Peril

(A Prayer entitled "Peril" from The Valley of Vision book of Puritan prayers.)

SOVEREIGN COMMANDER OF THE UNIVERSE,

I am sadly harassed by doubts, fears, unbelief, in a felt spiritual darkness.
My heart is full of evil surmisings and disquietude, and I cannot act faith at all.
My heavenly pilot has disappeared, and I have lost my hold on the rock of ages;
I sink in deep mire beneath storms and waves, in horror and distress unutterable.
Help me, O Lord, to throw myself absolutely and wholly on thee, for better, for worse, without comfort, and all but hopeless.
Give me peace of soul, confidence, enlargement of mind, morning joy that comes after night heaviness;
Water my soul richly with divine blessings;
Grant that I may welcome thy humbling in private so that I might enjoy thee in public;
Give me a mountain top as high as the valley is low.
Thy grace can melt the worst sinner, and I am as vile as he;
Yet thou hast made me a monument of mercy, a trophy of redeeming power; in my distress let me not forget this.
All-wise God, Thy never-failing providence orders every event.
Sweetens every fear, reveals evil’s presence lurking in seeming good, brings real good out of seeming evil, makes unsatisfactory what I set my heart upon, to show me what a short-sighted creature I am, and to teach me to live by faith upon thy blessed self.
Out of my sorrow and night give me the name Naphtali - “satisfied with favour” - help me to love thee as thy child, and to walk worthy of my heavenly pedigree.

Pithy Comments

Never underestimate the power of words. What are some of your favorite (short) quotes from books, sermons, heros, parents etc? If it's a really good one I'll post it.

I like this one by John Bunyan:

"Do you see more worth and merit in one drop of Christ's blood to save you, than in all the sins of the world to condemn you?"

(Keep in mind this is poetic language, Jesus could not have ransomed us with a paper cut).

The Great Eight

Romans is probably the most complete (and therefore the most important) book in the Bible. Romans Chapter 8 is probably the most important chapter in the Bible. Romans 3:23-26 is probably the most important paragraph in the Bible. Romans chapter 1 verse 16 is probably the most important verse in the Bible. (Notice my epistemological humility by using the word "probably").
I have mentioned this before but I go back to Romans 8 over and over again. The puritans called it "The Great Eight" and for good reason. It is massively helpful in thinking through the Christian life.
I would encourage you all to meditate deeply on this remarkable chapter. Drink heavily from it's meaning and comfort that it brings.

Question: What Was Jill's Study Bible?

Answer:
She had the "Reformation Study Bible" which is a great resource. You can find it here at the Westminster Bookstore.

While the Reformation Study Bible is a great resource, an even better resource that only recently came out is the ESV Study Bible. The scholars that worked on it are more broad than the Reformation Study Bible and it has more content. This study Bible can be found here at a cheap introductory price.

Why I Quote John Piper Often

Some may not know who John Piper is, but he has been extremely influential in my life. About 10 years ago I was introduced to him through the book "Desiring God" from my father-in-law, and I have never been the same since. He helped me to see God in all of His glory by unfolding the Scriptures to me and showing that my desire to be joyful and God's desire to be glorified are not at odds. The maxim by which he lives is biblical and helpful- "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him."

I have been criticized for my seeming "devotion" to this man, and perhaps that criticism has not been completely unfounded, but one of the main things I have learned from John Piper is that God is my rock, my shelter, and my hope. No created person or thing can be that for me.

One of the reasons that I quote John Piper so much in times like these is that he is one of the few people who constantly talks about suffering. So when I'm suffering and I want to hear some biblical, encouraging words, he is who I go to. In addition to "Christian Hedonism" his ministry is probably most closely associated with enduring suffering. I am never not helped by what he has to say and am thankful to God for his servant John Piper.

I said all that to say that in the area of preaching to yourself it is good to have examples of this, and John Piper preached this sermon after being diagnosed with cancer and having his prostate removed. In it he gives some good counsel on preaching the gospel to yourself.

Preach To Yourself

I have been familiar with the concept of preaching to myself for a while now. It has recently become even more important. As I have been able to read through Jill's notebook, she was constantly preaching to herself. Her devotional life is a great example of a radical, realistic, and persistent dependence on Jesus.

