God Centered Worship: A Matter of Infinite Importance

True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth John 4:23

“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, …. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:22-24

Worship matters and it must be anchored  entirely on God’s truth. The entire truth about God, which He has revealed about himself  within His word, is the key for any worshiper in truly  knowing God and worshiping  God acceptably in spirit and in truth. It is a matter of infinite importance. Without getting or accepting the complete truth about God as revealed by the scriptures only mean a professed worshiper  is not truly worshiping the God of the bible  but a “god” of his or her own imagination. It is a matter of eternal consequence when people get worship wrong, as a result they do not worship God acceptably however well meaning they may be. Worship matters,  it really does.

‘Worship is not an addendum to life, it is at life’s core. You see, the people who worship God acceptably enter into eternal life, but the people who do not worship God acceptably enter into eternal death. Worship, then, becomes the core. Time and eternity are determined by the nature of a person’s worship.’ True Worship by John MacArthur, Jr.

Quotes from Bob Kauflin’s book “Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God“:

Worship matters. It matters to God because he is the one ultimately worthy of all worship. It matters to us because worshiping God is the reason for which we were created. And it matters to every worship leader, because we have no greater privilege than leading others to encounter the greatness of God. That’s why it’s so important to think carefully about what we do and why we do it. (Pg 19)

Because I want to make it clear from the start that worship isn’t primarily about music, techniques, liturgies, songs, or methodologies. It’s about our hearts. It’s about what and who we love more than anything. Here’s my sobering discovery. I learned that I could lead others in worshiping God and be worshiping something else in my own heart. But by the grace of God, I was beginning to understand what worship is all about. (Pg 25)

That’s why as worship leaders our primary concern can’t be song preparation, creative arrangements, or the latest cool gear. Our primary concern has to be the state of our hearts. The great hymn-writer Isaac Watts once wrote: The Great God values not the service of men, if the heart be not in it: The Lord sees and judges the heart; he has no regard to outward forms of worship, if there be no inward adoration, if no devout affection be employed therein. It is therefore a matter of infinite importance, to have the whole heart engaged steadfastly for God. (Pg 26)

Related Posts:

God Centered Worship: The Importance of Singing Truth

Genuine worship is a response to divine truth as God has revealed Himself in His Word

What Kind of Worship God Desires From His People ?

Finding Joy in Worship – Psalm 100 by Dr. Arturo G. Azurdia

God Centered Worship: The Importance of Singing Truth

The loss of God’s centrality in the life of today’s church is common and lamentable and allows us to transform worship into entertainment.

Soli Deo Gloria: The Erosion Of God-Centered Worship

Wherever in the church biblical authority has been lost, Christ has been displaced, the gospel has been distorted, or faith has been perverted, it has always been for one reason: our interests have displaced God’s and we are doing his work in our way. The loss of God’s centrality in the life of today’s church is common and lamentable. It is this loss that allows us to transform worship into entertainment, gospel preaching into marketing, believing into technique, being good into feeling good about ourselves, and faithfulness into being successful. As a result, God, Christ and the Bible have come to mean too little to us and rest too inconsequentially upon us.

God does not exist to satisfy human ambitions, cravings, the appetite for consumption, or our own private spiritual interests. We must focus on God in our worship, rather than the satisfaction of our personal needs. God is sovereign in worship; we are not. Our concern must be for God’s kingdom, not our own empires, popularity or success.

Thesis Five: Soli Deo Gloria

We reaffirm that because salvation is of God and has been accomplished by God, it is for God’s glory and that we must glorify him always. We must live our entire lives before the face of God, under the authority of God and for his glory alone. We deny that we can properly glorify God if our worship is confused with entertainment, if we neglect either Law or Gospel in our preaching, or if self-improvement, self-esteem or self- fulfillment are allowed to become alternatives to the gospel.

