R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 605

Here are some highlights from the various Ligonier Twitter feeds over the past week.

Tabletalk Magazine "The custom of sinning takes away the sense of it, the course of the world takes away the shame of it" (John Owen)



Ligonier [God] wants your life. Not one hour a week, not 10% of your income, He wants you. -R.C. Sproul



Reformation Trust A god who is not sovereign is not God at all. Such is an imposter, an idol, a mere caricature formed in man's fallen imagination. -Lawson



Ligonier Academy A Christian's calling is never less than being a slave of Jesus Christ.



Ligonier If [Luther was crazy] I pray that God would send an army of insane people...into this world that the gospel may not be eclipsed. -RC Sproul



Ligonier Q&A with Sproul, Driscoll, Chandler, Tchivijdian #oFoF @TheResurgence http://yfrog.com/h7zg4bxj



Tabletalk Magazine The design of redemption is that Christ, by His death, might purchase us to be His own property (Calvin).

 

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If God is sovereign, how do we determine the significant from the insignificant? I often hear the layman exclaim how God's hand was in this or that, but they seem somewhat selective in their testimonies.  If something good happens, God is often referenced. When something bad happens there is also the desire to find God in the matter.  But what about the seemingly insignificant things?  What about the rolling stone? Are we to see God's hand in absolutely everything, if His hand is in fact in absolutely everything? 

Of course the first thing we have to address is those two little letters at the beginning. There is no "if" about God's sovereignty. He is absolutely sovereign over all things. He ordains whatsoever comes to pass, from the rise and fall of nations to the rise and fall of each dust particle in a gentle breeze. There is, of course, no genuine distinction between significant and insignificant events, because everything ties together. Read through the book of Ruth and consider the sundry details about which even the writer says "And it came to pass" that ended up not just in Ruth's marriage, but ultimately in the creation of King David, and eventually in the birth of Jesus. Even the world understands this as it confesses, "For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of the shoe, the horse was lost. For want of the horse the rider was lost. For want of the rider the battle was lost. For want of the battle the war was lost." The big things are made up of the small things. As one wise theologian says, "There are no maverick molecules."

That doesn't mean, however, that your concern is invalid. There are two problems that are far too common within the evangelical church as we seek to understand the sovereignty and providence of God. One is what I call the Superman theory of providence. Someone narrowly escapes a car crash, and suggests "God was really with me there." And He was. Trouble is, His sovereignty not only extends to keeping the cars an inch apart, it also extends to the cars getting that close in the first place. God is not in heaven passively watching the two cars start to get too close, then jumping into a phone booth (kids, ask your parents what that was), donning his suit and flying to keep the cars apart. He was in control of the whole thing, just as He is in control in our nice, uneventful trips in the car.

The second problem is our incessant and erroneous desire to read His providence. It is one thing to say "God brought this to pass." It is altogether a different thing to say, "God brought this to pass because…" We who are Reformed are particularly tempted to this error. I remember once reading a sermon in which a Puritan pastor told the story of finding the tattered remains of the Book of Common Prayer that had been eaten by a church mouse. As a Puritan the pastor didn't care for the Book of Common Prayer. He explained to the flock that even God's littlest creature the mouse knew the Book of Common Prayer was no good, that God had sovereignly brought to pass the destruction of the book. On the latter point he was dead on. God, from all eternity, ordained that that particular mouse would chew up that particular book. Why He did so, however, is a mystery. Had I been there for that sermon I would have, hopefully graciously, asked that pastor, "Isn't it equally plausible to suggest that the reason God had that mouse eat that book was so we would know that even the tiniest creatures know to feed upon the Book of Common Prayer?" One event, two radically different but equally plausible understandings of Why.

Grasping the sovereignty of God ought to humble us. First, we should be humbled to consider that we are under the care of a God who controls all things, down to the hairs on our head. We live our lives not only coram Deo, before the face of God, but also within the power of His almighty hand. Second, we should remember that a God so powerful, well, His thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways. We should not be quick to read His inscrutable purposes. We should, however, be resolute to trust them.

Here is a round-up of some of the notable blogs and articles our team read this week.

5 Trends to Watch for in Evangelicalism: 2011-2020 - "There is something to be said for understanding the times in which we live. If we can discern contemporary trends in evangelicalism, we should consider their implications and trajectory for the coming years."  

Top 10 Most-Searched Bible Verses: What's Missing? - "Knowing the whole Bible and not just the most-searched passages, you realize that the absence is glaring. You won't learn from this list why God needs to redeem the world he created. You won't learn why his love is so significant. You won't find any warning of what's to come if you don't believe. In short, you won't read about our sin and God's wrath."

Joel Beeke on Leading Family Worship - Our friends at Desiring God just concluded their annual pastors conference. Dr. Beeke delivered a vital message there for families and churches to rediscover the blessings and benefits of regular family worship. "Why should we do family worship? God may use it to save souls. Do you want solid young men and women to grow up in your church? Then teach your congregation to engage in family worship."