Here are five reasons to preach to yourself:
1. We are stupid- It takes at least 5 times of us hearing something for it to get into our heads and even more to get into our hearts.
2. God's Word is powerful- If we truly believe the Bible to be what it claims to be we should hide it in our hearts and one of the best ways to do that is to constantly remind yourself what it says.
3. The Psalmist does this over and over.
4. It means that you recognize your dependence on God for sustaining your spiritual life.
5. It's a good way to redeem the time and gives you opportunity to reflect on your many imperfections.

Reminder: Letters to Bryce

This is a repost of the information for the project "Letters to Bryce." Some have had trouble sending the letters by email. If you continue to have trouble please try emailing them to lfwatson(at)gmail.com.

We have set up an e-mail address for people to send letters to. After the deadline we will compile these letters into a book for Bryce to have. So, here are the instructions:

Please write a letter TO BRYCE telling about what Jill meant to you and how she influenced your life. Yes, Scott will probably read these to him when he is little, but we want him to have this book forever. Please be detailed and share any fun memories of her that are SPECIFIC to your relationship with her. E-mail them to letterstobryce@gmail.com. If you would like to include any pictures you might have of Jill, please do that as well. You can also include any newspaper articles or other scrapbook type items. If you need to mail anything, you can mail it to Lindsey Watson, 2404 Broadview Ave, Conway, AR 72034. Please note "letters to bryce" on the outside of the envelope. PLEASE DO THIS BY JANUARY 1ST, 2009. Cari Calhoun and I will compile all of these letters and pictures into a book.

Please note - Scripture and poetry are great and we want that, but please include a letter of at least one thing about Jill and/or your relationship to her. Thank you so very much!
Lindsey Watson

Trusting God in the Midst of Suffering Part II

Job 1:1-2:10

A very popular theology today is the Health Wealth and Prosperity teaching. It says that if you have enough faith, your business will prosper. You won’t get sick. Tragedy will not strike. You won’t be late on your bills. God wants you to live in “total victory” as one popular teacher has said. This is the exact opposite of what Christ promised us.
Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them m to continue in n the faith, and saying that o through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Matt 10:26, 25 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
John 15:20 - Remember the word that I said to you: g ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

II. God Owes Us Nothing vs 1
God owes none of us an easy life of health, material wealth, free of sorrow. One of the points of this book is that Job was the “best” man, yet God allowed unimaginable pain and sorrow to come into his life. We must not understand pain and sorrow as purely God’s retributive justice for our actions. In other words, it is not always the case that righteous people prosper and wicked people suffer. There are many instances where the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer.

1. Remember when Katrina happened, and some televangelists said it was because of homosexuality or gambling? The truth is that if we got what we deserved Katrina would come and land in our backyard.
2. Vs 14-17 God does not owe it to us to prevent people from sinning against us. Even though it was sinful for the Chaldeans to attack Job, God in allowing them to do so was not acting in an unjust manner. Think about what this means. Anytime anyone sins against you, God could have stopped them but didn’t and He is not blameworthy.
3. Vs 6-12 God does not owe it to us to prevent Satan from attacking us.
4. The reason God does not owe us a good life is because we have sinned against Him. Even the best of us have nothing we can hold over God’s head. We cannot blame Him as being unjust. We see Job’s repentance in Job 42:6.
5. A popular question that many people ask is “Why do bad things happen to good people?” There is even a book by that title written by Rabbi Harold Kushner.

a. The logic is that some people are “good” and others are “bad” and in our minds it is unjust for bad things to happen to good people. This is a logical question to ask of this passage, but it is not a legitimate question to ask, ever. It is a loaded question like “Have you stopped beating your wife?” If someone asked me that it would be loaded. A loaded question presumes some truth and then answering the question legitimizes the asker’s inferred point. The load is that I am currently beating my wife, if I answer the question I either beat her in the past or am still currently beating her. The question about why bad things happen to good people presupposes that there is such a thing as “good people” which the Bible is explicit in saying there are none (Rom 3:9-10).
b. A better question to ask would be “Why in the world doesn’t God immediately destroy any and all who sin? Where is the outrage at God’s failure to execute justice? If there is any outrage to be had it ought to be because God forgives sin. He is the just judge of the universe and I have committed the most heinous atrocities against His great Name, and yet He forgives. What a scandal! What a brazen disregard for justice! How could He possibly overlook sin? Nobody talks that way, but that is much more legitimate than asking “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Why does anything good happen to treasonous sinners like us?

III. God intends even the worst experiences for our good. We see this later in 33:17 that God intends suffering for our good. We learn from Romans 8:28 that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. This is one of the greatest promises of the Bible, and we should constantly be banking on this.

