Are We Losing?

Amen. So now we're very pleased to welcome Pastor Paul Wanamaker. He's the pastor of the Evangelical Congregational Church of Easton, Massachusetts. I've known Paul for probably close to 20 years now or something around there.

He saw me in days that are probably worth forgetting when I used to first come to some of the meetings of New England Reform Fellowship and some of the early elder retreats we used to take to Pennsylvania for the Banner of Truth Ministers Conference, Paul would meet Tony, Marty, and myself and be an erstwhile tour guide to Gettysburg.

And he's an encyclopedia for Civil War trivia. But even better than Civil War trivia, he's been a faithful brother, a faithful shepherd, a man who loves God's word. And one of the reasons I asked him to speak to us today is for many years, he's been very active with outreach at the Planned Parenthood close to him.

And so this is an issue that he has, I think, a similar concern and drive that we need to have and looking for those opportunities that we can speak out against this evil and recognize that God has a purpose of conveying his grace and mercy against this kind of darkness, that this is the light that can shine and this is how many souls can be one to the only hope, which is in Christ.

And so we welcome and really appreciate you coming out, Paul.

Thank you. I'm glad I made it. I'm actually glad I had a GPS. I never would have found this place. It's beautiful here. It's good to be here and see all of you. And I know of Ross's ministry, but it's nice to see the actual ministry that you're engaged in with all the people that are here.

And first of all, let me bring you greetings from the Evangelical Congregational Church of Easton. And it's a historic church, goes back to the late 1600s. And we still use our old covenant from the 1740s.

And we're thankful for our forefathers who established a reformed ministry there, a covenantal ministry there, a confessional ministry. Some of that was lost over the years. But through the work of the previous pastor, I was an elder with him, but I kind of took the baton from him.

We got our covenant back into church life, our confession, and we reinstituted the office of elder, all of those things. And I would tell the congregation, we're not moving on to something new. We're grabbing what was.

And so I'm pleased to be here. And as Ross said, I do most Saturdays, not every Saturday, but most Saturdays, I'll go down to Attleboro. And it's not a Planned Parenthood, but it is the equivalent of there is an abortion.

I call it an abortion factory there. And we stand. I stand along with a number of individuals from various backgrounds, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, et cetera. And it is, to say the least, heartbreaking to watch cars pull in.

And typically there's a young woman in the back seat with bowed down, hiding, crying and being driven in there by their parents, grandparents. Oftentimes the man's not there. He's long gone. And which is particularly aggravating is several women, three or four, and a man who wear orange vests and call themselves escorts.

And they stand there and they make sure they go to the right place. And one of the women who does that as a T-shirt, it says an abortion a day keeps the Christians away. So cars drive by. It's a crazy intersection.

So sometimes they have to go slow by. But we sometimes get thumbs up waves. Sometimes other things are terrible. Things are said. It's just there's a tremendous amount of hatred. And I think a lot of the hatred is ultimately is people have a conscience.

People know it's wrong and they're angry about it and they want to do what they want to do. And not so long ago, particularly after some of the decisions that were made in place, conservative places like Ohio and Kentucky, that seemed to be setbacks to what we're interested in.

This man told me when he went back to his place of worship, he said, oh, we're losing. And I said to him, no, we're not. And that's kind of what I want to talk about a little bit today is are we losing?

God’s Sovereignty and Glory in History

And the best place to get the answer to that question, I think, is scripture, isn't it? One of the most beautiful chapters in my mind in the Bible is that opening chapter to the letter of Paul to the Ephesians.

And it is a beautiful and grand picture of what you might call the forest. God's redemptive purposes from before there was time to the exalting of Jesus Christ. And one of the things that he says there in verse 11 of Hebrew or rather Ephesians chapter one is in him.

There's a lot of in him's in that chapter, by the way. I think you can count about 11 of them that talk about as Paul's way of describing someone who has a true saving faith. He says in him, we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purposes of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

So the first thing I want to emphasize to you is regards how we should think about what's happening. I really want to address our worldview, our biblical worldview. And it starts with the sovereignty of God, that God really does control everything, all things.

