Interesting verse:
O Lord, why have You made us stray from your ways
And hardened our heart from Your fear?
Return for Your servants’ sake,
The tribes of your inheritance.
Your holy people have possessed it but a little while;
Our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary
We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled,
Those who were never called by Your name.
(Isaiah 63:17-19)
Rahab’s house was in the wall of Jericho. When the wall came down, where did the house go? If the house was the only building left standing, why did they need a red cord to show which house it was?
I think I can see why this guy never uses the term “Calvinism.” He has successfully proved that if you take in the life experiences of everyone who ever lived from 1550 onward, the term has essentially no meaning. I think my eyes glazed over when he demonstrated that neo-Calvinism must refer specifically to only people who agree with Abraham Kuyper. And there’s a reason why we can’t use the term Kuyperian?
Weak light produces weak inclinations, strong light – strong inclinations…. This is the reason why Christians that have light that is little for quantity, but heavenly for quality, persevere, when men of larger understanding sink…. We must therefore walk by his light, not the blaze of our own fire.
To determine whether we are this smoking flax that Christ will not quench, we must remember these rules: We must have two eyes: One to see imperfections in ourselves and others; the other to see what is good.
Applying these rules, we may say:
This is the reason why Christians that have light that is little for quantity, but heavenly for quality, persevere, when men of larger understanding sink. This prevailing of light in the soul is because, together with the spirit of illumination, there goes, in the godly, a spirit of power (2 Tim 1:7) to subdue the heart to revealed truth, and to put a taste and relish into the will, suitable to the sweetness of the truth. Otherwise a will that is merely natural will rise up against supernatural truths, having an antipathy and enmity against them. In the godly, holy truths are conveyed by way of a taste; gracious men have a spiritual palate, as well as a spiritual eye. Grace alters the spiritual taste.
God delights to confound carnal wisdom, as enmity to him, and robbing him of his prerogative, who is God only wise. We must therefore walk by his light, not the blaze of our own fire. God must light our candle (Psa. 18:28) or else we will abide in darkness. Those sparks that are not kindled from heaven are not strong enough to keep us from lying in sorrow, though they make a greater blaze and show than the light from of above. As madmen do greater things than sober men, but by a false strength, so the excess of these men’s joy arises from a false light.”The light of the wicked shall be put out” (Job 18:5).
The light which some men have is like lighting which, after a sudden flash, leaves them more in darkness. They can love the light as it shines, but hate it as it discovers and directs. A little holy light will enable us to keep Christ’s Word and not betray religion or deny his name, as Christ speaks of the church of Philadelphia (Rev. 3:8).
In the case of a carnal man, the light breaks in on him, but he labors to block its entrance. He has no delight in coming to the light. It is impossible, before the Spirit of grace has subdued the heart, that it should not sin against the light, either by resisting it, or keeping it prisoner under base lusts and burying it, as it were, in the earth, or perverting it, and so making it an agent and factor for the flesh, in searching out arguments to plead for it, or abusing that little measure of light that all men have, so as to keep out a greater, higher, and more heavenly light. So, at length, they make the light they have a misleading guide to utter darkness.And the reason is because the light has no friend within. The soul is in a contrary frame, and light always hinders that sinful peace that men are willing to promise themselves. Hence we see that light often enrages men more, as the sun in springtime brings on feverish illnesses when it stirs up diseases rather than overcoming them.There is nothing in the world more uneasy than the heart of a wicked man forced to listen to spiritual instruction until, like a thief, he puts out the candle so that he may sin with less restraint. Spiritual light is distinct. It grabs hold of spiritual good and applies it to ourselves. But common light is confused, and lets sin lie quiet.
Where fire is, in any degree, it will fight everything contrary to it. God put irreconcilable hatred between light and darkness from the first; so also between good and ill, flesh and Spirit (Gal. 5:7). Grace will never join with sin, any more than fire with water. Fire will mingle with nothing contrary to it, but preserves its own purity. It is never corrupted as other elements are. Therefore, those that plead and plot for liberties for the flesh show themselves strangers from the life of God.
