Coffee House Chapel #5

September 22

Romans 11:30-32, “For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.”

Dr. Boice tells us that there are three very important things to remember about mercy:

1. You can appeal to mercy. “The right of God to show mercy to whom He will show mercy, and compassion to whom He will show compassion, cannot be challenged.” (Boice) No one can compel God to grant mercy - else wise it wouldn’t be mercy. But you can certainly appeal to mercy. God’s Word is filled with examples of those who cried out to God for mercy.

2. If you have received mercy, you must be merciful to others. Jesus told of a servant who owed much - and was forgiven by his master. The forgiven servant then prosecuted a man who owed him just a little - and had him thrown into jail for his inability to pay. “The point is that you cannot claim to have been forgiven by God if you are then unforgiving or harsh with other people. The followers of Jesus must be the most merciful of all people.” (Boice)

3. If you have found mercy, you must make it widely known. It is our duty to tell the world of God’s mercy. Yes, God is sovereign. Yes, God has mercy on whom He will. But the “Great Commission” orders the followers of Jesus Christ to spread the Gospel Message - the truth of God’s mercy. God has never rejected anyone who believed on His Son - Jesus Christ.

Come, every soul by sin oppressed,
There’s mercy with the Lord,
And He will surely give you rest,
By trusting in His Word.
Only trust Him, only trust Him,
Only trust Him now.
He will save you, He will save you,
He will save you now.

If you are reading this devotional - and have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior - I beg you to call upon His Name - before it is eternally to late. If you do - you will find Him a God of great mercy.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

September 24

Romans 11:33-35, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”

Studying prophecy is a good thing. Understanding what God is going to do in the future is a good thing. Becoming proud, because we think we have the inside track on what God is going to do in the future is a bad thing.

All too often, when political situations are bad, or very bad, many prophecy loving believers rejoice in the bad news. Their attitude is “If things are getting worse, the Lord must be about to come back!” There is nothing wrong with desiring the Lord’s soon return for His church, but to exult in bad news has no basis in Scripture. The biblical writers did not joy over bad news - they grieved over bad news. When Paul wrote Romans 9-11, he certainly displayed his knowledge of future events - but he was not smug about it. Paul’s purpose in writing our current text is to give us a doxology that leads to glorifying and drawing close to the Lord.

Paul “traced the ways of God in history, and contributed to our knowledge of those ways by revealing that in the last days God will draw the masses of the Jewish people to faith.” (Boice) “And so all Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:26). Where does this prophetic passage lead us? Paul was “not smug about his knowledge - he was rather in awe of God. Paul’s response is to burst forth in the magnificent doxology with which this sections ends.” (Boice)

Paul has been writing about mercy. Joseph Addison wrote about mercy in this hymn of 1712:

“When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I’m lost
In wonder, love, and praise!”

In this doxology - Paul contemplated the mercies of God. Paul was lost in the wonder of God’s mercy, and as a result wrote this doxology, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Ver 33)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

September 26

Romans 11:33-35, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”

In his doxology to this portion of Romans - Paul mentions some important attributes of our Heavenly Father. Boice writes, “In our day, what we want to do is jump on quickly to Romans 12 and ‘get practical,’ rather than taking time to contemplate the perfections of the deity.”

When Spurgeon was but twenty years old, he made the following statement in a sermon on the immutability of God, “the proper study of God’s elect is God. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he call his Father.” Spurgeon argued that thinking about God improves the mind and expands it.

How often do we regularly think about God? We owe all that we are and all that we have to the grace of God! But do we think about Him? Do we worship Him? Do we have time for Him?

A. W. Tozer wrote the following in his book “The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life:”

“The church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshiping men. This she has done not deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic.

“This low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our religious thinking.

“With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence. Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the Spirit. The words, ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshiper in this middle period of the twentieth century.

“The loss of the concept of majesty has come just when the forces of religion are making dramatic gains and the churches are more prosperous than at any time within the past several hundred years. But the alarming thing is that our gains are mostly external and our losses wholly internal; and since it is the quality of our religion that is affected by internal conditions, it may be that our supposed gains are but losses spread over a wider field.”

That quote was published in 1961. The situation has not improved since his day. We have become addicted to self. The me-centered philosophy of modern Christianity (not to mention the unchristian culture) has made the situation worse. Most of us have observed this decline, without being aware that there was a decline.

Boice writes, “ No people ever rise higher than their idea of God. Conversely, a loss of the sense of God’s high and awesome character always involves a loss of a people’s moral values and even what we commonly call ‘humanity.’ We are startled by the utter disregard for human life that has overtaken large segments of the United States. But what do we expect to see when a country like ours openly turns its back on God? We deplore the breakdown of moral standards in the church, even among its most visible leaders. But what do we think should happen when we have focused our worship services on ourselves and our own, often trivial, needs rather than on God?”

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

September 28

Romans 11:33-35, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”

While it is true that we humans are very preoccupied with ourselves and what we possess, we have another debilitating problem. We humans are saddled with a human brain - that cannot comprehend God. “God is not really like anything else we actually experience or know. As a result, there is always something about God that is indescribable, and this makes it hard to think about Him.” (Boice)

When we talk about God - we describe Him in terms that we can understand. In fact, many societies invent gods that look like themselves. As we grow closer to God, we can understand why Paul cried out, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments,” because even the great apostle could not adequately describe God.

