I'm reading Timothy George's book, Theology of the Reformers, the author quotes Calvin's commentary on Colossians 1:17 as the "orienting focus of his [Calvin's] entire theological program". I thought this was a nice bridge from the last sermon series on Colossians to the new series on "Hard Questions." The centrality of Christianity is the person of Christ. To win people to Christ we must introduce to the person of Jesus Christ. We must present not only our personal relationship Christ, but doctrinal truths about His person. Or as Calvin puts it, we must present the "excellencies of His person." Here's the verse and the paragraph about the verse from Calvin's commentary.
Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
John Calvin Giving thanks. Again he returns to thanksgiving, that he may take this opportunity of enumerating the blessings which had been conferred upon them through Christ, and thus he enters upon a full delineation of Christ. For this was the only remedy for fortifying the Colossians against all the snares, by which the false Apostles endeavored to entrap them — to understand accurately what Christ was. For how comes it that we are carried about with so many strange doctrines, (Hebrews 13:9) but because the excellence of Christ is not perceived by us? For Christ alone makes all other things suddenly vanish. Hence there is nothing that Satan so much endeavors to accomplish as to bring on mists with the view of obscuring Christ, because he knows, that by this means the way is opened up for every kind of falsehood. This, therefore, is the only means of retaining, as well as restoring pure doctrine — to place Christ before the view such as he is with all his blessings, that his excellence may be truly perceived.
Deuteronomy 33:12
Of Benjamin he said,
“The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.
The High God surrounds him all day long,
and dwells between his shoulders.”
The phrase "dwells between his shoulders" struck me as a curious phrase. Does "his shoulders" mean "God's shoulders" or "Benjamin shoulders?" What does "dwell between his shoulders mean?" Here are some interesting observations from a couple of commentaries.
Pulpit Commentary
And he shall dwell between his shoulders. "To be between the shoulders" is to be carried on the back (cf. 1 Samuel 17:6); and as a father might thus bear his child, so should Benjamin be borne of the Lord. There can be no doubt that Benjamin is the subject of this clause; to understand it of Jehovah dwelling on the shoulders of Benjamin, in the sense of having the temple, the place of his rest, within the territory of Benjamin, is too violent and far-fetched an interpretation to be admitted. In the change of subject in the three clauses of this verse, there is nothing strange, since such a change repeatedly occurs, and is found even in prose, as e.g., 2 Samuel 11:13. "To dwell upon God, and between his shoulders, means as much as to lean upon him; the similitude being taken from fathers who carry their sons while yet small and tender" (Calvin).
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
and he shall dwell between his shoulders; either the Lord shall dwell between the shoulders of Benjamin; the temple in which the Lord dwelt was built on Mount Moriah, in the tribe of Benjamin, in the highest part of his land, as Jarchi notes; the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words,"in his border the Shechinah (or the glory of the Shechinah of the Lord) shall dwell,''for if the temple was not within the tribe of Benjamin, yet it was certainly on the borders of it: or Benjamin shall dwell between the shoulders of the Lord, being bore up and supported by him: Christ dwells in the hearts of his people, and over them as an head, and they dwell upon his shoulders, on which the care and government of them lies, Isaiah 9:6; in the Talmud (n) this passage is applied to the days of the Messiah.
Cool, I thought, so I decided to continue looking up "God dwells within us" verses.
In Genesis 3, we have God walking in the garden wanting to fellowship with His people. However, Adam and Eve could not abide with God because of their sin.
Genesis 3:8
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
The following passage is Noah cursing Canaan. However, like most of the curses in Genesis, there is a promise of future blessing at the end of the curse.
Genesis 9:25-27
he [Noah] said,
“Cursed be Canaan;
a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
He also said,
“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem;
and let Canaan be his servant.
May God enlarge Japheth,
and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,
and let Canaan be his servant.”
The phrase "and let him dwell in the tents of Shem" is once again ambiguous. Is it "Japheth dwelling in the tents of Shem" or is it "God dwelling in the tents of Shem"? I blogged before about how I think it is God dwelling in the tents of the future Semites: the nation of Israel (http://cslewisandcoalbiters.blogspot.com/2013/05/god-will-dwell-in-tents-of-shem-genesis.html). God intends to dwell within His chosen people.
I listed the rest of these verses because I like meditating on them. God dwells within us both corporately as a church and individually in our hearts. God's plan from the beginning in Genesis was to dwell with his people. Christ, through His sacrifice, enables God to dwell in our hearts, and eventually, abide with us in the New Jerusalem.
