God Loves… Himself

Transgressions: Blotted out by Christ

First; Concerning the grace that the Lord is pleased to hold forth to his people here, namely, “The blotting out their transgressions and not remembering their sins.” First, let us consider what it is for the Lord to blot out transgressions; it is an usual phrase in the scripture, and imports much comfort in it. It is an allusion, or an allegorical expression; wherein the Lord is pleased to hold forth his love to man, after the manner of men; to set forth his carriage to men, according to theirs one to another. It is a phrase borrowed from the practice of men, that keep their debt-books, wherein they cuter, and record the several debts men owe them; that so, for the better helping of their memory, they may find what is due, and know what to demand and call for; I say, the Lord here speaking of “blotting out of transgressions,” hath reference to such debt books, wherein he hath recorded the several debts, or sins, which he enters as men commit them; now the blotting out is nothing else, but that, whereas there were such and such transgressions in the record of God, he draws a blot over them. And that he here hath reference to such kind of dealing, in blotting out transgressions, you may see clearly manifested unto you, in Colossians 2:14, where this phrase of blotting out, is explained: “You being dead in your sins, hath he quickened, together with Christ, having forgiven you all trespasses;” now, mark what follows: “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances which was against us, and was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” what “the hand-writing of ordinances” there is, you may plainly perceive by the words going before, namely, “All our trespasses, and all our sins.” Now the taking away of sin, is called a “blotting it out,” and expressed thus; “The blotting out of the hand-writing that was against us,” because they were, as it were, written down; but the Lord hath razed and blotted them out. You are not to conceive that there are really such things with God, that he did indeed keep a book, and enter down in it all the several actions of men, and so calling men to account, will open it, and will read out the several firings there written; but the phrase is only an allusion spoken for our better capacity. And, for this cause, you shall find the scripture frequently makes mention of such books God hath. When the seventy disciples came to Christ, rejoicing that the devils were made subject unto them, he replies, “Rejoice not that the devils are made subject unto you, but rejoice, rather, that your names are written in the book of life.” Here is a book, and the names of the disciples written in it; but, if you will mark Revelation 20:12, you will find, there is not only the book of life, but other books besides, out of which the dead, both small and great, were judged, according to their works that they had done; as if he had said, besides the book of life, there is the book of works, wherein the several actions of men are recorded, by which, at the great day, men are to be judged as they are found in them; according to the several debts that are therein, they are to receive their sentence. Mark, now, for the better apprehension of our weak capacity, the Lord hath taken up such a kind of illustration of his dealing with men; namely, by recording our debts in books; yet, he tells us for our comfort, that, though there be such books, we need not fear; though they shall be opened, yet whatsoever was written in them, in reference to us, is all crossed and blotted out; and, when we come to account, there shall be nothing reckoned unto us, as a fault (Jude 1:24.).         (Tobias Crisp, taken from Supralapsarian.com)

Amos 8:11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. 12 “People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it. 13 “In that day the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint from thirst. 14 “As for those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, Who say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’ They will fall and not rise again.”

I recently heard a minister during the sermon say that the famine of the word was for the time up until the time of Jesus. He then went on to say that we are not in a famine in our day because we have so many Bibles in our day and we can think of ourselves as being blessed because of that. I will admit to being rather surprised to hear that as the presence of Bibles in a country is not the sign of being blessed. The Pharisees had many scrolls and had a lot of knowledge of the Bible, yet Christ told them that they searched the Scriptures thinking that in them they would find eternal life and yet the Scriptures testified of Him and they (the Pharisees) would not come to Him for life.

I will argue that we are in the midst of a devastating famine in the land. While there are many preachers and many Bibles, the famine spoken of in Amos is a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. This is to say that while there may indeed be many Bibles and many preachers, this is not the same as people actually hearing with understanding the truth of the Scriptures. God can curse a people by ministers who preach the externals of the Scriptures and yet have not understanding themselves and certainly the people don’t hear either. There is a spiritual understanding of the Scriptures that God alone can give. Personally, I am very weary of hearing an academic and external meaning of the Scriptures that ignores the heart of the Bible and the spiritual meaning.

