day no. 16,864: to and fro go men and God's eyes

Daniel 12:4

But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.

Men may go about to and fro, but he cannot escape the glance of God.

2 Chronicles 16:9

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.

Man can run, but he cannot hide; and a good one doesn't try to. A good man wants to be found by God and would rather fall into His hands than rise on the favors of fiends.

Psalms 139:7-8

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

No one gets away with anything. There is no path outside Providence. There is nowhere to go where God is not.

Proverbs 5:21

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,

And He ponders all his paths.

The ways of men are weighed by God.

While there are many paths that lead away from Him, there are none that can escape Him.

Psalm 139:9-12

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Everything will eventually come to light. Nothing is ever done in secret. Someone always sees. This is good news for quiet kindnesses and bad news for surreptitious sins.

Colossians 3:23-24

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ

All labor for the Lord will be rewarded. The wages of Christ are life.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Just as the darkness cannot hide from God's light, so the fires of faith, even when barely burning, cannot escape His notice. No one does good for nothing.

Luke 12:2-3

For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Men may go to and fro, but so does God's gaze.

All things will either be weighed, measured, and found wanting... or rewarded.

day no. 16,217: the eternal Fact will keep the cancelers in check

James 4:11-12

Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

Hell is full of fact checkers forever revisiting and re-registering their complaints.They will spend their respective forevers with clenched jaws and fingers feverishly resurrecting and correcting every perceived grievance they ever imagined experiencing. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth as they relive every intuited injustice. There will be hell to pay for making life a living hell. There will be everlasting judgment for those who set themselves above the law. There is one Lawgiver and one Judge who will in the end check the facts. The eternal Fact will keep the cancelers in check. He will cancel the cancelers and establish what they have concealed.

day no. 16,169: compound temptations

The following response was written by Doug regarding homosexuality, temptation and sin.

"A repentant homosexual could expect his temptations to come from that direction, and that it was not a sin to be tempted. But then Revoice used that standard understanding as a way to carve out a space to be a celibate gay, which is effeminate, and which is a sin." -- Doug Wilson, Letters of No Little Empathy

What follows was a reply I wrote to Doug requesting some further clarification...

Is it fair to say that some temptations are only experienced by having given in to previous temptations? For example, when the Word says that Jesus was tempted as we are, I take that to mean that He was tempted in the core ways every man, woman and child is, yet to degrees more intense than we ever experience by having never given in to them. So He experienced an intensity of temptation to which we cannot relate, but we, by giving in, experience a diversity of temptations to which He cannot relate. For example, Jesus was never tempted to molest a child. I would argue that this temptation is a product of having given in to other temptations. It is not a front end temptation, but a result of compound temptations stacked and influencing the others. The whole cardboard box gets wet when you set the bottom in a puddle. When some say that Jesus experienced every temptation we did and then go on to say He knows what it's like to want to cheat on your wife or molest a child or desire another man sexually, I don't buy it. Jesus was never tempted to hide the body after a premeditated murder because He never gave in to numerous temptations required to get to that point. Am I wrong? Have you written anywhere about this kind of thing as it relates to temptations and what might be considered the doorway temptations (perhaps lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life) that give way to all other perversions and temptations?

day no. 16,140: all the amusement without the park

“The nature of Christ’s salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness.” – A.W. Pink

Unbelief wants to be saved from the consequences of sin without being parted from the presence of sin. There are those who want to avoid hell while pursuing sin. They want to walk all the way down that road without having to walk through the door at the end of it. But salvation is not merely about locking the gate so that you don't have to walk into the hell you've aimed your life at, salvation is about saving you from wanting to walk down that path in the first place. 

Our biggest problem is not hell. Hell is the consequence of serving sin. Our problem is sin. Hell is the effect, not the cause. So to be saved is to be free from sin and hell along with it, but there is not a salvation from hell that permits one to continue to purchase tickets without requiring you to go on the rides. You cannot keep the amusement without going to the park. Salvation is finding satisfaction somewhere else and abandoning petty carnival prizes.

