An Odd Thought

Here's an interesting, if unknowable and irrelevant, question: What does God do or think about when He isn't working on our redemption?

Human parents have lives beyond their children. They had lives before their children were born and have lives after their children grow up and move up. They have careers and hobbies. What did God do before the creation of the universe and what will He do after the end?

I suppose that partly it will be a matter of God, like a parent, watching over His glorified children and just enjoying their presence.

Maybe this is why God is so character based instead of action based.

Charity And Its Fruits Notes - Chapter 6

Chapter/sermon 6 is called "Charity Disposes Us To Do Good" and goes into more detail on the "Love does not envy" part of 1 Corinthians 13:4.

As Edwards points out, this sermon is the negative side of the previous sermon because envy is the opposite of good will.

Edwards starts his sermon on the nature of envy, starting with a definition. For Edwards, envy is:

"A spirit of dissatisfaction with, and opposition to, the prosperity and happiness of others as compared with our own."

It is envy to be displeased with another's honor or prosperity when it exceeds our own.

According to Edwards envy stems from our need to be uppermost. Not only do we not want others to be equal to us, we don't even want them to be a close second.

The signs of envy are:

1. We are troubled by the prosperity of others.


2. We rejoice at anything that happens to diminish the honor and comfort of others. (We might even do things that cause this to happen.)


3. We begin to dislike, or even hate, a person because of his prosperity.

A Christian spirit is against envy because:

1. We see it as contrary to the will and character of God, therefore we hate it.


2. A Christian spirit disposes us to be content with our own condition.


3. A Christian spirit disposes us to rejoice in the prosperity of others.

Edwards sees the following applications for his sermon:
We should examine ourselves for any sign of an envious spirit.
We are exhorted to disallow and put away everything approaching to an envious spirit.

CREATOR OF THE LIVING BIBLE HAS DIED

I found this news via Ian's site.

Charity And Its Fruits Notes - Chapter 5

Chapter/sermon 5 is called "Charity Disposes Us To Do Good" and goes into more detail on 1 Corinthians 13:4, the kind part of "Love is patient and kind...".

The first thing that Edwards does is define what this kindness entails. He points to 2 basic actions:

1. Doing good to the souls of others (instructing, counselling, warning, reproving etc.)


2. Taking care of bodily needs (feeding, clothing, housing etc.)

This latter item includes:

1. Giving to others


2. Doing for others


3. Suffering for others

He then goes on to describe the objects of our acts, stressing that we must be kind to both the good and the bad, friends and enemies, the thankful and the unthankful.

Next he stresses how we are to do good:

1. Not for the sake of a reward.


2. Cheerfully (or, heartily.)


3. Liberally

Having defined the what, who and how of kindness, Edwards discusses how a genuine Christian love will dispose us to be kind.

What it comes down to foremost is that benevolence (wishing good for others) is the sum of Christian love for Edwards. We want people fed, housed and clothed. We want them saved and we want God glorified. To not care about others is to not follow Christ.

Secondly, benevolent acts are the most conclusive proof of a believer's sincerity. We measure a person's love for others (and for God) by what that person does (within the limits of their abilities and resources) not by what they say.

Edwards sees 2 applications for what he presents in this sermon:

We can use this knowledge to judge our thoughts and reprove those which go against people's good. Do we rejoice at someone's failures and setbacks? Do we feel jealous by another's successes? Even if that person is a personal enemy we should feel ashamed.

We can also use this knowledge to know what we should exhort in others: their doing good.

Edwards closes the sermon by asking people to consider 4 things:

1. It is a great honor to be an instrument of good in the world. God gives us the honor of being a blessing to the world, just as Abraham was a blessing.


2. We show approval of the benevolence we receive when we do the same for others. (What we approve of should be seen in our conduct.)


3. How kind God and Christ have been to us.


4. The rewards promised to those who do good to others.

My Worldview

Thanks to Mark Byron for this one:

You scored as Reformed Evangelical. You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God's Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are sceptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die. Reformed Evangelical 75% Neo orthodox 68% Emergent/Postmodern 54% Fundamentalist 54% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 50% Modern Liberal 39% Roman Catholic 21% Classical Liberal 18% Charismatic/Pentecostal 14% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Proverbs? I hate Proverbs!

Which book of the Bible are you? via Ian's Messy Desk.


You are Proverbs.


Which book of the Bible are you?
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