 Communication
This week we are going to start a series on how we worship God with our whole self. I fear that for many of us worship is a category in our lives instead of the totality of our lives. We were made to worship! God both desires and deserves our worship. Since He made us as whole beings then that means that every part of us has a purpose in worship. We won’t be able to exhaust this topic but hopefully we will learn some crucial parts to worshipping God more fully. God is worthy of the worship of our words. God has gifted us with the gift of language and He has chosen to communicate with us through words. As a genuine reflection of His glory we ought to be people always desiring to use our words to honor and magnify His greatness. We know that it is possible to heap up empty phrases (Matthew 6:7) or to honor God with lips that are deceptive and far from God (Isaiah 29:13). But we must be careful not to neglect giving glory to God with our words. Speech is a unique gift granted to us alone among God’s earthly creatures, and it is for use in the worship of God. Prayer This begins with how we talk to God. It matters that we engage in meaningful prayer to God. This does not mean that our prayers need a certain eloquence or loftiness, but we must speak to the Lord of glory with humble and contrite hearts. Jesus taught His disciples to start their prayers with the acknowledgement and recognition of His position and power (Matthew 6:9). From this point we should bring our requests, needs, and concerns before God (Philippians 4:6) because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). The purpose here is not to give a teaching on how to pray but simply to remind us that prayer is central to true worship of God with our words. Praise Worshiping God with our words, of course, includes the way that we speak to God in singing. It matters what we are saying when we are singing. Often we are too concerned with how much we enjoy the music to reflect on if the songs are communicating our intended message. We must remember the audience is not the congregation rather the congregation is singing to God. He is the one we are seeking to please. I do not think that God has revealed a style of music that He prefers. In fact the diversity of musical arts across cultures would seem to imply that God is pleased with all kinds of music when the doctrinal message is sound and the hearts are honestly and purposefully engaged. If our singing is mindless or out of control then it certainly isn’t from the Holy Spirit who gives us the fruit of self control. People Worshipping God with our words also involves how we speak about God with others. Danger is at hand when we begin to speak of God or the things of God in any way that is irrelevant or vain. Our conversation with both saints and sinners about our great God must be thoroughly biblical to be at all meaningful. For us to be able to take up the right way of speaking to God and about God to others we must speak rightly about God to ourselves. What I mean is that we must feed ourselves on God’s revelation of Himself in His word. If we are truly being led by the Spirit and feeding on God’s word two things will be evident in our communication with other people. First we will speak the truth. We will not be false or fictitious. We will not be trying to cover up or fool others. We will be open and transparent. Secondly we will speak with true love. We will communicate out of a genuine sacrificial affection for the image bearers of God that we are speaking to and with about God or anything else(Ephesians 4:15). So brothers and sisters may we let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in the sight of our Rock and Redeemer (Psalm 19:14).
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 Rainy Days
Lately we have had a considerable amount of rain. Of course, it is spring, but this year is exceptional. It has remained unseasonably cool and rather wet, at least in the beautiful hills of Searcy county. I must say I love the cool weather and I am dreading those miserable dog days of summer. However, rainy days on top of rainy days can have all kinds of effects on life and people. The ground becomes soft and saturated leading to a muddy mess. Any mom who has had to deal with the aftermath of the muddy ball field or rodeo arena can attest to the nasty nature of which I speak. It can also have other physical effects. If you have a lingering injury or old surgery then you probably have some pain or discomfort that accompanies these kinds of days. But along with all of these things we can also be affected emotionally and spiritually. These long dreary days can cause imbalances in our hormone levels and quite literally put a damper (pun intended) on our mood. We begin to feel sluggish, tired, and even depressed! This can extend into our spiritual life as well. We can begin to feel overwhelmed and begin to forget the principles of truth and the genuine promises not found in our hearts or circumstances but in the rock solid testimony of God in the Scriptures! These kinds of soggy conditions cause many tractors and trucks to whine, stuck in a field or down an old muddy road. And in much the same way, we can get stuck in patterns of thought and procrastination that keeps us from the hope found only in fellowship with God in His Word and in prayer. The Pits We often refer to being in the pits