The Word Became Flesh!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

--From the Gospel According to John, Chapter 1, Verses 1-18 (NIV)

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"Glory to GOD in the Highest

and on earth Peace to men on whom

HIS FAVOR RESTS."

--Luke 2: 14 (NIV)

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"May the Grace and Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all!"

--The Blacktown Care Group, at Kuya Vic's & Ate Connie's;

First few hours of 25/12/2006.

Photo courtesy of Noli & Linda at Tri-A Photoworks.

See more of Noli's work at http://www.triap.smugmug.com/

Email Noli at ptl_gby@yahoo.com.au

October 31...

Sometime this day, but only 489 years ago…

The people of Europe were preparing for All Saints Day… converging on the major cities to attend the churches so they could receive special blessings by looking on the relics, attending Mass, and by doing various kinds of penance. There was a special sale of indulgences which could be purchased excusing the buyer from various kinds of sins. Those superstitions had come to dominate the church.

It greatly troubled a monk in the German university city of Wittenberg. On the eve of all saints day he posted 95 theses for debate on the public bulletin board on the door of the castle church. In those 95 statements he challenged the church to debate its teachings and to question the biblical foundation for some of its beliefs and practices.

http://www.girs.com/library/sermons/refday3.html

It was in 1517, when on October 31st Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. This event marked the beginning of what has come to be known as the Protestant Reformation.

Luther had identified some teachings and practices in the church which had no foundation in the Bible. He wanted those things discussed and academically debated. He wanted the church to submit its beliefs and practices to the authority of Scripture. But his goal was not only academic. He knew that ideas and practices that are not true and right, are serious dangers. They deceive and hurt needy people who are seeking Christ's help and happiness.

http://www.girs.com/library/sermons/refday1.html

“The Ninety-Five Theses” were a call for debate, although a debate never took place. This call did, however, shake the people of Germany. Luther’s challenge went unnoticed for some time by the established Church, but the people did not let it die. Through the providence of God, a call to look to Scripture as the Christians’ sole authority began to ring throughout Germany and other parts of Europe. This movement… was a movement back to the Bible. The motto became Sola Scriptura (Latin for Scripture Alone) and these rebels of God began to spread the Gospel message once again to the world.

With the spread of the Reformation… we see the next great impact of the Gospel in 17th century England. It is here that we begin to see the seed bed of the Baptist movement.

http://www.reformedreader.org/history/pbh.htm




Then, sometime between then and now…

…Multitudes of English Christians were demanding reform in their church. They sensed that the church had become corrupt and selfish, and that it had largely left the simple message of the Bible. Several factors contributed to this clamor for reform: the teachings of such great reformers as Martin Luther in Germany and John Calvin in Geneva; the new translations of the English Bible which allowed the common people once again to read the Word of God; and social and political changes which led people to want more participation in their church.

Several English rulers in the sixteenth century sought to reform the Church of England to some extent. However, none of these reforms went far enough to satisfy those who wanted to return to the simple teachings and practices of the Bible.

One militant group within the Church of England genuinely desired to recover biblical teachings and practices. Deeply influenced by the reforms of John Calvin, they became known as "Puritans," perhaps because they insisted upon more purity of doctrine and practice in the church.

Another group seeking reform was called "Separatists." Most of the Separatists were frustrated Puritans who had given up hope of reforming the church from within. Separatists decided to separate from the Church of England and form their own independent congregations. By 1600, there were already several of these congregations in England, and they mushroomed by 1625.

The Separatists included many groups holding a variety of views. Some of them later helped populate such diverse churches as Quakers, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and assorted independents and nonconformists. Some of these Separatists, studying the Bible, adopted believer’s baptism and became known as Baptists.

Our best historical evidence says that Baptists came into existence in England in the early seventeenth century. They apparently emerged out of the Puritan-Separatist movement in the Church of England. Some of these earnest people read the Bible in their own language, believed it, and sought to live by it. They formed separate congregations which accepted only believers into their membership, and they baptized converts upon their profession of faith. Their opponents nicknamed them "Baptists," and the name stuck.

Many people assume that Baptists got their name from John the Baptist. This is not the case. Like most religious groups, Baptists were named by their opponents. The name comes from the Baptist practice of immersion.

Perhaps the most startling practice of early English Baptists was their total immersion for baptism after 1640. Crowds would often gather to witness a Baptist immersion service. Some ridiculed… the Baptists as people who "plung’d over head and eares." The nickname "Baptist" was given to describe the people who practiced this strange form of baptism.

