Omniscience Justifies Knowledge

How many times have you thought you were right and turned out to be wrong? Have you ever come to wrong conclusions because you didn't have all the facts, or because you were operating under faulty assumptions? ... ... ... This deserves our attention. How can one be certain of anything unless they know everything there is to know? Is it possible that tomorrow through some turn of events you could find out that everything you have believed up to this point has been wrong?

For the Christian, the answer must be "No." Christians don't just "hope" or wish that what they believe is true, they are convinced that it is true (faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen). And they are indeed justified in there convictions because Omniscience backs them up. Who's omniscience? God's.

God, and God alone, knows everything. That would mean that only he can know and be certain of anything, however, something else true. He has revealed truth to believers in Christ and in the Scriptures. God, the only one justified in his knowledge, imparts pieces of knowledge to us. Therefore, we can be certain of what he has imparted to us. This means that we have as a foundation for our convictions then, not our own intelligence or our own thoroughness in our investigations, but God himself. God's omniscient knowledge revealed to man is the only way to be certain of anything. We cannot survive on our own. Our finitude will fail us in the end.

Essentially, what I'm saying is that if you want to be sure about something, you need an omniscient stamp of approval.

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Now, one may be convinced of the soundness of the above principle (that only omniscience justifies knowledge) and yet still hold a bit of reservation. A good follow-up question is, "Does the bible teach such a principle?" I was encouraged recently to find these things in the Scriptures (thanks to a helpful pointer from R. Reymond).

This is the clearest Scripture passage that I now know of on this issue.


Job 28

1"Surely there is a mine for silver
And a place where they refine gold.
2"Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
3"Man puts an end to darkness,
And to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
4"He sinks a shaft far from habitation,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing to and fro far from men.
5"The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire.
6"Its rocks are the source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
7"The path no bird of prey knows,
Nor has the falcon's eye caught sight of it.
8"The proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
9"He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the base.
10"He hews out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
11"He dams up the streams from flowing,
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
12"But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13"Man does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14"The deep says, 'It is not in me';
And the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
15"Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
16"It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire.
17"Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
18"Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls.
19"The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20"Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?
21"Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living
And concealed from the birds of the sky.
22"Abaddon and Death say,
'With our ears we have heard a report of it.'

23"God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24"For He looks to the ends of the earth
And sees everything under the heavens. (That's it!!!)

25"When He imparted weight to the wind
And meted out the waters by measure,
26When He set a limit for the rain
And a course for the thunderbolt,
27Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out.
28"And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.'"

Watson on Keeping the Heart

"All the danger is when the world gets into the heart. The water is useful for the sailing of the ship; all the danger is when the water gets into the ship; so the fear is when the world gets into the heart." - Thomas Watson

I would not have used some of his language. Nevertheless, the principle of what he saying is an encouragement for me today.

Craven Fear

During one of my times in Romania, I ran into a situation with a dear, older sister that I have not forgotten. Her village was saturated in Voodoo. These demonic superstitions had made entrance into her home through her daughter-in-law, a VooDoo witch. I don't think any profit would come from giving the details of some of what she was experiencing. Suffice it to say that our visit consisted mostly of her uncontrollable crying and pleading with us to never leave her alone. Though her frame was frail, she clung to us with all her might. Her life was one of craven fear.

I can remember situations, before and after becoming a Christian, in which fear seemed to control me. I don't want to make uninformed generalizations that many people live their lives in fear. On the other hand, I've had countless conversations with countless Christians who, in one way or another, experience frequent fear. In light of this, I thought I would list some of the New Covenant promises pertaining to fear as it relates to spiritual warfare.

Ezek 34:23-28
I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods...they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid.

Isa 35:8-10
A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, And the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Hosea 2:18
In that day I will also make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, And will make them lie down in safety.

Zeph 3:14-19
Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: "Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy....Behold, I am going to deal at that time With all your oppressors, I will save the lame and gather the outcast, And I will turn their shame into praise and renown In all the earth.

Luke 1:68-74
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant—As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US...to grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

Luke 4:18

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."

