THE ONLY RULE

                                                                    THE ONLY RULE 

Westminster Shorter Catechism 2

Quest. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him?

Ans. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

Introduction

If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, it necessarily follows that there must be some direction given by God how we might glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. This is where the Westminster Shorter Catechism question and answer number two comes in: The sixty-six books of the Bible direct us how to glorify God and enjoy Him.

Why do we need the Scriptures?

The Apostle Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote to Timothy these words, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

First off, we see that the compilers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism are saying exactly what Scripture says: The Word of God, which is contained in the Older and Newer Testaments, is our only rule of direction. Now, when we say that the Older and Newer Testaments “contain” the Word of God we mean that the thirty-nine Older Testament Books and the twenty-seven Newer Testament Books are the Word of God. Yet there are some folks who think this gives them a mandate to sift through the Older and Newer Testaments and try to extract what they personally think might be the Word of God! But then, by doing this, you would be guilty of setting yourself up as the only rule of faith, because, how would you know for sure what bits God wrote and what bits He didn’t? No, as the Spirit of God says through the Apostle, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…”

And, also, as the Spirit sounds a warning through His Apostle John in Revelation 22:18-19, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” So, I would recommend to all not to mess around by adding or subtracting any words contained in the Older and Newer Testaments!

All Scripture, i.e., the Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy Him. And why is it the only rule how we may glorify God and enjoy Him forever? Or, Why do we need the Scriptures? Well, plainly and simply the Word of God, i.e., the Older and Newer Testaments is the total instruction God has given us. God has given us no other instruction how we are to glorify and enjoy Him. The Word of God, the Bible, the Scriptures, the Older and Newer Testaments that’s it, nothing else.

Is it a good work for us – by the redeeming grace of God – to glorify and enjoy Him forever? Of course it is! That’s why God through His Apostle has given us the Scriptures, “…that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” Is glorifying God and enjoying Him included in “every good work”? If it is, we’re being told then that the Scriptures are the only rule for that good work. Therefore, we are not to resort to our own devices or ideas about glorifying God.

There has been a plethora of devices concocted by the minds of men trying to glorify God. These devices range from small figurines to large statues like the one on the mountain at Rio de Janeiro. They range from praying to dead saints, including Mary, to praying to angels. They range from superstitions such as thinking you’ll escape a bad experience by not walking under a ladder, to believing God will save your soul from Hell if you try to be good!

Just look around at all the false religions in the world today and you’ll see men who think they’re doing a good work. Just look around some of the churches and you’ll see men who think they’re doing a good work. But WSC #2 is telling us that the Bible is our only rule for glorifying God. And why is WSC #2 telling us this? Because this is what God in His Word is telling us.

So, let’s ask the question: Why does God need to tell man how he is to glorify Him? For shouldn’t man instinctively just know? Isn’t it inherent knowledge? Isn’t he able to figure it out for himself? Shouldn’t glorifying God be left to common sense? Well, as we’ve just noted, it’s not hard to see, when you look around, that many men are trying to worship and glorify God in ways God hasn’t prescribed in His Word, and in ways contrary to His written Word. Some of these people are no doubt very sincere in their worship. But according to the only rule, i.e., the Word of God, they are sincerely wrong. In fact, the Word of God in Colossians 2:23 calls what they’re doing “self-imposed worship,” or “will-worship.”

So, what’s wrong with worshipping God your way, even if you do so with sincerity? Well, again, it’s wrong because it’s not according to the only rule God has given us for glorifying Him and enjoying Him forever! So, you can see why God has given us the whole Bible. It’s because, of ourselves, even as regenerate men, we don’t know how to glorify God and enjoy Him properly.

If our worship of God is self-imposed and not according to Scripture, then we are simply worshipping ourselves and not God. How so? Because we would be dictating to God how He ought to be glorified even in worship, which is very much akin to forming God in your own image and likeness. But we see that our Shorter Catechism is teaching against this kind of thing right from its beginning. No, The Word of God is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy Him.

So, all of this suggests, nay, it warns us, that there is something wrong with us. Think about it, what’s wrong with a person trying, in his own way, to glorify God apart from Scripture? Why does God find this so offensive? Well, again it’s because everything needs to be done according to His will, His revealed will, i.e., His Word. But that’s the simple answer, isn’t it? There’s more to it than this.

The Word of God has been given to us because we are fallen creatures. The revelation of God, i.e., the Bible tells us that God is our Creator. It tells us that He made us perfect, but we rebelled against Him in Adam in the Garden. It tells us that our sin has separated us from God, i.e., sinful man no longer has fellowship with God, but rather is at war with Him. It tells us that we were thrown out of the Garden, i.e., Paradise, along with Adam and Eve.