The first known reference to these believers in England as "Baptists" was in 1644. They did not like the name and did not use it of themselves until years later. The early Baptists preferred to be called "Brethren" or "Brethren of the Baptized Way." Sometimes they called themselves the "Baptized Churches."
http://www.baptisthistory.org/baptistbeginnings.htm

No definite starting place can be ascribed to the Baptists of the Reformation. For they sprang up in many countries all at once. It is impossible to trace them first of all to any one place, for they appeared in many countries at the same time (J.C. Fusslin, Beitrage zur schweizerischen Reformations geschichte, I. 190; II. 64, 65,265, 328; III. 323. Zurich, 1754).
http://www.reformedreader.org/history/christian/ahob1/ahobc07.htm

The great reformers of Christianity—Martin Luther of Germany and Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin, both of Switzerland—advocated a drastic return to scriptural authority in the teachings and practice of Christian churches—a significant reform but not a total one.

Some of Zwingli’s students, heartened by his teachings from the Greek New Testament (and not, significantly, from just the passages approved by the Roman church), kept reading and applied biblical precepts to their lives and ministries far beyond the reforms of their teacher. One of these more radical reforms was the practice of believers’ baptism.

Zwingli swerved violently away from the Catholic teaching that baptism has a regenerative effect. Baptism was, to him, merely a sign of joining the Christian society. He equated it with the circumcision of Jewish baby boys and further identified God’s chosen within his Zurich parish with spiritual Israel.

This understanding of baptism was as extra-biblical as the Catholic one, though perhaps not as damaging to the doctrine of salvation. His radical students were pejoratively called “Anabaptists,” or “re-baptizers.” They hated the term because they did not consider any baptism but believers’ baptism valid.

The term did associate them with an earlier heresy though, and cast them into the role of outcasts in the minds of many Germans and Swiss.
http://www.sbtexas.com/default.asp?action=article&aid=2651&issue=3/20/2006

Baptists enjoy the enviable distinction of having excited the hostility and suffered from the oppression of every dominant religious party in England, from the days of Henry the Eighth to the days of the Revolution in 1688.

It is not difficult to understand how this has happened. The Baptists argued that the Church of God should be a community of godly men; that faith is the gift of God, and not to be compelled by force of arms; that only those rites sanctioned or commanded by Christ and His Apostles are binding upon His people; and that the only Lawgiver of the Church is Christ Himself.

Each party had, therefore, its own reason for hating the Baptists; and as each had yet to learn the true nature of religious freedom, each oppressed and persecuted in turn.

http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0636.htm

The Baptists have suffered, in common with other Christian denominations, at the hands of wicked rulers, and of the Roman hierarchy. They have also suffered by themselves for their peculiar views as Baptists, at the hands of Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists; and for no one thing more than their rejection of infant baptism.

In Germany they were plundered, thrust into dungeons, banished, and numbers of them beheaded or burned alive. Torture was frequently employed to wring from the sufferers the names and abodes of their associates, or to force them to renounce the faith.

In Switzerland, in 1526, it was ordered that if any baptized others, or submitted to baptism (re-baptism, they called it), they should be drowned without mercy. Many Baptist ministers were drowned; and they held their meetings in secret, in the woods, and under cover of the night. Finally, they left the country in large numbers, going to Moravia, where, for a season, they were tolerated; but at length a law was passed expelling them, and they left, some going to Hungary, some to Transylvania, some to Wallachia, and others to Poland.

In the Netherlands, the hand of oppression was heavy on the Baptists. In 1532, three were burned at the Hague. By edicts, published in the following year, all persons were forbidden to harbor Baptist preachers in Holland; and Baptists refusing to recant were to be slain. The torture was constantly resorted to. The victims were stretched on the rack, or thumb-screws were employed, or a similar instrument applied to the ankles. No regard was paid to sex, station, or age. Under Bloody Mary, a good proportion of the martyr blood that flowed was from the veins of Baptists; and many passed to heaven through the fire.

In the early settlements of America, Church and State were united by law, and the Church sustained by taxation and State appropriations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia; and persecutions against Dissenters were violent and severe.

http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0629.htm


With the ("Bloodless" English) Revolution of 1688, and the passing of the Act of Toleration in 1689, the history of the persecution of Baptists, as well as of other Protestant dissenters, ends.
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Baptists


Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest men who ever lived, declared it was "his conviction that the Baptists were the only Christians who had not symbolized with Rome" (Whiston, Memoirs of, written by himself, 201).
http://www.reformedreader.org/history/christian/ahob1/ahobc07.htm



From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist

Baptist churches do not have a central governing authority, resulting in the wide range of beliefs from one Baptist church to another. Baptist distinctives are beliefs that are common among Baptist churches, some of which are also shared with many other post-reformational denominations. Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith (Also in Tagalog-Boms), the 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, and the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message, which are often used as the "official" doctrinal statements of individual local Baptist churches or the starting point for an official statement.”

See also: List of Baptist Confessions or Doctrinal Statements

The following acrostic backronym, (or ‘backrostic’) spelling of BAPTIST, is used by some Baptist churches as a summary of Baptists' distinguishing beliefs:

“B” for Biblical authority. Baptists emphasize authority of the Scriptures, or sola scriptura, and therefore believe that the Bible is the only authoritative source of God's truth. This view contrasts with the role of Apostolic tradition in the Roman Catholic Church and personal revelation in charismatic circles. Any view that cannot be tied to scriptural exposition is generally considered to be based on human traditions rather than God's leading, and though they may be accurate, such views are never to be elevated to or above the authority of Scripture. Each person is responsible before God for his or her own understanding of the Bible and is encouraged to work out their own salvation.

