The Heart of Jesus, or Mere Tradition?

About what I meant by that. One guy said, oh, this guy, Brian Broderson, he evidently just reads the red letters. He thinks the red letters are only inspired. He doesn't recognize Paul's inspiration and so forth.

No, let me clarify what I meant by that. What I meant by that, uh, is that the heart of Jesus is not existent in Calvinism. The heart of Jesus is one of compassion, one of mercy, one of love. And, and it just, it doesn't come across.

I've read, um, you know, systematic theologies by Calvinist. I've listened to Calvinist preachers. I've read dozens of commentaries by Calvinist. Uh, you know, I just stopped.

Here to say, if that's true, that's very disappointing. It's one thing when people are simply ignorant for them to misrepresent the position that they're ignorant of. Uh, if this is true and he's read all this stuff, then there's no reason for all this misrepresentation and.

That is troubling. And you just, the heart of Jesus just is missing so often, you know, uh, because the Lord's heart was obviously like you quoted there from Matthew, how often I wanted to gather you together.

The Lord's heart is to save everybody, not condemn. Now.

The Heart of Jesus and Calvinism

Notice what you had there again. Now we have a summary statement, which again demonstrates that none of these men have ever taken the time or seem to be willing to look at Matthew 23 and realize I am misrepresenting this text.

It does not say what I'm saying. It says, but I'm going to keep saying it does. That's a shame, but I'd like to ask Brian Broderson some questions. You say that Calvinism does not have the heart of Jesus.

What Jesus are we talking about? Well, from your perspective, it's the Jesus who wants to save everybody. That's what you're saying to people. You reject Calvinism because, well, the Jesus of Calvinism, his, his heart is not the same as the Jesus that I have who wants to save everyone.

And so I just want to ask everyone, including Brian Broderson, does the Jesus you represent, does the Jesus you talk about have the heart of the Jesus of Matthew 11, 25 and following where Jesus said, at that time, Jesus said, I praise you, father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

Yes, father, for this way was well-pleasing in your sight. All things have been handed over to me by my father, and no one knows the son except the father, nor does anyone know the father except the son and anyone to whom the son wills to reveal him.

How does that fit into your heart of Jesus, Mr. Broderson? Because Jesus rejoiced that the father had judicially hidden, hidden from men, the truth about who he was and what God was doing in the world.

Elsewhere, Jesus talks about the very judgment of God and making men's hearts fat, their eyes dull, their ears thick. And here he rejoices that this was pleasing in the father's sight to bring judgment.

And in fact, Jesus here teaches that no one knows the father except the son and anyone to whom the son wills to reveal him. If the son wills to reveal the father to someone, they will know the father.

It's not up to the one to whom it's revealed as to whether he's going to accept this revelation. This is a sovereign act of Jesus. Where is that Jesus's heart? In your theology, your synergistic theology, where Jesus tries and tries and tries, but fails so many times.

Mr. Broderson, where is that Jesus? I would like to know how you answer that question. Or I would like to know how you answer the question, this Jesus of yours, is he a perfect savior? In John chapter 6, Jesus gives us an indication of the very relationship of the father and the son when he says that he came down out of heaven not to do his will, but the will of the one who sent him, that is the father.

And then he said, this is the will of whom has sent me that of all that he has given me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. Jesus saves a particular people perfectly. He doesn't try to save them.

He says, all that the father gives me will come to be all. Mr. Broderson, I need to understand, how does this fit the heart of Jesus? That we have a sovereign savior who actually saves, not those who enable him to save them by their autonomous free will.

You won't find that anywhere in John 6 or John 8 or John 10. In those texts, you'll hear about men who don't belong to God. That's why they don't hear. That's why they don't come. Or in John 10, you really don't think that the sheep choose the shepherd, do you?

But the shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. And he says to the Jews, you're not my sheep. How do you fit this into your synergistic system? Your system where Jesus tries to be a savior, but doesn't accomplish the salvation of people he's trying to save.

Is he trying to save everyone equally, Mr. Broderson? Was the heart of Jesus amongst the Amorites, but he didn't send them any prophets? Was the heart of Jesus there when the Israelites are brought in to kill man, woman, and child in judgment?

Was there a conflict between God the father who decreed this and the son who doesn't want to see it happen because he's trying to save them with all of his power, but he can't? Well, because, well, it's really up to man.

Is that the heart of Jesus? Mr. Broderson, I see a contradiction between the words of Jesus and what you think the heart of Jesus is, because you see, Mr. Broderson, you've decided to only believe a certain portion of what the Bible says about Jesus' heart.

And all the stuff where Jesus' heart demonstrates the balance of God's glory and God's purpose, the accomplishment of God's will, that part disappeared. That part's gone. How can that be that in John chapter 17, when Jesus is pouring out his heart in prayer to the father, his high priestly prayer, he says, I do not pray for the world.

I pray for those you've given me out of the world. How is, how is that God's, how is that Jesus' heart, Mr. Broderson? And I suggest to you, sir, Calvinism isn't lacking the heart of Jesus. Calvinism just simply has a biblical understanding of who Jesus is, what he did, what his purposes are.

And since you refuse, because of your traditions, traditions that cause you to misquote the Bible and misrepresent the Bible, not purposely, but because you are so enmeshed in those traditions, just like Dave Hunt and George Bryson.

You're so enmeshed in those traditions, you misrepresent the Bible. Because of that, you have missed the clear biblical teaching about the real heart of Jesus, which is much greater than the rather sentimental view that you attribute to him.

And so it's not a matter of Calvinism lacking the heart of Jesus. It is the traditions of men embraced by the leadership of Calvary Chapel, made into a dogma, in essence, because you question it. Oh, I can, I can, I can send you to a lot of folks that'll tell you what happens when you, when you, uh, discover these truths of the Bible and start preaching them in a Calvary Chapel.

You get in a lot of trouble. Made them dogmas, but they're the traditions of men and they overthrow the text of scripture. So much so that here, twice in one little clip, we've listened to two different men in the leadership of Calvary Chapel, misquote a text because they just won't take the time to seriously step back and go, is that really what Matthew 23, 37 is saying?

Or am I misrepresenting this? It's a dangerous thing, folks. It is a dangerous thing when you hear men who carry the word of God in their hands, but the lens that they've allowed to be placed upon their eyes is so thick.

They can no longer see what it's actually saying. That is a dangerous thing. And it leads to exactly what we just heard. Not only a false accusation against those who allow all of scripture to speak, but then the encouragement to others to stay away.

Don't believe those things. That's truly dangerous. The heart of Jesus. I suggest we look to the book of Revelation when Jesus speaks to his churches long after his resurrection. You want to see who Jesus is?

The Sovereign Christ of Revelation

Powerful, mighty, holy. He is Lord. And Lord is not a term of mere potentiality. He rules over his churches. He is not the meek beggar standing at the door that has no knob on the outside, asking to come in to misuse and abuse of Revelation 3 .20.

The Jesus of Revelation chapter three is a sovereign Lord, a sovereign king, who, yes, has given himself in self-sacrificial love, but he's done so first and foremost to the glory of the triune God and by means of his giving the salvation of a specific people under the praise and glory of that God.

It is never, ever focused upon man. And it is never, ever a situation where God is dependent upon the sovereign will of the creature to accomplish his purposes. So, Mr. Brodersen, I would invite you to consider that.

I think you've missed the message of scripture badly. Thank you for listening to The Vining Line today. We will continue on with, jump right into the Anthony Buzzer material the next time on the program.

See you then. God bless.