bleechers's Blog

“I perceive thou art a superstitious people.”

With that, the Apostle Paul described us gentiles. We are indeed a “superstitious” (or “religious”) people. Many gentiles in that age carried their religious superstitions into the Christian faith. Paul refers to these gentiles as “weaker brethren.” Paul’s description is still apropos in the hour in which we live. Men are still frightfully superstitious. And much of that superstition permeates Christianity. 

From Christmas to “the sanctuary” to “sacred songs” to “robes” to “blessing of the animals” to “holy water” and onto myriads of other traditions (some more egregious than others), superstition is all around us. I cannot, in this space, launch into a full treatise on “hell,” but I would like to make two quick points.

What the Hell is Hell? 

First, very few Christians have ever actually studied the doctrine; they simply take the views they held as children or as non-Christians and fold them into their Christian belief systems. In other words, they take their superstitious traditions and carry them into the faith. How many other doctrines are treated thusly? Ask a child, a non-Christian and an average church member about “hell” and you’re likely to get very similar answers (the same can be said of the “afterlife” but that is another matter for another time).

Secondly, and more puzzling, is the odd set of contradictory doctrines often taught about “hell” by preachers. And I am talking about individuals contradicting themselves. One day you may hear that “the powers of hell” are doing this or that. We are often referred to the verse concerning “the gates of hell” not prevailing. Another day, from the same pulpit, you will hear that “hell” was “created for the devil and his angels” as a place of eventual punishment. Not a headquarters, but a prison.

Well, all those things have their place. The problem is not with the verses (they all make sense in context) it is in approaching the verses with a presupposition. When we take our “superstitions” to the Bible, it makes it very difficult to see what is being taught.

 

Death is not Good

That might sound obvious, but too often death is celebrated in Christianity. We hear talk of the deceased “walking with his Savior” or “he’s partying in heaven.” But this robs from the glory of Christ’s resurrection. Death is an enemy. It is the very thing Christ came to conquer. Paul’s glorification of His and our resurrections ends with the statement “Death where is thy sting? Grave where is thy victory?” The “gates of hell” cannot hold in one who has professed faith in Christ!

We should never celebrate death. The Lord did not celebrate Lazarus’ death. He made no statements about him being in glory or about him in bliss. He wept. And when the Lord spoke with Lazarus’ sister, Martha, he affirmed her faith: she would see him “in the resurrection.”  No talk of any other state. Men are mortal and only in resurrection do we “put on immortality.” We groan in this flesh desiring a new house; a celestial body for a terrestrial body.

 

Looking Towards Redemption

In Job’s time of crisis, he did not look forward to seeing his Redeemer anytime before his resurrection. “Thou the worms devour me, I know that in my flesh I’ll see my Redeemer on the day he stands on the earth.”  David cries that though he makes his bed “in hell” God is still there with him. If the traditions of “hell” are true, of what comfort would that be?

Again, not enough space… but the only comfort in death (the grave) is resurrection. Christ came because men were under the curse of death through sin. He spent three days in three days in the grave. He then conquered the grave. In Him is found the antidote to death! 

If men find glory before the resurrection and if redemption is not the undoing of the curse of death and if immortality is known before the immortal body is given, then the resurrection is reduced to an afterthought, a postscript, an epilogue. Let’s glorify Christ in His resurrection for in it he won our resurrection, our “undoing of death.” After all, death is “the last enemy.”

I don’t refuse to fellowship with Christian who believe in “bodiless souls” or in a place of torment called “hell,” but I will encourage them look beyond tradition.

Related thoughts:

Click: Why do we make all doctrines of equal importance?

Click: Re-Examining the Resurrection

“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Greed can be defined, in my opinion, in two very different ways. Greed is the opposite of contentment and greed is the desire to obtain by any means that which you are not willing to earn. Both conditions are deplorable (unless, of course, one is not content with his “goodness” or his “kindness”).

Can we tell who is being greedy? Unless someone says he is greedy, we have no way to know. Greed can manifest itself in different ways. Some are illegal, some are not. Some hurt other people, some do not.

Hard to Judge

We can look at someone’s actions and usually agree if the act itself is wrong, yet judging motive can be much harder. Juries are often called upon to determine why someone took the life of another. We can see that someone is dead, we have evidence as to who is responsible, but we must determine whether the death was planned or accidental; whether the killer was in his right mind or not; whether the death was the result of anger, self-defense or malice. Not always an easy task.

