Ron Paul on Jesus Christ

Worship: A Clue to meaning in life

Recently we were listening Christian apologist and speaker, Ravi Zacharias address the question of worship.  One quote that really struck us during the course of the message, comes from Archbishop William Temple:

"Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God, quickening of conscience by his holiness, nourishment of mind by His truth, the purifying of imagination by His beauty, opening of the heart to His love, submission of will to His purpose.  All this gathered up in adoration is the greatest expression of which we are capable."

Another interesting thing Zacharias said, which might be shocking to some:

"If you are not worshiping God in spirit and truth, even God will disappoint you."

 You can listen to all four parts in this series here, here, here and here.

Idolatry

The Israelites worshiped a golden calf in the desert, this was a more blatant form of idolatry, with an actual idol to see, feel and bow before.

 

"Idolatry is not the by-product of forgetting God; it is the means by which we forget Him.... All existential forgetfulness [i.e. forgetting God] begins with suppression, builds on the energy of idolatry, and binds us to an illusion that both numbs the heart to what is missing and blinds us even to our forgetfulness." - Allender (emphasis added)

We remember the Ten Commandments, specifically the First and Second commandments, which read:

"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." - Exodus 20:3-6

We are to take this grouping of verses as a whole commandment, (consisting of two parts) - Worship only the ONE true and living God, and serve Him in such a manner as to bring blessings upon the future generations.  Sadly, due to the Fall of man (see Gen. 3), our hearts are, in the words of John Calvin, idol factories : “The human heart is a factory of idols…Everyone of us is, from his mother’s womb, expert in inventing idols.”

A convicting related verse is 1 John 5:21: "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." I know that in my own life I struggle with idolatry.  Realizing that has helped me to consider what I am investing my time, and energy in.  If the activity does not bring Glory to God's name, I should not be engaged in it.  Whatever I am doing must be conducted in such a worshipful manner as to leave no doubt in my mind, and in the minds of those observing my conduct, whom I worship.

My aim, with Christ's aid, is to worship and serve Christ alone!

Verse of the Day - The Tongue of the Wise

"The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness." - Proverbs 15:2

Squished in between two of the most famous verses from the book of Proverbs, this verse is often overlooked. However, it offers great insight into our daily use of words, knowledge, and discernment.

So often we are surrounded by people who have lots of knowledge, but have little discernment as to when to put that knowledge into words. They constantly speak their mind, seemingly oblivious to how their words affect those hearing them. They run people down with their words, and don't care about anything except that they are right, that they know everything (or, at least, a lot), and that others should respect them more. We all tend to be this way at sometime in our life. This is the ultimate illustration of pride, and is parallel with the pride that the Devil possessed when the LORD kicked him out of heaven (See Isaiah 14:12-21).

On the other hand, the wise man knows when to "speak a word in due season" (Proverbs 15:23). He knows that, "where words are many, sin is not lacking" (Proverbs 10:19a), and "he who uses knowledge rightly is wise" (Proverbs 10:19b). He knows how to control his voice inflection, his tone, and his mind. He knows when to console, when to confront, when to rebuke, when to command, and when to praise.

And finally, we have the foolish man, who, all day long, speaks foolish things. He constantly is thinking foolish thoughts which spill over into his speech. No one, except foolish people, want to be around him. He is like "smoke to the eyes, or vinegar to the teeth" (Proverbs 10:26).

May God help us to use knowledge rightly, that we may use our words to "benefit the hearer" (Ephesians 4:29).

Verse of the Day - Four Safe-Guards

"When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, (1) To deliver you from the way of evil, (2) from the man who speaks perverse things, (3) from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked; whose ways are crooked, and who are devious in their paths; (4) to deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words, who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house leads down to death, and her paths to the dead; None who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life - So you may walk in the way of goodness, and keep to the paths of righteousness." -Proverbs 2:10-20


Solomon recognizes that wisdom is a safeguard. He points out to his readers that wisdom is to be used as a safeguard against many different threats, all of which are dangerous to spiritual and physical health and purity. Probably the most potent of all of these threats (as indicated by the amount of space taken to describe it) is that of the immoral woman. Solomon recognized the powerful nature of the physical attraction between a man and a woman, and urges his readers to not make the same mistakes he made. Solomon points out that "her house leads down to death and her paths to the dead; none who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life." 