The Implications of Sovereignty

Throughout the centuries, the biblical doctrines of election and predestination have been maligned. Among the many objections, some of the main contentions I have personally heard are as follows:

1. The doctrine of election will produce slothfulness in regards to holiness. For God to control one thing, He must control all things. For God to sovereignly achieve an end, He must sovereignly control the means. Therefore, for God to be sovereign in salvation, God must sovereignly control all things. If God sovereignly controls all things, man's responsibility is destroyed. If man's responsibility is destroyed, all motivation for holiness is lost. That's one objection.

2. The doctrine of election destroys the concept of God's love. As the argument goes, God's love is maximized in His love for all men. If God loves all people, He would not only choose some of the to be saved. If God only chooses some, He doesn't seem as loving. That's another objection - namely, election minimizes the love of God. Election makes God look unloving and unkind.

3. Election minimizes the glory of God, especially His grace. If God only chooses some, then God somehow doesn't seem as glorious. The fact that He only chooses some makes Him look small. There's a third objection.

4. Election makes God look stingy. If God is sovereign over salvation, only choosing some and passing over the rest, then God seems stingy with His grace. That's a fourth objection.

Many things could be said in reply to these. Most of these objections stem from a misunderstanding of the fallen condition of man. Nevertheless, Ephesians 1:4-6 answers these objections in remarkable fashion. I will simply quote the passage. I'll place numbers in the passage to correspond with the biblical response to these objections:

"...(1) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. (2) In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, (3) to the praise of the glory of His grace, (4) which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."

The Invitation System

Dr. Lloyd-Jones on the Altar Call

We are to preach the Word, and if we do it properly, there will be a call to a decision that comes in the message, and then we leave it to the Spirit to act upon people. Early in the 1970s Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones was the speaker at a ministers' conference in the USA and at a question session was asked the following question: Q During recent years, especially in England, among evangelicals of the Reformed faith, there has been a rising criticism of the invitation system as used by Billy Graham and others. Does Scripture justify the use of such public invitations or not? A. Well, it is difficult to answer this in a brief compass without being misunderstood. Let me answer it like this: The history of this invitation system is one with which you people ought to be more familiar than anyone else, because it began in America. It began in the 1820s; the real originator of it was Charles G. Finney. It led to a great controversy. Asahel Nettleton, a great Calvinist and successful evangelist, never issued an "altar call" nor asked people to come to the "anxious seat." These new methods in the 182Os and were condemned for many reasons by all who took the Reformed position. One reason is that there is no evidence that this was done in New Testament times, because then they trusted to the power of the Spirit. Peter preaching on the Day of Pentecost under the power of the Spirit, for instance, had no need to call people forward in decision because, as you remember, the people were so moved and affected by the power of the Word and Spirit that they actually interrupted the preacher, crying out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" That has been the traditional Reformed attitude towards this particular matter. The moment you begin to introduce this other element, you are bringing a psychological element. The invitation should be in the message. We believe the Spirit applies the message, so we trust in the power of the Spirit. I personally agree with what has been said in the question. I have never called people forward at the end for this reason; there is a grave danger of people coming forward before they are ready to come forward. We do believe in the work of the Spirit, that He convicts and converts, and He will do His work. There is a danger in bringing people to a "birth," as it were, before they are ready for it. The Puritans in particular were afraid of what they would call "a temporary faith" or "a false profession." There was a great Puritan, Thomas Shepard, who published a famous series of sermons on The Ten Virgins. The great point of that book was to deal with this problem of a false profession. The foolish virgins thought they were all right. This is a very great danger. I can sum it up by putting it like this: I feel that this pressure which is put upon people to come forward in decision ultimately is due to a lack of faith in the work and operation of the Holy Spirit. We are to preach the Word, and if we do it properly, there will be a call to a decision that comes in the message, and then we leave it to the Spirit to act upon people. And of course He does. Some may come immediately at the close of the service to see the minister. I think there should always be an indication that the minister will be glad to see anybody who wants to put questions to him or wants further help. But that is a very different thing from putting pressure upon people to come forward. I feel it is wrong to put pressure directly on the will. The order in Scripture seems to be this - the truth is presented to the mind, which moves the heart, and that in turn moves the will. *Taken from the Banner of Truth

Old Black Water, Keep on Rollin'

*I affectionately dedicate this post to my brother in Christ, and my brother in the Black Water, J. Mason Vann.*

One of the things I look forward to most each week is the Saturday morning Bible/book study that a group of us have been having for a couple of years now. Two of the essential ingredients for said study are fresh pastries from the local Hy-Vee (including, by dire necessity, two apple fritters for Charles), along with freshly ground coffee (the "Black Water"). I don't know where the study would be right now apart from these two needed accessories, but I know for sure that it wouldn't be as profitable as it has been so far.