A man can hate all he wants. Let’s say a man hates Belgians. He seethes in hate against Belgians. Well, as long as he harms no Belgians or threatens them in any way, his hatred is not illegal. He’s free to hate Belgians all he wants. Like greed, hatred is wicked, unproductive and foolish, but it is not illegal.

 Greed may or may not result in illegal activity. Just as we cannot punish people because we think they’re too angry or we believe they have hearts filled with malice, neither can we punish what we perceive to be greed. Being greedy may be wicked, it may be unproductive, it may be foolish, but in and of itself, it is not illegal. We cannot punish perceived hate and we cannot punish perceived greed

Society Suffers Because of Greed

Our society suffers many ills because of greed. Combine the lack of contentment in greediness with a lack of self-discipline (or a lack of self-control) and the results range from petty crimes to assaults to treason. Greed can drive a man to betray his family, his community or his nation. Adultery and rape are symptoms of a lack of contentment. Someone always pays when greed raises its ugly head.

A rich man who seeks only more riches while failing to reward all the means that allow him to profit will soon find that he is destroying his own foundation. The car industry in the US became fat and occupied itself with only profit. Management and Labor fought over the huge amounts of money generated by the growing economy after WWII. Customers were given inferior products and inferior service. When the Japanese car invasion began in earnest in the 1970s, Detroit was slow to respond. A once great city has been reduced to a rusting museum.

Greed Often Leads to Laziness Rather Than to Contentment

So many were lifted by the success of the auto industry; thousands upon thousands of families were fed, housed and clothed by the car companies. Success is not greed, but we must be careful not to let success breed “entitlement.” Detroit thought it was entitled to its wealth, but a competitor committed to its customers felled the giant.

A poor man can be just as greedy as a rich man. A man who demands more and more from the public coffers while offering nothing in return is extorting from his neighbors. Politicians greedy for power and others living lives of waste (Jesse Jackson once said that many poor people are poor because they have poor habits) took the massive revenue gains resulting from JFK’s tax cuts and initiated the disastrous “War on Poverty.”

Trillions of dollars later, we have destroyed the inner cities, destroyed the family unit, rewarded sloth, rewarded immorality and have encouraged greed. We have groups that take to the streets demanding that property be taken from some and given to others. No matter how many trillions are spent, the greed only widens buoyed by the power of law. The government has no job. It takes its money from the hard work of others. Greed for power has led it to steal more and more of its citizens’ labor while accusing those who do the work and who generate the wealth of greed. Shameful.

Baghdad is safer than parts of DC, Chicago, Philadelphia and LA; all because greed has gone unchecked.   

Desiring freedom is not greed. Desiring a better life for one’s family is not greed. Desiring to run a successful business is not greed. These are the natural desires which beat in the hearts of men. I fault no one who honestly uses public funds as a safety net because he finds no other option. Others have no means of caring for themselves and seek not in greed but in need. But safety nets were never meant to be beds of comfort for the greedy.

We long for the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All these natural desires become greed when we desire those things without the will to earn them or pursue them to the benefit of no one but ourselves.

Interfaith Gatherings

Recently an "inter-faith" meeting was held sponsored by the friends and families of homosexuals. This is not a blog on homosexuality, but rather a blog on the issue of "truth." When I asked one attendee if the pursuit of truth is more important than gathering for some social cause I was rebuffed with argument "who decides what's truth?"

An interesting question indeed, but it has nothing to do with my point.


What is Truth?

Well, certainly something is truth. If I believe that George Washington never existed and that Moe Howard was the first President and you believe that Washington most assuredly existed and that he was the first President of the US, one of us must be wrong. In fact, one of us is wrong.

I can emphatically believe that Moe was the first president, but that doesn’t make it so. Now, neither of us lived in 1789, but we do have evidence to compare. Actually, you could show me all the evidence available, but that does not mean that I have to believe it. However, whether I believe it or reject it doesn’t change the truth.

Truth is what it is. Deciding that truth cannot be known or that any belief is equally valid is pure nonsense. I believe that we are all free to believe what we want. If you want to believe that the sky is purple and that your morning milk comes from cats, be my guest… but believing doesn’t make it truth.

