2005-04-14 - Ludavic

Ludavic was an old-time Italian philosopher who thought so much of the doctrine of predestination, that he put everything in subjection to it. He held to predestination to the exclusion of every other truth. Now I am a big fan of predestination, but it is held in the balance of all the other truths of God's Holy Word. It functions within the confines as the truth of free will, and when we overstate one truth of the Lord to the exclusion of other truths, then we are perverting the truth of God. I am going to tell you how Ludavic was convinced of his error, and draw a couple of inferences for our time. But let me be straight here. I am not denying predestination; it is all over the Bible. I would sooner toss out my faith and my Bible, than deny predestination. I will not take one doctrine over another. If it is truth, it is truth, and all God's truth is on equal ground. It is all truth.

Ludavic's physician was a godly man. And it turns out that Ludavic got sick. So his doctor said to him, "I am not going to send you any medicine. I am not going to attend to you. In truth, I am not coming back to see you. If you live, you will live, and if you die you will die, and therefore, there is no use in me attending to you." This stopped Ludavic in his tracks, and while he still held to predestination, he realized that there is more than just tossing up our hands and saying, "let go and let God."

God accomplishes His means, which include salvation, through His people. This is an awesome thought, but often I feel like we are prepared by the Lord for our particular callings in this life. The Lord uses His children, and He uses us to His glory. We are to encourage others to turn to Christ, to rest in grace, to look to the five wounds that killed our savior for our sin, and then rest in the forgiveness offered to us in the sacrifice of Christ. We are not to be fools. We go to Christ, and encourage others to run to Christ, just as they/we are. What are you doing for Christ? Have I hit the hammer on the forehead of your conscience? Is this sobering? The Lord calls you to work hard for His cause. Do it.

I am going to get brutal here. There is one experience where you cannot but think of eternity. When you look at a corpse, you cannot but think of eternity. When you see a man or woman, say a husband or wife, dead, can you not think of eternity? You must, and I am sure of it, but we often live life as if there is no eternity. Be thankful for the troubles that come into your life, because they give you a view that prepares us for eternity. Christ is a savior, and He offers salvation to all who will come to Him in faith. My friends, we chain ourselves to the joys of the world, but Christ offers us so much more. Let us rest in Christ and seek His favor above all the enticements of the world.

The Scythe of the dread mower comes to us all. It is inevitable. Something happens, old age for most of us, and we all will meet our maker. Can we really say in our lives, "It is the Lord, let Him do as He wills?" This is the bottom line of predestination; the Lord does as He wills. I love that thought, because if it were up to me (and if you are honest -- up to you) we would mess things up. But with the Lord, the creator, we not only have hope; we have security. So yea, I can deal with Ludavic and his views, but I am glad he finally realized that no truth is above another - and as followers of truth, let us be Ludavics.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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