Exodus 29:44-46
I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.
Ezekiel 43:7-9
and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places, by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.
Zechariah 2:10-11
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
Zechariah 8:1-9
And the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus says the LORD: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the LORD of hosts? Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”
Romans 8:9-11
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Ephesians 3:14-19
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Revelation 21:3-4
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
We know we will one day dwell with Christ in glory. We will see Him face to face and be like Him in love, purity and holiness. Even now, we are becoming more like Him as He he strengthens us and encourages us. (1 Corinthians 3:12; 1 John 3:2)
The first blog about this topic focused on poverty. This article focuses on suffering and how to interpret suffering in light of God's word. The following passage from Luke shows how Jesus responded to the news of two horrible circumstances.
Luke 13:1-5
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Leon Morris on the disaster of the Tower of Siloam
Jesus goes on to speak of another disaster in Jerusalem, also unknown to us apart from this reference. His hearers are not to suppose that the eighteen people who had been killed when the tower in Siloam fell were worse offenders (really 'debtors'; people owe God obedience) than others. But their fate is a warning to his audience of the urgency of repenting. Luke uses a present imperative (with continuous force) in verse 3 and an aorist (of a single decisive action here. Repentance is both a once-for-all event that shapes the whole subsequent course of the life and a day-by-day affair that keeps putting sin away. (pp. 239 - 240, Luke (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries)
Jesus refuses to answer their question directly. Everyone, except for Jesus, sins and deserves death. Jesus's point is that the degree of sin is unimportant in these disasters. They are all sinners. Jesus is urging them to reflect upon the suddenness of death. The people who were killed by Pilate and who died from the tower did not have time to repent. Repent now and keep repenting. Use every opportunity now to ask for forgiveness and turn back to God, because you never know when your death may come.
There is a very similar passage in the gospel of John. Read the entire encounter of Jesus and the blind man, but what concerns the topic at hand is the beginning.
John 9:1-7
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
Leon Morris made some good observations about the passage.
Leon Morris
So the disciples were not manufacturing an imaginary problem. It is clear that among the religious teachers of the Jews there were some who thought a person might well be punished for sins he had comitted before birth, and there were some who held that even very serious afflications might be the punishment of parental sins. So this blind man presented them with a problem. It was not easy to see how he could have sinned before birth a sin serious enough to merit such a heavy punishment. Nor could they see why the heavenly Father of whom Jesus had taught them so much would punish a man in this terrible fashion for the sins of someone else. But in their culture these seemed the only possibilities. So they ask Jesus. Whose sin was it? (p. 348, Expository Reflections on the Gospel of John)
Leon Morris
This blindness, Jesus said, was "so that the works of God might be made manifest in him." I do not think that Jesus means that the man was made to go through all his life up to this point without ever having been able to see, simply in order that Jesus might effect a cure and thus manifest "the works of God." Rather he is saying that the blindness something in and through which God's "works" are manifest.(ibid, p. 348)
Leon Morris
That the works of God are made manifest has its consequences for the people of God: "We must," said Jesus, "work the works of him who sent me" (v. 4). God chooses to do his mighty works through those on earth, at least as a general rule. He can do mighty miracles without human participation, but normally he chooses to let his people have a part in the great works he is doing. (ibid, p. 348)
I have just a side thought, Morris doesn't think God made the man blind his entire life just "to effect a cure." I am sure he is right. However, what would you say if you were the blind man? What if you were told that you have to be blind for decades, but at the end of this time: Jesus will come, Jesus will touch you, Jesus will heal you, you will meet Jesus, you will talk to Jesus, and you will spend eternity with Him? Is that not worth the cost of the blindness? God uses suffering to draw people to Himself.
It is impossible for us, unless we have divine revelation, to tie a particular life circumstance or disaster to sin. Job's wife and friends tried to do that with Job and they were wrong. The apostles, using the bad doctrine of their day, were wrong about the blind man. We are all under the curse of Adam. All death and suffering is tied to sin, but to say one person is a bigger sinner on this earth because he is suffering more is faulty logic. We do not know how God is using suffering in a person's life, or in a town, or in a nation. A Christian sees the suffering around and should feel sorrow and anger. This is not the way the world is intended to be. However, the Christian's response is not bitterness or depression or hopelessness. A Christian sees hope because God is in control. A Christian knows that suffering is not pointless. God gives suffering a meaning and will use it in our lives (Romans 8:32). A Christian is assured that God will eventually bring suffering to an end to those who love Him.
