"KNOWING GOD" (J. I. PACKER)

          The following is  comment on the book, 
        "Knowing  God,"  by  J. I. Packer, Inter-
        Varsity  Press, 1973.   I  trust  this short 
        introduction  will  persuade you  to  pur-
        chase a  copy  and  read  this important,
        literary effort that has  been so meaning-
        ful to those who have read it. It may still
        be purchased through ebay on internet.

"The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the
mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the 
attention  of   a  child  of  God, is  the  name, the 
nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the 
existence  of  the great  God  whom  he  calls his  
Father."  Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 1855, quo-
ted in the book, "Knowing God,"  by J. I. Packer,  
Intervarsity Press, 1973.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon lived in the 19th century, 
but  was  known to  read and  refer to  books of  the  
17th  century.  It was widely  thought by  persons of 
the era that books  written in "modern times," were 
hardly worth reading because of the creep of moder-
nism.   In  many  pulpits  today,  "Modernism"   has  
given way to contemporary  preaching  and worship
styles  with  little  doctrinal  or  substantive  content.
That is  not to say  there is  not still Christ  centered, 
Scriptural  commentary  from many  pulpits, but the 
erosion is there. The book, "Knowing God,"  addres- 
ses  many of  the concerns  of  todays  conservative, 
Bible based followers of Jesus Christ.  
      
With the release of  a new  Barna survey,  ministry 
leaders believe people in  the pews  are not always 
hearing what they need to hear from the pulpit.  

******************************************
According to a study, 90 percent of pastors surveyed
believe  the Bible says a lot  about pressing  political
and  social issure, but  less than ten  percent actually 
preach about such  topics.  Sam Rohrer of  the Amer- 
ican  Pastors'  Network  (APN)  tells  OneNewsNow,
America's culture is suffering because of that. 

Rohrer, Sam (PPN)"When those in the pulpit choose 
not to preach the controversial  portions or the por-  
tions that  really affect our culture and the people in 
the pew, when that is done, confusion reigns,"  Roh- 
rer  contends. "And I  would say  the  pastors in  the
pulpit  have  sinned, and  they're  going  to have  an 
awful lot to answer to before God himself when they 
stand before him."

      The  study  suggests  that  pastors  do  not want 
to offend  people  and  want  their congregations to 
leave feeling warm and fuzzy, so they fail to preach 
about sin, "about the necessity of living a righteous  
life,  making   biblically  based  decisions,  because 
those  tend  to be  uncomfortable and  challenge us,
the  APN  president  submits:   "But  that is  exactly
what  the Word of  God is to do. If  we do  not chal-   
lenge people in their lives, in their choices by what
God  says, we  are  failing  in  the  pulpit to  deliver  
what God says; our culture  will suffer the results."
(Our culture is  suffering the results.)  Roehr adds;
"If pastors do not speak to the culture in their ser-
mons, then  people will  not be equipped to impact
the culture."  

****************************************** 
The answer to the fourth question in the Westminster 
Shorter  Catechism, "What  is God?" "God  is a Spirit, 
infinite,  eternal,  and unchangeable in His being, wis-
dom,  power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness,  and  truth. 
(The  above  answer is  not  an  attempt to  define our 
Lord, since He is  beyond the  understanding  of man-
mankind,  and cannot be  defined.  On the other hand 
it is  simply information  we  might  internalize to bet-
ter know him.)
  *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   

      Before embarking  on a study  from  God's  Holy 
Word, we  must ask ourselves two questions: 
What is my ultimate aim and object in occupying
my mind with these things?"

What do I intend to do with my knowledge about
God, once I have gotten it?"

If we pursue theological  knowledge (knowledge of
the Lord God ) for  it's own sake,  it is bound to go 
bad on us; make us proud and conceited.  The very
greatness of  the subject-matter with intoxicate us,
and we shall  come to  think of  ourselves as a  cut
above, because of our interest and grasp of it.  We
shall  look down on those whose  theological ideas
seem, to us, crude and inadequate, dismissing them
as  very  poor (specimens)  representatives  of  the 
Word of God.

       (Taken from "Knowing God,"  J. I. Packer)

"Knowledge  puffeth up, but charity edifieth.  And  
if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he kno-
weth nothing yet, as he ought to know it." 
                                           I Corinthians 8: 1a-2

Yes!  You can know God...Here's how:
     As you study the Scripture,  pray and  listen to
the declaration of the Word, you get to know God
of  the Bible through  believing in  his Son,  Jesus
Christ.  Knowledge about God is not enough. You
must  have a  personal  relationship  with  God by
believing in his Son through faith.  He is God and
is known through the Word of God. Jesus Christ is
that Word, fleshed out in a person.  So faith comes
by hearing and hearing by the Word.  (of God, the
Bible.) 
      "The Word of faith is  night thee, even in thy
mouth, and in thy heart, the Word of faith which
we  preach:  That  if thou  shalt confess  with thy
mouth and  believe in  thine heart  that God  has
raised him from  the dead, thou  shalt  be  saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteous-
ness and with the mouth, confession is made unto
Salvation.   Romans 10: 8a-10...