THE CAMBRIDGE DECLARATION of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals April 20, 1996

Quotes from Bob Kauflin’s book “Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God“:

“singing and preaching aren’t incompatible or opposed to each other in any way.  Both are meant to exalt the glory of Christ in our hearts, minds, and wills.  Then whole meeting is worship; the whole meeting should be filled with God’s Word.  And the whole meeting should be characterized by the Spirit’s presence.” (Pg  89)

“Songs are de facto theology.  They teach us who God is, what he’s like, and how to relate to him.  ”We are what we sing,” one man said.  That’s why we want to sing God’s Word.’ (Pg 92)

“Singing God’s Word can include more than reciting specific verses in song.  If the Word of Christ is going to “dwell in [us] richly” (Colossians 3:16), we need songs that explain, clarify, and expound on what God’s word says.  We need songs that have substantive, theologically rich, biblically faithful lyrics.  A consistent diet of shallow, subjective worship songs tends to produce shallow, subjective Christians. (Pg 92)
…….Too often we can be tempted to choose songs because of the music rather than the theological content.  We need to realize that when words are combined with music we can be deceived.  Music can make shallow lyrics sound deep.  A great rhythm section can make drivel sound profound and make you want to sing it again.” (Pg 93)

Related Posts:

Genuine worship is a response to divine truth as God has revealed Himself in His Word

What Kind of Worship God Desires From His People ?

Finding Joy in Worship – Psalm 100 by Dr. Arturo G. Azurdia

Speak O Lord

Speak, O Lord

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow’r that can never fail—
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us—
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Related Posts: Speak, O Lord

Who is God and how are we saved? – Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims

Thabiti Anyabwile has a unique perspective of explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Muslims

In these video clips from the Muslim – Christian dialogue held in Dubai 2009, Thabiti Anyabwile explained the Gospel of Jesus Christ and specifically “Who is God and how are we saved?”. This is third dialogue/debate in a series organised by the Muslim Student Association and Christian Fellowship Club from the University of Wollongong in Dubai.

Thabiti Anyabwile, currently senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman, has a remarkable testimony of being converted to Islam while being a nominal Christian, and then God called him to a true saving faith in Jesus Christ. Being a former Muslim and is now a Christian pastor, Thabiti Anyabwile has a unique perspective of explaining to Muslims the Gospel of Jesus Christ and specifically “Who is God and how are we saved?” with some very useful insights.

Related Post:

Who is Jesus Christ ? – A former Muslim explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ

A Good Time to Thank God for John Calvin.

John Calvin born 10 July 1509 - 500th Anniversary

“Among all those who have been born of women, there has not risen a greater than John Calvin; no age before him ever produced his equal, and no age afterwards has seen his rival. John Calvin propounded truth more clearly than any other man who ever breathed, knew more of Scripture, and explained it more clearly.” – C H Spurgeon on the John Calvin

“There is no soul living who holds more firmly to the doctrines of grace than I do, and if any man asks me whether I am ashamed to be called a Calvinist, I answer—I wish to be called nothing but a Christian; but if you ask me, do I hold the doctrinal views which were held by John Calvin, I reply, I do in the main hold them, and rejoice to avow it.” C H Spurgeon on the doctrines of John Calvin


“The old truth that Calvin preached, that Augustine preached, that Paul preached, is the truth that I must preach to-day, or else be false to my conscience and my God. I cannot shape the truth; I know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John Knox’s gospel is my gospel. That which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again.”— C H Spurgeon on the doctrines of John Calvin

Two clips on John Calvin from Steve Lawson and John Piper:

1. Pastor Dr Steve J. Lawson speaking on John Calvin he found and wrote in his book “The Expository Genius of John Calvin” available from Reformation Press.

2. Pastor Dr John Piper speaking on John Calvin and why a Desiring God Conference in 2009 with a theme focusing on John Calvin right on the 500th year of his birth.

Speak, O Lord

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Psalms 25:4-5

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Psalms 25:4-5

Speak, O Lord

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow’r that can never fail—
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us—
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

The Breath of the Almighty: The Holy Spirit

The Breath of the Almighty: The Holy Spirit

By Pastor Dr. Alistair Begg

at the Ligonier Ministries 2009 National Conference: “The Holiness of God”

Alistair Begg - “The Breath of the Almighty: The Holy Spirit”

Update: Embedded Video “Alistair Begg – “The Breath of the Almighty: The Holy Spirit” is no longer available on YouTube as at 24 June 2009

Please visit Ligonier Ministry’s site to download the MP3 or get the full its DVD on the 2009 National Conference: “The Holiness of God”

For a good blog post on notes taken from this sermon.

For another sermon by Alistair Begg on “Reflections on the Doctrine of Trinity”.

Misunderstanding Grace – Antinomianism’s primary error is confusing Justification with Sanctification

“If you love Me,” Jesus said, “keep My commandments” John 14:15

“Antinomians acquire their distaste for the law in a number of ways. Some believe that they no longer are obligated to keep the moral law of God because Jesus has freed them from it. They insist that grace not only frees us from the curse of God’s law but delivers us from any obligation to obey God’s law. Grace then becomes a license for disobedience.

