LOVE BUILDS UP
A Simple Score of Short Sermons
Addressed to Saints and Sinners
By Rosco Brong, D.D.
Author of:
"Better
Than the Angels"
"Following
Holiness"
"Christ’s Church and Baptism"
Dean of
PREFACE
The first sermon in this book was abridged from transcription; the others were written for publication in limited space: hence some difference in style. A few sermons written some twenty years ago are included in this selection along with others of recent date, for I have found no reason to change my message as a minister of the word of God. Whether I am "in a rut" or "in the groove" the reader may judge, though my chief concern is with a higher judgment.
I am aware that some of the subjects
touched upon here are quite controversial and that my treatment of them will
not endear me to many beloved brethren.
But my Lord and Savior has always been a subject of controversy since He
walked in
For any errors in this book, the fault is mine: I must beg the patience and indulgence of my readers and the forgiveness and correction of my God. For the truth presented, I can claim no credit: I found it all in another Book; and there is much more to draw from in that Book of books. That my feeble efforts may serve to help each reader to a better acquaintance with that Book and its Author is the sincere hope and prayer of
ROSCO BRONG
To a brother great in the faith, CLARENCE WALKER, this book is dedicated as a small contribution to the cause of Christ our Savior.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ROSCO BRONG, the author of this book,
is qualified to write on Biblical subjects by many years of study and teaching
in this field and by a sincere faith in the infallible truth of the written word
of God. Ordained to the Baptist ministry
in 1934, he has been teaching since 1952 in
Dean Brong holds the A. B. degree from
Born March 16, 1908, in
From 1927 to 1944 he assisted his
father, the late F. S. Brong, in the publication of a weekly newspaper, the
Licking Valley Courier, at
The author's experience as a Baptist
pastor includes service with churches in Morgan, Magoffin, Garrard, Owen, and
Dr. Brong's work at
CONTENTS
Chapter
I. "Love Builds Up!"...............................................1
II. Are You Going to Heaven?............................... 14
III. Wages of Sin-Death……………………..…………. 26
IV. Repent and Believe the Gospel…………………. 33
V. Have You Counted the Cost?.......................... 37
VI. Through Faith We Establish the Law…………… 44
VII. Evidences of the New Birth……………………...…48
VIII. Heirs of the Kingdom......................................53
IX. Justified from All Things ................................60
X. "This Is Everlasting Life" .................................66
XI. Walking with God ..........................................73
XII. Spiritual Blessings ........................................80
XIII. Spiritual Sacrifices ........................................86
XIV. Judge-Lawgiver-King ......................................91
XV. Wells Without Water ......................................95
XVI. "Beware of the Leaven" ................................100
XVII. Casting Down Imaginations..........................110
XVIII. Cunningly Devised Myths ............................119
XIX. "Be Ye Separate" .........................................127
XX. "Rejoice Evermore" ......................................132
Chapter
I
LOVE
BUILDS UP
BIBLICAL COMPARISON OF LEARNING AND
LOVE SHOWS THAT LOVE IS BETTER
I
Corinthians 8:1, "Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know
that we all have know-ledge. Knowledge
puffeth up, but charity edifieth."
"…Knowledge
puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” Let
us put that into modern language: learning puffs up but love builds up. I keep preaching this text to myself. I need it whether anyone else does or not. It may sound a little strange in connection
with a program designed to promote the work of a school where we are very much
concerned about teaching the truths of God's Word, helping people to come to a
fuller knowledge of these truths - it may sound a little strange for the dean
of the school to depart from that line and point out that there is something a
little more important than knowing the truth - something that is to be added to
knowledge of the truth and something without which any knowledge that we might
have of the truth is all in vain.
A BIG
DIFFERENCE
"Learning
(knowledge) puffs up but love builds up.”
The difference is that between blowing up a balloon and building a solid
house. To blow up a balloon as big as a
house, all you need is some hot air or any kind of gas. But it takes quite a bit of more substantial
material if you are going to build a house, and there is a difference in the
product. A house that is well built of
good material will stand. But if we have
blown up a balloon all it takes is a good pinprick and there it was!
I
have found in my own experience that it is very easy to acquire a little more
knowledge than I have had previously and get to thinking, "Boy, now, that
is great! I know that now!” And I start getting puffed up and get to
thinking I know more than I do. But,
thank the Lord, He knows how to use the pin.
So it usually does not last long.
I
have met some people, however, that remind me of some of these modern
automobile tires that have self-sealers in them, you know. And they can pick up a nail and punch a hole
but they have some sort of goo in there that fills up the hole, and you can
hardly make them flat at all because that goo just fills up the hole, and holds
the air.
So
even some balloons under such circumstances are hard to deflate. But there is still a big difference
between a puffing up of knowledge and the building or edifying that is done by
love.
PRIDE
IN ACHIEVEMENT
Now,
I can think of at least four good reasons why knowledge puffs up, why people
are prone to get the big head when they learn a little something. I wish I could say that none of our students
are ever afflicted with that sort of disease, but I would not be completely
honest, I am afraid they are just human.
And having confessed that I have been subject to the disease myself I
don't suppose it will hurt anybody's feelings if I have to comment that most
other people I have known have made the same mistake.
We
are prone to become puffed up by knowledge, for one reason, because we think
that we have accomplished something, or that knowledge is an achievement. We think of knowledge as something that we
have worked at and studied and thought out.
And so we have a tendency to think ourselves superior to others who from
laziness or indifference, or sometimes from lack of opportunity, have not
acquired knowledge that we have, even in the natural knowledge of this world.
On
every hand we see educated fools that think they know it all, and that somebody
that has not been to school and got the degrees and "culture" of
formal education; they think that this person is something to be looked down on. Yet with the same opportunities he might have
gone as far or farther in that education.
GIFTS
OF GOD
But
above all things, when we come to the knowledge of divine truth; when we come
to the knowledge of God; we who believe in the doctrine of grace and the
greatness of God that these brethren have been preaching to us and that are
in accord with the truths, the revelation of God's Word; we are the last
people in the world that ought to get stuck on ourselves for knowing some
things that some other people don't know.
Where did we get it?
Paul
wrote to the Corinthians, I Corinthians 4:7, "For who maketh thee to
differ from another? and what hast thou
that thou didst not receive? now if thou
didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” As if you had thought it out all by
yourself!
Jesus
said in John 6:45, "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be
all taught of God. Every man therefore
that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."
The
inspired apostle said, I Corinthians 2:14, "But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto
him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Well, then, you and I did not receive them
naturally either. You and I received
them by the grace of God. What do we have to brag about?
Why
should we get puffed up because we know, or think we know, more of the doctrine
of God's grace, more of the grace of God and more of the truths of His Word
than somebody else? That is nothing
to get puffed up about. It is something
to be thankful for, something that ought to humble us, as Bro. Hamilton has
pointed out. The only way you and I
learned it was that God in His grace reached down to where we were, gave us
a mind and an understanding that we did not have in ourselves. And other people
can learn it as easily as we did when God does that for them. What do we have to brag about?
DESPISING
THE WEAK
And
then, knowledge puffs up sometimes because, as we say, knowledge is power, and
we tend to despise the weak. Again, this
is true in natural knowledge also, that the learned in the various professions
or occupations in this world seem to be a little condescending to those who are
unacquainted with the technicalities of these various occupations.
So
with the knowledge of God's Word, this knowledge is power, if we know how to
use it. The right knowledge of God's
Word may save us from much error. Remember,
the Sadducees came to Jesus on one occasion and asked a ridiculous question as
to the resurrection. They did not
believe in the resurrection to begin with.
Mark 12:24, "And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not
therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?” Not knowing, you see.
But
again, if God has given us some knowledge of the scriptures, delivered us from
some error, that is nothing for us to get puffed up about. The same Word is there, the same truth is
there for anybody else to learn. But
you and I did not learn it, except as God provided guidance and instruction,
perhaps through other human instruments, and the leading and illumination of
His Spirit in bringing us to know these truths of His Word. What are we puffed up about?
PARTIAL
KNOWLEDGE
Thirdly,
knowledge puffs up sometimes because human knowledge is partial and we have
a tendency to think it is complete. When
we get a vague idea about something we think we know all about it.
This
is an especially dangerous thing in dealing with the truths of God's word. And this is one of the things that we have
been plagued with now and then here in our school. Oh, I am sure it is not a problem peculiar to
this school! But somebody gets a little
bit of truth that he never saw before and he has made a world shaking
discovery, to him. Maybe what he has
discovered is true as far as it goes. That
is, it is part of a truth. But to him it
is the most important thing in the world and it comes to be about the only
thing that is in the Bible.
He
is all puffed up because he knows something nobody else knows - he thinks. A little child says, "I know something I
won't tell," but here is a man that cannot tell anything else. And he is all puffed up because he has
that little fragment of truth, which is true maybe as far as it goes, but it is
a partial truth. And he is puffed
up.
Now
if he would get a good look in the Bible and a good overall view of all the
teachings of the Bible he would be somewhat deflated. He would find out that he does not know as
much as he thinks he knows. But
knowledge tends to puff up because of the fact that being human we are prone to
think that our partial knowledge is complete knowledge. Paul reminds us, I Corinthians 13:12, "For
now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part;
but then shall I know even as also I am known."
SUPERFICIALITY
My
fourth point may sound like the third, but it is really a little bit different. We are prone to mistake a superficial
knowledge for the real thing. We are
prone to mistake a theory for reality.
James
2:19, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” So he indicates that just believing
something about the character of God is not enough. And I dare to say that even knowing Bible
doctrine about God is a different thing from knowing God. But we have a tendency to mistake the
superficial for the reality, the theory for the fact. And so we get puffed up and think we know
more than we really know.
Now
this brings us to the second part of my text.
And I want to tie in with this an extraordinary statement from I John
4:8, a very simple statement. It is not
hard to understand, it may be hard to take, but it is not hard to understand: "He
that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
Now,
that is a flat statement, isn't it? John
has a way of making some flat statements throughout that epistle - some of them
rather striking. And if we have not
learned to love, this statement of God's Word says, we do not know God
yet. We have not gotten acquainted with
God. Talk about hard doctrine; that is
hard doctrine!
I
John 4:8, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” God's word puts love higher on the scale
of spiritual value than knowledge. Colossians
3:9-11, "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old
man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him:
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” So Paul tells us that if we are really
among the saints of God then the image of God is renewed in us. And that renovation is a renewal in knowledge
after the image of Him that created us.
"AS
THE ELECT"
Verse
12, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God..." strange thing,
that never in the Bible do we find such a silly argument as that we are the
elect of God and therefore we do not need to do what He says. No such argument is ever to be found in the
Bible. The argument always is, God is
sovereign; God is King; God is on His throne; God has concern; therefore do
what He says Colossians 3:12-14, "Put on therefore, as the elect of
God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, longsuffering; For-bearing one another, and forgiving one another, if
any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do
ye. And above all these things put on
charity...” Beloved, on top of all
these things, put on love.
I
Peter 4:7-8, "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore
sober, and watch unto prayer. And above
all things (literally before or ahead of all things) have fervent
charity among yourselves: for charity
shall cover the multitude of sins."
In
II Peter 1:5-7 we find a list of Christian virtues, as we sometimes call them. We are to make additions to the divine nature
of which we have become partakers: "And beside this, giving all
diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge
temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to
godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” Love is the climax of the traits of
Christian character that are to be added to our Christian lives.
II
Peter 1:8, "For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you
that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ.” The implication is
that without these things you may have a knowledge and still be barren and
unfruitful.
AN
ILLUSTRATION
Knowledge
puffs up but charity (love) builds up. Now
the Apostle gives a simple illustration.
You know, it isn't always the people that talk so much about knowing so
much that really know the most. So the
Apostle started to take some of the wind out of the sails of some of these
fellows that were running wild with their Christian liberty, by saying that we
know that we all have knowledge. You are
not by yourselves in knowing that an idol is nothing. That is just common knowledge among God's
people. Just because a little fragment
of God's truth is new to you, that does not mean that it is new to everybody. We know that we all have knowledge.
Then
he makes the point that knowledge puffs up but love builds up, and so he goes
into this discussion of meat offered to idols, because we all understand about
that. That an idol is nothing in the
world. That there is none other God but
one, and so on. But there are weaker
brethren that may be made to stumble by the stronger and better informed
brother who exercises Christian liberty.
And the point that he makes then is, I Corinthians 8:10-11, "...shall
not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which
are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish,
for whom Christ, died?"
Of course (I hasten to clear myself
here), I am sure that he was not talking about a true child of God losing his
salvation and going to hell. But he was
talking about that weak brother stumbling against his conscience and ruining
his testimony and ruining his life and usefulness as a child of God, and all
this because of the unloving insistence on the part of a brother upon using his
liberty. "It does not, matter. I know it does not hurt me. What do I care about anyone else?” But Paul says that when you sin against the
brethren and wound their weak conscience you sin against Christ.
LOVE
DESCRIBED
Perhaps
the fullest description of love in any one place in the scriptures is in I
Corinthians 13:1-2. And I point out just
the opening words here "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling
cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge" -now
notice- "all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not charity (love), I am nothing."