Oftentimes here, Christians say when some disaster happens, that God allowed that. Yes, he did. He also ordained it. He actually determined and purposed that that very thing would happen. He's a sovereign God.

He's a powerful God. And but to what end, if all we knew about God is that he's sovereign and that he's powerful, we might actually be dealing with a terrible despot. He might be cruel. There's other characteristics of God that he wants to put on display, which is how we would describe his glory.

We know the expression soli deo gloria to the glory of God alone. Well, how does God do that? And that's what I would say, if you're familiar with the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the first question is there, what's the chief end of man?

Why are we here? The answer is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. If the authors of that might have also written the question, what's God's chief end in creating this incredible amphitheater of redemptive history?

What's his chief end? To glorify himself and what God is doing through the course of history is putting all of those wonderful attributes of his on display, very much like what happens when white light comes into our atmosphere.

And you have a beautiful rainbow and you see all the all the colors and we get some insight into that, which is very interesting. If you remember when Moses went back up into the mountain to get the tablets again after the event of the golden calf, he interceded for the people.

But one of the things he said to God is, show me your glory. And it's very interesting what God did. He didn't say my glory chiefly is in my power or by knowing everything or all the various attributes.

He simply said, I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious and I'll be merciful to whom I'll be merciful. So one of the things that God wants to put on display is his mercy, which really brings up the question about the fall.

Think about it. If Adam continued in his obedience, never ate from that tree, he would never have known the mercy of God. You ever think about that? He wouldn't have needed the mercy. He didn't need a savior.

He was perfect and righteous and he could be in the very presence of God in that garden, which is really the temple, the first temple on this temple is where God is. But he would never have known the mercy of God and God chiefly, I would contend, is glorified in the display of his mercy at his pleasure.

Not because you're more qualified, you have a better resume or whatever, at his pleasure. He has chosen some for himself to be his people. Well, that brings up the other question. Does is God glorified other ways, not only from his mercy, but from his wrath?

Romans chapter nine, Paul talks about the doctrine of election and clarifies many points there. But he talks about Pharaoh. Pharaoh had a purpose. And we're talking about the Pharaoh who dealt so harshly with the Israelites during the period of time prior to their release.

And he says this scripture says to the Pharaoh, for this very purpose, I raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name may be declared in all the earth. And he goes on to say, does not.

Indeed, oh, man, who are you to reply against God there in verse 20? God, will the thing form say to him who formed up, why have you made me like this? We're dealing with God's sovereignty and dealing with the fact that he's the potter, we're the clay and that he will have mercy in verse 18 on whom he will have mercy and on whom he wills he will harden.

Now, there is a place, I think, where many come short in their understanding of God. Why would God do that? That's not fair. Any number of questions that come up, we're dealing with our creator and we're dealing with the fact that I think you can save yourself a lot of grief with what's going on, a lot of trouble and anger and fear and worry to realize that what God is mainly doing in history is glorifying himself.

And he is glorified in the demonstration of his mercy to those who are undeserving. He's also glorified in the exhibit of his wrath. And that's hard to get our heads around. And Spurgeon used to say, we come across doctrines that are hard to get our heads around things like the Trinity.

How do you explain God who was one God who was three? He said, it's a lot like taking a pill. Have you ever chewed an aspirin pill? It's disgusting. Just swallow it. That's how Spurgeon said, just take it.

It's true. Believe it. Don't rattle it around in your head and try to here. We are creatures of dust trying to figure out how God does things in this world. It's interesting, though, to direct you to another passage, Genesis chapter 15.

God is dealing with Abram. And you remember the covenant that God had made with Abram that make of him a great nation and all the families of the earth would be blessed. But there came a time when God reinforced that covenant with him.

Abram was having kind of a lapse of faith at that time. God said, I'm your exceedingly great reward. In verse one, Abram says, what will you give me? Interpreting events by what he could see around him.

I don't even he was thinking of the covenant. I don't even have a son. And you're talking to me about your my great reward. I don't even have a child. Well, God would straighten him out during that interaction that he had with him there in chapter 15.