1 John 3:4-10

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

day no. 16,078: the wisdom of the the flesh is enmity against God

"Paul says, 'The wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God' (Rom. 8:7), which words are very significant. For the word translated 'wisdom,' signifies that the best thoughts, the best desires, affections, and endeavors that be in any natural man  -- even those that come most near to true holiness -- are not only contrary to God, but even enmity itself." -- William Perkins, A Reformed Catholic

Christianity is distinct from all other religions in that it identifies sin even in our best efforts. All other religions, being man-made, come by a certain affinity for some of their good works quite honestly, if only to honor the religion they invented. But Christianity, being of, from, for, through, and to God, is forced to face how far short even our best efforts fall short. Yet, it is this unique acknowledgement which gives Christianity its great humility and confidence. It is not contingent upon human ingenuity or endeavor, but on the isolated genius of God.

Philippians 3:8-9

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

Christianity is founded on righteousness outside itself. Right standing with God is only from Christ. No thing can be counted as gain outside of Him. No amount of good can be accumulated or stacked to accomplish what He alone freely provides to those who place their faith in Him.

Isaiah 64:6

We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Our best is not good enough. His perfection, however, is ours by grace through faith in Christ alone. Christianity alone atones for every sin and provides all righteousness required to enter peacefully into the presence of the Father.

day no. 15,727: the Founder of the feast

"'We all want to be happy, blessed, and we are tempted to make that state of blessing our goal. But the spiritual irony is that such blessings are reserved for those who want something else more. And as Jesus puts it here, that something else is righteousness. We are required by God to hunger and thirst." -- Douglas Wilson, Not as the Scribes

Happiness is reserved for those who want something more than happiness. In other words, happiness cannot be acquired as an end in itself. It cannot be grabbed or held that way. If you chase happy, you won't have it. If you find yourself happy, you can't keep it by trying to keep it. Blessedness is obtained by aiming at righteousness. Those who know that they lack righteousness will have it. Those who know they can't acquire happiness will have it. The hungry are the only ones who can be full and the thirsty the only ones who can be quenched. You cannot be sated or slaked by chasing food or drink. Satisfaction is found in the Founder of the feast.

day no. 15,702: righteousness from Him and for Him or without Him and away from Him

Acts 10:1-5
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter." 

Some people's good works are signs that God is already drawing them near in order to invite them further upward and inward, while other's good works are signs that they are drawing away from God in order to attempt to be right without Him and away from Him. They don't want the alien righteousness that Cornelius or Paul wanted, that righteousness which is from Him and for Him; rather, they want an achieved righteousness that Cornelius left behind and that Paul threw away.

Philippians 3:4-9
I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

It is imperative to aspire to the right kind of righteousness. The wrong kind of righteousness settles for being right in its own eyes. The right kind of righteousness strives to be seen as righteous in God's sight. This striving is one of looking out to Christ rather than inside to self.

day no. 15,449: lipstick on a pig

Matthew 7:21-23
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Notice what Jesus calls these people, "workers of lawlessness." What were the these lawless works they were performing? Prophesying in His name, casting out demons in His name and doing many mighty works in His name. These deeds done without faith in Him are counted as "lawlessness." They not only fail to merit approval, they are a source of condemnation. The works do not just fail to register a positive response from Jesus, they inspire a negative one. In other words, lipstick makes the pig more offensive, not less. It only goes to show that even our very best, if not redeemed by the grace of God, is iniquity.

Isaiah 64:6
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

day no. 15,308: the marriage of mercy and truth

Psalm 85:10
Mercy and truth are met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other

In Christ alone do righteousness and peace enjoy oneness without compromise and mercy and truth make friendly.

"Torquemada tortured people physically for the sake of moral truth. Zola tortured people morally for the sake of physical truth. But in Torquemada's time there was at least a system that could to some extent make righteousness and peace kiss each other. Now they do not even bow." - G.K Chesterton, Orthodoxy, ch 3: the suicide of thought

In the world, there is either righteousness or peace... justice or mercy. There are those who are adamantly for the one and some who are diametrically opposed to the other.  If you love mercy, you cry down those who insist upon justice. If you love justice, you mock those bleeding-heart bags of mercy down the block.

But in God, justice and mercy are married; whereas in the world, they don't even pay respect to the other. They dismiss each other as barricades. The other is seen as the reason their cause is kept from full expression. The mercy-mongers limit justice and the justice-thumpers muzzle mercy. Outside of God, mercy and truth don't even shake hands; in Him, they not only enjoy each other's company, but make covenant with each other, enjoy oneness, and dwell in perfect unity without dampening either's zeal.

Justice is never more just than when it is married to mercy.

Mercy is never more merciful than when it keeps covenant with justice.