Posted in theology

Isaac Asimov, the Humanist-Atheist without hope

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

My summer reading this school break included an Isaac Asimov book I picked up at a thrift store. When I was in high school I read a lot of science fiction. I had decided to return to the genre. I hadn’t read any sci-fi in 40 years. Asimov is one of the fathers of science fiction, and one of the most prolific.

He was born in Russia in 1920. He emigrated as a boy and then attended an annex of Columbia University majoring in chemistry, and became a writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. Asimov was considered one of the “Big Three” science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein (“Stranger In A Strange Land”) and Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey”), even during his own lifetime, a feat of fame. He wrote or edited more than 500 books and also wrote an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. That’s why he is considered prolific.

Asimov coined the term ‘robotics,’ a combination of the words mechanics and hydraulics. He also wrote the Three Laws of Robotics, which are:

First Law
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Second Law
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Isaac Asimov

One of the books Asimov wrote was a compilation of short stories called “Nine Tomorrows” published in 1959. They are 9 short stories (plus a poem) set in the future. That’s the one I picked up.

I enjoyed Asimov when I first read him as a teen and young adult. I appreciated his easy writing and his engaging stories. But reading him again as an adult I was blown away by his brilliance. A detective story using things for clues that hadn’t been invented yet. Time travel. Space travel layovers. Genetic Modification- of humans. How successive iterations of computer programming forces a creativity decline and derivative thinking arise. Mutual Assured Destruction.

He was a supremely intelligent man. Seeing many of his ‘tomorrows’ become ‘todays’ and even ‘yesterdays’ after the initial writing 70+ years ago is amazing. Now we do have artificial intelligence, robotics on a level Asimov would have understood, and space travel. He wrote 100 of his books even before the US moon landing in 1969.

Sin begins in the mind. Our faith begins in the mind. I admire people who use their mind for Christ. To have an ability to understand complex ideas and relate them to a layman so they can be absorbed by anyone. The Bible is complex. The war between the world and the kingdom is complex. The scientific people at the Institute for Creation Research and The Math3ma Institute are intellects for the faith. I admire that they use their mind for Jesus and His glory. And by contrast it is such a waste to have a mind such as Asimov’s used for satan. Isaac Asimov was an atheist and a firm humanist.

Though I enjoyed most of his stories in “Nine Tomorrows” there was one I rejected. “The Last Question” explored entropy in the universe, (“the degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity. Entropy is the general trend of the universe toward death and disorder“), man’s reason for existence, the end of all things, and that knowledge was the supreme treasure of the universe, then comes annihilation and peace.

It is an atheistic, humanist view. It is also a hopeless view.

How sad. Reading Asimov now on this side of salvation shows me the utter sadness when a person possesses such a hopeless outlook.

So many things in life remind me of the sadness of the life of a lost person. The more I grow in His likeness the more I think about the Great Gulf Fixed which no man may cross. There is only lost or found. Darkness or light. Hell or heaven.

And I think of hell enlarging its mouth to receive a great many- the myriads upon myriads of unholy angels who will receive the just punishment for their demonic deeds. The millions of those who dwelled in sin all their life and will also receive the just punishment of their deeds. All that flesh. All those minds. What a waste.

I think of this kind of thing more and more. The tragedy of sin, the waste of a mind that could be glorifying God and thanking Him for its intellect. Asimov denied the Creator. When he passed away in 1992, the Institute for Creation Research wrote a piece called “Asimov Meets His Creator” in which we see this quote from Asimov-

ASIMOV’S VIEW ON DEATH

“Although the time of death is approaching for me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell, or [what would be considerably worse] going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and by removing from me all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism.”

Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine January 1992

The linked ICR piece is worth reading.

Asimov’s expectations were not met. Asimov discovered that knowledge in and of itself is not the chief end of man. God is the chief end of man by glorifying Him. Heaven IS considerably better than anything one can imagine, and hell is real and considerably worse. Nothingness is not in the future for any person born on this earth or even those not born but perish due to miscarriage or abortion.