But there's one thing that was very interesting. He told him that there's going to be a great nation. It's going to be 400 years and they'll come out and they'll be oppressed in Egypt. They'll come out of Egypt.

And there is God showing the working out of that covenant to Abram. He wouldn't see it in this life, but he believed it in this in this life. But he also says something that's very almost terrifying. This will happen as far as Israel's concerned, my people.

But there's something else going on that at that point in time, the iniquity of the Amorites will be full. That should send the hair in the back of your neck up. Anybody who is in rebellion against God, there is a process of grace that's taking place with God's people.

But there's also a process of ripening that's taking place of the wicked. You would think if God is sovereign, why does he need to just vaporize these abortion clinics? God has purpose. And some of that purpose is the ripening of the wicked to justify his justice on that day and demonstrate his wrath.

And no one can say that they were forced into that. There was something they did in rebellion against God. They that's the whole idea of the fall is to say to God, no, I'll be my own God. I'll do what I want to do.

And yet, in the midst of that, we could say it doesn't stop there in terms of his sovereignty. There is it's always this parallel thing going on here. It's going on in America right now. You have the church, I think, is being disciplined.

Number one. But that discipline is the word there is not judged. We have to make a distinction. That judgment is already taking place for the church at a place called Calvary. And if you're a true child of God, you're no longer being judged.

That's happened. You're being disciplined. You're being chastened. And God loves his church. You can see that in the letters, the seven letters in the Revelation. There's some pretty harsh rebukes to those churches, all with a view, though, is I love you.

I want you to be overcomers. And I want you to get back in line and be reminded of your main purpose here, which is fundamentally to be to be witnesses in this world. And so you see passages like what Peter has to say.

And second, Peter, he talks about scoffers who say, where's the promise of his coming? And he reminds them this has happened before. And be reminded, you know, a thousand years is as a day. Time. God is not subject to time.

He invented time. He invented space. I can't even talk about it without using expressions of time and space. But what I'll say is there was a time when there was no time. And what does he say about that, though, in the light of that rebuke to those who were scoffers?

He says in the second Peter two, nine, that God is not willing that any should perish. Now, isn't that interesting? It's very similar to what Paul said in Timothy in his first letter, chapter two, verse four, that God desires all to be saved.

Now, how do you jive that with election? And those who are diligent and want to preserve the doctrine of election will say, oh, the all that just means the elect. They'll be saved. Well, that's just stating the obvious.

Is that really what Peter was saying? And is that what Paul was saying? Does it not tell us something about God that, yes, not all will be saved as regards his decree? But are we also talking about the compassion of God and the pity of God?

Sometimes I've asked, said to somebody, well, do you desire that everybody be saved? And you but you know, not all will be saved. Right. So are you more compassionate than God? And let's not forget about the compassion of God.

You have no idea of the woman who's getting the abortion, the abortion worker. Any number of people involved will one day come to the Lord and God will use them. And that experience to be able to minister to others in that particular situation.

And that is happening. So let's not try to put God in a convenient little box. I think the other thing I would want to say is not only understanding that God is sovereign. Everything he does is for his glory.

It's for our good. It's for the not so good for those who remain unrepentant. But we love that verse. All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Until they happen to me. And we become practical atheists at that point. He didn't say all things are good, all things work together for good. And if you're going to memorize verse 28, be sure to memorize verse 29.

Why do all things work together for good? So that we be conformed to Jesus Christ and that he be glorified. That's what it's all about. If you keep that in your head, you can start to deal with what's happening in the world.

You don't have to explain it all and understand it all. We don't even know all the moving parts, do we? Let alone how they all fit together. So the second thing I would want to say, and it's already been brought up in your prayer, Ross, is what's going on is very satanic.

Absolutely. We have an enemy, hates God, hates you, would just as soon have you be destroyed. He continues in his self-deceit that he is a God unto himself. He's very clever. He's very powerful. He's very deceitful.

He does not give up. He is relentless. And he's defeated. And he's on a leash. And God uses him. God uses evil. God does not tempt. God did not create evil, but he, you might say, created the potential for evil.