when we are talking about these low points emotionally or spiritually. So what should we do if we find ourselves in the miry, boggy pit? Well the word of God speaks to this very thing. First of all, we must wait patiently in prayer for the Lord (Psalm 40:1). Notice, this is not time to be inactive. We must wait on God while persistently pleading and crying out to God. You probably do not feel like praying, but when you do not feel like praying is when you most need to pray! You must pray with the understanding that waiting in prayer means that transformation of your circumstances or feelings may not come quickly but will come surely in accord with God’s providential purposes. Secondly, you must trust in God’s sure and sovereign rescue (Psalm 40). You cannot pull yourself out of the miry bog. You must hang on to the sure hope that the Lord will not only pull you out of that place but establish you on the solid rock of truth found in His word about the ROCK who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is the cornerstone on which is built His church and by extension every genuine Christian (1 Peter 2:4-10). Finally, we must look forward in praise to God for how He will use the testimony of His faithfulness to us in our time of distress to His glory and the expansion of His kingdom (Psalm 40:3). Your misery is not meaningless! God is working in your affliction and trials something that will bring Him greater glory, you greater stability in faith, and others a greater testimony to God’s goodness and grace! He Is Able! So brother or sister, are feeling stuck? He can rescue you out of the ditch! Are you feeling paralyzed? He can heal you and make you well (Matthew 9:1-8). Are you feeling defeated? He can give you victory (1 Corinthians 15:50-58). Are you feeling hopeless? He can give you hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2-3)! Just trust in Jesus!  Sharing is Caring
The Gospel! This is the message of good news about how we as sinful people are made right with the Holy Righteous Judge. We who are now in Christ are under no condemnation (Romans 8:1). This amazing God has loved us even while we were His hateful enemies (Romans 5:6-11). And this good news is the power that brings salvation to us and others (Romans 1:16). This is truly the best news! The extent of the need for this good news extends as far as the depravity of sin in our culture and the infection of sin in our hearts. What I mean is that everyone is a sinner so everyone needs the gospel. Every culture is influenced and infiltrated by sin so every culture and society needs the gospel. Evangelism is the telling or sharing of the gospel. If we have received the gospel then we must share it with others. And every Christian has what is needed to share the gospel! First, every Christian has knowledge of the gospel sufficient to save. If you do not have knowledge of the gospel then you are not a Christian. Simply tell others what you have believed. Second, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and working in us so that we are emboldened and empowered to tell others about Jesus. Third, we have a command and conviction to spread the good news about Jesus and His love. This is truly a mandate to tell every creature about the gospel (Matthew 28:19-20). Excitement The Gospel is amazing and exciting news. We even sing, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” However, excitement is not the secret sauce to evangelism. Certainly, we do not want to present the gospel in an apathetic or melancholy way, but we also do not need manufactured excitement. We do not need to wait only for those days when we are experiencing a spiritual high to tell others about Jesus. Instead, what we need is diligence to keep sharing the gospel on all days and in all circumstances. As matter of fact from a human perspective it may be more meaningful to share the gospel when others can see it bringing us through the hard days. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be excited and emotionally affected by the gospel, certainly we should, but we must share the gospel diligently at all times. Expectation Once, when in college, a friend and I went out to do some street evangelism. I remember us distinctly thinking that if we didn’t really expect someone to be ‘saved’ then it wouldn’t happen. So we prayed and asked God to save someone and went out. I guess we didn’t expect it enough because we were at least temporarily unsuccessful. However, I don’t think that expectation is what is needed for fruitful evangelism. Rather what is necessary to fruitful ministry is always faithfulness. Faithfulness to trust that our sovereign God will accomplish His purpose and will use His word as He wills (Isaiah 55:6-11). Exhortation Our evangelism must involve real exhortation. Exhortation is communication emphatically urging someone to do something. Of course, only God can transform the heart, but we ought to be urging, even with tears, that people would come to Jesus and enter into God’s kingdom through humble submission and obedient trust in Christ as Lord. In speaking about the ministry of proclaiming this reconciliation with God to people, the Apostle Paul says that because we know the fear of the Lord we also must seek to persuade people. If we deliver the message of the gospel mechanically or halfheartedly then this displays two deep problems. First, it seems