The Bible therefore reveals to us the reason why mankind is in a state of sin and misery. It tells us we will spend eternity in torment in Hell because of our rebelliousness toward God. But there is good news also revealed in God’s Word. It tells us that God has sent a Saviour into the world, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Logos, the Word who became flesh. Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son. It tells us that He lived the perfect Covenant-keeping life that all of us fail to keep. It tells us that He received the penalty we are each due for our sins. It tells us that if we repent of our sins, and keep on believing in Him, we will be saved from the wrath of God upon sinners.

In the beginning we were created holy and righteous by God with true knowledge of Him and with true knowledge of His creation. Why do we need the Scriptures? Well, the Apostle John gives a good answer where he says about what he wrote, “[T]hese things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). How else would we today know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour, were it not for the Scriptures? These are they which testify of Him.

Let’s recap a little before we move on. When man as represented by Adam rebelled against God by disobeying Him in the Garden, we all lost the holiness and righteousness that we (as mankind) had at our creation. But not only did we lose our holiness and righteousness. We also lost the true knowledge of the Creator and His Creation including ourselves.

So, this knowledge of God, His creation, and we ourselves as part of that creation, was lost because of the sin of the human race in Adam. Therefore, whatever knowledge we have of God, His Creation, and ourselves cannot be classed as true knowledge until it is revealed as such by God.

In other words, the only rule for knowing if something is ultimately true about God, His creation and we ourselves, is the Word of God. You yourself cannot be that rule. I cannot be that rule. Why? Because neither you nor I nor mankind collectively is God. We can never be sure that any knowledge of God we have as fallen creatures is a true and dependable knowledge unless God reveals it as such in His Word.

Yes, we were made in His image and likeness. But that image and likeness was shattered by Adam’s sin. O, there might be bits and pieces of you and me that reflect God’s glory even as sinners. However, as a smashed mirror distorts what it reflects, so will we as sinners distort God’s glory.

If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, then we need to be reinstructed by God how to do this. Therefore, WSC 2 teaches that the Word of God teaches that the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God is His Scriptures.

How Did the Scriptures Come to Be?

We’ve noted the fact already that it was God who gave the Scriptures to man, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (2 Tim. 3:16). What is meant by “…given by inspiration of God…”? Well, for a start we need to figure out what is meant by “inspiration.”

Sometimes we ask people, What “inspired” you do to such a thing? Let’s say the person you are talking to has just parachuted out of an aeroplane for the very first time. Or “where did you get your inspiration to write such a beautiful poem?” Or “the cantata was an inspired piece of work.”

We use the word “inspired” rather generally and loosely, don’t we? But that’s not the way it’s being used in “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” I tend to favour (on this rare occasion) the NIV rendering which says, “All Scripture is God-breathed…” In this you get the more accurate idea of God “breathing out His Word.” As opposed to the inaccurate God breathing into His Word.

In Winnipeg in January if you met someone outside you might say, “It’s a cold one today, ay?” The vapour of your breath would instantly crystallize as the words came out of your mouth. In a cartoon world this might be depicted with the words, “It’s a cold one today, ay?” hanging frozen in the air! Well, the real world isn’t a cartoon, but our cartoon depiction helps us to understand something of how God gave us the Scriptures. He breathed them out. But He breathed them out through chosen men. As the Lord says through His Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:20-21, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation [or origin], for prophecy never came about by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by God.”

For the moment we’re mostly interested in the words, “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by God.” So, the picture might be of a person playing a wind-instrument, like a flute, no, make it a set of bagpipes! God is the One who does the breathing, moving the men to play His tune or music, i.e., speak forth and/or write down His Word.

Notice that Peter also says here in 2 Peter 1:20 that “prophecy never came about by the will of man…” We’ve already taken note that “…the will of man…” is fallen, i.e., sinful. But God’s revelation is independent, it’s not dependant on man’s will. Therefore, Peter under the influence of the Holy Spirit is telling us that prophecy, i.e., God’s Word is solidly dependable. In other words, he’s telling us that the Word of God is true knowledge, true revelation from God.

As you know, the word “prophecy” doesn’t always mean “prediction.” Prophecy means “forth-telling” every bit as much as “fore-telling.” It means, according to Vine, “the speaking forth of the mind and counsel of God.” The prophet Samuel said in 2 Samuel 23:2 that king David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.” So, God spoke through His chosen vessels.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the men who wrote down God’s Word were robots. Christians don’t believe in a “mechanical theory of inspiration.” We don’t believe that God used man as a robot or a machine as He dictated His Word. Nowadays you can speak into a computer and have it record and print what you said. Well, God didn’t use men like this. He used men, prophets and Apostles as His infallible “spokesmen.” And He used their personalities and writing styles to put His Word into writing.

