How should we respond when our nation comes under the judgment of God?

A couple of weeks ago we went through the books of Kings, and this is what I got out of it-

Israel had rejected God and wanted a king. God granted their wish and for century’s after they rejected God once a again and served idols. King after king lead them deeper into sin, occasionally one restored worship to God, but again they turned back to baal, ashtoreth etc… God then sent judgment upon them - first Israel was taken by the Assyrians then Judah by Nebuchadnezzar.

Jer.27:4-11-“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5 “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave. 8 “ ‘ “But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.” ’ ”

Jeremiah prophecy’s Judah’s exile here. God is saying that he has sent Nebuchadnezzar and that all should obey him. God uses Neb. to spank his people. Should they resist His punishment even more judgment and worse times would come upon them. If they headed the voice of the false prophets and do no submit to Babylon, God would judge them even more. Basically, Nebuchadnezzar’s power comes from God.
Now if we look in Kings we can clearly see this displayed. Three times Babylon invaded Israel, all during a different reign of a different king.

• The first time Babylon came against Judah was during the reign of Jehoiakim (2 kings 24:1), who rebelled against him, not heeding the Word of God delivered by Jeremiah. As a result God sent many other nations against him, destroying Judah.
• When Nebuchadnezzar came against Judah a second time, Jehoiachin, the king, submitted and was taken prisoner (2 Kings 24:8-12). But later on when a new king set up in Babylon, he was released and set upon a high place in the palace of Babylon (2 Kings 25:27). Because he had submitted to those whom God had sent as a punishment he was later greatly blessed.
• One last time Nebuchadnezzar came up against Judah, this time during the reign of Zedekiah, whom he had placed on the throne. Zedekiah rebelled (2 kings 24:20) and did not heed the voice of Jeremiah. It cost him his life and his sons. Nebuchadnezzar, this time, completely destroyed Judah and the temple, and carried away all that was left.

Two of these men did not obey the voice of God through Jeremiah, but rather the false prophets, as a result of God sent greater curses upon them. But the one who did heed God and submitted to Babylon, was blessed later on.

How does this apply to us? –

When I look at our government, I see one that is quickly spiraling down hill. They promote abortion, homosexuality, high taxes and so many other unbiblical things. I have always had a rebel attitude towards it all…after all why should we obey them? But when I saw all this in our class, my attitude somewhat changed. Our situation is very much like that of Israel’s. We may have many Christians but we have an unbiblical government right now. Our enemy’s (gov.) have much power, military power. Should we rebel against our government? Should we rebel against what God may have set up as a judgment upon a wicked people, who have forsaken Him? These questions plagued my mind.

I believe now that a Christian’s duty should be to promote their city’s welfare, not rebel against it. We should accept judgment, seek the welfare of our cities, and work/wait for opportunity to rebuild what has been lost. We should continually strive to right what was been wronged. We should continue to build the kingdom of God!

-Kaila

An Essay -Testing and Temptation

Question - "If there is a difference between being tested and being tempted, what is the difference?

My Answer - I believe that there is a definite difference between being tested and being tempted which I will try (and hopefully will) make clear to you. We will first find out what temptation is and then we’ll see what testing is. In my final point we will examine the difference between the two.

First of all, what is temptation? Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines temptation as – “The act of tempting; enticement to evil by arguments, by flattery, or by the offer of some real or apparent good.” In Matthew 4 we read of the temptation of Jesus. The devil tempted Jesus 3 times and yet He did not sin. Even when he flatters Jesus and tells him of the apparent good and real good that he will receive Jesus replies with scripture and remains steadfast to God. In the Garden of Eden, the serpent tempts Eve into eating the forbidden fruit who then tempts Adam to do the same and suddenly all mankind is now depraved and inherently sinful. Solomon’s many wives tempt him into serving and sacrificing to their false gods. He fails. Joseph on the other hand, is faithful to God and though Potiphar’s wife greatly tempts him to lie with her he refuses. Scripture is packed with examples of temptation and although we could spend an adequate amount of time here let’s move on to testing.

Now that we have seen temptations in past events let’s look at testing. God tests us every day by putting obstacles in our life and encouraging us to pull through and remain steadfast to him. James 1:2&3 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” If we had everything in our life go just the way we wanted it to go than how steadfast to God would we be? The answer is simple. We would not have any steadfastness whatsoever! If there were no trials than there would be no suffering for Christ and the cross he carried. I find that the more I read God’s Word, the more my Faith increases and the easier I find trials in my life become. Do you remember when God tested Abraham? It is in Gen. 22. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. What was Abraham’s response? Abraham feared God and obeyed him unquestionably. He had faith in God and believed God would fulfill his promise and keep His covenant. Just when Abraham was about to slay his son God called out to him saying, “…do not kill the boy.” Abraham had a hard trial and yet he remained steadfast to God. He will most assuredly receive “the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him!” (James 1:12)

And now, what is the difference? In Eden, God tested Adam and Eve. He did not tempt them. We know this because in James 1:13-15 it clearly states, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it is has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” We learn from this that God does not tempt anyone. He is holy. Adam and Eve were tempted by their own desire. And when they desired it so greatly, they ate the forbidden fruit and after that bite they were both thrown out of Eden never to return. Though they sinned and though we sin God sent down his only begotten son that whosoever shall believe in him will have everlasting life! In all, tempting and testing are not the same thing. God set the temptation there in the garden, the tree, and told them to not eat of its fruit. The serpent tempted them to eat the fruit. What is the difference? God said to not eat it. The serpent said to eat it. One is encouraging you to do evil while the other is encouraging you to pull through.