that we don’t care much or at all about the eternal destinies of these people. Whether those we speak to about the gospel are our friends and family or acquaintances and strangers, believers should be motivated by the real peril they are in and the genuine hope that the gospel provides. As Charles Spurgeon once famously stated: “If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” – Charles Spurgeon However, even more importantly, a lack of this kind of exertion in evangelism that brother Spurgeon refers to also demonstrates that we are not rightly viewing God’s awesomeness. We are deficient in our understanding of the fear, reverence and awe which is rightly due to the Creator, Sustainer and Holy Judge of the universe. This cascades into an even worse problem because we miss the amazing nature of the grace that the gospel represents. We miss the depth of the endless love that the gospel presents. And we miss the glorious goodness and mercy that the gospel purely reveals. So let us who have believed this good news be zealous to share it anywhere, anytime, and with anyone that we can!  I Know
I think we often hear that we need to love the local church and we know that is right but, how do I practically love the local church? The truth is that the New Testament is full of practical advice on this important subject. But before we dive into those things let me point out some things this doesn’t mean. If you think loving the local church means just becoming complacent and apathetic because that seems like what everyone else is doing, that is not loving the local church. If you think loving the local church means learning to endure loneliness and boredom with a smile, that is not loving the local church. If you think that loving the local church means you have to love the building or the schedule or the style, none of that is what loving the local church means. Loving the local church means committing to love a group of believers and be there for them in all circumstances. Loving the local church will take time, toil and tears. But please understand this one thing, loving the local church is worth it because Jesus loves it. As I said the New Testament is full of practical instruction about loving one another in the local church. I hope that this post will spark your interest and you will search out and find more examples in the Bible. Hospitality The Bible in both the Old and New Testaments is full of examples of gracious and honorable hospitality. Oftentimes this is extended to strangers or traveling teachers. But in the New Testament we are given specific instructions to show hospitality and be hospitable (Romans 12:13). Now you maybe think what does that mean? I promised you practical advice. So invite people over for a meal. It doesn’t have to be fancy just get together. You could also choose to have a cookout or sit around a campfire or play cards. Every time you get together does not have to be a Bible study. I would expect that more often than not these times would have a spiritual and Biblical component because you are spiritual and biblical people but the point is to get together the way you naturally do with friends and family. Help Each Other If we are in a local church we should be helping each other. This can mean helping fix a waterline, move furniture, build a deck. Our church family is who we should be calling when we need a hand. This means that we are also on call when everyone else needs a hand. Literally I mean that if your car breaks down you should be thinking who in our church lives the closest to me right now. Do you need encouragement, advice, counsel that’s what we are here for as brothers and sisters in the local church. We can fix meals for each other or give somebody a ride. We need to be looking for practical needs that we can meet. We also need close enough relationships that we will ask for help when we need it. Pray We need to pray for each other. Now you may think that you already know this and do this. But I mean that we as individual persons in the local church should be seeking to regularly pray for all the members of our local church. This will help us to notice when they have been gone. It will also help us to stay attuned to what is happening in their lives. Most important as we are praying for each other our hearts are knit together (Colossians 2:1-3) and God is pleased with that kind of unity (Psalm 133).  Orthodoxy
Let me start by saying I am not claiming or arguing that Jesus had a wife when He dwelt on the earth. Those myths and heresies have abounded as people have diluted the pure gospel of the Kingdom of God. We must be people of the book, devoted to believing what is found in the text of scripture, not the vain imaginations and silly speculations of men. I think that our human tendency to look for patterns and find connections, sometimes, leads us to conclude things about the kingdom and the church that were not true in the time of Christ and are not true now. We must be committed to the Apostle’s doctrine and to sound (healthy) doctrine that builds on the firm foundation of the Prophets and Apostles with the Lord Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone of all our faith and practice (Ephesians 2:19-22). Reality Our culture has a real problem. We are bombarded on all sides with enticements and images and ads that just are not real. The white washing of everything makes