Because in the fall, think of it, wasn't the stage set for the coming of Jesus Christ? What if the Jews had not rejected their Messiah? There'd be no cross. You have to just stand back and go all the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God.

Who can get it all? So keep in mind that he is also on a leash and he's used. But let me just finally wrap up with, OK, given this, what do we do about it? If you're familiar with Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, they had received some bad teaching regarding the second coming of Christ.

They were worried about some who had died and what would happen to them. And Paul's very careful to tell them, stop, there's still certain things that have to happen. The great apostasy. There has to become the man of lawlessness.

He then assures them of their salvation because he complimented them. He didn't just say, I've seen your faith, your love and your hope. He said, I see your work of faith. I see your labor of love. I see your perseverance, which is evidence of your hope.

He's seeing it worked out in their lives. They're not only believing, they're actually acting on those things. He's confident that they belong to the Lord. Well, you might get the idea, well, if I'm in.

I'm just going to ride it out with what's going on in the world. No, that's not what he tells them to do. He tells them, first of all, to stand fast, stand fast for the truth. That means when you go out into the world, as soon as you walk out the front door, you're in enemy territory.

Quite frankly, you're in a world that hates God and give that expression to that hatred of you. And it is going to be times when you're going to be challenged. It's interesting. I heard Sinclair Ferguson one time point out that in scripture, we're not so much told to ask people questions.

There's nothing wrong with that. There are many people who are gifted to be able to go up to a stranger and begin a conversation, ask some questions and start to talk about the gospel. And some Christians feel like I'm not gifted to do that.

And they're feeling like they're not witnessing. Ferguson pointed out not so much the asking a question, but be prepared to have an answer when you are asked a question. That's where Bible study comes in.

That's that's where and not just on a on the Lord's Day or some particular every day you eat every day, spiritually eat every day. Pray all the time. How do you pray all the time? Well, we're supposed to breathe all the time, aren't we?

How do you do that? Isn't it kind of like that? You're praying. It's a sense that you're walking with the Lord all the time. He's right there. Pray about everything. I tell my congregation, pray about the parking spot you're going to get when you go to the supermarket.

God might have someone he wants you to meet. Ask Lord, tell me, give me words to say if that happens or tell me when to shut up. I'm going to run into people. You'll be amazed if you have that prayer right down to the smallest detail of what God will do and provide for you on those occasions to pray about it.

He also said to pray, where to pray. When's the last time you really thought about that phrase in the Lord's prayer, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Do you realize when you say that you're actually participating in the government of the world, participating with Christ that was promised to the Church of Laodicea?

If they repented, I'll put you on thrones as priests and kings sharing in my government. Yes, in the world to come. But the language there in chapter one in Revelation also points to that happens now.

We participate in the government of the world. What a calling. What an incredible thing that God would give that responsibility to fallen creatures like us. And we're also to witness, as I said. How do we witness?

We were talking earlier, one of the chief witnesses that we have in the world is when we gather together publicly, openly on the Lord's Day. I like to call it the Lord's Day. I really don't like referring to the sun God.

I just call it the Lord's Day because that's the day when he resurrected. That was the inauguration of the new creation. He's entered into his rest and it is a powerful witness to the world. Some will be offended by it, put off by it.

They'll hate you, but some will be drawn by it. And don't forsake the assembling of God's people together. And if you read in Hebrews, why? Stirring one another up. We all need to be stirred up and helped.

We're witnessed just by the way we live. Think about how you behave at the traffic light. Do you get mad when someone cuts you off with a scowl on your face? Or do you say, you know, that might be one of God's elect that just cut me off.

Instead of calling them and pray for them. We all do it. And so do I. Anyone you meet, there's so many opportunities to to talk to people, to use their name tag at the checkout counter. There was a gal there, Sarah, not so long ago.

I said, you know, your name's a biblical name. We had a nice little conversation. Be open to what God has for you. You know, the parable of the Good Samaritan, it started out with a man who was a religious leader who said to Jesus, what's the law?

And Jesus said, you know, you're a religious scholar. Well, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself. And then he gave himself away. He said, who's my neighbor?