IV. Conclusion- How should we respond to tragedy?

1. All of what we have said (God is sovereign, God owes us nothing, God intends evil for our good) does not mean that we don’t have real pain and real sorrow. It does not mean that we won’t be devastated by calamities, but it does mean that when we fall, we fall on Christ, Job had incredible, unbearable pain. As we heard in Romans chapter 8 a few weeks ago “in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Not “instead of these things…” Part of the Christian walk is sorrow and pain, and it is real. Experiencing pain is no sign of unbelief, but it is important to note that we do not mourn as those without hope (I Thess. 4:13). In a sense our suffering should be worship. When we mourn we recognize God's gifts as valuable. We don’t need pasted on smiles and a fake chipper attitude, be broken, yet always rejoicing. II Cor 6:10.
2. What about anger? We never have a legitimate reason to be mad at God. That doesn’t mean that we won’t be mad at God, and if we are, we should admit it.
3. We should respond to God in faith and worship (Job 1:20-21), not because we necessarily like or even understand our circumstances, but because we trust God that He means this for our good and realize we have no grounds to be angry at Him.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan his work in vain
God is His own interpreter
And He will make it plain

4. We should respond in repentance (Job 42:6), realizing that our time is coming to, and we need to be prepared. Luke 13:4-5
5. The answer to the question about why God doesn’t destroy us immediately is found in our evangelism verse Romans 3:24-25. “In God’s divine forbearance He had passed over former sins” Why did God pass over former sins? Answer: the cross. Why is God patient toward us? Answer the cross. Why does God plead with us, and give us opportunity after opportunity to repent? Answer the cross. Job’s situation pushes us to the cross where we can find our peace with God. That is where He made peace with us, so that is where we should go to find it. We believe that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ, and so any pain and suffering that we experience is not punishment for sin, but is a painful but necessary surgery to rid us of our imperfections.

And now come, broken, to the cross,
Where Christ embraced all human loss,
And let us bow before the throne
Of God, who gives and takes his own,
And promises – whatever toll
He takes – to satisfy our soul.
Come, learn the lesson of the rod:
The treasure that we have in God.
He is not poor nor much enticed
Who loses everything but Christ.

First Question: Warning! Deep Theological Reflection Ahead!

Dear Jonathan,

Greetings. I have a question regarding the sermon notes that you posted today. If I understand you correctly--I might not have--this past Sunday, you preached that the idea that God lacks exhaustive knowledge of the future is un-biblical. (I take it that you have in mind the "Open" view of God?) While I do not wish to drag you into a debate on this point, I would find it helpful if you could provide me with concrete reasons why you hold to this strong claim. In particular, I am wondering if you think that there are exegetical, theological, or perhaps even philosophical reasons to think that the open view is contrary to the Scriptures. Many thanks.

Sincerely,
XXXX


Then I responded with this answer:

Thank you very much for the question.
I certainly had the "Open" view of God's knowledge in mind when writing the sermon.
There are many exegetical reasons to believe the Open View to be error including:
Isaiah 41:21-29- Part of God's "Godness" is dependent upon Him knowing what the future holds and being able to declare exactly what will happen. (See also Isaiah 45:18-25 and 46:9). There is also the issue of Psalm 139 etc. where God is said to have very specific foreknowledge (David's words before they are spoken, his days before they are lived etc) that the "Open" view could not explain. There are many New Testament texts where Jesus makes specific predictions about what will happen in the future- John 13:19. Jesus predicts Peter will deny Him 3 times (not 2, not 4, not 15, but 3)- John 13:38 and 18:19-27. Jesus predicts the kind of death Peter will die John 21:18-19.

The theological reasons would simply be the understanding of these and other texts to teach that God has exhaustive divine foreknowledge and that that type of knowledge is inconsistent with the belief that God doesn't know the actual decisions of His free creatures (even though in the Open view He may know all future possibilities). I would understand the "repentance" texts and the God "changing His mind" texts as anthropomorphic (this word means "attributing human characteristics to God in order to communicate some other truth about God"- for example when the Bible talks about God's arm, or hand) because some of them taken literally would imply a lack of knowledge of present realities (Genesis 22:1-19- In this text God is said to only know Abraham's heart at the point where he raises the knife), and they seem to be much less clear than the exhaustive knowledge texts.

