THE SECRET: CONNECTING
THE DOTS
MIKE CUNNINGHAM
JANUARY 11, 2009
I feel bad
whenever someone isn’t able to follow along as I share the message the Lord has
laid on my heart to bring to you folks on Sunday’s. Sometimes I don’t express
myself as clearly as I should, (A)). Often it’s annoying noises, an illness or wandering
thoughts and similar distractions which have a way of depriving God’s children
of all the spiritual nourishment He wants His preachers and teachers to feed
His sheep, (John 21:15-17). A recent case in point was my Christmas message,
“The Secret,” which some of you told me you had a little difficulty following
while others who also heard it preached assured me they didn’t have a problem
at all. Among the folks who read it, the feedback was pretty much the same.
Some had difficulty understanding certain parts and others didn’t. I believe
that of those who read it, and providing they weren’t distracted and were able
to take the time to really ponder my story, they wouldn’t have any difficulty
whatsoever. For instance, judging from the feedback it seemed obvious that one
of our young Navigator friends from last summer had a clear understanding of a
particular teaching I elaborated on which she described as being “so
encouraging” and “amazing,” as perhaps most of us also do. However, I believe
all non-Christians as well as many, who truly are, believe the same teaching is
something which could have been “belched
out of the bowels of Hell,” and that’s putting it mildly. To
non-Christians, this teaching is right up there in the repulsiveness of Jesus
insisting that people must be reborn and believe in Him in order to enter
heaven.
I crafted “The
Secret” with the intention of addressing that difference of opinion this
morning. Before I share the young
student’s comments and tackle that particular issue, and since the snowstorm
prevented some of you folks from being here to listen to what I hoped would
become a “spiritual banquet,” I thought it would be helpful this morning if I
shared some of my prayerful rational that went into creating The Secret and
then briefly summarize it in order to help you connect the dots. Incidentally, in
case you haven’t noticed, it wasn’t a quick read.
Knowing we
were very likely to have non-Christians join us that Sunday before Christmas, I
deliberately preached it in the form of a parable in an attempt to capture
their attention. I wanted to keep them and the rest of you with me and give
everyone lots of spiritual food for thought. It was saturated with biblical truth.
For instance, I touched upon Gods Creation and the uniqueness of man,
especially of how man alone possesses both a body and a spirit. I spoke of the
necessity of man being in a proper relationship with his or her Creator. The
fall and its awful consequences were addressed together with man’s absolute
helplessness to rectify his plight, and his total dependence upon the merciful
love of the One who was born to die, that poor lost sinners such as you and me might
live--forever.
Sprinkled throughout
my message were numerous allusions to God’s absolute Sovereignty and how He
orchestrates all the events which back in eternity past He planned to unfold in
the course of human history. My message was designed to stimulate your thinking
about His infinite wisdom and power as well as His foreknowledge of everything
that had been planned, ordained and predestined to take place in time, right
down to the minutest detail. On that blustery snowy Sunday before Christmas I
hoped every Christian who heard it would think about His awesome love and
incredible patience and mercy towards His human creatures and leave our worship
service with hearts full of joyous gratitude. As for the others, I prayed and
asked Him to water the seeds I had just planted so that none of them or their
loved ones would be eternally lost.
The Secret
also addressed the Christian’s need to sincerely struggle to become more and
more Christ-like just as one of my backslidden characters did. With God’s help,
the mother of the kidnapped little girl in my story finally had a sincere
desire to, and was eventually able to stop her sinful expressions of anger with
all its bitterness, resentment and throwing fits of rage, and also ridding
herself of harboring an unforgiving spirit. In other words, we should have seen
that He wants His followers to strive to become holy just as He is holy, and
that without holiness, no one will be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven
regardless of their profession of faith. To incline His children to take this
command seriously God sometimes allows them to suffer painful afflictions such
as the characters in my parable had to endure. It also should have been quite
apparent that the often painful challenges you and I have been ordained and
predestined to deal with have been individually customized for each of us and
are sent by God for our ultimate good and His glory. If you weren’t distracted,
you couldn’t help but notice the severity and duration of each of those often
painful afflictions had been predetermined by Him back in eternity past and
would continue until His purpose in sending them is achieved; just as we saw
when Charlie experienced a new birth and when the backslidden mother returned
to traveling on the only road which leads to God’s heaven.