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved."  Romans 10: 13;  That name
is "Yeshua," Jesus, the Christ who is God the Son.     
     
http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2015/01/god-is-sovereign.html     
                                donporter,sr  9.11.14

UNITED NATIONS & GLOBAL TAXATION, SIGN OF THE TIMES?

    On Jan. 25, 2014 I posted a short piece for this blog
    concerning the possibility of a World Tax by the Uni-
    ted  Nations.  Little I knew of  the magnitude of  this
    movement and  how many  of our  "feckless leaders"
    were  pushing the  idea.  If  you will,  check out  the 
    links below for the information...Can you say... 
    "Signs of the times?"

                  http://noglobaltaxes.org/

(This next url will take you to a United Nations propaganda website. 
Do not think that I subscribe to their policies. We just need to know 
the enemy.  These people have drunk the "kool-aid.")

http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/policy/wess2012.html
                                       donporter,sr 8.25.14

http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2014/08/united-nations-global-taxation-sign-of.html

"THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN" EXODUS 20:7

   "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God
      in vain;  for the Lord will not hold him guiltless
         that taketh his name in vain."  Exodus 20: 7
     **************************************** 

  In the Old Testament book of Exodus, there are ten  
statutes on  which the  Law of  God to  man is based.  
There  are  many  other judgments, decrees, statutes,  
testimonies and instructions in Scripture. None seem 
to carry the weight of the ten.  Other laws, beside the  
"Ten," and wisdom from the Lord, in his Word, give 
us tools we need to live well pleasing to Him.

  Tonight we zero in on what is commonly called the
third commandment.  "Thou shalt not take the name 
of the Lord thy God in vain..."  There are those who 
teach the Law of  God given in the part of our Bible 
called the Old Testament,(or Covenant) is no longer 
valid.  Jesus  in  Matthew 5: 17-18,  "Think not that 
I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am 
not come  to destroy, but  to fulfill.  For  verily I say 
unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one 
tittle shall in no wise pass from  the  law, till  all be  
fulfilled."   Since the  only True  and Living  God is 
immutable,  changeless, can  His moral  Law or his 
Commandments be altered?

      It is quite unsettling for the child of God to be in
the presence of persons who are casual about the use
of terminology referring to our God, Jesus Christ, the
Holy Spirit of God or those things that belong to Him.
When there is blatant use of language demeaning our
Lord or using his name in profanity, our insides seem
to revolt.  It is evident  from  Scripture that  our Lord
holds his name sacred, and will not countenance any
misuse  of  that  Holy  name.  Admittedly, our  Lord's
name is  not "God."  That  is his  station or  position,
but even as one hears the word "God" misused, since
our  God is  the only True and  Living  God, there  is
much trepidation.  When the Word  is combined with 
a curse, it seems the more  egregious.  Even "OMG" 
makes one uncomfortable if he holds that name to be
Sacred,  considering the  power and sanctity  of that
Holy name.

The personal application we get from this; must lead 
to a  more careful use of  his name and  since we are  
dealing with the Most High God, the Creator, Sustai-
ner and  Judge of  all creation,  I have  no desire  to
offend Him, or "the least of these."   (Matthew 25:40)
It is my  understanding,  the Jewish interpretation of
this command  prevents a  follower of  Judaism from
calling or writing the name of God, therefore YHWH 
is used.  That is something to consider...  

Just one more  principle;  There  is another way we
may take the name of the Lord in vain.  Some  even
say this is the primary meaning, or direction of the
command.  There are  those, and  I  have  been one,
who made professions of faith in Christ, but did not
display Christlike  traits in  their  lives.  They  (we)
attempted to live a life as  a "Christian" in our own
abilities or "flesh."   The life of  Christ may only be
lived  successfully, as one  consciously relies on the
Spirit of  Jesus Christ to live that life within.  There
must be a time in  life when one comes in  prayer to
our Lord,  confessing  the  inability  to live success-
fully this  new life, and ask for His  power (the Holy
Spirit)  to  indwell,  and take  control of  the  life we 
are  incapable of  living on our own, in the flesh.  It
must be lived "in the Spirit."  (See Ephesians 4: 30)

    By consciously relying upon our Lord every day 
to live in us, studying God's Word and associating 
with like minded followers of Jesus Christ, we may
become the faithful followers He intended us to be.
Anything less is taking that Holy Name in vain.  