“A” for Autonomy of the local church. Congregationalist church governance gives autonomy to individual local churches in areas of policy, polity and doctrine. Baptist churches are not under the direct administrative control of any other body, such as a national council, or a leader such as a bishop or pope. Administration, leadership and doctrine are usually decided democratically by the lay members of each individual church, which accounts for the variation of beliefs from one Baptist church to another.

“P” is for Priesthood of all believers The doctrine of "priesthood of all believers" states that every Christian has direct access to God and the truths found in the Bible, without the help of an aristocracy or hierarchy of priests. This doctrine is based on the passage found in 1 Peter 2:9 and was popularized by Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation and John Wycliff's Lollards before Luther. Baptists are encouraged to discuss scriptural and other issues with their minister and other Christians when appropriate. Ultimately the individual Christian is responsible for understanding the Bible and its application to the individual. The Baptist position of the priesthood of all believers is one column that upholds their belief in religious liberty.

“T” is for Two ordinances (baptism and the Lord's Supper) Generally, most Baptist churches recognize only two sacraments or ordinances that are to be performed on a regular basis by churches: baptism and communion. Some Primitive Baptists and Free Will Baptists also practice foot washing as a third ordinance.

“I” is for Individual soul liberty. The basic concept of individual soul liberty is that, in matters of religion, each person has the liberty to choose what his/her conscience or soul dictates is right, and is responsible to no one but God for the decision that is made. A person may then choose to be a Baptist, a member of another Christian denomination, an adherent to another world religion, or to choose no religious belief system, and neither the church, nor the government, nor family or friends may either make the decision or compel the person to choose otherwise.

“S” is for Separation of Church and State. Baptists who were imprisoned or died for their beliefs have played an important role in the historical struggle for freedom of religion and separation of church and state in England, the United States, and other countries. In 1612 John Smyth wrote, "the magistrate is not by virtue of his office to meddle with religion, or matters of conscience". That same year, Thomas Helwys wrote that the King of England could "command what of man he will, and we are to obey it," but, concerning the church, "with this Kingdom, our lord the King hath nothing to do." In 1614, Leonard Busher wrote what is believed to be the earliest Baptist treatise dealing exclusively with the subject of religious liberty. Baptists were influential in the formation of the first civil government based on the separation of church and state in what is now Rhode Island. Anabaptists and Quakers also share a strong history in the development of separation of church and state.

The original objection was opposition of the monarchy or government setting religious agenda for churches or a "National Church" and did not imply a retreat by Christians from the political realm or involvement in the political process.

“T” is for Two offices of the church (pastor and deacon). Generally Baptists only recognize two Scriptural offices, those of pastor-teacher and deacon. The office of elder, common in some evangelical churches, is usually considered by Baptists to be the same as that of pastor, and not a separate office; however, some churches, especially those in other countries such as Australia, acknowledge the position of elder, and others even dispose of the position of deacon altogether. The office of overseer or bishop is always considered to be the same as that of pastor or presbyter.

Baptists today are the second fastest growing Christian denomination in the world after the Pentecostals; largely due to the growth in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe in the last century.




So, back to today…

May we thank our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sovereign ruler over all eternity… past, present and future… for bringing us from where we’ve been… nurturing us where we are… and sending us where He wills. May we thank Him for the rich heritage of our church’s past, and for the ever more exceeding riches that He has prepared for His church’s eternal future: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him, and We love because He first loved us.

May Heaven help us if we value the denomination of our money, more than we value the denomination of our churches.

May we thank Him for His Word and His Holy Spirit who opens our hearts and our minds to The Way, The Truth, The Life.

We thank Him for our blessed times at church and for the feeding and fellowship that we enjoy at our Bible study groups.



And then back to last Friday…

Last Friday night, Elder Robert V. led the Blacktown Care Group through Romans 16, wrapping up our 8-9 month study on the Book of Romans. We all pretty much agreed that we should all go back through it again some day, in even finer detail.

We’d like to encourage everyone to discover and keep rediscovering the gloriously humbling "righteousness from God," that Paul wrote about in this most remarkable letter.

Please click on the link below to enjoy the Summary/Highlights of our study. God bless!

http://blacktowncaregroup.blogspot.com/2006/09/summary-of-our-studies-on-romans.html

"Hey, My Brains!" (And A Few Other Stuff...)