Apparently We Can Only Really Know ONE Truth

A gathering of people who can't agree on who God is, how many "gods" there may be, what he, she, it or they want, or how he, she, it or they have communicated to us want us to assure of one thing: whoever God is, or gods are... and whatever they believe about how to get to them... they all agree that homosexuality is OK.

I am not arguing here whether that lifestyle is OK with God or not, I am merely arguing that it's strange to say that we cannot determine what is "truth" on any other issue, but somehow we can divine God's attitude toward homosexuality. Can they not see the raging contradiction in such a declaration of "truth"?

How do they know whether this god or those gods or the plant gods simultaneously hate Belgians? They seem to able to tell us what is approved of by Providence, but they decry any attempt to discover other "truths." On top of that, they offer no evidence as to their conclusion. They declare god's (gods', et al) approval of homosexuality without a shred of evidence and without telling us who this god is and how they know his will.

Declaring that Truth Cannot Be Known is a Coward's Game

It might make us feel exalted and existential to say that no one can truly say what is truth, but by doing so we’ve entered into a land that has no basis in reality. If there is such as a thing as truth, however, seeking it to the best of our ability and understanding is not only a worthy endeavor it is the greatest endeavor. Those who recognize no such thing as “truth” will never seek it.

Pretending that all “truths” are equal is folly, ignorance or cowardice. One thing is true, it is certainly not reasonable. Two contradictory things can only be held simultaneously in the mind of the insane.  Saying it is of a truth that there is no truth is the conclusion of the willfully ignorant.

This subject requires far more than a blog entry, but I submit it here for personal reflection.

A corresponding entry on Bible Study can be found: HERE
An entry on "Statements of Faith" was not featured by WGHP. It can be read: HERE

The Workings of the System

In my family we've participated in many of the “normal” activities associated with American Evangelicalism today. We've sent our kids to AWANA and they go to Vacation Bible School and other church-sponsored activities. However, I am careful not to let them get caught up in any “system.”

The “system” is not all bad. It can provide some of the activities mentioned above. But there is much about the “system” that is detrimental to the life of a Christian and to the calling of the church. More precisely, I should say “systems” as there are many variations, some more damaging and stifling than others.

Stuck on the Foundation

Most Evangelical systems provide the foundation. They preach Christ. This is commendable. They feel compelled to bring the gospel of the grace of God to the lost. They believe that they should teach Bible verses to their young. All this is praiseworthy. But I fear that while the “system” may bring babes into the truth, the very design of the system is to keep them babes.

I’ve functioned in and around a number of these systems in my life. They all have one thing in common (to one degree or another); they all hinder one’s ability to follow the biblical command in Paul’s final epistle to the church that the individual must “study to show [himself] approved unto God.” Even the seminary student is placed in a system that requires Him to study within the boundaries of his denomination. And in the end, he takes his place in a seat of authority exalted above the laity; often never reaching beyond what he was taught within the seminary walls. The great apostle's command to study is laid aside.

We Must Make It Our Own

Surely, young believers need to be nurtured in the faith, but even they must drink the milk of the Word and make the truths of God their own. Coming to a saving knowledge of Christ after 25 years in a certain “system” and after years of religious education and years of doing my own teaching in the system, I found myself believing in the deity of Christ, but with no unalterable basis for this. That is, I knew the “argument” and the “proof texts” for the doctrine, but I had never made the doctrine my own through a careful study of the Word. I had to settle the issue for myself.

As Dr. Bullinger wrote: “Each one must look out the reference for himself. He must trace the words through all their occurrences where these are given; he must consider their usages; he must read the contexts; he must make his lists and tables, and do his countings for himself: for so only can he feed upon the Word and the words, and be nourished, and be strengthened himself, and grow thereby: so only will he be able to say with Jeremiah: 'Thy words were found and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart'."

The Danger of Application Teaching

Even local churches that boast of "going through the Bible" have descended into merely application teaching. Almost all texts are used for "daily application" without regard to context or primary interpretation. In the system I've been in for the last five years, it seems as though every message taken from anywhere in the Bible is melted down to a variation of one of four topics. Context and interpretation are ignored and application is substituted for study.

