Although the actual election is about a year and a half away, we’re already starting to see prospective candidates throw their hats into the ring for the 2016 U.S. presidential race. Caucuses, primaries, debates, get-out-the-vote efforts, fund-raising, and so much more will occupy the attention of the news media as it covers the candidates’ attempts to become the so-called leader of the free world. —R.C. Sproul in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The Reformed tradition has maintained the importance of the doctrine of predestination, but it has also cautioned us to speak about this matter with great care. People are apt to mischaracterize the doctrine of predestination, and even professed Calvinists often fail to understand the depths of it. Let us take care when we study the biblical doctrine of predestination, and let us also remember that God wants us to know what He has said on the matter.
Coram Deo: Sometimes the misunderstandings that people have about different theological topics are not really their own fault; rather, the church has not been clear enough in its teaching. No doubt, many think that Calvinism presents us with an arbitrary God because believers in the Reformed tradition have not always done an adequate job explaining Augustinian/Calvinistic doctrine. Let us be careful not to present a wrong view of God in our effort to affirm what the Bible says about predestination.
Is there ever a point when our risk-taking can become foolish? And, if so, how do we recognize that point? Quite simply, I think, the key lies in faithful risk-taking. It is not risk-taking to which God responds. It is faith. God responds to faith that manifests itself in taking risks and stepping out by trusting Him. If our risk-taking is faith-full, it cannot be foolish—no matter how incredible the risk or unlikely the outcome. —Guy Richard from this weekend's devotional in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: We live in a lawless age that disdains boundaries and restrictions. Thus, the notion of loving God’s law seems quite strange to the unbeliever. Yet it should never seem strange to us. If God by His Spirit has poured His love into our hearts (Rom. 5), then we will love whatever reflects His character. We will love His law because it shows us who He is, and He is altogether lovely. Do you love God’s law? Pray that the Lord would increase in your heart your love for His law.
Coram Deo: We must be diligent to fight against sin, putting it to death for the sake of our very lives (Rom. 6:13). However, we cannot fight against sin unless God has already brought us to spiritual life, which can never be lost (John 6:37–40). Thus, the desire to fight against sin, motivated by love for God and His law, proves that we are in Christ. Although true Christians fall into sin, the persevering desire to fight sin shows that we belong fully and finally to Jesus and are heirs of eternal life.
Coram Deo: Matthew Henry comments, “Severe rebukes sometimes do a great deal of good, as corrosives contribute to the cure of a wound, eating out the proud flesh. The rod drives out even that foolishness which was bound up in the heart, and cleanses away the evil there.” Obstinate sinners such as ourselves often cannot learn our lessons unless the instruction is delivered with painful blows. But as this pain leads to cleansing, it is evidence of God’s working all things for our final good.
Your local abortion mill is not only among the most potent manifestations of the gates of hell in the world today, but it is also the very locus of where we can, and must, practice true religion. It is exactly where the church must be, if it would be the church. —R.C. Sproul Jr. in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Augustine of Hippo writes, “From what class soever my enemies may arise, whether from the number of evil men, or from the number of evil angels; in the Lord’s help, unto whom we chant the confession of praise, unto whom we sing Allelujah, they shall be despised.” No foe is too great for the Lord to handle, and so we praise Him in battle, knowing that He will bring the final victory. Do you trust that God is an all-sufficient help in trouble?
Coram Deo: Jesus was rejected by His own nation, but He was exalted and made the cornerstone of God’s people, those whom the Lord is delighted to call His children. Because we are His servants, we will also face rejection from a world that loves the darkness, but because we are in Him, we will also be raised up to rule and reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:12a). When we are rejected for our profession of faith, let us remember that and be encouraged to remain faithful.
Coram Deo: Impatience can lead to frustration, which can lead to anger. Cultivating a patient spirit by focusing on the promises of God in His Word and the work of the Spirit of the Lord will lessen frustration and reduce the anger that is the mark of the foolish heart. This is a vital task, for unrighteous anger is the root of many other sins. May we seek the Lord’s face in our suffering, trusting in the promises of God that we might endure in patience and love.
There are old worlds and new ones. There are earthy worlds and cyber worlds. But one truth remains the same now and forever, that Jesus rules them all. —R.C. Sproul Jr. in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: As we grow in faith, we should find ourselves increasingly aware that our hard days are from the Lord no less than our good ones, and we should be thanking Him for bringing trials into our lives through which He works to conform us to the image of His Son. Are you enjoying prosperity at the moment? Rejoice, then, in what the Lord has given you. Are you facing hardship? Know that God is working for your good, and He will use your difficulty to advance His kingdom.
As Christians, we find ourselves at war with the devil, because he is at war with us. Since we were once his children and under his dominion, his rage boils now that we are delivered from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God's beloved Son. The moment we believed, we were no longer his, and he is desperate to recapture us. ... Christian, get to know this wily ploy of Satan's—and stand firm in the gospel. —Derek Thomas from this weekend's devotional in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The doctrine of total depravity can be arrived at simply by observing the world and its people. Clearly, we can find no person who has never sinned. We can therefore appeal to an individual’s innate knowledge of his own imperfection when we are sharing the gospel. And we should be quick to confess ours as well.
Coram Deo: Many times, we make plans for the future and experience an inordinate degree of sadness when they do not turn out. Disappointment when things do not turn out our way may not be completely avoidable in this life, but understanding that only God knows the future and holds it in His hands can help us put things in proper perspective when things do not work out as we had hoped. We are not to put our hope in the future but in the One who holds the future in His hands.
When God says something, the argument is over. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: Harsh words spoken against us are hard to bear, but we have to develop discernment regarding when to take these words seriously and when we should ignore them. We should also keep in mind our own tendency to speak ill words against others so that we will refrain from gossip. Moreover, may we extend the same grace to those who apologize for what they have said about us that we would want them to extend to us for our sinful speech.
On July 6, 1415, Hus was stripped of his clerical robes, decorated with a dunce cap embellished with drawings of demons, tied to a stake, and burned to death. According to an eyewitness account, he entrusted his soul to God and sang a hymn to Christ as the flames enveloped him. —Aaron Denlinger in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The Bible speaks often of the beauty of God and the loveliness of His dwelling place. Though it is hard for us to fathom now, our Creator is more beautiful than anything we can imagine. The most beautiful of His creatures pale in comparison to His radiant loveliness. One day, all of us who are in Christ will see this loveliness face-to-face (1 John 3:2). Christ is better than any of the pleasures this world has to offer, so why would we serve lesser idols instead of Him?
Coram Deo: Where and who do you want to be? Is it more important to you to be in this world with a high position and much acclaim, or would you prefer to be a mere servant in the household of God? The world and its allurements may be enticing, but all of it will pass away. Only the household of God will remain, and only what we do for Christ will have eternal value. May we all seek to be servants in the kingdom of God.
The barbaric murder, abuse, and slavery of our fellow human beings ought to bring us to tears, to our knees in prayer, and to action in behalf of the least of these as we preach the gospel to the nations and fight for the life and freedom of all individuals so that they might live and hear the gospel of eternal life. —Burk Parsons in Tabletalk Magazine
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