"The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains, proves that he has no brains of his own."
--Charles Spurgeon

Happy the man who sees a God employed in all the good and ill that chequers life. --WILLIAM COWPER

We turn to God when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them. --CHARLES WEST

A firm faith in the universal providence of God is the solution of all earthly problems. It is almost equally true that a clear and full apprehension of the universal providence of God is the solution of most theological problems. --B. B. WARFIELD, God's Providence Over All

I have no hope at all but in thy great mercy. Grant what thou commandest and command what thou wilt. --AUGUSTINE

God promises to deliver us from the penalty of sin (justification), the power of sin (sanctification) and the presence of sin (glorification). --DAVE BROWN

Grace substitutes a full, childlike, and delighted acceptance of our Need, a joy in total dependence. We become like Jolly Beggars. --C.S LEWIS

The greatest judgment which God Himself can, in this present life, inflict upon a man is, to leave him in the hand of his own boasted free-will. --AUGUSTUS TOPLADY

I do not believe we can preach the gospel... unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought through the Cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called. --CHARLES SPURGEON

Jesus Christ is the center of everything, and the object of everything, and he that does not know Him knows nothing of nature and nothing of himself. --BLAISE PASCAL

There is not an inch of any sphere of life over which Jesus Christ does not say, "Mine." --ABRAHAM KUYPER

The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are not worthy of Him. --A. W. TOZER

So many Christians interpret Christ's words to witness rather than to be a witness. And they see it as an activity instead of what it really is; the state of our being--what you do emerges from who you are. --CHUCK COLSON

We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. --A.W. TOZER

Just as the sinner's despair of any hope from himself is the first prerequisite of a sound conversion, so the loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential in the believer's growth in grace. --ARTHUR W. PINK

Preaching "duty," is preaching the Law; preaching the free grace of God, and salvation by Christ, is preaching the Gospel; to say otherwise, is to turn the Gospel into Law and to blend and confound both together. --JOHN GILL

Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself a widower in the next. --WILLIAM RALPH INGE

Everyone may be entitled to his own opinion but everyone is not entitled to his own truth. Truth is but one. --DOUG GROOTHIUS

I've learned to hold everything loosely because it hurts when God pries my fingers from it. --CORRIE TEN BOOM

The great paradox of faith is that we find our perfect freedom only when become slaves--slaves to God... In the ancient world, slaves judged their self-worth in relation to the importance of their masters. The greater the social status of a master, the greater the esteem of the slave. Christians are slaves of the greatest and kindest Master of all... --ALISTER McGRATH

An ineffably holy God, who has the utmost abhorrence of all sin, was never invented by any of Adam's fallen descendants. --A. W. PINK

We may think God wants actions of a certain kind, but God wants people of a certain kind. --C. S. LEWIS, Mere Christianity

The world invents its own good works and persuades itself that they are good. But Paul declares that good and right according to the world are to be judged by the commandments of God. --JOHN CALVIN

Sheep and swine can both end up in the mire. Yet the essential difference in their two natures is quiet visible from the reaction each has to its fallen condition. While sheep do stray and stumble into the mire, they quickly loathe the situation and struggle to get free. They may be dirty, but they desire to be clean. They may be stuck, but they bleat for their shepherd to come and save them out of the muck. But swine, in keeping with their nature, wallow in the muck, content to stay there all day. --JOHN ENSOR

It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bothers me, its the parts I do understand. --MARK TWAIN

"Christ is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all."
--J. Hudson Taylor

Quotes mostly taken from:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/3505/WebPageQuotes.html

If God was sovereign, why do anything? Wrong question.

Many Christians seem to be quite uncomfortable emphasizing and focusing too much on God’s Sovereignty. This may be because they are concerned that people will use this as an excuse to say, “If God is Sovereign (and is totally in control and is working all things according to the purpose of His will) anyway, then why should we do anything? Why don’t we just all sit back and enjoy the show?”

Yet instead of seizing the occasion to expose the foolishness of such a question, we often end up even validating it by saying, "Well yes, God is Sovereign but Man is STILL Responsible." As if God is some Supreme Commander alright, but without His loyal troops playing their part in making the mission a success, well um, then the Great Commander won't be too terribly happy and the troops will miss out and have to settle for second best, or something... All as if the final decision to just sit back and enjoy the show, is truly up to mortals like us to make!

If we're missing out on anything, I think we're missing out on a wonderful opportunity to further herald our Father's majesty, power and providence--working even in us.

By skirting the issue, we allow others to continue with a very unsound view of God and a very pathetic opinion of His dominion over ALL things—including His active dominion over us, and His personal involvement with every single one of His beloved children. Such slanted views of God do not glorify our LORD.

God doesn’t just cause or initiate things and then leave it to us to determine whether we’ll participate in them or not. His Sovereignty is no sovereignty at all, if it is in any way shape or form, waiting for man’s willingness, decision or initiative to participate in His plan or not.

Am I suggesting that Man is no longer RESPONSIBLE? No: Man is STILL Responsible. 

He is still responsible to be holy and blameless before God, even if all our righteousness are like filthy rags to the LORD. Man is RESPONSIBLE for failing every single one of his God-given responsibilities--there is no excuse!

