1 Tim 2:4

"...who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

A little late night rant. Presidential race just got wrapped up, Obama wins. This is the first passage that comes to mind.

Generally, you only hear this verse coming from some kind of altar call from an Arminian preacher teaching that God's desire is for every single person on the planet and throughout history to be saved. Not so. Let's look at the rest of the context.

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

 We can see from the context that the desire on God's behalf is not that every person will be saved, but instead that all kinds of men be saved- here's the part that's important- even the kings and rulers who oppress you.

Right now we're facing a moral crisis in America. What Paul defines as a "giving over" to sin in the area of homosexuality is happening as we speak. And what's more, what Paul said later about others "giving hearty approval" is also the norm. The moral compass is so far off in this country. I actually just had to take a break from typing to argue with someone over the definition of life. When a country can't define what marriage is based on the natural function of the body, or the definition of life based on just the dumbest common sense, then its time we start getting off our behinds and becoming the Christians that the Apostles desired us to be.

Hard times are coming. Times are coming where we will simply no longer be tolerated. And yet despite that, Paul urges Timothy to pray for our rulers, as He has the power to save even those that are our enemies. What we are going through right now is of no comparison to the trials experienced by the early Church. We have yet to face death for our belief in this country. We have yet to worry about exile. We do not have secret meetings in homes. We live a good life, worshiping freely.

Enjoy that freedom, but do not become complacent. Give thanks to God for the graces he has bestowed upon us, and that when the tide comes, he will be merciful and not allow us to be swept up with it.



Grace and peace in the next 4 years,

Mike

Spurgeon on the Grace in having a Sovereign God

Beloved English pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon once wrote this:

There is no attribute of God more comforting to His children than the doctrine of the 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.

On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except upon His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and to make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties. They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of Heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash their teeth; and when we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter, then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on His throne is not the God they love. They love Him anywhere better than they do when He sits with His scepter in His hand and His crown upon His head. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon His throne whom we trust.

Yes we do. The God of the Catholics, the Arminians, and the Open Theists is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is not one who bows to the will of another. He is the one reigning on the throne, who will return one day in triumph, with his robe dipped in blood, eyes aflame, and a sword protruding from his mouth, making war upon all those who deny him. It is this God who we trust, the God who is Jesus Christ, who defends his holiness by punishing all that sets itself against him. He is sovereign in all his ways, and it is for this reason that we say that we can trust him. With Jude we can reply fully and in earnest,

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. 

Charis kai airene,

Mike