HOW DOES GOD SPEAK TODAY?

"BELOVED, WHEN I GAVE ALL DILIGENCE TO WRITE UNTO YOU OF THE COMMON SALVATION, IT WAS, NEEDFUL FOR ME TO WRITE UNTO YOU, AND EXHORT YOU THAT YE SHOULD EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS." JUDE 3
"AND TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION, AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD." EPHESIANS 6:17
Some people claim that God speaks to them in dreams or visions. One time I asked a woman how she knew that she was saved and she said she knew she was saved because she was in the hospital one night near death and in the middle of the night the Lord appeared to her in a vision and told her not to worry because she was going to get well.
Some people claim that God speaks to them by special revelations or by the gift of prophecy, they claim that God gives them the same type of special revelations which He gave the apostles in New Testament times.
Some claim that God speaks to them through audible voices. I used to know a preacher who was constantly saying "God told me to do this" or "God told me this was going to happen."
Some people claim that God speaks to them through immediate impressions on their minds or what they like to refer to as 1'a still small voice." They talk about the fact that they did this or did that because suddenly they just felt strongly impressed to do so.
How DOES God speak today? How does God reveal his will to us? How does God speak to men today calling them to preach the gospel? How does God speak to us in times of sorrow and death in order to bring comfort and peace? The two verses of our text give us the answers to all these questions.
THE BIBLE IS GOD’S FINAL WORD TO MEN
Jude 3 says "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." "The faith" here does not refer to the faith by which a person receives salvation. It does not refer to the belief in and reliance upon the Lord Jesus Christ by the sinner for salvation. THE faith or literally the ONE faith here speaks of the sum of all the doctrine which the Lord has given his people in his revelation. It speaks of the body of revealed truth. This faith is sometimes referred to in the Bible as the WORD OF FAITH. The FAITH here is an objective term and it refers to the totality of what Christians believe.
Jude speaks of the fact that this faith, this word of God, was DELIVERED to the saints. The Greek word which is translated "delivered1' here means an act completed in the past with no continuing element in it. The force of the word once in the Greek here excludes all thought of repetition. Once for all it means.
God's whole truth for man is contained in the scriptures and has been once for all delivered to man in the Word of God, the Bible. Everything we need to know about God and our relationship to him is found in the written word of God. God's whole truth is contained in the scripture. The Bible is the only special revelation God has given us. God has said his last word to man in his revelation of Jesus Christ in the scriptures. God has said his last divinely inspired word. He has nothing further to add to what He has already said in his written word. No new revelations are to be expected. The word of God has been delivered once for all. The faith has been delivered once for all.
We're not saying that God could not give further revelation if He wanted to. That is not the issue here! We are saying that He does not because that is what Jude and others say in the Bible. The Bible is the full and complete Revelation of God to man.
EVERYTHING necessary for man to know about God, his work, and his will is contained in the scriptures. Nothing more is needed. The scriptures are absolutely sufficient for knowing the things of God. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." Paul says in II Timothy 3:16-17 "...that the man of God may be perfect (Spiritually mature), throughly furnished (totally equipped) unto all good works."
The Bible is the full and complete revelation of God to man. God has nothing more to say to man this side of glory that is not found in the Bible. I love the words of that great old hymn
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION YE SAINTS OF THE LORD IS LAID FOR YOUR FAITH IN HIS EXCELLENT WORD WHAT MORE CAN HE SAY THAN TO YOU HE HATH SAID TO YOU WHO FOR REFUGE TO JESUS HAVE FLED.
Now, if God's revelation is complete there can be no further visions, revelations, sign miracles, or infallible predictions. Visions and dreams from God and audible voices and special gifts of prophecy are actually claims to receiving special or inspired communications from God. Yet the Lord Jesus plainly states in John 15:15 that "All things that I heard from my Father I have made known unto you." How can anyone claim the possibility of more revelation in light of this statement?
Proverbs 30:6 warns us "Add thou not unto his words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Our text in Jude 3 says that the faith has been once for all delivered to the saints. How can one add to faith that has been once for all delivered to the saints? On top of all this the Lord Jesus places an anathema, a curse on anyone who would add to what is written in the Bible. .... If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book..." the Lord says in Revelation 22.
Why is this anathema placed on those who would add to God's book? Because the revelation is complete! Nothing more is needed. God has closed the Book! Revelation is the last book to come from an Apostle. Any prophecy after the times of the Apostles has the anathema of God upon it.
The position which Baptists have taken on this matter throughout history is expressed very plainly in the Philadelphia Confession of Faith.
"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; unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the spirit, or traditions of men."Many people today want "a fresh message from heaven" rather than the Holy Scriptures. Some blinded eyes read the very sayings of the Son of God and look away for more exciting things! People who seek dreams and VISIONS as revelations from God are implying very strongly that the Bible is not able to make a man perfect and throughly furnished unto all good works. They are denying the sufficiency of the scriptures!
One of the leading writers in the modern Pentecostal movement, Mr. Henry W. Frost, has made this very revealing statement in his book "Miraculous Healing" (pg. 109-110):
"1t may confidently be anticipated as the present apostasy increases that Christ will manifest his deity and Lordship in increasing measure through miracle signs including healings. We are not to say, therefore, that the word is sufficient! It is so to those who know and believe it but it is not so those who have never heard of it or who having heard have disbelieved it. To those persons a dramatic appeal may have to be made and on the plane where such will most easily be understood, namely the physical."This way of thinking openly and without apology denies the absolute sufficiency of the scriptures to meet all the needs of man.
GOD SPEAKS TO MEN TODAY THROUGH THE BIBLE.
The means or the instrument by which God speaks to men today is not visions, not dreams, not voices or special gifts of prophecy. The means by which God speaks today is the written word of God.
Paul says in Ephesians 6:17 "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God." Paul is saying here that the Holy Spirit of God uses the word of God to speak and to do his work in this world today. The written word of God is the sword, the instrument, the tool of the Holy Spirit by which He works in this world speaking to men today. The scriptures are a sharp sword convincing men of sin, threatening the wrath of God, refuting error and heresy, repelling Satan's temptations, and revealing God's will.
The BIBLE and the BIBLE ALONE is the word of God today. And 'the only way the Holy Spirit speaks in this world today is thr6ugh the written word of God, the Bible. It is only in and through the scriptures that we have any knowledge of or contact with Him who is the image of the invisible God.
How do we know God's will today? How do we discover God’s specific will for our own lives? Pastors and counselors and parents and friends may help us to see God’s will and message and meaning but ultimately all these must be based upon the written word. There is no knowledge of God’s will needed by man today which is not either directly stated by the Bible or else may be deduced from the Bible by prayerful consideration.
Every spiritual need that we could possibly have is covered entirely in God's written word. God's word is absolutely sufficient for every possible need that we could have, if not in direct statements then in principles laid down. Again II Timothy 3:16-17 says "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine1 for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works." Listen! The Holy Spirit never reveals anything to the soul that is not in the scriptures! That's right!
Now, what about God's will for your life and mine? How does God reveal his will to us today? First we need to recognize that God’s will is always consistent with God's word. God will not deal with us regarding his will apart from the written word!
What then are we to make of dreams and visions and impressions and gifts of prophecy, etc? What about dreams? Many people take their dreams as being messages from God. We need to understand that at one time or another everyone has dreams. This is a phenomenon which God has built into the human psyche.
There is a lot involved in the matter of dreams. When I worked in the state penitentiary at Granite, Oklahoma I came to realize that the inmates have a high incidence of serious dreams and so I began to do some thinking and study on the subject of dreams. One thing I found was the fact that in our sleep our minds and especially our subconsciousnesses run free and uninhibited. Many times what we have heard or thought of or have been reminded of in the previous 24 hours comes back into our dreams at night.
I also found that such things as guilt and especially guilt stir up the subconscious mind so that its thoughts in dreams become much more vivid and serious many times. Men who feel their guilt have nightmares and visions and other serious dreams more frequently than others. Several other things produce and stimulate dreams many times, such things as indigestion and worry.
I also found that dreams are a device which God has built into our minds which aids us in remaining asleep when we are about to wake up or are in a shallow or light sleep. So dreams have a purpose in God's scheme of things but this purpose is not to reveal God’s message or God’s will!
What about the strong impressions we sometimes get encouraging us to do things for the Lord? The danger in relying upon impressions as being messages or directions from God is that there are other spiritual beings and influences besides the Holy Spirit which can give us impressions. I John 4:1 says "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." And the standard by which we judge the spirits is, of course, the written word of God.
When a woman feels "impressed" or "feels led" to preach she is not moved by the Holy Spirit but is led by "another spirit" because the written word of God through which the Spirit of God speaks strictly forbids women to preach in I Timothy 2:12. If a Christian young person "feels led" to marry an unbeliever he is moved by "another spirit" than the Holy Spirit because the written word of God strictly forbids this in II Corinthians 6:14-18.
