Dr. Barry G. Carpenter Revivalorruin.com Good Theology, Wrong Application 2 Kings 7 v.

1 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORDwould make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. 5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. 6 For the LORD had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. 9 Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. Geneva: Moses by this proves their curiosity, who seek those things that are only known to God: and their negligence who do not regard that which God has revealed to them, as the law.

The secret [things belong] unto the Lord our God Respecting the people of Israel, and the providential dealings of God with them, and especially the final rejection of them; with respect to which, the apostle's exclamation agrees with this, ( Romans 11:33 ) ; and though the Lord had revealed many things which should befall them, there were others still secret with him, and the reasons of others; and particularly the times and seasons of their accomplishment, which he retains in his own power, ( Acts 1:6 ) . There are many secret things in nature, which cannot be found out and accounted for by men, which the Lord only knows; and there are many things in Providence, which are unsearchable, and past finding out by finite minds, especially the true causes and reasons of them; and there are many things relating to God himself, which remain secret with him; notwithstanding the revelation he has made of himself; for not only some of his perfections, as eternity, immensity are beyond our comprehension; but the mode of subsistence of the three divine Persons in the Godhead, the paternity of the one, the generation of the other, and the procession of the Spirit from them both; the union of the two natures, divine and human, in the person of Christ; the thoughts, purposes, and decrees of God within himself, until brought into execution; and so there are many things relating to his creatures, as the particular persons predestinated unto eternal life, what becomes of such who die in infancy, what will befall us in life, when we shall die, where and in what manner, and also the day and hour of the last judgment. The Jews generally interpret this and what follows of the sins of men, and punishment for them, and, particularly, idolatry; take Aben Ezra's sense instead of many, ``he that commits idolatry secretly, his punishment is by the hand of heaven (from God immediately); he that commits it openly, it lies upon us and upon our children to do as is written in the law:'' but those [things which are] revealed [belong] to us and to our children for ever; the things of nature and Providence, which are plain and manifest, are for our use and instruction; and especially the word and ordinances of God, which are the revelation of his will, the doctrines and promises contained in the Scriptures, each of the duties of religion, and the commandments of God, such as are of eternal obligation, which may be chiefly designed, because it follows: that [we] may do all the words of this law: for the end of this revelation is practice; hearing and reading the word will be of no avail, unless what is heard and read is practised. Some render the words F9,

``the secret things of the Lord our God are revealed to us and to our children;'' but neither the construction of the words in the original, nor the Hebrew accents, will admit of such a version; otherwise it would furnish out a very great truth: for the secrets of God's love, of his council and covenant, are revealed unto his people, as well as many of his providences, and the mysteries of his grace; see ( Psalms 25:14 ) . There are some extraordinary pricks in the Hebrew text on the words "to us and to our children": which are designed to point out the remarkable and wonderful condescension and goodness of God, in making a revelation of his mind and will, both with respect to doctrine and duty, to the sons of men. Secret things belong to the Lord our God. Some make it to be one sentence, The secret things of the Lord our God are revealed tous and to our children, as far as we are concerned to know them, and he hath not dealt so withother nations: but we make it two sentences, by which, First, We are forbidden curiously to enquire into the secret counsels of God and to determine concerning them. A full answer is given to that question, Wherefore has the Lord done thus to this land? sufficient to justify God and admonish us. But if any ask further why God would be at such a vast expense of miracles to form such a people, whose apostasy and ruin he plainly foresaw, why he did not by his almighty grace prevent it, or what he intends yet to do with them, let such know that these are questions which cannot be answered, and therefore are not fit to be asked. It is presumption in us to pry into the Arcana imperiithe mysteries of government, and to enquire into the reasons of state which it is not for us to know. See Acts. 1:7 ; Jn. 21:22 ; Col. 2:18 . Secondly, We are directed and encouraged diligently to enquire into that which God has made known: things revealed belong to us and to our children. Note, 1. Though God has kept much of his counsel secret, yet there is enough revealed to satisfy and save us. He has kept back nothing that is profitable for us, but that only which it is good for us to be ignorant of. 2. We ought to acquaint ourselves, and our children too, with the things of God that are revealed. We are not only allowed to search into them, but are concerned to do so. They are things which we and ours are nearly interested in. They are the rules we are to live by, the grants we are to live upon; and therefore we are to learn them diligently ourselves, and to teach them diligently to our children. 3. All our knowledge must be in order to practice, for this is the end of all divine revelation, not to furnish us with curious subjects of speculation and discourse, with which to entertain ourselves and our friends, but that we may do all the words of this law, and be blessed in our deed.
Declared Will vs. The Decreed Will Hyper-Calvinism (of course) was used to describe that school of thought which denied human responsibility to follow the commands of God in disciple-making. I have noticed a growing

number of new hyper-Calvinists. I admit I am being inaccurate in my use of the term, but please stick with me and I will explain. A lot of the things we say are hyper-Calvinistic and many of our actions are also. I hear it more and more it seems. You may not realize it but you have probably heard such statements also. In fact unknowingly, you may have even said some of these things. Let me give you some real, life examples to illustrate what I mean by the new Hyper-Calvinists. Well, if its Gods will youll have the money you need to do missions. If God did not want me to be fat He would have given me more grace to be thin. I know that God has an elect people and if my grandchildren are one of the elect they will be saved. If it is Gods will then He can revive our nation. My first response to such statements is "Well, duh!" Please notice in each of the above listed occurrences that the speaker has the ability to have an affect upon the situation but abdicates ability and responsibility. There are scriptures that gives clear commands and principles for each of the above statements. Missions: Gomake disciples; principles of giving and tithing, "Where your treasure is..."etc. Gluttony (or any sin): Mortify your members etc. Lost: Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word; Preach the Word etc. Revival: Principles taken from verses like if my peoplewill turn to Me; Come, let us return to the Lord etc. Since when does the hidden decrees of God supplant His clear commands? The secret things belong to the Lord and the commands are given for our life. The sovereignty of God is not an excuse for sin, laziness and disobedience. Martin Luther expressed it this way: "We must keep in view His Word and leave alone His inscrutable will; for it is by His Word and not by His inscrutable will that we must be guided." -- Martin Luther The great advantage of being a new hyper-Calvinist is that it allows a person to be lazy, irresponsible and selfish while cloaking their sins in spirituality. They can do nothing and declare I am just submitting to the sovereignty of God. The reality is that they are denying the clear commands of Scripture.

If more people would follow the clear commands of God more of His will would be accomplished on the earth.