Come
back to John's statement. If we have not
learned to love, we have not gotten acquainted with God. "He that loveth not knoweth not God:…” And you know, even with love, it is
easier to talk about it and it is easier to know about it than it is to do it. Maybe you do not have any trouble with this,
but it is true for me. It is easier for
me to learn from God's word that I ought to love than it is for me to love. But
God's word tells me to love.
The
first love of a man's heart ought to be the love of God. That is the first commandment. Mark 12:30, "And thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength: this is the
first commandment.” John 8:42,
"Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I
proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me."
I
John 5:1, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God:
and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of
him.” Now I can go on to say, not
only if we have not learned to love God, we have not gotten acquainted with
Him, but also, if we cannot love our brethren we have not gotten acquainted
with Him and we do not love Him. John
puts it plainer than that, I John 4:20, "If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he
hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
"LOVE
YOUR ENEMIES"
And
then here is something harder than that: If you and I cannot love the heretic,
if you and I cannot love the hyper Calvinist or the ultra Armenian, if you and
I cannot love the members of contradictory Christian or so called Christian
sects, if you and I cannot love the out and out sinner with no pretensions to
anything but sin, if we cannot love our enemies brother, we are not well, to
put it mildly, we are not very well acquainted with the Lord yet.
Jesus
said in Matthew 5:43-44: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you;” I confessed to you a moment ago that it is easier for me,
and I know it is for you too, it is easier for me to know what God's word tells
me to do than it is for me to do it. You
see, knowledge is much easier to come by than love.
I
suspect that in this crowd we have more knowledge than we have love. I confess I have, and I do not know much,
either. That used to bother me, but then
I found out that nobody else knows much either, and so it does not bother me
much any more. Paul went on to say I
Corinthians 8:2, "And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he
knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." Well, this is what Jesus commands,
whether we like it or not; whether we are doing it or not; whether we want to
do it or not; this is what Jesus commands: Matthew 5:44-45, "...Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the
children of your Father which is in heaven:..."
Again
I hasten to clear myself, though one should not need to clear himself when
quoting words of the Master. I believe
He meant just what He said, whatever He said.
Matthew 5:45, "That ye may be the children of your Father which
is in heaven:…” I think He means that
you may be in outward expression of life what you profess to be inside and what
you are if you are truly His child.
NATURE
OF LOVE
Such
is our obligation. Now, why does love
not puff up as knowledge puffs up? It
is not its nature to do so. You see, charity suffers long, and charity is
kind and envieth not. Charity does
not vaunt itself, does not go around bragging about itself. Brother, deliver me from the fellow who goes
around bragging about how much he loves everybody. Let him show it. And if he loves God, then let him show it by
standing for Him. If he loves God's
word, let him show it by preaching and teaching. Love vaunteth not itself. It is not puffed
up.
Listen,
knowledge puffs up. Better be careful,
and if you get puffed up with knowledge, the kindest thing anyone can do for
you is to stick a pin in you. Just
hope you do not have so much gooey stuff inside that the pin does not deflate
you. Some people's heads, like self
sealing tires or inner tubes, are practically puncture proof: there is
something in there that fills up the pinpricks as fast as you can make them. Well, knowledge puffs up, but the love
that God commands, the love that God's Spirit pours out in our hearts, that
builds up.
OUR
NEED OF LOVE
Oh,
brethren, that is what we need! And when
we really know Him, and not just some of the doctrine about Him, then we will
have some of that love which brought His Son from heaven to earth, when He made
Himself of no reputation, becoming obedient unto death, even the shameful death
of the cross. Yes, because He loved!
We
need something of that love that moved our Savior and He knew better than we do
the eternal purposes of God and God's absolute sovereignty. And yet there was a
time, Luke 19:41, "...when he was come near, he beheld the city,
and wept over it." A time
when He exclaimed: Matthew 23:37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,... how
often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" Do we know that Saviour?
He
that loveth not, knoweth not God. You
know, sometimes I get disturbed about a hard spirited theology. Of course, we try to teach theology, try to
teach Bible theology, try to keep our doctrine straight. But we do not want to be like the Pharisees
who had a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. Of course, that was a zeal; that was not a
love. There is a great difference. I John 5:3, "For this is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."
So
we try to keep our doctrine straight, but oh, brethren, we need, I need,
revival of God's Spirit in our hearts pouring out a love for Him, a love for
His word, a love for our brethren, a love for lost souls, a love even for our
enemies. This is what Jesus commanded.
Chapter
II
ARE
YOU GOING TO HEAVEN?
GOD GIVES US GLIMPSES OF A BETTER
WORLD, WILL YOU BE THERE?
John
14:2-3, "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I
would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am,
there ye may be also."
This
is a small world, as it were a mere speck of dust in the great universe of
God's creation, and a human lifetime is less than a moment when considered in
view of an endless eternity. Spiritually
ignorant of divine revelation and like simple savages overawed by the
inventions of the learned, learned at any rate, in the science of destruction,
not only avowed enemies of Christianity, but multitudes of infidels parading as
Christians are denying the teaching of the Bible on such fundamental subjects
as the character of the true God and the nature of man, righteousness and sin,
life and death, heaven and hell.
We
need not be disturbed by the excursions of mice, monkeys, or men into outer
space. Divine truth will survive the
discoveries, inventions, and theories of astronomy and astronautics just as it
has survived the discoveries, inventions, and theories of biology, geology, and
other sciences; including a great deal of "science falsely so called.” I Timothy 6:20-21, "O Timothy, keep
that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and
oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred
concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen."
HEAVEN
IS
Spiritualists
and people deceived by them, who ought to know better, think that heaven is
just a different state or condition of existence. John 14:2 Jesus says, "...I go to
prepare a place…"
Three
heavens are mentioned in the Bible: First (that is, nearest to us), the air in
which the birds fly. Genesis 1:20, "And
God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath
life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” Second, the space where He put the moon,
the sun, and the stars. Genesis 1:14-18,
"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to
divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and
for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven
to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and
the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the
night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.” Third, the heaven that is His throne. Isaiah 66:1, "Thus saith the LORD,
The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that
ye build unto me? and where is the place
of my rest?” It is this third
heaven, also called paradise, II Corinthians 12:2-4, "I knew a man in
Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or
whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to
the third heaven. And I knew such a man,
(whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and
heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." That is the heaven we are talking about now.
If
anyone wants to argue that heaven is not a place but a state, let him argue the
point with our Lord when he gets there if he gets there. Jesus said, "…I go to prepare a place
for you…” He was talking to disciples
who believed His word.
WHERE
GOD IS
In
a sense, God is everywhere Psalm 139:7-12, "Whither shall I go from thy
spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy
presence? If I ascend up into heaven,
thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy
right hand shall hold me. If I say,
Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about
me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from
thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both
alike to thee." but His
presence is more manifest in heaven. So
our Master taught His disciples to pray, Matthew 6:9, "After this
manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name."
The
fact that God is especially resident in heaven appears again and again in the
Bible. Psalm 14:2, "The LORD
looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that
did understand, and seek God." and other such references which show
that the omnipresent God manifests Himself especially in and from heaven. In heaven we shall be with God in a
sense far beyond anything we can experience or imagine here.
WHERE
JESUS IS
Jesus
said to Nicodemus John 3:13, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." Being God as well as man, Jesus was also in
heaven at the very time He was talking to Nicodemus. But since then He has returned to heaven in
the glory of His resurrected body, and has opened the way for His followers to
go there also.
In
Acts 1:9 we read that "...a cloud received him out of their sight."
and in Acts 7:55 the martyr Stephen, "...being full of the Holy Ghost,
looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing
on the right hand of God."
So
we need have no difficulty in knowing where Jesus has gone, where He is now, to
prepare a place for us. It is in heaven
above, Colossians 3:1, "…where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."
WHERE
ANGELS ARE
Matthew
18:10, "Take heed" said Jesus, "that ye despise not
one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do
always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."
It
would be easy to multiply scripture references to holy angels, angels of God,
heavenly hosts, etc., to show that heaven is the regular abode of these, Hebrews
1:14, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for
them who shall be heirs of salvation?"
WHERE
LOVED ONES ARE
The
mortal bodies of our departed loved ones sleep in the dust of the earth, but it
is not so with their souls. If they "…die
in the Lord…” (Revelation 14:13),
while their bodies rest, spiritually they have not died at all, but have
gone on to heaven and are now with the Lord.
John
11:26, "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” No, believers in "soul sleeping" do
not believe Jesus, but His word is still true.
As one of our poets has said, "Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
was not spoken of the soul."
Acts
7:59, When Stephen was being stoned to death he said, "...Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit.” Though in the
body "he fell asleep," can anyone doubt that this martyr, "full
of the Holy Ghost," was received by his Lord into His heavenly presence?
FRIENDS
TO RECEIVE US
With
the story of the unjust steward Luke 16:1-9, "And he said also unto his
disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was
accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou
mayest be no longer steward. Then the
steward said within himself, What shall I do?
for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am
ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that,
when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors
unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit
down quickly, and write fifty. Then said
he to another, And how much owest thou? And
he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And
he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward,
because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their
generation wiser than the children of light.
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting
habitations.” Jesus plainly says
that these friends are to receive us not at the resurrection but "when
ye fail.” In other words, at the
very time we "fail" from this world we are received into the next.
Even
so, the Apostle Paul wrote: II Corinthians 5:6-8, "Therefore we are
always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are
absent from the Lord: (For we walk by
faith, not by sight:) We are confident,
I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with
the Lord."
Surely
God has made it clear enough in His word that all our departed loved ones
who were saved by His grace, along with all the saints of past centuries,
probably from Adam and Eve and certainly from righteous Abel to the last
unconscious infant laid beneath the sod, are now with Him in heaven,
ready to bid us welcome when we pass through the shadow of death to that bright
world above.
OUR
NAMES ARE THERE
To
the disciples who reported with joy that demons were subordinated to them in
His name, Jesus answered:
Luke
10:20, "Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are
subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."
In
Revelation 20:15 we read that "...whosoever was not found written in
the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Thus we can understand why Jesus taught
that there is more reason for joy in knowing that our names are written in
heaven than in having great power, even miracle working power, on earth.
TREASURES
IN HEAVEN
One
of Jesus' commandments is that we shall lay up treasures in the right place so
that our hearts will be in the right place:
Matthew
6:19-21, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth
and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also."
If
we have obeyed Jesus in this matter, we have treasures stored up for ourselves
in heaven, and so heaven is more precious to us.
Several
crowns are mentioned in the Bible as among the treasures that can be laid up in
heaven: an incorruptible crown. I Corinthians
9:25, "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all
things. Now they do it to obtain a
corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." a crown of rejoicing I
Thessalonians 2:19, "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?..."
a crown of righteousness II Timothy 4:8, "Henceforth there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall
give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his
appearing." a crown of life James 1:12, "Blessed is the man
that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of
life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." Revelation
2:10, "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the
devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall
have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a
crown of life." and a crown of glory I Peter 5:4, "And when
the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth
not away."
RESERVED
FOR US
Unlike
treasures on earth, which "moth and rust" can corrupt and which
thieves can steal, our treasures in heaven are reserved under the same
protective power of God as are we ourselves.
Men may rob us of potential crowns and other treasures that we could and
ought to earn but come short of. II John
8, "Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have
wrought, but that we receive a full reward." Revelation 3:11, "Behold, I come
quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." but if we ever get them to our credit in
heaven, they are safe.
I
Peter 1:3,5, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,...Who are kept by the power
of God through faith unto
salvation ready to
be revealed in
the last time."
OUR
ETERNAL HOME
Note
the word "mansions" in our text.
(John 14:2.) The place our Lord
has gone to prepare for us is a place to stay.
("Mansions" of the King James Version meant about the same
thing 350 years ago.) Of course, this
does not mean that we shall be confined to these abodes, or dwelling places, in
our Father's "house," but we shall always have a place to call
"home.” And it will always be a
home of such love and joy and peace as this world knows nothing of.
Even
now, we ought to think of ourselves as strangers and pilgrims in this world, on
our way to a better country and a better city.
Hebrews 11:10-16, Abraham "...looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sara herself received
strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age,
because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him
as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand
which is by the sea shore innumerable.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly
that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country
from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that
is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath
prepared for them a city.” In fact,
our true citizenship is in heaven. Philippians
3:20, "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:"
If
we die and go to heaven before the second coming of Christ, He will bring us
back with Him to get our glorified, resurrected bodies before the
translation of the saints still living in mortal flesh:
I
Thessalonians 4:14-17, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the
Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep. For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
THE
HEAVENLY CITY
As
we have already seen, the "Father's house" of John 14:2 is also
called a "country" and a "city" in Hebrews 11:10,16, "For
he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. But now they desire a better country, that
is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he
hath prepared for them a city."
And in Galatians 4:26 we read, "But
Revelation
21:1-3, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven
and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell
with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God."
WHO
CAN ENTER?
Heaven
is "a prepared place for a prepared people.” The Bible is very clear that only those who
were chosen and made fit can enter the new Jerusalem:
Revelation
21:27, "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that
defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they
which are written in the Lamb's book of life."