It’s heaven (for babies and the repentant) and hell for those who reject and whose default is to continue in sin. Christians rightly do not fear death but the unsaved should. They do not know…

“Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God’s enemies.” ~Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards

The unsaved should fear death very much, and moreover, FEAR GOD.

Posted in theology

Anxious about Hospitality?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

As keepers of the home, we women are often encouraged to invite or even expect others to visit our homes. The hospitality offered by Lydia, Martha & Mary, and the home of Mary the mother of John Mark (where Rhoda was so startled when jailed Peter showed up during the prayer gathering) are homes in the NT where women hosted gladly.

We are called to do the same: Titus 1:8, Romans 12:13, 1 Peter 4:9, 1 Timothy 5:10…

I quail at the thought. I am like many women, who would be afraid to host someone in my home when it is less than sparkling clean. I’d want it to be where everything is always put away and I have fresh flowers arranged just so in charming vases and fresh towels in the bathroom with rose petals on them waiting for the random friend to stop over. LOL. Well, that’s how I imagine it anyway.

Of course our homes are never like that. If we really live, we really have a house that’s lived in. Kids toys are all around, there might be – gasp! – dirty dishes in the sink, popcorn kernels in the couch, a pile of mail needing tending to, open books and magazines on the coffee table accompanied by empty mugs of coffee or sticky soda cans…

I remember the most hospitable person I’ve ever known. She isn’t saved. But she is a great wife and mom. Her stance was that she wanted to be the house where her kids’ friends came to, all the better to keep an eye on her kids.

In her house were piles of clutter, worn out sofa, small rooms crowded with ‘stuff’ or oddly arranged. According to design rules, the place wasn’t suited for company. When it got to be dinner time, without a fuss the hostess would cook up a pan of scrambled eggs or baked beans from a can with brown bread (also from a can) and just hand it out on paper plates. Sometimes the husband or the grown kid would pull out a guitar or mandolin and we’d sing.

Anyone and everyone was always invited. Absolutely everyone was treated with warmth, respect, and dignity. And the hostess did collect oddballs, me included. But all were equal, loved, and given a place of acceptance. As I said, she wasn’t saved. She did all this effortlessly and created a safe space I’ll remember forever.

As Christians, we should do that and more. Now, it is certain we should do our best to have a clean house, or at least one that’s fairly picked up. We don’t want to serve food on dirty plates from unsanitary counters, or allow piles of laundry to get strewn as a tripping hazard. There is a balance between sparkling perfection and filthy hoarder.

But there is no need to panic if you’re asked to host a Book Group or a Bible Study or a Fellowship dinner in your home.

I saw this book on Marci Ferrell’s Thankful Homemaker site, here. It’s:

Having a Martha Home the Mary Way: 31 Days to a Clean House and a Satisfied Soul by Sarah Mae. Here is the blurb,

“Sarah Mae wants to let you in on a little secret about being a good homemaker: It’s not about having a clean house. She’d never claim to be a natural, organized cleaner herself―yet, like you, she wants a beautiful space to call home, a place where people feel loved and at peace. Where people can really settle in with good food, comfy pillows, and wide-open hearts. Is it possible to find a balance?”

I have not read the book, but I did read the 29 pages allowed in the Google preview. She seemed to be saying the right things and the tone was non-judgmental. If you find that you’d like to increase your hospitality, I’d say try this book. Here are some other resources-

Ligonier: How Can I Practice Christian Hospitality?

Christian Library: The Biblical Basis for Hospitality

Reformed Theological Seminary, 3-min video clip: Why is true Christian Hospitality so Important?

Start small, invite one lady over, or ask the mom who’s picking up her kid from your house to stay for a cup of tea. The key is love. Just love them.

Posted in theology

Example: God’s Omniscience

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Example: God’s Provision
Example: God’s Healing

In this short, simple series, I show some of God’s actions and attributes from His word. An example of God’s provision was when the student-prophet in 2 Kings 6 God made the axe head float. His provision doesn’t have to be the “big things” like feeding the 5000, He made provision for an impoverished student who had borrowed an axe and lost it in the river.