(Edited on 12.19.14) 
    Today I was listening to a Jewish talk show host 
on radio.  He is  the  first person I have ever heard 
make the statement; "most people get the  3rd com-
mandment  wrong.  The  primary infraction of  this 
part of the Law of  God is when one says he is Jew-
ish or Christian,  and fails to live according to the 
precepts.  He bears the name of the Lord in vain."
  
(Edited on 1.03.15) 
     Today as I was listening to a Hebrew scholar the 
question was made very clear.  The word translated 
"take" in the passage under consideration means to 
"carry."  When you think about it, when one "takes"
something, carrying is implied, so there can be little
authentic  disagreement on this subject unless one is
quite picky.  I do not claim to  have settled the ques-
tion, and if you will comment, feel free to communi-
cate with me at jlrsbnch@msn.com/  

       I will publish comments with permission.  Let
       me know when you reach me on email...
                                               jlrsbnch@msn.com

http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2013/01/there-remains-rest.html 
                              
7.25.14, donporter,sr    edited 10.25.14, 7.02.16

     This gives credence to the understanding that
taking the Lord's name in vain may well mean to 
assume a mantle of  being a follower of the Lord 
God without substance of  the New Birth in Jesus 
Christ or  one taking  the mantle of  Judaism and 
failing to live according to the Law of God, again, 
not in the Spirit of  God, but in the flesh.  There is
also this;  the Spirit of Jesus Christ has no part of
one who  has "known" sin in his life.  In order  for
one to have  Holy Spirit power in  his life, he must
come  to  the Lord  God in repentance of  that  sin,
and live above reproach,  so not to bring reproach
upon that Holy name by which he is called or upon
his church.  Life  in Christ is  a  work  in  progress.
We  are never to  be  self-satisfied with  our perfor-
mance,  but  to rely  on God  in us  to do  the  thing. 
Our goal is to please our Lord. In Hebrews 11,"the 
hall of faith," we find the secret to a life well plea-
sing to our God;
      "Now faith is the substance of things hoped
  for, the evidence of things not seen.  For by it the
 elders obtained a good testimony."  ..."But without
faith it is impossible to please him, for he that comes
   to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
        rewarder of those that diligently seek him."


       Charles Haddon Spurgeon said it this way;  "Do 
what you may, strive as earnestly as you can, live as 
excellently as you please,  make what  sacrifices you
choose: be as eminent as you can for everything that
is lovely and of good repute, yet none of these things 
can be pleasing  to God  unless they  be mixed  with
faith.   As the  Lord said to  the Jews, 'With  all your
sacrifices you must  offer salt,'  so  says to us:" with 
all your doings you must bring faith.'    (...without
             faith it is impossible to please God..."

http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2014/03/worse-than-infidel.html

ARE YOU BLESSED OF GOD? ..................MATTTHEW 6: 1-6, 16-18

   

        "Take heed that you do not do your chari-
    table  deeds  before men, to be  seen of them.  
   Otherwise,  you  have  no  reward from  your 
   Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a 

   charitable  deed,   do  not  sound  a  trumpet 
   before  you as  the hypocrites do in the syna-
   gogues and in the streets, that they may have 
   glory from men. Assuredly,  I  say  unto  you,  
   they  have  their reward."      Matthew 6: 1-2

******************************************

        I would recommend reading all 34 verses 
        of the 6th chapter of Matthew's Gospel.

     This part of the Sermon on the Mount has to 
do with the blessing of our Lord on his children 
based on a principle much neglected  in our cul- 
ture today.  This simple, but profound  principle 
of life has to do with our actions and motives. 

Although we do the seeming right thing, if there 
is an ulterior motive, we will not be blest of God 
for the act.  If we make a display of "righteous" 
acts,  our Lord has stated;  He will not bless the
action.  

      If we think to gain materially by doing  good, 
we have no blessing. Our motive must be pure in 
each case,  if we expect to be blessed of our Lord 
in this life or the next. 

      So, there is a principle in these two verses.  It 
applies to  more than charitable  deeds.  As we go 
further in  the chapter  we  find  it applies  to our 
prayer, our self-denial, and  fasting.  It is critical, 
as we give,  pray or fast, that one does it in secret.
This  prevents any  performance of the actions or
deeds  to  impress  others.  Everything we do is in 
view of our  heavenly Father.  He responds to our
good deeds and the result of our actions is always
in Him. It is better to be blessed of God than to be
rewarded of mankind. I love the KJV language in
this passage  that  says,  "...and thy Father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." In each
case  the deed must be  performed secretly  for the
the Lord  to recognize it  as  worthy.  Whether the
blessing from our Lord  is openly or not, is hardly
critical. There is also the consideration of whether
the blessing  is temporal  or eternal.  Any blessing
from our Lord may be eternal in nature, but some
have  temporal  elements.   Here  we  come  to  the 
realization that all temporal blessings may be fine,
but the eternal is what we are all about in Christ.
     