The Secret also
illustrated how parents, Christians included, can have a profound positive or
negative influence on their children. For instance, some children go on to
become the most Christ like people despite being taught to believe erroneous
biblical teachings. Others become a chip-off-the-old-block and follow in their
parents footsteps. It isn’t unusual; in fact, as we saw in my Christmas
message, it’s rather common to witness children developing an increasingly
close resemblance to one or both of their parents. By the time he arrived at
the final days of his life in this world, my fictional character Charlie had
blossomed and even eclipsed the despicable sinful characteristics of his father
and grandfather. Quite frankly, among his other flaws, Charlie had become a full
grown chronically argumentative, in-your-face, angry, unforgiving, impatient,
judgmental, holier-than-thou, know-it all, obnoxious, self-deluded phony
Christian jerk.
That message
explained the Gospel and the necessity of man having to confess his or her
sins, and ask for forgiveness, and to believe in the Lord Jesus, followed by a
sincere desire to struggle hard to become Christ-like. The mother knew she
would not succeed perfectly in this world, (A) but, in total dependence upon
God for the desire and strength, she was determined to strive toward the goal
with all of her being. Such an obvious struggle is evidence that he or she has
truly been born again and are delighting themselves in the Lord and seeking
first and foremost His kingdom and His righteousness just as the mother in my
story finally exhibited. I also stressed the absolute necessity of a supernatural
divine intervention resulting in human beings becoming reborn as the only
possible solution to avoid being left in their sins and estranged from God throughout
eternity. I even offered an example of the potential danger of alter calls, and
how they can sometimes lead to self-deception with Charlie being a prime
example.
In The Secret
I attempted to encourage and convince you folks that as long as there is life,
even for someone such as those who are referred to as being “brain dead” and
are existing in a so called “vegetative state” there is every reason to have
hope and so we ought to be persistent in fervent prayer for those who, as far
as we can tell, have not accepted Christ’s love for poor lost sinners. I also
had in mind Christians whose loved ones are alcoholics or drug addicts who had
really messed up their brain but may not be aware of the fact that their loved
ones spirit was unimpaired and as sharp as it formally was. I wanted those
Christians to meditate on that encouraging fact and take comfort in it. We saw
the results of such efforts by Charlie’s loved ones on his behalf come to
fruition when, unbeknownst to them, Charlie finally confessed his sins and
pleaded for forgiveness even to the point of crying. And he received it, and
became the new creature in Christ at the precise moment in time God had chosen
him to be before He spoke His world into existence.
Towards the
end of my Christmas story Charlie acknowledged His sins directly to God and
pleaded for forgiveness. He described that act as “a piece of cake” and
something he did of his own free will. The angel agreed, but also insisted that
on the other side of eternity God had chosen, ordained and predestined Charlie
to experience a supernatural rebirth at a specific moment in time. In other
words, Charlie’s salvation was the result of God’s amazing grace, and there was
nothing Charlie could do to bring it about. At this point Charlie became
confused and couldn’t understand the mechanics of “this kind of stuff.” The
angel told him “neither does anyone else.” “It’s a miracle.”
It is this
fact that prompted our young Navigator friend to send the following feedback
concerning my Christmas message. “Thanks Pastor Mike!