Revelation
22:14, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have
right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
I
John 3:23, "And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the
name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."
Let
me ask you again: "Are you going to heaven?” Let me beg you to accept one of the great
invitations of God's word:
Revelation
22:17, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that
heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst
come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely."
Chapter
III
WAGES
OF SIN - DEATH
DIVINE JUSTICE INSURES THAT SINNERS
WILL GET EXACTLY WHAT THEY DESERVE
Romans
6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Human
notions about God are so corrupted by sin, so influenced by the deceptions of
Satan, that men's minds naturally rebel against God's own revealed truth as to
His holy character, His hatred of sin and sinners, His perfect justice that
demands the punishment of sinners, if not in their own persons, then in the
person of His Son as their Substitute.
WAGES
ARE EARNED
Our
text teaches the simple truth that sin pays wages: that is, lost sinners
will get just what they earn. The
context describes the saints at
The
word "wages" necessarily suggests a relation-ship to services
rendered. In the employment conditions
of the world's economy, this relationship is generally imperfect: some
employees are paid too much and some are not paid enough. But it is not so with the wages of sin: Romans
2:6, God "…will render to every man according to his deeds:"
Even
under the old covenant, we are told, Hebrews 2:2, "For if the word
spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;"
If
the lost sinner in his ignorance thinks that he desires justice, let him be
assured that justice is exactly what he will get outside of Christ. Acts 17:31, "Because he hath
appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that
man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in
that he hath raised him from the dead."
WAGES
ARE FIXED
We
need to remember that the wages of sin are fixed wages, and it is God
Who fixed them. You may serve sin and
Satan and collect your wages from them, but just as human or corporate
employers are sometimes compelled to pay wages fixed by the government, so God
has fixed the wages of sin, Psalm 103:19, for "...his
kingdom ruleth over all."
Unlike
human governors, God has never had any need of counselors or advisers to help
Him make wise and just decisions. Isaiah
40:13-14, "Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his
counsellor hath taught him? With whom
took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of
judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?” No doubt sinners would like to dictate
their own terms of employment but neither stockholders nor labor unions will
ever be able to change the wages of sin.
Let
it be understood clearly and for all time that no power, cunning, or influence
of sinner or saint, or of any combination of sinners or saints, can ever
pervert the justice of God. Proverbs
11:21, "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished:
but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered."
WHAT
IS SIN?
Romans
6:23, "For the wages of sin is death;…" What is sin?
Some
people think only of the worst crimes or of gross immorality as being sin. Others think only of obeying the ten
commandments to avoid sin. True, I John
3:4, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is
the transgression of the law." but God's law includes much more than
the ten commandments.
I
John 5:17, "All unrighteousness is sin:..." Everything is either right or wrong. Every act, word, or thought that is not
righteous is sin.
James
4:17, "...to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it
is sin." So doing nothing is a
sin when yon ought to be doing something good.
Romans
14:23, "...whatsoever is not of faith is sin." When someone asks, "Do you see any harm
in...?" or, "Do you think it is all right to . . . ?" the
scriptural answer is that, of course, at least for that person, the thing asked
about is a sin. The very question
indicates doubt, a lack of faith, and therefore sin.
Proverbs
24:9, "The thought of foolishness is sin:...” Man may suppose that it is a light matter
to harbor foolish thoughts, but God's judgment is different.
Proverbs
21:4, "...the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Or, if we take the marginal translation, "The
light of the wicked is sin."
Proverbs
21:27; 28:9, "The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much
more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?... He that turneth away his ear from hearing the
law, even his prayer shall be abomination."
So
according to God's own word, even outwardly good works, even religious acts,
are sinful and abominable in His sight if the doer's heart and motives are not
right. Truly, Galatians 3:22, "...the
scripture hath concluded all under sin,..."
SPIRITUAL
DEATH
"The
wages of sin is death." First
of all, spiritual death. Adam and
Eve were the only humans to die this death; their descendants have all been
born dead except the "Prince of Life" (Acts 3:15.)
Spiritual
death means separation from God. On the
day that Adam sinned, he died spiritually.
Genesis 2:17, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die." and Romans 5:12, "Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned:" This is not something that
happens to us now: it was our condition by nature, and remains the condition of
all who do not receive new life in Christ.
Ephesians 2:1-5, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in
trespasses and sins: Wherein in time
past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and
were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us
together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"
NATURAL
DEATH
After
Adam sinned and died spiritually, God drove him out of the garden of Eden, away
from the tree of life. Adam began to die
a natural death, which he accom-plished in 930 years, and men have been dying
ever since, most of them in much less time.
This death, too (separation of soul from body), is part of "the
wages of sin."
Natural
or physical death is the first death, that is, the first experience of dying,
for most of the human race. The only
exceptions so far (since Adam and Eve, who first died spiritually) have been
Enoch and Elijah. Other exceptions will
be the saints still living on earth when our Lord returns. I Corinthians 15:51-52, "Behold, I
shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
I Thessalonians 4:14-17, "For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with him. For this
we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
SECOND
DEATH
But
"the wages of sin" go infinitely beyond spiritual death, or
separation from God in this life, and infinitely beyond natural death, or
separation of soul from body. Hebrews
9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment:"
Common
sense and reason would teach us the moral necessity of future punishment
of the wicked even if it were not plainly declared in God's word. Surely it is obvious enough that justice is
not done in this world. Genesis 18:25, "...Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Through
the beloved apostle John, our Lord has given us a prophetic vision of the final
payment of "the wages of sin":
Revelation
20:12-15, "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and
the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works. And the sea
gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of
fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
"SOUL
AND BODY"
The
expression "death and hell" (hades) in Revelation 20:14 means
simply "bodies and souls.” By
a figure of speech, "death" represents the dead but
resurrected bodies of the damned, and "hades"
represents the souls confined there in torment until the last judgment.
Compare
the words of Jesus: Matthew 10:28, "And fear not them which kill the
body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell.” (gehenna) "Gehenna" here is the same as
the lake of fire the second death.
THE
GIFT OF GOD
Such
are the fearful wages of sin, irrevocably fixed by the just and holy God. Ezekiel 33:11, Yet God has "...no
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and
live..." Romans 6:23, And so, "...the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
This
gift you do not and cannot earn. You
can get it only from God, only through Jesus Christ, and only by receiving Him
as Lord. This gift is eternal life and
peace with God, instead of eternal death and torment with Satan.
Acts
16:31, "...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved..."
Chapter
IV
REPENT
AND BELIEVE
THE GOSPEL
NOT ONLY THE COMMANDS OF GOD BUT THE
ORDER OF THESE COMMANDS MUST BE OBSERVED
Mark
1:14-15, "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into
Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."
Of
all the satanic perversions of the gospel message, one of the most pernicious
is the reversal of the scriptural order of repentance and faith. Necessarily connected with this reversal is a
complete lack of understanding of the meaning of repentance and of the nature
of saving faith. It is no accident that
the only time in the New Testament that the command to repent and the command
to believe are brought together, they are quoted from the Lord Jesus Himself,
and the command to repent comes first.
REPENTANCE
AND FAITH
Moreover,
it needs to be noticed that only twice in the New Testament do the nouns
repentance and faith appear together, and both times in this order. Those false teachers of counterfeit
"faith and repentance" cannot justify their reversed order from the
scriptures, and their arguments defending their anti-scriptural order are based
on gross misinterpretation of the meaning of both repentance and faith. The two places in the New Testament where the
nouns repentance and faith are used together are: Acts 20:20-21, "And
how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and
have taught you publickly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the
Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ." and Hebrews 6:1, "Therefore leaving the
principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying
again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,"
"THAT
YE MIGHT BELIEVE"
There
is one other place in the New Testament where, in the King James Version, the
words repent and believe come together, and although in the original the word
for "repent" is different from that used in the other passages cited,
the same order prevails. Jesus
speaking to the chief priests and the elders;
Matthew
21:32, "For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye
believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when
ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."
"INSEPARABLE
GRACES"
In
this last citation (Matthew 21:32) the word for "repented" might
better be translated "regretted."
As
to the words usually represented by "repent" and
"repentance" in the King James Version, the truth is as stated in the
The
truth is that divinely inspired speakers and writers of the New Testament
generally considered it sufficient to refer to either repentance or faith
alone, knowing that either word necessarily implies the other. It was only for special emphasis, and perhaps
to make clear their true relationship, that these few times both terms are
used.
A SAD
MISTAKE
I
have heard Baptist preachers who ought to know better say of the Philippian
jailor in Acts 16 that Paul and Silas told him only to believe because "he
had already repented.” The man who can
make such a statement either does not know the meaning of repentance or has not
carefully considered his words.
As
a matter of fact, there is no such thing as a sinner who has truly repented
"from dead works" and "toward God" without also coming to
saving faith in Christ. And there is no such thing as a saved believer in
Christ who has not repented in the New Testament sense of repentance.
Repentance
and faith are not "steps" to salvation; much less are the
reversed and counterfeit "faith and repentance" of false religion
"steps" to anything but delusion and destruction.
New
Testament repentance and faith are "inseparable graces"; two out
of many aspects of a single experience of God's saving grace.
MEANING
OF TERMS
True
repentance is a change of mind, and when used in a gospel connection this
means, for the lost sinner, a change from unbelief to belief. Obviously, then, when a sinner has fully
repented, he has also come to believe what before he had not believed,
involving a trust in One Whom before he had not trusted.
Saving
faith necessarily involves personal trust or commitment, as clearly taught
in the Bible. Since the lost sinner is
in a natural state of unbelief, obviously he cannot believe without a change
of mind, which is the New Testament meaning of repentance.
BELIEVE
THE GOSPEL
Paul
in I Corinthians 15:3-5 sums up the gospel: "For I delivered unto you
first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures; And that he
was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen…"
If
you have not yet believed this message to the extent of trusting Christ for
salvation, may you, by the grace of God, repent (change your mind) and believe
the gospel to the saving of your soul. Hebrews
10:39, "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them
that believe to the saving of the soul."
Chapter
V
HAVE
YOU COUNTED THE COST?
TOWERS WE MAY TRY TO BUILD COST TOO
MUCH; JESUS PAID IT ALL!
Luke
14:28-30, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not
down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the
foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish."
Proverbs
18:10, "The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth
into it, and is safe."
Are
you building a tower of refuge and defense for your soul, hoping that this
tower of your own building will keep you safe against all your enemies? Do you hope that this tower you are trying to
build will protect you even from the righteous judgments of God? Have you counted the cost?
Jesus'
purpose in using this illustration of building a military tower or fortress was
not merely, as many people suppose, to incite us to earnestness and sincerity
of purpose, but to bring us to realize that none of us can pay the price, none
of us can bear the cost, of finishing a tower that can save us from divine
judgment. When we realize this fact, we
are ready to flee for refuge to the strong tower that God has already provided
for us.
Let
us look at some of the towers which men try to build but can never finish to
the extent that they can save a soul:
TOWERS
OF WEALTH
The
Bible plainly tells us that we were not redeemed with corruptible things as
silver and gold. I Peter 1:18, "Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;"
yet many men vainly hope that worldly riches can buy not only anything in this
world, but even a place in the world to
come. They will learn better, if not
before, after it is too late:
Isaiah
2:20-21, "In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his
idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles
and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the
ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he
ariseth to shake terribly the earth."
TOWERS
OF FAME
Some
people think that if they can acquire sufficient fame or renown in this world
it may go with them into a future life. But even in this life, fame is fleeting
and fickle:
Psalm
74:5-6, "A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the
thick trees. But now they break down the
carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers."
TOWERS
OF STATION
Worldly
station or position will gain us no advantage before God. Psalm 39:5, "Behold, thou hast made
my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every
man at his best state is altogether vanity.
Selah."
The
Bible makes it clear that God's judgments will come upon the high and mighty as
well as on the lowly and weak. Revelation
6:15, "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men,
and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free
man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;"
TOWERS
OF LEARNING
Our
modern world especially is characterized by a near worship of human learning,
but, though a man could acquire all the knowledge and wisdom of this world, he
still could not stand against the omniscience and the eternal wisdom of God.
Proverbs
21:30, "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the
LORD."
TOWERS
OF SENTIMENT
Many
people have false sentimental ideas about God, and trust in these sentiments,
contrary to the plain teaching of God's word.
So, they suppose that God is too "good," "loving,"
"merciful," to "send them to hell.” Modernistic misinterpret of scripture vainly
imagine a difference between the God of the Old Testament and the Christ of the
New. But it was the kind and loving but
also true and faithful Savior Who exclaimed:
Matthew
23:33, "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the
damnation of hell?"
It
is in the New Testament that we read, Hebrew 12:29, "For our God is a
consuming fire.” And Revelation 6:16,
"And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the
face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:"
TOWERS
OF TRADITION
Following
and building upon the traditions of men will never build a tower that can stand
against God. So Jesus said:
Mark
7:6,7,9, "...This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart
is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they
worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men... And he said unto them, Full well ye reject
the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition."
TOWERS
OF PRETENSE
Merely
pretending to worship and serve God is another tower of delusion that is never
finished and could not stand if it were.