Man MUST do his part. It is essential. It is commanded. It is Biblical. And this is all the more reason why we should all celebrate the fact that:

It is GOD who works in US to both WILL and DO of HIS Good Pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

What can be more inspiring, more encouraging, more exciting and more motivating to a true child of God than that?

God’s Sovereignty means that it is GOD who is initiating AND working out ALL things for the purpose of HIS will—down to the smallest and minutest of details—even to the number of our hairs. Each strand serves our Heavenly Father’s purpose.

Man’s goings are of the LORD, how can a man then understand his own way?

Sometimes we suggest that God waits for man to play his part before God will play His. Perhaps this is when we need to remember that it is we who have been commanded to wait on the LORD, not the other way around.

Championing human initiative and man’s ability to "make the right choices for God" is what brought us The Tower of Babel, the wild child Ishmael, Jacob stealing the birthright that was promised to him anyway, Moses the murderer, King Saul’s downfall, Simon Peter's foray into ear surgery and a host of other embarrassing fiascos—all recorded for posterity in God’s eternal Word.

Yet in all of these, God was and is still in full control—giving us valuable lessons about our inability, our fragility, our limitations and our utter need to be totally dependent on Him alone always. The Glory is all HIS.

God's Sovereignty means that it is HE who is the Master and LORD, ever faithfully transforming His children—shaping us, dragging us, lifting us, moving us from predestination, through election, through regeneration, through justification, through sanctification, from glory to glory with Christ, throughout all eternity.

There are no gaps or blind spots with God nor in His plan. God does not say, “Doh!”

If a person is not being actively used of God, then the onus is not on that person to be of use to God. No, the onus is on that person to be afraid—very, very afraid. For this is no small matter. If God is not actively working in a person, then there may be eternal implications for that person, that are too horrible to imagine. It doesn’t matter how long that person has been attending church, for it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. And for us to suggest otherwise might be tantamount to offering that person a false hope, the cruelest of all hoaxes.

We are saved by GOD’s Grace Alone, through Faith Alone, in CHRIST Alone, as declared in Scripture Alone: All for the Glory of GOD Alone.

God does not save anyone merely to give them a choice whether they want to participate in God’s plan or not. No, God saves us because He is already actively involving us in His plan: For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do--even before the foundation of the world.

(And if any of us should end up in hell, then it is still for the glory of God who reminds us of what we truly deserve!)

God’s Sovereignty means that it is He who makes a people that is not His people, to be His people—and He will be their God. Just as sure as when God said, "Let there be light" and there was light, we can be sure of this!

God's word is true. It will accomplish that which He purposed and will succeed in all for which He sent it. 

God’s Sovereignty means that it is He who is the one removing our stony hearts and putting into us, hearts of flesh. It is He who is putting His Spirit in us, so that we can walk in His statutes and execute His judgments—not by our own choosing or His mere enabling, but by His actively carrying this out in us. Our God is not one who simply calls us to do something, then waits for us to decide to do it or not--otherwise we shall all be doomed! Praise God that He who is calling is also the one who causing everything to work out according to His will.

Like it or not, God’s Sovereignty means that poor old Moses went to Pharaoh, even if not once did Moses say to God, “Yes, sir.” 

In short, Moses went to Pharoah even if there is absolutely no indication in the Bible that Moses was himself willing to go. If it were up to Moses' choice, he would rather that God left him alone! 

And yet Moses led the Israelites for forty years, even as he complained to God, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you, that you put the burden of all these people on me?... I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now...”

God's Sovereignty prevailed regardless.

God’s Sovereignty means that little Gideon was told: “You have too many men…If I say this one shall go with you, he shall go; but if I say this one shall not go with you, he shall not go.” If the choice was up to Gideon, he would have preferred that God assigned the mission to someone else, right from the very beginning!

God’s Sovereignty means that Jeremiah still heralded God’s Truths, even as he lamented, “O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.” God’s Sovereignty means that Jeremiah still proclaimed the Word of God, even as Jeremiah chose and determined not to “mention Him or speak anymore of His name…”

God’s Sovereignty means that Jonah went to Nineveh, even when he preferred instead to die. If the whole matter were up to Jonah, he would have chosen to send all of Nineveh straight to hell. (So much for all of that "People-don't-care-how-much-you-know-until-they-know-how-much-you-care" drivel.)

God’s Sovereignty means that Simon Peter became a fisher of men, even after telling Jesus to, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Peter's choice was to send God away!

God’s Sovereignty means that Saul of Tarsus who chose to persecute of the flock, became Paul—a bondservant of Christ, Apostle to the Gentiles.

God’s Sovereignty means that the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that human words cannot express. God’s Sovereignty means that at His appointed time, “You will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

God’s Sovereignty means that true Christians CANNOT be fatalists. For the fatalist declares Fate to be in full control through chance; whereas those in the Faith proclaim God is in full control through Jesus!