In this example today, we see an example of God’s omniscience. Omniscience is an attribute of God. Omniscience is defined as “the state of having total knowledge, the quality of knowing everything.” Another way to say God is omniscient is to say God is all-knowing.

Now the king of Aram was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.” But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful that you do not pass this place, because the Arameans are coming down there.” And the king of Israel sent scouts to the place about which the man of God had told him; so he warned him, so that he was on his guard there, more than once or twice.

Then the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” And one of his servants said, “No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” (2 Kings 6:8-12).

The King of Aram wondered who among his servants was the spy, leaking information to the King of Israel, but the servants said, ‘No it’s Yahweh who hears the words you speak in your bedroom.’ And they were right.

It’s interesting that the servants knew of the nature of Elisha’s relationship with God and that the information was coming from Him, but the king of Aram didn’t. It never even crossed his mind.

God knows everything that has happened, is happening, and is going to happen- because He is the author and architect of history. He knows what is in a person’s mind. He knows what is in a person’s heart.

Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Yahweh, You know it all. (Psalm 139:4)

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we have an account to give. (Hebrews 4:13)

Posted in theology

Example: God’s healing

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Example: God’s Omniscience
Example: God’s Provision

This week I’m posting 3 quick examples of an encouraging attribute or action of God. Yesterday was an example of God’s provision. Today we have an example of God’s healing. While the spiritual gift of healing given to men in the first century, and today’s example is one of those, the sign gift of healing from the early days of the church has ceased. However, God Himself does still heal, sometimes obviously miraculously.

Yahweh will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health. (Psalm 41:3).

Rembrandt van Rijn 1606 – 1669, The Healing of Peter’s Mother-in-Law

Sometimes when we become ill we might, in our delirium or pain, cry out, why, Lord? Sometimes, like Job, we may never know. But we DO know that all God does is good.

Barnes’ Notes says of the Psalm 41 verse,

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible: The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing – The word rendered strengthen here means to support; to uphold; to sustain. The idea here is, that God would enable him to bear his sickness, or would impart strength – inward strength – when his body failed, or when but for this aid he must sink under his disease and die. 

Here is Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 41 verse 3-

Verse 3. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. The everlasting arms shall stay up his soul as friendly hands and downy pillows stay up the body of the sick. How tender and sympathising is this image; how near it brings our God to our infirmities and sicknesses! Whoever heard this of the old heathen Jove, or of the gods of India or China? This is language peculiar to the God of Israel; he it is who deigns to become nurse and attendant upon good men. If he smites with one hand he sustains with the other. Oh, it is blessed fainting when one falls upon the Lord’s own bosom, and is borne up thereby! Grace is the best of restoratives; divine love is the noblest stimulant for a languishing patient; it makes the soul strong as a giant, even when the aching bones are breaking through the skin. No physician like the Lord, no tonic like his promise, no wine like his love. Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. What, doth the Lord turn bed maker to his sick children? Herein is love indeed. Who would not consider the poor if such be the promised reward? A bed soon grows hard when the body is weary with tossing to and fro upon it, but grace gives patience, and God’s smile gives peace, and the bed is made soft because the man’s heart is content; the pillows are downy because the head is peaceful. Note that the Lord will make all his bed, from head to foot. What considerate and indefatigable kindness! Our dear and ever blessed Lord Jesus, though in all respects an inheritor of this promise, for our sakes condescended to forego the blessing, and died on a cross and not upon a bed; yet, even there, he was after awhile upheld and cheered by the Lord his God, so that he died in triumph.” –end Spurgeon

Sometimes God heals us by taking us home to heaven. Other times he gives wellness after the illness, like He did to Peter’s Mother-in-Law. Either way, God is perfect.