Jesus speaks of those: Matthew
23:14, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a
pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall
receive the greater
damnation."
We
are reminded in Hebrews 4:13, "Neither is there any creature that is
not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of
him with whom we have to do."
TOWERS
OF
The
religious fashion of the day is so called union. Religionists, unsure of their positions, seek
to strengthen themselves by uniting with others who, likewise, are not sure of
anything much. But the only religious
union that God will bless is union with and in Christ.
As
to the union of secular powers and false religions of this world, we may note
Proverbs 11:21: "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be
unpunished:..."
TOWERS
OF TEARS
Some
people seem to think that they can shed enough tears to wash their sins away. We may well shed tears over our sins, but
that tears do not insure acceptance with God is evident from Malachi 2:13: "And
this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with
weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any
more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand."
TOWERS
OF PRAYERS
Again,
it is vainly supposed that our prayers, if long enough, frequent enough, or
earnest enough, can bring us salvation. That
a form of prayer cannot avail is evident from many scriptures. To certain ones, God said, Isaiah 1:15, "And
when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye
make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.” And in Proverbs 28:9 we read, "He
that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be
abomination."
TOWERS
OF CEREMONY
Outward
rites and ceremonies of religion can never afford us a place of safety. Of the sacred Jewish rite of circumcision,
Paul wrote Romans 2:28-29, "For he is not a Jew, which is one
outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose
praise is not of men, but of God."
So,
in our day, even the sacred ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper have no
saving virtue in themselves, much less have religious rites or ceremonies of
human invention or tradition.
TOWERS
OF DOCTRINE
It
is good for us to believe sound doctrine, the teaching of God's word. But a
mere intellectual and formal adherence to sound doctrine is not salvation.
Of
the Pharisees, Jesus said: Matthew 23:3, "All therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they
say, and do not." To us He
says: Matthew 7:21, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven."
TOWERS
OF FAITH
Romans
5:2, "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we
stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
Faith,
however, is the means, instrument, or channel that connects us with the Savior. Faith has no saving virtue in itself.
Sad
to say, some people have faith in faith instead of faith in God. A misdirected faith can be a most terrible
agent of destruction. Thus, we read of
some II Thessa-lonians 2:11-12, "...God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie:
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness."
A
So,
with all the religious towers of men's building we can only say in the light of
God's word that man is not able to finish the towers that he begins and they
would be no help to him in eternity even if he could finish them.
But,
thank God, there is a strong tower already provided:
Proverbs
18:10, "The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth
into it, and is safe."
Will
you not today say with the Psalmist of old, Psalm 142:4, "...refuge
failed me..." and then, Psalm
143:9, "Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide
me."
Chapter
VI
THROUGH
FAITH WE
ESTABLISH THE LAW!
SCRIPTURES SHOW THAT JUSTIFICATION
BY FAITH IS IN HARMONY WITH GOD'S LAW
Romans
3:31, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law."
Objections
to salvation through faith in Christ alone are not new. Nineteen centuries ago the apostle Paul
answered the false teachers who teach, under the pretense of upholding the law
of God, that men are saved in whole or in part by their "good works."
These
false teachers say today: "If you tell people that they are saved by grace
through faith alone, without good works, then they will live ungodly lives and
still expect to go to heaven.” In other
words, these false teachers accuse us Baptists, from the days of John the
Baptist until now, of making void the holy law of God when we preach
justification by faith alone.
Paul
by inspiration gives us God's word that the false teachers are wrong. Through faith we establish the law. Note four ways in which this is so:
1.
Through faith we establish the law in its PROPER PURPOSE.
The law was not meant to save and never did save a single soul. Galatians 3:21, "Is the law then
against the promises of God? God forbid:
for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily
righteousness should have been by the law.”
The Bible says plainly: Galatians 3:11, "...that no man is
justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall
live by faith."
Who
is it then that tries to nullify and destroy the law? It is the false religionist who tells people
to obey the law in order to be saved. He
is holding forth a false promise that the law will do something it cannot do,
and was not intended to do.
A
DIRTY TRICK
If
you recommend me to your friends as a man able to do something I cannot do; to
prescribe medical treatment, for example, or to give sound legal advice; your
recommendation is not a loving service, but a malicious and destructive
trick, since I am neither a physician nor a lawyer. If you are really my friend, you will
recommend me only so far as my capabilities warrant, and thus neither you nor I
nor our mutual friends will be disappointed.
Even
so, we that truly love and honor God's holy law establish it in its proper
purpose, which is to condemn the world and to bring lost sinners
to Christ for salvation. Romans 3:19,
"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may
become guilty before God.” Galatians
3:24, "Wherefore the law was our school-master to bring us unto Christ,
that we might be justified by faith."
LAW
AND JUSTICE
2.
Through faith we establish the law as having an ETERNAL PENALTY fully
enforced or executed. For the redeemed
the penalty was paid by Christ upon the cross; the lost will bear their just
punishment forever. False religionists
must lower God's standard of righteousness to indulge a false hope that
man's imperfect obedience may satisfy the holy and perfectly just God.
God
spared not His own Son, but when our sins were laid upon Him Romans 1:18, "...the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” And if the divine hand of justice could
not be stayed when the Beloved Son was suffering the punishment due His elect,
be assured that there can be no escape in eternity for lost sinners. Revelation 14:11, "And the smoke of
their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor
night..."
PERFECT
OBEDIENCE
3.
Through faith we establish the law as perfectly FULFILLED IN CHRIST. Matthew 5:17, "Think not that I am
come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfil.” God's holy law demands not
partial obedience, but perfect obedience and separation from sin, and this
perfect righteousness is provided for us in Christ. Hebrews 7:26, "For such an high
priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and
made higher than the heavens."
II
Corinthians 5:21, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
4.
Through faith we establish the law as having its righteousness fulfilled in the
life of TRUE BELIE-VERS in Christ. Not they who boast
of themselves and their "good" works, but they whose boast is in and
of their Lord are the true representatives of the righteousness of the law.
SAVED
TO SERVE
Titus
2:11-14, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to
all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
Romans
8:3-4, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh: That the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit."
Confident,
therefore, that in so doing I do establish the law, I again quote the inspired
apostle Paul as a personal invitation to every sinner who wants to be saved: Acts
16:31, "...Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved..."
Chapter
VII
EVIDENCES
OF THE NEW BIRTH
YOU
CAN AND OUGHT TO KNOW
WHETHER YOU HAVE BEEN BORN AGAIN HERE ARE 10
SIGNS
John
3:7-8, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it
goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
We
know when the wind blows because we can hear the sound of it and we can see the
effects of it when dust and smoke and chaff are blown away and grass and trees
move and bend with the wind. We have
learned that these things are the effects of the wind, and we accept them as
evidences that the wind is blowing. Even
so, the Bible tells us that certain things are effects and evidences of the new
birth, and if we recognize these evidences in our lives we may be sure we have
been born again.
The
person who is born again:
HEARS
GOD'S WORDS
1.
John 8:47, "He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear
them not, because ye are not of God."
The persons to whom Jesus spoke these words were mentally acquainted
with the scriptures and they did hear God’s word through Jesus with their outer
ears, but they refused to hear them with the inner man. They turned a deaf ear and hardened their
hearts against the truth. The child of
God not only hears God's words with the outer ear and receives them into his
natural mind, but he hears in a real spiritual sense: that is, he consents and
agrees to God's words in his heart, so that he is willing to be governed by the
truth conveyed in these words of God. He
recognizes the authority of God to speak and his own duty to listen to what God
says. He believes that God has
spoken through the Apostles and other inspired writers of the Bible, and he
listens to their messages as unto God. I John 4:6, "We are of God: he
that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the
spirit of error."
BELIEVES
IN GOD'S SON
2. I John 5:1, "Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat
loveth him also that is begotten of him.”
The Bible does not say that we are born again because we believed,
but that we believe because we have been born again. John did not write, "Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ will be born of God," but, "Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is (or, better translated, has been)
born of God"; that is, his faith is evidence of his regeneration. Many lost sinners say that they believe in
Christ, but they don't. They have no
true inner conviction or faith that Christ died for their sins, that He is the
Son of God, that He arose from the dead, I Corinthians 15:25, "...he
must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet." or that God
has ordained Him to "judge the world in righteousness.” Lost sinners may believe in some false or
imperfect imaginary Christ of man's teaching, but they do not believe in the
Christ of the Bible. They do not believe
that Jesus is the Christ described in the Bible. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God."
LOVES
JESUS CHRIST
3. John 8:42, "Jesus said unto them, If
God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from
God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.”
The lost sinner does not love the Lord. The person who is born again loves Jesus, and
will do anything he can for Him. John
14:23, "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will
keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make
our abode with him.” I John 5:3, "For
this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not
grievous."
LOVES
THE BRETHREN
4.
I John 4:7; 5:1; John 13:35, "Beloved, let us love one another: for
love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God... Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that
is begotten of him... By this shall all
men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
MAKES
PEACE FOR SINNERS
5.
Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the
children of God.” Lost sinners are
enemies of God. Isaiah 57:21, "There
is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”
Even the saints in this life war against God in their fleshly
natures. Galatians 5:17, "For
the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and
these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that
ye would.” The children of God
delight in making peace between God and sinful men by bringing them to Christ. II Corinthians 5:20, "Now then we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in
Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."
KEEPS
HIMSELF
6.
I John 5:18, "...he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that
wicked one toucheth him not.” The
person who is born again has within him a desire to persevere in the faith, and
God gives him the power to keep himself I Peter 1:5, as he is "...kept
by the power of God through faith
unto salvation ready
to be revealed
in the last
time."
DOES
RIGHTEOUSNESS
7. I John 2:29, "If ye know that he is
righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” Romans 8:3-4, "For what the law could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit."
CANNOT
SIN
8.
I John 3:9, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed
remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” John 3:6, "That which is born of
the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Romans 7:20, "Now if I do that I
would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
IS
CHASTISED
9. Hebrews 12:5-8, "And ye have
forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son,
despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of
him: For whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you
as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof
all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."
OVERCOMES
THE WORLD
10.
I John 5:4, "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this
is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” The person who is overcome by the world
and goes back into sin may have some kind of religion, but he doesn't have
Christ; he hasn't been born again. The
children of God overcome the world instead of being overcome by it.
Have
you been born again? Examine yourself in
the light of God's Word. John 3:3, "Jesus
answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Chapter
VIII
HEIRS
OF THE KINGDOM
ONLY
BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS ARE
JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST
INHERITANCE AFTER RESURRECTION
I
Corinthians 6:9-11, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the
Listing
ten varieties of sinners, the inspired apostle declares in the above text that
none of them shall inherit the
STILL
"FLESH AND BLOOD"
This
does not mean that these Corinthians had attained heavenly perfection or were
no longer capable of sin. Paul's letter
to them points out many things still wrong with their practice. His warning here was not intended to frighten
and threaten with hellfire the Christian who might temporarily fall into sin,
but to characterize hypocrites and open sinners as persons who "shall not
inherit the
I
Corinthians 15:50, Even the heirs to this kingdom will not receive their
inheritance until after their resurrection in immortal, incorruptible bodies. "...flesh and blood cannot inherit
the
"IF
A SON, THEN HEIR"
Only
those who become heirs in this life will receive an inheritance in the life to
come. This inheritance is our birthright
as God's spiritual children. Romans
8:17, "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together."
Some
persons have mistakenly supposed that the words, "if so be that we
suffer with him," are meant to qualify or limit the previous words,
thus denying to some of God's children the promised inheritance. Actually, this verse is a simple example of
synonymous parallelism characteristic of Hebrew but found also in the Greek:
the latter part of the verse in effect saying about the same thing as the
former, but in different words. For help
in understanding this verse, compare Galatians 4:7, "Wherefore thou art
no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."
and Galatians 5:24, "And they that are Christ's have crucified the
flesh with the affections and lusts."
Thus
the Bible makes it plain that all true children of God are heirs of His kingdom. Our shares in this inheritance will vary
according to our faithfulness in His service.
Titus 3:7, "That being justified by his grace, we should be made
heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
II Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his
body, according to that
he hath done,
whether it be good or bad.” Revelation
22:12, "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give
every man according as his work shall be." but every true child of God will inherit some
share, large or small. Matthew 5:19, "Whosoever
therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so,
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and
teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Let no man beguile you of this reward. Colossians 2:18, "Let no man beguile
you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding
into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,"
Our
text states three facts about true heirs of the kingdom: "Ye washed
yourselves," "Ye were sanctified," "Ye were justified.” And all this I Corinthians 6:11, "And
such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
"YE
WASHED YOURSELVES"
"Ye
washed yourselves off” is a literal translation of the Greek verb here (middle
voice, not passive). This form of the
verb directs our attention to the fact of individual human responsibility
even in the divine miracle of the new birth. It is true that the sons of God "were
born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God.” It is also true that, in
distinction from lost sinners, John 1:11-13, "He came unto his own, and
his own received him not. But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh,
nor of the
will of man,
but of God."
I
am not trying to explain the new birth. I
am simply setting forth what the scriptures say.
