Quote d’Jour

His Word … is a more direct and more certain mark whereby he is to be recognized.

Just Sayin’

Scripture, acting like glasses, clearly reveals to us who is the true God. The Word of God both combats our confused knowledge and dullness. This is important for us to humbly confess. Our knowledge of God is severely out of whack with the Scripture’s revelation of Him. How many times have you been surprised by what you read in the Bible that challenged your notion of God and His ways? Moreover, we are dull. That is, we would not have come to these things on our own. Our ways are not God’s. Our thoughts are not His, either (Isaiah 55:8). To live without Biblical knowledge is to risk missing the very salvation revealed there. That is why the Biblical ignorance in our day is so very, very dangerous. Too many who thought they were on the road to the celestial city will hear from the key resident there that they are unknown to him (Matthew 7:23).

Quote d’Jour

We raise up in [the true God’s] stead dreams and specters of our own brains.

Just Sayin’

If the worship and theology of our day exposes the sort of god we imagine and praise, then it seems we have raised up quite a variety of gods, indeed. Let’s see, there is the god of “your best life now.” Let’s call that god the god of success ‘n life. There’s the liberal god of the social gospel and his counter-part; the conservative god of right-wing evangelicalism. There’s the health and wealth god of material prosperity and the therapeutic god of good feelings and elated emotion. The god of moralism merely wants Johnny to be good and the god of deism is a good old-fashioned English gentleman who will not bother you unless you decide you need him. The god of individualism does not require you to bother with the communion of the saints and the god of entertainment is satisfied with rock bands, skits and youth trips to amusement parks. The god of self is vitally interested in the way you want to worship, live and think. The God of the Holy Scriptures says to all these sincere, loving, kind and very, very nice worshippers, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23).

Now we must also hold that all who corrupt pure religion – and this is sure to happen when each is given to his own opinion – separate themselves from the one and only God. The wisdom of God is not understood by the princes of this world (1 Cor. 2:8). It is therefore no wonder that the Holy Spirit rejects as base all cults contrived through the will of men; for in the heavenly mysteries, opinion humanly conceived, even if it does not always give birth to a great heap of errors, is nevertheless the mother of error. From where comes this law to mortals that they may by their own authority define what far surpasses the world? Therefore, since tradition is too frail a bond of piety to follow in worshipping God, it remains for God himself to give witness of himself from heaven.

Quote d’jour

The Holy Spirit rejects as base all cults contrived through the will of men Just sayin’

just sayin’…

Where do we get the idea that we can have church – it’s worship, doctrine and life – our way. Oh, yeah, Burger King. We get it from Burger King. Their slogan fits us perfectly: “Have it Your Way.” Burger King’s ad execs have done a great job positioning their company for the American psyche. To our mind, the consumer is king. We have an embedded idea that if you don’t give it to me the way I want it, I’ll go somewhere else where they will. So, then, I ask Calvin’s question again, where does this come from? For at least 30 years, the American church has adopted the same mentality in “selling” itself to the American population. Give ‘em what they want, and they’ll pack out the house. There are enough mega-churches to deceive us that it works (which to the American mind is the measure of success). The Holy Spirit rejects anything conceived by the opinion of men as sordid, corrupt and vile.

quote d’jour

No mortal ever contrived anything that did not basely corrupt religion.

just sayin’…

I can’t help wondering what Calvin would say if he could see what is going on in the name of “church” in our day. Log in to alittleleaven.com and compare what you see to our quote of the day. “Shameful Diversity” just doesn’t quite cover the extent of the madness that is happening in the name of worship, fellowship and the preaching of the gospel. In the attempt to attract crowds to church, it seems we have forgotten God himself. Truly, there is no end to the list of superstitions with which the church has been entangled!