John Bridges – Birmingham Museum of Art
Christ Healing the Mother of Simon Peter’s Wife by John Bridges, 1839
Posted in theology

Example: God’s provision

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Example: God’s Healing
Example: God’s Omniscience

Our frail frame, our restless mind, our quailing spirit, often doubts God’s promise to provide for us. He promised to sustain the Hebrews in the desert for 40 years. And He did. Every day, the manna came down (except the Sabbath, but they got double on the day before).

Here in 2 Kings, we see another incident of provision. A shorter term, a smaller miracle, but nonetheless, a fulfillment of His promise to sustain His people in the ways they need sustaining.

Photo by Albert Dehon on Unsplash

The Axe Head Recovered

Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too cramped for us. Please let us go to the Jordan, and let us each take from there a beam, and let us construct a place there for ourselves, to live there.” So he said, “Go.” Then one of them said, “Please agree and go with your servants.” And he said, “I will go.” So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But it happened that as one of them was cutting down a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Oh, my master! It was borrowed!” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. Then he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.
(2 Kings 6:1-7).

The MacArthur study note says of verse 5,

“Iron was expensive, and relatively rare in Israel at that time, and the student-prophet was very poor. The axe head was loaned to the prophet since he could not have afforded it on his own and would have no means to reimburse the owner for it.”

“Elisha threw a stick in the river at the exact spot where the axe head entered, and the stick caused the heavy iron object to float to the surface. Through this miracle, the Lord again provided for one who was faithful to Him.” ~John MacArthur

If you’re feeling worried about your future, short term or long term, remember that the Lord promised to sustain us. Yes, we do have to work. We aren’t wandering Jews in the desert waiting for manna to drop from heaven. We don’t lay on the couch and do nothing to help ourselves. But provision does come from heaven, whether in the form of a job, or a surprise check, or a new helper, or in a thousand ways our puny brains can’t even imagine.

The student-prophets in those verses were working to build a larger dwelling since there had been such an increase in enrollments, they outgrew their old school. But God does provide, not only the big things like manna, but the little things like an axe head. Trust Him.

Posted in theology

So much grief and loss…But God!

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Susannah Spurgeon and her husband Charles had a close relationship. When Charles passed away in 1892, she was left a widow in deep grief. They were married 36 years. Charles had called her  “the greatest of all earthly blessings.” Susannah herself said of their life together they were “two pilgrims treading this highway of life together, hand in hand,–heart linked to heart.”

Susannah knew grief. She also knew Jesus.

Susannah Spurgeon, from “A Basket of Summer Fruit” (written after the death of her beloved husband, C. H. Spurgeon)

As this is a “personal note”, I may be allowed to tell you that, in my deep and increasing loneliness, I still find sweetest comfort in praising God for His will concerning my beloved and myself, and have even been able to thank Him for taking His dear servant from this sorrowful land of sin and darkness—to the bliss and glory of His eternal presence. Fixing my heart on the blessed fact that what the Lord does is right and best, simply because He does it, I feel the anchor hold in the depths of His love—and no tempest is powerful enough to drive faith’s barque from these moorings. It can outride any storm with anchorage in such a haven. Many a time, when the weight of my dreadful loss seemed as if it must crush me, it has been lifted by the remembrance that, in Heaven, my dear one is now perfectly praising his Lord; and that, if I can sing, too, I shall even here on earth be joining him in holy service and acceptable worship.

How many of you, dear readers, will be “chief singers” unto our God, and resolve that, henceforth, His praise shall be continually in your mouth? Let us, each one, say to the Lord, with good Isaac Watts—

“Long as I live, I’ll bless Your Name,
My King, my God of love;
My work and joy shall be the same,
In the bright world above.”

She acknowledged her grief and loneliness, but also acknowledged that God is good. Here, ‘Susie’ Spurgeon focused on God’s goodness, the firm foundation of her faith, and the fact that her beloved husband is now with his beloved savior, worshiping Him in perfect glory.

Losing someone you love is not easy. Without Christ it’s almost impossible. But God…He knows the grief and loss that batters the Christian heart. He wept at Lazarus’ tomb.

