If you are disgusted when they teach about an extravagant God, as if he is not like this, then the moment that you do anything for your children that is beyond what is necessary, even feeding them more food than they need to survive, that very moment you either declare that you are a better parent than God, or you declare that you hate your children and wish to harm them. You would be a hypocrite. But tradition and unbelief blind people, and make them think that they are better than others who shamelessly receive from a generous God.
Jesus said that the kingdom of God belongs to children, not religious connoisseurs, and certainly not those who think that they are better than God. We must be disturbed and alarmed when we fail to think of God as a generous parent. Do we glorify God when we bless him? God glorifies himself even more when he blesses us. Christian ministers who teach this are often far from perfect, and subject to many criticisms, but this does not invalidate the point. Why do you think God allows many of these teachers to be so flawed and unrefined? He places a stumbling block to trip up those who walk in religious pride, who thumb their noses at those who do not present the promises of God in the way they like.
God will put his blessings right in front of them, and they will fail to receive. This is his way to withhold the gospel from the unbelieving and hard-hearted. As Isaiah said, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” Paul said that God uses the lowly and despised to bring down the things that appear high and mighty, so that no one can boast before him.
The doctrine of God’s sovereignty is too often used to destroy faith, but it should boost our faith to new heights. God does not sovereignly break his own promises, but he will sovereignly do more than what we ask or think. False teachings that replace true sacrifice for the gospel with unnecessary everyday suffering are degrading and destructive. They have resulted in so much weakness in the church and disdain for God in the world. We would benefit by constantly thinking about truths that build up faith in God’s goodness and generosity, since this is against the current both in the church and in the world.
We must muster all our strength and courage to condemn those who oppose God’s blessings. Even more than the non-Christians, they are the enemies of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Of course, many of them are indeed non-Christians. The fact that they try to look like teachers and friends of the gospel makes them that much more dangerous. If they refuse to listen, then we must beat them down with the word of God, and liberate God’s people from their abuse.
From: email