The Best of All Possible Worlds

My heart rejoices at John Piper's "seventh point of Calvinism":

"The 'seventh' point, the best-of-all-possible worlds, means that God governs the course of history so that, in the long run, His glory will be more fully displayed and His people more fully satisfied than would have been the case in any other world. If we look only at the way things are now in the present era of this fallen world, this is not the best-of-all-possible worlds. But if we look at the whole course of history, from creation to redemption to eternity and beyond, and see the entirety of God's plan, it is the best-of-all-possible plans and leads to the best-of-all-possible eternities. And therefore this universe (and the events that happen in it from creation into eternity, taken as a whole) is the best-of-all-possible-worlds."
--from DG website

Our Great Reward

In contemplating the rewards that the Lord has for believers in heaven, I was reminded of God telling Abraham "I am your shield, your very great reward."

Sam Storms says this in his book One Thing: "To think that everyone in heaven is equally knowledgeable, equally holy, equally capable of enjoying God, is to argue that the progress we make now on earth is irrelevant to our heavenly state. But we are often exhorted to do things now precisely because it will build up and increase for us treasure in heaven. Not everyone responds to these commands in the same way or to the same degree or with the same measure of faithfulness. Thus people will enter heaven at differing degrees of holiness, love and joy. All will be subject to increase and expansion based on the depth and measure of our development here on earth. What we do and know and achieve now, by God's grace, will have eternal consequences.
"Your capacity for happiness in heaven is shaped by the development and refinement and depth of your capacity on earth. ... What we experience in joy and understanding and insight now ... is the foundation on which all our eternal experience and growth is based."

That is a reward that truly excites me. God Himself, and more of Him. Forever.

Assurance

Almighty God,
I am loved with an everlasting love...
I have scarce anything to pray for;
Jesus smiles upon my soul as a ray of heaven and my supplications are swallowed up in praise.
How sweet is the the glorious doctrine of election when based upon thy Word and wrought inwardly within the soul.
I bless thee that thou would keep the sinner thou hast loved, and hast engaged that he will not forsake thee, else I would never get to heaven...
If Jesus were not my righteousness and redemption, I would sink into nethermost hell by my misdoings, shortcomings, unbelief, unlove;
If Jesus were not by the power of his Spirit my sanctification, there is no sin I should not commit.
O, when shall I have his mind! When shall I be conformed to His image?...
But O God, I could not long after thy presence if I did not know the sweetness of it;
And such I could not know except by thy Spirit in my heart, nor love thee at all unless thou didst elect me, call me, adopt me, save me.
I bless thee for the covenant of grace.
--From Valley of Vision

The Diligence of Faith

This is an excerpt from a sermon by John Piper on assurance:

What shall we do? How shall we know and enjoy and be assured of our eternal security? [Hebrews chapter 3, ] verses 12 and 13 give two answers: one more general and the other more specific.

First the general answer in verse 12: "Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God." The general answer is, "Take care!" or "Take heed!" or "Look!" In other words, don't be careless or nonchalant or inattentive about the condition of your heart. Look at it. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. ...

Someone may ask, "Well, if I am a true partaker of Christ, as I believe I am, why do I have to take heed and be so vigilant, when you have said that I am eternally secure and can't lose my standing in Christ?" I think the question assumes something that the New Testament says is not true. It assumes that God's way for his chosen ones to get to heaven is without vigilance and watchfulness and self-assessment and diligent use of means. But in fact Jesus says, in Luke 13:24, "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." And Peter says, "Be sober, be watchful, your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The truth is not that true Christians don't have to be vigilant and watchful over their hearts; but that you can know you are a true Christian if you are vigilant and watchful over your heart.

It's the cavalier Christians who need to be worried about their standing. It's those who were baptized and walked an aisle or prayed a prayer and took communion and came to church, but do not love Jesus or count him their dearest treasure or bank their hope on him and look forward to seeing him and can say, "To live is Christ and to die is gain." These are the self-assured ones who need to feel insecure (see Deuteronomy 29:19). ...

That's the first answer to how we stay assured of our eternal security: Take heed to your heart. Guard against unbelief. That is, be vigilant to maintain your confidence and hope in Christ against all competing treasures.

The second answer is more specific in verse 13: "But encourage [or exhort] one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'Today,' lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." The second answer is that eternal security is a community project. What shall we do at Bethlehem to avoid an "evil heart of unbelief" and not be hardened by the deceitfulness of the sins that tempt us every day to treasure them more than we treasure Jesus?

The answer is that we must be the church for each other. And what is the main thing that the church does for each other? We speak to each other in ways that help us not be deceived by the allurements of sin. Or to put it positively, we speak to each other in ways that cause us to have hearts of faith in the superior value of Christ over all things. We fight to maintain each other's faith, by speaking words that point people to the truth and value of Jesus. That's how you guard against an evil heart of unbelief. Unbelief means failing to rest in Jesus as your greatest treasure. So helping each other believe means showing people reasons why Jesus is more to be desired and trusted and loved than anything else.

Going to Carolina in My Mind....

We return from North Carolina, both comforted and saddened, after visiting the Harrisons: Comforted that they are persevering in doing good. Saddened that the persevering is taking place THERE, rather than here.
Thanks to my mother-in-law's generosity, we had rented a car so they would not have to drag all seven children and pick us up at the airport, like they did last time. Despite inquiries from Marie, I had not even divulged flight information. As Leah and I got off the plane, I remembered that my husband had told me of an hour wait at the baggage claim for his luggage. So when my eye caught a second-hand bookstore -- in an airport (!?) -- I thought, "Why not kill time in here, instead of waiting around a luggage carousel?"
Of course, you know what happened. Leah and I lost ourselves in the bookstore. When we finally emerged and meandered down to the carousel, I heard my name being paged just about at the same moment that I saw all eight smiling faces rushing over to smother us with hugs. Marie had called my husband for the flight information.
I felt like two cents about them waiting, knowing the effort and espionage that had gone into getting them there. Fortunately for me, there was immediate sympathy when I explained about the second-hand bookstore: How wonderful to be understood by a kindred spirit. Just one of the reasons that I love her.
Seven more reasons were following her. What is it about these particular kids that so overwhelms me with affection?
Here are just some of the delightful encounters during our visit:
*On first seeing the 8-year-old twins, they ask us, "Can you tell us apart?" then flatten their upper lips so we can't see the little red dot that would let us know which one is Michelle.
*After losing her crochet hook somewhere in the family couch, 4-year-old Joy stands up, holds out her hands and bellows: "Everyone, stand up and take off the cushions!" I say, "Joy, you will make a good mommy someday." One of the twins says, "Yeah, or a lieutenant in the army."
*I read the twins a passage from the Bible at bedtime. When I got done, they both sit up in bed and clap for God's Word.
*While we're swimming, the older boys wrestle and dunk each other, looking just like the boys on the cover of "Future Men"
*During a rousing round of Scattergories, Robin and Leah actually have to stop the game two times and call Leah's Dad to settle a dispute over word challenges.
*Talking with Michelle and Olivia, it suddenly dawns on one of them that Mr. Rabe and John have the same names. "Mrs. Rabe, did you name your baby John first, and then marry Mr. Rabe because he had the same name? Or was it the other way around?"
*One of the twins: "Sometimes I just get this happy feeling inside of me like nothing else. I think that's because Jesus is in my heart."
I praise you, Lord, for these children who are being trained in righteousness, whose parents know well their mandate to make disciples -- starting right here.