The fatalists’ only hope is chance. Our very hope is Jesus—therefore there is no chance for chance.

God’s Sovereignty means that He has made sinners into Saints, worshipping an intensely active and deeply personal God, who is involved in everything that we are, were and will be—having sent us from where we’ve been, keeping us where we are and sending us to where He wills. No chance for chance.

God’s Sovereignty means that the decision to do anything or nothing, mercifully does not lie with vain capricious men. The decision belongs to the Sovereign God and Master, The King of Kings and LORD of Lords: The Shepherd, not the sheep. The Potter, not the clay. And so there is no chance for chance.

And who are we to protest? Do we feel slighted by being referred to as clay?

Then may God be gracious to us and cause us instead to cry out, “LORD Almighty, The Holy Righteous and Everlasting God: because it is You who is the Potter—because it is YOU who is The Potter—then what higher honor, what greater glory and what grander ambition can anyone have than to be YOUR Clay!”

Oh, how the planets and stars in the galaxies must groan in envy, because it is WE whom the Sovereign LORD has chosen to be His clay.

Yet over and above this, by His Sovereign Grace, He justifies the ungodly, having mercy on whom He will have mercy and adopts them to be His very own children: co-heirs with CHRIST!

So are we still to ask, “If God is Sovereign, then why do anything?”

Perhaps what we should be asking instead is, “If God is NOT Sovereign, then WHY do anything?

If God is NOT Sovereign, then why come to church? Why read the Bible? Why proclaim the Gospel? Why praise His name? If God is NOT Sovereign, then I can do whatever my sinful heart desires.

Yet it is because GOD IS SOVEREIGN, that the former objects of His wrath now have peace with Him who proclaimed: "I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again."

It is because GOD IS SOVEREIGN, that is why mortal sinners who do not understand and do not seek after God, end up worshipping Him forever!

It is because GOD IS SOVEREIGN, that is why those who used to live for themselves no longer live—but it is Christ who lives in them. The dead have no say over the One who is living. This is not an appeal for the dead to surrender their will to Christ—no, it is a declaration that Christ has taken over. The redemption has begun—Mission: Unstoppable. No chance for chance!

Through every painful struggle and correction and heartache and frustration and disappointment that He has ordained to take us through: in all this, we are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. He is our chief and highest motive and there can be no greater exhortation to a true Christian than Christ Himself.

It is because GOD IS SOVEREIGN, that in Him we LIVE and MOVE and have our being.

GOD IS SOVEREIGN and that is why everything—EVERYTHING is going exactly according to His plan. Yes, people break His commandments all the time, and this breaks our hearts! But do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, so shall he reap. It’s all going according to God’s plan and nothing—absolutely not a single solitary thing is exempt.

Not even Satan, our enemy, our accuser and our tormentor—to whom we should not give a foothold—the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient, not even he is exempt. Satan could not sift Peter as wheat without Christ’s permission. Satan himself could not touch Job without God’s consent. So let us not be surprised if Satan himself cannot even scratch his own nose, if it is not according to God’s plan!

Jesus Christ is LORD. That means Jesus Christ REIGNS. That means Jesus Christ is SOVEREIGN.

Christ's LORDship, His Reign, His Sovereignty are not subject to the choices of man. It is not up to man to decide whether Jesus is Lord or not; whether man accepts it or not, Jesus reigns over all. Christ is not LORD only where we allow Him or choose Him to be REIGN; that's not Sovereignty, that's lip service!

"Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain in the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am HE who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you: I will sustain you and I will rescue you. To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?"

All glory, honor and power are His, to the praise of His Mighty Name: JESUS CHRIST our LORD—the Alpha, the Omega; the Beginning and the End, the Ruler of all things in between.

Ignacio Lacsina jnr.

"A Summary Of Our Studies On ROMANS"

Grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ to y'all!

We've been having such blessed times at our Bible Study group, taking up Paul's letter to the Romans. Here's a summary (or perhaps it would be better just to call it an "Outline" or "Overview") of what we've discussed. Please let me know of any insights, comments and suggestions that will help our group have a better understanding of this profoundly impactful epistle. Kindly pray that the Holy Spirit leads more people to and through this wonderful book.

Many thanks and God bless!