To the folks that have lost someone recently, please know that I grieve with you. The loss of a friend, husband, family member or child is mournful. It is especially sad when we are fairly sure the loved one was not saved. But God…in His inscrutable ways, gives love to those whom He gives life, and death to whom he gives death. It’s not a comfort in the moment of highest grief, perhaps, nor a comfort in the deep of night’s loneliness, but is it a fact. A good fact. Cling to it, and perhaps if you are suffering, it may make the suffering a molecule less painful…

Posted in theology

‘Eat the meat and spit out the bones’? Why not?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

To the casual or immature discerners who say “just eat the meat and spit out the bones”… I ask you this:

If you are a parent, even if you’re not, picture your sweet baby in his high chair. You are preparing food for him and place it in his plastic bowl in front of him with his little spoon. In the bowl is a hunk of meat along with its bones. You tell the toddler to eat the meat and just spit out the bones.

Is this a safe way for your baby to consume food?

It’s a hypothetical question. We all know it’s not safe to serve a baby meat with bones and just tell the child to spit out the bones. This illustration was designed to highlight one fatal flaw: PRIDE. We think we are smarter than we are.

How do I know this? Because we all are babies. We are little children, stumbling along like helpless sheep, trying to do our best to serve God. How many times in the Bible are WE called sheep (which are stupid animals), or babes? We are naïve and vulnerable to the world, to our sin, and to the devil. We need God’s strong word as a fortress, a haven, a sheepfold with Him as guide to get us safely through this life and across the Jordan to eternity.

We think we ‘can handle’ this or that. But we can’t. We are as ignorant and helpless as a baby in a high chair when served what the world has to offer and when served what the church has to offer. We must stay closely in the word of God, lest we be deceived. We are often not smart enough to be bone detectors.

Always test whatever lessons we receive with the word of God, and

Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7).

Do not eat bone-riddled meat. You’re a baby.

Posted in theology

Go Down Death – A Funeral Sermon

Posted on by elizabethprata

Written by James Weldon Johnson, 1927
Published in “God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse“

The author melded ‘Negro’ literary heritage folk sermons and poetry to form a small book of powerful images and ideas. Here is one of them that particularly impacted me.

Painter: Aaron Douglas, American, 1899–1979, source Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, https://www.si.edu/object/go-down-death%3Achndm_48.2016.19

Go Down Death
A Funeral Sermon

Weep not, weep not,
She is not dead;
She’s resting in the bosom of Jesus.
Heart-broken husband — weep no more;
Grief-stricken son — weep no more;
Left-lonesome daughter — weep no more;
She’s only just gone home.

Day before yesterday morning,
God was looking down from his great, high heaven
Looking down on all his children,
And his eye fell on Sister Caroline,
Tossing on her bed of pain.
And God’s big heart was touched with pity,
With the everlasting pity.

And God sat back on his throne,
And he commanded that tall, bright angel standing at his right hand:
Call me Death!
And that tall, bright angel cried in a voice
That broke like a clap of thunder:
Call Death! — Call Death!
And the echo sounded down the streets of heaven
Till it reached away back to that shadowy place,
Where Death waits with his pale, white horses.

And Death heard the summons,
And he leaped on his fastest horse,
Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.
Up the golden street Death galloped,
And the hoofs of his horse struck fire from the gold,
But they didn’t make no sound.
Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,
And waited for God’s command.

And God said: Go down, Death, go down,
Go down to Savannah, Georgia,
Down in Yamacraw,
And find Sister Caroline.
She’s borne the burden and heat of the day,
She’s labored long in my vineyard,
And she’s tired —
She’s weary —
Go down, Death, and bring her to me.

And Death didn’t say a word,
But he loosed the reins on his pale, white horse,
And he clamped the spurs to his bloodless sides,
And out and down he rode,
Through heaven’s pearly gates,
Past suns and moons and stars;
On Death rode,
And the foam from his horse was like a comet in the sky;
On Death rode,
Leaving the lightning’s flash behind;
Straight on down he came.

