Today marks the 25th anniversary of the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Below is President Reagan’s excellent speech regarding the tragedy:
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Light Up My Eyes (Psalm 19:8b)
Psalm 19:8b
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
Just for a moment, let’s take a look at the words here that help us grasp the perfection and impact of God’s word.
The word for commandment is interesting. In Exodus 24:12, it is combined with Torah to say what God gave Moses on the mountain. It is the Hebrew word mitzvah, from which we get the word bar-mitzvah, son of the law, which is the Jewish boy’s right of passage from childhood to adulthood. As the commandment of God, the scripture has authority. It is not optional. It is the command of God that we must follow, or we rebel against him.
The commandments of God are pure. The word for pure means just that, pure, clean, innocent, or choice as in a choice offering. The 2 other times it occurs in the psalms, it refers to one who has a pure heart. There is no evil, no blemish, no taint of sin in God’s word. It is completely and perfectly pure.
And these pure commands of God enlighten our eyes. There are two possible ideas behind this phrase, and I think both perfectly apply to what the word of God does.
Psalm 119:130
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
One idea is that the word of God gives us light, imparting to us understanding or wisdom. Without question, God’s commands do that for us, as they teach us who God is and what he demands of us.
But there is also…
1 Samuel 14:27
But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright.
Ezra 9:8
But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery.
Psalm 13:3
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
In all three of these passages, where light is connected to your eyes, it means to refresh or rejuvenate you. I honestly think this is more in view in our treatment of God’s word. Yes, God’s word gives us wisdom. But, it also gives us life. It gives us strength to serve God. When we, as believers, read, meditate on, and follow the pure commands of God, we are strengthened, energized, and empowered to follow our God.
My Impact on God (Job 35:5-8)
Job 35:5-8
5 Look at the heavens, and see;
and behold the clouds, which are higher than you.
6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?
And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him?
Or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself,
and your righteousness a son of man.
In Terry Pratchett’s irreverent look at religion, the book Small Gods, the author puts forth a fictional theory of religion that is not uncommon. The gods of the Discworld gain or lose abilities and power based on the amount of faith that is placed in them. Hence, when a god is no longer believed in by others, he loses his ability to act with divine power. However, when something happens to make people believe in the existence of the god again, especially if that belief is strong, the fortune of the deity turns and he is again restored to power.
While Pratchett’s satirical look at faith may seem odd to you, the book of Job would show us that, in our hearts, many of us are not so far from Pratchett’s theory as one might think. Consider how often you have thought that you were really doing God a favor by your actions. Consider how easy it is for you to think your failure to do rightly somehow diminishes God. Consider how many people attempt to purchase God’s favor by promising to do something good on his behalf as if obedience to God’s commands strengthens him and is thus a token with which to barter.
In Elihu’s speech, he shows Job that Job is mistakenly starting to think that Job’s actions for good or for ill can effect God. The picture that Elihu draws from is the cloudy sky. Job’s thoughts cannot effect the clouds. Job’s praise or cursing cannot move a cloud one inch. Neither can Job’s right behavior or his accusation somehow change the glory and grandeur of God.
I’m not here saying that our prayers and actions do not reach the Lord’s ears. I’m not saying that God does not care about our actions. God is pleased when we honor him. God is displeased when we disobey him. However, our love and worship or our sin and disobedience will not change the fact that God is, that God is good, and that God is in control. We cannot add to the value of God. We cannot subtract from the reality of God. His worth and status is completely separate from our impact. He is not in the least dependant on us for anything.
I hope this isn’t discouraging. It in fact should be exhilarating. God does not need us in any way, yet he chooses to adopt believers in Christ as his children. He chooses to forgive us our sin and make us part of his family. This is a glorious and loving God. We dare not think that we can buy his favor. We dare not think that our disobedience can threaten him. But we should most certainly think that it is wonderful to be allowed to see the glory of one so great, so mighty, so wonderful.
A Key to Job (Job 32:2-3))
Job 32:2-3
2 Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. 3 He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong.
Reading through the book of Job, it is hard to figure out what to think. As we see the speeches made by Job and his three friends, we see men using truths to reason falsely. However, seeing the frustration of Elihu here in chapter 32 helps so much of the book to fall into place. So, if you have been confused by reading chapters 3 to 31, the opening of chapter 32 is very enlightening.
There are two major errors that we see happening in Job in the conversation between Job and his three friends. In general, we tend to notice the error of the friends. They tell Job that the only possible reason that he is suffering is because of some sin that he has committed that he will not repent of. Even though these men often say true things about the sinfulness of man in comparison to God, they are wrong, terribly wrong, about the reason behind Job’s suffering. Thus. Elihu is rightly angry at these men for spouting off falsehood to a friend who needs comfort, not reproof.