Ephesians 4:18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

Colossians 1:9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Colossians 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,

1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

An understanding of the Scriptures which God alone can give is what we need. People are darkened in their understanding and excluded from the life of God, which shows that we need understanding and not just a few facts about the Bible. Paul prayed for the people that they would have the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, which would lead to a true knowledge of God’s mystery which was Christ Himself. No matter how many Bibles a person owns and no matter how much academic understanding of the Bible people have, apart from the understanding that the Song of God gives they will not know God.

We know that God gives grace to the humble and He leads the humble in understanding and is said to teach them in the inner man. The Lord Himself must break our proud hearts so that we would look to Him for real understanding rather than our commentaries alone. While commentaries can be helpful to understanding the externals of what is written, only the Lord Himself can give us a true understanding. We are indeed in a deep judgment and a terrible famine. People are satisfied with an external understanding of the Scriptures that unbelievers can have if they study enough. That is not what the Lord has for His people. “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” 10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” (I Cor 2:9-10).

Others have set up with conditional offers, with conditional proposals, and with conditional tenders. That is, you shall enjoy heaven and salvation, if you repent and believe, and perform sincere obedience to the Condition of the New Law. And thus the Neonomians interweave a coarse thread of Popery {out of which the terms of New Law and Conditions first arose} which runs through all their fine cloth they make up for heaven, out of other men’s spinning, into the reformation of manners, and sincere obedience. But how short is this of the fine linen, white and clean, and the white raiment, {Rev.3:18,} which is the Imputed Righteousness of Christ put upon the ungodly, and therein made the righteousness of Saints, as the Holy Ghost calls it, “and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” Rev.19:8.

Grace is either free of all conditions that man can perform or it is given to men based to some degree on conditions that they can keep. This should be kept in mind in all situations and in all cases when we are speaking and thinking of grace. If we think or speak or write and grace is based on a condition that a person must perform, then it is something other than grace that we are dealing with. Regardless of whether we call it grace or not, if there are conditions that we can meet that God then responds to us by giving grace, then we are no longer speaking of grace at all. In that case we have turned grace into a form of works.

It is very true that we must repent, but do we repent in order to obtain grace or is a true repentance a result of grace? This is a point where the truth of our hearts may be seen. If we truly think that we can repent apart from grace, then our hearts should reveal that we don’t truly believe in grace alone. If we truly think that God will not give grace until we repent, our hearts should reveal to us that we don’t truly understand the nature of true and free-grace. This is a vital point and it separates Arminians and modern Calvinists from the old Calvinism. Modern Calvinism holds to works for grace at many points and as such is no longer biblical. We must fight and content at this point at all times for the view that grace is conditioned upon God as triune and there is nothing a fallen human being can do to earn grace or even make it more likely that God will give grace. True grace is contingent upon God and nothing else. True grace is given from the sovereign hand of God quite apart from any worth, value, or condition that man can meet.

We are told that we must believe so that God will save us. Once again, let us put it plainly. If the sinner will work up faith apart from grace, then God will give the sinner salvation because the sinner came up with faith. This is clearly a system of works. Yes, the Bible speaks of faith and of sinners being justified by faith apart from works. However, in the modern day we mean something different by “faith” than the Bible does. It is true that the person with faith is saved, but it is not true that the person with faith was saved because s/he came up with faith. It is true that the Bible speaks of being saved through faith, but it does not teach that we are saved because of faith. We must fight with ourselves and content earnestly with the teachings of the modern day in order to remain free of the works salvation and the conditional salvation that is taught so widely in our day using the word “faith” with a meaning that is far different than the Bible’s usage.

The grace of God comes to poor sinners who are dead in sins and trespasses and have absolutely nothing to commend themselves to God. The living God who sent the Son to die for them 2,000 years ago also sent the Son to purchase faith and repentance for them. Faith is a gift of God that was purchased by Christ and repentance is also granted by God on the basis of grace. Sinners who have received grace repent and sinners who have new hearts of faith are those who have faith. Grace must precede our faith and repentance or those things are works that contribute to our salvation. Grace is given before salvation but it works salvation and gives more grace. Sinners are never, ever, ever given grace because of their own work of faith and repentance, but when God shows them mercy and grace and works a new heart in them by grace, they will have faith and repent. The Gospel is not BY faith alone, but it is BY grace alone THROUGH faith alone. Our faith is a result of grace, but if we make grace a result of faith, we have a different gospel. All conditions of the Gospel (speaking in this way) are met by Christ as we have no ability to do so and all grace must come because of Christ and not because of us.

2 Corinthians 4:5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.

Galatians 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

In thinking about church and preaching again, it still appears that God has withdrawn His presence and has left men to themselves in terms of preaching. Men are left to their own wisdom in terms of content and methods. Men want to set forth the Scriptures in some way, but setting out things that are true is not the same thing as preaching the truth of God and the Gospel. It is not enough to preach the Scripture unless one preaches the truth of who Christ is and what He has done, which is to say that the Scriptures point to Christ and not themselves. It is so sad to hear men who preach the Scriptures and yet don’t point to the true Christ, though they might mention Him.

It is not enough to preach the Scriptures without preaching the glory of God and the Gospel of His glory. It should also be said that one cannot preach the truth of Scripture with the true intent of Scripture without preaching the glory of God. Surely it is obvious that God has created all things for His glory, the Lord Jesus was the tabernacle of His glory on earth, and the Church is the dwelling place of Christ or the dwelling place of His glory. Preaching that has a focus on jokes and stories rather than the glory of God is not preaching at all. Preaching that focuses on a text and the verbal content of the text and yet misses God and His glory is not preaching that real purpose of the text. In our day the glory of God in the face of Christ is like a mystery that has been hidden.

Preaching (so-called) that basically only speaks of God as if He has done all He can do and is now waiting on man to make a choice in order that He might do something is opposite of the truth. Man is not the focus of God, but instead God is the focus of God. Preaching is to take God’s side over men and preaching is to declare the rights of God and His glorious sovereignty in the affairs of men. When God is thought of as nothing more than One who focuses on men and waits on men to make a choice that He can then do something, that is false preaching. God, the love of God for Himself, and the absolute freeness of God to show and give grace as He is pleased is necessary to the Gospel and sanctification. Preaching is about God and His works and choices rather than men. Men are to seek God for grace and salvation rather than God waiting on men to make the choice themselves.

We can preach (so-called) that men ought to love and they ought to be holy, but it is not in their power to do so. For a man to love or be holy that man must have God work that love and holiness in him. A man cannot love apart from a source of true love and the only source of true love is in God and is not in the power of the will of man. A man cannot be holy apart from the grace of God as true holiness can only come when man becomes a partaker of holiness. A man is not holy because men make a choice to be holy, but because God works holiness in their hearts by His grace and that holiness then comes out in the life.

When a preacher tells people to make a choice to be holy and to love rather than telling them to seek the Lord for hearts that are holy and share in His love, he is encouraging them in a way of works. When a preacher tells people to choose to be holy and to love rather than preach to them that they must be made a partaker of those things by grace alone, he is preaching a system of works. Oh how abominable works are to God when they are works that come from the will and power of man rather than from the strength of grace. If grace is to be grace then it must always be free-grace because that is the only kind of grace that there is. Men are holy and they love by grace alone and not because they have the power to choose to do so and then God helps them do it. Men should seek the Lord for a holy heart of love that they may be instruments of His glory in the world. Only when preachers preach God and the glory of God and His sovereign grace can men live by grace rather than their own wills.

The arrival and continued presence of Pope Francis in the United States has caused quite a stir and even fervor of activity. Reporters that seem to be anti-Christian seem to be quite taken with the Pope and even gush with words like “His Holiness” and “great humility” and so on. It reminds me of Scripture in speaking of the anti-Christ when it says that the whole world was taken by him. Thousands and thousands go out to see him and push forward so that they can touch him or be touched by him or even receive a blessing from Him. If only people would seek the Lord Jesus Christ with the same fervor.