The astounding thing is that people hold this view despite Paul’s vigorous teaching

Theologian and Pastor Dr R C Sproul

against it.Paul, more than any other New Testament writer, emphasized the differences between law and grace. He gloried in the New Covenant. Nevertheless, he was most explicit in his condemnation of antinomianism. In Romans 3:31 he writes, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

..[Martin] Luther’s view of the law. In the Formula of Concord (1577), the last of the classical Lutheran statements of faith, they outlined three uses for the law:
(1) to reveal sin;
(2) to establish general decency in the society at large; and
(3) to provide a rule of life for those regenerated through faith in Christ.

Antinomianism’s primary error is confusing justification with sanctification. We are justified by faith alone, apart from works. However, all believers grow in faith by keeping God’s holy commands—not to gain God’s favor, but out of loving gratitude for the grace already bestowed on them through the work of Christ.

It is a serious error to assume that the Old Testament was a covenant of law and the New Testament, a covenant of grace. The Old Testament is a monumental testimony to God’s amazing grace toward His people. Likewise, the New Testament is literally filled with commandments. We are not saved by the law, but we demonstrate our love for Christ by obeying His commandments. “If you love Me,” Jesus said, “keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

We frequently hear the statement, “Christianity isn’t a lot of do’s and don’ts; it is not a list of rules.” There is some truth in this deduction, inasmuch as Christianity is far more than a mere list of rules. It is, at its center, a personal relationship with Christ Himself. Yet Christianity is also not less than rules. The New Testament clearly includes some do’s and don’ts. Christianity is not a religion that sanctions the idea that everyone has the right to do what is right in his own eyes. On the contrary, Christianity never gives anyone the “right” to do what is wrong.” R C Sproul – Essential Truths of the Christian Faith (c) 1992, Antinomianism, p. 194-195 (emphasis in bold are mine)

Misunderstanding on the teaching of Grace

Romans 6:15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

In Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount“, he commented that misunderstanding will arise when preaching with a “mighty emphasis upon grace”. An erroneous and dangerous misunderstanding led some to think and believe wrongly that the perfect moral Law of God, Decalogue or Ten Commandments, has no place in the life of a  believer:  New Testament’s grace has made the Old Testament’s moral law  redundant. This is not the truth taught by scriptures:

“There was never a man whose preaching, with its mighty emphasis upon grace, was so frequently misunderstood [as Paul]. You remember the deduction some people had been drawing in Rome and in other places. They said, ‘Now then, in view of the teaching of this man Paul, let us do evil that grace may abound, for, surely, this teaching is something that leads to that conclusion and to no other. Paul has just been saying, “Where sin abounded grace did much more abound”; very well, let us continue in sin that more and more grace may abound.’ ‘God forbid’, says Paul; and he is constantly having to say that. To say that because we are under grace we therefore have nothing at all to do with law and can forget it, is not the teaching of the Scriptures. We certainly are no longer under the law but under grace. Yet that does not mean we need not keep the law. We are not under the law in the sense that it condemns us; it no longer pronounces judgement or condemnation on us. No! but we are meant to live it, and we are even meant to go beyond it. The argument of the Apostle Paul is that I should live, not as a man who is under the law, but as Christ’s free man. Christ kept the law, He lived the law; as this very Sermon on the Mount emphasizes, our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. Indeed, He has not come to abolish the law; every jot and tittle of the law has to be fulfilled and perfected. Now that is something which we very frequently find forgotten in this attempt to put up law and grace as antitheses, and the result is that men and women often completely and entirely ignore the law.

But let me put it this way. It is not true to say of many of us that in actual practice our view of the doctrine of grace is such that we scarcely ever take the plain teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ seriously ?  We have so emphasized the teaching that all is of grace and that we ought not to imitate His example in order to make ourselves Christians, that we are virtually in the position of ignoring His teaching altogether and of saying that it has nothing to do with us because we are under grace. Now I wonder how seriously we take the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ . ” Martyn Lloyd-Jones – Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, i, p. 12 (emphasis in bold are mine)

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Mathews 5:17- 20

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void. Luke 16:17

Related Posts:

Misunderstanding Grace : “outside the law” is not the same as having no law

Misunderstanding Grace: Easy to miss the path and go far astray from the truth

Misunderstanding Grace – Antinomianism’s primary error is confusing Justification with Sanctification