-David

Kenny

I just wanted to post about our wonderful teacher and all he has done for us. Without him our class would be nothing. He lets us know if we are being good or being bad. He is definitely a gifted teacher, pastor, father (to some), and uncle! Well, that's just about it... thanks Uncle, Pastor, Teacher, Kenny:)
-Destiny

Happy Reformation Day!

Good quote!

"When nations respond to the word of Yahweh with faith and obedience, they are prosperous. When they resist and rebel against the word of God, they fall."
-Peter J. Leithart

-Destiny

"Till We Have Faces"

We have finished our session on the book called "Till We have Faces" by C.S. Lewis. If you haven't heard of it, that's quite normal. Most say it wasn't his best work, but from all our studying I must disagree. It's awesome!

It's a myth retold, the myth of Cupid and Psyche. I never read that myth myself, so this was very interesting. It was mainly the story of Psyche's ugly sister, Orual. She starts out as a rationalist, taught to her by a Greek servant, and denies the existence of the gods of Glome (the city in which she lives). Orual and Psyche are half sisters, both daughters of the king of Glome, but they are as different as can be. Psyche is called to the gods as a sacrifice, and willingly goes. She is not killed but rather becomes the wife of the god of the mountain. Orual, the whole time, doesn't know if she believes that or if Psyche has just gone mad.

In the end, she sees herself as a selfish heartless being, and in need of the gods redemption. The first half of the book is her "case" against the gods. She is complaining that they have taken all that was dear to her and that they just play with man.

It's really cool. We listened to a lecture by Peter Kreeft about the whole book, the hidden message behind it. He reveled how certain gods and people represent the gospel and man.
You should read it then listen to the lecture, I loved it.
All in all, it was very fascinating.

God Bless! -Kaila

T.U.L.I.'P'. P=Perseverance of the Saints

Perseverance of the saints

#1. Its definition
The basic gist of this doctrine is the simple fact of once saved always saved. It is one of the greatest promises in all of scripture, if not the grandest. this says that it is possible to be sure of your salvation and that once you are saved you cannot backslide, and when destined for the kingdom you will never go to hell. The term "perseverance of the saints" emphasize that believes ("saint, as Paul calls them in his letters) will persevere in their faith. The problem with this term though is that it emphasizes the Christians work in the matter, as if we could do something to earn our salvation.

If we use the term "perseverance of Christ" we now have Him more in focus but though God does persevere, this particular terminology does not emphasize the fact that God helps US persevere. In Edwin H. Palmers book the ,"The 5 points of Calvinism" He states that 'the correct term then would be preservation of the saints'. This term emphasizes the fact that the saints are preserved (obviously by God), and absolves any hint of human works in the matter". Also in R.C. Sproul states in his book chosen by God "this term (perseverance of the saints) is not wrong but can be misleading".

2. Its Scriptural basis
All five of the points (Of Calvinism) stand or fall together. The doctrine of Preservation of the saints naturally follows from the Biblical fact of Unconditional Election.
Election basically means that God chose some to be saved. He has ordained with certainty they will go to the Kingdom of Heaven. If, as the Arminians say, it is possible fore someone whom God has elected to slip away from the faith after he began to believe, then their is no ELECTION! In Romans 8:29, Paul says "that those whom He foreknew, that is 'foreloved', He also foreordained to Heaven, and those He foreordained He also called, Justified, and glorified. Here Paul clearly stats that those who Christ elected(foreordained) He also predestined to Heaven. Now if someone can backslide, then Gods election has no meaning, but more to the point I'm trying to make, if, as Paul says, God foreordains some to Heaven, and He has all power to do so, then logically, He preserves them.
Well that's all for today folks, SO God bless.


- Fore further reference : John 6:36, John 10:28-29, Ephesians 1:13-14, 1peter 1:45.



posted by, aLeX Goldman

Unconditional Election - "U" in TULIP

Unconditional Election. What is Unconditional Election?
Dr. R.C. Sproul answers the question well in his book "Chosen By God" when he says, "Unconditional election means that our election is decided by God according to his purpose, according to his sovereign will. It is not based upon some foreseen condition that some of us meet and others fail to meet. It is not based on our willing or our running, but upon the sovereign purpose of God."
In other words, he did not choose us because we were smart or beautiful or because of all the good and wonderful works we did but because of HIS GOOD PLEASURE.

Ephesians 1:3-6 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."

We chose him because He first chose us. We were dead in our sins and could not of done anything at all to attribute to our own salvation and yet out of his sovereign will and his amazing grace he chose us to be with him for all eternity. Let us give praise to Him who loved us and predestined us before the foundation of the world. God is good.

-Posted by David

Uptade

Hey! Sorry we haven't posted very much. I (Destiny) just thought I would tell you a little of what we have been studying. This week we are going through 1st and 2nd Samuel. It has been so awesome. There (hopefully) should be upcoming posts about it (by the other teens). We also are still going through a book by C.S. Lewis called, "Till We Have Faces." It is a great book and I encourage you all to read it. Well, God bless bless y'all. Oh, please leave comments and tell the other teens that they need to post something too. Thanks:0)

-Destiny