No we must not live according to our own intuitions and impressions apart from the written word of God. We must measure these impressions by the word of God. We must seek what God says in his word. The criterion for judging the Spirit's leadership in all things is the written word of God. Everything must be measured by the word of God. The Holy Spirit does impress people to do things. But His impressions are always in connection with and based upon and consistent with the written word of God.
The Holy Spirit disposes the heart to the truth and to the duties that are taught in the scriptures. When we receive a strong impression to witness to someone about the Lord Jesus Christ it is because the Holy Spirit is using the word of God which tells us to preach the gospel to every creature. At some point we have read or heard that command in God's written word and He is impressing this upon our hearts in relation to some particular individual.
But let's think a little more about the work of the Holy Spirit speaking through the written word. How does the Holy Spirit speak through the word? How does He speak through the written word of God?
It is possible for a man to know the Bible and yet not always know the will of God. The Jews in the Lord's day had the scriptures and knew them to the very letter and yet they did not know God the Son when He appeared in their midst. What was wrong?
The word of God is a sword, a sharp two-edged sword but its effectiveness depends on the Holy Spirit. Without the working of the Holy Spirit in the word the word is not effectual. The Holy Spirit makes the word of God effectual and powerful. One preacher puts it like this: THE SPIRIT WILL NOT TEACH US WITHOUT THE WORD. THE WORD WILL NOT TEACH US WITHOUT THE SPIRIT.
This teaching work of the Holy Spirit, this wielding of the word of the Spirit which is the word of God, is what we usually refer to as the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit’s work of illumination. John Owen has defined illumination like this:
"The effectual operation of the Holy Spirit, freeing our minds from darkness, ignorance, and prejudice, enabling them to discern spiritual things in a proper manner."The inward illumination of the Spirit of God is necessary for a saving understanding of the things that are revealed in the word. We cannot have any proper understanding of the word at all without this work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit enlightens our understanding and moves our wills to do what pleases God. The Holy Spirit works in and through the word opening our understanding to the teachings and warnings and condemnations and invitations in the word of God. God speaks today by the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit opening the understandings of those in whom He works to do his will as revealed in his word.
SOME APPLICATIONS
First if God speaks through the written word, the sword of the Spirit, then we must become diligent students of the word if we want to know his will. In this matter of finding and knowing the will of God most problems could be solved if instead of asking "is this GOD'S will?" we would ask "is this according to God's Word?"
In every decision we make, in every plan we form, in every action we execute, let us ask "is this in harmony with God's written word?" If something is in harmony with God's word then we can be sure that it is God’s will because God's will is revealed in his word. If I am doing what the scriptures teach then I must be led by the Spirit of God because the Spirit never leads anyone to act contrary to God's written word.
Second if God speaks only through his word today then it is essential that we pray for the Holy Spirit to illuminate and enlighten us so that we may profit from the revelation which we already have. We do not need further revelations from God. We need to pray for the Spirit of God to illuminate us to understand his word which we already have. We need to earnestly pray for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to open the eyes of our understanding. We need to pray with David in Psalm 119:18 "Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." This is a prayer for the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly if the Bible is the faith once for all delivered to the saints as Jude 3 says it is then we must preach and teach and distribute the word of God with all our might. In no other way can the world ever be conformed by the will of God in salvation, in everyday living, in everything.
Fourthly if we are called upon to earnestly contend for the faith which He has once for all given to the saints, the faith about which He has given us his last word, then we must reject every claim to new revelations from God. Neither angels nor miracles should lead us to accept any further additions to the written word of God. The written word of God is perfect, it is complete, it is sufficient and the man of God must thus refuse all other revelations. Because the revelation of God is complete and because the Holy Spirit works only through the written word of God every claim to have revelation in addition to what God has already given in the Bible is false and must be rejected.
Some cults claim God has spoken through other books written since the Bible was written. Thus we have "Science And Health With Key To The Scriptures" and "The Book Of Mormon" and "Doctrines And Covenants" and "The Pearl Of Great Price," etc. One of the marks of a cult is their claim that there are other books and other revelations needed in addition to the Bible and that God has spoken since the Bible was finished.
CONCLUSION
The Bible, the precious word of God is so very important. Everything involved in salvation and life in the here and in the hereafter depends upon the Bible.
God speaks to lost sinners through the Bible. The Bible tells men and women, boys and girls that they are lost in sin and bound for hell because of their sins. The Bible tells us that there is nothing a sinner can do to save or to help save himself. It tells us that salvation is a matter of God’s grace and that only as the Holy Spirit regenerates a sinner and gives him spiritual life can he ever repent of his sins and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved.
Sinner friend, the Bible both commands and invites you to repent of your sins and come to Christ for salvation. May the Holy Spirit illuminate your heart today enlightening your eyes so that you may understand and respond to God's will as it is revealed in his word.


Victory Baptist Church 9601 Blue Ridge ExtensionKansas City, MO 64134Author:Laurence A. Justice, Pastor

HOME The Woman’s Place

HOME
The Woman’s Place

The place of the woman is a hotly debated issue. It is also an important issue, because everybody on earth is affected by the women and the part these women play in their lives. Henri F. Amiel said, "...Woman is the salvation or destruction of the family. She carries its destinies in the folds of her mantle."1 The woman not only holds the fate of the family in her hand, but history also rests in her arms. The babies born to mothers all over the world today will one day make history.2
So, we see the need for each of us to decide whether the place of the woman is at home, or if it is of no importance if she decides to leave the home.
I think it will be well worth our while to remember, while we look at this concern, that "Where the heart is willing it will find a thousand ways, but where it is unwilling it will find a thousand excuses."3
The reasons women give for leaving the home are many, and most of them are superficially convincing. The majority of girls and young women today are being raised to believe these excuses. One of these erroneous reasons for leaving the home is that women can not be useful or enjoy the feelings of being beneficial if they stay at home.4 Another favorite excuse is that it would be a waste of her life, education, and mental and physical abilities for woman to spend her life at home.5 Women, who need a good reason to stay away from home, will often bring their health into the picture. These women have heard stories or rumors of stay-at-home women suffering from bad health, mental and physical, due to the hard work, never ending routines, and lack of mental stimulus, that are said to be a part of spending long periods of time in the home.6
Working women also need to explain why they leave their families. Working wives will say, "My husband is out of the home during the day. I don’t need to stay there." Working mothers will explain that their children need to learn to be "independent,"7 or that someone else can do a fine job of raising their children and caring for their home.8 There are a fraction of working women that believe that their families really need them. They think that spending the time before and after work hours with their families is enough to satisfy their needs.9 Most working mothers will agree with Brenda Hunter, a former feminist, when she said, "I believed sincerely that they (her children) would not be hurt as I pursued personal fulfillment through my teaching career."10
The most popular excuse used by working women is the need for the money. By making money, they believe they can provide their families with a better lifestyle and their children with so many more opportunities. Unfortunately society has slowly but surely changed from valuing a woman for what she is to measuring her value by what she earns.11
Putting into practice the belief, that women should work out of the home, has an affect on ourselves, other people, homes, society, and history. When we look at the results of women working out of the home, it is easy to think of only her, the woman. To be fair we need to consider not only her but also those whom her absence affects.12 We will look at her first. At first glance it seems the most important result of a woman working out of the home is that she has more money. Theoretically she should be able to have new clothes, new carpets, more modern furniture, and anything else she wants. We often overlook the fact that working women also have more bills to pay, such as for a babysitter, someone to wash and iron clothes, and maybe somebody to clean her house.13 Added money has also opened the door for women to smoke, drink wine and other strong drinks, and eat out a lot more then stay-at-home women. All of these things can be harmful to the health.14 A result of these open doors is that the tally of alcoholic women has risen rapidly, lung cancer is becoming more common in women, more women are committing suicide, and the percentage of women entangled in major crimes has grown significantly.15 Working out of the home has also caused many women to be unfaithful to their husbands.16 If we stop and look around us we can all see the effect unfaithfulness has on homes and lives. Outside work has also failed to give women an escape from routines and demands, that are linked to staying at home. Outside jobs have turned women into machines that fulfill their daily production quota.17 Feminists often excuse themselves for working out of the home by saying that staying at home causes depression. Maggie Scarf, who wrote the book Unfinished Business has canceled out this excuse. Based on the findings of the Yale Depression Unit, she says that wives working out of the home and wives working in the home are equally susceptible to being depressed. It is interesting to note that she also found that the husbands of working wives are more vulnerable to depression, then the husbands of homemakers.18 It appears to me that the work place offers a golden dream to women, but this dream is not reality.