Of
course, true Bible believers will recognize that the washing referred to in our
text is the "washing of regeneration.” Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;" It has no connection with baptism except that
baptism is an outward picture or symbol of
the spiritual cleansing that actually takes place in the new birth.
That
baptism is not a literal cleansing is plainly declared in I Peter 3:21: "The
like figure where-unto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away
of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" That is, baptism
"saves" by picturing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So that the elect will not be deceived by
false doctrine, Peter plainly declares that baptism is "not the putting
away of the filth of the flesh."
"YE
WERE SANCTIFIED"
True
heirs of the kingdom not only have washed themselves in regeneration, but also
have been given a standing of perfect holiness before God. In His will Hebrews 10:10, "...we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
The
sanctification referred to in our text is not the progressive sanctification
which is a later part of Christian experience, but the work of the Holy Spirit
in setting us apart to God at the very beginning of our experience II
Thessalonians 2:13, "...salvation through (in) sanctification of
the Spirit and belief of the truth:” In this scriptural sense, all true believers
are saints.
"YE
WERE JUSTIFIED"
A
wonderful fact about our salvation is the Bible truth Romans 4:5, in that God "...justifieth
the ungodly,...” (impious) because "...his
faith is counted for righteousness.” Ours
is the blessedness described by David Romans 4:6, of the man "…unto
whom God imputeth (gives credit for) righteousness without works."
Just
as we "washed ourselves" in the new birth when we believed in Christ
for salvation, just as "sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth" are part of the same experience, so also we were justified when
we believed.
John
3:18, "He that believeth on him
(Christ) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed
in the name
of the only
begotten Son of God."
ARE
YOU AN HEIR?
Are
you one of the heirs of God's kingdom, an heir of God and a joint heir of Jesus
Christ? Have you believed in Him to the
saving of your soul?
I
Corinthians 6:9-10, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the
Though
perhaps you were once such a sinner, can you say now that by God's grace in the
new birth you washed yourself through faith in the cleansing blood of the Lamb,
yea, you were sanctified, yea, you were justified, in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God?
If,
and only if, you are a child of the King, then you are an heir of the kingdom.
Chapter
IX
JUSTIFIED
FROM ALL THINGS
GUILTY
SINNERS ARE DECLARED
NOT GUILTY BY OUR
RIGHTEOUS GOD AND SAVIOR
Acts
13:38,39, "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that
through this man (Jesus) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye
could not be
justified by the
law of Moses."
Job
9:2, "...how should man be just with God?" is a question asked by Job over 3,000 years
ago. Man is a sinner, and, as such, an
object of anger and hatred in the eyes of his holy Creator, Habakkuk 1:13;
Psalm 5:5; 7:11, Who is "...of purer eyes than to behold evil, and
canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal
treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is
more righteous than he?... The foolish
shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity… God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry
with the wicked every day.” The
problem of whether and how sinful man can become acceptable to the thrice holy
God is a problem to which many people have never yet found the answer, but God
has clearly answered it in the New Testament.
NOT
ONLY CAN GOD MAKE GUILTY SINNERS NOT GUILTY IN HIS SIGHT, BUT HE IS RIGHTEOUS
in so doing. He has set forth His Son
Jesus Christ Romans 3:26, "To declare . . . his righteousness: that
he might be JUST, AND THE JUSTIFIER of him which believeth in Jesus."
WHAT
IS JUSTIFICATION?
To
"justify" as the word is used in the Bible, is to declare
right or just. "Justification"
does not refer to a change of character, but to a judicial pronouncement of
innocence, a verdict of "righteous" or "not guilty."
It
is true that sinners justified before God will eventually become wholly
righteous in character, but this fact is revealed elsewhere and not in the word
"justify" or "justification."
Thus
in Matthew 11:19, "...But wisdom is justified of her children."
does not mean that wisdom was made right but that she was declared right
"of," from or by, her children.
In
Matthew 12:37, "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy
words thou shalt be condemned." cannot mean that our mere words make
us right or wrong, but that our words will declare or reveal whether we are
right or wrong. This verse makes it
clear that "justified" is simply the opposite of "condemned."
For
conclusive proof of the scriptural meaning of "justify," Luke 7:9, "When
Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said
unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great
faith, no, not in Israel.” Of
course, no one can change the character of God, and He has always been
righteous. These people simply
pronounced their judgment or declared that God was righteous.
WHO IS
JUSTIFIED?
According
to our text, "all that believe" are justified in Christ. More literally, it is "everyone
believing," making this a very personal matter.
The
believing one who is justified is not the "good" man that tries to
join good works to his faith as a means of salvation, Romans 4:5, "But
to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness."
WHY
JUSTIFIED?
Why
can God righteously justify the ungodly: why can He declare the impious man
righteous, counting his faith for righteousness? Romans 3:23-24, "For all have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"
So
it is through redemption in Christ that God can justly be gracious: the full
ransom price was paid on
No
mere man could have paid this ransom: it could be paid only by God Himself,
Who became the "Son of Man" for this purpose, Romans 1:4, "And
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead:"
So
vital is the historical resurrection of the human body of Jesus as a testimony
to His essential deity that the Bible tells us: I Corinthians 15:17, "And
if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain; ye
are yet in
your sins." But, thanks
be to God, Romans 4:25, He "...was delivered for our offences,
and was raised again for our justification."
HOW
JUSTIFIED?
With
this clear teaching of the New Testament, we have the answer to Job’s question,
Job 9:1, "how should man be just with God?” Romans 3:28, "Therefore we
conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Galatians 3:24, "Wherefore the
law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faith."
WHEN
JUSTIFIED?
Outlining
something of God's eternal purpose, Paul wrote: Romans 8:30, "Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also
justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
This
grand declaration of the purpose of Him Who Romans 4:17, "...calleth
those things which be not as though they were." is sometimes misused
in attempts to support the unscriptural doctrine of "eternal
justification.” The verse does not teach
eternal justification any more than it teaches eternal glorification. What it does teach is that God, Who sees the
end from the beginning, will finish what He began, and this is as sure as if it
were done, but everything in due order.
If
we are willing to believe God's word, it is plain enough: a man is justified
when he believes, and not before: John 3:18, "He that believeth on
him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
As
to the Bible denying heresy that the elect are justified without hearing and
believing the gospel, God says: Revelation 21:8, "But the fearful, and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
HOW
LONG JUSTIFIED?
The
believer is justified or for legal purposes, declared not guilty, of all
sins past, present, and future. He
will not come into condemnation. John
5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is
passed from death unto
life." God chastens whom
He loves, and deals with us as sons. Hebrews
12:7, "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for
what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" not as lawbreakers. So far as legal judgment is concerned, God
will never again consider us guilty of sin, but looks upon us as clothed in the
perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ:
Romans
4:6-7, "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered."
JUSTIFIED
FOR WHAT?
Contrary
to Satan's propaganda, justification by faith alone does not lead or encourage
believers to sin but does promote the fulfillment of the righteousness of the
very law from whose penalties we are set free in Christ. Romans 8:1-4, "There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk
not after the
flesh, but after the
Spirit."
True
believers, who have trusted in the merits of Christ for their justification and
have received Him as their Savior, have also been born of God. John 1:12-13, "But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
Such
believers can say with Paul: II Corinthians 5:14-15, "For the love of
Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then
were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not
henceforth live unto them-selves, but unto him which died for them, and rose
again."
Chapter
X
THIS
IS EVERLASTING LIFE
ETERNAL LIFE - THE
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD MUST BE RECEIVED HERE
TO BE ENJOYED HEREAFTER
John
17:3, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
If
the Bible gives us a definition of everlasting life, it is in these words of
Jesus which might be better translated, "This is eternal life, that they
know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou didst send.” In other words, to know God the Father and
God the Son is to have eternal life.
"IS"
NOT "MEANS"
A
false translation of the scriptures is that which substitutes the word
"means" for "is" in this verse. False witnesses of Jehovah then so interpret
the word "means" as to deny eternal life as a present gift to all
true believers in Christ and reserve it for a select group of their own
description in a world to come.
KINDS
OF "LIFE" AND "DEATH"
Some
common words like "life" and "death" are most difficult to
define because they are used in many different senses by different people in
different connections. But in the
Bible "life" does not mean mere existence and "death" does
not mean nonexistence in an absolute sense.
A difference between vegetable life and animal life seems clear enough,
and, although infidels may not, Christians do, in accord with the Bible, make a
distinction between human life and the life of lower animals. Since man was made "a little lower than
the angels," we may also distinguish between human and angelic life.
Of
course, the highest life, and the source of all other life, is God Himself. I Timothy 6:16, "Who only hath
immortality,..." That is, the
living God has life in and of and by Himself, while His creatures can possess
everlasting life only as a gift from Him.
WHOM
TO FEAR
Human
life includes more than a living body.
Jesus said: Matthew 10:28, "And fear not them which kill the
body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell.” (gehenna
the lake of fire). This destruction, not
annihilation, but "everlasting destruction.” II Thessalonians 1:9, "Who shall be
punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from
the glory of his power;" This is called "the second death"
in Revelation 20:14, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of
fire. This is the second death.” This is the conscious death of torment
where, Jesus said, Mark 9:43-48, "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it
off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to
go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter
halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that
never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched. And if thine eye offend thee,
pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one
eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth
not, and the fire is not quenched."
Ephesians
2:1-2, We who now live in Christ were formerly "…dead in trespasses and
sins;" and while we were so dead (that is, dead to God) we "...walked
according to the course of this world,..."
To
the living saints at Colosse Paul wrote, Colossians 3:3, "For ye are
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."
SOURCE
OF LIFE
As
already stated, all life comes from the living God. Jesus tells us: John 5:26, "For
as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in
himself.” Jesus came that His
"sheep" (His people) John 10:10, "...might have life, and
that they might have it more abundantly."
Romans
6:23, God's gift of "...eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
brings it to pass that the Christian,
Colossians 3:10, "...is renewed in knowledge after the image of him
that created him:" II Peter
1:4, More than this, true believers become "...partakers of the divine
nature,..." As Paul wrote to the
Corinthians, I Corinthians 2:16, "...But we have the mind of Christ."
BEGINNING
OF LIFE
Of
course, so far as eternal life is in God, it had no beginning, just as God had
no beginning but is Himself the beginning of all things. As a quality of God, eternal life is eternal
as God is eternal.
But
in our human experience of divine salvation, eternal life begins when a true
knowledge of God begins. And we can
know Him only in and through Christ. As
Jesus said, John 6:45, "It is written in the prophets, And they shall
be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."
We
come to know by believing the truth, and this believing and the new birth are
inseparably connected: I John 5:1, "Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat
loveth him also that is begotten of him."
A
PRESENT POSSESSION
Eternal
life is not just something promised for another world, but is a present
possession of every true believer:
John
5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
The
words, "eternal" and "everlasting" are used interchangeably
to translate the same Greek word. It
would seem obvious enough that eternal or everlasting life must last forever,
but Jesus adds to our assurance by declaring that the born again believer shall
not come into the judgment that is appointed for the lost.
Again
we read that He gives to His "sheep" (His redeemed people) John 10:28,
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Limitations of space forbid quoting a
multitude of similar assurances of scripture that God's true children here
and now have everlasting life.
CONFLICT
OF LIFE AND DEATH
Yet
even with this life, Christians have with them in this world the old man of
flesh which we are commanded to reckon to be dead. Romans 6:11, "Likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord." and whose deeds we are to keep on killing by the Spirit. Romans 8:13, "For if ye live after
the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of
the body, ye shall live."
Romans
8:10, "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but
the Spirit is life because of righteousness."
This
conflict is graphically stated in Galatians 5:17: "For the flesh
lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye
would."
A
GROWING LIFE
I
Peter 2:2, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that
ye may grow thereby:" Again,
the same apostle urges us to II Peter 3:18, "...grow in grace, and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ..."
If
we know a little of God, if we have within us a beginning of eternal life, we
are to press on to a greater knowledge, a fuller life. Philippians 3:8-14, "Yea doubt-less,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and
the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death; If by any
means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had
already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark
for the prize of
the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus."
A
GLORIOUS VICTORY
Thinking
of eternal life as the knowledge of God, capable of growth and perfection, will
help us to understand such scriptures as Mark 10:30, "...in the world
to come eternal life.” This means,
of course, a perfected knowledge or life a larger measure of that same
eternal life which even in its infancy in this world led the faithful disciple
to leave all else for his Master.
In
this world our eternal life is cramped and hindered by spiritually
"dead" bodies, but after the resurrection we shall have spiritual
bodies of glorified flesh and bones. I Corinthians 15:44, "...There is
a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”
Luke 24:39, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself:
handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Our whole being will be permeated with
eternal life: we shall know even as we are known. I Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see
through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then
shall I know even as also I am known."
No
wonder that, still bound to these bodies of sin: Romans 8:23, we who "...have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
I
Corinthians 15:54, "So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
Chapter
XI
WALKING
WITH GOD
THE
WAY TO PLEASE GOD IS TO WALK BY
FAITH TO HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM
Genesis
5:22-24, "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three
hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch
walked with God: and he was not; for God
took him."