That was a great message and it’s so encouraging to hear that there is nothing
that I can do as a human to earn God's forgiveness. Like you said, He has
predestined me and chosen me before the beginning of time. It is such an
amazing thing to think about. Thanks again for sending me the sermon. Sacha
Memoli.” (B)
As
I mentioned earlier, that particular teaching is something which all
unbelievers, including many Christians believe could have been “belched out of
the bowels of Hell,” and that’s putting it mildly. For instance, “One current
Christian website declares that the doctrine is a “falsehood” which results
from the “manipulation of Scripture” which leads to the darkness of false
doctrines.” In calling it “the doctrine of devils,” another site denounces it
as “the most evil doctrine the devil ever came up with.” “Still another deems
it “an unspeakable evil doctrine.” “And yet another website boldly declares:
“”I believe it is the most evil doctrine ever invented by humankind. If it were
true, the Bible, our own lives, the entire creation would be pointless. It is
all a game of a sadistic being who enjoys watching us suffer for his amusement.
It is an insult to the very nature of a God. I can’t see how anyone can believe
in it and have any respect whatsoever for the divine.” “Still another site
asserts: “One of the most horrible of all Christian heresies is that everyone’s
spiritual destiny has been predestined from the beginning of time-written as in
a book of who will go to heaven and who will not,” (C). And folks such as Sacha
find the same teaching to be “so encouraging and amazing” that He has chosen and
predestined them from before the beginning of time.
But what about our free will? Where does that
come in? How is it possible for human beings to be held accountable for every
single one of their thoughts, words and actions throughout their entire
lifetime, if back in eternity past they were each foreknown and ordained and
predestined by our Sovereign Creator to occur at precise moments in human
history? And remember, no one can be truly free if he or she is compelled to do
or say something which they don’t want to.
“The
true solution of this difficult question respecting the sovereignty of God and
the freedom of man, is not to be found in the denial of either, but rather in
such a reconciliation as gives full weight to each, yet which assigns a
preeminence to the divine sovereignty corresponding to the infinite exaltation
of the Creator above the sinful creature. The same God who has ordained all
events has ordained human liberty in the midst of these events, and this
liberty is as surely fixed as is anything else. Man is no mere automation or
machine. In the Divine plan, which is infinite in variety and complexity, which
reaches from everlasting to everlasting, and which includes millions of free
agents who act and inter-act upon each other. God has ordained that human
beings shall keep their liberty under His sovereignty. He has made no attempt
to give us a formal explanation of these things, and our limited human
knowledge is not able fully to solve the problem. Since the Scripture writers
did not hesitate to affirm the absolute sway of God over the thoughts and
intents of the heart, they felt no embarrassment in including the acts of free
agents within His all-embracing plan,” (D).
Many Christians will insist God does indeed
foreknow everything with one exception, those acts His creatures will make of
their own free will. However, if you search the Bible you will find “that the
Scriptures contain predictions of many events, great and small, which were
perfectly fulfilled through the actions of free agents. Usually these agents
were not even conscious that they were fulfilling divine prophecy. They acted freely,
yet exactly as foretold. A few examples are: the rejection of Jesus by the
Jews, the parting of Jesus’ garments and the casting lots by the Roman
soldiers, Peter’s denial of Jesus, the crowing of the rooster, the spear
thrust, the capture of Jerusalem and the carrying away of the Jews into
captivity, the destruction of Babylon, etc. It is plain that the writers of
Scripture believed these free acts to be fully foreknown by the divine mind and
therefore absolutely certain to be accomplished. The foreknowledge of God did
not destroy the freedom of Judas and Peter-at least they themselves did not
think so, for Judas later came back and said, “I have sinned in that I have
betrayed innocent blood;” and when Peter heard the rooster crow and remembered
the words of Jesus, he went out and wept bitterly.” “Foreknowledge does not
make future acts certain but only assumes them to be so; and it is a
contradiction of terms to say that God foreknows as certain an event which in
its very nature is uncertain. We must either say that future events are certain
and that God knows the future or that they are uncertain and that God does not
know the future. The doctrines of God’s foreknowledge and foreordination stand
or fall together.”
“Our acts are in accordance with the decrees,
but not necessarily so-we can do otherwise and often should. Judas and his accomplices
were left to fulfill their purpose and they did as their wicked inclinations
prompted them. Hence Peter charged them with a crime, but he at the same time
declared that they had acted according to the purpose of God,-“this Jesus, delivered up according
to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the
hands of lawless men,” Acts 2:23 (ESV).
