Speaking of the Prosperity Gospel

I won't name any names, but as I was reading "The Attributes of God" this afternoon, something occurred to me...

A.W. Pink writes this in Chapter 15 of "The Attributes of God" in the Chapter on The Love of God:

"Here then is abundant cause for trust and patience under Divine affliction, Christ was beloved of the Father, yet he was not exempted from poverty, disgrace, and persecution. He hungered and thirsted. Thus, it was not incompatible with God's love for Christ when He permitted men to spit upon him and smite him. Then let no Christian call into question God's love when he is brought under painful afflictions and trials. God did not enrich Christ on earth with temporal prosperity..."

So if my attitude toward life is the key to success, then Christ should have been the richest, most prosperous, most successful guy ever. Certainly Jesus never had a bad attitude. Certainly He never had a sinful attitude toward anything. Certainly He always did exactly what God would have wanted Him to do, right? Certainly even the wildest prosperity Gospel preacher would not claim that Jesus exhibited anything other than complete holiness and righteousness.

So then - why was he not prosperous?

Because the prosperity Gospel is a lie. It comes from man's inventions, not from the Scriptures.

God's children should never doubt His love for them. They should never measure it by the "stuff" they have or the situation they find themselves in. We should look to the Gospel, for in it we see the true love of God. When we truly understand what God has done for us, in the midst of our not only not deserving it, but also not even seeking/desiring it - we should be humbled beyond measure.

My "need" for a nice car is destroyed.

My "need" for a comfy bed is destroyed.

My "need" for a delicious meal is destroyed.

Christ died for me. Took the punishment that I deserve.

Now I can approach with confidence the throne of grace.

That is enough.

"I need no other argument, I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me."

Rob

<><

P.S. - the next installment of the "1689 Confession" is coming in the next day or so...

God and the Holy Trinity

So today, we look at God and the Trinity.
From time to time, one of my students will send me a text asking me a theological question. Sometimes they’re reading their Bible and a question about what they’re reading pops up. Sometimes, it’s a random question they have. Sometimes, they’re having a spiritual conversation with a friend and something comes up that they’re not sure how to answer. The other day, one of my students sent me a text around 10:30 p.m. asking this: “my friend is asking ‘what or who is God?’” (the student told me a couple of days later, “yeah it was late. I don’t know what I was thinking...)

While my answer was certainly accurate, what I should have done was to simply point to this confession.
Currently, my own understanding of who God is is growing by leaps and bounds. I’ve been reading through A.W. Pink’s classic book “The Attributes of God.” It’s a thin book, only 117 pages, but in the 17 short chapters that this book contains, there’s an amazing amount of depth. If you haven’t read “Attributes,” I highly recommend reading it.

Are you familiar with a “Sermon Jam?” There are quite a few of them out there. It’s where someone takes a sermon, edits it down to five minutes or so, using the “highlights” of the sermon, and puts dramatic background music and cool images in. Then it’s posted to YouTube (for a great example, click here).
Well, when I read what the 1689 Confession says about who God is, it’s so good and gives such a great description of who God is, it almost becomes a Sermon Jam in my head.

God and the Holy Trinity

--> The Lord our God is the one and only living and true God; Whose subsistence is in and of Himself - Who is infinite in being and perfection; Whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but Himself; 

• Who is a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions 

• Who alone has immortality

• Who dwells in the light which no man can approach, Who is immutable (unchangeable), immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, in every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute;

• Who works all things according to the counsel of His own immutable and most righteous will, for His own glory; 

• Who is most loving, gracious, merciful, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth;
• Who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin;

• Who is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him; 

• and Who, at the same time, is most just and terrible in His judgements, hating all sin and Who will by no means clear the guilty. 


--> God, having all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and from Himself, is unique in being all-sufficient, both in Himself and to Himself, not standing in need of any creature which He has made, nor deriving any glory from such. - On the contrary, it is God Who manifests His own glory in them, through them, to them and upon them. He is the only fountain of all being; from Whom, through Whom, and to Whom all things exist and move. 

• He has completely sovereign dominion over all creatures, to do through them, for them, or to them whatever He pleases. 

• In His sight all things are open and manifest; His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and not dependent on the creature. 
• Therefore, nothing is for Him contingent or uncertain.

• He is most holy in all His counsels, in all His works, and in all His commands. 

• To Him is due from angels and men whatever worship, service, or obedience, they owe as creatures to the Creator, and whatever else He is pleased to require from them. 


--> In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and the Holy Spirit. All are one in substance, power, and eternity; each having the whole divine essence, yet this essence being undivided. The Father was not derived from any other being; He was neither brought into being by, nor did He issue from any other being.

• The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. 

• The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.

• All three are infinite, without beginning, and are therefore only one God, Who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties, and also their personal relations.
• This doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and our comfortable dependence on Him. 


I pray that today you would be overwhelmed by the truth and reality of who God is. Before you go to bed tonight, spend some time thanking God for all He has done for you. Read Romans 8 and Psalm 136.

The confession begins with “The Holy Scriptures.” The confession paints a beautiful picture of Scripture. We must approach Scripture correctly. We must have the right response to Scripture (James 1:18-22) #4 Gives a brief explanation of the Canonization process, how we came to have the books of the Bible. Simply put: we recognize what is God’s Word. It does not become God’s Word because it was declared to be so.