Now, not all application is bad. Of course a study of the Word should impact our lives. But if we do not seek the context and proper interpretation of a passage how then can we properly apply it?

Pre-Conditioned to Seek a System

Having come to a knowledge of salvation through my own personal study of the scripture and through the preaching of grace by faithful men, I somehow believed I needed to then be part of a “system.” Having fought the gospel of grace for years, my conversion was sure because I had spent years trying to disprove what I had now accepted. I set out to settle the issue of eternal life for myself and was thus planted firmly in the truth. This is the pattern (settling doctrines for myself) that was sacrificed as I joined different systems.

One thing that has puzzled me in my 17 years in the Body has been the appalling lack of biblical curiosity among people who have been in the church 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years. I am a firm believer that since God commanded us to “study,” He therefore knows that we don’t know everything. I am not looking for these men to have absolute and infallible knowledge of the Bible, rather I am looking for men who have wrestled with the scriptures, who have asked questions, sought answers on their own and who continue this worthy endeavor. Sadly, I have found precious few who have such desires and I blame the systems.

Indoctrinating the Young into the System

I see young Christians being called “missionaries” before they are even teenagers. I see them forced into roles that the “system” applauds when these young hearts have no idea why they believe what they profess to believe. Their piety serves the “system” and serves their parents’ egos in the “system.” Again, I am generalizing for the sake of space, but my experience is that my characterization is the norm rather than the exception.

This moving of the young quickly through the system seems to have worsened in recent years. The need for approval from the community and the explosion of emotion-based youth programs have led to a dearth of scripturally competent young adults. I’ve worked with college-aged Bible Study leaders who were unable to pass the most basic Bible knowledge test. I have been shocked at the gross level of Bible ignorance among teenagers who have been raised in the Evangelical churches.

The call for Christians to defend the faith is almost unheard of in American youth programs. A defense of the faith, if desired at all, is left to the “professionals” in the “system.” And the professionals essentially consist of seminary graduates who formally learned whatever “system” they were in; studying the works of others for two to four years.

Be a Berean

If our apostle, Paul, was not above being questioned (Acts 17). If the Apostle to the Circumcision, Peter, was able to be accused "to his face for he was in the wrong" (Gal 2), surely we are all open to question. In fact, the Holy Spirit calls the Bereans "noble" for searching Paul's words against the scriptures. In grace, can we not even talk about these issues?

I recently attended a denominational “revival” in which the preacher bragged about his degree and the “thousands” of sermons he has preached in 32 years as a Pastor. He then proceeded to preach a message full of Greek mythology and errant sophisms that any untaught 15-year-old could have given. That night I could not have approached that man questioning his interpretation, but when I preached from that same pulpit months later, contradicting his interpretation, no one bothered to question me. We bow and scrape to the pulpit.

But worse than any of that is the system’s tendency to stifle bible study. The “system” may offer a myriad of Bible Studies, Bible Study Books and Bible Study Guides… but they all have hidden walls and more often than not the questions associated with these Bible Studies are more introspective than interpretive.

On the few occasions when I have approached speakers with simple questions about their teachings, I have been dismissed and then badgered with questions from the adherents asking what seminary I have attended. This is often followed by a recitation of the speaker's "credentials."

God is On Your Side

If seminary graduates from different systems cannot even agree on the doctrine of baptism or on whether Christ is eternal God, why would we ever conclude that such degrees are trump cards, stifling all questions? If the seminaries have no answers, we must find them for ourselves. When we stand before God, there will be no seminary grad to answer for us.

God wants us to study. He knows we are fallible and weak. If we truly seek, we will crawl ever closer to illumination. But if we surrender the call and command to study for ourselves, we will have no reward before God.

Struggling with a verse or a passage is normal, but if our response is to hand God the phone number to the church office, there will be neither illumination nor praise from Him.

A corresponding entry on Bible Study can be found: HERE
An entry on "Statements of Faith" was not featured by WGHP. It can be read: HERE

Doctrinal Statements

I was reading the doctrinal statement (or Statement of Faith) offered by a major evangelical organization recently and something struck me (no, not lightning). I was struck at how every point was seemingly given equal weight.

