Christian Book Notes

You can read Pastor Chantry's first message, How I Embrace the Doctrine of Election, Romans 8-9.

I would like to read Mt. 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world to all the nations and then the end will come."  The missionary movement will be successful in all the nations and then the end will come.

The missionary movement wasn't really begun in the NT.  We all love the story of Jonah in the OT.  The main story of this book was Jonah's being sent to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyrian Empire to preach the message of salvation.

We know that Nebuchadnezzar eventually defeated the Assyrian Empire and then led the Israelites into captivity.  In Daniel we see four young men who are witnesses to Nebuchadnezzar.  In Daniel 4, we read an official document from Nebuchadnezzar declaring the signs and wonders of the most high God.  Nebuchadnezzar was letting the people know what happened to him for a time when he seemed to disappear.  From what happened to him, he learned to bless the Most High.

Reading Dan 4, it is difficult not to believe that this man was not converted.  But notice that one who once was a tyrant in the world, how he handled the matter of God.  He stated that God does according to His will.  If there is a proud man on this earth, God is able to make him humble.  It is God's prerogative to do so.

As we read of this, we have testimony before us of God's work in the heart of man in the OT.  We begin with Nimrod after the Flood and reach Nebuchadnezzar who was told that the Roman Empire would be destroyed by One Rock.  His nation (Christ's) would be everlasting and fill the whole earth.

What would you think if you got a call from God to go as a missionary to the Taliban...like Jonah was asked to go to Assyria.  But, it has to be every nation to hear the gospel preached.

Turn now to Romans 9.  The argument with God that takes place in this chapter is more about the attitude than the argument.  Paul addresses the attitude rather than the argument.  Remember that Nebuchadnezzar was cut down in the Bible.  We are told over and over that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

The attitude with which we question God is often inappropriate.  Paul answers the challenge to God's election with, "Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?" God has decided what He has chosen to reveal to you in His book and it is ours to study.  But who are you to reply to God with arrogance?  Paul answers with the doctrine of creation.

God is the creator and it is his world.  You are a part of it.  Who do you think you are to question what God has said to you.  We need to understand this.  If we don't talk to our parents the way we talk to our friends on the street, surely we should talk to God with a proper attitude.

It is not just the theological arguments it is the attitude.  God must be approached with humility.  Be careful of what questions you ask of the Bible.  You cannot argue with Him nor can you demand of Him.