Working out of the home will even rob a woman of peace of mind. Guilt, worry, and unhappiness usually follow a working woman. No matter what working women say about how it is right to leave their homes and families, most of them contend with guilt. As one author put it, "The struggle here is clearly internal. It is themselves they seek to convince of the purity of their motives, the righteousness of their actions, while all their instincts tell them that they are doing something wrong."" 19 Happiness is what most working women profess, but from their lives the opposite can often be seen. One working mother confessed, "It’s hard to be happy with my life when I’m so concerned about my children."20 Even if these women don’t have children, it is hard for them to be truly happy when they aren’t doing what they were made to do. Along with guilt and unhappiness, worry hounds the working women, especially mothers. One converted feminist said, "I found it hard to forget about her (my baby) and turn all my energies in the direction of work. I worried about her development and the quality of care she would receive in my absence."21
Some women might sacrifice their peace of mind if that was all that needed to be sacrificed to work out of the home, but we need to think of the children, that working mothers leave behind. Children of working mothers are supposed to be able to tell everything they want to tell "mommy" and ask anything they want in the few minutes she has while she wakes them up, or puts them to bed.22 With a little bit of common sense and experience, we can know that that is not possible. If a mother is going to work out of the home, she will have to give up a large amount of the time she spends with her children. A mother, who worked out of the home, said, "If you ask me what I had to give up, when I went back to work, I’d say it was that – my talks with Sally (her daughter)"23
Working mothers also have little, if any, time to enjoy being with their children. "Most of the time I am barking orders at them because now they have more work to do around the house and are not yet as productive as they need to be," is how one working mother described her time at home.24 It seems that the little bit of time that the mother is home is not very enjoyable for all involved.
When the mother leaves the home, she takes the child’s security with her. A well-known author, C. S. Lewis, whose mother died before he became a teenager, defined his childhood after his mother’s death like this, "With my mother’s death all settled happiness, all that was tranquil and reliable, disappeared from my life. There was much fun, many pleasures, many stabs of Joy; but no more of the old security. It was sea and islands now; the great continent had sunk like Atlantis."25 An adult woman whose father had died and whose mother worked a full time job said the main sentiment connected to her childhood was loneliness. "Even now," she says, "I remember distinctly the cold fear that enveloped me as I unlocked the front door and entered the darkened apartment." " No matter how sunny the weather outside, no matter how warm the air," she continued, "the atmosphere of our empty home was dark and forbidding."26
A child is hurt by the lack of this security. Despite everything working mothers try to do to make up for their daily absences, the number of teenage suicides have increased.27 One adult, who as a child her mother had worked and whose father had passed away, said, "Even though mother telephoned to inquire about my day, her call did not make me feel suddenly warmed and loved."28 Finally, these children that have become "independent" often experiment with drugs and other equally dangerous things.29
It appears to me that the cost of a woman working out of the home outweighs the benefits. Does making more money compensate for losing your family? Do the feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction, that the woman says she has from holding a job, make up for the feelings of fear and insecurity that her children have?
Before we can say conclusively that the woman belongs in the home, we need to determine the importance of her job in the home. Many people, women included, assume that the stay-at-home woman’s job only includes the washing, ironing, fixing of meals, cleaning, and the verification that everybody is dressed decently and clean behind the ears. If this were the case, a woman could leave home as long as someone else fulfills her responsibilities in her place. However to the surprise of many, this is not reality.
The high requirements for the job depict the importance of the position. The place of the woman can only be filled by the woman, and not just any woman.30 The wisest man of all times, Solomon, said that the price of the virtuous woman is far above rubies.31 Virtuous women are rare, but to stay at home and do her job well, a woman must be virtuous. Unlike the secretary, a homemaker has to be understanding twenty-four hours a day. A stay-at-home woman has to be truly loving from sunrise to sunrise instead of from eight in the morning to six at night, with an hour off for lunch. It is also of vital importance that the domestic woman be wise.32 As the Bible says, "Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands."33 Also in the Bible, Titus chapter two verses four and five gives us a list of what God expects a woman to be. It says that the older women are to teach the younger women to be "sober (sober in mind; moderate34), to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet (self-controlled; temperate35), chaste (clean; innocent, pure36), keepers at home (a stayer at home; domestically inclined37), good, obedient to their own husbands, ..."38 As you can probably tell, these qualities are not easy to obtain or maintain. Last but not least, a woman must be courageous to fulfill her position in the home. It takes courage not only to stay home and face the problems that arise there, but it takes courage, lots of it, to admit publicly that you are a homemaker.39 As we have seen, the requirements for the woman’s place in the home are much higher then the requirements for any job outside her home.40
Now we come back to the question of is the woman’s place in the home really important? The requirements for the job say it is important, but is the job itself really important? The Bible says it is. Not everyone realizes that the woman’s position in the home has existed since before the fall of man. Before sin came into the world, God said, "it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an helpmeet for him."41 Genesis goes on to recount how the woman was made to fit man’s needs. So, the position of the woman in the home is not punishment for a sin she committed.42
History shows us that what goes on in the home makes a difference. Jonathan Edwards, who was a Godly man, with his wife made a Godly home. Of the estimated one thousand three hundred ninety-four people of the four generations after Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, fourteen were college professors, one hundred were Gospel ministers, sixty practiced medicine, sixty were authors and editors, and more then one hundred of them turned out to be lawyers and judges. Contrast that family and its descendants with the family of a well-known atheist, who lived at about the same time as Jonathan Edwards. Of the one thousand two hundred people produced in the four generations following this God denying man and his wife, four hundred of them wrecked themselves physically, three hundred ten became paupers, one hundred fifty were criminals, and seven committed murder.43 Although the woman is not totally responsible for what goes on in the home and how the children are raised, there are many cases where the children are raised to fear God even though the man of the house is ungodly.
The world may try to belittle the importance of the home, but history reveals the great influence the home has on the world.
The domestic woman spends a lot of her time in the home, and she can set the stage for a lot that happens there. Along with all the manual work that goes into keeping a home, the woman can nurture good physical and mental health in her family. Diet, exercise, and rest all contribute to a person’s well being, and the woman does a lot to determine what kind of diet, how much rest, and the amount of exercise her family receives. The homemaker can also maintain a healthy atmosphere to boost good mental health. A moderate dose of humor, a right outlook on life, and good values in the home direct how people think and act in and out of the home. It will help all involved, if the woman of the house has a listening ear, a helpful and patient attitude, words of encouragement, and educational criticism in her bag of tools.44 What the home is like is important, because people usually reflect the homes they live in.
Children are an important part of many homes, and the influence a mother has on her offspring is sometimes overlooked. It can be said that children are mirrors reflecting their mothers and the home.45 Abraham Lincoln is renown for his desire to read, and for the extent he would go to satisfy this desire. Few people realize that behind this desire was a mother, who covered miles to get a book for him. 46 It has been said in recent history that "...the influence which is exerted upon the mind during the first eight or ten years of existence, in a great degree guides the destinies of that mind for time and eternity."47 Thomas A. Edison realized that at least to some extent, when he said, "My mother was the making of me."48 Lamartine, a poet from France, also acknowledged the influence his mother had on him. "My education was wholly centered in the glance, more or less serene, and the smile, more or less open, of my mother. The reins of my heart were in her hand... I drank deep, above all, from my mother’s mind; I read through her eyes; I felt through her impressions; I lived through her life" he said.49 Just as a mother can influence a child for good, she can influence it for worse. It would be interesting to do a study on criminals and their mothers. As a mother cares for her children bonds develop, the lack of these bonds will often cause depression or a greater tendency toward drugs, etc.. That is another way working mothers have a negative influence on their children.
A baby sitter might be able to care for the physical needs of a child, but children need more than food, clothing, and a place to sleep. 51 Children need security. Mothers are a major source of this security. A working mother, who was convicted of the need to stay home, said, "From years of growing, reading, and listening to my children, I have come to see just how much I contribute to their feelings of security and well-being."52 Children, also, need to learn about life. 53 By word and by deed, a mother can teach her children a variety of things, such as thankfulness and truthfulness. Faith is another long-lasting present that a mother can give child;54 like Eunice gave to her son, Timothy.55
The Bible says, "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones."56 From this we see that the woman of the house without a doubt also affects her husband. She can wreck his life and job like Jezebel and Delilah of old times and so many women today. She can destroy him or she can be the helpmeet she is meant to be. Sarah spent a lifetime helping her husband to serve God and man.57 Priscilla helped her husband to, by, among other things, helping him make tents. 58 Even if you can’t help your husband make tents, you can help him by not complaining, giving him a home to look forward to coming home to, by being there when he needs you, and by the wise use of finances. 59 Henri F. Amiel was truthful when he said the woman carries the destiny of the family, the husband and children, "in the folds of her mantle."1
Staying at home is not easy. The woman pays a price to stay at home. One of the greatest things a woman has to give up, when she becomes a homemaker, is thanks.60 Our mothers were not joking when they said, "Housework is something nobody notices; unless it isn’t done." Just as house work doesn’t bring the woman thanks, it doesn’t bring her glory either. I believe it gives God glory, though, and that should be our goal in life.61 Another thing the woman, who stays at home, has to do without is society’s approval. The author of Where Have All the Mothers Gone? said it very nicely when she wrote, "While the career mother has society’s approbation, the stay-at-home mother has society’s pity and contempt."62 Along with the disapproval of society, a woman’s relatives and\or friends might think her decision to stay at home is wrong. 63 It definitely makes life harder, when those we love strongly disagree with a major decision.