Did you ever get 10/10 for a test or exam at school? If you didn’t, did anyone in your class ever get 10/10? So, it’s not impossible to get 100%? Well, each person God used to write the sixty-six Books of the Bible over a period of fifteen hundred years scored 10/10 for their work! So, all thirty-nine Books of the Older Testament and all twenty-seven Books of the Newer Testament were written exactly how God wanted them written. He breathed through these men freezing, as it were, His Words – not in mid-air – but rather on whatever material upon which the writers wrote.

Now, God, by His Providence, by His providential care, had men copy these writings down through the centuries. In turn the trustworthy copies were themselves read and copied. And the untrustworthy copies were rejected and thrown in the bin. Therefore, what we have today is a trustworthy copy of the original autographs, as they’re called.

I heard one fellow who belongs to one of those Bible Societies say that archaeologists mostly tend to dig up rejected and untrustworthy copies of the Bible. He made the point that even today the good copies get worn out and fall to bits, whereas the not-so-good editions of the Bible collect dust on our shelves. I would have to conclude that this is the case in my own Study’s library! You’ll find editions of the Bible that have hardly been touched. They look brand new. Why? Because I don’t believe they’re reliable!

Now, we’ve already noted that it's the Word of God contained in the Older and Newer Testaments which God has given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him. Therefore, this also rules out the extra-revelation some are claiming nowadays. If God is still talking directly to people today, then they need to write it down and add it to the Bible. But then you’ve got the warning we already mentioned in the last chapter of Revelation which warns us about adding to and subtracting from the Word of God. And also, the Spirit says through Agur in Prov. 30:6, “Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar.”

Now, the people today who claim that God is speaking to us through them are mostly well-intentioned no doubt. However, in the Providence of God the Canon of Scripture has been closed for nigh on two thousand years. The “Bible Canon” is the completed writings of the Word of God. The Canonicity of a Book means it’s right to a place in the inspired writings of the Bible. There were three main divisions in the Older Testament: The Law, The Prophets, and The Hagiographa, i.e., the Holy Writings.

Now, with regard to the Newer Testament writings, it was not by an official action of a Church council that the Newer Testament Books were “voted” into the Canon. Rather, it was the case that those books which were collected and adopted into the Canon, were collected and adopted because of their custom and usage by the Church, which is to say that they were already being used by the churches as if they were the inspired Word.

We have noted that the Bible we have is clearly the Word of God. To be sure some English translations are far more accurate than others. This is why we need to train men in the original languages of Hebrew and Greek. However, the point is that the Older and Newer Testaments do indeed contain the Word of God, and are the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy Him.

Conclusion

The Apostle John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote the following words recorded in 1 John 1:4, “These things I write to you that your joy may be full.” Now, this joy, this fullness of joy, that the Spirit through John alerts us to, is not a passing, emotional feeling. That kind of fleeting joy is much like the laughter described by Solomon in Ecclesiastes, “For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool” (Eccl. 7:6).

The joy of which the Word of God speaks, is the same joy as in the enjoying of God. It’s His joy. Therefore, this joy is an everlasting joy, an everlasting joy in the presence of Him who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, even Jesus Christ.

His joy does not change. Nor does it fluctuate. His joy is not influenced by outside forces. His joy is not ashes under a pot being blown away by the wind. No, His joy multiplies itself forever. For His joy – like the Word of God – lasts forever. Hence the only rule to direct us in this joy is the Word of God.

Therefore, though the mountains may crumble to the sea, the man who trusts what God says in His Word will continue undisturbed enjoying God. How is this so? Well, because the Word of God is the only rule to direct us how we may enjoy Him.

Therefore, our enjoyment of God must always be in accordance with His Word, and not dependant on our health or wealth or any other external factor. I would encourage you all diligently to study God’s infallible Word.

FIVE LIES OF OUR ANTI-CHRISTIAN AGE (Review)

This book is written by a Subject Matter Expert (SME). Rosaria Butterfield knows and explains her subject well. The subject is contemporary culture, and the matter is sexuality, faith, feminism, gender roles, and modesty and the lies being told about them. How does one discern between truth and lie? Butterfield’s “touchstone” for testing lies that are dressed up as truth is the Bible.