So, in appreciation of the contribution that the Black Water has made to our study time, I offer these quotes by other lovers of the brew, both current and those who have gone before. To kick things off, I quote my brother in the Black Water, Sheik Abd-al-Kadir: "No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness." Yes, yes... preach on brother Sheik.

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The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., "Over the Teacups," 1891Coffee is the best thing to douse the sunrise with. ~Drew Sirtors

Over second and third cups flow matters of high finance, high state, common gossip and low comedy. [Coffee] is a social binder, a warmer of tongues, a soberer of minds, a stimulant of wit, a foiler of sleep if you want it so. From roadside mugs to the classic demi-tasse, it is the perfect democrat. ~Author Unknown

No coffee can be good in the mouth that does not first send a sweet offering of odor to the nostrils. ~Henry Ward Beecher

A morning without coffee is like sleep. ~Author Unknown

I believe humans get a lot done, not because we're smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee. ~Flash Rosenberg

As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold. ~Author Unknown

Way too much coffee. But if it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever. ~David Letterman

Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation. ~Author Unknown

Deja Brew: The feeling that you've had this coffee before. ~Author Unknown

Forever: Time it takes to brew the first pot of coffee in the morning. ~Author Unknown

A fig for partridges and quails,
ye dainties I know nothing of ye;
But on the highest mount in Wales
Would choose in peace to drink my coffee.
~Jonathon Swift

Suave molecules of Mocha stir up your blood, without causing excess heat; the organ of thought receives from it a feeling of sympathy; work becomes easier and you will sit down without distress to your principal repast which will restore your body and afford you a calm, delicious night. ~Prince Tallyrand

In Seattle you haven't had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it's running. ~Jeff Bezos

Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water. ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674

Coffee makes us severe, and grave, and philosophical. ~Jonathan Swift

Why Should God Bless You?

Ps 67

v1 - God be gracious to us and bless us, {And} cause His face to shine upon us-- Selah.
v2 - That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations.
... ... ...
v7 - God blesses us, That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

It is right to ask God to bless you. Especially when your motivation is that he be glorified in doing so. This is not the same as the health and wealth gospel, and wanting stuff, and comfort. This is asking God to pour out spiritual blessing, so that even if we are physically "put to death all day long" we will have a hope and spiritual abundance, and a living gospel that causes others to see and turn to God.

Think about the book of Acts. The church was persecuted and scattered; yet God was causing his face to shine upon them so much that gentiles were turning from idols to serve the one true God.

Let these verses give you courage to pray, specifically asking that God would bless your life and so fill you with faith and the Holy Spirit that those around you would be converted (to the praise of the glory of his grace).

Steeple Song

One of our elders played this at our Wednesday night meeting and I just have to put it up. It's so good!

Steeple Song
by Don Francisco

I don't care how many buses you own
Or the size of your sanctuary
It doesn't matter how steep your steeple is
If it's sittin' on a cemetery
I don't care if you pave your parking lot
Or put pads upon your pews
What good is picture perfect stage
If you're missin' all the cues?

I don't care if your pastor's super-powered
And your program's always new
What you need is love and truth
And men are going to come to you
It doesn't matter that you know the Bible
If it's all just in your head
The thing I need to ask you is
Have you done the things I said?

Do you love your wife?
For her and for your children
Are you layin' down your life?
What about the others?
Are you livin' as a servant to
Your sisters and your brothers?
Do you make the poor man beg you for a bone?
Do the widow and the orphan cry alone?

I don't care if you pray for miracles
I don't care if you speak with tongues
I don't care if you said you love Me
In every song you've sung
It doesn't matter that your sacrifice of praise
Is loud enough to raise the dead
The thing I need to ask you is
Have you done the things I said?