How then shall we actively respond to suffering? If we are an unbeliever and if we do not have Jesus Christ as our Lord, we should repent and confess Jesus as Lord. If we are believers, we are in the body of Christ. As His Body, we should emulate Christ. Christ's response to suffering was "We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work." We, as Christ's Body, are to do the work of the God the Father. We should do as Jesus did on the earth: Preach the Gospel and perform good works.
I created a document that lists all the books of the Bible in both English and Creole. Not all the translators know the Bible very well, so being able to find the books in a Creole Bible makes finding passages easier for everyone.
My faith family is finishing up on Ephesians. Here are some great quotes by Charles Hodge from his commentary, Ephesians (Crossway Classic Commentaries),
on the Ephesians passage on the Panoply of God (Whole Armour of God). The following passage is from the ESV version.
Ephesians 6:10-20
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Hodge, in the introduction to the section, emphasizes that the spiritual conflict is real and not just a moral conflict.
Though the redemption purchased by Christ, as described in this epistle, is so complete and so free, yet between the beginning and the consummation of the work there is a protracted conflict. This is not a figure of speech. It is something real and arduous. Salvation, however gratuitous, is not to be obtained without great effort. The Christian conflict is not only real, it is difficult and dangerous. It is one in which true believers are often grievously wounded; and multitudes of reputed believers entirely succumb. It is one also in which great mistakes are often committed and serious loss incurred from ignorance of its nature, and of the appropriate means for carrying it on. Men are apt to regard it as a mere moral conflict between reason and conscience on the one side, and evil passions on the other. They therefore rely on their own strength, and upon the resources of nature for success. Against these mistakes the apostle warns his readers. He teaches that every thing pertaining to it is supernatural. The source of strength is not in nature. The conflict is not between the good and bad principles of our nature. He shows that we belong to a spiritual, as well as to a natural world, and are engaged in a combat in which the higher powers of the universe are involved; and that this conflict, on the issue of which our salvation depends, is not to be carried on with straws picked up by the wayside. As we have superhuman enemies to contend with, we need not only superhuman strength, but divine armour and arms.
Hodge, commenting on the "Belt of Truth," argues that only Biblical truth can stand up against the onslaught of the Evil One.
“Reason, tradition, speculative conviction, dead orthodoxy, are a girdle of spider-webs. They give way at the first onset. Truth alone, as abiding in the mind in the form of divine knowledge, can give strength or confidence even in the ordinary conflicts of the Christian life, much more in any really "evil day.”
Hodge emphasizes that the Church as a whole needs to depend on the "Sword of the Spirit" alone. If the Church depends on anything else, it will fail.
All her[The Church] triumphs over sin and error have been effected by the word of God. So long as she uses this and relies on it alone, she goes on conquering; but when any thing else, be it reason, science, tradition, or the commandments of men, is allowed to take its place or to share its office, then the church, or the Christian, is at the mercy of the adversary. Hoc signo vinces—the apostle may be understood to say to every believer and to the whole church.”
Pastor Dan has encouraged the Haiti team to read the Gospel of John several times. He wanted us to pay attention to the interactions he had with people. Around the same time, Amazon offered a free e-book, Jesus the Evangelist: Learning to Share the Gospel from the Book of John by Richard D. Phillips. I downloaded it and started reading it. The book pointed out one interaction that I probably would have missed: Jesus and Andrew.
Here are the three main interactions between Jesus and Andrew in the gospel.
John 1:40-42
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
John 6:1-9
After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”
John 12:20-22
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
In looking at the above passages, Andrew's ministry consisted of bringing people to Jesus. He did not write a gospel or epistle. In Acts, he never preached. In his book, Phillips quoted John MacArthur's summation of Andrew's ministry.
Richard D. Phillips
John MacArthur writes: "[Andrew] did not seek to be the center of attention. He did not seem to resent those who labored in the limelight. He was evidently pleased to do what he could with the gifts and calling God had bestowed on him, and he allowed the others to do likewise."
Jesus the Evangelist: Learning to Share the Gospel from the Book of John
MacArthur is using the life of Andrew to make a very important point. God has spiritually gifted all believers for the ministry. The apostle Paul explains this doctrine to the church at Corinth.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Paul taught that each spiritual gifting is unique to the individual believer. The problems the Corinthians were having was using their spiritual gifts to bring glory to themselves, Their selfishness and pride were causing divisions within the church. Spiritual gifts were meant to bring unity and mutual dependency to the body of Christ and thereby, glorify God.