The Pope arrived at the White House in a Fiat rather than the usual large and nice vehicles, which of course brought the reporters to remark of his great humility. The Pope has lectured people on how we should focus on the poor and how we should treat immigrants, but not one word of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is, after all, far easier to touch or be touched by a Pope than it is to seek the Lord for a new heart. It has been reported that those who follow the Pope on twitter can get time off of their purgatory sentence. Several years ago, while being interviewed about why they were so eager to see the Pope, several people said that they would get years taken off of their time in purgatory if they were able to see the Pope and especially if they were able to touch him.

The Pope also spent time eating at a place where the poor and homeless were fed. I guess I am rather hard of heart, but that seems about as real as when a politician takes some photo ops at places like that. The Vatican has an incredible amount of wealth in both the amount of land it holds and in property, so it seems that if the Pope really wanted to help the poor he could sell a lot of that property and give it to charity. If the Pope really wanted to help the poor, he could sell off all the Vatican’s planes and vehicles and give that to charity. If the Pope really wanted to help people, he would preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ rather than deceiving people about how Jesus loves all people and is nothing more then mercy.

As the world goes after the Pope and seems to be mesmerized by his every move and word, it should be clear to all with the slightest bit of discernment that if the Pope did preach the Gospel all those following him now would leave. This man wants to unite Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Catholics, but that simply cannot be done in reality apart from Christ and the truth of the Gospel. There is no true unity apart from truth and apart from Christ. The Pope would rather give Mass than preach the Gospel. The Pope appears to be more concerned with climate change than he is with the new birth or changing the hearts of men. The Pope appears to be more concerned with the appearance of humility than with true humility. The Pope appears to be more concerned his political liberalism than with preaching a grace that God lavishes upon His people.

Where are the spiritual teachings of this man? Where do we see Him preaching and teaching the Scriptures? What we see is nothing more than political liberalism and a man who loves it when the crowds come out to see him. He may be a man of some kindness, but he is not a man that loves people in reality or he would preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is not a man that loves people in reality, or he would be warning them of the wrath to come. He does not love people in reality or he would be extolling the truth of the glory of God in the face of Christ. The Pope is not here in a way that truly benefits people, but instead it should be clear that he is here deceiving people.

It is truly with great sadness that I have watched what I have watched and read what I have read the last few days. The United States is truly in a great decline, but this outpouring over the Pope shows that not only are we in a great decline, but that we are so open to deception. This should move the true Church to being to pray for God to keep us from this great deception and for Him to give us the strength of grace to stand against the downward spiral of the this nation as it moves farther and farther from the truth of Christ and the Gospel. If this does not wake people up, I am not sure what it will take. When we see in our own land the Pope spouting political liberalism, outwardly being ecumenical, and hordes of people following after him; we can know that our nation is very, very deceived. When we see the politicians and the news media just taken with the Pope, we can know that our nation is very, very deceived. We must have God or we will perish.

The practices of modern churches certainly have the appearance of a group that has a primary desire to draw men into their organization. The practices that the Bible teaches tell us that men should seek God first and foremost. Instead of seeking men, the church is to seek God. It is not that men should never seek men and become fishers of men, but that the primary purpose is to seek God. How wearying it is to a soul that longs for God to attend a church “service” that seems to be built around using God in the pursuit of men. It is also true that conservative churches can want to be conservative and think that God will bless them for being conservative and as such they do not seek the face of God either.

What would a church look like that sought God and the face of God in the service? John tells us that true worship is worship in spirit and truth. This is to say that true worship must be from the inner man and it also must be in accordance with truth. Truth is important and even vital, but it is not enough. The people must seek the Lord from hearts that desire Him and desire His presence amongst the people. For those who seek the face of God hearing about Him is not enough. They want to know God and to have Him come down and visit them with Himself. They will also not be satisfied with the cotton candy of an electric type of music that will make people feel a certain way, but instead they will want God Himself and not just those feelings.

