The Parabale of the Parachute Makers

During a great war, there was a man who invented a parachute that was one hundred percent trustworthy. It made no difference whether the user was large or small; it opened every time and got him safely to the ground. The key was in the way it was folded. Every part of the parachute had to be carefully and painstakingly placed in certain positions, following the instructions given by the manufacturer. True, it was somewhat arduous, but it was well worth the effort. It had the effect of ensuring that the life of every precious human being who trusted the parachute would be preserved.

Many years after the war began, a group of young men known as "fast-folders" entered the packing room. These men so influenced the workers with their new fast and easy method of folding that soon they all completely ignored the instruction book given by the manufacturer. Production increased greatly and everyone rejoiced that so much time and effort had been saved.

However, as time passed it slowly became evident that something was radically wrong. In fact, a small group of investigators who went to where the parachutes were being used found to their horror that of every ten who jumped using the new method, nine tragically fell to their deaths!

This horrible sight of so many mangled rotting bodies strewn all over the ground sickened them. These weren't just faceless customers. These were husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters - cherished human beings who plunged to a needless and terrifying death.

A report was quickly taken back to the fast-folders. Many were heartbroken, and immediately went back to the instruction book and corrected their mistake. With great sobriety and care, they began painstakingly folding each parachute exactly as the book instructed. Their knowledge of the tragedies motivated them to make sure that they did their job with umcompromising conviction.

Yet, there was resistance from a few. Even though they knew that so many lives were being lost, they still refused to follow the instruction book. Unbelievably, they ignored the mass of mangled and rotting bodies, for which they were directly responsible. Instead, they pointed to those who had survived their fast-folding method as justification for their technique.


-Unkown author.
Thanks to CrossTV, "How does your church measure success?" for quote.

A Good Sermon about Evangelical America.

"Many Evangelists need to spend less time preaching...
and more time studying their Bibles.",

The Counsel of the Westminster: The Trinune God

The Church of Christ cannot be creedless and live.
Especially in an age of doubt and confusion,
it is her duty to define the Christian faith and proclaim it to the world.

What Man is to Believe Concerning God
________________________

Question VIII: Are there more Gods than one?

There is but one only, the living and true God.

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" (Deut. 6:4).

"But to us there is but one God" (1 Cor. 8:6a).

Question IX: How many persons are there in the Godhead?

There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one true, eternal God, the same in substance.

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" (1 John 5:7).

"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:16-17).

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 28:19).

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen" (2 Cor. 13:14).

Man could not possibly comprehend God unless He revealed Himself; yet even despite His revelation, these finite minds cannot even comprehend what's revealed. Nevertheless, God is careful to give us at least three important truths about Himself that are not meant to be twisted by men. Most cults are formed from a twisting of one of these points:


The Three Essentials
__________

1. Scripture clearly teaches us that there is but one living and true God. Just as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, for the Christian there is one God. A perversion of this will immediately cut you off from the Christ's Church. There cannot be idolatry with the people of God.

2. Scripture clearly teaches that not just the Father, but the Son and Holy Ghost are also God. Several verses speak of the divinity of Jesus Christ (John 1:1-4; John 8:58; Romans 9:5). In Matthew 1:23 He is called Immanuel which means "God with us". The Lord Jesus Christ accepts worship (John 9:38), which is something that should be done only toward God. The Holy Spirit too is equated to God Acts 5:3-4, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie against the Holy Spirit... you have not lied unto men, but to God." The Spirit is also due the same worship that belong to God (Matt. 12:31).

3. Scripture clearly teaches that these three are distinct persons, and that they are equal in power and glory. It is a mistake to unite all three persons into one; and it is a mistake to divide God into three gods. The verses used in question VIII and IX should prove that.


Blessed be our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

The three essentials come from
G. I. Williamson, "The Westminster Shorter Catechism"

The Counsel of the Westminster: Q. VII. What is God?

The Church of Christ cannot be creedless and live.
Especially in an age of doubt and confusion,
it is her duty to define the Christian faith and proclaim it to the world.

By despising the wisdom of the past,
our generation has chosen to travel through the
same history of pain, error, and correction that men of old had already
gone through and recorded for our admonition.

What Man is to Believe Concerning God

"Preaching of the word, being the power of God unto salvation, and one of the greatest and most excellent works belonging to the ministry of the gospel, should be so performed, that the workman need not be ashamed, but may save himself, and those that hear him."