He wanted Jesus to say, your neighbor is your fellow Jew. The Pharisees using pick a verse here, pick a verse there had come up with the doctrine of you love your Jew. Hate those dog Samaritans, half breeds.

So what does Jesus do? He tells them the parable of the Good Samaritan of all things. I love the way Morris puts it in his commentary. The man asked, who's my neighbor? Jesus essentially said to the man, I'm going to tell you about a man who didn't ask your question, but asked the question, who can I be a neighbor to?

You know, in scripture, we're never told we have to like everybody. If you know a verse in there that says that, let me know. But we are to love. That means to give of ourselves. And that's exactly what the Samaritan did.

He took the time, paid and even went further than he had to go. So the witness is how we live, how we talk. Are you using crude jokes? Do you laugh at crude jokes? Do any. What are you watching on TV?

What movies you go to? Books you're reading? Any number of things. We should stand out like a sore thumb. Someone said, if you were ever on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

And we should stand. Will that come at a cost? Yes, that will come at a cost. You know, just to kind of close, I did a series on Job. It was really wonderful for me personally. And I think the congregation was helped by it.

But one thing that struck me about Job was in Chapter, I think, 20, 23, he was complaining about God. He says God does whatever he wants to do. He was angry and frustrated because he thought God was mismanaging his life.

Job had this idea about God, that he's a good God because he had a lot of good things. And then all that changed and suddenly God's not good anymore. And he's unjust and he's cruel and he's complaining because God just does what he wants.

I have no ability to go speak to him and present my case. Well, how interesting it is in the very last chapter after God had spoken to him and straightened him out, and even offering to Job, you think you could administer this world better than I can?

I'll give you the opportunity. But here are some of the considerations. You might want to read it for yourself. Job heard it and said, I don't think so. And he said the same thing. God does what he wants.

But he said it humbly and he said it thankfully. Thank God that you do it, not me. Your wisdom, your power, your sovereignty, your grace, mercy, righteousness, goodness and mercy, not me. I was way out of line.

And that's where faith comes in, isn't it? I'll just leave you with this. Job was judging God by his circumstances. And you might be even in the position of judging God by not only your personal circumstances, by what's happening in the world.

Maybe even going along a little bit with how the world views it. Why would God allow this? Why? That's what he was doing. God was good as long as he was being treated a certain way. When that went away, God's no longer good in his mind.

He came to the position of not judging God by his circumstances, but judging his circumstances by what I know about God. You don't understand it, join the club. You don't like it, join the club. But God is the wise, powerful, gracious, merciful, good, kind administrator of this world.

And he's doing it all for his glory. And that will give you peace of mind in the midst of the worst of circumstances. That will give you joy because you know who you are. You're a child of God. You know where you're going.

You know there's change taking place in your life. And you know that everything in your life, right down to the fact that you're sitting here right now and you're going to have hamburgers later, all that was ordained before this universe ever came into existence, before provision was made for your sin, before you were even created, let alone having sinned your first sin.

Rest in that and solely day of glory. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to meet outside in your creation. And as we hear some of the rumbling in the sky, Father, we're reminded of your power and the beauty and order and all that is exhibited in your creation, Father, which is available to all to be in awe of.

But Father, thank you for that very special revelation of yourself in the person and the work of your son, Jesus Christ. God himself, who entered into our condition, so humbled himself not only obediently, but willingly to the point of going to the cross this great king would conquer by dying.

What a remarkable thing that was, Father. And this, he removed the demands of the law for your people so that you might forgive us justly and also remove the very demands of death, having experienced eternal death for us, having gone to hell so that we wouldn't have to go to hell.

Father, help us often to think of those things. And we're thankful for the wonderful gifts of faith and repentance that characterize our lives. Help us to not only believe and have knowledge, but to work that out and to trust you every day, just as you ask Peter, do you love me?

Do you trust me? That's every day. Help us to do that by your grace. I pray your blessing upon each one here, each family represented, each church represented. I pray your blessing upon Ross and the elders of ministry here.

Thank you for the relationship I have with them, Father, and the communion and fellowship we can enjoy today. And we praise you and bless you and the very precious and the blessed name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And everybody said. Amen.