There are other sacrifices that a homemaker must also make. A homemaker must sacrifice herself. The life of a homemaker is demanding.64 The wife and mother must be ready to give up her time alone, a few more hours of sleep, and other things she would like to do to meet the needs of her family. Along with giving of herself, the stay-at-home woman may also be called upon to give up her old family and friends. The old family and friends should not be considered more important then the housewife’s new family and its needs.65 As she helps her husband with the finances, the wife may have to abandon or post-pone her dreams of crystal and gold, and all the conveniences she would like to have.66 Do these sacrifices seem small to you, when you consider the importance of the woman’s place in the home?
The benefits of a woman staying at home are not necessarily material, but they are valuable. Productivity is one of the benefits. The woman will be most productive only as she does what she was made to do.67 Just like a little red wagon in a lake, the woman is out of place in the work place. When everybody fulfills his or her position in the home, there is peace in the home.68 Peace is valuable, because it can not be bought with all the money a woman can make out of the home. Staying at home, in contrast to working out of the home, can improve a woman’s character to a greater extent. The home is a good place to learn patience, perseverance, self-control, longsuffering, gentleness, and how to arrange priorities.69 We can never have too much of these qualities. Best of all when a Christian woman stays at home, she is serving her Lord and being a good testimony for Him.70 For the mother, who sacrifices to stay at home and bring her children up in the strait and narrow way the Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."71 In old age, the knowledge of having done right is more comforting, then years of worldly approval, or tokens of worldly recognition.
There are exceptions. Death does come or the unexpected happens and the woman is left definitely or indefinitely the sole provider of the family. "I have to work out of the home," you say. Must you really work out of the home or could you work in the home? Sewing and other handcrafts, giving music or culinary classes, etc.. are all options to be considered. Working part time, like while the children are in school, is a possibility in certain cases.72 It is a wise idea to prayerfully seek our priorities, before the decision is made about what kind of job to take. In what order of importance does the earning of money, the raising of children, the caring for the home, and God come?73 One mother, who was the sole provider for her home, found that although she never had all her wants, if she had the right priorities, God would supply her needs, even if money seemed to be lacking.74 It is hard to decide whether or not to work out of the home. James chapter one, verse five says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
We have tried to see the most important pro’s and con’s of the woman leaving or staying in the home. It is quite clear that a choice needs to made, and priorities need to be set. The choice is not complicated. This hotly debated issue can be set down in black and white, right and wrong, Biblical and worldly. There are no shades of gray. You can not serve God and man. Remember what we do today does affect the future.
"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." II Peter 3:18
Note to unmarried young women like me: It would be easy to say, "Well, I’m not married, so I don’t have to worry about that stuff." It is true that we don’t have our own homes to care for yet, but we can be getting ourselves ready to care for them. A young woman who likes to be out and about right now, will like to be out and about after she is married. An unsubmissive young woman will be an unsubmissive wife. There isn’t a big bang during the wedding, that immediately makes us everything we should be.
Bibliography
Abbot, John S.C., The Mother at Home. Sterling, VA: Grace Abounding Ministries, Inc., 1984.
Arndt, Elise, A Mother’s Touch. Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1989.
Hunter, Brenda, Where Have All the Mothers Gone? . Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982.
Phillips, Sheree, Mothers At the Heart of Life. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Servant Publications, 1985.
Pride, Mary, The Way Home- Beyond Feminism Back to Reality. Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1985.
Strong, James, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. Nashville, Tennessee: Crusade Bible Publishers, Inc.
Terry, Lois McBride, By His Side - A Woman’s Place. Fort Worth, Texas: Brownlow Publishing Company, Inc. , 1967.
The Bible, KJV.
Endnotes
1. Terry Lois McBride, By His Side- The Woman’s Place, (Fort Worth, Tx, Brownlow Publishing Company, Inc., 1967), p. 11.
2. McBride, p.11.
3. Unknown
4. Brenda Hunter, Where Have All the Mothers Gone?, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan Publishing House, 1982), p.14.
5. Hunter, p.13.
6. Hunter, p. 64.
7. Hunter, p.54.
8. Hunter, p.13.
9. Hunter, p.14.
10. Hunter, p.21
11. Hunter, p. 44.
12. Hunter, p.57.
13. Hunter, p. 50,51.
14. Hunter, p.46.
15. Hunter, p.79,80.
16. Hunter, p.47.
17. Hunter, p.50,51.
18. Hunter, p.64.
19. Hunter, p.159.
20. Hunter, p. 45.
21. Hunter, p.14.
22. Hunter, p.52, 53.
23. Hunter, p.53.
24. Hunter, p.49.
25. Hunter, p.101.
26. Hunter, p. 24, 25.
27. Hunter, p.81.
28. Hunter, p.26.
29. Hunter, p.56.
30. McBride, p.11.
31.The Bible, ( The only version used is the KJV), Proverbs 31:10.
32. McBride, p.11.
33. The Bible, Proverbs 14:1.
34. James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, (Nashville, Tennessee, Crusade Bible Publishers, Inc.), # 4998.
35. Strong, # 4998.
36. Strong, # 53.
37. Strong, # 3626.
38. The Bible, Titus 2:4,5.
39. Elise Arndt, A Mother’s Touch, ( Wheaton, Illinois, Victor Books, 1989), p. 28, 29.
40. McBride, p.11.
41. The Bible, Genesis 2:18.
42. McBride, p. 10.
43. Arndt, p.126.
44. McBride, p.21.
45. Hunter, p.108.
46. Hunter, p. 106.
47. John S.C. Abbott, The Mother at Home, ( Sterling, VA, Grace Abounding Ministries, Inc., 1984), p. 7.
48. Hunter, p.108.
49. Hunter, p.106.
50. Hunter, p.87,88.
51. Hunter, p.140.
52. Hunter, p.22.
53. Hunter, p.140.
54. McBride, p.47-53.
55. The Bible, II Timothy 1:5.
56. The Bible, Proverbs 12:4.
57. McBride, p.81.
58. McBride, p.21.
59. McBride, p.21.
60. Arndt, p.18.
61. Mary Pride, The Way Home- Beyond Feminism Back to Reality, (Westchester, Illinois, Crossway Books, 1985), p.139.
62. Hunter, p.38.
63. Hunter, p. 62.
64. Hunter, Introduction.
65. McBride, p. 18,19.
66. Arndt, p.16.
67. McBride, p.10.
68. Sheree Phillips, Mothers At the Heart of Life, ( Ann Arbor, Michigan, Servant Publications, 1985), p.132.
69. Arndt, p.33.
70. McBride, p.49.
71. The Bible, Proverbs 22:6.
72. Hunter, p. 120.
73. Hunter, p.121.
74. Hunter, p.22.

Author: Charity Gardner a project for twelfth-grade English

The Impeccability of Christ

Open your Bibles if you will, please, to the book of Hebrews, to chapter number four and verse number thirteen. Holding that place in your Bibles, turn also to I Peter chapter number one and verse eighteen. In Hebrews chapter four and verse thirteen the Scripture says, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” I Peter 1:18 says, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,”. I have companion text this morning Hebrews 4:15, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” And then I Peter 1:19,20, “But with the precious blood of Christ,” – talking about our redemption – “as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” – and I want you to consider those two verses and just try to keep them in your mind.
As Bro. Smith spoke last night, and then as Bro. Laurence Justice followed him, I thought this and I even remarked this to these brethren last night in going out: if you took the necessary, logical implications of their messages to the necessary conclusion – I meant what that implies if you follow it to its conclusion – this message would be absolutely unnecessary. No one who followed those truths to their end could doubt the impeccability of Christ. Nonetheless, it is a subject that is well worth our consideration. I am persuaded you do not make Christians by preaching Christianity; you make Christians by preaching Christ. Christians grow, though we ought to teach them the principles of Godly living. You understand that. But the mystery of Godliness is not Godliness on our part, but it is Godliness in the person of Jesus Christ and we grow as Christians by learning more about Jesus, as the theme of this conference says. And all of the other things that we should be taught and are taught have no meaning until beholding the Lamb of God we are changed into His image. And so it is important. These things are not just doctrinal squabbles or fine points at all; they are necessary truths for our growth in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now the English definition of impeccable is to be clean, complete, consummate, faultless, or flawless. You probably know that you really cannot build a doctrine without knowing the meaning of the words in the Scripture. But, you can never rightly build a doctrine only by the definition of the words. The words don’t mean anything – and I don’t care if it’s Greek or Hebrew or English or whatever – the words have no definite meaning outside of the syntax in which they’re placed, that is the construction of the sentences. And so, when we talk about the impeccability of Christ, we’re going beyond just the character in the sense of the question, was He complete? Was He flawless? But we’re talking about, could He have sinned? Now this may sound like it’s something that is academic. But the fact of the matter is that as we look at this, the discussion is the hypothetical ability of Christ. Not many people would say that Christ ever sinned. Now I did have a man one time who said Christ committed His first sin when He was twelve years old when He did not follow His parents away from Jerusalem. Dumber than a box of rocks, obviously. But not very many people will claim that He did in fact sin or that He was even likely to sin, but hypothetically they say He could and so the claim of my subject today is that it was absolutely, unquestionably, impossible for Christ to have sinned. So you know what I’m talking about. We know where we’re coming from.