”The holy angles and redeemed saints are free
agents, yet it is certain that they will never sin; otherwise there would be no
assurance of their remaining in heaven. On the other hand, it is certain that
the Devil, the demons and fallen men will commit sin, although they are free
agents.”
“Strictly
speaking we may say that man has free will only in the sense that he is not
under any outside compulsion which interferes with his freedom of choice or his
just accountability. In his fallen state he has only what we may call “the
freedom of slavery.” He is in bondage to sin and spontaneously follows Satan.
He does not have the ability or incentive to follow God. Now, we ask, is this a
thing worthy of the name “free?” No. Not free-will but self-will would more appropriately describe man’s condition since
the fall. It is to be remembered that man was not created a captive to sin but
that he has come into that condition by his own fault; and a loss which he has
brought upon himself does not free him of responsibility. After man’s
redemption is complete he will spontaneously fellow God, as do the holy angels;
but never will he become his own master.”
“God so governs the inward feelings, external
environment, habits, desires, motives, etc., of men that they freely do what He
proposes. This operation is inscrutable, but none the less real; and the mere
fact that in our present state of knowledge, we are not fully able to explain how this influence is exerted without
destroying the free agency of man, certainly does not prove that it cannot be
so exerted. We do have enough knowledge, however, to know that God’s
sovereignty and man’s freedom are realities, and that they work together in
perfect harmony. Paul plants, and Apollos waters, but God gives the increase.
Paul commanded the Philippians, “Work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” and in the immediately
following verse the reason which he assigns to this, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his
good pleasure,” (Phil. 2:12-13 ESV), (E).
Salvation is an amazing gift from God,
nevertheless man must accept it. Don’t fall into the satanic trap and accept
one of these teachings to the exclusion of the other. Both are true. As the
angel in my story said “it’s a miracle.” We must honor God and willingly live
with this mystery. Lazarus had been lying dead in the tomb for four days when
Jesus told them to roll the stone away. The dead man’s sister Martha was
concerned about the smell coming from his dead body. Nevertheless, Jesus
commanded Lazarus to do something which was impossible-and Lazarus did. Can you
imagine the stench of our sins assaulting God’s nostrils after you and I lay helplessly
dead in our trespass and sins in our spiritual tomb for many years? And yet, at
a precise moment in time which He had previously predestined, we also did the
impossible and freely responded to God’s call.
It
should have been apparent that up until shortly before drawing his last breath,
Charlie had the freedom of choosing to reject the Gospel which he was so
familiar with from attending numerous Bible studies and worship services. But,
he could have joined the multitudes of those to whom the inspired author of the
letter to the Hebrews gave this warning:4
“It is
impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly
gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the
word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back
to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all
over again and subjecting him to public disgrace,” Hebrews 6:4-6 (NIV)
Before
I close I want to let you in on another secret. Unknown to Charlie, as his
creator, I had other plans for him before I even wrote the first word of my
story. I had planned and ordained and predestined Charlie to become a new
creature in Christ at the so-called eleventh hour. You could even say; I
planned on making Charlie and offer He couldn’t refuse.
(A)
I should have been clearer here, thanks Mike
Anderson. Guest book entry # 103. http://oldfivepointer.com/5.html
(B) And thank you again, Sacha. I appreciate your feedback. Guest book entry # 98. http://oldfivepointer.com/5.html
(C) A BIBLICAL DEFENSE OF PREDESTINATION,
by Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. © 2008 by Gentry Family Trust, Published by Apologetics Media Group, Draper, Virginia,
pages 11 & 12. This is a terrific introduction to the subject of predestination
and would be very useful in Bible studies.
(D) The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination,
by Loraine Boettner, The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company,
Philadelphia, Pa. Pages 208-209. This classic is useful for an in-depth study
of the subject.
(E) Ibid, pages 210-214.
You will find the first two parts of my
Charlie & the Angel series helpful. Here’s the link:
http://s128601634.onlinehome.us/charlie.htm
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