it almost impossible for the real world to compete. Magazines and movies build a portrayal of beauty that real life people cannot attain because it’s more airbrush and camera filters than real life. Our lives are curated across social media where no one can feel the biting mosquitoes or smell the body odor. We turn fun activities into impossible to capture perfection. And because we are filled with these expectations nothing ever seems good enough for us. The local church has fallen victim to this kind of thinking as well. As we have become an even more consumer driven society and everyone sees what is wrong with the church. I will be the first to agree that our churches are not perfect but I think that we sometimes judge the church too harshly because we are imagining a group or entity that Jesus never intended to build. Consider that Jesus’ church would be engaged in a fight. When Jesus talked about building His church He specifically pointed out that the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Jesus knew they and us would be imperfect and face challenges. He even gave direct instructions to us about how to deal with sin among the saints, even to the point of removing a person from the gathered body (Matthew 18:15-20). The Apostle Paul also regularly wrote to the churches because there were problems that must be addressed in local churches. Remember most of Paul’s letters were written with local churches in mind. Even those circular letters meant to be passed on to other churches were instructions for each individual church. Bad Mouthing As I said, our churches are not perfect and we must strive to be as biblical in our practices as possible, even when that means doing things that are hard and uncomfortable. Our local churches are frail and flawed and in some ways maybe even failing but she must not be abandoned! Did you notice that I referred to the church as ‘she’? That’s because the church is Jesus’ bride! When we talk about the problems and needs of local churches maybe we should do so with some reverence because that is Christ’s bride you are talking about. Jesus loves the church! Jesus loves local, faithful churches! Jesus gave Himself in life and in death for His wife (the local church). Paul then tells us that Jesus did this to present her to Himself “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:25-28).” This means that while we may see imperfections in the church’s current state, just as we are not perfect individually, Jesus will bring us as believers and His bride as a whole to this holy estate in His time and purposes. So I encourage us to transform our criticism into caring and get busy loving the local church. Jesus loves the church and if anyone does not love the local church then they don’t really love Jesus.  Defining the Church
This week’s blog will start a three week series on the nature and function of the local church, considering some of the things in last week’s anniversary post more deeply. Please read and consider these posts and your relationship with your local church! When you think about the church what comes to mind? Do you think about the building? Maybe the image of the church you or some family members attended as a child comes into your mind. But this really isn’t what the Bible means by church. Church is not a place or a building. The church is literally the gathering of Christ’s people. A local church is the gathered body of Christ people in a local area. The Bible defines certain things that are necessary for a gathering of people, even Christian people, to be a genuine expression of the church. I would add that if a gathering of Christians is not an expression of the local church then it isn’t an expression of the greater universal church either. To be one of these churches means being in a covenant relationship with other Christians. This covenant relationship cannot be simply understood or unspoken, because it comes with both responsibility and accountability that requires commitment and communication (1 Corinthians 12). These kinds of parameters are important because we most need one another in the moments when the subjective aspects of our relationship are strained. It is in these moments that the objective covenant commitments bind us together in the love of Christ. The Church also must have Elders (Pastors). Jesus did not leave His sheep abandoned to the elements and wolves. He calls undershepherds who are to provide for the well being of His flock through teaching and instruction in the sound (healthy) doctrine of the Bible. It is wonderful and appropriate for us to study together the word of God. But in the regular gathering of the local church the Pastors must teach not just facilitate a discussion. This teaching finds it’s authority in its fidelity to the Scriptures. Pastors also have a responsibility to defend sound doctrine and rebuke those who would contradict God’s word (Titus 1:9). The sheep must be protected from false teaching and false teachers and this is the undershepherd’s job. If the sheep are simply left to shepherd one another they will be eventually scattered and devoured! If the Church is the gathering of Christian covenanted together with Elders (pastors) then the church must also have connection. You do not go to church rather you must gather with the church. This means knowing each other and caring for each other. This means that we have