This is what impressed me most about her work. Not only is Butterfield Subject Matter Expert on the issues of our age previously listed, but she is also a SME on God’s Word and its Biblical application for today, which is very much lacking in today’s Christianity. Butterfield precisely and concisely explains what I mean by this lack, “When a Christian theology separates the gospel from the garden, it loses gospel power and integrity. All manner of heresy springs from denying that God’s gospel is found in the garden.” Wow! p. 306 (hard cover version). She also reveals her secret for Biblical application, “Systematic theology is invaluable in learning how to use Scripture in a fluent way. My favorite systematic theology id the Westminster Shorter Catechism.” p. 298. Double wow!

THE BONIFCACE OPTION (Review)

All the usual cliches can be used to describe this must-read book: “It’s hard-hitting”; “it pulls no punches”; “it’s straight to the point”; it’s a wakeup call” etc. How about the ruder and cruder (but more forceful) “it’s a kick up the backside”?

 Christians need to stop drinking the dystopian Kool-Aid and start behaving like Christians. The Bible student will be reminded of some of the words of John the Baptizer, “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.

Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9). However, the tree Isker is referencing is the one that Saint Boniface cut down, well, the one that as he swung his ax “a powerful wind came out of the heavens and blew the tree over.” p. 1. This was Donar’s oak, a pagan idol. Mount Carmel with Elisha versus Baal’s prophets springs to mind. Anyway, God honours those who honour Him. But first we need to know what to swing the ax at. The first half of the book shows us the trees marked for felling, and the second part instructs us what and how build with all the felled lumber. Yes, Christian, we are to get off the couch and actually do stuff! But, maybe like me you are just hoping that things would sort themselves out:      

“The greatest practical need of the present is to restore an ethos of Christendom from a grassroots way. We cannot expect the orange billionaire to appear and to descend on his escalator to restore Christian civilization. His tumultuous term as president showed just how entrenched the regime is and how even the most modest attempt at reform, setting the clock back to merely mid-’90s-era liberalism, was resisted with ferocious religious zeal. Electing the right president is not going to fix things. Appointing the right Supreme Court justices is not going to fix things. Electing the right Congressmen and Senators is not going to fix things. The only thing that will transform the United States of America and pull it out of its death spiral is continual reformation of the church and revival of the Christian religion in our country and the West as a whole. And this starts with you, in your home, with your family, and extends upward from there.” pgs. 155-6.

There you have it. To use yet another cliché, we Christians don’t get to “rest on our laurels” (or our backsides!). We must study Scripture to discern what the idols of our own age are (Isker greatly helps us here) while we sharpen our axes.

“You must see Donar’s Oaks everywhere that need to be felled. And you must summon the will to fell them.” p. 158.

MAN'S CHIEF END

 

MAN’S CHIEF END 

Westminster Shorter Catechism 1

Quest. What is the chief end of man?

Ans. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Introduction

A Catechism is a book in which instruction is conveyed by means of question and answer. The Westminster Shorter Catechism was written and compiled in 1647 by the same men who wrote the Westminster Confession of Faith. The Shorter Catechism is called “The Shorter” to distinguish it from another catechism written by the same Westminster Assembly, viz., The Westminster Larger Catechism.

Now, 1647 is a long time ago, isn’t it? Just think about it, the Westminster Shorter Catechism has been taught by Presbyterians to generations of her children for hundreds of years!

What is the Westminster Shorter Catechism all about? Well, the first three questions and answers are introductory. They deal with:

1.     The chief end of man, or man’s reason for being, his purpose.

2.     Where man finds direction for attaining his chief end. Viz., the rule of guidance as laid out in the Scriptures.

3.     What man is to believe concerning God and what He requires us to do. Viz., What the Scriptures teach.

According to the layout provided by Roderick Lawson of Maybole, these things are dealt with in the first three questions, which are introductory. Questions 4-38 tell us What we are to believe. And questions 39 to the final question 107 tell us What we are to do.

So, questions and answers 1-3 are introductory. Questions and answers 4-38 tell us what we are to believe. And questions 39-107 tell us what we are to do.

Most Presbyterians have WSC #1 memorized: What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever. Now, how many of us could recite the remaining 106? How many of us are even familiar with the remaining 106 questions and answers of our own Catechism?

Well, hopefully by the time you read the following we will all be more familiar with the wealth of solid Biblical teaching condensed in the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Glorifying God

The Lord's Apostle Paul under inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote these words as recorded in 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or what ever you do, do all to the glory of God.” He also wrote in Romans 11:36: “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.”

Now, we need to begin by saying a couple of words about “proof-texts.” These two verses are given by the compilers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism as examples of what ALL the Scriptures teach about Man glorifying God.