This is a great place to start when we look at doctrine, for how we view Scripture is very important. We must have a right view of Scripture to have a healthy spiritual life. There are many words used to describe Scripture in the first section. All of them are important. Scripture is the vehicle through which the Holy Spirit regenerates us and through which God saves us. (James 1:18-21, 1 Peter 1:23)

John MacArthur says “It is the divine power behind the truth of Scripture that is able to initiate salvation, keep it alive and growing, and finally bring it to final glory, complete and perfect. We have been saved (justified) through the power of the Word of God; we are kept saved (sanctified) through the power of the Word; and we will be ultimately, completely, and eternally saved (glorified) through the power of the Word.” (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: James, p. 76)

It all begins with the Word of God. We must start in the right place and start in the right direction. Take a few minutes to read what the confession says about the Word of God. It is clear, pretty concise, and very rich in truth. Keep all this in mind the next time you sit down for your “Quiet Time.” We are saved through the Word, and our spiritual growth comes as a result of the input of the Word into our lives, both through sitting under good Biblical teaching and through personal study of the Scriptures.

The Holy Scriptures

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God so much that man is left without any excuse, they are not sufficient to provide that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary for salvation. 
Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal Himself, and to declare His will to His church; 

- and afterward, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church, protecting it against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and the world,
it pleased the Lord to commit His revealed Truth wholly to writing. Therefore the Holy Scriptures are most necessary, those former ways by which God revealed His will unto His people having now ceased. 


• We have established the 66 books of the Old and New Testament. All these books are given by the inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life. 
The books commonly called “The Apocrypha” not being of divine inspiration, are not part of the canon or rule of Scripture and are therefore of no authority to the church of God, nor are they to be approved of or made use of any differently from other human writings.

• The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, depends not on the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God its Author (Who is Truth itself). Therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.

• We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the people of God to gain a high and reverent estimation of the Holy Scriptures. We may be similarly affected by the nature of the Scriptures—the heavenliness of the contents, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God, the full disclosure it makes of the only way of man's salvation, together with many other incomparable excellencies and entire perfections. By all the evidence the Scripture more than proves itself to be the Word of God. Yet, notwithstanding this, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth of Scripture and its divine authority, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts. 


• The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture, to which nothing is to be added at any time, either by new revelation of the Spirit, or by the traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word. 
There are some circumstances concerning the worship of God and church government which are common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word which are always to be observed. 


• All things in scripture are not equally plain in themselves, nor equally clear to everyone, yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and revealed in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the educated but also the uneducated may attain a sufficient understanding of them by the due use of ordinary means.

• The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which at the time of its writing was most generally known to the nations) were immediately inspired by God, and were kept pure through subsequent ages by His singular care and providence. They are therefore authentic , so that in all controversies of religion , the church must appeal to them as final. But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God who have a right to, and an interest in the Scriptures, and who are commanded to read and search them in the fear of God, the Scriptures are therefore to be translated into the ordinary language of every nation into which they come, so that, with the Word of God living richly in all, people may worship God in an acceptable manner, and through patience and comfort of the Scriptures may have hope.

(Rob's note - since it is the original text that is inspired, when choosing which translation to use, make sure you are using one that is more "literal" so that the Bible you're studying is as close to the original inspired version as possible. The more "paraphrased" your translation, the farther away from what God said you get)

• The infallible rule for the interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself, and therefore whenever there is a question about the true and full sense of any scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched by other passages which speak more clearly.

• The supreme judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and by which must be examined all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, and doctrines of men and private spirits can be no other than the Holy Scripture, delivered by the Spirit. And in the sentence of Scripture we are to rest, for it is in Scripture, delivered by the Spirit, that our faith is finally resolved.

I hope looking at some of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith is as encouraging to you as it is to me when I read these. Reading about the sufficiency and power of Scripture inspires me to want to read more and when we read and study Scripture keeping these things in mind, it paves the way for the power of the Word of God to truly be at work in us.
(Check back soon. The next section on "God and the Holy Trinity" will be posted in a couple of days)

Seeking Him,
Rob
<><

The 1689 London Confession is a classic work on the historic belief system of Biblical Christianity. It was written, actually, in 1677. It was adopted in 1689, hence the name. Charles Spurgeon reissued the Confession at his church in 1855 to strengthen the doctrinal foundations of his church. In the coming weeks, I’ll be walking through this confession and looking at each of the sections it contains. I’ll be taking each of the sections, condensing it a bit, and making a few comments.
I believe that in walking through this classic document, we can better understand some of the core doctrines of Christianity, how we approach Scripture, and be drawn into a deeper love for God and all that He has done for us.

My hope is that this will bless and encourage you in your walk with our Lord and Savior. “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)

Check back every few days for the next chapter in the Confession. The first section on "The Holy Scriptures" will be up tomorrow.

1689

Not sure what that number means?
Check back in a few days and you'll find out!

22 Volumes

So I just got a killer deal on a full set of John Calvin's commentaries.
Since I'm preaching through James at SIX33 now, when they arrived yesterday, I pulled the commentary on James out and started reading where I am in Chapter 1.
Already it's so rich and helpful.

Here's just a little tidbit that I came across and the thoughts it sparked:

James 1:21-22
"Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

John Calvin says of this passage:
The "doer" of v.22 is "he who from the heart embraces God's word and testifies by his life that he really believes... for he shews by the fruits what that implanting is... we ought to labor that the word of the Lord should strike roots in us, so that it may afterwards fructify."

Reading these two verses reminds me of Hosea 10:12 where it says to "sow for yourselves righetousness... break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord"

We must daily meditate on and embrace the Gospel. Our lives are a testimony to what we truly believe. A genuine believer's life will be a beautiful testimony to the Gospel. We must make every effort to plant and cultivate God's word in the soil of our hearts so that we bear much fruit and so prove to be disciples of Jesus (John 15:8).

Rob
<><