Now, what are the reasons that are stated by those who claim peccability? The arguments that I have heard have been very human and they say this: there would be no glory in His sinlessness. In other words, they argue His sinlessness, but that’s not what impeccability is. That’s not what the Biblical doctrine of the impeccability of Christ is. It goes beyond that and states that He did not have the ability. And they say, “But if He didn’t have the ability to, there would be no glory in His sinlessness.” That is to say that He struggled against all of the sins that we struggle against and He won the battle. Praise God! We have salvation in Him because He struggled and won. That is basically the argument. They will also say He was tempted in all points like as we are tempted and if they experienced temptation and think about it, they realize that the – now follow me carefully and don’t get ahead of me – the ability to be tempted not only implies, but proves that within us there is flaw. And that’s accurate. It’s not complete, but it’s accurate – to that point. And so they will argue that. Not only that, they will argue that without the ability to sin, on other words if He didn’t have the ability to sin, there would really be no temptation and that He would not be able to sympathize with our infirmities as the Bible indicates that He does. They’ll also say that if He had no ability to sin, that He did not really have a human nature, because with the human nature goes the ability to sin. Bro. Justice very clearly, and also Bro. Smith, both of them, really approached that issue last night of the first Adam and the last Adam. We often say the second Adam; I believe the Bible says the last Adam. But makes no difference. The differentiation, or the line that is drawn there by Paul is that we are not talking about the fallen nature of Adam when we talk about Christ becoming flesh. But they do not see that.
Now there are dozens more of these and may I be fair and say that there are some men who are to some extent Bible students who do in fact claim the peccability of Christ. I believe they are absolutely, utterly wrong and it is my opinion that the reason that they have that opinion is that they have read too many books before they read their Bibles; and that what they have done is picked up a book written by somebody influenced by men, such as Bro. Justice mentioned last night, who really doubt the deity of Christ but who are well-educated and have the skill of doing a good job in writing a book; and they absorb that error before they get to what the Bible teaches. From that point forward they read their Bible with a skewed mind. I don’t mean to be unkind, but I believe that’s accurate.
Now let’s look at some problems quickly with the hypothetical idea of their peccability. In other words, they say hypothetically Christ could have sinned. And somebody will say, “Well, what are we doing with hypothetical issues?” Well, in essence, this is a hypothetical issue and examination I think is proper because in almost every case, the argument is not that Christ did sin, but that He hypothetically, or that He could have sinned. So that becomes hypothetical within itself.
Now, let me say this: any sin on the part of Jesus Christ – think about this; this is just logical, but there’s nothing wrong with logic – any sin on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ would have necessarily violated hundreds of prophecies. Therefore the Scriptures would have been broken and the Lord said the Scripture cannot be broken, cannot be broken. Think of the prophecies that would not have been fulfilled if the Lord Jesus Christ had sinned. I’m talking about the problem with the hypothesis that these people put before us. Not only that – this is not double talk, but follow me – if the act were possible, that is any act of sin, if it were possible, then necessarily the event or the eventuality of it would be possible. Now listen: in which case, not only would the work of our salvation not have been finished – and it is not finished until Calvary – but it would have been undetermined; it would have been uncertain. You follow what I’m trying to … Had it been possible for the Lord to have sinned, the certainty of the salvation of all of the elect would have remained in question and in balance until He had indeed become victorious over the temptations that lay before Him. In other words, it would say that salvation was not only unaccomplished until the cross, but salvation was uncertain until the cross. Is that not accurate? The conclusion is inescapable as far as I can see. Not only that, you go through the Old Testament … well, for instance: thousands of spotless lambs were killed. What difference did it make if they were spotless or not? A dead sheep’s a dead sheep! Huh? No, no! The Lord gave definite direction that this had to be a lamb of the first year, a male without spot and without blemish. Why? Was it because that’s the only kind of lamb that could take away the sins of the children of Israel? No lamb took away their sins. It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins! Why did they have to be that way? Because they were a type, or a figure, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Had there been sin in Him, all of those types, every one of them without question, would have failed. Now that’s hypothetical. I understand. But the discussion is essentially hypothetical.
I think in order to be sure that we cover this issue we need to take a moment to deal with the usages of the word ‘tempted’. Because temptation is a big issue here. He was tempted in all points like as we are tempted (Hebrews 4:15). This great high priest touched with the feeling of our infirmities was tempted in all points like as He was tempted. And I think that there’s a problem here, not in us defining the word rightly, but in us understanding temptation itself. What is temptation? It has been suggested by some that the word here that is translated ‘temptation’ should be translated ‘testing’. It will do no more for you than giving strychnine a new name; call it ‘potato soup’, it’ll still do the same thing. Changing that word won’t do one thing for you, because the fact of the matter is that the word means to test one’s faith or their virtue or their character by enticement to sin. That’s what it’s dealing with.
Now the fact is that temptation is necessarily objective and subjective. You follow what I’m talking about. To make this as simple as I know how: the Devil goes forth to tempt men and he holds before them enticements to do evil. But those enticements to do good or evil, whatever they are, have no effect at all without relationship to what is within that man. You follow what I’m talking about? The nature of the man is going to be the thing that will determine whether something is tempting to him or not. For instance, someone will refer to food and they say, “Boy, that is tempting!” But it’s not tempting to everybody. I like spinach; some people don’t like spinach. I love broccoli; my older brother didn’t like broccoli. But I like broccoli; some people are not tempted by broccoli. I like broccoli; I like it better with a lot of cheese on it. You know what I mean? But other people are not tempted by it. In other words, our nature makes a difference. You know, there are people who have been turned over to a reprobate mind. If you don’t like this, it’s free. But there are people who have been turned over to a reprobate mind and they are tempted by issues of homosexuality. On the other hand, I am so revolted, I can become violent and hurt somebody at the mere suggestion of it. When I was a young man, twenty years old, a man sat down in a theatre beside me and started fooling around with me and I knew the guy, had no idea he was a queer. He followed me to this place and sat down and I turned to him and I said, “If you ever put a hand on me again I’ll kill you.” And he got up and left, which was a good idea. See, not everybody feels that way. You see, I have a nature within me that is very repelled by that. Whereas I might be tempted by a woman, I could never be tempted by a man.
Now the issue of temptation is not only objective, but subjective. The Devil goes forth objectively trying to tempt, but he can only attempt, or bring them into subjection to himself, as there is a nature within to submit to that. Do you follow what I’m saying to you?
The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Satan cometh and findeth nothing in me.” Can you say that? I can’t say that. Brother, when Satan comes, I need to pray! Because he can find all kinds of weaknesses and flaws in me. But not in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, when it says, “He was tempted in all points like we are tempted”, it means that all of these things that Satan holds before us, he held before the Lord Jesus Christ. But! There is that fallen nature within us that was not in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that brings me to my last and I think the most important point. I might give you back some time, you believe that don’t you. Said, “I don’t believe a word of it.” Then I’ll be through on time. But I think that the great issue here lies in the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, almost anyone who wants to argue for the peccability of Christ will say, “Certainly we do not believe that Christ could have sinned in His divine nature. But it was His human nature that could have sinned.” That is their argument. Incarnation, Brother – and he knows this; I think he even taught us this last night – was not the laying aside of His immutable deity. Now I want to say that again: the incarnation of Jesus Christ was in no sense the laying aside of His immutable deity. We need to be careful in our study – I believe this with all of my heart; if they’re soteriological issues, if they’re prophetic issues, no matter what they are – to be sure that we try to rightly relate them to the person of God.
For instance, the person that goes around saying, “God looked out into the future and saw who was going to be saved.” Please sober up, my friend! God does not look out into the future. He is omnipresent, He is everywhere all the time. Nor does He learn anything by observation – “saw who was going to be” and made a decision? If they would get acquainted with God they will understand. And when we look at the deity of Christ, or when we look at the nature of God, we must understand that one of the great attributes of God is immutability! He not only does not change, He cannot change, for He must either change for the better, which would imply that He was imperfect before the change; or He must change for the worse, which would imply that He was inferior to the former position after the change. He has to be immutable by the very nature of God.
Now, if that be true, then when He was incarnated, it is utterly impossible for us to hypothesize that He might have laid aside any attribute of His deity at all. Only if it is possible for Jehovah to die – and this is not a hyperbole – only if it is possible for Jehovah to die can He change as far as His deity is concerned. Now, someone will say, “But you’ve made no point there, because we’re not talking about His person as God, but we’re talking about His person as a man.” But let’s get to that a little bit.
Now I certainly am not an expert by any means on dealing with the hypostatic union of Christ and sometimes we joke about it as if it were something since it’s beyond us to reason it out we just won’t talk about it, but it is a fact. It is a Bible truth. In this man that we call Jesus Christ – “God with us”, “Jehovah with us”; that’s what His name really means. In this “Jehovah with us”, there was a union in the nature of Jesus Christ as a man and the nature of Jesus Christ as God; there was a union that we cannot see, that we cannot handle, that we cannot touch, that we cannot analyze, that we cannot define; but it is necessarily there. But it is inconceivable and it is unbiblical that the human nature could in any sense violate the divine nature. It could not in any sense conceivably alter the divine nature because divinity is immutable. Can’t be; it’s not possible. So as we look at this, we look for instance at I Timothy 3:16 and I think this has already been read a couple of times: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness.” How are we going to learn about God? “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, …”. Who is this talking about? It’s not just talking about some kind of a conception or a manifestation of God! It’s talking about a Person! Jesus Christ. And I don’t have time to get into all of the steps that would go through there. “Received up into glory” – I get to preach on that later on – that’s a wonderful subject and it’s more than just the miracle of Him going up into the air I’ll tell you for sure. Much more than that.
But the fact of the matter is that as we look at this we understand that it goes beyond our ability to analyze, to fully define, to fully understand and yet we know that there was a union there. The Apostle Paul said, “I with my mind serve the law of God but with the flesh I serve the law of sin.” In some sense, Paul was saying, “I have a split personality.” I don’t use those terms too frequently – hear people talking about that today and the psychologists try to make all kinds of foolishness out of that. But you often hear honest people say, “part of me wants to do this, part of me wants to do this.” Have you ever felt like that? You know why? ‘Cause you are the offspring of Adam. But not so with Christ. He was not. And He was not a split personality. I don’t have time to prove all of this, but there was never one moment in the life of Christ when part of Him wanted to do one thing and part of Him another. Ever. Though he was man, though He was God, there was no conflict within Him. You will find one thing in Scripture – look for it, find it, show it to me; and I’ll apologize to you. But you won’t find one thing in Scripture that ever finds Him in consternation saying, “I don’t know what to do. I’d like to do this, but I’d like to do …”. You don’t find that in Him. There is a unity. It is the hypostatical union that goes beyond my understanding. He was God manifest in the flesh.”
But now listen and get this as a basic principle: true deity cannot be compromised. Now I’m not saying that if it is compromised it ceases to be true deity. There’s a difference. I’m saying if it is true deity it cannot be compromised. It is infallible. It is immutable. It understands all eventualities. It controls every thing. You see, I make decisions that re mistakes and sometimes I have decisions that I’m not sure about; and I have decisions where I want to do something, but sometimes I’m afraid to do it. You know why? ‘Cause there’s so many things out there I can’t control. But that’s not true with God. There’s so many things out there I don’t know, but that’s not true with God. There are so many things within me that I am uncertain of, but that’s not true with God. You ever do anything you have to apologize for? God never does. You see, the very nature of God forbids this whole idea that they bring forth of the possibility of Christ having sinned. He was not the offspring of Adam. Bro. Justice did a good job on this last night, dealing with the way that He was conceived in the womb of Mary. And I’m not a scientist. I’ve heard a lot of this stuff and I’m amazed sometimes at some of the things that people buy into, you know. M.R.D. Honral wrote this article about the chemistry of the blood and people across the country bought into that and bought into…And I was always embarrassed when I heard some of my good friends get up and promote that idea. And I want to tell you something: it’s so far beyond our understanding; and the statements that he made there, they were not even made from a medical standpoint, can’t be proven from a medical standpoint. But the fact of the matter is that this is beyond us. He was not the offspring of Adam; He was the last Adam. Look at I Corinthians 15:45: “And so it is written: the first Adam was made a living soul” – He was made a living soul – “the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” Now there’s a difference in “living” and “quickening”. For instance, I am a living soul. But I am not a quickening anything because “quickening” means that they have the ability or involved in the giving of life. Not a “quickened” spirit – see that would be like a living soul – not a “quickened” spirit, but a “quickening” spirit. A totally different species. He is the last Adam, He is God, He is made in the likeness of God even in His humanity. Time will not allow me to get into that and I shouldn’t; it’s another subject. But let me go on to something else. Adam – now listen carefully – being a creature was absolutely dependent upon the grace of God to maintain His holiness. I’m always embarrassed when I hear a Baptist preacher get up and say, “Adam was created innocent.” Obviously he was and so were all of the trees in the garden and all of the dogs and kitty-cats and the birds and every thing like that. What does the fact that Adam was created innocent have to do with anything? They say Adam sinned because God created him with the ability to make a choice. That’s like saying cats climb trees because they have four legs. Mules have four legs, too, but they don’t climb trees. It’s a stupid argument. It’s unreasonable logic. Adam was created positively holy. How could Adam lose that holiness? Help me out a little bit: did he fall by sinning? Or sin by falling because he fell? Now, I know the answer to that because the Bible gives me the answer, but without the Bible I couldn’t give you an answer. The Bible says he by transgression fell. But how in the world did an unfallen man transgress? Of if you turn it around the other way, how could he have fallen without sinning? In other words, you cannot describe the origin of sin. Unless you say this: that God created Adam for the purpose of bringing forth an elect people who would be saved by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. I understand that that goes into the area of lapsirianism and I understand that that would probably put me in the school of a supralapsirian and I don’t give a flip one way or the other – I think we’re thinking all the way outside of our ability to reason when we even talk about it – so if I’m wrong about that it doesn’t even make me nervous.
But I believe that God withheld grace from Adam in order to glorify Himself through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. And I think the Bible will bear that out if I had time to develop it; the Bible will bear that out. The fact of the matter is that, as we look at this, Adam had a fall that was decreed by God – doesn’t mean Adam was not in violation; no justification in that for him – but the fall was decreed by God. Now if you don’t believe that, well you don’t really understand what God is about. Because the decree of God includes every eventuality that ever comes to pass. Adam fell because it was decreed; why would God decree the fall? Because God in so doing shows us that we are totally dependent upon the grace of God for our livelihood, for everything. I mean, you’d fall from grace after you got to Heaven if it were not for the grace of God. If there were not the nature of grace there would be no such thing as eternal security.
Now listen: Adam became a sinner by sinning; you do not become a sinner by sinning. Adam did, you do not. You sin because you’re a sinner. Now if you take that principle – that you sin because you’re a sinner; you do what you do because you are what you are – how could Christ have sinned unless He’s a sinner? You follow what I’m saying to you. In other words, the very nature of Christ not being a sinner shows us that He could not have sinned. Jesus Christ could not have sinned because He was not the offspring of Adam; He was the offspring of the Godhead. Hear His words to His mother in Cana: “What have I to do with thee, woman?” You ever wondered what that means? Well I don’t know; just let you figure it out and tell me; so you fellas help me out. But I think it has to do with this. Now I don’t have time to say anything else about that and besides, it doesn’t need to be said.
Grasp in your mind – I’m coming to a close – grasp in your mind the nature of Christ: Who He was, what He was, what God is; and you will necessarily reject the idea of any hypothetical peccability of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the Lamb without spot and blemish. He was that holy thing conceived in the womb of Mary outside of any effect and influence of Adam in his fallen state. The idea Bro. Justice mentioned last night, the foolish idea that Mary was born without sin or came to the time of the delivery without sin, garbage. She was a sinner; He was her Savior. And only sinners need Saviours. So the idea is utterly foolish. But the fact of the matter is that as you look at this you’ll understand that Who Christ was absolutely, unquestionably necessitates the conclusion of absolute impeccability. Thank you for your time.
Transcribed 10/2006 Joy Ellaina Gardner
Autor: Pastor Forrest Keener

FEEDING SHEEP OR AMUSING GOATS?

An evil resides in the professed camp of the Lord so gross in its imprudence that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate evil for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.
My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the CChrist speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." That is clear enough. So it would have been if He has added, "and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel." No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him. Then again, "He gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry." Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.
Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the world? "Ye are the salt," not sugar candy-something the world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their dead." He was in awful earnestness! Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His mission, He would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear Him say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel amusement. Their message is, "Come out, keep out, keep clean out!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, "Lord grant Thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are." If they ceased not for preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They "turned the world upside down." That is the difference! Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to apostolic methods.
Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to affect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy-laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God's link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today's ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.