Every issue of Tabletalk magazine in 2011 features an article written by John Piper. This month he writes about just a couple of verses from the second Psalm:

"Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." (Ps. 2:11–12)

Pastor Piper simply looks at these few words and draws from them both meaning and application.

Read more in Rejoice with Trembling.

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It's $5 Friday! Find resources on inerrancy, depression, doctrine, theology & more. Christians Get Depressed Too is provided courtesy of Reformation Heritage Books. Also special thanks to the readers of Challies.com for voting to include the John commentary and eBook this week. Sale starts at 8 a.m. and ends Saturday at 8 a.m. EST.

View today's $5 Friday sale.

Someone I know recently expressed an opinion that surprised and in some ways disappointed me. I said to myself, "I thought he would have more discernment than that."

The experience caused me to reflect on the importance of discernment and the lack of it in our world. We know that people often do not see issues clearly and are easily misled because they do not think biblically. But, sadly, one cannot help reflecting on how true this is of the church community, too.

Most of us doubtless want to distance ourselves from what might be regarded as "the lunatic fringe" of contemporary Christianity. We are on our guard against being led astray by false teachers. But there is more to discernment than this. True discernment means not only distinguishing the right from the wrong; it means distinguishing the primary from the secondary, the essential from the indifferent, and the permanent from the transient. And, yes, it means distinguishing between the good and the better, and even between the better and the best.

Thus, discernment is like the physical senses; to some it is given in unusual measure as a special grace gift (1 Cor. 12:10), but some measure of it is essential for us all and must be constantly nourished. The Christian must take care to develop his "sixth sense" of spiritual discernment. This is why the psalmist prays, "Teach me good judgment and knowledge" (Ps. 119:66).

The Nature of Discernment

But what is this discernment? The word used in Psalm 119:66 means "taste." It is the ability to make discriminating judgments, to distinguish between, and recognize the moral implications of, different situations and courses of action. It includes the ability to "weigh up" and assess the moral and spiritual status of individuals, groups, and even movements. Thus, while warning us against judgmentalism, Jesus urges us to be discerning and discriminating, lest we cast our pearls before pigs (Matt. 7:1, 6).

A remarkable example of such discernment is described in John 2:24–25: "Jesus would not entrust himself to them . . . for he knew what was in a man" (NIV).

This is discernment without judgmentalism. It involved our Lord's knowledge of God's Word and His observation of God's ways with men (He, supremely, had prayed, "Teach me good judgment . . . for I believe Your commandments," Ps. 119:66). Doubtless His discernment grew as He experienced conflict with, and victory over, temptation, and as He assessed every situation in the light of God's Word.

Jesus's discernment penetrated to the deepest reaches of the heart. But the Christian is called to develop similar discernment. For the only worthwhile discernment we possess is that which we receive in union with Christ, by the Spirit, through God's Word.

So discernment is learning to think God's thoughts after Him, practically and spiritually; it means having a sense of how things look in God's eyes and seeing them in some measure "uncovered and laid bare" (Heb. 4:13).

The Impact of Discernment

How does this discernment affect the way we live? In four ways:

1. It acts as a means of protection, guarding us from being deceived spiritually. It protects us from being blown away by the winds of teaching that make central an element of the gospel that is peripheral or treat a particular application of Scripture as though it were Scripture's central message.

2. Discernment also acts as an instrument of healing, when exercised in grace. I have known a small number of people whose ability to diagnose the spiritual needs of others has been remarkable. Such people seem able to penetrate into the heart issues someone else faces better than the person can do. Of course, this is in some ways a dangerous gift with which God has entrusted them. But when exercised in love, discernment can be the surgical scalpel in spiritual surgery that makes healing possible.

3. Again, discernment functions as a key to Christian freedom. The zealous but undiscerning Christian becomes enslaved—to others, to his own uneducated conscience, to an unbiblical pattern of life. Growth in discernment sets us free from such bondage, enabling us to distinguish practices that may be helpful in some circumstances from those that are mandated in all circumstances. But in another way, true discernment enables the free Christian to recognize that the exercise of freedom is not essential to the enjoyment of it.

4. Finally,discernment serves as a catalyst to spiritual development:"The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning" (Prov. 14:6, NIV). Why? Because the discerning Christian goes to the heart of the matter. He knows something about everything, namely that all things have their common fountain in God. Increase in knowledge, therefore, does not lead to increased frustration, but to a deeper recognition of the harmony of all God's works and words.

How is such discernment to be obtained? We receive it as did Christ Himself—by the anointing of the Spirit, through our understanding of God's Word, by our experience of God's grace, and by the progressive unfolding to us of the true condition of our own hearts.

That is why we also should pray, "I am your servant; give me discernment" (Ps. 119:125, NIV).

From In Christ Alone.

We are pleased to announce new features available to you on your Ligonier.org account.

First, your year-end donation statement is now available online that can be used for tax reporting purposes. Second, you will find an informal donation history for your personal reference. Third, Ministry Partners may now download their Message of the Month from Dr. Sproul in MP3 format. We hope these new features will add to the convenience of your online account.