to do the hard work of getting into real conversations and forming genuine relationships. This starts with showing up and staying. I don’t just mean to the “service” either. I mean to be a part of the church you need to be meeting in smaller groups (Sunday School, Prayer meeting, home Bible study). I believe every believer needs the main gathering and the more intimate fellowship. To miss out on either one robs both the individual believer and the church body as a whole. Christians need the local Church! It seems like a simple statement but in a world where so many people have been convinced that they can love Jesus without loving the church this is a point we must make! Do you have a local Bible teaching church? Praise the Lord! Get committed and connected! If you don’t have one, find one! This is priority one for following Christ well.  One Year
Tomorrow marks one year of weekly posts to the Thousand Hills Thoughts blog. The purpose behind this blog was not to demonstrate my amazing writing abilities which is probably fairly obvious. I really wanted to write a weekly message specifically for us here at Marshall First Baptist Church. The hope has been that these short blogs would be a place to go a little deeper and maybe spring into thinking through important topics. What a year to start with! In reality I had wanted to start a blog for a while and the Lord brought about two important things to make the blog a reality. First, the pandemic made the need to find as many ways as possible to get helpful and hopeful content out as possible. I hope the blog has been that. The second thing that happened was Lucy coming on board at church. I am horrible at the technical stuff, but she takes care of all that. Thank you, Lucy, for your hard work! Connection Over the year of 2020, the goal, at least in ministry and church circles, was to maintain and increase connection. Every pastor I knew was talking about how to connect with folks in their churches. I am thankful for technologies that we have been able to take advantage of over the last year to keep in touch. But connection is not just important during a pandemic. We always need to be connecting with other people. We need the fellowship and camaraderie that comes with real interactions with other people. There are at least two important ways that we as Christians need to be thinking about interpersonal connections in our lives. First, God has not made us to be lone ranger believers. We all need other Christians. I’ll share more about this later, but we genuinely need each other. The second kind of connection that we must be intentional about is evangelistic interactions. We need to be looking for opportunities to share with lost people about the Lord Jesus Christ and the glorious good news of the Kingdom of God. We need to be willing to talk about what we believe and the impact of our faith for both this life and eternity. We also need to understand how our lifestyle should be a catalyst to open up opportunities to tell others about Jesus. Community I think that after the last year there seems to be a great appetite for real community. When I say community what I mean is people forming deep relationships with those who share the same culture, character, and commitments. I think this is exactly what the local church is supposed to be. Brothers and sisters, God has called us to unity in the local church. We need these strong bonds of responsibility and accountability with those who have a covenant commitment to us and us to them. But this type of community must be more than just the large gathering once a week. We all need the weekly worship gathering. Without that we would cease to be one united local church. However, everyone of us needs to have closer connections with smallers groups where we can connect and grow. These are the times when we can really build the culture that culminates in real community. We are sharing more than just surface level acquaintances but genuine friendships. The hope is that through these smaller, more connected gatherings we can build the kind of Christian community that edifies the believers, blesses our town and county, and glorifies the Lord. As we meet together discussing God’s word and His work in our lives what will develop is more than just doctrinal agreement but diligent character and devotional commitment. I believe that this is the kind of connection that was the goal of the early church and the need of the current church. So let’s do it! Let’s look for opportunities to go deeper and build community. These opportunities can look like Sunday school and Thousand Hills and Wednesday night prayer meetings or even meetings in your homes with three or four other families in the church enjoying fellowship and seeking the Lord! It doesn’t need to be perfect, just real and intentional!  Downhill
