, reveals the overwhelmingly Calvinist convictions of early America’s Baptists

Tulip. Source- Graphics Fairy

It is a really good essay, thorough without being too long. It’s not that I always adhered to the doctrines of grace. It took a bit of time to study and for the Spirit to cement these things in my mind and heart. One video that went a long way to opening my eyes was a Paul Washer segment. I’ll post that below. I understand that the doctrine is difficult for people to accept, and many don’t or won’t believe it.

Therefore, if anyone has any questions concerning these doctrines of grace please don’t hesitate to ask. If anyone has a problem with what is being said or written please don’t be afraid to speak up. I believe what Paul Washer is saying is biblically true. Understanding the doctrines of grace/election/Calvinism is vital in understanding God’s work in regards to salvation. It’s like this-

Picture Jesus as the Living Water. There are urns of fresh, holy, heavenly, pure water. There are two methods. One drinks the water as it is given out. Or one can put one’s hand in the water to test its temperature, leaving behind oil from one’s hand, and dirt from one’s fingernails, before choosing to scoop some into one’s hand and drink. But now the water is no longer pure. Man added something to it. The second scenario is man’s participation in his salvation, by “deciding” to drink the Living Water and “accepting Christ”. But it’s polluted, even one drop from man pollutes it and it is no longer pure (grace).

In studying Galatians 1 and the importance of pure grace (unmixed with Legalism or any other man-made invention), John MacArthur says in his Commentary on Galatians,

Paul would not tolerate one drop of legalism being mixed with God’s pure grace. To turn away from any part of the grace of Christ is to turn away from God to that of human effort. … A single drop of poison in a large container can make all the water lethal. And a single false idea that in any way undercuts God’s grace poisons the whole system of belief.

So…no, we don’t “decide for Christ”. We don’t “accept Christ”. We have no part in our salvation. Why? We’re dead. God makes salvation possible by sending the spirit of understanding, the spirit of repentance … He initiates it all. (Ephesians 1:4, Philippians 1:6, Hebrews 12:2). As Paul explained the extent of our participation in salvation, in 1 Corinthians 3:6,

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

Or as Miracle Max explains,

There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all-dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all-dead, well, with all-dead there’s usually only one thing you can do.
Inigo Montoya: What’s that?
Miracle Max: Go through his clothes and look for loose change.

A Calvinist believes we are all-dead.

Here is that Paul Washer video I promised. A young seminarian approached Washer at the 2009 Deeper Conference and asked about election. He asked also about God choosing some people to salvation and others He says ‘you, you, you, send to hell’. This is a common question. Washer answers brilliantly.

There are helpful captions so you can read along with what Washer is saying. It’s worth listening to. I love the part when he takes off his glasses and looks like he is settling in for a good discussion, lol.

Just as grace is unmixed with any man’s “decision” or any man’s “works” in his own salvific rebirth, any less than the total TULIP and you have a deformed flower. Yet some say they believe the biblical verses relating to T-U-I-P but not L, limited atonement, This is where they say that God died for all people, not just a few chosen, or elect. 4-Pointers believe that His blood was not limited to those whose names were written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life since before the foundation of the world.

Here is S. Lewis Johnson in preaching Galatians 1:4, The Great Emancipation, side-tracking a bit to the inconsistent stance of 4-point Calvinists.

There are individuals who say, “I am a Calvinist, but I am a four-point Calvinist.” Now, I respect an individual who says this. I think, however, that it is a very inconsistent position. Richard Watson, probably the greatest of the Arminian theologians said, “It is perhaps the most inconsistent theory to which the varied attempts to modify Calvinism have given rise. Here are individuals who claim to believe in total depravity, unconditional election, invincible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. But they do not believe that Jesus Christ came to die for his own, but rather for every one.”

Now, let me ask you to look at this text. If we say that Jesus Christ intended to die for all men, then his intention was frustrated, because both of us will grant that not all people are saved. I think, of course, what happened is the best judge of what God intended. In other words, the result will tell us what he intended to do. But if Christ intended to die for all men, if we say that he gave himself for everyone, then his intention was frustrated. The frustration of his intention is offensive, in my eyes; I say it in love, to the perfections of the Son of God. To think that the intention of his is frustrated, to me, limits our understanding of the Son of God.

Furthermore, if we say that died in order to save all, we cannot speak then of a substitution that was effectual. The substitution was ineffectual. It was not really a substitution at all. For, even though he has done what he has done, it is possible for heaven to have further claims against individuals who are not saved. So the substitution was not really a substitution, the work was not really done. The purchase did not secure salvation for all for whom he made it. Heaven’s claims are not really met. It is not then a finished work, logically.

Now, what is this? This is dishonoring to the work of our adorable substitute. So the idea that Jesus Christ could die for all men and yet not be effective in his intention is dishonoring to the Son of God, dishonoring to his perfections, dishonoring to his work as substitute. And furthermore, if you reflect about it for a moment, it should shatter your confidence and assurance, because if it is possible for God to be frustrated in one of his great works, the work of the atonement, how do you know that he cannot be frustrated in the other promises the has given us? Is it really true then that he does all of his pleasure, as the word of God tells us? You can see that this then would be most damaging to my assurance and hope that he will really save me, who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, I say that in love, I say that because I would like to recover some for an understanding of the gospel of the grace of God that will most honor and glorify our great God. If you shall happen to be of the contrary option, I hope that you will not be upset by that. There are probably other things that we disagree about. And it is possible, of course, that I am wrong in two or three other things. Though I think I am right in this one thing, you understand. You still may be right in more things than I, but I hope we remain friends. But we understand each other I hope.

He was such a humble man! Though this three-segment essay that included definitions, a history of Calvinism in Baptist church history, and 4-point Calvinism’s illogic has been long, I hope that it brought some kind of truth and honorable reason to the concept. One last comment, this one on free will. I read the following comment from a man named Chancellor (Buddy) Roberts about free will,

Free will (which Arminians insist God gave us) necessitates not merely the capacity to choose but also having the right to choose. If man has free will, then he must necessarily have the right to choose whatever he wants and, therefore, God has no right to punish him for how he exercises that free will. Having the right to choose removes any culpability for choices made because it is presumed that God has given man the right to make those choices.

We only have free will in the capacity in which we are limited by our nature. Can a fox choose to write Shakespeare? Can a lion choose to be a vegetarian? No, they can only do things according to their nature. Likewise we as totally depraved humans cannot choose Good. We hate God and He is dead to us. Since we are totally sinful through and through, (“all-dead”) the only free will we have is to choose to sin. Therefore we cannot “choose God” or “decide for Jesus.” Jesus has to do it for us, and blessedly, He has.

“I would rather believe a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it was intended, than a universal atonement that is not efficacious for anybody, except the will of men be added to it.” (Spurgeon Sermons, Vol. 4, p. 70).

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