A Message by C. H. Spurgeon That Speaks To Us Today

DOES IT MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT THE ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

Scripture: Job 12:1-25
TEXT: 1 Chronicles 29:11-12 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
INTRO: Does it matter what you believe about the absolute sovereignty of God? God must either rule or be ruled; he must either control or be controlled. Any thing or any one whom God cannot rule would rule God and thus dethrone God as God and himself become God. In a sermon preached Dec. 26, 1982, which he called "I Am Only human," Jack Hyles, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, argued that "God can be maneuvered," saying, "The Old Testament saints knew God so well they maneuvered with God." Hyles has also preached on the subject, "How to Make God Your Slave!" When you do not believe in the absolute sovereignty of God, such nonsensical error and outright blasphemy can be the result.
The very Godhood of God is dependent on his being sovereign. The god (and I spell that with a lowercase G) whom I can maneuver, whom I can make my slave, whom I can control, whom I can make do what I want him to do is not God at all.
In the message concerning the Godhood of God I said, "God is either God of all, or he is not God at all. God is either Lord of all, or he is not Lord at all." Let me now add to that by saying, "God is either sovereign over all things or he is sovereign over nothing. God must either work all things after the counsel of his own will, or bow to the will of his creatures. God must either impose his will in all things or have the will of the creatures imposed upon him."
It does matter what you believe about the sovereignty of God.
SCRIPTURE AFFIRMS THAT GOD IS THE GREATEST, MOST POWERFUL, MOST GLORIOUS AND VICTORIOUS, MOST MAJESTIC, AND DOMINANT BEING THERE IS. 1 Chronicles 29:10-12 Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. 11 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
He has no equal in greatness.
He has no parallel in power.
He is unrivaled in gloriousness.
He is always and ever the victorious in all things.
He has no match in majesty.
He has no peer in possessions.
He has no equal in dominion.
He is unequalled in exaltation.
He is the only one who can make one rich or poor.
David proclaimed "Both riches and honour come of thee."
Moses reminded Israel that it is God who gives the power to get wealth. Deuteronomy 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Hannah, the godly mother of Samuel, declared that God controls one's wealth or lack thereof. 1 Samuel 2:7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
In fact, Hannah praised God for his absolute sovereignty over several things. 1 Samuel 2:7-10 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them. 9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. 10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
In our text, David argues that God rules over all things without exception. "Thou reignest over all."
Since God reigns over all he must have dominion over all and none can have dominion over him.
Since God reigns over all he must rule over all and none can have the rule over him.
Since God reigns over all he must have sway over all and none can have the sway over him.
Since God reigns over all he must have power over all and none can have the power over him.
Since God reigns over all he must be sovereign over all and none can be sovereign over him.
Since God reigns over all he must reign over all and none can reign over him.
The Hebrew word [mawshal] that is translated "reign" here means "to rule, to have dominion, to have power over, to be governor over."
On this great occasion David also declared that, in essence, that every thing we give to God belongs to him anyway. 1 Chronicles 29:14-16 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. 15 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. 16 O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.
Let us study in some detail the words of Job that I read in the beginning. Job 12:10-25
In verse 10 he declares that the soul of every living thing is in the hand of the Lord. In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
In verses 11-14 Job gives God's qualification to so reign and rule. 11 Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat? 12 With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding. 13 With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
In verse 14 he affirms that when God breaks something down it cannot be built up again. Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again.
When he stopped the building of the tower of Babel; it was never resumed.
When God broke down the glory of Nebuchadnezzar, he could not regain it until God himself set him back up. Daniel 4:24-25 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: 25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
God did, as he had decreed, remove Nebuchadnezzar from the kingdom.
Nebuchadnezzar was driven from among men just as decreed.
Nebuchadnezzar did live as a beast of the field for seven years just as God sovereignly determined he would.
At the end of the seven years he was returned to the throne just as God had determined he would.
When he returned to the throne Nebuchadnezzar made a declaration that showed that he had learned the lesson which God had purposed that he learn. "till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." Daniel 4:30-35 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. 34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
When God broke down the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar no man could restore him for what God breaks down no man can build back up.
When God would break down the Babylonian empire and set up the Medo-Persian empire, there was nothing haughty, blasphemous Belshazzar could do. Daniel 5:26-31 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. 28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. 29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
When God would break down the rule of Saul over Israel and give the throne to David, there was no way Saul could prevent it though he tried every way possible.
In verse 14 he also declares that when God shuts up a man there can be no opening for that man. He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
Heman said of his plight, Psalm 88:8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
David prayed, Psalm 142:7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.
When God purposed to give Goliath into the hand of David, there was no army of giants that could have delivered him. 1 Samuel 17:46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
Jesus declared that when he shuts and what he shuts no man can open. Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.
Job also affirms that God is in complete control of and rules the waters; he is sovereign over the weather. 15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
When it is his sovereign will to withhold the water from the earth there is a drought.
When it is his sovereign will to send out the waters, if it is his will to do so, they will wreak all kinds of destruction described as overturning the earth.
Consider what God did when he sent forth the waters in the days of Noah. Genesis 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
God sent forth the waters and they covered the earth. Genesis 7:11-12 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.Genesis 7:17-20 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. 18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
When the waters had reached the divinely appointed level and had accomplished their purpose, God sent forth the command and the rains ceased, the fountains of the deep were closed up and the water began drying up at his command. Genesis 8:1-3 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; 2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; 3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
When it was the will of God he parted the Red Sea and caused Israel to go across on dry ground.
When is was his will he rolled back the waters of Jordan and they stood up while Israel crossed.
When it was his will Elijah prophesied and it did not rain for three years and when it was his will Elijah prayed and it rained again.
When it was his will Moses could smite a Rock and rivers of water would come forth.
God is also in control of and sovereignly rules over strength and wisdom. 16 With him is strength and wisdom.
He gives men strength as he wills.
He gives men wisdom as he wills.
When he desires, he destroys wisdom among a people. Isaiah 29:14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Even the deceived and the deceiver are in his hands and under his sovereign rule. The deceived and the deceiver are his.
When it is his sovereign will to do so, God will deceive a prophet and then punish him to teach the people to not go after false prophets. Ezekiel 14:9-11 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him; 11 That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
God chooses delusions and brings them upon sinful people. Isaiah 66:4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
God sends strong delusions so that many will believe a lie. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
When the princes of Noph were deceived and they deceived Egypt it was because the Lord had mingled a perverse spirit in their midst. Isaiah 19:13-14 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. 14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
Commenting on this Matthew Henry wrote, "The deceivers make tools of the deceived, but the great God makes tools of them both, wherewith he works, and none can hinder him. He has wisdom and might enough to manage all the fools and knaves in the world, and knows how to serve his own purposes by them, notwithstanding the weakness of the one and the wickedness of the other. When Jacob by a fraud got the blessing the design of God’s grace was served; when Ahab was drawn by a false prophecy into an expedition that was his ruin the design of God’s justice was served; and in both the deceived and the deceiver were at his disposal. See Eze. 14:9. God would not suffer the sin of the deceiver, nor the misery of the deceived, if he knew not how to set bounds to both and bring glory to himself out of both. Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent thus reigns; and it is well he does, for otherwise there is so little wisdom and so little honesty in the world that it would all have been in confusion and ruin long ago."
When God's anger was kindled against Israel on one occasion during the reign of David, God moved him to number Israel which was a sin for which Israel and David were severely chastised. 2 Samuel 24:1-15 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. 2 For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. 3 And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? 4 Notwithstanding the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel. 5 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer: 6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi; and they came to Danjaan, and about to Zidon, 7 And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. 10 And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. 11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. 13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. 14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. 15 So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.
This passage plainly tells us that it was God who moved David to do this. V-1
It is interesting to note, however, that God used the instrumentality of Satan to carry this out. 1 Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
Our text says that the deceived and the deceiver are God's and Satan is the great deceiver. Job 12:16 the deceived and the deceiver are his.
Another event that demonstrates this amazing sovereignty of God over events is found in the thirteenth chapter of I Kings.
God sent a prophet, one of his true prophets to cry out against the altar that Jeroboam had erected at Bethel. 1 Kings 13:1-32 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. 4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. 5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
The king invited the man home with him for a meal and refreshments and for a reward for the healing of his arm. 7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
The man of God refused for God had clearly instructed him to not do such things. 8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.
As instructed by God he left and headed home by a different route than he had taken when coming to Bethel. 10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
The news of what had happened in Bethel came to the ears of an old prophet who lived there and he went out to invite the man to his house for rest and food. 11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. 12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. 13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, 14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. 15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
The man of God at first refused and explained his instructions from God. 16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: 17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
The old prophet lied to him telling him that the angel of the Lord had also appeared to him and countermanded the instructions given him. 18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
The first prophet should have known that God does not change his mind or contradict himself.
Since the angel of the Lord had delivered him his first instructions, he should have waited on the Lord to send his angel for any instructions contrariwise.