Hebrews
11:5, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and
was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he
had this testimony, that he pleased God."
The
word "walk" in scripture often refers to the life, conduct, or
behavior. So when we read that Enoch
walked with God, the meaning is not merely that he took a few literal steps in
the company of God, but that his life was a life of fellowship with God. The statement in Hebrews makes it clear that
this walking with God, this conduct of life in fellowship with God, pleased God. The apostle John was writing about this kind
of life. I John 1:6-7, "If we
say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not
the truth: But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
AGAINST
THE WORLD
Enoch
walked with God and so enjoyed fellowship with God while the world in general
was departing from God. The world was
walking in sin, becoming more and more sinful until the people of this world
brought upon themselves the judgment of God in the flood of Noah's day. But while the people of the world walked in
sin, Enoch walked with God.
It
is still true that if we would walk with God, if we would have fellowship with
Him, if we would be His friends, we must be separate from the world, we must count
the world an enemy. James 4:4, "Ye
adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the
world is enmity with God? whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
Too
many Christians would like to walk in fellowship with the people and in the
customs of this world and still claim the fellowship and blessings of God. Too many of us have forgotten the teaching of
Jesus that His true and faithful disciples are not of this world. Too many would like to escape the persecution
which the Bible declares is the necessary experience II Timothy 3:12, "...all
that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
Enoch
walked with God because he was not afraid to walk apart from and contrary to
the world.
A HABITUAL
WALK
Genesis
5:22, "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three
hundred years, and begat sons and
daughters." Many Christians try
to walk with God a little while and perhaps even at repeated intervals in times
of revival, but turn aside to walk with the world at other times. Surely such an inconsistent walk is not
pleasing to God.
If
we really know what it means to walk with God, to enjoy His company, and have
found this to be a better way than the ways of the world, surely the wise
course is always to walk in this better and happier way. Yet, how often do even the true people of God
turn aside from fellowship with Him and return again, at least temporarily, to
their old sinful ways!
Enoch
walked with God not only for a day, or a year, or during a small part of his
life, but made it his habitual practice; day by day, for over three hundred
years, he walked with God. It was this
consistent walk that obtained for him the testimony that he pleased God.
READY
FOR HEAVEN
Enoch's
fellowship with God was such, that at the end of his walk on earth he was ready
for heaven without the necessity of natural death and resurrection. Hebrews 11:5, "By faith Enoch was
translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had
translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he
pleased God."
Certainly,
even with the closest walk of fellowship with God in this world, we shall
experience a great change when we move to realms above. But God's people are admonished in His word
to live in this world as citizens of heaven.
We shall have a better home in eternity or a better place in that home
in proportion as we shall have spent our time here preparing for it.
This
does not mean that getting to heaven depends on our life here, but our
position, our rewards there, on the authority of our Master, will be according
to our works. Therefore we are advised, Colossians
3:2, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."
I Corinthians 15:50, "Now this
I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Undoubtedly,
before we can enter into the presence of our Lord in glory, we must leave
behind all that pertains to this present evil world. If we have lived worldly lives after trusting
Christ for salvation, we shall indeed get to heaven if we are truly His
children, I Corinthians 3:15, but "If any man's work shall be burned,
he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Faithful children of God will prefer, as
did Enoch, to be strangers and pilgrims in this world so that in due time they
may be at home with the Lord, rather than to be at home in this world
and strangers to heaven.
WALKING
BY FAITH
Even
as II Corinthians 5:7, "(...we walk by faith, not by sight :)",
so it was by faith that Enoch walked with God and obtained the testimony
that he pleased God. Whatever may have
been the means by which Enoch came to know God, without doubt he heard often
from Adam himself the account of the creation and fall of man, and God's promise
of a Savior. It is possible that God
revealed Himself to Enoch in other ways, but we can be sure, since Adam did not
die till Enoch was 308 years old, that the warnings and promises of God's word
had been often heard and certainly believed by this man who walked with God.
That
Enoch walked with God by faith is not mere supposition, for we are plainly told
in Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for
he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him."
GOD AS
JUDGE
At
the first mention of Enoch we read that he Genesis 5:22, "...walked
with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years...” The very name Methuselah was an expression of
Enoch's faith in God as the Judge who would send a flood of waters to
destroy the world at the time of the death of Methuselah.
Thus
the faith of Enoch included the recognition of God as Judge, and this is
necessarily true of saving faith. Much
of modern so called Christianity fails to recognize God as Judge, and even
denies His right to judge His own creatures according to His own will. But such religion is not only vain; it
amounts to open rebellion against the authority of God.
Enoch
believed the warnings as well as the promises of God's word, as does every true
child of God. Sinners who do not believe
in His judgment certainly will not walk with God. Psalm 111:10, "The fear of the LORD
is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth forever.” It is worthy of note that Methuselah, the
man whose lifetime measured the forbearance of God, His delay in visiting a
wicked world with its deserved destruction, this man Methuselah lived longer
than any other man. Surely this goodness
of God, His mingling of justice with mercy, ought to lead men to repentance.
Enoch
believed in God as Judge, and walked with God 300 years.
GOD AS
SAVIOR
God's
only way of bestowing mercy is in and through His Son. This has always been true, and this
redemptive work of Christ was first announced in the garden of Eden.
Enoch
learned what every child of Adam needs to know: that there is no escape from
God's judgment except in His grace and this grace is in Christ. God has only one way of salvation and never
had any other. All the true saints of
Old Testament days were saved by believing the promises of God concerning the
Messiah Who was to come, just as all the saints of this age are saved by
believing the testimony of God's word concerning this same Messiah Who came
over 19 centuries ago.
Any
religion that rejects the plain teaching of God's word about His Son, any
religion that holds forth any hope of salvation other than Jesus Christ alone,
is contrary to the will and word of God, and will lead its worshippers to hell. Enoch walked with God because he believed
in Him as Savior.
GOD AS
REWARDER
Hebrews
11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him." The man
who comes to God must not only believe that he is (namely that He is the God of
the Bible) but also that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
Because
of the false teachings of false denominations of so called Christianity, most
Christians today are completely confused on the subjects of salvation and
rewards. The Bible teaches that
salvation is by grace through faith, but rewards are according to our works.
Sad
to say, the only concern of millions of people who think they are Christians is
to escape hell and get to heaven. Such
an attitude is certainly not pleasing to God.
The
true child of God with a real experience of God's grace is constrained by the
love of Christ to serve Him. Whatever
your religion or denomination, if you have not in your heart that love of God
which makes you want to obey and glorify Him, you have no right to call
yourself His child. John 8:42, "Jesus
said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded
forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me."
Moreover,
we have it as a true command from our Lord Matthew 6:20, that we are to "...lay
up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:” It is not
pleasing to our Lord that we should come into His presence in the world to come
as spiritual paupers. We can have
eternal rewards, incorruptible treasures, in heaven, if we will faithfully
serve Him on earth.
Enoch
walked with God because He believed in God as the Rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him.
NEWNESS
OF LIFE
If
you are a child of God and know what it means to walk with Him, you may learn
from Enoch to maintain that walk, that habitual fellowship with God, to the end
of life's pilgrimage. If you are not a
child of God, believe in Him now as your Judge and as your Savior, and then
having become a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus, rise to walk in
newness of life and trust Him as your Rewarder according as you diligently seek
Him.
Chapter
XII
SPIRITUAL
BLESSINGS
GOD
GIVES TO HIS OWN PEOPLE HIS
OWN BLESSINGS IN HIS OWN WAY
Ephesians
1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:"
"Heavenly
places" here could as well be translated "heavenly things" and "all
spiritual blessings" could better be rendered "every spiritual
blessing.” So we are told in this text
that God blessed His people in every spiritual blessing in heavenly things in
Christ. Not only the sum total of all
our spiritual blessings but every single blessing comes to us from God in
Christ. James 1:17 we are told, "Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father
of lights,...” But our text in
Ephesians refers especially to spiritual blessings, some of which are mentioned
in the context.
SOURCE
OF BLESSING
We
can have no spiritual blessing except as God is pleased to bless us. John the Baptist recognized this fact, John
3:27, "...A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven."
II Corinthians 11:31, It is "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,..." Who blessed us in every spiritual blessing
that we now enjoy even if we have forgotten the giver in our enjoyment of the
gift.
FOUNT
OF BLESSING
Our
text declares that God blessed us "in Christ.” The spiritual promises and the spiritual
blessings of God are all in Christ. Salvation
and all the things that accompany salvation are in Him. Acts 4:12, "Neither is there
salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved.” Jesus
said plainly, without exception, John 14:6, "...I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
In
these days of modernistic infidelity and compromise of Bible truth with the
religions of the world, we need to reemphasize and make it so clear that
everyone can understand that God's spiritual blessings can be obtained only
in Christ.
CAUSE
OF BLESSING
Why
has God blessed His people with spiritual blessings in heavenly things? Our context in Ephesians I is in perfect
harmony with the teaching of the whole Bible.
It is not because of any goodness or merit seen or foreseen in us
that God bestows His spiritual blessings, but simply because it pleases Him to
do what He does.
In
verse 4 we read that He blessed "According as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world,..."
In
verse 5 we read "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will."
In
verse 11 we are said to be "...predestinated according to the purpose
of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:"
It
is true that some misguided souls have perverted this teaching of the Bible, as
they have wrested also other scriptures to their own destruction, as they deny
the responsibility of man under the sovereignty of God. Nevertheless, it remains true that God
blesses Ephesians 1:7, "In whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace:" and
not because any of His creatures properly deserves to be blessed.
MEANS
OF BLESSING
The
God Who blesses according to His own will plainly tells us in His word that He
has appointed means on His side to bestow and on man's side to receive the
blessings that He has chosen for us.
On
God's side the means appointed for the bestowing of spiritual blessings are the
written word and the personal office-work of the Holy Spirit. So we read that II Peter 1:4, "Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature,..."
Titus 3:5, He saved us "Not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"
What
is true of the beginning of spiritual blessing in our salvation is true also of
additional blessings provided for God's people.
It is through the written word, taught and applied by the Holy Spirit,
that Christians are sanctified in His service and qualified for the reception
of greater blessings to come.
On
man's side, God has decreed that faith should come from hearing. Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
The Bible contains no promise of salvation or of spiritual blessings for
unbelievers. The Ephesian saints
trusted in Christ Ephesians 1:13, "...after that ye heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,"
Persons
who vainly hope for themselves and hold out the vain hope to others that God
may save and bless some people apart from His appointed means are willfully
ignorant of our sovereign God and His revealed truth.
LIST
OF BLESSINGS
In
His magnificent paean of praise Ephesians 1:3-14, "Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in
himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are
on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who
first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also
trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of
promise, Which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise
of his glory.” Paul lists some of
the spiritual blessings which God gives to His people in Christ. This list seems almost to divide itself into
three groups of three blessings each, or at least we may so look upon them.
HOLY-
IN LOVE
Holiness,
blamelessness, and love are in God's purpose for us as stated in verse 4. In Christ we are made holy, that is,
set apart from the world, and without blame because our Savior took all
our blame upon Himself. These blessings
are ours in love, God’s love extended to us and the answering love "shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit."
ADOPTION
- REMISSION
Adoption,
redemption (ransom), and forgiveness (remission) are said to be ours in verses
5-7. Thus, God has placed us in the
position of sonship, has ransomed us from the captivity of Satan, and has sent
away our sins from us so that, so far as eternal judgment is concerned, we are
His beloved children set free and perfectly justified from all sin.
ADVANCE
DEPOSIT
The
last trio of spiritual blessings mentioned in these few verses are: knowledge,
inheritance, and the seal of the Holy Spirit.
So
in verse 9 we are told that God "made known unto us the mystery of his
will"; in verse 11 that we "obtained an inheritance";
and in verse 13 that we "were sealed with that holy Spirit of
promise."
The
extent to which we learn what God makes known in His word, the extent to which
we work out in our lives as His children His will thus revealed to us, will
determine the extent of the inheritance which in a sense we have obtained but
which we shall not fully possess until our Lord returns.
Finally,
we are told (verse 14) that the Holy Spirit by Whom we were sealed "is
the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
The word earnest here means a token, or, in modern language,
a down payment or advance deposit to insure the fulfillment of a purchase
contract. Thus we learn that, great as
are the spiritual blessings received by God's people in this life, and
certainly the greatest of these is the Holy Spirit Himself, yet this same
Holy Spirit gives assurance of many more and much greater blessings to come.
By
His grace may we joyfully receive the blessings that God has for us now, use
them for His glory, and confidently look forward to that fullness of joy that
shall be ours in His presence.
Chapter
XIII
SPIRITUAL
SACRIFICES
AS PRIESTS OF GOD WE ARE COMMANDED
TO OFFER TO HIM SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES
I
Peter 2:5, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood..."
These
words were written to, I Peter 1:1-2, “…strangers . . . Elect according to
the foreknow-ledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit,
unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:…" in other
words, to Christians. These Christians
are compared to the stones of a building whose "chief corner stone” is
Christ. I Peter 2:1-10.