On the other hand, Job has also raised the ire of Elihu. Elihu is angry that Job, through his speech, has sought to justify himself instead of God. This is not good. Job decries the unfairness, the injustice of his suffering. Elihu is angry, and rightly so, that Job is not first and foremost acknowledging that God is good and always does rightly.
The book of Job reminds us of two major truths. First, you do not know why people suffer or why they are blessed. Yes, God is in control. However, you do not know why our Lord moves as he does. Thus, you have no business assuming that you know the reason why God blessed or did not bless someone.
Second, Job teaches us that, when life is hard, God is still good. Job was frustrated. He wanted to see himself justified, even at the expense of God’s reputation. But we see from this book that such is a wrong tactic. God is holy. God is just. God is good, always good. Never are we the ones in the right with God in the wrong.
Bargaining With God (Matthew 27:24)
Matthew 27:24
So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”
It’s funny how much bargaining has made its way into our basic mentality. I’m not, of course, talking about the concept of haggling for prices in the marketplace—that belongs to a different culture than my own. No, I’m talking about the concept of bargaining for atonement.
Think about it. If you know that you are about to do something wrong or hurtful, don’t you come up with things you might say or do to somehow make yourself right or at least OK? Don’t you rearrange your words in your mind, find the reason behind your actions that excuses you, or perhaps even think of a few good deeds that you will do to counterbalance the bad? This is pretty standard fare for the human mind.
Here’s the problem: Bargaining does not work. We see that with Pilate in the verse above. Pilate had discovered that Jesus was innocent of any crime. He knew that the Jews had handed Jesus over out of envy and fear. Pilate knew that Jesus was not threat to lead a lawless rebellion. Yet, when the crowd got rowdy, Pilate went ahead and allowed them to condemn Jesus to a death that Jesus did not deserve.
Watch Pilate bargain with his conscience. He washes his hands and declares himself to be innocent of Jesus’ blood. Well, Pilate, good for you. Good that you can just pronounce your actions OK and make that true. But wait, did he make his actions OK? Of course he didn’t Pilate was cowardly. He refused to stand for what was right. He was warned by his wife not to harm Jesus. Yet, when Pilate feared a loss of public opinion and perhaps public stability, Pilate caved. Yet, as he caved, Pilate tried to say that is actions were OK simply because he displayed his disgust at what was happening.
The truth of the matter is that God is our ultimate Judge. We cannot tell God how he will deal with us. We cannot tell God, “This will all be fine so long as I give some extra money.” No, God will not be bought by our actions. Neither will God be swayed by our moral compass. If we say something is OK just because we say so, we assume that we have the same right as God to declare right and wrong. This is simply untrue. We do not have the right to declare our actions innocent or acceptable. It is before the King we either stand or fall. It is before the Lord that our actions are laid bare. We have no right to tell God that we will do X and our actions will become acceptable. He is the one we serve; and he determines the rightness or wrongness of all that we think and do.
No, you can’t bargain with God. You can’t tell him how things ought to be handled when it comes to moral judgment. The better way, the only way, is to surrender to the Lordship of God. Cry out to Jesus for mercy. Yield yourself to his judgment. Then you will not need to go through any false hand-washing ceremonies in order to make yourself feel righteous when really nothing has changed.
Things We Say Wrong (ly?)
Tim Challies linked to this clever video demonstrating the devolution of our language and its rules.
Boys, Bears, and Belittling (2 Kings 2:23-24)
2 Kings 2:23-24
23 He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.
The above passage is just plain weird. IN fact, the only time I have ever really heard it referenced is when making a joke about this being the only “youth group” in the Bible. But, is there not something more for us to learn from this passage than that kids who made fun of the prophet got mauled by bears?
I think that there is something very important for us to grasp here. Elisha was the man of God. He was the prophet. HE was the man who was charged with communicating to Israel the words of the living God.
The young men in the story were not at all concerned about Elisha’s role of spiritual leadership. They were happy to make fun of him. They called him to “Go on up.” Perhaps they were making fun of the loss of Elijah while telling Elisha to get away too.
Be careful what you say about the men of God and the word of God. It is no trivial thing to put down and taunt those who serve the Lord faithfully. Perhaps you are in a church in which you don’t personally like your pastor. What do you do? Do you make fun of him? Do you take cheap shots at him? Do you criticize him to others behind the pastor’s back? If so, I wonder how much different you sound in the ears of the Lord than those youths who made fun of God’s prophet.
