In memory of Pastor Dan Cummings, who loved the glory of God as expressed by Jonathan Edwards:
I. Proposition. The saints in heaven are employed. They are not idle. They have there much to do. They have a work before them that will fill up eternity.
We are not to suppose, when the saints have finished their course and done the works appointed them here in this world, and are got to their journey’s end, to their Father’s house, that they will have nothing to do. It is true, the saints when they get to heaven, rest from their labors and their works follow them. Heaven is not a place of labor and travail, but a place of rest. Heb. 4:9. There remaineth a rest for the people of God. And it is a place of the reward of labor. But yet the rest of heaven does not consist in idleness, and a cessation of all action, but only a cessation from all the trouble and toil and tediousness of action.
The most perfect rest is consistent with being continually employed. So it is in heaven. Though the saints are exceedingly full of action, yet their activity is perfectly free from all labor, or weariness, or unpleasantness. They shall rest from their work, that is, from all work of labor and self-denial, and grief, care, and watchfulness, but they will not cease from action. The saints in glory are represented as employed in serving God, as well as the saints on earth, though it be without any difficulty or opposition. Rev. 22:3, “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.” Yea, we are told, that they shall serve God day and night, that is, continually or without ceasing. Rev. 7:15, “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.” And yet this shall be without any manner of trouble, as it follows in the next verse. “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat.”
In this world saints labor, as it were, in the wearisome heat of the sun. But there, though they shall still serve God, yet shall the sun not light on them nor any heat. In one sense, the saints and angels in heaven rest not day nor night, Rev. 4:8, that is, they never cease from their blessed employment. Perfection of happiness does not consist in idleness, but on the contrary, it very much consists in action. The angels are blessed spirits, and yet they are exceedingly active in serving God. They are as a flame of fire, which is the most active thing that we see in this world. God himself enjoys infinite happiness and prefect bliss, and yet he is not inactive, but is himself in his own nature a perfect act, and is continually at work in bringing to pass his own purposes and ends. That principle of holiness that is in its perfection in the saints in heaven, is a most active principle. So that though they enjoy perfect rest, yet they are a great deal more active than they were when in this world. In this world they were exceedingly dull, and heavy, and inactive, but now they are a flame of fire. The saints in heaven are not merely passive in their happiness. They do not merely enjoy God passively, but in an active manner. They are not only acted upon by God, but they mutually act towards him, and in this action and re-action consists the heavenly happiness.
–Jonathan Edwards in Praise, One of the Chief Employments of Heaven, THANKSGIVING SERMON, Nov. 7, 1734.
That’s what Dan is doing now, there. And it’s what we do now, here.
~ Psalm 111 ~
111:1 Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy;
8 they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
On January 8 I posted a link to a Worldview Survey that asked some questions about basic religious beliefs. After collecting the thoughts of a whopping 17 respondents (!), you can now view the Worldview Survey results. Enjoy! 
Some thoughts on how to thank God in prayer for his election of the saints…
- Thank God that he protects his elect. Matthew 24:22: And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
- Thank God that the elect cannot be deceived so as to be led astray. Matthew 24:24: For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
- Thank God that he’ll be gathering his elect to take them to glory. Matthew 24:31: And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
- Thank God that he guarantees true justice for his elect. Luke 18:7: And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
- Thank God that his elect are fully justified before him. Romans 8:33: Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
- Thank God that the salvation of the elect is totally outside of them. Romans 9:11: though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
- Thank God that he softened the hearts of the elect, securing their voluntary response to the gospel. Romans 11:7: What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,
- Thank God that he loves his elect. Romans 11:28: As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
- Thank God for Paul’s example of enduring everything for the elect. 2 Timothy 2:10: Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Also. Titus 1:1: Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,
- Thank God that his Word is directed toward the elect. 1 Peter 1:1: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
- Thank God for how he’s saved his people and what he’s saved them to. 2 Peter 1:3: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
- Thank God for warning his people to continually rely on him and strive for holiness, proving their election. 2 Peter 1:10: Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
- Thank God that his people believe because they are appointed to do so. Acts 13:48: And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
- Thank God for the clear command to his chosen people to live out their status. Colossians 3:12: Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
- Thank God that his choosing of his people is based on his love. 1 Thessalonians 1:4: For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
- Thank God for his clear teaching about who is his and what they are to do. 1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The Pleasures of God by John Piper is one of my all-time favorite books. In the chapter on God’s Pleasure in Election, you’ll read about controversy; you’ll read personal testimony from Piper as well as from George Mueller and Charles Spurgeon; you’ll read about church history. Most importantly, you’ll read a multitude of Scripture verses that help you grasp and love the glorious doctrine of election. Here’s just a brief portion:
- This truth is biblical. (2 Peter 1:1-10)
- This truth humbles sinners and exalts the glory of God. (1 Cor. 1:26-31)
- This truth tends to preserve the church from slipping toward false philosophies of life. [In a nutshell, church history demonstrates this slippery slope when the doctrine of election is left behind: Calvinism > Arminianism > Unitarianism > Universalism
- This truth is the good news of salvation that is not just offered but effected. (Matt. 1:21; Rom. 8:29-30)
- This truth enables us to own up to the demands for holiness in the Scripture and yet have assurance of salvation. (2 Peter 1:10; Deut. 30:6; Ezek. 36:27; 11:19-20; Heb. 13:20; Phil. 2:12-13)
- This truth opens to us the overwhelming experience of being loved personally with the unbreakable, electing love of God. Jer. 31:2 – 3; 1Thess. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:17; Col. 3:12; John 13:1; 15:13 – 14; 17:22 – 23; Eph. 2:4 – 5; Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 2:14; John 10:27
- This truth gives more hope for evangelism and guarantees the triumph of Christ’s mission in the end. John 10:16; John 11:52; Rev. 5:9; Acts 18:9 – 10; Acts 13:48; 16:14
[Source: Piper, John. The Pleasures of God, pp. 143 – 153]
One of the springs of evangelical repentance, says John Colquhoun, is meditation on or consideration of the sinfulness of sin against a holy God.