- Westminster Confession of Faith:
Of Preaching the Word

Man has been given a gift. The privilege to speak of God,
of which no one in the world has ever imagined.

Question VI: What is God?

God is a Spirit, in and of Himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection; all - sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, every where present, almighty, knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth.


a Spirit. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth"
(John 4:24).


In and of Himself Infinite:

in being. "Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven--what can you do? Deeper than Sheol--what can you know?"
(Job 11:7-8)

in glory. "And Stephen said: 'Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,' "
(Act 7:2)

in blessedness. "which he will display at the proper time--He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,"
(1Ti 6:15)

in perfection. "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
(Mat 5:48)


He is:

all-sufficient. "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine."
(Psa 50:12)


eternal. "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."
(Psa 90:2)

unchangeable. "For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."
(Mal 3:6)

incomprehensible. "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!"
(1Ki 8:27)

every where present. "You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?"
(Psa 139:2-7)

almighty. "And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!' "
(Rev 4:8)

knowing all things. "And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
(Heb 4:13)
"Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure."
(Psa 147:5)

most wise. "to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen."
(Rom 16:27)

most holy. "And one called to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!' "
(Isa 6:3)
"Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."
(Rev 15:4)

most just. "The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He."
(Deu 32:4)

most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abounding in goodness and truth. "The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,"
(Exo 34:6)

A Defense Against Antinomianism

I'll continue the Westminster study, but I wrote this post for my facebook and I had to post it here too.

Antinomianism ('anti-law') is the belief that the keeping of the law no longer has any place in the faith and gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore this position seeks to allow that men who reject Jesus Christ by their ungodly lives and hard hearts can still yet have been born of God and be in Christ. This position is held with the banner of Faith Alone and Free Grace, but then ignores the New Birth as also a part of God's grace in salvation.

Thus sanctification is also rejected as a necessary result of being found in Christ. In other words it says, even if God justified one by Christ's blood, His blood doesn't promise sanctification ("becoming holy", or "being made Christ-like") to come with God's salvation.

This is a dangerous lie,
for it is written,

"And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purified Himself as He is pure."

"Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him."

"Little children, let no one deceive you."

"Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as He is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in Him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."

(1 John 2:26-3:1-10)


"God deliver us from Antinomianism! We do preach against Arminianism, but that is a white devil compared with the black devil of Antinomianism."

- Charles Spurgeon

Also Check out my roommates post on this.

The Counsel of the Westminster: Q VI. What does the Bible teach about God?

The Church of Christ cannot be creedless and live.
Especially in an age of doubt and confusion,
it is her duty to define the Christian faith and proclaim it to the world.

Thanks for the encouragement to continue the blog. I did stop for quite a while, but lordwilling I will stay fervent in this study of the Westminster.

What Man is to Believe Concerning God

Question VI: What do the scriptures make known of God?
The scriptures make known what God is, the persons of the Godhead, His decrees, and the execution of His decrees.

"what God is". Hebrews 11:6 ~ "He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

"the Godhead". 1 John 5:17 ~ "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."

"His decrees". Acts 15:14-18 ~ "Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, "'After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord - who makes these things known from of old.' "

"the execution of His decrees". Acts 4:27-28 ~ "For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."

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To know God is life (John 17:3). Most of us are college students, and I'd bet that we've all run into that horrible problem that unbelievers (specifically agnostics) come around to: "Even if there was a god, how do we know him?" Faithless man has only one tool he can use to understand reality around him - science. God, in His wisdom, has chosen to never allow man to discover Him with the power of science. "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom." If this is the case, then how will a man ever reach God? Depraved man cannot hope to ascend to the heights of heaven. Also, he cannot hope to descend to Sheol to find God either. Salvation, then, only happens when God chooses to reach to us. Everything we know of God is because He chose to reveal it to us, and He has chosen to leave some things hidden (Deut. 29:29). Not through science, but through God-ordained preaching, "it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe" (1 Cor. 1:21).

As Christians, we hold by faith that the Bible contains what we are to believe concerning God: His essence, His trinitarian nature, His will, and His power in executing His will. The hidden knowledge of God will be in our hearts if we have faith. We don't have to go to heaven to bring it down, nor go to hell to bring it up; that's why Paul writes,

"But the righteousness based on faith says,
'Do not say in your heart,
"Who will ascend into heaven?"' (that is, to bring Christ down) or
'"Who will descend into the abyss?"' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
But what does it say?
'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart'
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
because, if you confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved."

(Rom 10:6-9)