May we all strive to seek after wisdom as for hidden treasure, and follow after it, desiring to please our Creator God.

Verse of the Day - Revolutionary Comparisons

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Proverbs 29:18 - "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law."

This verse should make us all shudder to some degree or the other. As we observe recent history (1700's to present), we have two very poignant, and yet contrasting, examples of this verse being played out in civilization. The first of these examples is the outworking of the first part of today's verse - "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint..." The French Revolution (1789-1799) is the perfect example of this passage.

In the years preceding the French Revolution, the French culture had rejected the authority of God's Written Word, and had "exchanged the Truth for the lie," the lie being than mankind can determine what truth is by themselves (See Romans 1:25 and surrounding verses). By doing such, they "worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen" (Romans 1:25). The French people had rejected our Creator God's special Revelation, and therefore, in the face of a tyrannical elite, the common person had no foundation upon which to build their reasons for overthrowing the tyrants, and thus, total chaos and devastation enveloped the whole struggle. And the end result of the French Revolution was? Tyranny. Why? After all the death, murder, and mayhem, why would the French people allow another tyrant to come and rule them? Simply, because they had rejected the Word of God, had cast off restraint, and therefore had no solid foundation upon which to build after the French Revolution was over.

Storming the Bastille

Now, contrast the French Revolution to the so-called American Revolution (1775-1789; aka "American War of Independence"). The Great Awakening of the 1740's -1760's had an enormous influence upon the parents and grandparents of the American founding fathers. Men like Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield were used by the Lord to stir up an amazing Biblical World- and Life-view revival during the 1740's - 1760's.

George Whitfield

America's Declaration of Independence (July 4th, 1776) reflects the influence of Christian revival in the years preceding the American Revolution:

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness...."

And, contrary to the common misconception that Benjamin Franklin was a Deist, he was recorded as saying the following in a speech delivered on Thursday, June 28, 1787 in Philadelphia:

"Mr. President:

In this situation of this Assembly groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. -- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance.

I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that "except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall be become a reproach and a bye word down to future age. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human Wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.

I therefore beg leave to move -- that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that service."1 [Emphasis my own.]

I find it very strange for a Deist - one who is supposed to believe in an impersonal God, and God who is in no way involved with His creation, who does not answer prayer - to implore God to intervene in the United States' early history.

This is but one of many of the Founders that could be cited.

In conclusion, the outcomes of the two Revolutions were drastically different from each other. One founded upon man determining truth ended in chaos, murder, mayhem, and ultimately tyranny. The other based upon God deciding truth ended in peace, and ultimately the ability for each person to live out their God-given freedoms.

Thanks for reading,

Caleb

[1] http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/benfranklin.htm

Verse of the Day - The Beginning of Wisdom

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy One is understanding. for by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, you will bear it alone." - Proverbs 9:10-12


The world is convinced that wisdom comes from getting a high-school degree, a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and finally a doctorate. Simply, the world believes that wisdom comes just from learning more and more things. However, Solomon instructs us that wisdom begins with learning to fear God. No matter how much learning a person has, no matter if they have more degrees than a thermometer, all that learning will be a waste of their time and money, and will ultimately seem futile to them, if they do not first learn the fear of the Lord.


Parents should begin teaching the fear of the Lord to their children early in life by instructing them in His Word. By helping their children observe the natural world and all its wonders, mysteries, and challenges, the vastness of the universe, and how none of it could have happened by chance, but was lovingly crafted by our Almighty Maker, also helps to teach the fear of the Lord.