While we were watching round her bed,
She turned her eyes and looked away,
She saw what we couldn’t see;
She saw Old Death. She saw Old Death
Coming like a falling star.
But Death didn’t frighten Sister Caroline;
He looked to her like a welcome friend.
And she whispered to us: I’m going home,
And she smiled and closed her eyes.

And Death took her up like a baby,
And she lay in his icy arms,
But she didn’t feel no chill.
And Death began to ride again —
Up beyond the evening star,
Out beyond the morning star,
Into the glittering light of glory,
On to the Great White Throne.

And there he laid Sister Caroline
On the loving breast of Jesus.

And Jesus took his own hand and wiped away her tears,
And he smoothed the furrows from her face,
And the angels sang a little song,
And Jesus rocked her in his arms,
And kept a-saying: Take your rest,
Take your rest, take your rest.

Weep not — weep not,
She is not dead;
She’s resting in the bosom of Jesus.

Published in God’s Trombones (1927)

Illustration Credit: Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art
Media type: painting
Museum Number:
Annotation: Artist Aaron Douglas created illustrations to accompany James Weldon Johnson’s 1927 book, God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. Douglas also painted this illustration, Go Down Death, to accompany Johnson’s funeral sermon of the same name.
Year: 1927

Posted in God, infinite

Theological math

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Add

The preaching of the true word of God always pierces hearts.

“So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41)

Subtract

However, taking away from that word will bring condemnation to those who subtract from it:

“and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Revelation 22:19)

Multiply

We love God’s word so much we share it, not sparingly but liberally. To His own glory, the Lord multiplies what is needed in the sower so they can return and multiply their doing good again and again–

“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 9:10)

Barnes Notes explains, “Multiply your seed sown – Greatly increase your means of doing good; make the result of all your benefactions so to abound that you may have the means of doing good again, and on a larger scale, as the seed sown in the earth is so increased that the farmer may have the means of sowing more abundantly again.”

Divide

But make no mistake, proclamation of, living by, and protecting the word will bring division. Doctrine DOES divide.

“Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (Luke 12:51)

In efforts not to have “division” but a (false) unity based on a watered down version of the Gospel, you really have nothing. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing, said Billy Preston.

John MacArthur on doctrine dividing, from his sermon A Call for Discernment: “When you don’t even lay down clear doctrine at the level of the Gospel, where are you going to go from there? And the cry is, as one man said to me when my book on The Gospel According to Jesus came out, he said, “Your book is divisive!” You want to know something? He’s right. He’s right. Want to know something else? Doctrine divides. People say, “Oh doctrine divides … doctrine divides.” I say, “Amen, preach it, doctrine divides.” You know what it does? It confronts error. It separates true from false. It makes judgments. Today’s climate, however, of unity in the priority of relationships, that’s not tolerable.”

Yes, but many are tolerating it. And this is what he said will happen–

“You know, I believe…I believe that when evangelicals are willing to depreciate doctrine and when they’re willing to set aside unpopular convictions, and when they’re willing to stay silent on biblical teaching that offends people in error and sin, opposition will disappear and we could all get together. I believe that. I could start a unity movement…eliminate doctrine, set aside unpopular convictions, don’t say anything that offends and we’ll all get together. That isn’t any surprise. But you know some other things are going to disappear too along with doctrine, like truth, conviction, discernment, righteousness, holiness, discipline, true love and spiritual maturity. They’re all gone too and then God will disappear, Ichabod. That price is too high. That will produce a church victimized by hell’s deceptions.” Source: John MacArthur, A Call for Discernment, Part 1, May 26, 1991

He preached that 32 years ago and it has come to pass. People too afraid of division fail to add to and multiply God’s love.

I pray you are not in a church victimized by hell’s deceptions, but are in a church that adds to its numbers because of faithful hearts multiplying His love in fellowship.

But here is the new math of God’s kingdom: His infinitely extravagant grace! There is no counting it and no end to it. Praise the Lord that His grace and mercies fall on us every day. I can’t add the number of times I’ve been a grateful recipient of it.

“Our Lord is great, vast in power; His understanding is infinite.” (Psalm 147:5)

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8)