The Heart of Every Real Christian is Most Reverent Towards the Law of the Lord

Evangelism: Faithful Preaching of Gospel in Full

An excellent “must see” video clip documentary on how, Mark and Gloria Zook, a New Tribes Mission’s missionary couple from the US went to Papua New Guinea to share the Gospel with Papuan natives in a remote village.These people have previously never seen the world outside of their village. These people have never heard of God of the bible, the missionaries did not want to jump right into sharing who Jesus Christ is without first providing them the full picture on the Gospel story as revealed by the bible. The missionaries started by sharing with these Papuan natives simple information on the location where the natives lived relative to others in PNG and in relation to the community of world nations. The Papuan natives started to have a bigger worldview beyond their remote village. They realized that there is a much bigger world beyond their village. With an enhanced worldview, teaching the bible and its events began to make much better sense.

The missionaries took great pains to faithfully teach and explain the whole counsel of God, starting from the creation of the world, creation of man and how man sinned against God, the basis of Old Testament revelations in the calling of Abraham and the sacrificial offering of Isaac by Abraham and how God finally provided the sacrificial lamb. Old Testament’s typology were carefully explained and necessity for a perfect sin bearer to atone the sins of sinners and then pointing to God sending His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was faithfuly expounded and the people began to see their sinfulness to be as vile as that of people of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is evident that God moved amongst these people, by His grace, the glorious Gospel’s saving power to shine into their hearts, giving them light and opening the hearts to repentance and faith. The people turned to trust in Jesus Christ and were overjoyed that they have found a Savior in Jesus Christ, they loved Him. This video showed the results of true evangelism, wrought through faithful preaching of Gospel in full and relying on God’s mighty power and promise to save through His Gospel.

Mark Zook – Biography

Mark Zook and his wife, Gloria, were born and reared in Belleville, Pennsylvania. While farming, they were involved in their local church and in correspondence courses through Moody Bible Institute.

They completed New Tribes Mission’s training and moved to Papua New Guinea in 1983 to begin working with the Mouk People. After learning the language and culture, Mark began Bible translation, Bible teaching, and church planting work. He has translated the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament, developed an extensive Bible teaching curriculum in the Mouk language, and trained Mouk believers for the ministry which has been documented in the videos EE-TAOW and EE-TAOW, the Next Chapter. More than one hundred Mouk men serve as pastor-elders, deacons, Bible teachers, teacher trainees, and literacy program workers ministering to the eighteen indigenous churches in the Mouk tribal area. During the time the Zooks lived and worked with the Mouk tribe, Mark also served as a consultant for tribal missionaries.

Upon returning to Pennsylvania in 1997, Mark joined the team that developed new curriculum for the New Tribes Missions Institute. For the next four years, he taught and refined church planting courses. He has presented church planting seminars in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, Argentina, Portugal and the Philippines.

Most recently, Mark co-founded the Worldview Resource Group (WRG), which provides training in cross-cultural church planting methodology with an emphasis on a worldview approach to ministry. Mark’s seminars and workshops are a combination of proven methodology and Biblically-based, practical advice. On December 11, 2004, he received the Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Lancaster Bible College.

Mark and Gloria live in Belleville, PA. They have two children, Rick and Nichole, and two grandchildren. Rick and his family are church planters in Papua New Guinea. Nichole and her family live in Pennsylvania.

An Almighty God

There is but one only,living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts,or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise,(Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

When the Bible declares that God is Almighty, it simply mean that God is all powerful and  unlimited in power and He  has absolute power over all. He is not limited in any way.  He alone has unlimited authority and influence, He is omnipotent.  In all of creation, there is no power like His for He alone is The Creator. No other  power, seen and unseen, able to or can withstand Him. No power, before or now or that to come, can oppose Him. He is not weary and He does not fail for nothing can thwart what  He purposes to do. God is the supreme power,  He is LORD and there is no other: For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. (Ps 95:3).

It is  interesting to note that the word Almighty, with reference to God, occurs no less than fifty seven times in the Bible. An Almighty God revealed to Abraham and declared to  him  in Genesis 17:1, “the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;..”

The Apostle John  saw and heard and recorded for us : “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”” Rev 4:8

In the book of Job, the reference to God as Almighty occurs 32 times,  Job was humbled and  learned anew that God is God and He is The Almighty God:  Job 37:23-38:1-2,4  The Almighty–we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.  Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? ”…… “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? ''...... "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Job 37-38

As we enter a new year of where many storms of  uncertainties are still brewing in the horizon, lets always  keep in view, our faith is in the  God of the Bible  who is ALMIGHTY and He is also Good, Faithful and Unchangeable.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

The birthplace of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and King of Israel, as prophesied in the Old Testament is in Bethlehem, King David’s royal city.