Last week, I shared some thoughts about those wonderful times in our spiritual lives that we often refer to as mountain top experiences or periods. So today I would like to balance that with talking about the times that we would associate with being down in the valley. Just as with the mountain, I believe that these low periods present us with both opportunities and understandings that we may not have otherwise. The challenge is that fruit that may be ripening during these times may not be easily seen in the darkness of the moment. Even as believers we may find ourselves in moments or seasons of despair and depression. In these times, it is important that we grasp tightly the reality that the Lord has not abandoned us and that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Preparation There is help for us in the Scriptures and through the Spirit, even if we are brand new to the Kingdom of God and the way of Christ. I want to encourage you that if you are not in one of these valley experiences, now is the time to draw near to God and solidify your doctrinal underpinnings so that you have both the knowledge and confidence you need in those moments. So what doctrinal realities do you most need to have to be ready for these most difficult moments of life? First, we all need an unwavering trust in the goodness of God. God's goodness encompassing His justice and compassion is absolutely necessary in these times when our experience will lie to us and tempt us to deny God's goodness and destroy our hope. But if we truly believe that God is good. We have basis for hope regardless of our circumstance. Second, we all need the highest possible view of God's sovereignty. The fact that God is in control is not in question whether we believe it or not. However, if we accurately place our full faith in the reality that our God is in absolute control of the grandest events in the universe and the smallest details of our lives then we can know that everything, even the pain or loss that we may be experiencing have a purpose for our good and for His glory! Finally, we must have an unwavering confidence in His Word! The Bible is the ONLY source of revelation from God that we have or need. In the deep, dark valley experiences of life the Holy Scriptures continue to point us to the praise, the edifying encouragements, and the hosts of promises that we need to rest in peace of our great God! Now So what should you do if you are in the valley now? Dear saint, turn to the means of grace and comfort that the Lord has provided. Cry out to your God in fervent passionate prayer. Even if the words won't come, have no doubt that your tears and the groaning of Spirit is speaking volumes on your behalf. Also, do not neglect to feast on the word. You may not feel like reading your Bible but now is when you most need it. If you can't read it then listen to it being read but saturate yourself with His promises. Lastly, you need God's people. I know you probably don't feel like being with people but you need people and specifically you need your church family. Call for the Elders to come and pray for you and counsel you. But whatever you do, do not neglect to gather with your local church (Hebrews 10:24-25)!  Normal Language
In our regular parlance, we speak of the mountain top as a metaphor for a time of blessing and enjoyment. The metaphor works because it conjures the image of us being lifted up and on top of the things happening in our lives. The view is good from the mountain and we have a better vantage point to see our blessings and understand our struggles. In the Scriptures the Lord also speaks of the mountain top as symbolizing blessing. Even the temple was built on the mount of the Lord. Worship takes place on the mountain. Even the language referring to going to Jerusalem is an ascendant language. You will notice that everyone, no matter what direction they are coming from, goes up to Jerusalem. Also many of the Psalms are called Psalms of ascents because they were meant to be sung while ascending to Jerusalem and the temple for worship. Ministry As Baptists, we believe in the priesthood of the believer. The doctrine teaches that in the New Covenant there are not earthly priests. Rather, we have a high priest in the heavens who is our perfect representative before the Father who is the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:13-16). So all of us who are believers are called to some service to the Lord and for one another. We are a kingdom of priests to our God (1 Peter 2:9-10). We all as the Holy Spirit indwelt covenant people have gifts and with those gifts responsibility to serve Jesus and His bride. The term ministry, that we so often attach to the offices of Pastor's/Elders and Deacons, really just means to serve. All Christians have a calling and ministry they are meant to fulfill. The mountain top is an opportunity to exercise our gifts and bless others with the role that God has called us to in service to His body, the church. During these periods of spiritual exhilaration, it is important that we not simply bask in the enjoyment of the Lord but also share with others this joy unspeakable that is full of glory! Lookout I mentioned earlier that during these mountain top experiences we have a good vantage point in which to see the blessings of the Lord and understand our struggles. But also on the mountain top we have the advantage of being watchmen. From this place we can see the approach of enemies so as to prepare our defenses or even mount an offensive strike. As we look around at the world and our enemy, we must recognize false worldviews and unbiblical thinking so as to be ready to give a defense for the hope that lies within us (1 Peter 3:14-16). We must also be ready to bring the message of the gospel of the Kingdom to bear offensively so as to plunder the enemy's camp and rescue the perishing! Jesus instructed His Apostles to disciple the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). This