Feeling this strife, gracious men often complain that they have no grace. But they contradict themselves in their complaints, as if a man that sees should complain that he cannot see, or complain that he is asleep. The very complaint, springing up from a displeasure against sin, shows that there is something in him opposite to sin. Can a dead man complain?
Some things, though bad in themselves, yet reveal good, as smoke reveals the presence of fire. A violent reaction in the body shows bodily vigor. Some infirmities show more good than some seemingly beautiful actions. Excess of passion in opposing evil, though not to be justified, yet shows a better spirit than a calm temper where there is just cause for being moved. It is better that the water should run somewhat muddily than not run at all. Job had more grace in his ill temper than his friends had in their seemingly wise demeanor. Actions stained with some defects are more acceptable than empty accomplishments.
Therefore, it argues a false heart to set ourselves a low standard in grace and to rest in beginnings, alleging that Christ will not quench the smoking flax. This merciful disposition in Christ is joined with perfect holiness, shown in perfect hatred to sin. For rather than that sin should not have its deserved punishment, he became a sacrifice for sin. In this his Father’s holiness and his own shone most of all.And besides this, in the work of sanctification, though he favors his work in us, yet he does not favor sin in us. For he will never take his hand from his work, until he has taken away sin, even in its very being, from our natures. The same Spirit, that purified his holy human nature, cleanses us by degrees to be suitable to so holy a Head, and frames the judgment and affections of all to whom he shows mercy to concur with his own, in laboring to further his end of abolishing sin out of our natures.
There’s so much good about this article. First of course, is the water filter. I want one. And the generator. But second, the capitalism: let’s make these people rich, so we can sell stuff to them.
“We believe Coca-Cola’s business can only be as healthy as the community it is part of, so the well-being of the community is important to our long-term strategy,” says Derk Hendriksen, the general manager of the Ekocenter program. Notably, the company won’t directly profit from the program; each “downtown in a box” will operate as a standalone business run by a local entrepreneur, typically a woman, selected and trained by Coke. (That the soda giant enjoys an image boost in the process goes without saying.)
I can’t find it online, but there’s an anecdote about Milton Friedman debating Ayn Rand on altruism, where he said that if altruism is a deep and abiding concern of one man for the needs of his neighbor, then no one is more altruistic than an honest businessman, because his entire livelihood comes from finding ways to benefit his neighbor. If he can’t find a way to give his neighbor something that is more valuable to him than the cash in his pocket, the businessman has to close up shop.
And here you have a case in point.
I’m not sure what to do with the giant close-up picture of the inventor at the front. If I ever become famous and need to get my picture put up everywhere, I’m going to have to find a way around getting weird pictures taken of me.
Under this gracious covenant, sincerity equals perfection.
We must acknowledge that in the covenant of grace God requires the truth of grace, not any certain dosage; and a spark of fire is truly fire, as well as the whole element. Therefore we must look to grace in the spark as well as in the flame. Not all have the same strength, though they all have the same precious, faith (2 Pet 1:1), whereby they lay hold of, and put on, the perfect righteousness of Christ. A weak hand may receive a rich jewel. A few grapes will show that the plant is a vine and not a thorn.
It’s one thing to be deficient in grace, and another thing to lack grace altogether. God knows we have nothing of ourselves. Therefore in the covenant of grace he requires no more than he gives, but gives what he requires, and accepts what he gives: “If she be not able to bring a lamb, then shall she bring two turtle doves” (Lev 12:8). What is the gospel itself but a merciful modification, in which Christ’s obedience is esteemed ours, and our sins laid upon him, and where God, from being a judge, becomes our Father, pardoning our sins and accepting our obedience, though feeble and blemished? We are now brought to heaven under the covenant of grace by a way of love and mercy.
It will prove a special help to know distinctly the difference between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace – between Moses and Christ. Moses, without any mercy, breaks all bruised reeds, and quenches all smoking flax. For the law requires personal, perpetual, and perfect obedience from the heart, and that under a most terrible curse, but it gives no strength. It is a severe task master, like Pharaoh’s, requiring the whole tally of bricks and yet giving no straw. Christ comes with blessing after blessing, even upon those whom Moses has cursed, and with healing balm for those wounds which Moses had made.