--Boms

The PBC Blacktown Care Group's Study on the Book of ROMANS

Author: Paul

• Romans 1:1; Style and theological viewpoint very similar to other letters attributed to Paul (Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians)
• Probably written while he was in Corinth, Greece; as guest of Gaius (Rom 16:23) who was a prominent church leader in Corinth (1Cor 1:14); around 57ad, before Great Roman Fire of 64ad, during reign of Nero.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Intended Audience: Christians in Rome

• Ethnically, culturally diverse Gentile (non-Jewish) and Jewish converts
• Most probably first received the Gospel during Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:10)
• Most have never met Paul personally, but may have heard of him as former Saul of Tarsus; most may have heard of his conversion (Acts 9), apostleship (sending out), missionary journeys and church planting (from Acts 13 to 18?); most may have heard other people’s rumors about him and his teachings (Romans 3:8)

Reasons for writing:

• Paul wanted to introduce himself in preparation for his intended visit to Rome
• Paul wanted to make clear his position regarding the Gospel and help the Roman Christians have a clearer understanding of the subject of Salvation (or “Soteriology,” from Greek sōtērion, meaning deliverance; sōtēr, meaning savior; saos, sōs, meaning safe)
• Paul wanted the diverse Christians in Rome to be united in their understanding and teaching of God’s Gospel, and together lead Gospel-Driven lives.
• Paul wanted to help build up the Roman churches in understanding their faith, so that they may be better able to help him spread the true Gospel, towards Spain (Rom 15:28)
  
  
  
  

SUMMARY/HIGHLIGHTS (Additional notes in parentheses)

The Good News, The Bad News, The Best News Ever: Chapters 1-11

ROMANS 1: Paul introduces himself and the Gospel (Good News) regarding Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became son of man: seed of David (God incarnate=God in the flesh), declared as God the Son by his resurrection from the dead, “through Him and for His name’s sake, we have received grace …”

Paul writes of his longing to visit the Roman Christians and preach them this Gospel “for it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes.” (The Good News is not just for unbelievers, but also for those who already believe.) People need the Gospel because “God’s wrath is being revealed… against all the godlessness…”

We value the things that God created, more than we value God the creator. There is no excuse...

ROMANS 2: God’s wrath is justified. We are all sinners, unable to measure up to God’s standards. God’s judgment is “based on truth.” Outwardly trying to observe (Jewish) laws and traditions (such as circumcision) is commendable and may result in being praised by others, but it is not enough to appease God’s wrath.








ROMANS 3: There is nothing that we can do (there’s nothing that can come from us) that will make us right with God, but that is no excuse to go on sinning. So “now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known… this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” God presented Christ as a sacrifice for atonement. (This is the only sacrifice that truly appeases God’s wrath and results in reconciliation with Him).








ROMANS 4: (For those who still insist on obeying Jewish traditions to be right with God,) Paul cites Abraham as an example (since the tradition of circumcision started with Abraham in Genesis 17): “Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness” even before he was circumcised (Gen. 15:6). Circumcision was a sign of his righteousness, not the cause of it: Righteousness comes by faith to those who believe in Him who justifies the ungodly. Even King David himself, the man after God’s own heart, believed that it is God who imputes righteousness apart from works (in Psalm 32:1-2). (The signs of righteousness then follow.)








ROMANS 5: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” and all of this, God did “while we were still sinners.” This is the reason for us to rejoice, even in suffering: suffering and death reigned as a result of Adam’s trespass, yet “how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through” Jesus Christ.








ROMANS 6: “Shall we go on sinning…? By no means!” We used to be slaves to sin, but now, we “have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness… slaves to God.” (Note the distinction: we have not been saved from death, so that we can continue to sin if we want, but rather) We have been saved from sin, which leads to death: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (A gift is not earned or deserved, it is by grace!)







ROMANS 7: We are no longer controlled by the sinful or carnal nature, so we now struggle or wage war against it. (Anyone not struggling with sin probably isn't taking sin seriously enough.) Who will rescue us “from this body of death” that we struggle against? (Ourselves? Our own will-power? What is Paul’s own answer?)

“Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

ROMANS 8: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” because Christ himself assures victory. Those who are not in Christ will continue in their sinful nature (just as we used to). They are hostile to God (just as we were). Their minds do “not submit to God’s law, nor can” they do so, unless the Holy Spirit sets them free from sin (as He did with us).

Only those whom the Holy Spirit owns are truly God’s children. (Does that mean that God’s children no longer suffer? No,) God’s children are co-heirs with Christ, and so “share in his sufferings,” so that we may also share in his glory. In our sufferings, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us… nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”









ROMANS 9: But then what about God’s promises to the Jews? (Of everlasting salvation; to be God’s very own people; to be a royal priesthood; the promises of a Messiah, The Christ?) Have God’s word failed Israel? No. The promises still stand; God’s word never fails! But we must remember that the promises were never made merely to the biological/natural descendants of Abraham. The promises were made to those whom God chose to adopt into His family. The biological Israelites pursued righteousness with zeal by working, and so stumbled; whereas the Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness, obtained it by the gift of faith--a gift from God.









ROMANS 10: In spite of Paul’s desire for Israel to be saved, in spite of Israel’s zeal for God, Israel “did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own…” And so, did not submit to God’s righteousness. Israel cannot claim that they have not believed because they did not hear, or because no one was sent to preach to them: “Did they not hear? Of course they did…” But concerning Israel, God says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”









ROMANS 11: Has God totally rejected Israel? By no means! Even so then at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. Now Paul warns the Gentiles against looking down on the Israelites, because it is into their family that they have been graciously grafted into.