Multitudes remain impenitent for want of consideration. The Lord says, “I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright; no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ ” (Jeremiah 8:6). Impenitence is, in great degree, the effect of the extenuating notion of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Repentance, therefore, must sprint from a deep consideration and a true sense of its infinite malignity and demerit. It flows from deep and affecting meditation on the majesty and glory, the holiness and justice, the authority and law, the threatenings and judgments of God, and on His just severity against the angels who sinned, against Adam and all his posterity, against Sodom and Gomorrah, the nations of Canaan, and the Jews, in the final destruction of their city and temple, and in the continued dispersion of their nation. These awful examples of His inexorable justice and tremendous fury show us what is His judgment of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and of the dreadful punishment that awaits the impenitent sinner. And they are left on record that they may direct us to judge the sin of our nature and of the transgressions of our life as God judges. And we may be sure that “the judgment of God is according to truth” (Romans 2:2).
–John Colquhoun, Repentance, pp. 2-3 (First published in 1826. Due to be republished by Northampton Press in 2010.)
Not in rising stocks or strong investments; not in tailored or grungy vestments
Not in increased consumer spending; not in parties, never ending
Not in savings, a healthy balance sheet; not in air conditioning nor fan-forced heat
Not in earthly rulers or politicians; not in trainers or beauticians
Not in land or yard or home; not in shores that are white with foam
Not in talents, brains or brawn; not in wars already won
Not in kind demeanor, careful words; not in rumors that you’ve heard
Not in family or in friends; not in exercise regimens.
Not in fitness or good looks; not in magazines or books.
Not in diets or certain food; not in a steady, managed mood
Not in a resume or great reference; not in being someone’s preference
Not in well-thought processes; not in anything you see.
Not in man or what man does; not in what will be, nor in what was
But:
In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. — Prov. 14:26
A disturbing trend…
ABOUT 16 YEARS AGO
David Wells (born 1939) in God in the Wasteland:
It is one of the defining marks of Our Time [1994] that God is now weightless. I do not mean by this that he is ethereal but rather that he has become unimportant. He rests upon the world so inconsequentially as not to be noticeable. He has lost his saliency for human life. Those who assure the pollsters of their belief in God’s existence may nonetheless consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers’ sweet fog of flattery and lies. That is weightlessness. It is a condition we have assigned him after having nudged him out to the periphery of our secularized life…. Weightlessness tells us nothing about God but everything about ourselves, about our condition, about our psychological disposition to exclude God from our reality.
ABOUT 50 YEARS AGO
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) in The Knowledge of the Holy:
The message of [The Knowledge of the Holy] does not grow out of these times but it is appropriate to them. It is called forth by a condition which has existed in the Church for some years and is steadily growing worse. I refer to the loss of the concept of majesty from the popular religious mind. The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men. This she has done not deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic.
The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our religious thinking.
With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the Spirit. The words, ”Be still, and know that I am God,” mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshipper in this middle period of the twentieth century.
ABOUT 300 YEARS AGO
Henry Scougal (1650 – 1678), who alluded to a related concept in Life of God in the Soul of Man:
Let us consider that love and affection wherewith holy souls are united to God, that we may see what excellency and felicity is involved in it. Love is that powerful and prevalent passion, by which all the faculties and inclinations of the soul are determined, and on which both its perfection and happiness depend. The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love. He who loveth mean and sordid things, doth thereby become base and vile; but a noble and well-placed affection, doth advance and improve the spirit into a conformity with the perfections which it loves. The images of these do frequently present themselves unto the mind, and, my a secret force and energy, insinuate into the very constitution of the soul, and mould and fashion it unto their own likeness.
Questions to consider:
- Does God matter?
- What is your view of God?
- What do you love?