The same duties are required in both covenants, such as to love the Lord with all our hearts adn with all our souls (Deut. 6:5). In the covenant of works, this must be fulfilled absolutely, but under the covenant of grace, it must have an evangelical mitigation. A sincere endeavor in proportion to the grace received is accepted (and so it must be understood of Josiah and others, when it is said that they did that which was right in the sight of the Lord).
The law is sweetened by the gospel, and becomes delightful to the inner man (Rom. 7:22). Under this gracious covenant, sincerity equals perfection. This is the death in the pot of the Roman (Catholic) religion – that they confound the two covenants, and it deadens the comfort of drooping ones, who cannot distinguish them. And thus they allow themselves to be held under bondage, when Christ has set them free. They stay in the prison, when Christ has set open the doors before them.
We must also remember that grace is sometimes so little as to be indiscernible to us. The Spirit sometimes has secret operations in us which we don’t notice for the present, but Christ knows. Sometimes, in bitterness of temptation, when the spirit struggles with a sense of God’s anger, we are apt to think of God as an enemy. A troubled soul is like troubled water: we can see nothing in it, and so far as it is not cleansed, it will throw up mire and dirt. It is full of objections to itself. But for the most part we may discern something of the hidden life, and of these smothered sparks. In a gloomy day, there is always enough light that we can know it to be day and not night; so there is something in a Christian under a cloud, whereby he may be discerned to be a true believer and not a hypocrite.
There is no mere darkness in the state of grace, without some beam of light whereby the kingdom of darkness does not wholly prevail.
To determine whether we are this smoking flax that Christ will not quench, we must remember these rules:
We must have two eyes: One to see imperfections in ourselves and others; the other to see what is good. “I am black,” says the church, “but comely” (Song of Solomon 1:5). Those who are given to quarreling with themselves always lack comfort, and through their infirmities they are prone to feed on such bitter things that will most nourish the disease which troubles them. These delight to be looking only on the dark side of the cloud.
We must not judge ourselves always according to our present feelings, for in temptations we shall see nothing but the smoke of distrustful thoughts. Fire can be raked up from the ashes, even though it isn’t seen. Life in the winter is hidden in the roots.
We must beware of false reasoning, such as: because our fire does not blaze up like it does in others, therefore we have no fire at all. By false conclusions we may end up sinning against ourselves. The prodigal wouldn’t say that he was no son, but that he was not worthy to be called a son (Luke 15:19). We must neither trust in false evidence, nor deny the true evidence; in doing so we should dishonor the work of God’s Spirit in us, and lose the help of the very evidence that would cherish our love to Christ, and arm us against Satan’s discouragements. Some are as faulty in this way as if they had been hired by Satan, the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10), to plead for him in accusing themselves.
“The trick is, when somebody accuses you of something, is to believe they really mean it. They really think you are… whatever awful thing they said about you. Look, here’s a golden opportunity to be humble. Take what they have to say, submit to God and resist the Devil. They really see something in you that forms a basis for their accusation. Now is your chance to repent! This could be your only chance to see something you’ve been totally blind about your whole life. ‘Faithful are the wounds of a friend.’ If there is any truth in what they are saying, then they can be your ally against their own will, by helping you repent.”
“Wow. Is that really what you do?”
“Me? No, not since I stopped sinning.”
And this sort of thing is why we homeschool. I have no idea if our local schools give out homework that only parents can do very well, but every time I read about it (and remember arts and crafts in my language classes), the less inclined I am to find out.
I hated irrelevant homework when I was in school; I think I would hate it a good deal more, now. If my son came home with an art assignment for an academic class, he might go back the next day with a polite but firm note explaining why the homework would not be done, and questioning the academic integrity of the curriculum. I might include some propaganda to encourage the proletariat faculty to resist the bourgeoisie administrators…
So this is a thing I had no idea about.
neumatikos 