As Christians we are said to be "...built
up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood..." which means that we are
organized in Christ's church; and this is said to be for a definite purpose:
that, is, I Peter 2:5, "...to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to
God by Jesus Christ."
NOT
BULLS AND GOATS
A
sacrifice was originally a slain animal offered to God as an atonement for sin. Hebrews 9:22, "...almost all things
are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” But although this was the first kind of
sacrifice known to man, the sacrifice or killing of animals as sin offerings
was only a type of a higher sacrifice that would be acceptable to God. Hebrews 10:4, "For it is not possible
that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." This higher sacrifice is the death on the
cross of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
Isaiah 53:10, "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath
put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall
see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper
in his hand.” God had no pleasure in
the killing of animals that served only to remind sinful man of the coming
Savior.
The
sacrifice of Christ on the cross makes it possible for His true followers to
offer sacrifices that God will accept "spiritual sacrifices.” These are not sacrifices in the old sense of
the word. They consist in our dying to
our own wills that we may be sanctified or set apart to the doing of the will
of God.
TO DO
GOD'S WILL
Hebrews
9:22, "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and
without shedding of blood is no remission.”
Hebrews 10:4, 8-10, 14-17, "For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins...Above when he said,
Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest
not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said
he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He
taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all... For by one offering he hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified. Whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with
them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts,
and in their minds will I write them;
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."
THROUGH
CHRIST
Spiritual
sacrifices are offered by true Christians and accepted by God because of the
one great sacrifice of Christ. "Offer
up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by (through) Jesus
Christ." No sacrifice of ours is acceptable
to God except it be brought to Him by Christ.
Let us remember this. It is of
utmost importance. We might sincerely
try to do all the things mentioned below, apart, from Christ, by the exercise
of our own wills, and God would refuse our offerings. Christ alone can make our sacrifices
acceptable to God.
Here
are some spiritual sacrifices mentioned in the Bible:
1. Psalm 51:17, "The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
thou wilt not despise.” God wants us
to humble ourselves, to break down our own stubborn wills, that our hearts may
be open to His truth.
SACRIFICES
OF JOY
2. Psalm 27:6, "And now
shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will
I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing
praises unto the LORD." When we
have died to the pleasures of sin and by God's grace have fought a good fight
against the forces of evil, when God has given us victory over the enemies of
our souls, Philippians 3:1, we too can "Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. "
3. Psalm 107:21-22; 50:14, "Oh
that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to
the children of men! And let them
sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with
rejoicing...Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:”
There is great danger of worshipping gifts instead of the Giver. We need to look beyond what God has done and
thank Him for doing it.
SACRIFICE
OF PRAISE
4. Hebrews 13:15, "By him
therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the
fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." Not only are we to thank God personally, but
we should praise Him and confess His name before men. We are not to boast in ourselves, or even to
permit other persons to suppose that we are due any praise for what we are or
what we have. Psalm 44:8, "In
God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah."
5. Psalm 141:2, "Let my
prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as
the evening sacrifice.” Instead of
trying to do anything of or for ourselves we should always be in the attitude
of prayer that God's will may be done. Matthew
6:10, "Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."
SACRIFICIAL
GIVING
6. Hebrews 13:16; Philippians 4:18, "But
to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well
pleased...I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent
from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to
God.” People who love the Lord are
glad to give of their means to carry on His work. They cheerfully sacrifice selfish desires
that they may give to the glory of God.
7. Psalm 4:5, "Offer the
sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.” God did not save us that we might
continue in sin, but that we should be able to do right. Tutus 2:14, Christ "Who gave himself
for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a
peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
Romans 8:3-4, "For what the law could not do, in that it was
weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit."
A
LIVING SACRIFICE
8. Romans 12:1-2, "I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Chapter
XIV
JUDGE -
LAWGIVER - KING
GOD
HAS ALL POWER AND AUTHORITY
HE IS ABLE AND WILLING TO SAVE
Isaiah
33:22, "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD
is our king; he will save us."
Isaiah's
God, the God of other writers of inspired scripture, Ephesians 1:3, "Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:" He is not like the
little, weak, helpless gods of this world's religions. Isaiah 40:17,23,13, Isaiah declares that "All
nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than
nothing, and vanity...That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the
judges of the earth as vanity....Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD,
or being his
counsellor hath taught
him?"
It
is plain and simple truth that the rationalists, the religious so-called
liberals, the "neo-orthodox," and other teachers of modern religions
have appeared on the scene far too late to offer advice to the God. Revelation 4:11; Psalm 76:10, "Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created...Surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain."
ALL
POWER
Matthew
28:18, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth."
Isaiah sums up all this power or authority of God in three words, Judge,
Lawgiver, King, corresponding to the common threefold division of the
powers of human government among judicial, legislative, and executive branches
or agencies. But in the divine
government, all these powers belong to one God.
OUR
JUDGE
Genesis
18:25, God is "...the Judge of all the earth..." and there is
no higher court to reverse His judgments.
Hopeless indeed is the case of the sinner under His condemnation. But Isaiah calls Him "our judge,"
that is the Judge of His own people, and when He has justified us, there is no
higher court to condemn us.
Romans
8:33, "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.” If we have obtained by faith, Romans 4:8,
"Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." why
should we fear any lesser judge?
OUR
LAWGIVER
Again,
God is the Lawgiver to all His creatures, so that even the heathen Gentiles Romans
2:11-16, "For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall
also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged
by the law; (For not the hearers of the
law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the
law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law,
are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean
while accusing or else excusing one another;)
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ
according to my gospel.” But He is
especially, says Isaiah, "our Lawgiver," the Lawgiver of His people,
and His laws are designed for our instruction, guidance and protection.
In
human government there is often conflict between legislative intent and
judicial interpretation. Not so with the government of God. He has exactly the laws He needs to fit in
with His own principles in judgment, and He knows exactly how to interpret and
apply all these laws, because He Himself is both Judge and Lawgiver.
OUR
KING
Psalm
103:19, "The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his
kingdom ruleth over all." but in a special sense Isaiah calls Him; Isaiah
33:22, "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD
is our king; he will save us.” He is
enthroned not only in heaven but also in our hearts, and with our Lord we look
forward to the time when His enemies shall become His footstool.
Laws
and courts are ineffective without executive enforcement of legal judgments. In human governments the executive power, if
separate and independent from judicial and legislative branches, may refuse,
neglect, or fail to enforce laws or judicial decrees. But Nebuchadnezzar learned Daniel 4:35, "...all
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to
his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and
none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"
In
other words, God as Judge interprets the laws He has given, and as King will
accomplish His purpose Matthew 5:18, that "...Till heaven
and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till
all be fulfilled."
HE
WILL SAVE US
This
is the God Who came from heaven to earth to seek and to save that which was
lost. This is the God Who became man,
and bore our sins in His body on the tree.
This is the Savior Who died, the Just for the unjust, that He might
bring us to God. This is He Who rose
again for our justification. This is the
Fountain of Life, sending forth the invitation, Revelation 22:17, "...whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely.”
This is our Judge, our Lawgiver, our King, Who WILL SAVE all who put
their trust in Him.
Chapter
XV
WELLS
WITHOUT WATER
TRUE CHRISTIANS RECEIVE SPIRITUAL
BLESSINGS FROM GOD AND PASS THEM ON TO OTHERS
II
Peter 2:17, "These are wells without water, clouds that are carried
with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever."
This
text describes under two figures false or counterfeit Christians referred to in
greater detail throughout the second chapter of Second Peter. Wells without water and clouds that give no
rain, but are driven by the storm, are fitting illustrations of people who put
on the appearance of Christianity, but have not within themselves the spiritual
life which would be a blessing to themselves and to others.
FALSE
TEACHERS
Outstanding
among these wells without water are II Peter 2:1, "...false teachers
among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,...” These false teachers, we are told, will
bring upon themselves swift destruction.
They may be recognized by the heresies they teach, by their
pernicious ways, and by their covetousness, as we may note in the first
three verses of this chapter.
PRESUMPTUOUS
Other
unjust (lost) persons, whom the Lord knows how to reserve unto the day of
judgment to be punished, are said to be "presumptuous, self willed"
and "not afraid to speak evil of dignities.” These are professed Christians who habitually
"walk after the flesh" and "despise government.” Titus 1:16, "They profess that they
know God; but in works they deny him,..." Some of their sins are mentioned in detail: II
Peter 2:12-15, "But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken
and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall
utterly perish in their own corruption; And shall receive the reward of
unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting
themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot
cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with
covetous practices; cursed children:
Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the
way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness."
SLAVES
OF CORRUPTION
Among
these false teachers are those who promise liberty to others through their
counterfeit gospels, II Peter 2:19, though "While they promise them liberty,
they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome,
of the same is he brought in bondage.” In
the last three verses of the chapter the apostle tells the truth about those
fake Christians who are said to have escaped the pollutions of the world and
then are entangled therein. II Peter
2:20-22, "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again
entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the
beginning. For it had been better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known
it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the
true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was
washed to her wallowing in the mire."
WATER
OF LIFE
Such
is the graphic description of these wells without water. Surely the figure would be clear enough even
if we did not have it explained elsewhere in scripture that Christians are to
be wells or fountains from which streams of spiritual life go forth to water
thirsty souls about them.
But
we are not dependent on our own intelligence or imagination for an
understanding of this figure. Jesus
Himself declared, John 4:14, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that
I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall
be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
This
"well of water springing up into everlasting life" is designed of God
not only to be a blessing to the soul that is saved, but a fountain of life
flowing forth to bless others: John 7:38-39, "He that believeth on me,
as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Lest we should not understand this spiritual
language, John plainly tells us in the next verse "(But this spake he
of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)"
"FREELY
GIVE"
So
it appears from the scriptures that the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit
are intended to be a means of blessing to other people and not merely for us to
enjoy. So Jesus told His apostles on
one occasion, Matthew 10:8, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise
the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."
Paul
told the church at Corinth, I Corinthians 15:3; "For I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures;" and reminded the pastors of Ephesus, Acts
20:35, that Jesus said, "I have shewed you all things, how that so
labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord
Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."
"AS
MANY AS"
This
characteristic of a true Christian, that he has within him the Spirit of
Christ so directing his own life that he becomes a source of spiritual blessing
to others, is not, as taught by the false holiness cults, an extra special
attainment of relatively few of God's people in a "second blessing," but
is a proper trait of every true child of God.
Romans
8:14, 9, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God...But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
Sad
to say, there are multitudes of professed Christians who have not the Spirit of
God, but they are not the children of God.
They are "wells without water": they themselves have never
drunk of the water of life proceeding from the throne of God, and so they have
none of this water to offer to others.
They
are "wells without water": they have the appearance of wells but they
are only dry holes; they look like Christians but they have no life within.
Chapter
XVI
BEWARE
OF THE LEAVEN
HYPOCRISY, RATIONALISM, AND
WORLDLINESS DESTROY THE FAITH
AND
POWER OF GOD'S PEOPLE
Matthew
16:6, "Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."
Mark
8:15, "And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod."
When
Jesus first spoke this warning to His disciples, they were so weak in faith and
in spiritual understanding, Matthew 16:7-8, "And they reasoned among
themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto
them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have
brought no bread?"
Let
us carefully read the context, that we may better understand our Savior's
warning, a warning as pertinent to our day as to the first generation of
disciples.
TWO
MIRACLES - ONE GREATER
Jesus
performed two great miracles of feeding great multitudes of people with small
supplies of food. On one occasion,
starting with "five loaves and two fishes," He fed a multitude
of "about five thousand men, beside women and children," and
the disciples took up twelve (large) baskets full of fragments that remained. On another occasion, starting with seven
loaves "and a few little fishes," He feed "four
thousand men, beside women and children," and the disciples took up seven (small)
baskets full of the broken
food that was
left. (Matthew 14:15-21;
15:32-38; 16:9-11.)
Now,
both of these miracles reveal the divine creative power of our Master, but
together they reveal something else: the first was a greater miracle than
the second - less power was manifested in the second miracle than in the first.
LOSS
OF FAITH AND POWER
Certainly
the power of God in Christ had not changed.
But He was working with and through His disciples, and evidently their
faith was less on the second occasion than on the first. Their loss of faith resulted in loss of
power hence the less notable miracle.
Jesus
reviewed these simple facts to His disciples then He asked:
Matthew
16:11-12, "How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to
you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and
of the Sadducees? Then understood they
how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of
the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Mark
8:15 adds "...the leaven (doctrine) of Herod."
Behold
the Satanic power of false doctrine, when the very apostles of our Lord
were weakened in the faith and power of God by the working of false doctrine in
their mind, and that while their divine Master was bodily present with them,
and working mighty miracles before their eyes!
May we take warning from their example, and from our Master's warning to
them!
Essentially
the same varieties of leaven, of false doctrine, that plagued the ancient
disciples have been troubling God's people ever since, and perhaps never more
so than in our own generation.
RELIGIOUS
HYPOCRISY
Luke
12:1, "In the mean time, when there were gathered together an
innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he
began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the
Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Seven
times in one chapter (Matthew 23) we find Jesus exclaiming: "Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”
In this remarkable chapter we have recorded for all time our Lord's
faithful description of religious hypocrites who "…say, and do not.” (Verse 3).
