My King

The Bible says He’s a Seven Way King. He’s the King of the Jews – that’s a racial King. He’s the King of Israel – that’s a National King. He’s the King of righteousness. He’s the King of the ages. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s the King of glory. He’s the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords. Now that’s my King. 


Well I wonder if you know Him. Do you know Him? My King is the only one whom there are no means of measure can define His limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shore of supplies. No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. Well, well, He’s enduringly strong. He’s entirely sincere. He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially merciful. That’s my King. 


He’s God’s Son. He’s the sinner’s saviour. He’s the centrepiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself. He’s august. He’s unique. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He’s supreme. He’s pre-eminent. Well, He’s the loftiest idea in literature. He’s the highest personality in philosophy. He’s the supreme problem in high criticism. He’s the fundamental doctrine of proved theology. He’s the carnal necessity of spiritual religion. That’s my King. 


He’s the miracle of the age. He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. Well, He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He’s strong God and He guides. He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharged debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek. Do you know Him?


 Well, my King is the key of knowledge. He’s the wellspring of wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance. He’s the pathway of peace. He’s the roadway of righteousness. He’s the highway of holiness. He’s the gateway of glory. He’s the master of the mighty. He’s the captain of the conquerors. He’s the head of the heroes. He’s the leader of the legislatures. He’s the overseer of the overcomers. He’s the governor of governors. He’s the prince of princes. He’s the King of kings and He’s the Lord of lords. 


That’s my King. Yeah. Yeah. That’s my King. My King, yeah. His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Well. I wish I could describe Him to you, but He’s indescribable. He’s indescribable. Yes. He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible. He’s irresistible. I’m coming to tell you, the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him, let alone a man explaining Him. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him. Well, Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilot couldn’t find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him. That’s my King. Yeah. He always has been and He always will be. I’m talking about He had no predecessor and He’ll have no successor. There was nobody before Him and there’ll be nobody after Him. You can’t impeach Him and He’s not going to resign. That’s my King! Jesus.

"Peace with a decision" is not Biblical...

...What do you all think?

The following text is an excerpt from Lies My Pastor Told Me, an eBook written by Pastor Cole Brown. You can download the entire book for free at http://www.liesmypastortoldme.com

“I have peace about this decision!”

Life is filled with decisions. Sometimes making these decisions can be difficult, even frightening. This is especially true when there are several options that appear to be equally viable. In such cases we want God to tell us which decision we should make. But where the Scriptures are not explicit it can sometimes be difficult to discern which direction he is leading us. My pastor had a solution for that: simply make the decision that you feel the most peace about. If you feel peace about a decision, he would say, then that is evidence that you are walking in God’s will. If you don’t feel peace about a decision, he would advise, then that decision is not in line with the will of God.

I have since learned that my pastor’s view is not a unique one. Over the years I have heard Christian after Christian claim that that their decisions are in line with God’s will with the simple words, “I have peace about this decision!” This idea that feeling peace about a decision is evidence that it is God’s will (and that not feeling peace about a decision is evidence that it is not God’s will) is commonly held. Nevertheless, it is a lie.

First, we know it is a lie because it is nowhere taught in the Scriptures. Of course, there are many New Testament passages that promise peace to the believer. These passages, however, are not primarily concerned with an emotional feeling but with an objective fact. As the Apostle Paul explains in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” According to the Scriptures, believers experience objective peace as a result of being reconciled to God in Christ and not as a result of making the right decisions.

Second, we know it is a lie because we see multiple stories in the Bible that directly contradict it. For example, consider the story of Moses. God himself audibly spoke to Moses and made his will for Moses known. Yet Moses did not feel peace about the decision God was calling him to make. To the contrary, Moses was using every excuse he could find hoping to get out of it.

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?”

When God didn’t accept that excuse Moses tried a second.

“Suppose they ask me who sent me? What should I tell them?”

When that excuse didn’t work Moses looked for another.

“What if they do not believe me or listen to me?”

When God refused that excuse Moses tried another.

“But I have never been eloquent. I am slow in speech and tongue.”

Finally, with no plausible excuses remaining, Moses directly asked God for an out.

“Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Does that sound like a man who feels peace about his decision? Of course not. Yet there is no question that the decision he was making was entirely consistent with God’s will. Not only did God communicate his will to Moses audibly, he also accompanied that verbal communication with multiple miracles. Yet even that was not enough to give Moses peace about the decision. And this story is not unique to Moses. We find this with many of the Old Testament prophets. God clearly calls them to a specific task and they feel anything but at peace about pursuing it.

The Bible also introduces us to characters who have the opposite experience. Take Jonah for example. As God’s prophet, Jonah knew with certainty that God had called him to go to Nineveh. Yet Jonah did not feel peace about that decision so he fled in the opposite direction. In so doing, Jonah was directly going against God’s revealed will. If my pastor’s claim was true then Jonah should not have been at peace with his decision. But he was. He was so at peace with his decision that he was able to sleep soundly on his get-away ship in the middle of a violent storm. While everyone else on the ship was concerned about their life, Jonah was peacefully sleeping below deck. Jonah knew precisely what God’s will was. Yet he did not feel peace about making that decision. Instead, he felt peace as he fled — in willful rebellion — from the decision God told him to make.

Clearly, the claim that I can know I’m in God’s will because “I have peace about that decision” is a lie that has no basis in Scripture. Nevertheless, many Christians believe it. But we don’t have to. The truth of the matter is that we have been given everything we need to guide us in our decisions: we have been given God’s Word and we have been given God’s Work.

God’s Word often provides explicit instructions about what decisions we should and should not make and, even where it does not, it still supplies us with sufficient information to make a decision with confidence. It does this by revealing to us who God is, what he is like, and what he wills.

There will be times, though, when you have to apply God’s Word to very specific situations in very specific ways and it will be unclear to you which of the two or three options before you is the best option. But this does not mean you need to look to emotions or other signs to confirm God’s will for you. Instead, you can look to God’s Work. Specifically, you look to the work accomplished by Jesus Christ through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. It is through faith in this work that we can now be certain that “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). This means that we can have peace in any decision that is consistent with God’s Word because we know – through God’s Work – that in whatever decision we make God will love us, be with us, and use our decision to make us more like his Son.