When Ezekiel had his vision of God - he had a difficult time describing God, because he was seeing something he had never seen before. His description used language of resemblance, “And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.” (Ezek 1:4-5)

As Ezekiel got nearer the throne, his words became less sure, “And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.” (Vers 22, 24)

When Ezekiel finally stood in front of the throne, the only thing he could say was, “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.” (Ver 28)

God prohibited the worship of Himself by images in the second commandment. One might ask, “What harm can it do? Don’t images merely focus the attention of the worshiper?”

J. I. Packer has two answers to those questions: First, “Images dishonor God, for they are always less than He is and therefore obscure rather than reveal His glory.” Second, “Images inevitably mislead the worshiper, for they suggest false ideas by comparison.”

God revealed Himself to us in Jesus, yet we have no pictures of Him. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all revealed to us the same way - through Scripture. “God is always partially hidden, and even the parts we see, we see only because God has revealed them to us in the Bible.” (Boice)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

September 30

Romans 11:33-35, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”

There is a distinction between God’s communicable and incommunicable attributes. Communicable refers to the characteristics about God that He shares with us. These attributes include such things as knowledge, wisdom, love, and mercy – some of the things Paul mentions in this doxology. These attributes of God are attributes that we can relate to - to a certain extent. These are attributes that we possess on a finite level, attributes that God possesses on an infinite level. The incommunicable attributes are attributes that God does not share with us on any level. These attributes include such things as self-existence, self-sufficiency, and eternality.

We will be looking at some of God’s communicable attributes, but first I want to consider three of God’s incommunicable attributes.

1. Self-existence. “This means that God has no origins, that He has always been and that He owes His existence to nobody.” (Boice) When I consider my own existence - I can only say that I am what I am by the grace of God. Do you remember what God told Moses at the burning bush about Himself? Exodus 3:14, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” I AM THAT I AM - none of us can say that and be truthful in saying that - but God can - and He did.

How do we learn? Generally we break things down into their constituent (or elemental) parts - and then we trace those parts back to their origin. “If we can explain how something came to be, we are well on the way to understanding it.” (Boice) The problem is - we cannot do that to God! When we analyze things (all things) - everything points back to God as the only sufficient cause. “But God points back to nothing. He is existent in Himself alone and therefore ultimately is unknowable. God cannot be analyzed and evaluated as created things can be.” (Boice)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

October 2

Romans 11:33-35, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”

Last time we began looking at God’s incommunicable attributes - attributes that we humans do not possess, even in the slightest amount. We looked at God’s self-existence. Today we look at:

2. Self-sufficiency. God has no needs - and He depends on no one or thing. We humans are not self-sufficient. We need oxygen to breathe, food to eat, places to reside, clothing to wear, and so on. If we do not have these needs - we would die. In the case oxygen, death would be almost instant. In the case of food, death might take from one to several months. In the case of clothing, depending upon where we live it could be less than an hour (at the north pole). “God does not need anything. In Himself, he is and has everything He needs.” (Boice)

This truth is not accepted by many people, Christians included. Many think that God is like us, and they assume God needs things, “if not to survive, at least to be happy and fulfilled as God.” (Boice) For example, many people imagine that God was lonely - so he created man to keep Him company. Let me suggest to you that the triune God had and continues to have a perfectly fulfilling relationship with Himself.

Some suppose God needs worshipers! If the entire population of the world were to instantly become atheists – “God would be no more deprived by our atheism than the sun would be deprived of light if all of us should become blind.” (Boice)

Of course, others think God needs helpers! They believe that God could not get the job done, unless Christians were here to help Him. Friends, God has given us the privilege to work for Him. In the garden - God gave Adam and Eve meaningful work to do. He has commanded believers to evangelize the world. God even call us “fellow-workers” with Jesus Christ. But be rest assured - all that does not mean that God needs us. “God can manage very well without us and has always done so. That He chooses to use us is due only to His own free and utterly sovereign will.” (Boice)

Friends, if God were not self-sufficient - He would not be God! Let us praise and thank Him for who He is.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

October

Romans 11:33-35, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”

We have been considering God’s incommunicable attributes - attributes that we humans do not possess, even in the slightest amount. We’ve looked at God’s self-existence and His self-sufficiency. Today we look at:

3. Eternality. How do you briefly describe this attribute? Simply stated - it has to do with His everlastingness or perpetuity. “In other words, it means that God is, always has been, and always will be, and that He is ever the same in His infinite and eternal being.” (Boice)

This is something that I cannot comprehend - no beginning and no ending - always there. I’ve often used the perfect circle as a picture of eternity - never ending and no beginning. But I’ve discovered that there is no good way to picture this attribute of God! Of course the same can be said of the other incommunicable attributes of God that we’ve looked at!

But though I cannot understand eternality - it has a tremendous practical bearing upon all of us. That being - “God can be trusted to remain as He has revealed Himself to be.” (Boice) What does that mean to us? It means that what we read in the Bible remains “as true of God today as ever it was, and what others before us have found to be true about God we will find to be true also.” (Boice) God loved us in Christ before the foundation of the world - and we can be certain that He will continue to love us – forever! “Since God has purposed all things from before creation, we can be sure that those purposes will be worked out perfectly.” (Boice)

Friends, there is a most sobering aspect to God’s eternality. God will be present at the end of the world - just as He was present at the beginning. We can never escape Him - and we will all have to give an account of what we have done with our lives.

My prayer is that you’ve trusted Christ as you Lord and Savior - and will be able to stand in His presence dressed in the righteousness of Christ. But be warned - if you have never trusted Christ - you will stand in His presence dressed in your own filthy garments of self-righteous, which is unrighteousness – and you will be found wanting. You will hear those terrible words, “depart from me ye workers of iniquity.” Friend - if you are lost in your sin - trust Christ as Savior - before it is eternally too late for you.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd