For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind And declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness And treads on the high places of the earth, The LORD God of hosts is His name.
Amos 4:13 NASB-
The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth, The LORD is His name.
Amos 9:6 NASB-
As Attila the Hun prepared his first attack on Roman provinces and Augustine secluded himself in his study writing The City of God, Patrick’s parents worried about their son. At almost 16 years old, he hadn’t professed faith in Christ, even though his father Calpornius was a deacon and his grandfather Potitus was a pastor in the church. Something of a rebel, Patrick had already committed a serious sin that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
One night shortly before his 16th birthday, Patrick stayed at his father’s country estate in Britain with the household servants while his parents traveled to a nearby town on business. While everyone slept, a party of Irish slave traders surrounded the estate. All the able-bodied members of the household were kidnapped, bound with chains and loaded into boats to be transported to Ireland. Those who resisted were killed outright.
After a two-day journey in an open boat, chained to the other captives, Patrick was sold to a farmer and given the menial task of watching the sheep. Three days before he had been a nobleman’s son commanding slaves, now he was a slave. Patrick wrote about this time in his Confession:
But it was here in Ireland that God first opened my heart, so that—even though it was a late start—I became aware of my failings and began to turn with my whole heart to the Lord my God. For He looked down on my miserable condition and had compassion for me, young and foolish as I was. He cared for me even before I knew who He was, before I could tell the difference between right and wrong. He protected me and loved me even as a father does his own child.1
Patrick prayed constantly during these years, alone with the sheep, and remembered the Godly teaching of his parents and his pastor. Patrick also learned to speak the language of the Irish people, gradually learning their customs and about the gods they worshipped. In learning to protect and care for the sheep, Patrick was for the first time forced to think of something other than his own selfish desires. Patrick said:
God used the time to shape and mold me into something better. He made me into what I am now—someone very different from what I once was, someone who can care about others and work to help them.
After serving as a slave for six years, Patrick twice had a dream in which he heard a voice say, “Your ship is ready.” Taking this as a sign from God, Patrick ran away from his owner and traveled “maybe 200 miles” on foot as a fugitive. Patrick was utterly alone for weeks and yet said he was never afraid until he came to the port city. There, he summoned up his courage and asked a ship’s captain if he might sail with them to Britain as a member of the crew. The Captain initially refused his request, but as Patrick breathed a prayer for guidance, the officer changed his mind. Patrick was going home.
Can you imagine the celebration as Patrick walked into the courtyard of his home in Britain? The son they had thought twice lost, both to this world and the next, was twice found. Patrick said, “They took me in—their long-lost son—and begged me earnestly that after all I had been through I would never leave them again.”
We know little about the next few years of Patrick’s life—how long he stayed at home or what plans his parents had for his future. We do know that as a result of a series of dreams, Patrick was convinced that God wanted him to return to Ireland as a missionary. Patrick’s parents would lose him yet again.
After receiving the proper training and the blessing of the church, Patrick obeyed God and returned to the land of his captivity, preaching among the people there for the next 40 years. Thousands of people came to know Christ and the church in Ireland was established. In Confession, a letter Patrick wrote late in his life, he said:
My final prayer is that all of you who believe in God and respect Him—whoever you may be who read this letter that Patrick the unlearned sinner wrote from Ireland—that none of you will ever say that I in my ignorance did anything for God. You must understand—because it is the truth—that it was all the gift of God.
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1 Quotes from Patrick’s Confession were taken from the translation of Philip Freeman, St. Patrick of Ireland (Simon and Schuster, 2004), pages 176-193.
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Copyright © 2006 Susan Verstraete
Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in exact form including copyright. Other uses require written permission.
As I continue to read “The Attributes of God” by Arthur W. Pink, I can’t help but post quotes that jump out at me. Here is a section from the chapter entitled “The Holiness of God”.
The “god” which the vast majority of professing Christians “love,” is looked upon very much like an indulgent old man, who himself has no relish for folly, but leniently winks at the “indiscretions” of youth. But the Word says, “Thou hatest all workers of iniquity “(Ps. 5:5). And again, “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Ps. 7:11). But men refuse to believe in this God, and gnash their teeth when His hatred of sin is faithfully pressed upon their attention. No, sinful man was no more likely to devise a holy God than to create the Lake of fire in which he will be tormented for ever and ever.
Because God is holy, acceptance with Him on the ground of creature doings is utterly impossible. A fallen creature could sooner create a world than produce that which would meet the approval of infinite Purity. Can darkness dwell with Light? Can the Immaculate One take pleasure in “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6)? The best that sinful man brings forth is defiled. A corrupt tree cannot bear good fruit. God would deny Himself, vilify His perfections, were He to account as righteous and holy that which is not so in itself; and nothing is so which has the least stain upon it contrary to the nature of God. But blessed be His name, that which His holiness demanded His grace has provided in Christ Jesus our Lord. Every poor sinner who has fled to Him for refuge stands “accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6). Hallelujah!
Arthur W. Pink
The Attributes of God
The Difference Maker’s Conference is this weekend
March 12 & 13
Cornerstone Baptist Church
Lawson, MO
For more information: DMC 2010
I don’t believe that face to face proclamation of the Gospel should ever be abandoned. Declaring the Gospel to thousands or one on one is the model of obedience to the Great Commission. Most often that is done in person, face to face, but living in the 21st century provides us with additional tools to reach people. Those people may be your neighbors or your close friends. But by God’s grace, with internet access and some basic skills, you can make contact with people across the country and all over the world. It’s scary and exciting all rolled into one.
When I was trying to decide how to share the Gospel on the internet, I found the Internet Evangelism Day website helpful. It offers ideas on how to get started; either as an individual or as a group ministry. Although I don’t agree with some of the content of the Gospel presentations, the site does provide good information regarding the operation of blogs, church websites, social media, podcasts, etc.
Internet Evangelism Day is an annual focus day for churches. This year, it is scheduled for Sunday April 25. It’s an opportunity for any church to explore with its members the opportunities for sharing the good news online. Perhaps surprisingly, you do not need to be technical to share your faith online. You can even volunteer to be an email mentor to inquirers with several large online outreach ministries.
Internet Evangelism Day is an initiative of the Internet Evangelism Coalition, based at the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton.
More information: http://www.InternetEvangelismDay.com
The God of Scripture can only be known by those to whom He makes Himself known.
Nor is God known by the intellect. “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), and therefore can only be known spiritually. But fallen man is not spiritual, he is carnal. He is dead to all that is spiritual. Unless he is born again supernaturally brought from death unto life, miraculously translated out of darkness into light, he cannot even see the things of God (John 3:3), still less apprehend them (1 Cor. 2:14). The Holy Spirit has to shine in our hearts (not intellects) in order to give us “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). And even that spiritual knowledge is but fragmentary. The regenerated soul has to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus (2 Pet. 3.18).
The principal prayer and aim of Christians should be that we “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10).
A.W. Pink
The Attributes of God
God’s Word