This
is the doctrine of religious formalism, of learned heads, lazy hands,
and lofty hearts. Matthew 23:1-12, "Then
spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the
Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All
therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye
after their works: for they say, and do not.
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on
men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their
fingers. But all their works they do for
to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders
of their garments, And love the
uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings
in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your
Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father,
which is in heaven. Neither be ye called
masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever
shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted."
This
is the doctrine of the dog in the manger, willing neither to enjoy the
good gifts of God nor to allow others to enjoy them. Matthew 23:13, "But woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for
ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in."
This
is the doctrine of covetous religious zealots who have much love for
money, for self, and for religion, but no love or regard for God or for their
fellow creatures. Matthew 23:14-22, "Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer:
therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land
to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child
of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you,
ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing;
but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater,
the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it
is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is
guilty. Ye fools and blind: for whether
is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar,
sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that
dwelleth therein. And he that shall
swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon."
This
is the doctrine of "blind guides" who practice tithing and
forget stewardship, who split hairs in theology and ignore ropes of iniquity. Matthew 23:23-24, "Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for
ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judg-ment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done,
and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind
guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel."
This
is the doctrine of false "holiness," a cleaning up of the
outside that these pretenders may "appear righteous unto men.” Matthew 23:25-28, "Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full
of extortion and excess. Thou blind
Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the
outside of them may be clean also. Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful
outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous
unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."
This
is the doctrine of the enemies of God, of those who hate the living
testimony of His word while they pretend to worship Him, of those to whom the
only good saints are dead ones. Matthew
23:29-36, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets,
and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have
been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto your-selves,
that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can
ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore,
behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them
ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your
synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all
the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto
the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and
the altar. Verily I say unto you, All
these things shall come upon this generation."
In
short, this is the doctrine of salvation by works, the doctrine of stiff
necked rebels who trust to themselves that they are righteous and reject the
offer of the free gift of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. Matthew 23:37-39, "O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you
desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall
not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name
of the Lord."
RATIONALISM
- NEO-ORTHODOXY
Acts
23:8, "For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither
angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both."
We
call them "Modernists" today, but this business of denying
God's word goes back to the serpent in the garden of Eden; there is really
nothing modern about it.
They
call themselves "Liberals," but they are among the most,
selfish and self centered of all people.
Drawn up in their own stingy little souls, they find the simple account
of God's great Gift, the vicarious blood atonement completely incredible. They prate of their broadminded tolerance and
indeed they are tolerant of all kinds of error, no matter how silly, but they
are most intolerant of the truth of God's word.
They are liberal only in selling out the truth of God for the Devil's
deceptions.
Perhaps
the most popular name for the doctrine of the modern Sadducees is "NEO-ORTHODOXY.” "Neo" means "new" and
"orthodoxy" means "correct teaching.” Perhaps the only thing wrong with this name
is that THE THING IS NEITHER NEW NOR ORTHODOX.
But
no matter under what name, Satan is still very much on the job, teaching the
"doctrine of devils" and denying the vital truths of God's word.
BEWARE
of "Neo-Orthodox" prattle about "myths" in the Bible. Attempts to justify the use of this word
"myth" with reference to Bible history are dishonest insults to the
intelligence of real Bible believers.
WORLDLINESS
Probably
the best word to describe "the leaven of Herod" is "worldliness.” The wickedness of Herod was notorious. He had religious interests. Mark 6:20, "For Herod feared John,
knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard
him, he did many things, and heard him gladly." but not enough to save
the life of John the Baptist.
Herod
represented compromise between Roman power of conquest and Jewish desire
for independence. The Herodians
supported Herod in order to retain some measure of self government.
So
"the leaven of Herod" means compromise with the world: the
doctrine that we can serve God and mammon.
Here
is religion playing politics, seeking favors from Caesar rather than
God.
Here
is the "social gospel," trying to reform this world instead of
preparing for the next.
Here
is antinomianism, vainly believing that God's grace is a license to sin.
Here
is a fake David trying to fight in Saul's armour, without the
good sense of the real David to cast it aside and fight God's battles in God's
power.
Here
is the prodigal son, wasting his substance in riotous living.
II
Timothy 3:4, Here are "...lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God."
Here
is an "up to date" Baptist, bringing the world into the church
to corrupt its testimony rather than leading the church in faithful witnessing
to a lost, dying, evil world.
"BEWARE
OF THE LEAVEN"
Can
any deny that the leaven of hypocrisy, the leaven of "Rationalism"
(otherwise called "Liberalism" or "Neo-Orthodoxy"), and the
leaven of worldliness have grossly corrupted the professed Christianity of our
day?
Baptists
today have more members, more money, and proportionately less spiritual faith,
and power than ever before in history, since the Lord Jesus organized His
apostles into the first Baptist church.
Our
churches have become centers of spiritually bankrupt forms and programs, our
seminaries have been taken over by "Neo-Orthodox" infidels, and our
people have become so filled with the cares and pleasures and desires of this
world that the word of God is choked off in their hearts and become
unfruitful.
PURGE
IT OUT!
I
Corinthians 5:6, "...Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump?” True, the apostle was
writing primarily to a church, but the same principle applies to individual
souls and to human institutions set up to serve as agencies of the churches.
The
remedy is drastic, but dire danger demands it: I Corinthians 5:7, "Purge
out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For
even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:"
In
many cases it is already too late: the leaven of false doctrine has so
permeated the mass that we can only turn away from the whole mess and start
anew with God.
May
all those who know God, the truth of His word, and the power of His Spirit
"Take heed, and beware" of hypocrisy, of rationalism, of worldliness,
ere the leaven of these false doctrine robs us of our faith and power!
Chapter
XVII
CASTING
DOWN IMAGINATIONS
HUMAN REASONINGS OPPOSED TO GOD MUST
BE PULLED DOWN
II
Corinthians 10:3-6, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war
after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness
to revenge all disobedience,
when your obedience
is fulfilled."
Human
beings are prone to err in opposite directions in their estimate of the place
of human reason in man's relationship to God.
On the one hand we find the kind of superstition characteristic of
Medieval Catholicism and other religions of darkness, where men abdicate their
individual responsibility and, in despite of the intelligence that God gave
them, turn over all their religion, and hence all their lives, to an all
powerful "church" or other human authorities. On the other hand we find religious anarchy,
the so called "rule of reason," which in effect makes every man his
own god.
The
Bible presents a way of truth between these opposite errors: the truth that
every man must give an account of himself to God and must not allow anyone else
to do his thinking for him; the truth that no man has a right to think contrary
to the knowledge of God that God has given us or made available to us in His
written word.
Multiplication
of contradictory religious sects and doctrine, and even of breaches of doctrine
and fellowship among Baptists, are among the reasons for the phenomenal growth
of Catholicism and modernism in recent years.
Multitudes of discouraged souls, dismayed by the confusion of tongues
among religious leaders and teachers, find it much easier to accept the claims
of bogus authority or to reject all authority than to search and find out for
themselves the truth of God.
Baptists
who know the truth could in some measure check these tendencies toward
irrational Catholicism and toward the false rationalism of so called modernism
and neo-orthodoxy, but Baptists have become denominationally fat and
prosperous: and Baptists willing to risk their denominational standing for the
sake of the testimony of Christ have become few and far between.
FALSE
REASONINGS
The
word for "imaginations" II Corinthians 10:5, "Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"
could better be translated "reasoning.” The reasoning and arguments of human minds
corrupted by sin and Satan are among the high things that exalt themselves
against the knowledge of God, and good soldiers of Jesus Christ, engaged in a
great spiritual warfare, are to be continually pulling down these false
reasoning.
We
cannot truly claim to be fully possessed of the mind of Christ until we have
brought "…into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"
Let us note some of our wrong thinking, some of our false reasoning, that need
to be pulled down and brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
PRIDE
Pride
in our own virtue, pride in our own accomplishments, pride in our own thoughts,
pride in our own reputation, pride in whatever we think we have to be proud of
(and generally the less people have to be proud of the prouder they are). Pride is one of the strongholds in which
guilty sinners and rebellious saints take refuge to avoid surrender to God.
Pride
must be pulled down and brought low before we can get right with God, James 4:6,
"...God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” Scripture quotations could be multiplied
to show the folly of pride and the necessity of its removal from our thoughts
if we would enjoy the salvation of God.
FALSE
HUMILITY
There
is hardly a Christian virtue that Satan does not counterfeit. Paul warns us of a "voluntary
humility" of a man "vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.” Colossians 2:18-23, "Let no man
beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels,
intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his
fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and
bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the
increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead
with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the
world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;)
after the commandments and doctrines of men?
Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility,
and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.” It is possible, this scripture teaches,
to put on a great show of wisdom in will worship and humility and neglecting of
a body not in any honor, while at the same time all these pretensions are
really for "the satisfying of the flesh."
True
humility is not attained merely by willing to be humble, nor is it expressed by
boasting of how humble we are. If we
are satisfied with Satan's counterfeit humility we shall fail of the true: let
us therefore tear down this deceptive stronghold by getting a good honest look
at ourselves in the light of God's word.
When
we really get to know something of God in His infinite power, wisdom, holiness,
justice, and love, and something of ourselves as His word reveals us, we shall
not need to try to be humble. We
cannot be anything but humble before Him.
RIVALRY
Galatians
5:19-21, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revel-lings, and such like: of the which I tell you
before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” These
"emulations" or rivalries attempts to get ahead of somebody or
everybody else. Competitive
"campaigns," races, contests, or rivalries with winning and losing
"sides" or "teams" are altogether out of place in Christian
service.
It
is right to seek rewards from our Master for faithfulness to Him, but wrong to
try to get such rewards by getting ahead of our brethren. Compare:
Matthew 6:19-21, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and
steal: But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 20:20-28, "Then came to
him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and
desiring a certain thing of him. And he
said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith
unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and
the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But
Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall
drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed
of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit
on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to
them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the
two brethren. But Jesus called them unto
him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over
them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be
so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your
minister; And whosoever will be chief
among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:35-45, "And James and
John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou
shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.
And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may
sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But
Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I
drink of? and be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with? And they said
unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto
them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism
that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: But to sit on my right hand and
on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it
is prepared. And when the ten heard it,
they began to be much displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto
them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise
lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but
whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you
will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.
For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,
and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Also John 21:19-23, "This spake he, signifying by what death
he should glorify God. And when he had
spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved
following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is
he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him
saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry
till I come, what is that to thee? follow
thou me. Then went this saying abroad
among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto
him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that
to thee?"
Our
God is great enough, His service is wide enough, and His ability to reward is
sufficient that there is plenty of room for us all to earn His rewards without
trying to snatch them from our brethren.
We
can never get as close to our Master by trying to push ourselves ahead as we
can by forgetting ourselves and trying to help our brethren, even (or, rather,
especially) when this may mean that we are helping them to get ahead of
ourselves.
LAZINESS
Some
ignorant and lazy Christians, or so called Christians, say that they are
satisfied to believe that they are saved and on their way to heaven, and care
nothing about earning rewards for a faithful life. It is rather difficult to believe that
such a "Christian" is saved at all.
I
Corinthians 9:24, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all,
but one receiveth the prize? So run,
that ye may obtain." John 8:42;
14:23, "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love
me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he
sent me...Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my
words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our
abode with him."
DOCTRINAL
QUIRKS
Acts
20:30, "Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse
things, to draw away disciples after them.”
So spoke Paul to the Ephesians bishops, and both before and since
that time there have been men who have set up strongholds of strange twists
of doctrine partly to avoid phases of truth unpalatable to them, and
partly for no other purpose than "to draw away disciples after them."
All
these imaginings of men's hearts, all these reasoning and arguments of depraved
minds, all these strongholds of heresy contrary to the plain teaching of
God's written word, are proper objects of spiritual attack and are to be pulled
down in our own minds and in the minds of others so far as our testimony and
influence can reach.
"LIBERALISM"
Finally,
a most popular stronghold of vain, depraved reasoning in our day is so called
religious liberalism, a fake liberalism that considers itself free not
merely to sell the Savior for 30 pieces of silver but to trample truth in the
gutter for no recompense but popularity.
These
so called liberals maintain a liberal attitude toward anything but the truth: they
can tolerate any religion except the religion of the virgin born, bodily
resurrected, coming again Jesus Christ.
They adore their own little brains and freely fulminate their own fancies,
but they cannot abide the blood of the Lamb or the word of His testimony.
Down
with these strongholds of sin: down with false reasoning; down with pride and
with false humility; down with rivalry and with laziness; down with doctrinal
quirks and with "liberalism"!
Ye soldiers of the cross, arise to the battle! Up, with the sword of the Spirit, the word of
God: bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ!
Chapter
XVIII
CUNNINGLY
DEVISED MYTHS
RELIGIOUS MYTHS DO NOT COME FROM THE
BIBLE, BUT FROM DEPRAVED MINDS
II
Peter 1:16, "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we
made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty."
II Corinthians 11:15, "Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” Satan's ministers, talk much nowadays about the "myths" of the Bible.