The men who wrote the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms did so without the so-called “proof-texts”. They were asked by the Parliament of the day if they wouldn’t mind supplying specific examples of where to find in the Bible each doctrine taught in the Confession and Catechism. The Westminster Divines, (as they’re called), with no little reservation complied with the request. However, the reason these men were loath to supply verses as “proof” of doctrine, was that they didn’t want to be accused reducing the Bible to a series of “proof-texts”.

The Westminster ‘Divines’ believed in the principle of Scripture interpreting Scripture (Sola Scriptura). Therefore, every text of Scripture must be viewed in light of every other text of Scripture. Every doctrine in the Scriptures must be viewed in light of every other doctrine in Scripture. They believed that every doctrine taught in the Bible is a component of the whole of what the Bible teaches.

To be sure, Church movements and whole Denominations have been formed by people who have grabbed hold of certain components or “proof-texts” of Scripture. For instance, Movements and Denominations have been formed around the mode of baptism, interpretation of prophecy, the doctrine of holiness, charismatic gifts, etc. But the Westminster Divines, in line with the Apostle Paul in Acts 20:27, believed in declaring “the whole counsel of God.”

So, yes, you may call the Scripture texts at the foot of the Westminster documents “proof texts”.  But you need to know that they were primarily given as examples of what the whole Bible teaches on the particular subject addressed. Even the very first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism should alert us to this fact. The chief end of man is not to baptise or evangelise or prophesy or speak in tongues. No, the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Which is to say that every sphere, be it baptizing, evangelising, prophesying, speaking in tongues in the true and proper sense is to be done to the glory of God!

“Whether you eat or drink, or what ever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31. Therefore all things, everything we do is to be done to and for His glory. Therefore everything you do in the sphere of the family is to be done for His glory. Everything you do at school, at college or university is to be done to His glory. Everything you do at work and at play is to be done to His glory. Everything you do as part of the Church is to be done to His glory. Everything you do in science, in politics, in peace, in war is to be done to His glory – everything! Why? Because “…of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36).

Now, doing everything to God’s glory is simply just another way of putting God first in everything you do. And, speaking of “proof texts”, what else does glorifying God mean if not delighting in keeping the 1^st Commandment? “You shall have no other goods before Me” (Exod. 20:3). Now, it goes without saying that some balk at the idea of there being any joy in keeping God’s Commandments. “Rules are made to be broken!” “Rules restrict!” They may even quote the Bible, “The letter kills!” But, to misunderstand God’s Law is to misunderstand the Gospel. The Gospel saves us from the Law’s condemnation. However, once saved, the Law is our means of glorifying and enjoying God. It’s a heart thing. Having a heart for God means that “I delight in the law of God according to the inward man” (Rom. 7:22) while outwardly doing everything to your heart’s delight!

Abraham Kuyper was Prime Minister of the Netherlands as the 1900s began. He declared at the opening of the Christian Free University of Amsterdam: “…that there is not even so much as a thumb-breadth of the universe in respect of which the Lord Jesus Christ cannot say: ‘Give it to Me! That’s Mine!’” If everything in the universe belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, then every sphere in that universe belongs to Him too.

Abraham Kuyper spelled out and developed the Biblical system of “sphere-sovereignty” (developed further by Herman Dooyeweerd). In sphere-sovereignty the Christian is encouraged to reclaim every sphere of life, be it Religion, Family, Education, Politics, the Sciences, Art, Architecture or even the Future for God and His glory.

Abraham Kuyper definitely believed in WSC #1. He believed that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Abraham Kuyper actually did something about it. He didn't just talk about it. He developed it and put it into action!

Now, we’re not trying to glorify Abraham Kuyper. It’s God we seek to glorify. However, we use Kuyper as a fairly recent example to help us understand how we are to glorify God. It’s all very well for the Presbyterian and Reformed people to mouth the 1^st Catechism. But we need to put our beliefs into action, don't we?

An even more recent example of this thinking is Cornelius Van Til who died in 1987. Van Til, like Kuyper was a Dutchman, but unlike Kuyper, Van Til moved to America. Cornelius Van Til developed the Kuyperian “life-system” even more. Van Til developed this life-system into a sort of first-line-of-defence for Christianity.

But not only is it a life-system for the defence of the faith, but it’s also for the conquering of every sphere of life and the universe for Christ to the glory of God! And whence did Kuyper and Van Til get their ideas? Whence did the “Westminster Divines” who compiled the Westminster Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms get their ideas? Well, we’re going to have to answer that by saying that they got their ideas from God speaking in Scripture.