Modern day Bethlehem is in Palestinian political controlled territory.

Luk 2:1 -6
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

“Mary had up to this time been living at the wrong place for Messiah’s birth. A little longer stay at Nazareth, and the prophecy would have failed. But lo! with no intention certainly on her part, much less of Caesar Augustus, to fulfil the prophecy, she is brought from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and at that nick of time her period arrives, and her Babe is born (Psa_118:23).” (Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary on Luke 2)

Joh 7:41-43  Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him.

Regarding why Jesus Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, King David’s royal city: what did the scriptures from the Old Testament say ?

Mic 5:2-4  But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

1Sa 16:1  The LORD said to Samuel, “….Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”

Luk 1:32  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.“

Mat 2:5-6  They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:”‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.‘”

Two hymns below relating to Bethlehem as the birth place of the God’s only Messiah. God’s only Way, Truth and Life  to redeem a sinning elect, by His grace alone,  from the world to be born again through the mighty work of the Holy Spirit and imputed with the  righteousness of God in  Jesus Christ.

O little town of Bethlehem

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth!

How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

Where children pure and happy pray to the blessèd Child,
Where misery cries out to Thee, Son of the mother mild;
Where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY

Once in royal David’s city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.

He came down to earth from Heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.

And, through all His wondrous childhood,
He would honor and obey,
Love and watch the lowly maiden,
In whose gentle arms He lay:
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as He.

For He is our childhood’s pattern;
Day by day, like us He grew;
He was little, weak and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us He knew;
And He feeleth for our sadness,
And He shareth in our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love,
For that Child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in Heav’n above,
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone.

Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see Him; but in Heaven,
Set at God’s right hand on high;
Where like stars His children crowned
All in white shall wait around

Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God with us

Il Tintoretto 1518 – 1594 – The Annunciation
oil on canvas (440 × 542 cm) — c. 1563 Scuola di San Rocco, Venice
Il Tintoretto biography

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the prophecy came to Prophet Isaiah
Isa 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Luk 1:26  In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
Luk 1:27  to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
Luk 1:28  And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
Luk 1:29  But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
Luk 1:30  And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Luk 1:31  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Luk 1:32  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
Luk 1:33  and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Luk 1:34  And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
Luk 1:35  And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God.
Luk 1:36  And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
Luk 1:37  For nothing will be impossible with God.”

God is beyond comprehension ?

There is but one only,living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts,or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty,….…(Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

We are often trying to cram the vast ocean of God's truth about Himself into our little box of brains.

Isa 55:8 -59  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Rom 11:33-34  Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

What do we mean when we say the Bible declare that God is incomprehensible? When the Bible states that  God is incomprehensible, we mean God through scripture is saying that  there is much about Him that is still mysterious. God is simply beyond our understanding and comprehension. Augustine of Hippo was trying  and struggling hard  to understand the Trinity nature of God without success until he recognized  the humbling fact that as a finite creature he was merely trying “to cram the ocean of God’s truth about Himself into his little box of brains”.

I have heard people say (sadly…arrogantly), unless they can see and understand God, they cannot possibly have a faith in God. One must honestly ask oneself:  can a finite creature ever understand an eternal and infinite God ? Of course not. Unless God chooses to reveal the truth and illumine the minds, even if we are staring at the truth, we will still be blind to the truth and have no light to see through the darkness.

We must very careful not cut God down to a size that we can handle or a level that we can understand, that would be idolatry. While God transcends our understanding, He has revealed enough through His creative work and His Holy Scriptures and His Prophets and Apostles and through His perfect gift: His only begotten Son, the blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Our response as finite creatures and wretched sinners saved by His grace should be:

“As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number: Job 5:8-9

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Rom 11:36

There is but one only living and true God

Oh God, as finite creatures, it is our desire to know you and to know your attributes. We look into your Word, for your Word declare who you are: there is but one only living and true God. We worship thee,  the only living and true God who is perfect and infinite.

There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, …… (Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

Deu 6:4  “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

1Co 8:6  “there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

1 Th 1:9 ” the living and true God“

Jer 10:10  But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King.

1Ti 1:17  To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Job 11:7 -9 “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven–what can you do? Deeper than Sheol–what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.”

Joh 4:24  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Act 14:15 “a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”