A church that was seeking the presence of God would strive for a true reverence and a true love for God. There would be no trinkets and toys and playing around, but instead these people would long to seek for God out of reverence since one can only seek God with a reverent heart. How can one pray for God’s name to be hallowed if one is not seeking reverence for Him in the service? The worship of music must be reverent or it is in direct opposition to the presence of God. This is not to say that the music cannot be with joy and even have some beat to it, but it must always be reverent.

The next thing that a church that sought God would look like would be the way it prayed. Yes, the prayers would be with reverence, but also the prayers would be to God and for God. The prayers would be from the heart and they would longingly and perhaps agonizingly cry out to God for Him to come and visit His people. Those prayers would be for His glory, His kingdom, and His will and pleasure to be done. If people long for the presence of God then they should seek God in the service as if they had nothing else to do. After all, that is what they should do. This is not to say that there is no room to pray for the saints, but prayers for the saints should always be in the context of seeking the face of God and what is the ultimate good of the saints.

The last thing, which perhaps should be the first thing in many ways, is a sermon that is centered upon God and His revelation of Himself in Christ and how we must have the Spirit to understand and behold Him. The sermon itself should be a seeking of God by the preacher and in some way a drawing of the people to God. It is also true that there are sermons about sin and other subjects, but the goal of those should be to point to God and His glory. The main point of a sermon is not to put the preacher on display and it is not to make people understand some points of the Bible better, but instead the main purpose of the sermon is the glory of God. If the main point of the service is to meet with God and for Him to come and meet with His people, then the sermon has to be pointed in that direction as well.

I am not sure that it can be denied that a service that focused on worship that was in spirit and truth, praying that was focused on God, and preaching that was focused on God are necessary for God to visit a church with His presence. The worship in song, the praying, and the preaching should be reverent and it should be clear that God is to be sought by the hearers and the preacher. The point of the singing is to seek God and His presence. The point of praying is to seek God and His presence. The point of preaching is to seek God and His presence. Why is it that we don’t have the presence of God in the churches? I would suggest that it is because we don’t focus the services on seeking Him and instead we do what we do for other purposes. It is a form of idolatry.

One of the most obvious ways (from Romans 1:18-32) that God hardens hearts and turns men over to sin is when He hardens their hearts toward Himself and turns them over to various forms of humanism. The core aspect of sin is always in relation to God.

1. Men suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them.
2. Men exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man
3. Men exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator
4. Men do not see fit to acknowledge God any longer
5. Men are haters of God
6. Men approve the sinful practices of others even though God hates those practices

It is possible for preachers, even conservative preachers, to suppress the truth in unrighteousness? It is possible for preachers to exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man? It is possible for preachers to exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator? It is possible for preachers not to see fit to acknowledge God any longer. But can it be possible for preachers to hate God? Is it really possible for a man to be outwardly devoted to the things of God and yet hate the true and living God? Is it really possible for a man to preach a gospel that speaks of Christ and yet hate the true and living God?

If a man is not preaching the truth of the nature of God then it is certainly possible that the preacher does hate God. It is from hatred for the truth of God that moves some men to preach what is not true about God. The unbeliever is at enmity with the true God, which should show us that the preaching of a real unbeliever (regardless of how religious that unbeliever is) is an act of enmity toward the true God. If the churches in this nation and this nation in general are under the judgment of God, then there is no doubt that we are being turned over to a spiritual blindness and given over to blind leaders as well. When the spiritual leaders in name are blind, they are also dead. But despite their deadness to spiritual things, that does not keep them from thinking that they are spiritual leaders. These spiritual leaders (in name) still hate the true God and all of their religious teaching and preaching are committed to the teaching and preaching of a false god and they do that out of enmity and as a way to suppress the truth of God. They suppress the truth of the true God because they hate Him and do not want Him as God.

The weight of this is enormous and should awaken people to the importance of truth. Any man can take a pulpit and preach morality and good works. Any man can take a pulpit and preach something of an exposition of the text and speak nice words of Jesus and of God. But it is also true that all of those things can be done as an act of enmity toward the true God while the preacher is deceived about the true God. Is there any wonder that the true God is not being preached today? Is there any real question why we are having such a hard time finding preachers that declare the truth of the living God in our day? It certainly appears that there is more enmity toward the living God being spread than the truth of God is. It certainly appears that the preachers (as a whole, but not absolutely all) want to hide God from the people. Would they do that if they loved the true God and the people?