There is one other critical element in this equation:
"But without faith it is impossible to please him, 
for he that cometh to him must believe that He is
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him." 

                                                      Hebrews 11:6   
donporter 7.03.14 

http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2012/09/
blessed-is-manpsalms-1.html

http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2013/05/
and-thy-father-which-seeth-in-secret.html
   

MAKE A FRIEND, CHANGE A LIFE

          Tonight, instead of a strict "Bible Study," let's

consider one subject:  How does one go about reach-

ing out to neighbors in order to present,  in a natural

way, the life giving gospel of  our  Lord Jesus Christ?

Over the  years, (50+) there  have  been  many worthy

"programs" on the subject in which we have involved

ourselves.  (Members of  Southern  Baptist Churches)

Generally, the studies were suited to the day and were

quite effective for a  time.  In  addition  to  books and

courses from our denomination, we also became part

of groups that were interdenominational in scope.  It

seems to me those were more appealing because they

brought  fresh  perspective to our congregations and 

were  not  tied  to  group thought.  One  such study is

the evangelistic philosophy of Dr. Bill Bright's Cam-

pus  Crusade  for  Christ.  The  programs  came  and
went,  since  interest  in a "program"  is  difficult  to
sustain  over  years.  Campus  Crusade  for  Christ is
still active on university campuses. 

   I do not have a study course, book or program to

promote, but a simple idea where  each person will
fill in the details. Depending upon your personality,
schedule and knowledge of Scripture,  each will go
about it in a manner that works for him/her.

           The first recommendation is;  don't talk about

your church or denomination.  Secondly, do not seek

to present the gospel the first time you meet someone,
and definitely, do not press or be repetitive.  Go slow.

Finally, make it known that you are available for any

kind of need.  In other words become a friend.  Since

the concept is new to me, let me give an experience...
.
       We moved into this neighborhood seven months
ago.  During this time there had been no direct con-
tact with  neighbors,  since we have been  quite busy
getting settled. Still unsettled,  my son's family, next
door planned to  be away from home for a vacation
and asked  us to care  for  their animals.  There are
three dogs,  one cat and six chickens.  We  had been
getting  eggs from  the  hens,  but now there are 5-6
eggs each day. Since it is just my wife and I, we had
a surplus.  We decided to share eggs with neighbors
to keep them from  accumulating and  spoiling.  On
the second day,  we put six eggs in  a basket and my
wife and I took them to a near neighbor. The daugh-
ter of the homeowner and her child came to the door
and we indtroduced ourselves, presented the eggs in
a basket,  and invited  them to use  our pool,  letting
them know we  were open to a personal relationship.
Two days later in the early evening I was in the yard
and heard a voice in the semi-darkness.  To my plea-
sant surprise it was the homeowner.  We had a good
talk and he remarked how sad it is that most  people
never get  to  know each  other.  We parted  with the
commitment to change that and to get together soon.

(This comment is 2 years and 2 surgeries later;   
Judith and I have decided to form a Bible discussion
opportunity for our neighbors in our home.  Today I
called on 4 neighbors to  give them  the information.
We will probably begin in 10 days or so.)

     There are no guarantees with  this approach or any 
 other, but we are looking  forward  to meeting  neigh-
bors  and befriend as many as  we can.  Jesus came  to
give every man opportunity to have new life; and   new 
direction, leading to eternity with Him. This way, each 
individual has opportunity to avoid eternal punishment 
in a place provided for Satan and his  followers, and to 
experience eternal joy in the presence of our Lord and 

His forever family.

     Subsequent to this experience, Judith and I took a
short walk late this afternoon as it began to cool and 
met another  neighbor.  We met a man about our age
who  lives  alone,  since his  mother's death some two
years ago.  He is  disabled  and has  broken  his foot 
recently.  We shared our eggs with him,  had a short 
conversation,  and  noticed  his yard  (grass) has not
been given attention recently. We didn't mention this, 
but  will go to see him monday and take  care of  the
yard work. A later contact with him let us know he is
unsure of his personal relationship with the Lord. 
He plans to  be a  part of our Bible  discussions.  He
in now undergoing treatment of cancer of the throat,
and we are keeping check on his property while he is
indisposed.

     If we are to be followers of Christ we must follow 
His example.  He gave his life for us, expecting us  to
give of ourselves to others. 

                 "This is my commandment,

           that you love one another as I have loved
          you.  Greater love has no one than this,
          than to lay down his life for his friends." 

                                                    John 15: 12-13

Thanks for reading.  Let me know if you consider this

approach to be worthy of your time, effort and means.  

The Lord will bless our efforts made in His name.
Think about ways you might be of help to a neighbor.

                       donporter,sr  6.05.14, edited 10.13.16