Although the Lord represents both himself and his everlasting Kingdom in the mirror of his works with very great clarity, such is our stupidity that we grow increasingly dull toward so manifest testimonies, and they flow away without profiting us. With regard to the most beautiful structure and order of the universe, how many of us are there who, when we lift our eyes to heaven or cast them about through the various regions of earth, recall our minds to a remembrance of the Creator, and do not rather, disregarding their Author, sit idly in contemplation of his works! Not only the common fools and dull-witted men, but also the most excellent and those otherwise endowed with keen discernment, are infected with this disease.

quote d’jour

Such is our stupidity that we grow increasingly dull toward so manifest testimonies.

just sayin’…

Scripture makes it clear that God has left no doubt about his eternal power and divine nature from what He has created (Romans 1:19). We stand amazed – and a bit confused – how those attributes of God could possibly be understood by what God has made. Perhaps the thought occurs that God could have done a better job revealing Himself! One may ask, “How do you extract the meaning of God’s eternal power from looking at a tree?” Fundamentally, then, we tend to accuse God of lacking good communication skills rather than admitting that the problem is not with our perception, what Calvin calls our dullness. So, we marvel at the purple mountains majesty without worshipping the majestic God who created it. That is what the Apostle Paul said amounts to worshipping created things rather than the Creator.

Knowledge of (God), then, ought not only to arouse us to the worship of God but also to awaken and encourage us to the hope of the future life. For since we notice that the examples that the Lord shows us both of this clemency and of his severity are inchoate (beginning) and incomplete, doubtless we must consider this to presage even greater things, the manifestation and full exhibition of which are deferred to another life. There will be another life in which iniquity is to have its punishment and righteousness is to be given its reward. Indeed, Augustine’s remark is well known: “If now every sin were to suffer open punishment, it would seem that nothing is reserved for the final judgment.

quote d’jour

Knowledge of God, then, ought to arouse us to worship

just sayin’…

What arouses us to worship? It is rather common to think that music arouses people to worship. Sing 45 minutes of singing that pull on the heart-strings and, voila! worship happens. It has become so common to think this way that worship itself has been redefined as singing. Try to argue that knowledge arouses people to worship and you will be relegated to antiquity and told to “get with it.” Contemplate, however, the doctrines of the holiness of God and our own corruption and the free grace of God in Christ that has rescued us from eternal wrath, and one has to be dead not to be aroused to “worth-ship.” Who knew that doctrine had anything to do with worship?

We ought to observe that we are called to a knowledge of God: not that knowledge which, content with empty speculation, merely flits in the brain, but that which will be sound and fruitful if we duly perceive it, and if it takes root in the heart. We must therefore be much more profoundly affected by this knowledge than if we were to imagine a God of whom no perception came through to us. Consequently, we know the most perfect way of seeking God, and the most suitable order, is not for us to attempt with bold curiosity to penetrate to the investigation of his essence, which we ought more to adore than meticulously to search out, but for us to contemplate him in his works whereby he renders himself near and familiar to us, and in some manner communicates himself.

quote d’jour

We … are called to a knowledge of God …that … will be sound and fruitful if … it takes root in the heart.

just sayin’

Sherlock Holmes was fond of telling his side-kick, Dr. Watson, “You see but you do not observe.” All too often, this rings true of us. Even after we are Christians, we do not spend much time contemplating God. We may have knowledge that “merely flits in the brain” but doesn’t take “root in the heart.” I suppose we are too busy being entertained and perfer our information in sound-bites rather than endure the work to unearth the treasures of wisdom and knowledge found in God’s creation, not to mention the revelation of His Word. When Deitrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian and pastor, studied in America, he found the seminary students banal, empty and unable to sustain conversation on any significant level. That was 80 years ago! Evidence seems to indicate that the situation hasn’t improved. A book is simply no competition for the remote! And where exists the evening spent in stimulating conversation?