But there was a man of God, a great theologian whom God used mightily to His glory. God raised this man up at the time of the Reformation to systematize what the Bible teaches. The man is of course John Calvin who was a Frenchman; indeed France is close to the Netherlands.

John Calvin completed his “Institutes of the Christian Religion” in 1536. This work had a very profound effect on the course of the Reformation. Calvin subsequently enlarged on his “Institutes”. The book was intended only as a brief manual stating the doctrines of the persecuted Protestants. The work was based on the principle that the Scriptures are the sole source of Christian truth. The Institutes contain a complete outline of Calvin’s system of theology.

The Westminster Divines applied Calvin’s system of theology. So did Kuyper and Van Til. Therefore what we’re looking at here is the heart of Calvinism. The heart of Calvinism is simply the teaching found throughout all the Scriptures, that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Enjoying God

The Psalmist is Psalm 73:25-28 says, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” We see that this Psalmist, (his name is Asaph), delights in God. There’s none upon earth that he desires apart from God. Thus it’s not hard to imagine this man glorifying God in every sphere of his life.

With Asaph as our example, we see then, that there’s a strong connection between glorifying God and enjoying Him. If a person is genuinely enjoying God he will inevitably be glorifying Him. But does this work the other way? Are all those who are consciously and actively striving to glorify God actually enjoying Him? Well, we’d have to say that there are some who try to glorify God from a wrong motive.

What about those people you find from time to time whom you think are Christians right up until they are converted? It’s only after they’re converted that you discover that they were only striving to glorify God because they thought that’s how a person gets saved!

If you had looked a Martin Luther’s life before his conversion, perhaps you’d have thought that he was illustrating the chief end of man. But all he was trying to do when he was striving to be obedient to God and His Law was save his own hide from hell! In other words, before his conversion Martin Luther was certainly not enjoying God, even though it might have looked like he might have been glorifying Him.

So, it should be clear then, that only the truly converted can truly glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Therefore, we may fool some people when we’re striving to glorify God outwardly. But, if we are to truly enjoy God then we will be glorifying Him inwardly. If you do not have an inward delight in God then you are not truly glorifying Him. In a word, you are far from enjoying Him forever.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” As water bubbles forth from a fountain, so will good things flow out of us if we store those good things in our heart. As Jesus says in Matthew 7:34, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart! As the Psalmist Asaph has said, “…there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.” He is saying that he has no other gods before him because God, God alone is his delight, his joy.

So, this doesn’t mean that we’ve not to have joy in our family. We delight in our family; but we delight first and foremost in God and His Christ as the head of our family. Nor does it mean that we don’t delight in our religion. For we delight in Christianity; but we delight first and foremost in God and His Christ as the head of our religion. The same goes with our politics. We delight in our politics. But we delight first and foremost in God and His Christ as the head of our politics.

It’s the same with every sphere of life, even in the arts and sciences. We delight in these things, for they are part of our lives; but we delight first and foremost in God and His Christ as the head of every sphere of our lives. It’s not God first, family second, religion third, politics fourth and so on. No, it’s God first in the family, in religion, in politics and so forth.

We are to glorify and ENJOY God in every sphere of life. But, to enjoy God in every sphere of life you need to have Him in your heart. You must have His glory at heart. For if you don’t really have God in your heart then you don’t really have His glory at heart.

Read through the Scriptures and you’ll see how the saints enjoyed God. They were ever delighting in God and the things of God. Read through the Book of Psalms, for example. The Psalmists are always praising God for who He is and for His handiwork. They are ever praising Him for His Works and for His Law. To be sure many of the Psalms have to do with the tough times of trial we face in life. But the heart of all the Psalmists might be summed up in these words of king David, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with Your generous Spirit” (Ps. 51:12).

Christians yearn for the joy of which David speaks. David, as you know, lost this sense of joy by sinning against God. He grieved the Holy Spirit when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed. He said to God in verse 11 of the same Psalm, Psalm 51, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”

Now, we know that a soul renewed by the grace of God cannot be cast away from God. However, if the Christian grieves the Holy Spirit through presumptuous sinning, what was once the joy of the Lord may become the terror of the Lord to his soul! So he longs for the joy of the Lord that he once knew. And this joy comes, of course, from knowing God’s forgiveness. The pain and anguish of a sinning soul knows no joy until the Holy Spirit, as it were, returns. As the hymnist William Cowper expresses it, Return, O Holy Dove! Return, Sweet messenger of rest! I hate the sins that made Thee mourn, And drove Thee from my breast. No, a Christian can never lose his salvation if he has truly been converted. But he can most certainly lose his joy in the Lord.