The hardening of Israel is for the glory of God: “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” (Israel, nor anyone else for that matter, will not be able to say that it was their zeal or faithfulness that caused God to save them.)

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?
Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.”









The Gospel-Driven Life: Chapters 12-16

ROMANS 12: As a result of God's gracious work in our lives then, we ought to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to Him as an act of worship (“worth-ship”); being transformed by the renewing of our minds. We need to recognise Christ’s church as being one body with many different parts—many different gifts. We are to zealously exercise our individual gifts; sharing the life that God has given us in sincere love, joy and humility, in both good times and bad; overcoming evil with good, because “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (KJV).









ROMANS 13: Teaches us to recognize God’s sovereignty over earthly governments and the Christians’ obligation to authorities; how love fulfills the commandments; exhorts us not to waste time on carnal desires.









ROMANS 14: Tells us that those who are strong in the faith and those who are weak are to be united in Christ. Before we judge one another, remember that God is the judge of us all. We should build each other up in Christ, and avoid making each other stumble.









ROMANS 15: Those who are strong must selflessly help to build up the weak. Jesus did not make it a priority to please himself, so neither should we. God gives us endurance and encouragement through His word—may He grant us harmony, so that we can all together glorify Him.

Paul acknowledges Christ’s accomplishments in his ministry of preaching the Gospel “where Christ was not known.” This is why he plans to preach in Spain, visiting Rome on his way there. Paul urges the Roman Christians to pray for him and his plans to visit them and to know them personally.









ROMANS 16: Paul commends his fellow workers to the Roman churches: these are his beloved brothers and sisters in Christ (each from various backgrounds, serving God in Rome). Paul urges the churches to keep away from those who cause divisions by teaching erroneous doctrine: “Be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil,” for “The God of peace will soon crush Satan” (the father of lies) “under your feet.”

Paul’s other companions send also their greetings to the Romans.

Paul closes in praise of the Eternal Almighty All-Knowing God:

“Now to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey Him—to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”

RECOMMENDED HOMEWORK (as the Spirit leads):


From what we have been learning in Romans, what do you think are the most essential things that Christians need to proclaim, about:

GOD?





MAN?





SIN?





JUDGMENT?





JESUS CHRIST?





The HOLY SPIRIT?






The Appropriate RESPONSE?

(Bonus points for citing passages in Romans to support your statements for all of the above!)

A Righteousness That Is By Faith...

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'"

--Paul's Letter to the Romans, chapter 1, verses 16-17

“…We must be very careful to understand faith as Paul uses the word, because he ties faith so closely to salvation. It is not something we must do in order to earn salvation – if that were true, then faith would be just one more deed, and Paul clearly states that human deeds can never save us (Galatians 2:16). Instead, faith is a gift God gives us because he is saving us (Ephesians 2:8). It is God’s grace, not our faith that saves us. In his mercy, however, when he saves us he gives us faith… Through the faith he gives, he carries us from death unto life (John 5:24).”

--Life Application Bible New International Version, excerpt, page 2027; Tyndale House 1991

Remember this; or you may fall into error by fixing your minds so much upon the faith which is the channel of salvation as to forget the grace which is the fountain and source even of faith itself. Faith is the work of God's grace in us.

No man can say that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Ghost. "No man cometh unto me," saith Jesus, "except the Father which hath sent me draws him." So that faith, which is coming to Christ, is the result of divine drawing. Grace is the first and last moving cause of salvation; and faith, essential as it is, is only an important part of the machinery which grace employs. We are saved "through faith," but salvation is "by grace."

--Charles Haddon Spurgeon, All Of Grace
(Pls right-click on the links for the option to open each one in a new window. Thank you!)

“Faith is a gift from God, so that no one may boast. The last bastion of pride is the belief that we are the originators of our faith…”
“Faith is the evidence of new birth, not the cause of it.”

--John Piper




“He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31). Is this your view of salvation? Are you giving the entire glory to God, or are you reserving a little for yourself? Are you saying that it is your belief that saves you? If so, you are detracting from the glory of God. The glory is entirely His –to the praise of the glory of His grace in which he has highly favored us in the beloved.”

--Martyn Lloyd Jones

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."

--Hebrews 12:2a



By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone, In Christ Alone, As Taught in Scripture Alone,

All For The Glory of God Alone!

"I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes—that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens—that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence—the fall of sear leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche. He that believes in a God must believe this truth. There is no standing-point between this and atheism. There is no half way between a mighty God that worketh all things by the sovereign counsel of his will and no God at all. A God that cannot do as he pleases—a God whose will is frustrated, is not a God, and cannot be a God. I could not believe in such a God as that."

"There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they believe that Sovereignty hath ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children of God ought more earnestly to contend than the dominion of their Master over all creation—the kingship of God over all the works of his own hands—the throne of God, and his right to sit upon that throne."

--Charles Spurgeon (June 19, 1834-January 31, 1892)