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swarms of locusts - Swarms provides the reader with a fascinating look at the detrimental impact that the Jesuits have had in undermining genuine Biblical Christianity.  |
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The Valley of Humiliation
“In his humiliation his judgment was
taken away”
– Acts 8:33a
Acts
The Bible tells
us that Jesus took upon Himself humiliation in order to remove the
transgressions of His people. The
word humiliation means “to be brought to a low estate, to be made low”. We see the root of this word in the
biblical words “abased” and “humbled”. The same word appears twice in Luke 14:11, and it
is in this verse where we will find the profit to be had in
humiliation: “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted.” (Luke 14:11). There are some
interesting points to make about this scripture: 1. Exalting (lifting up) of oneself is an act of the
WILL and is the product of the flesh.
In this context it is used of religious men and not of the heathen. Those who exalt themselves will be
humiliated (abased, made low). Pay
special attention to who is doing the action in the verse and upon whom the
action is performed. Note that the
“abasing” is accomplished from outside of the person, and the person’s WILL is
overthrown in the doing of it. 2.
Humbling (abasing or
lowering) of oneself is an act of the WILL and is a product of the flesh
(although it must have God’s Spirit as its fountainhead to be purely motivated,
it is only spiritually possible in the regenerate). In this context it is used of religious men and in the realm
of religious worship. One who
humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Note that the “exalting” is accomplished from outside of the person. It is GOD who will do the
exalting. John Gill noted that a man who “exalteth himself”
is one who holds too high an opinion of himself, “…by boasting of his gifts, as preferable to others, and as if he had
not received them; by assuming, or eagerly coveting titles of honour among men,
or by affecting honour that does not belong to him…” (John Gill’s
Commentary). We believe that to ascribe our faith, our ability
to believe, all of our holy acts, all of our righteousness, to God’s Sovereign
Grace (and that unmerited), is the basis for our humiliation. It is the foundation of a right view of
God’s position and authority. We
declare that we are in Christ because He chose us, not because we have chosen
Him. Jesus clearly identified the trait of
self-exaltation. He specifically
identifies it with religious men.
Jesus points out that those who exalt themselves do it in order to show
their spiritual superiority, and to be seen as spiritually superior by all
men. The religious world
spiritually rushes to the “highest room” (Luke 14:8) and to the best seats, and
that they do this is made clear in their profession of faith. Their gospel is evidence of their
self-exaltation. The false Arminian
gospel attributes the gifts of belief, faith and obedience
to the gospel as acts of the human “free” will - and those who believe such a
gospel will surely be abased in time.
They have boasted of those things the Bible says must have been received
in order for them to be authentic. One woman who we encountered just
recently continuously squealed, “I just
KNOW I made a decision for Christ!
I just KNOW it. I had to
choose! I remember making a decision!”
As if God was helpless and uninvolved in the salvation transaction, and
as if she could have possibly made an efficient and effective decision for
Christ in a fallen and depraved state.
She would refuse God the glory in saving a lost sinner and in giving life
to that which was dead. She would
ascribe to her own fallen will the glory of believing in Christ, and in doing so
she exalts herself by declaring that she had received no gift in the
process. Self-exaltation is
evidence of a false conversion, and a disingenuous
profession. The Doctrines of Grace are by necessity the
Doctrine of Humiliation. We confess
that pardon is in no way a divine duty.
We do not look upon ourselves as merely injured men in need of a doctor,
or as drowning men in need of a life preserver. We were caused to look upon ourselves as dead men, and as
vile and wicked sinners in need of spiritual life. God is constrained by no precept or promise to offer His
gifts to any man, no matter how religious or heavenly minded. Our confession involves the right view
of our own sin, and of the certainty of divine wrath upon all those who do not
receive God’s favor. Our reliance
must necessarily be totally on Christ’s sacrifice, and not on our
own: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are his judgments,
and his ways past finding out! For
who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him
again? For of him, and through
him, and to him, are all
things: to whom be glory for
ever. Amen.” (Rom 11:33-36). Our spiritual forefathers believed that
Arminianism was a serious distortion of the True Gospel, and that it would
produce religious worldlings and not regenerated Christians. Listen closely to what I am going
to say here: Religious worldlings inevitably produce a morally corrupt society. Corrupt, tyrannical government is then
installed to satiate the corrupt desires of corrupted religioiusites, because
Arminians cannot be ruled by the perfect law of righteousness. Do not make the mistake of thinking that our society is not
religious enough, or even “Christian” enough. We are drowning in religion, and our society is overwhelmed,
submerged, baptized into the corruption of
psuedochristianity. Jonathan Edwards warned about such things over 40 years before the
American Revolution, and as early as the 1750’s we can see liberalism and
Arminianism sweeping across the continent. Iain Murray said this in his Jonathan Edwards, A New Biography: “The danger from Arminianism lay
not simply in a few particular errors but in its whole tendency. While it claimed to be based upon
Scripture the popular strength of its arguments depended on the contention that
Calvinistic belief is not reconcilable with human reason: How, its exponents asked, can a
sovereign election be reconciled with God’s universal compassion? Or the unchangeable purpose of God in
salvation with free agency? This
mode of argument by-passed two facts; first, that reason is ‘impaired, depraved
and corrupted’, and second, that ‘the gospel requires men to believe things
above reason merely on the authority of divine
revelation.’” Arminians then reject the authority of the written word of God in favor
of the god of their mind. They
honor and worship reason, and so will not be ruled by the God of the scriptures.
But are they reasonable? Do Arminians believe other things that
are scriptural, but beyond reason?
Of course they do. Let us
examine this phenomena. Of course they don’t. They hate the Doctrines of Grace because
true Grace cannot be understood outside the
We suffer from unrighteous rule, because we suffer Arminianism to
rule. Our governments are corrupt
because their theological basis is corrupt. Our lands languish and our people perish from a lack of
knowledge. The
“Hath any man hope that he is
converted, and sanctified, and that his mind is endowed with true excellency and
spiritual beauty? that his sins are
forgiven, and he received into God’s favour, and exalted to the honour and
blessedness of being his child, and an heir of eternal life? Let him give God all the glory who alone
makes him to differ from the worst of men in this world, or the most miserable
of the damned in hell.” (Jonathan
Edwards, Sermon - 1731) We do not have righteous government because we have not accepted
righteous doctrines. When holy and
righteous men humble themselves before the God of Creation and ascribe to Him
the glory due to all His mighty works, THEN will they be motivated to remove
unrighteous tyrannical usurpers from the throne by whatever means
necessary. If a nation does not
bend the knee to the Sovereign God of Heaven, if they do not pass humbly through
the plush grasses of the I am your servant in Christ Jesus, Michael Bunker DISAGREE? Discuss or Debate this: Forum
Read more like this: Bunker Mentality Archives
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