Lord, when were You a prisoner
That we did not come to You?
When was it that we saw You sick
That we didn't follow through
Every time you turned your head
And pretended not to see
When you did it not to the least of these
You did it not to Me

Do you love your wife?
With all you've got inside you
Are you layin' down your life?
What about the others?
Are you living as a servant
To your sisters and your brothers?
Do you make the poor man beg you for a bone?
Do the widow and the orphan cry alone?

"The Cross: Jesus in China"

This 4-part video series is a blessing. Now, incredibly, the video series is free for download here.

Robert Reymond On the New Creation and New Man

Robert Reymond is another author that I really appreciate. I recently studied through his A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith with a group of friends, and was very much rewarded by the effort. Here is a quote from Reymond's book Paul: Missionary Theologian, which is a work dealing with the missionary labors and theology of the Apostle Paul. In this section Reymond is explicating the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification; the influence of John Murray upon his thought is apparent:

The Christian a Spirit-Wrought New Creation

From the point of view of the center and direction of the Christian life Paul speaks of the Christian as being, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, a new man (Col. 3:9, 10), a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), with a new life in Christ (Gal. 2:20). This is a radical and absolute perspective, so radical and absolute that the language of death and resurrection may be used (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20). Nothing in our experience short of repudiating the faith and returning to and abiding in sin can or will let us forget this truth. Paul urges us to 'consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus' (Rom. 6:11; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11; Eph. 5:26). Our new life depends on the work of Christ, through union with him in his death and resurrection, being applied to use by God's Spirit. In and by this Spirit-wrought union we personally experience and appropriate in us that representative work for us (a personal spiritual union symbolized by baptism, Tit. 3:5, 6).

Putting on the Spirit-Wrought 'New Self'

The Pauline indicative concerning the core of our being must be manifested throughout our body and during our life through the self-conscious activity of being dependent upon the presence and power of the Father and the Son through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Thus of us Paul says: 'By the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body' (Rom. 8:13). We are consistently urged to repudiate the practices characteristic of our old man because we have put him off in Christ and we are to put on the characteristics of godly living that are true of the new self (Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9-10). This activity comes about by letting our minds be renewed or instructed from the perspective of God's Word (Eph. 4:23; Col. 3:16; see Rom. 12:2) and by being filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). The correlation of the responsibility of the Christian and of his dependence upon God is perhaps best described in Philippians 2:12-13:

So then, beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for [his] good pleasure.

John Murray On The End of Sin's Dominion

Those who know me personally know that John Murray is one of my absolute favorite theologians. A dear brother gave me his Collected Writings a few months back, and they quickly found themselves on my "short list" of must-have Christian literature. For those who have never read anything by Murray before, I would recommend you start with his commentary on Romans, along with his classic work Redemption Accomplished and Applied. You will find that he writes with a mixture of clarity, warmth, practicality and profundity rarely found among Christian authors. A wonderful example of this admirable mixture is found in this quote from his Principles of Conduct:

Sin does not have the dominion over the person who is united to Christ and is under the governance of redeeming grace. This is but an implication of Paul's basic premise, 'we died to sin'. And it is but another facet of the radical and decisive breach with sin which is the consequence of union with Christ. It is the facet, however, which brings to the forefront the aspect of power. Sin is viewed from the angle of the power it wields and the breach with sin from the angle of deliverance from its power. When we die to sin we die to its power. We must not dilute the force of this proposition any more than the others with which we have dealt. There is the same decisiveness and finality. Sin does not rule in the believer. To think so is to deny the lordship which belongs to Christ by reason of his death and resurrection. And just as the deliverance from the power of sin is decisive, so it is inclusive. If the believer were under the dominion of any sin, then the truth of the proposition 'sin shall not have dominion over you' would be abrogated. The deliverance in view must therefore apply to all sin, and the inescapable inference is that the sin which still inheres in the believer and the sin he commits does not have dominion over him. Sin as indwelling and committed is a reality; it does not lose its character as sin. It is the contradiction of God and of that which a believer most characteristically is. It creates the gravest liabilities. But by the grace of God there is this radical change that it does not exercise the dominion. The self-condemnations which it evokes are the index to this fact. It is this destruction of the power of sin that makes possible a realized biblical ethic.

In closing, READ JOHN MURRAY! Will you agree with everything he says? I hope not! He practiced infant baptism for one thing... But if you don't read him, you will be missing out on some of the most profitable literature available to you as a Christian.