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NASB | Romans 1:22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, |
Bible Question:
"Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as Head above all" (1 Chronicles 29:11) "The Sovereignty of God is an expression that once was generally understood. It was a phrase commonly used in religious literature. It was a theme frequently expounded in the pulpit. It was a truth which brought comfort to many hearts, and gave virility and stability to Christian character. But, today, to make mention of God’s sovereignty is, in many quarters, to speak in an unknown tongue. Were we to announce from the average pulpit that the subject of our discourse would be the sovereignty of God, it would sound very much as though we had borrowed a phrase from one of the dead languages. Alas! that it should be so. Alas! that the doctrine which is the key to history, the interpreter of Providence, the warp and woof of Scripture, and the foundation of Christian theology, should be so sadly neglected and so little understood." "How different is the God of the Bible from the God of modern Christendom! The conception of Deity which prevails most widely today, even among those who profess to give heed to the Scriptures, is a miserable caricature, a blasphemous travesty of the Truth. The God of the twentieth century (21st) is a helpless, effeminate being who commands the respect of no really thoughtful man. The God of the popular mind is the creation of a maudlin sentimentality. The God of many a present-day pulpit is an object of pity rather than of awe-inspiring reverence." [A.W Pink- The Sovereignty of God] What are your thoughts as to why this is? What can be done about it? |
Bible Answer: BradK: Greetings brother: When Dr. Pink wrote this, he proberly thought the end was near, perhaps as many do today as well. But, Scripture warns us that even the elect will blunder. Jesus said when we see things happen the time is not "yet". I am not sure if pre trib is accurate, but as I read Matthew 24, it seems we will go through a lot before Jesus returns. How can I speculate (and that's what most of pre trib is) when Jesus Himself said He did not know the time of His return? Perhaps the best thing for the question you ask is "to be ready". In reality each believer is responsible for their relationship with the Lord Christ, and their Worship and understanding of God's Sovereignty. Each of the six decades in which I have lived there has been mention of how the decades before were so much more devoted and spiritual those before us were. I have seen the Good News of Christ Jesus spread arround the world into places where no one had the ability to reach these lost peoples. Today these lost peoples groups are hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Christendom today is like the cup of water, with the water at the half way point. Depending on our view point is the cup half full or half empty? I am an optimist, and Jesus Christ has given me the reason to be optimistic about about the Believers of today. The God of the Bible is living and interactive with us today, just as much as ever before. To those who would say or preach that the true Church of Jesus Christ in the century (21st)is helpless, effeminate, weak, or thriving in sentimentality is pure balderdash. There many a presten-day pulpits that are expounding the saving Grace and Mercy to those who admit their need for forgivness and the Love of Jesus Christ. There are those who might mistake God's love for pity but the two are not the same. Pity cost little or nothing at all. Love is Jesus. Without Jesus in their life, then people surely are to be pitied. Love cost all Christ had to offer, and that effect is an awe-inspiring experience of reverence. "What can be done?" you ask? Renew our first Love, become more like Jesus everyday. Your reaction to my thoughts? Blessings. Justme |