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For example. John could have
reasoned this way: "1 don't know
whether this ad really promises a
genuinely advantageous business
venture o r not.
It
might.
Then again,
it might
not.
Now if this ou tfit really
is on the up-and-up. it still might be
years before my end of the busi ness
would get established, and I would
be making as much as
1
do now.
Furthermore, since
most
small busi–
nesses have a very rough time of it
and many fail. there is a good p rob–
ability that even if this company
were honestly seeking independent
out le ts for their product.
1
could s till
ha ve a lot of financia! pro blems. On
the o ther hand. maybe
1
don't have
the talent for running my own busi–
ness. Maybe the company will make
demands on me that
1
don't know
abo ut now. If things don ' t work ou t.
1
will lose my job, and possib ly I
could be left ' up a creek.' Do the
po tential benefits of havi ng my own
busi ness outweigh the ri ks? !'ve got
to examine all the facts and get
some more advice."
By a hardhead ed ca lcu lation of
benefits and costs - thc same pro–
cess that Christ a lluded to when he
spoke of "cou nting the cost" - Jo hn
would have come ou t of th ings
much better off.
Again, the Proverb impart a ju–
dicious wa rnin g: "Thc si mpl e
believeth every word: but the pru–
dcnt man looketh well to hi s go ing"
(Prov.
14:
15).
-
The YoLI-Are-YoLir-Own-Worst–
Enemy Principie.
In order to impress
someone e lse. to assuage one's ego.
o r to massage o ne's vanity. wc wi ll
often be tempted to pursuc a foolish
course of action to our own hurt.
In Jo hn 's case, he went ou t and
bought a new van when thc fami ly
incomc wa ata low ebb:
$ 150
more
a mon th is, qui te litera lly. lhe price
of pride. John sho uld havc asked
himsclf whether the joys of cruising
around in his persona l macho-mo–
bile were worth the addcd financia!
hardship to his fami ly. Had he cven
attempted to make a ri ght decision
in a ca lm , cl ea r-headed way. thcre is
little doubt the outcomc would have
bcen different.
The " Plan Ahead" Principie
Human beings are not leaves to be
blown a rou nd in the wi nd. We have
The PLAIN TRUTH November 1976
been given minds with which to
think. We can plan ahead before we
act. look at what has gone before us,
calcula te the benefits and the costs.
weigh the risks and the gains. We
can, in short, approach life ration–
ally.
The typical negative response to
this approach is to denounce it as
too cold and calculating. as robbing
life of its rich , warm sponta neity.
It
is summed up in the "mañana" ap–
proach to life : live for the moment ,
soak up the " now. " bask in the im–
mediate. Rationality, thought . a nd
planning sound dull and labo rious
and too much like work.
Th c problem is. reality isn't so
(Cominued f rom page 1)
will. redo unding
10
the praise o f his
glorious grace
bestowed on LIS
in the
Bclovcd. in whom we
enjoy
our re–
demplio n. lh e forg iveness of o ur
trespasses, by the blood he shed. So
rich~r
has God
/avished
upon
LIS.
gran ting
us
complete in ight and
UN DERSTANDI
G
of the opcn secre l
of his wi ll , showing
us
how it wa
lhe
pwpose of his design
so lO order
it in the fulness of the ages lhal all
lhings in heaven and carth alike
should be ga thcred up in Chris t - in
thc Chrisl in whom we have had o ur
heritage a llotted us (as was dccreed
in the de ign of him who carries out
cvc ry thing according to th e counsel
of hi s wi ll), to make us redound to
th e pra ise of hi glory by bein g lhe
first
lO pu l our hope in Chris t" (Eph .
1:5-12.
Moffa tt).
Let me give you verses
11
thro ugh
12
in lhe King James Ye rsion: " In
whom a lso
WE
have o bta ined an in–
heritance, being predestina ted ac–
cording to the purpose o f him who
workelh all things after the counsel
o f hi s own will: that
WE
should be to
the praise o fhis glory,
WJJO
F!RST
trusted in Chris t. ' '
Our inheritance - true Christians
are right now only
HEIRS -
was
PREDESTINATED
" th at we s ho uld
be to th e praise of hi s glory. who
pliable. Today's
now
was yesterday's
"mañana." The fact that we have
10
pick belween lhe lesser of two evils
today is because we didn 't ca re
about today while it was still yes ter–
day. The " mañana " philosophy
makes life even more difficult be–
cause events end up controlling us,
causing many of our aspi ra tions to
go unrealized.
In fact, it is only when we are a ble
to con trol the events around us,
when we act ually try to guide our
lives accordi ng to some sort of ra–
tional, coherent pattern - wise deci–
sion making, if you please - that
we'll ever have enough freedom lo
be sponlaneous anyway.
o
fir st trusted in Christ" (ve rse
12).
To whom
is th e passage speaking?
Only lo thc sai nts who were fa ith ful.
N o te w e
11
t hes e poi n t s.
P
r e–
destinal ion has on ly to do with
being called to the inheritance of
becoming sons of the living God,
and those
PREDESTINATED
are said
lO
be the
firsl
SO CALLEO.
Jesus Christ said pla inly. "No
MAN CAN COME TO ME, EXCEPT THE
fA THE R W H I C H HATH SENT ME
DRAW HIM"
(John
6:44).
The IIt h
-....chapler o f Romans explains that
only a
FEW
are ca lled to repentance.
faith in Chris t, a nd spiritu a l sa lva–
t io n with eternallife
N OW
Sincc no ne
can
come to Chrisl -
become spirilua lly converted
- "EX–
CEP T T H E fATHER D RAW H I M"
("called" refers to lhose being so
drawn by the Father) - it becomes
PLAIN
that those
PREDESTINATED
are
those
FEW
predestinaled to be ca lled
NOW-
the
FIRST
10
be "ca lled" -
to be d rawn by the Fa ther to Chr ist
and to the inheritance o f becoming
begotten and born sons of God.
ÜTHERS
are to be called
!ater!
Predestination refers to those
pre–
called -
NOT
p rejudged or pre–
condemncd. olhing in th is passage
nor in Romans 8 says any thi ng
abou t being prej udged or pre–
condemncd. T herefore, it has only
to
do with
WHEN
some are spe–
cially ca lled and only to do with
those
first
called before the world in
g
e n e ra l. a s
ex
p
1a
i
n e d
i
n
Ro–
mans 11.
Repeatedly I have sa id that to try
to undcrs tand the Bible from
today's
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