On their list, accepting the sacrifice of Christ as being complete appears to be placed on the same level as one’s personal understanding of the Lord’s return and one's views on "Christian cooperation." In between are other doctrines that all stand side-by-side appearing to be mandatory for fellowship, but I know that the organization wouldn’t claim that they are.

Doctrinal Statements are useful to help others know what we believe. They allow people who agree with us to know we stand with them. They allow those who do not agree to see where we differ. However, I think we need to be a little more particular in how we relate the importance of each individual doctrine.

Truth Circles

When a local church preaches the message of Christ’s finished work and someone comes forward to find out how he may come to the Lord for forgiveness, we don’t tell him to go and develop his personal eschatology before we’ll accept him. Some sects require knowledge of their catechisms before they allow one into fellowship, but that is not the way of the evangelical gospel.

Several years ago I heard a series of messages by Dr. John Whitcomb entitled “Truth Circles.” His point was that the Lord Jesus had several levels of fellowship during His earthly ministry Whitcomb called "Truth Circles." He had his inner circle (Peter, James and John), the twelve, the seventy, the multitudes, greater Israel and finally, gentiles. He spent His time accordingly. I suggest we take that model and adapt it for our doctrinal statements.

Three Levels

Certainly there are doctrines that any group needs to proclaim as “essential” for fellowship. I would call that “Level 1: The Essentials.” After that I would encourage something like “Level 2: Distinctives” and “Level 3: Peripherals.”

For an evangelical group, doctrines such as the deity of Christ, His finished work, the sufficiency of scripture and related teachings would be “essential.” For a Baptist church, something like “believer’s baptism” would be a “Distinctive.” A Pentecostal “Distinctive” may be speaking in tongues. Lastly, a group might have "peripheral" doctrines related to the timing of the Lord’s return or to the mode of local church government.

Among similar groups this would be a great help to those looking to fellowship. Some Pentecostals believe that “speaking in tongues” is “essential,” while others do not. Distinguishing this point is of major importance.

Study Doesn't Start or Stop at the Seminary Doors

Allowing that certain things are not “essential” but still taught encourages people to search the scriptures for themselves and decide what is "essential" in their lives. A board somewhere laying out a list with no clarifications as to what is truly important for fellowship is something from which many died to escape. The right allowing the the "ploughboy" access to the scriptures, gained by blood shed over centuries, is too often willingly handed over to boards and seminaries.

Too many people enter into Christianity and just adapt their prior beliefs to whatever system in which they find themselves ("hell" being the most obvious example). Personal study ends or is morphed into just studying what the sect or seminary teaches. Too often, seminary graduates put the diploma on the wall, declare all things known, and allow very little discussion. All doctrines are taught as “essential.”

I want to be quick to add here that I also know many seminary grads who welcome the tough questions. They encourage a personal study of the word. Some are honest enough to say "I don't know."

I have been fellowshipping for the last five years in a sect with which I disagree on many doctrines I believe are only “distinctives” or “peripherals.” I find much to rejoice in around the Person, the Work and the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ there. I don’t think that their 19-point list of beliefs is meant to be interpreted as a list of equal doctrines, but unfortunately, that’s how it looks.

Being Honest with Themselves and with Us

I strongly affirm a number of their statements, agree in principle with a few, and disagree in a rather pointed way with a few more. For me, the statements that I strongly affirm are enough for me to find fellowship there.

I highly doubt that they want “the separation of church and state” put on the same level with “redemption of man by grace,” so they shouldn’t list these things as though they do. But without drawing lines, they confuse themselves, their members, fellow Christians and a curious world.

It’s time to draw some lines!

Overlooking the Three Days in the Belly of the Earth

One of the most overlooked (and misunderstood) parts of the resurrection story is Christ's three days in the heart of the earth. Peter stands before the nation of Israel and makes these three days the center of his Pentecost message of hope (acts 2:27-32). Let's pause and think on those three days.

The Lord Jesus did not see corruption in the grave. He told us that just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish so would our Lord spend three days and three nights in the belly of the earth. The Lord went to the cross, gave his life back to the Father and then he was laid in the grave (hell). There He stayed and there He accomplished what no man has accomplished. He did not see corruption (decay). That is such a glorious fact that Peter dwells on it richly.