His power shows itself clearly when the ferocity of the impious, in everyone’s opinion unconquerable, is overcome in a moment, their arrogance vanquished, their strongest defenses destroyed, …their strength broken, their machinations overturned, and … when their audacity, which exalted them above heaven, lays them low; when, conversely the humble are raised up from the dust, and the needy are lifted up from the dung heap (Ps. 113:7); the oppressed and afflicted are rescued from their extreme tribulation; the despairing and restored to good hope; the unarmed, few and weak, snatch victory from the armed, many and strong. Indeed, his wisdom manifests his excellence when he dispenses everything at the best opportunity; when he confounds all wisdom of the world (1 Cor. 1:20); when “he catches the crafty in their own craftiness” (1 Cor. 3:19; Job 5:13). In short, there is nothing that he does not temper in the best way.

quote d’jour

There is nothing that he does not temper in the best way.

just sayin’

It does really seem like evil is stronger, unbelievers more powerful and wealthy; while the church is weak and foolish. It is by design, we should think. There are too many Scriptures that point to the fact that God’s kingdom does not come by man’s power, wit, wisdom or wealth. The foolish things of the world confound the wise. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. The King of Kings is born in a manger. He has unknown fishermen for His entourage. He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. He is hung on a cross. On top of all that, He calls us to be losers. Lose your life and you will gain it, he says. Right, we say. It’s most difficult to apprehend. Counter intuitive. It is almost laughable that Calvin says that this is tempering things in the best way. And yet, this is the way of the cross. Christ sets the stage. Emptying himself and not grasping the glory that was his in heaven, he was born of a woman, born under the law and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Now exalted, risen from the dead, he lives forever to make intercession for us. The way up is down. Losing is gaining. Who would have thunk it?

For in administering human society he so tempers his providence that, although kindly and beneficent toward all in numberless ways, he still by open and daily indications declares his clemency to the godly and his severity to the wicked and criminal. For there are no doubts about what sort of vengeance he takes on wicked deeds. Thus he clearly shows himself the protector and vindicator of innocence, while he prospers the life of good men with his blessing, relieves their needs, soothes and mitigates their pain, and alleviates their calamities; and in all these things he provides for their salvation. What great occasion he gives us to contemplate his mercy when he often pursues miserable sinners with unwearied kindness, until he shatters their wickedness by imparting benefits and by recalling them to him with more than fatherly kindness!

quote d’jour

What great occasion he gives us to contemplate his mercy… recalling [miserable sinners] to him with more than fatherly kindness!

just sayin’…

God certainly is patient; far more patient that we would be. How many villians throughout history have made us wonder why God didn’t stop them sooner? While it is easy to lament the continued wickeness of evil people, we must also wonder why God hasn’t turned us into cinders for our consumate wickedness, unrighteousness and sinfulness. The Bible declares not only that God is “abouding in lovingkindness” (Psalm 86:15), but that his patience is for the express purpose to allow us to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? (Romans 2:4)” I believe this helps us by humbling us before a just and merciful God so that we never think ourselves better or more deserving than others. It also encourages us toward new patience with “miserable sinners” so that, rather than condemn them, we show them the way to our God who is abounding in lovingkindness!

Knowledge of God, then, ought not only to arouse us to the worship of God but also to awaken and encourage us to the hope of the future life. For since we notice that the examples that the Lord shows us both of this clemency and of his severity are incomplete, doubtless we must consider this to presage even greater things, the manifestation and full exhibition of which are deferred to another life. Indeed, Augustine’s remark is well known: “If now every sin were to suffer open punishment, it would seem that nothing is reserved for the final judgment.”

Quote d’jour

Knowledge of God, then, ought not only to arouse us to the worship of God but also to awaken and encourage us to the hope of the future life.

Just sayin’

The Bible says to “set your minds on things above” (Col 3:1), but that seems to be quite more difficult for us earth-bound folk to do than say. Unbelievers can’t imagine a final judgment, even though God has certainly revealed one. Too much fire and brimestone for their tastes! Believers have a difficult time not living in the here and now as well. We can’t imagine what “eye has not seen, nor ear heard.” However, the Bible has clearly revealed that there is a heaven beyond imagination. St. Augustine reserves something of “open punishment” for the pagan in eternity. There is also something “kept in heaven” for all who believe (1 Peter 1:5). Knowing that is the internal motivation to worship and provides the hope in this life of a better one ahead for all the saints!