To be continued…
THE TRUDGE: Usually used to express dismay at the tedium or monotony of life, as in
“Another Monday. Here goes …”
It’s a virtual sigh that in essence declares your unhappiness with [whatever]. Cure: Lamentations 3:22-23
THE GRUDGE: An attempt to vocalize the anger or hatred you have for another person, usually a parent, as in
“I HATE MY PARENTS AND SISTER AND BROTHER AND …”
Writing in ALL CAPS adds a special touch. Cure: Luke 18:20
THE SMUDGE: Usually follows a Grudge and essentially is online slander which you try to hide with humor, even though you mean every word. For example,
“Simone is such a dork. ha ha ha ha.”
You’re not funny. Cure: Prov. 10:18
THE DRUDGE*: Posting links to “news” and “articles” of mind-numbing triviality when you could have been spending that time much more profitably. For example,
“Hillary scowls at Obama; he calls her a racist – [linktostory]“
Multiply that times the number of people who click on the link to get the waste factor. Cure: Prov. 15:2
THE BUDGE: A complex mix of disgruntled agreement or concession coupled with an immediate demand to be served, as in,
“fine i’ll go with you to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs but i get to pick the movie next time – who can pick me up?”
Usually only applies to 1% of those who read your status. Cure: Prov. 15:26
THE NUDGE: A plea to be contacted or recognized in some way, no matter how small, just so you don’t feel lonely, as in
“someone txt me I am in class bored hey sally what are you doin 2nite <3″
Ironically, it can be self defeating. Cure: Is. 30:15
THE JUDGE: Condemnatory remarks about another person or his behavior or clothing, as in
“Anyone who wears Aeropostale is a total LOSER!!!!!”
The multiple exclamation points really help make the point. Cure: Matt. 7:1
THE PUDGE: Any kind of status update that lets your friends know whatever workout routine you just completed, such as
“Just pumped iron in the gym for four hours. Whew! I’m so tired / ripped / sweaty!”
That’s nice. No one is really sure what to do with that information or how the reader benefits. Cure: Prov. 11:2
Some questions to ask before posting a Facebook status:
- Have I considered the potential for the disconnect between my intention (which may be good) and the reader’s understanding?
- Would I post the same things if I were literally standing in front of all my Facebook friends, looking them in the eyes?
- Do my status updates primarily reflect the glory of God and encourage others or are the updates I post self-absorbed or narcissistic? [Non-Christians should ask this, too.]
- What conversations should I be having face-to-face with other people?
* THE DRUDGE, above, is a fun poke at The Drudge Report, which I read every day and find mostly useful.
Let me be up front: I enjoy watching politics. I think the founders of the U.S. did a very good job of setting up our government. I am generally conservative.
Any politician who is elected to any office is only there because the sovereign Lord of the universe (the God of the Bible) ordained that it be so — through the means of an election, yes, but even the means are ordained. Human responsibility still exists. Wise choices must be made. None of what happens, however, is outside of God’s sovereignty. That’s a topic for another day but it sets up the next point…
Psalm 118:8-9 provides the best view of how to think about people in power:
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.
No matter who holds office, we must remember and take refuge in the One Who holds in his hand the office holders and the people they are supposed to serve and represent.
Dear boys,
Who or what surrounds you and presses itself upon your ears and attitude? Is it worldliness or foolishness or folly? Or is it wisdom? How much of the world is “okay”? How much can you handle? [In a sense, this is not a fair question for you; really it is up to your mom and I to decide. You are, however, at a point where you should understand how make decisions in these matters.]
Listen to the Proverb writer in chapter 13 as he explains how hearing, heeding, and hanging out with the wise provides practical, godly benefits:
13:1 A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
Hear what’s built into that verse? A father who gives wise instruction, a son who listens to it, a relationship and circumstances where that instruction can occur, time for instruction to occur as a regular course of life. The negative person you could be: a scoffer who is unteachable and therefore on a collision course marked by spiritual, if not physical death.
“Hearing” in v. 1 implies learning, so v. 14 is important:
14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.
Fountain of life? You know how adults spend so much time trying to look young? This Proverb suggests that spending time learning from wise people is much more of a help to you — valuable, in fact! So much so that it is a means toward enhancing your spiritual life, if not extending your physical life. Amazing!
The hearer of wise counsel in those verses is more than likely heeding or listening to the instruction he hears, but v. 10 demonstrates the benefits of taking wisdom to heart and actually using it:
10 By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom.
What would you rather do — add strife to your life or grow wiser? Hmm.
Finally, know that the company you keep has a profound effect on you. Verse 20 says:
20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Growing in wisdom is good and healthy. According to v. 20, it can only be done if you surround yourself with wise people.
Wisdom usually resides with older, mature, Christian men and women who are joyful yet sober, quiet yet concerned — in the world’s eyes they would be considered boring. Certainly not the life of the party. Consider, however, what you want your life to be, where it’s going, and how you’ll get there. As a general principle, hearing, heeding, and hanging out with the wise will yield a life of true success and joy.
Love,
Dad