The Great Undoing of Death

In Adam all are under the curse of dust. In Adam we are all mortal, we are all corruptible. The Lord Jesus Christ undid death! In His resurrection we see our resurrection. It is only when we experience our own "undoing of death" (resurrection) that we will have "put on immortality" and "put on incorruption" (1 Cor 15).

Because of the doctrine of the Pharisees, borrowed from the Greeks, teaching that "souls" float around without bodies, the full glory of what Christ accomplished in His resurrection has been lost. The relevance of His three days in the grave, so central to Peter's message to Israel, is also diminished.

Paul argues that all is meaningless "if Christ be not raised." Paul rests all of our hope on the resurrection of Christ and on the hope, found in Him alone, of our own resurrection. William Tyndale argued that the human tradition of "immortal souls" reduced the doctrine of the believer's resurrection to a mere footnote. Our resurrection is not merely a footnote to our redemption, it is the end result of our redemption. God alone is immortal. Men must be made immortal. That immortality, as Paul emphasizes, is "put on" in resurrection.


The Comfort of Resurrection

Paul in First Thessalonians 4 and the Lord in John 11 both comfort the bereaved with the hope of resurrection. There is no thought of "bodiless souls" in heaven. When the Lord comforts Martha with the idea that she will see her brother again, she responds "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Our Lord does not say, "No, Martha, you'll see him in a bodiless form in a heavenly holding tank" or anything like that. He confirms her belief in the resurrection and comforts her with resurrection alone.

Our Lord's conquering of the tomb is our comfort. He conquered death and the grave. His three days in the grave without corruption and His resurrection from the dead give hope to all who face death. Job's hope was bound up in the promise that though the worms eat his flesh (in the grave) "in my flesh I shall see God." Job looked to his promise of resurrection alone.

Peter's great profession of faith in Matthew 16 is met by the Lord's pronouncement that the "gates of Hades" cannot prevail against it. Death cannot hold the believer in the grave. A profession of faith in the Lord is the key to the undoing of death's hold. Death's gates cannot hold in what God will raise.


Victory Over the Grave

We are all just dust given life (spirit) by God. We will all see corruption and return to dust. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Our hope is found solely in the death, burial and undoing of death accomplished by Christ. He saw no corruption that we may look forward to the day when we can say in our new, incorruptible bodies, "Death where is thy sting? Grave where is thy victory?"

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15

This is one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible. It knows no sect. It posits no creed. It seeks no approval from a council or seminary or denomination or any "infallible" source. It claims no special privilege. It is a simple command from an omniscient God to a fallible people given to us by our apostle, Paul.

STUDY - Christian, this is a most wonderful word! By giving us this command, Almighty God reveals that he knows that we don't know all! None of us is infallible. We must all "study" diligently as a workman who seeks not to be ashamed. My friend, God wants you "search the scriptures daily" (Acts 17:11) and He knows that understanding is a process. But be careful, let your understanding be based not on human traditions and creeds, but on the whole counsel of God. We must "RIGHTLY DIVIDE the word of truth."

If God understands that we must study, then we must allow our fellow Christians to study. We must be "gentle, meek and apt to teach." We must allow others to grow. But if we know them to be teaching error then we must be able to refute them BY THE WORD OF GOD. (2 Tim 3:15-17)

If we know them to be teaching as doctrine the traditions of men, we must oppose them. Learn to discern between true "studiers" and those who engage is "vain babbling" which brings only strife. 2 Tim 2:16 tells us "shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." Humna tradition has always been the enemy of God's truth from the Garden to Cain to Baal-worship to the doctrines of scribes and Pharisees all the way into our day.


THYSELF - There it is child of God. Your church, your pastor, your wife shall not be responsible for your reward before God. The Lord tells us all that we must study as INDIVIDUALS. We cannot lean on a catechism or an ecclesiastical body. It is the individual who is responsible to be a "workman [singular] that needeth not be ashamed."


APPROVED - There are doctrines and interpretations that the Lord approves and those that He does not approve. We are to study to seek those doctrines and practices that please Him, not our denomination, not our pastors, not our desires, not our pretexts. It is God who approves sound doctrine, not the seminary or the council or the synod or the board of directors. I can name 10 seminaries that teach 10 different things about baptism! It is not approval from the seminary that matters, it is the approval of God that matters.