To access your account, please click Sign In or Create Account on the top right corner of our website. Please sign in or create your account with your preferred email address. Once signed in, click My Account located in the right-hand corner of the page and you will be able to access these new features for your account. If you do not see your donation history, we will need to associate your Ligonier Student ID# with the email address you used to sign in.

Year-end giving statements will be mailed soon to our donors. We look forward to all that God will bring our way in 2011 and thank our kind donors for standing with us in our proclamation of His holiness to as many people as possible.

The ongoing needs of Ligonier Ministries at home and abroad are met through the generous gifts of those individuals, churches, and organizations who believe in our vision. Gifts may be given as one-time or recurring donations, through our Partnership Program, through Estate Planning, and Retirement Planning, or by gifts of stocks and securities. Thank you for supporting the vision and work of Ligonier Ministries.

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"The nineteenth century French poet Charles Baudelaire wrote that 'the devil's best trick is to persuade you that he doesn't exist.' In the providence of God, the Devil has been quite successful in persuading his followers that he doesn't exist. But we who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ know all too well that he does, indeed, exist, as we wrestle daily against our enemy and the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil (Eph. 6:12)."

In his editorial for February's issue of Tabletalk, Burk Parsons introduces an edition of the magazine that is entirely unique. "In the spirit of Lewis' Screwtape Letters, we offer twenty similar letters written from the perspective of a senior demon to a junior demon on issues ranging from racism to cynicism, legalism to criticism."

Read more in Resisting the Devil.

The February edition of Tabletalk is out. In the vein of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, this issue features twenty letters written from a senior demon to a tempter-in-training on a wide array of topics. The issue aims to give a glimpse into the perverted world of spiritual wickedness in order to better understand the crafty and twisted ways in which it works against the people of God. Contributors include R.C. Sproul, John Piper, Thabiti Anyabwile, R. Scott Clark, Derek Thomas, Denny Burk, Michael Card, Keith Mathison and R.C. Sproul Jr.

[image error]We do not post all of the feature articles or the daily devotionals from the issue, so you'll have to subscribe to get those. But for now, here are links to a few select columns and articles from this month:

"Resisting the Devil" by Burk Parsons
"Rejoice with Trembling" by John Piper
"Confessions of a Bibliophile" by Keith Mathison
"Does the Church Know Her Commission?" by Denny Burk
"Vehicles for Giving the Self: An Interview with Michael Card"

*****

If you have not subscribed yet, you should. It's only $23 for a year, and $20 to renew. You save even more if you get a 2- or 3-year subscription (as little as $1.36 per issue). Special discounts for churches or businesses are available for those who want multiple copies of each issue. Start receiving Tabletalk by calling one of Ligonier Ministries' resource consultants at 800-435-4343 (8am-8pm ET, Mon-Fri) or subscribe online.

It's a big world out there, full of all manner of sin. In these United States sodomites parade their perversion down Main Street. In Canada to denounce sodomy as perversion is to invite prosecution by the state. In parts of Europe more couples cohabit than marry. In Iraq and East Timor militant Muslims blow up churches in service to Allah. Sin abounds out there.

Too often Christians in rightly wanting to wage war with sin aim far and miss far. One of the great evils of these great evils is that they distract us from the great evils in ourselves. Flamboyant sin delights the devil because its very brightness blinds us to our own more humdrum sins. It is a good thing to be aghast at the great sins of the world. We ought never to become jaded to any sin. We must see it for what it is, an affront to God, and an assault on His dignity. The problem of sodomy isn't that it turns our stomachs or makes our children ask embarrassing questions, but that it is a vile stench in the nostrils of God. It is a good thing to pray that God would do great things to stop this wickedness, to pray that His grace and His wrath would be poured out.

But it is a better thing, if you'll pardon the piety, that we pray and labor to eradicate that sin which is closest to us, which resides within our own hearts. Sodomites, after all, not only do not have the Spirit of God indwelling them, but are in fact doing what they do as a result, not just a cause of, the judgement of God. Political fools who will not kiss the Son won't kiss the Son because they can't even see His kingdom. Fornicating Euros were raised by those outside the covenant, and so it is little wonder that they play the harlot. And Muslims are in the grip of the demon that they worship.

I, on the other hand, have been bought with a price. I am a child of the Father, in union with the Son, and indwelt by the Spirit. I have been born again unto good works. I am a new creation, and so my sins, rather than being small by comparison, dwarf the peccadillos of the damned. I haven't been given much, but have been given everything. And so everything is required of me. I, as a Reformed person, am the worst of the lot. I would rather spend my time debating about the place of good works in the life of the Christian, than cultivating good works in my life. I would rather hone my "worldview" than see the log that is in my own eye. I think sanctification is a doctrine, rather than a calling. And I am more interested in having my mind renewed than in being transformed. I would rather look down my nose at piety than I would seek it out.

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner, and teach me my sin.