means teaching them to both believe and obey. Trust and obedience go hand in hand. Real faith is always a faith that produces action and genuine fruit. Jesus’ instruction to the disciples presses the reality that our faith is on the march to penetrate and saturate all the world with the good news of the Kingdom of God! Showdown Finally, the mountain top may be the place for a showdown. The Prophet Elijah faces all the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). It is possible that the Lord has brought us to a mountain top moment so that we can be an example of faithfulness to Christ even in the midst of persecution and opposition. It is possible that God has brought us to the mountain top moment so that He can demonstrate His power to bring about victory and salvation for His people. Remember the Mt. Carmel is not the mountain on which God brought His greatest work of victory. That mountain is called Golgotha (Matthew 27). Mountain top periods are sweet and needed at points in our journey with the Lord and toward the new heavens and the new earth where righteous dwells. May we enjoy these sweet times and may we not waste these precious moments!  God Knows As Christians we are best known as “believers.” This is because we believe that Jesus died in our place for our sin according to what was prophesied beforehand in the scriptures. We also believe that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day for our justification (Romans 4:22-25) according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). In essence, we believe whatever God says. We are not captive to vain philosophies or even our own limitations. Because, while we don’t know all things, we do believe the one who knows all things. This means that when dealing with ideas and concepts that are beyond our finite capabilities we can know that what God tells us is true. This requires a real humility. It is not arrogance because our knowledge is not found in us, but in God who knows all things. Our assurance is God exalting because it is found in God not us (2 Corinthians 4:1-7). With this humility in mind, I would like for us to consider the amazing foreknowledge of God. How is it that God knows beforehand what will happen? The most common understanding is what I will call the “simple foreknowledge.” This view is that God in eternity before time was created looked forward into time to see what free creatures would do. This view has two great advantages. The first great advantage is its simplicity. It is uncomplicated and makes perfect sense within our finite framework. You could imagine that if you were in eternity you could also see with this type of foreknowledge. The second advantage is that it seems to protect the genuine freedom of the persons. The individuals are making choices that while God knows them beforehand he still knows them responsively not proactively. However, I would like to present a case for why the simple foreknowledge view is not consistent with an orthodox understanding of God. Premise #1 My first premise is that as believers drawing our understanding of God from the text of scripture, we believe that God is omniscient. By this I mean that God knows everything without qualification. In the introductory paragraph of this post I affirm twice that Christians believe that God knows all things. This means that God knows everything past, present, and future. This means that God has always known all things. This means that God knows more than just possibilities or probabilities, He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:8-11). He not only knows what could happen He knows exhaustively and precisely what will happen. Premise #2 My second premise is that God is immutable. Immutable means that God is unchanging. He does not change. This means that if God ever changed then either He wasn’t God and became God when He changed or He was God and stopped being God when He changed. Both of these are ridiculous from a biblical perspective. God has always been God and will always be God. God Himself says clearly that He does not change (Malachi 3:6). The brother of the Lord Jesus states clearly that there is no variation in God at all (James 1:17). And the Hebrew writer asserts the truth that Jesus Christ is the same always (Hebrews 13:8). Conclusion If these two premises are true then simple foreknowledge cannot be true. Why? Because simple foreknowledge hinges on this point: that it was before time and in eternity when God learned what we, His free creatures, would do. But if God is all knowing and unchanging then He cannot learn. For God to learn would mean that His knowledge and understanding was changed. If this were true then God would be neither all knowing or immutable. So what is the alternative? Sovereignty! God has decreed whatsoever comes to pass. He has destined the world and its inhabits for His glory and as the redeemed possession of His Son (Psalm 2:7). He has made His decree before the ages began and all things happen purposefully and accordingly (1 Corinthians 2:7). I know that this is not the simplest understanding, but in the Biblical context it does seem to be the plainest meaning. Let us celebrate the fact that God is in control and accomplishing His purposes. Brothers and Sisters, we can trust Him for He is the just judge of all the world and He will always do right (Genesis 18:22-26)! |