UNTO GOD - It bears repeating that we seek to be approved "unto God;" approved not by a teacher, a sect, a denomination, a creed, an organization, a school or a ministry. Our responsibility is "unto God" alone.


I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. Psalm 119:99

Make His "testimonies" your meditation. This is where you will find greater understanding. "Rightly divide the word of truth." Do not steal that which is another's. Know to whom God is speaking and when He is speaking to them. Learn context. Know your hope. Know your calling.

If you follow the traditions of men, your ears will be closed to the leading of God. Find a fellow "workman" and grapple with the word of truth. Surely God has raised up some to be teachers, but just as the Bereans did with the great teacher and apostle Paul, so must we "search the scriptures daily to see if these things are so"  (Acts 17:11) that we might be "approved unto God" and follow "sound doctrine."

At this season of the year, many churches turn from truth to human tradition.

Paul commanded Timothy to "commit these things [sound doctrine]" not to "clever men with degrees and titles" but to FAITHFUL MEN. Let us seek to be faithful to Him and His word and not to human traditions, no matter how "holy" the traditions are esteemed by men. The Lord Jesus tells us "The things which men esteem are an abomination to God."

STUDY THYSELF!

Delving Into What Appears to be Divine Apathy

Allow me to use the words of Sir Robert Anderson to frame my entry. No man is a final authority, but I am moved by his ability to delve into the silence of God.

"What mind is competent to grasp the sum of all this great world's misery, heaped up day after day, year after year, century after century? Human hearts may plan, and human hands achieve, some little to alleviate it, and the strong and ready arm of human law may accomplish much in the protection of the weak and the punishment of the wicked. But as for God - the light of moon and stars is not more cold and pitiless than He appears to be!" –Sir Robert Anderson, The Silence of God

In light of the Recent shootings at Northern Illinois University and with the horror of the Virginia Tech shootings still on our minds, I thought about a question many have asked. News programs have asked the question. Theologians and preachers have asked the question. Crying mothers have asked the question.

Where is God?

The answer to that question can only be understood when we see how God interacts with man. The world is not out of His control. He is not cold to our cries. But we live in an age of grace and God deals differently with different people at different times. The objection is raised "is not God the same yesterday, today and forever"? Of course, yet that involves His character not His dealings.

A quick example: before the flood of Genesis 6 God was capable of flooding the earth with water. Today, the same God with the same abilities and the same character cannot flood the earth with water. Why not? Because God cannot lie. He promised Noah He would never flood the earth again. God is the same. Same God. Same abilities. Same character. Different dealings.

A Part of the Mystery of God

A silent Heaven is a part of the mystery of God; but Holy Writ declares that a day is fixed in the Divine chronology when "the mystery of God shall be finished." And when that day breaks… then at last He will assume the power that even now is His by right, and openly reward the good and put down the evil. In a word, He will do then what men think He ought to do now and always. And if He delays to do this, it is not that He is "slack concerning His promise." God's own "apology" for His inaction is that He is "longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." - ibid

In the hour in which we live God acts as He will and answers prayers as He desires for we live in "the day of Man" and in "the age of grace." Man is ruling as he sees fit and God is dealing with the eternal fates of individuals in long-suffering grace. Man is an untrustworthy master. The Founders knew this and created a three-branch system of government based on the idea that any powers granted to men must be kept in check. Man rules our day and Satan is "the god of this age."

The violent acts at Virginia Tech and at NIU were perpetrated by men. It is the wickedness of man that was on display. God is silent in our day graciously waiting to end the Day of Man. As man abuses man he often wants to blame God, but such accusations are illogical and foolish. God is acting in grace as He comforts us in our time of woe.

Understanding the Day of Man in Which We Live

No one may limit what God will do in response to individual faith. But we may confidently assert that, in view of His supreme revelation in Christ, God will yield nothing to the petulant demands of unbelief. And that revelation supplies the key to the dual mystery of a silent heaven and the trials of the life of faith on earth. - ibid

Next on the divine schedule is the Day of the Lord and the Day of Vengeance, but until then, we must understand the age in which we live. We don’t build arks, we don’t live communally and we don’t experience the promises given to another people in another age. Today, God is gracious and God is silent. And although silent, He is neither absent nor unfeeling. His silence towards some is also the manifestation of His grace to many more.