So, if the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, then the Christian must ever be about this end. So, not only should the Christian be seeking to glorify God in every sphere of life. He must at the same time be seeking the joy of the Lord in every sphere. For what is more miserable than a miserable Christian?

Dear reader, do you know that the joy of the Lord comes through repentance? Turning your back on your sins is an ongoing thing. Repentance is not something you wear once then put it away for the winter. Repentance is not something you hang on the hatstand and then go out without it. Repentance is the wrapping of yourself in the forgiveness of God every day. Repentance is God picking up your crown of salvation (which you dropped in the dirt) and placing it back on your head where it belongs. We need to learn to glorify God even in repentance! Then we will truly know the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is made-to-measure. We are made for joy and joy is made for us. We are the Lord’s and the joy is the Lord’s! Give God the glory for joy – all joy.

Do you know this joy? Do you know it in the inward man? Man, in the beginning, in Adam, rebelled against God (Rom. 5:12f.) Man sinned against God and became separated from God. He broke God’s Law and thus broke fellowship with God and lost the joy.

Notice that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him FOREVER. Enjoying God forever speaks of heaven, doesn’t it? It speaks of dwelling with God in everlasting joy – eternity. Well, what is Hell? Hell is everlasting non-joy – everlasting misery, isn’t it?

When Man sinned against God, he declared war on God. He sided with the Devil against God. He covenanted with Satan. In other words, along with the Devil man (as it were) stole creation from God. Just listen to the modern atheists if you don't believe us. In his book “River Out Of Eden” the Neo-Darwinist Richard Dawkins sees the universe in terms of DNA. Says Dawkins, “In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no other good. Nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.”

Christian, this may be the universe as Richard Dawkins sees it. He dances to a dirge – a funeral march! But we pray that by the grace of God he will begin to see the universe as we see it. Then he shall dance the dance of delight – the dance of joy – with us!

We see the universe not as the Darwinist Dawkins sees it. Rather we see it as Calvin and Kuyper saw it, “There's not even so much as a thumb-breadth of the universe in respect of which the Lord Jesus Christ cannot say: ‘Give it to Me! That’s Mine!’”

The whole of creation has been designed by God. Even every creature in it has been designed by God. And man in particular has been designed to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. But man by breaking God’s Law brought the curse of God upon himself and, by way of extension, the universe. Therefore, man is fallen and the whole universe is fallen and man is in sin and misery. Hence man, even you and me, will not enjoy God forever unless and until God by His grace grants us repentance and restores us to our proper function or end.

Conclusion

Let us who have received God’s forgiveness continue to glorify Him, even by (as the Apostle Paul says) delighting “…in the law of God according to the inward man” (Rom. 7:22).

Therefore, let us turn to God in repentance, and seek His forgiveness in Jesus Christ for all our sins. That way, we, born-of-His-Spirit Christians, are sure to truly glorify Him. And, we are to do so out of love and gratitude for our salvation, both inwardly and outwardly. That way we are sure to enjoy Him both now and forever.

BEGINNINGS

                                                                Beginnings

Image from Web

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:2). Only the eternal God is without beginning. Therefore, He is the great Beginner of beginnings. The beginning of time, along with the beginnings of space and matter began when, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light” (Gen. 1:1-3). So, at the beginning time God created space into which He put matter (which includes energy).

The Bible gives a rough date of just over 6,000 years ago. In 1654 Bishop Ussher, from Scripture, calculated that the date of the beginning of creation is 22 October, 4004 BC. This of course is immediately at odds with those who need a billions of years old universe to accommodate their Theory of Evolution (which is still popular in many non-Christian circles today).

What about all those fossils and stuff? Ussher gives the date of the great global Flood as 2350 BC. This was when and why, as Christians like to say, “we find today billions of dead things (fossils) that were buried (rapidly) in rock layers laid down by water (sedimentary rock layers) all over the Earth.” Pick and shovel Christianity finds all kinds of evidence all over the world for the great Deluge. But surely the speed of light travelling from distant stars proves Ussher wrong? What about carbon dating? What about this and what about that? One Christian responded to all these usual and predictable questions by writing a book aptly called “The Answers Book”, now with an updated version called “The New Answers Book” (Ken Ham).

The beginning of the renewing of my mind began in late 1988. Till then I had been your basic garden variety non-Christian who laughed at anyone who didn’t just go with the flow and believe all the Darwinisms we had been indoctrinated with in our state schools. However, like the Apostle Paul, I too grew up. “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11). For, like Augustine, who picked up a Bible upon hearing a child’s voice say to him tolle, lege (take up and read), I too picked up the Bible and read it from cover to cover. When we were young the girls used to play skipping rope in the streets. They would sing songs to the rhythm of the rope as they swung it. Sweet memories! Maybe you too dear reader in your innermost mind can hear the soft strains children outside rhythmically singing, “Pick it up and read it, pick it up and read it.” Warning! Many an atheist has been converted just by picking up and the Bible and reading it!