OH, I know, pastors are flawed. I’m terribly flawed in far more ways than I would comfortably blog. And, if we think clearly, we can assume Elisha was flawed too. But Elisha was still the man of God for the people of God at that time in Israel’s history. To mock him was to commit a very serious offense against the God who set Elisha up as prophet. Similarly, to mock and take cheap shots at your pastor is to commit a very serious offense against the very same God.
I understand that some pastors are unbiblical and dangerous. You should do what you can to talk to such men. IF you see your pastor failing to handle Scripture rightly, you should talk to him personally. You should, with all love and grace, try to help him to see your point. You should be willing to pray with the pastor and work with him to help him to serve the Lord better. But don’t, for the love of God and his church, go out and try to hurt the ministry without you first trying to find out the heart and reasoning of the pastor.
If the pastor is in sin in some way, it is your loving job as a Christian to graciously confront him and try to help him to repent. This is the call of Jesus from Mathew 18:15-17 that all Christians are to follow. But if you are not willing to first follow Scripture’s call to confront the man in his sin, don’t think you will be righteous and honoring to God if you go around and gossip about someone you are unwilling to sit down and talk with. If the pastor is doing something illegal, go through the proper channels to expose it and to put a stop to it in order to protect others. This is by no means a shield for clergy abuse. But it is a call for those who would make an accusation to do so properly, wisely, and in a godly way.
There are always difficulties with making a blanket statement about how we are to handle any situation. It is hard to tell somebody how to deal with a situation that you are not experiencing yourself. But, let’s learn something from this weird passage in 2 Kings. Let’s learn to guard the way that we speak about those who are serving God. Let’s be careful not to mock those who have been charged with delivering to us God’s word, especially if they actually do their job and deliver that word. No, never tolerate sin or abuse. But be circumspect as you speak regarding those who serve the Lord.
In Christ Alone
This is a very nice live version of this great modern hymn.
Found: God’s Will – A Review
John MacArthur’s Found: God’s Will has for many years been my go-to book to offer Christians a brief answer to the question of how they might understand God’s will in their lives. When Christians ask about God’s will, they are generally looking for advice on how to make a decision so as not to displease their Lord. MacArthur, in only a few pages (or just over an hour of an audio book), offers as clear an answer as anyone I’ve seen.
Positives
In his book and philosophy of discerning God’s will, John MacArthur is first and foremost biblical. MacArthur makes it clear that the way for a Christian to understand God’s will for his or her life is to be found in Scripture. MacArthur does not suggest any sort of strange, mystical, or superstitious use of Scripture, but a simple, clear, honest look at the text of God’s word. We need more of this in Christendom.
Besides being biblical, MacArthur is wonderfully freeing in his approach. Taking God’s call in Psalm 37:4 to heart, the author concludes in his work that a Christian delighted in God and submitted to his commands will be free to do what he or she desires. This is by no means a license for sin, as the prerequisite for doing what you want is that you have first done what God has proclaimed is his will in clear texts of Scripture. MacArthur calls us to be saved, to be Spirit-filled, to be sanctified, to willingly suffer persecution for the sake of the gospel, and to be submitted to the authorities that God has placed over us. When those conditions are met, a believer will be free in his love for God to do whatever he desires without fearing somehow thwarting God’s will.
A final positive that I will mention is that this book is wonderfully brief, only 64 pamphlet-sized pages in print. MacArthur does not force his readers to wade through hundreds of pages to find the answer they are seeking to the question of how to make a decision about whom to marry or which college to attend.
Negatives
The brevity of MacArthur’s work, though a positive, is also a negative. There are many challenges that MacArthur simply does not address, as his work is more a pamphlet than a scholarly defense of non-mystical decision-making. Thus, MacArthur does not address questions of spiritual gifts, “leadings” in prayer, or other methods people might declare useful for discerning God’s will.
We might also add that MacArthur’s list of five categories to satisfy is not exhaustive. For example, MacArthur does not address the need for a believer not only to desire something biblical, but to also be convinced in his or her conscience that his or her actions are right (Rom 14:21). I do not doubt that MacArthur would agree with this added point, but his brief work did not allow for the addition of other points (nor does having a clear conscience begin with the letter S, thus potentially messing up the entire system [and for the humor-impaired, this parenthetical is sarcastic]).
Recommendation
While many God’s will books have been written, I still find MacArthur’s tiny work to be my first choice for helping believers begin to grasp that the word of God is sufficient for life’s difficult decisions. There are other books that I like very much on this topic as well, including Kevin DeYoung’s Just Do Something, but for a short, simple, and sound answer to the question, MacArthur’s Found: God’s Will is an excellent resource. I have no hesitation in recommending this little book to any believer.