I find it oddly amusing when Christians call Sunday "The Lord's Day." You may refer to my car as "bleecher's car" but you may also refer to it as "the car of bleechers." Since Hebrew does not have the possessive like the Greek, the feared "Day of the Lord" in the OT is the "Lord's Day" of the Revelation. You will note that when John is called up "on the Lord's Day" the judgments of God begin to fall on the inhabitant of earth. The Day of the Lord will be a terrible time for many. Let us be thankful we are sinners living in an age of grace, looking for His appearing.

A SILENT Heaven! Yes, but it is not the silence of callous indifference or helpless weakness; it is the silence of a great sabbatic rest, the silence of a peace which is absolute and profound - a silence which is the public pledge and proof that the way is open for the guiltiest of mankind to draw near to God. When faith murmurs, and unbelief revolts, and men challenge the Supreme to break that silence and declare Himself, how little do they realise what the challenge means! It means the withdrawal of the amnesty; it means the end of the reign of grace; it means the closing of the day of mercy and the dawning of the day of wrath. -ibid

God's grace is on display in the Day of Man.

A Very Large Issue to Be Understood Not Trivialized

The space here is woefully inadequate to fully tackle this issue (and the writer woefully inadequate to explain the mind of God), but we must try and understand the record given us in His word concerning the age in which we live and the different ways in which He works in the lives of men.

To plead that the idea of Divine intervention in human affairs is unreasonable or absurd is only to afford a proof how easily the mind becomes enslaved by the ordinary facts of experience.The believer recognizes that such intervention was common in ancient times, and the unbeliever most fairly argues that if there really existed a God, all-good and almighty, such intervention would be common at all times. The taunt would be easily met if the Christian could make answer that this world is a scene of probation where God in His infinite wisdom has thought fit to leave men absolutely to themselves. -ibid

We pray for the living victims of man’s sin in Virginia and in Illinois; the wounded and the families touched. We find comfort in knowing that the Living God has all within His sight and can use man’s wickedness to bring a sense of Himself to the individual.

But mostly our comfort is found in the fact that the Day of Man will not last forever. Our rebellion and mismanagement of this current age will give way to the rule of God. It will be in that day that justice will fall rightly on man; some to destruction and some to an inheritance of grace.

It is troubling to watch men try to live as though they lived in other ages. Some try to live as though they were in Kadesh-Barnea; others as though they lived when Christ walked the earth; many more are trying to recreate the age of the Acts. Many try to live in several ages at the same time. Confusion and bondage often result from a failure to understand our own calling in this age.

The Answer to Silence is Found in Grace

To grace, therefore, we look to explain the silence. Christianity is the supreme and final revelation of the Divine "kindness and love toward man." Therefore when God again declares Himself it can only be in wrath, and wrath must await "the day of wrath." Not that human government has lost its Divine sanction, for "the powers that be are ordained of God." Nor yet that the moral government of the world is in abeyance: the laws of nature are relentlessly enforced, But in this higher sphere there is neither court nor constable empowered to deal with the sins of men; for He to whom alone belongs the high prerogative of judgment is now enthroned as SAVIOUR. God is no longer "imputing their trespasses" to men.' From the throne of the Divine Majesty there has gone forth the proclamation of pardon and peace, and this without condition or reserve. And now a silent Heaven gives continuing proof that this great amnesty is still in force, and that the guiltiest of men may turn to God and find forgiveness of sins and eternal life. God is silent because He has spoken His last word of mercy and love, and judgment must await the "day of judgment "- there can be no place for it in this "day of grace." -ibid


Sir Robert Anderson saw the vileness of man as head of Scotland Yard, yet he also understood the importance of the silence of God in our age. The illogical will blame God. The fool with question God. But the wise will seek to understand God's silence and rejoice in His grace as we mourn the fruits of wickedness from our fallen race.


NOTE: Franklin Graham was on E.D. Hill's Fox News program and was asked the "where was God?" question. Graham's answer was partly true, but the true answer concerns God's grace. Those who question God's "failure" to act do not know what they are asking. If God were to wipe out sin and sinners (which He will do some day), it wouldn't just be Cho that would have to be stopped... we'd all have to be stopped. We live in an age of grace. Blame man for his sin and thank God for his long-suffering grace. As Job said, "Though He slay me, still I will trust in Him."