Even if a man is a man of God and a prophet of God, what he says should be carefully examined in the light of God's word. Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
This is especially true with us since we have the Bible as an all sufficient rule of faith and practice. Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
The man of God went back with the old prophet even though he had been forbidden by the angel of the Lord. 19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
As they were eating the word of the Lord came to the old prophet. 20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back: 21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
The man of God left for home and was slain by a lion. 23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. 25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
When the old prophet in Bethel heard, he brought him home and buried him and he was not buried in his own families burial place. 26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him. 27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. 28 And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass. 29 And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him. 30 And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! 31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones: 32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
The Lord sent a prophet
When it is his will, he leads counsellors away spoiled and makes fools of judges. 17 He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
God can cause the counsel of any counsellor to be spoiled and foolish as in the case of the counsel of Ahithophel. 2 Samuel 15:31 And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
God appointed to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel because it was his purpose to bring evil upon Absalom. 2 Samuel 17:14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
Feeling he had been made a fool Ahithophel went home and killed himself. 2 Samuel 17:23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
The counsel of Ahithophel was probably wiser than that of Hushai, but since God had determined to bring evil upon Absalom, he caused it to be spoiled and to appear foolish and caused the counsel of Hushai to be accepted. He was in complete control of how Absalom and his advisors received the counsel of the two men.
He makes judges to be fools.
God may work on their minds causing them to appear foolish in their judgments.
He may cause their judgments to appear foolish to others thus causing them to loose face and authority.
He can turn any man into a fool if it serves his Divine purpose to do so. Isaiah 19:11-13 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? 12 Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.
God has declared in his word that he will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 1 Corinthians 1:19-20 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
This was prophesied in Isaiah. Isaiah 29:14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
A similar declaration is found in Jeremiah. Jeremiah 8:9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?
Kings are not exempt from his sovereign rule over them. 18 He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle. 19 He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
He who is King of kings controls the dominion of kings.
He sets them up and puts them down as he wills. Daniel 2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.
He controls the activities of kings so that they do his will. Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
He put it into the heart of Artaxerxes to beautify the temple at Jerusalem. Ezra 7:27 Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.
He may set a king free who has been put in bondage by another king when it pleases him to do so. 2 Chronicles 33:11-13 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.
He controls the speech of men removing the speech of the trusty and causes the aged to loose their normal understanding and wisdom. 20 He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
Even a false prophet like Balaam must obey his sovereign command. Numbers 22:12 And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.
When God puts words in his mouth, he must speak those words. Numbers 22:38 And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.
He cause Balaam to bless those whom he was hired to curse. Numbers 23:19-20 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? 20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
He sovereignly pours contempt upon leaders and weakens the mighty. 21 He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
David confirms this same truth of Divine sovereignty. Psalm 107:40-41 He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. 41 Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
C. H. Spurgeon, commenting on these two verses said, "In these two verses we see how the Lord at will turns the wheel of providence. Paying no respect to man's imaginary grandeur, he puts princes down and makes them wander in banishment as they had made their captives wander when they drove them from land to land: at the same time, having ever a tender regard for the poor and needy, the Lord delivers the distressed and sets them in a position of comfort and happiness. This is to be seen upon the roll of history again and again, and in spiritual experience we remark its counterpart: the self-sufficient are made to despise themselves and search in vain for help in the wilderness of their nature, while poor convicted souls are added to the Lord's family and dwell in safety as the sheep of his fold."
When Pharaoh arrogantly resisted him God sent the plagues pouring contempt upon him and his gods. Exodus 5:2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. Exodus 8:1-4 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: 3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: 4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.
Consider the contempt that God poured upon Jezebel having her eaten by dogs. 1 Kings 21:23-24 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. 24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.
Consider the contempt he heaped upon Ahab causing him to die at the hands of an aimless, nameless bowman and to have his blood licked up by dogs in the same place in which the blood of Naboth was licked up after being slain through the wickedness of Jezebel.
Consider the contempt he poured upon that great and proud city of Tarshish along with her great men. Isaiah 23:8-9 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? 9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.
Consider the five kings who hid from Joshua and the army of Israel but who were put to shame before the soldiers. Joshua 10:24-27 And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. 25 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight. 26 And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. 27 And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.
Consider the king Adonibezek who cut off kings toes and thumbs and made them eat under his table like dogs. Judges 1:6-7 But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7 And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
Consider Sisera who was put to shame by a woman who drove a nail through his head according to the purpose of God. Judges 4:21-23 Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. 23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
Consider how God smote all the men of Gath with Hemorrhoids or tumors because they had brought the ark of the covenant into their city. 1 Samuel 5:8-9 They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. 9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
God also cause a plague of mice on the land.
To further increase their shame and contempt, they had to make images of mice and hemorrhoids and give glory to the God of Israel. 1 Samuel 6:4-5 Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. 5 Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death. 23 He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. 24 He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. 25 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
CONSIDER THE LOGICAL CONCLUSIONS OF DENYING THE SOVEREIGNTY OF God
If God is not sovereign over all things or people; those things or people over which he cannot exercise absolute sovereignty are equal to or greater than he and deserved to be called God and worshipped as such.
If God does not have the power to exercise sovereignty over all things and people, anyone or thing that could keep him from exercising power over it or him would dethrone him as God and would itself become God.
If God is not absolutely sovereign over all things ever Scriptural declaration declaring him to be such is a lie.
God himself was lying when he spoke in Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46:9-11 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
The things Nebuchadnezzar had learned and proclaimed as a result of his humiliation and training in the seminary of insanity was of no import.
His declaration that God does indeed set up as rulers whom he will is meaningless and we have no assurance that all is well when a wicked ruler comes to power. Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
Nebuchadnezzar was just babbling nonsense when he claimed that God does as he wills in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Nebuchadnezzar even has the nerve to suggest that men have no right to even question God's actions—a statement that is totally unreasonable unless God is truly sovereign over all things. "and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"
And, how foolish was Daniel if he believed what he said to be true if God is not really sovereign over all things. Daniel 2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.
If God is not sovereign over all things one wonders why Paul wrote some of the things he did.
He declared that God works all things after the counsel of his own will—an impossibility for one who is not sovereign. Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
He claimed that God has mercy on whom he will have mercy and hardens whom he will—if God is not sovereign over the disposal of his grace and mercy I wonder why Paul would say he is. Romans 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Romans 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Perhaps Paul took Moses at his word rather than thinking the matter out for himself. This sovereignty doctrine came from Moses. Exodus 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
Paul even went so far as to suggest that man has no right to question what God does in his sovereign dealings with man; a position which would be totally illogical if God is not sovereign over all things. Romans 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
If God is not truly sovereign over all things Paul carried his error to the brink when he suggested that there are men who are vessels of wrath fitted to destruction and others who are vessels of mercy who were before prepared for glory. Romans 9:21-24 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
If one has trouble with God being absolutely sovereign in all things, he would have had trouble with one of the Scriptures to which Bro. Ray referred this morning. Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
That sounds as if God kills some people but surely, God does not kill anyone. He makes alive but God would never kill anyone.
It sounds as if God actually wounds some people but the God I worship would never wound anyone. I can believe that he heals those who have been wounded but surely he does not wound anyone.
There is also that declaration, "neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand." But, I can control God; I can limit God; I can make God do what I want him to do. I can keep God from doing what he wants to do.
If you have problems with the absolute, unadulterated sovereign control of God over all things, you must also be prepared to handle the following statement of the godly Hannah. 1 Samuel 2:6-8 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. 7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them.
Surely these are the babblings of an uniformed woman who knows nothing about the true God.
Perhaps Eli was right the first time when he accused her of being drunk when she was praying for a child. I Samuel 1:13-14 Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. 14 And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.
Those who do not believe in the absolute sovereignty of God face yet another dilemma when asked to deal with some of the writings of the Psalmists.
Has God really done whatsoever he hath please? Psalm 115:33 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
Surely I misread that. It must say that God has TRIED TO DO whatsoever he hath pleased.
Why, God is trying to saved everybody; he wills to saved everybody; it is his pleasure to saved everybody so if that means what it says it sounds as if ultimately he will save every person in the human race. "He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased."
Another verse of the Psalmist with which the one's doubting the absolute sovereignty of God must grapple is Psalm 135:6. Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
To say that God has done whatsoever he pleased in heaven is believable.
But, believing that God has done whatsoever he pleased in the earth is another matter.
Surely there must be some limitation to that word whatsoever.
Of course, there is a verse in Isaiah that must be explained away if one denies the God's sovereign control over all things. Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.
Surely God does not mean he will do every last thing he pleases to do.
Maybe the verse should have been translated, "I will try to do all my pleasure."
It is God's pleasure to saver every person in the human race and if he does all his pleasure, that would be universal salvation. CONC: This is an inexhaustible study. We have not even scratched the service though I have spent several evenings on the matter. I have first affirmed the absolute sovereignty of God over all things as revealed by the godly Job. And, I have taken a few passages that show the sovereignty of God over all things and have tried to show the problems faced by those who deny the absolute sovereignty of God over all things. We could take every passage that teaches this glorious truth and frustrate the person who denies it but claims to believe Bible. Thank God for delivering us from such perplexities.
Author: Pastor Wayne Camp