Creation began when God spoke it into existence. This made much more sense to me than “In the beginning there was nothing. This nothing exploded into something.” It reminds me of when, as a child, trying to get my head around the fact that nothing plus nothing still equals nothing. No matter how many zeros you add together it’s still zero!

Only God has no beginning (or end). You may argue with Ussher and his 4004 BC date for the beginning of creation, but you may not argue with the beginning of His new creation which began by His raising Jesus from the dead some 2,000 years ago. Have you begun your new beginning yet? “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (1 Cor. 5:17).     

SING! How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, Church (review)

 A book that makes you want to sing praises to God can’t be bad. I’m sure I interrupted my reading a few times to burst into song! Sound lyrics attached to suitable and complementary music can settle on a Christian's heartstrings like rows of nightingales on telephone wires. Keith and Kristyn Getty hit all the right notes. Their lyrics are Biblical, and their tunes are apt.

As hearing the gospel in your native tongue speaks to your head and then your heart so does hearing your own (Scottish/Irish) culture’s music. It was upon hearing Celtic strains in some of their songs that the Getty’s songs first struck a chord with me. Yes, I am eclectic enough to appreciate all good church music wherever it’s from, but the Getty stuff has me singing to the Lord with gusto.

Solid lyrics with good tunes are extremely important. For good tunes with unsound words can wreak untold damage to churches and to the whole of Christendom. Arius, a fourth century heretic knew this all too well. He cast his poisoned bread upon many waters. “Arius… composed several songs to be sung by sailors … and by travellers along the high road … which he adapted to certain tunes, as he thought suitable in each separate case, and thus he seduced the minds of the unlearned by the attractiveness of his songs to the adoption of his own impiety.” Philostorgius, Epitome, (Bk. 2 Ch. 2). Christians carry home with them much more than sermon points. What they sing in worship also lodges in their hearts. The Gettys (‘scuse the pun) get this.

Whether you’re an exclusive-psalmodist who doesn’t believe in any  musical accompaniment or whether you’re all electric guitars and drums, this book will help give you a handle on what’s happening with church music in Christendom beyond your own wee corner of God’s vineyard. The Getty’s have made a worthy contribution.

One of the surprises for me was when I read the following: “To write songs for the church is a beautiful, fun (sometimes), and laudable activity. But most songs that are written (in the case of songs we have written, at least 95 percent) never should be heard. We estimate that Keith has written or recorded five hundred to a thousand tunes per year for the last seventeen years, in order to come up with what is a relatively small handful of songs that we’re pleased with and known for. Kristyn has countless journals and Word files and scrap pieces of paper with lyrics that never made the cut.” pgs. 135-6.        

THEOLOGY IN THREE DIMENSIONS (Review)

One would expect to see God’s fingerprints and footprints all over His handiwork. By giving us, if you will, a God’s-eye view of things, John Frame, by his “Triperspectivalism”, shows us how creation reflects the triune God. Each member of the trinity of perspectives is looking inward from each one of the three points of an equilateral triangle: Situational Perspective, Normative Perspective, Existential Perspective. As per the equal ultimacy of the One and the Many, each perspective is equal to the others. No perspective lords it over the others. Thus, Triperspectivalism.

The book provides a helpful glossary at the end of each chapter. “Situational Perspective. A perspective of knowledge in which we focus on the objects in the world. Normative Perspective. A perspective of knowledge in which we focus on the world as a revelation of God’s will. Existential Perspective. A perspective of human knowledge, focusing on our internal experience in close proximity to God’s presence.” Thus, Triperspectivalism focuses on objects in the world, while understanding the world as a revelation of the will of God, while internally experiencing a God’s-eye view, processes this knowledge in God’s presence.

The equilateral triangle contains the objects, from the whole of which, God’s will can be seen by focusing on our experience under God’s watchful eye. The word “theology” in the book’s title, “Theology in Three Dimensions” lets us know that we are studying God and His creation in light of Scripture.

I hope I have not anywhere misconstrued any of Dr Frame’s teachings in this brief review of his book. I have merely tried to summarize them. Forgive me if I’ve misunderstood or mistakenly misstated anything. Our God is most gracious and He is triune. Theology in Three Dimensions has helped greatly to deepen my knowledge of Him, His creation, and me.