Walk in Wisdom – Gleanings from the Scripture
1 Cor. 15.19 – If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Category: redemption
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John Owen John Calvin
Before you read the following, I should make it clear that I was never HYPER-Calvinist. That is a very specific designation. For one to be a hyper-Calvinist, there are some very specific criteria which must be met. Phil Johnson in his excellent “A Primer of Hyper-Calvinism” discusses them in the following paragraphs:
“Notice three very crucial points in that definition: First, it correctly points out that hyper-Calvinists tend to stress the secret (or decretive) will of God over His revealed (or preceptive) will. Indeed, in all their discussion of “the will of God,” hyper-Calvinists routinely obscure any distinction between God’s will as reflected in His commands and His will as reflected in his eternal decrees. Yet that distinction is an essential part of historic Reformed theology. (See John Piper, “Are There Two Wills in God? Divine Election and God’s Desire for All To Be Saved” in Thomas R. Schreiner, ed., The Grace of God and the Bondage of the Will, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995, 1:107-131.)
Second, take note of the stress the above definition places on hyper-Calvinists’ “denial of the use of the word ‘offer’ in relation to the preaching of the gospel.” This is virtually the epitome of the hyper-Calvinist spirit: it is a denial that the gospel message includes any sincere proposal of divine mercy to sinners in general.
Third, mark the fact that hyper-Calvinism “encourages introspection in the search to know whether or not one is elect.” Assurance tends to be elusive for people under the influence of hyper-Calvinist teaching. Therefore, hyper-Calvinism soon degenerates into a cold, lifeless dogma. Hyper-Calvinist churches and denominations tend to become either barren and inert, or militant and elitist (or all of the above).”
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Walk in Wisdom – Gleanings from the Scripture
Judges 16.30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. 31 Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.
Samson is as tragic as he is heroic. His life demands examination.
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Walk in Wisdom – Gleanings from the Scripture
Judges 11.30 – “30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering…34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.”
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Walk in Wisdom – Gleanings from the Scripture
Joshua 6.39 Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all
the ground there was dew. -
Walk in Wisdom – Gleanings from the Scriptures
Have I got a deal for you!Romans 8.1 – There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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Walk in Wisdom – Gleanings from the Scriptures
Just surrenderRom. 5.1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Walk in Wisdom – Gleanings from the Scriptures
Philippians 1.6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
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Tom Nettles
Jim Elliff
With two trips to the airport today, one this morning and the other this afternoon, our conference speakers were on their way home after a truly rich weekend.Tom Nettles from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary opened the conference Friday night with a tribute to James Petigru Boyce. It was a study in a man’s faithfulness to God through the most imposing opposition, persevering until he at last established one of the nation’s truly important seminaries. The focus was on Boyce’s commitment to Calvinistic doctrine, and the need to rain men well to pass that on to the generations following. Informative and truly challenging. If you are struggling with despair in the face of huge odds, this presentation is for you.
Jim Elliff, President and founder of Christian Communicators World Wide – followed with the first of two parts in the life of George Muller. Dispelling the myths about Muller’s mysticism while demonstrating his Biblically rational faith all along, all of us began to desire such a prayer life as Mullers’, but chided ourselves for not possessing the courage to trust God quite that fully.
Saturday morning reconvened with Tom Nettles unpacking the life of Andrew Fuller, by putting the spotlight upon Fuller’s view of human depravity as the axis of his theological system. To see how Fuller did that and made it cross over into a foundation for God’s greater glory was a magnificent treat.
Jim Elliff gave us Muller part 2 with many pictures we had never seen before. In truth, without these, you simply cannot grasp the magnitude of the work. The sheer size of the buildings and the complex of the orphanage – housing 2000 orphans at a time – and this without ever making known his needs but to God in prayer. This was simply amazing.
After lunch, Dr. Nettles moved us to consider Jonathan Edwards and Edwards’ commitment to preaching. His thought and systems were all slaves to his desire to get the Gospel communicated in the best possible fashion to his hearers. This was a different approach, well worth our consideration.
Jim Elliff closed the conference with an exposition of Philippians 1 – setting our eyes on wanting lives like Paul’s – like Muller’s – where they become grand experiments in seeing how the reality of God’s existence can be modeled to the world by how we live. It was powerful, moving, convicting and exciting.
Sorry you couldn’t be with us, but CD’s (or cassettes) of any one session are $2.00, or a DVD for $5.00 Or, get the whole conference (all six sessions) for $10.00 on CD (or tape) or $20.00 for the DVD’s. If you want any – let me know!
Next April – It is Jerry Bridges, and Phil Johnson. Don’t miss it!
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The United States of America’s Declaration of Independence reads in part:We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
God’s Declaration of Absolute Dependence perhaps could read in part:
- We hold these truths to be revealed by God, that all men are created by God and for God. That they are owned by their Creator, who rules them with certain, absolute and unalienable rights. That within His rights, He establishes a Kingdom consisting in Righteousness, Peace and Joy. —That to secure this Kingdom, He sends His Holy Spirit into the hearts of redeemed men, granting unto them these unspeakable glories by working in them a new consent to be governed. That whenever any form of supposed authority shows itself to be destructive to these ends, it is the right and policy of God to oppose and abolish it, and to institute His Divine rule, laying its foundation upon the Person and Work of Jesus Christ His Son, and organizing it under the auspices of His Holy Spirit, as seems wisest to Him in effecting their safety and happiness.
ResponsiveReiding 