Audio
As part of their reviewers program, I was given a free audio copy of the audio version of this book from Christian Audio. The reading and audio quality of this work meets the high standards one has come to expect from this organization. To learn more, visit www.christianaudio.com.
can I Know God’s Will – A Review
R. C. Sproul. Can I Know God’s Will. Crucial Questions Series, no 4. Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust, 2009. 102 pp. $7.00.
Has any question been asked more often or with more earnest desire than the question of how a Christian can understand what is the will of God? This topic matters, and so it was with great anticipation that I began to read volume 4 in R. C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series. The little book, Can I Know God’s Will addresses a few important and sometimes neglected issues in the discussion of the will of God.
Positives
I love reading R. C. Sproul. He has a style of writing, a scholarly clarity, that many authors of today sadly lack. This book has logical thought, real-life illustrations, humor, and the occasional Latin phrase sprinkled in (one can’t have Sproul without Latin). Simply put, this is a book that is easy-to-read without being dull or overly simple.
Sproul addresses the topic of God’s will from what I would consider to be a very solid angle. In defining the concept of God’s will, Sproul speaks of God’s will of decree (that which God in his sovereignty makes happen), his will of precept (that which God commands people do), and his will of disposition (that which God desires to happen but will not force). Until those categories are understood, the question “What is Gods’ will” is a nonsense question. Sproul makes a solid argument for the distinctions between Gods’ will of precept and his will of decree, and shows that we want to know God’s will of precept and disposition while we have little right to attempt to find God’s will of decree.
For many Christians, the breakdown of the different kinds of will of God will be worth the book’s cover price. Far too often we desire to have God tell us the future. We want to know which decision we can make that will make our lives work perfectly without any struggle, difficulty, or pain. In this seeking, we are wanting less to honor God and more to simply have God work for us like a fortune-teller who steers us away from difficulties. However, God has not chosen to reveal the future or his secret decrees to his children, and we ought not think that we can find this “will” through any of our means.
In the other chapters of the book, Sproul addresses the question of God’s will versus man’s will. The author argues that, for God to be sovereign, man’s will cannot supersede God’s will. While mankind is free to choose according to man’s greatest desire, such choosing will never be outside the ultimate decreed will of God. Again, this is a concept that many Christians need to consider.
In the final two chapters, Sproul offers some very practical advice for Christians who are looking into issues of God’s will in career and marriage choices. Since many believers struggle mightily in these areas, Sproul’s points could prove to be valuable aids.
Negatives
While I agree with the points that Sproul makes in this work, I found myself disappointed in the overall construction of the book. When a person asks about issues related to determining the will of God, that person is generally trying to examine practical versus mystical means of hearing the voice of God in order to receive God’s guidance. It is good that Sproul makes it clear that the word of God, his preceptive will, is what we must learn in order to do what is right. Sproul makes a point similar to John MacArthur’s point in Found: God’s Will, the key to discerning Gods’ will is to obey God’s commands and then to act with godly freedom. Though Sproul makes this point in general, he makes it more weakly than I would like, and does not address the dangerous false methods that many use to attempt to discern God’s will. So, while Sproul’s point is solid, he fails to thoroughly deal with the questions that I think would be on the hearts of many of his readers.
I also question the 3 category approach of God’s will. While I understand Sproul’s use of the 3 wills, it seems to me to be simpler to refer to God’s will of decree and will of precept and to include God’s will of disposition in the will of precept. I wonder if adding this third category truly advances the discussion, or if it in fact might add a level of confusion for those who read Sproul’s work who will then seek to discover a hidden “disposition” that is somehow apart from Scripture. If believers attempt this task, they will then be back at square one, looking for a “will” that they have no way of objectively finding.
The chapters on career and marriage were very wise chapters to insert. However, I wonder if readers who pick those chapters up to read will feel satisfied. Sproul offers some wise questions and wise counsel; however, will readers who are looking for more understand that such wise questions and wise counsel are really what they need? Since Sproul does not deal strongly with the many negative methods that some would attempt to discover the will of God, he might not be able to satisfy readers who find themselves reading chapters 3 and 4.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Though I wish that Sproul had rearranged his work to spend more time on some of the mystical and non-scriptural means that some would suggest for discerning God’s will, I still love that he addresses for Christians to grasp that the will of God is not a secret path that we must stumble upon in order to live a successful life. I would that Sproul spent less time on the discussion of human freedom versus God’s sovereignty and more time on how Christians go about decision-making in general. But with those complaints aside, Christians who need a more philosophical look at the concept of the will of God and the freedom of man can certainly benefit from this work. It is easy to read through in a short time, and the concepts present are certainly solid.
Disclosure
Reformation Trust has given me a free copy of this work for the review that I am submitting.
Pastor Travis Peterson 