Reflections on the Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. 23 Aug 14 began a perhaps unbroken, orderly, and personal journey through my favorite written confession of faith. This will be my personal reflections on this beloved written codification of the Christian faith according to a Baptist flavor.
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CHAPTER 2
Paragraph 2: “he is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands…”
I have never been in a more difficult time in my life as I write this devotional today. Indeed, at times, God has it so that the darkness will not lift. He has brought me low. Nonetheless, I confess that he is good and holy. My faith in God is not based upon assumptions. God is most holy, most wise, and most perfect. God can have it that the flapping of a pigeon’s wings 100 years ago in Europe affects who is elected president in the next few years. He brings to pass his decrees perfectly and whatever he says goes.
Consider the providence of God for a moment in the death of a very bad king named Ahab. “Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” The battle increased that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; and about the time of sunset he died. 2 Chronicles 18:33-34. God had ordered his death beforehand. In 1 Kings 22:19-23 we see God had decreed the death of this man. An evil spirit went forth as a deceiver amidst all the “prophets” of Ahab. God did this, and he is perfect in it. His command was that Ahab die. He could’ve taken him however he wished, but he wished it during battle.
Folks, I tell you, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him,” Job 13:15. Can God trust us in the suffering he sends our way? May it be so that we would be useful to him in the lives of others who suffer! May we be molded in our various sadnesses to realize just how much suffering can turn men from God! This world is a distractor and we’ve invented many distractions in our age. May we truly learn to persevere so that nothing can shake us in the love of God! God is perfect in all he does. From the depths of my soul I cry what the confession here cites. He is holy in all he does. He is perfect.
We all know that such a confession is easy to make when all is well. It’s easy to trust in God when your daughter actually makes the game winning catch. What about when your child turns from God? What about during stage four of the cancer? What about when your future seems uncertain as to how you’ll provide for your family? What then? Does God forget us in such times? No! He does not! Can we confess such wonderful things as this then? I pray that in the groanings God offers in our weaknesses, Romans 8:26, we would learn to fight for the joy written here in this confession. That God is good and is behind it all. That God will not destroy us. That he has NOT appointed us to wrath, but that he is a good trainer and discipliner in righteousness, Hebrews 12:6. That what he does is not capricious or cruel. Job learned this better than any of us probably ever will, and in the greatest of sufferings. God is holy in everything. Even in the death of a king he is good and holy. This death was no “accident.” This was for the betterment of Israel. He “diverted” an attack in the middle of the battle to protect a man says 2 Chronicles 18:31. I wonder how many of us can ever pray to a God who we believe is involved in our lives that much?! How many of us truly believe that God cares about what happens between 10:00 and 11:00 on Monday morning? Friends, the problems most of us live with today is that in our presentation age of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and the rest, that we feel our lives are not as happy as the next person’s. Many are driven to despair by the fairytales we try to paint of ourselves. The selfie has replaced self. We are presentations. We can feel saddened by comparison. Don’t. In truth, we’re all just disconnected and presenting ourselves, at least most of the time, as much better off than we actually are. Forget the things of this life, are you satisfied in the God who is good in all he does? Are you eternally trusting in a Creator who is most holy in all his judgments and commands? Is hell in your eternity? If not, rejoice in that. Through our lives, God wants us to see him as involved. When we do, great mercies can be ours, because it’s at those times we will find God nearest to us.
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