Philosophical reasons would be the Open view's problem with the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture, that is, how could God ensure that the writings of the Bible were exactly what He wanted under this view? Also, how could God ensure that Christ's death would occur exactly as it did?

I know this is oversimplified and short, but I figure that's enough to get the dialogue going.

I appreciate you asking the question.

For reading I would recommend (if you are unaware of the relevant books) God's Lesser Glory by Bruce Ware (where I got most of my Scripture refs). No Other God by John Frame, Beyond the Bounds eds. Piper, and Taylor. I have read (some of) Most Moved Mover by Pinnock, God of the Possible by Boyd, and Is God to Blame? by Boyd on the Open side.

In Christ,

Jonathan

Here was the reply

Dear Jonathan,

Thanks so much for taking time to respond to my question. I have been reading and thinking about these issues for many years, although I have not had the opportunity to do a really in-depth study of the issues. I have worries on both sides. For one thing, I am not convinced that proponents of Open Theism really understand the classical doctrines of impassibility and immutability that they claim to be rejecting. I believe that the classical doctrines allow for responsiveness on God's part even while maintaining that God eternally has exhaustive (fore)knowledge. On the other side, I get worried when classical theists throw around the idea of divine sovereignty as if just mentioning this fact conclusively ends the debate. There seems to be a tendency for classical theists to miss the fact that God could have sovereignly chosen not to micromanage human behavior. Also, unless you are going to go whole hog supralapsarian, the problem of evil seems to be a particularly potent liability for the classical theist position--at least as far as I can tell.

Thanks again for your helpful response.

Sincerely,
XXXX


To which I responded

Thanks for your response.
I agree that some Open proponents may not understand impassibility or immutability, but I think one of the main problems with this view is that they have not thought it all the way through to the end. There are just too many doctrines that are called into question when holding an Open view of God's knowledge and interaction with creatures. They truly believe in libertarian freewill, while compatibilistic freedom is a much more biblical position (Gen 50:20, Acts 2:23, 4:2-28, Phil 2:12-13 etc.). I would much rather err on the side God's freedom than man's freedom.
The debate is certainly more difficult than most people know, and as I've studied the Open view, I have seen that their position is stronger than I thought, but I still am not persuaded. Another problem is the direction that some of the proponents are naturally drifting. John Sanders for instance says that Christ's intention to die on the cross was not set until the garden of Gethsemane. Here is the relevant citation.
As far as God responding to His people, and having real emotional responses (in accord with His nature as a lover of good, hater of evil, comforter of the downtrodden etc.), I don't see God's divine sovereignty, exhaustive knowledge, impassibility and immutability as necessarily contradictory to these activities of God.
Thanks again,
In Christ,
Jonathan

Disclaimer: I realize that this dialogue assumes a basic knowledge of these issues. For more information on the "Open" view of God also known as "Open Theism" please read this article on Wikipedia.

If anyone has any questions please let me know.

Jonathan

Snake Bit

I have heard people respond about the two tragedies that have hit our church in many ways. One such instance that I heard of is someone referring to our church as being “snake bit”. The phrase “snake bit” refers to being cursed or unlucky. Not to be judgmental but this phrase demonstrates a small view of God. My two staff members mean the world to me. They are my brothers in arms. Donny is one of the greatest fathers I have ever known and I have had to watch him bear the loss of his daughter. Scott loved his wife more than anyone I know and I cannot bear to think about the pain he is experiencing and will experience in the coming days. I have been forever changed by these events. It is an odd thing to be both in the middle of the grief and also in another sense watching it from the outside. It is hard to explain the wounds that have been inflicted to my soul through watching my brothers suffer. God draws for us a much more crooked path than I ever imagined. This is not the carefree Christian life that I expected but it is the one that God has graciously given me. If I could not stand on the rock hard foundation of the sovereignty of God I think I would go insane. Is Wyatt snake bit, cursed, or unlucky? I guess that all depends on how big your God is. I guess in one sense we have all been snake bit. The serpent in the garden struck us hard and the suffering is still being experienced through death, sin, and all matter of pain. But, we serve a God that brought his heel down firmly on the snake’s head and redeemed us from the bite. On the cross Christ redeemed both our sin and our pain. Me, Donny, Scott, and Wyatt believe in a God who is working out his plan according to his good and perfect will. Our loss is substantial and our pain is very real, but our God is big. Is there any other type of God worth worshiping? Though he slays Wyatt, yet we hope in Him (Job 13:15). Do you?