1 Corinthians 12:21-27
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
The key for God using both our natural and spiritual gifts to bring unity to the Church and glory to Himself is humility. Andrew is a good example of humility and we can learn from his example; however, Christ is our standard and he exhibited perfect humility.
Philippians 2:1-11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We may not be able to preach like Paul or Peter, but we can all serve Christ like Andrew. According to the Gospel of John, Andrew simply brought people to Christ. We can invite people to Church or to house church. We can invite people to coffee so we can talk about Jesus. We can help people meet Jesus.
I am still reading about God's omnipresence in The Existence and Attributes of God. In the paragraph I am quoting below, Charnock does a great job explaining how the fact of God being present everywhere should be a great comfort to us in our worship. He uses some Old Testament imagery that I want to explain first.
Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
2 Corinthians 6:16
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
The Holy Spirit dwells both within the Christian community (His Church) and within the individual believer. God is present everywhere, but God is present within the Christian in a special way. God is present within us in some of the same ways as He was present within Israel at first in the tabernacle and later in the temple. Charnock points out this truth, but he then extends the imagery by quoting the prophet Haggai.
Haggai 2:3-5
‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.
After Israel came back from the exile, they rebuilt the temple (see Ezra). This second temple must not have been as beautiful and as glorious as Solomon's temple. They were exiles, they were underfunded, under attack, and undermanned while they rebuilt the temple. They did not have the resources to build a great temple. The eldest members of the group remembered the former glory of the temple and were discouraged. However God through Haggai reminded them that His glory did not depend on the house where He chose to dwell. He told them be strong and remember His covenant with them: He will dwell among them. With this backdrop, here's the quote.
Stephen Charnock It is not the meanness of the place of worship can exclude him; the second temple was not so magnificent as the first, of Solomon's erecting; and the Jews seem to despond of so glorious a presence of God in the second, as they had in the first, because they thought it not so good for the entertainment of him that inhabits eternity; but God comforts them against this conceit again and again: Hag. ii. 8,4, 'Be strong, be strong, be strong, I am with you ;' the meanness of the place shall not hinder the grandeur of my presence. No matter what the room is, so it be the presence chamber of the King, wherein he will favour our suits, he can everywhere slide into our souls with a perpetual sweetness, since he is everywhere, and so intimate with every one that fears him. If we should see God on earth in his amiableness, as Moses did, should we not be encouraged by his presence, to present our requests to him, to echo out our praises of him? And have we not as great a ground now to do it, since he is as really present with us, as if he were visible to us? He is in the same room with us, as near to us as our souls to our bodies; not a word but he hears, not a motion but he sees, not a breath but he perceives; he is through all, he is in all. (The Existence and Attributes of God.)
Most of us understand the doctrine of "Union with Christ." God through Christ abides within us. However, we struggle at times and we don't feel God is listening to our prayers. At those times, we should take heart in the teachings of Haggai. God told the returning exiles that it does not matter if you feel the temple is not good enough for Me. Be strong and do not fear because I will keep my covenant and remain in you. God reminds the returning exiles that His glory does not depend on them. In a like manner, according to First Corinthians, we are God's temple (1 Cor. 3:16). No matter how bad you think you are, if you have repented and have put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you from your sin, you have the Holy Spirit living within you. You may think you are a just a scrap heap of a temple, but God chooses to abide in you. God does not depend on you for His glory. God alone chooses how he manifests His glory to the world. Be strong and fear not for God is with you. Take comfort in the fact that his distance from you does not depend on your feelings. If you are a Christian, God is closer to you than your body is to your soul.
, the author quotes Calvin's commentary on Colossians 1:17 as the "orienting focus of his [Calvin's] entire theological program". I thought this was a nice bridge from the last sermon series on Colossians to the new series on "Hard Questions." The centrality of Christianity is the person of Christ. To win people to Christ we must introduce to the person of Jesus Christ. We must present not only our personal relationship Christ, but doctrinal truths about His person. Or as Calvin puts it, we must present the "excellencies of His person." Here's the verse and the paragraph about the verse from Calvin's commentary.
and I saw a reference to Deuteronmy 33:12:
)
,
on the Ephesians passage on the Panoply of God (Whole Armour of God). The following passage is from the ESV version.
by Richard D. Phillips. I downloaded it and started reading it. The book pointed out one interaction that I probably would have missed: Jesus and Andrew. 
. In the paragraph I am quoting below, Charnock does a great job explaining how the fact of God being present everywhere should be a great comfort to us in our worship. He uses some Old Testament imagery that I want to explain first.