It is the highest love for a man to tell others the truth of God, so surely it is as far as love that one can have not to tell others of the truth of God. If it is the highest love for a man to tell others of the love of God, then surely it is enmity toward God and man to give men the wrong teaching of God. What a terrible judgment on a person, a church, and a nation to give them over to hardened hearts where they don’t see that they are in darkness concerning Him. What a terrible judgment to send on a people to give them preachers who are at enmity with Him and will not speak the truth about Him. What a terrible judgment it is to have learned men in the letter of the Bible and nice men too who are at enmity with the truth of Him even as they write learned books about their false god. Oh how we must have a man here and a woman there who will give themselves to ask God to change hearts to love Him. We must have people who are tired of not hearing the truth of God who will begin to cry out to God to give them ministers after His heart. We must not settle for anything less than the truth of God from our pulpits. We must seek the face of God to give us courage and strength to stand up and appear as something other than gracious and winsome as we seek for preachers of truth. Without the truth of the true God, there is nothing but a false god and error to be preached.

One of the most obvious ways (from Romans 1:18-32) that God hardens hearts and turns men over to sin is when He hardens their hearts toward Himself and turns them over to various forms of humanism. The core aspect of sin is always in relation to God.

1. Men suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them.
2. Men exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man
3. Men exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator
4. Men do not see fit to acknowledge God any longer
5. Men are haters of God
6. Men approve the sinful practices of others even though God hates those practices

The word “acknowledge” does not really get at the meaning of that word in its own context because a very high percentage of people acknowledge that there is a God in some way. Romans 1:28 says it like this: “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.” The idea is that it was not acceptable or not fitting to these people to keep God in their knowledge. It is not that these people became absolute atheists, though some probably did, but that it was not acceptable to their way of thinking to have the true God in their knowledge and so they chose other things and other ways of thinking.

That is precisely what is going on in pulpits across our land and the world today. It is far easier to preach morality and free-will than it is to preach the true and living God who is sovereign over all things including the will of men. Men should preach that men should look to God for all things and that all things come to men by grace, but that is thought to be hyper-Calvinistic by some and it is thought that the responsibility of man balances out the sovereignty of God. When it is thought that the sovereignty of God needs to be balanced out by something man has, then we can know that we have left the Bible and are heading into dangerous territory.

There are many ways that preachers do not see it fit to keep the true God in their knowledge during sermons and lectures. That is when they focus on morality and religious life without centering on the true God. That is when they may talk about God, but He is on notice to serve men if they will do certain things right. That is when men may talk about God here and there, but He is not the focus of the sermon. If God is not supreme in a sermon, then a minister is not acknowledging God as he should. When God is not the main topic of the sermon in some way, then the minister is not acknowledging the true God as he should. When God is not the goal and end of the sermon, then the minister is not acknowledging the true God as he should.

When the pulpit is not a place where God is the focus, the goal, and the chief end of the sermon, then the pulpit is not acknowledging the true God as it should. The Gospel is all about God. Sin is only seen in its hideousness and heinousness when it is seen as against God. The Lord Jesus is only seen in His glory when He is seen as the very shining forth of the glory of God. The Gospel is only seen as the Gospel when it is seen as God shining forth into the hearts of sinners to give them the light of His glory in the face of Christ. Apart from the true and living God there is no true preaching.

Now this may sound harsh to many, but in fact the actions of those who will not acknowledge God in their preaching are far harsher since they are against God. How many men stand behind pulpits and give the people moralism, legalism, and watered-down versions of the true Gospel and the true God? Being nice about this is not the way to approach it as these men are deceiving the souls of sinners and are preaching false things about the true God. Modern preaching is a judgment upon the churches of our nation and upon the nation itself. When even the preaching is a way of not acknowledging God, we can know that a famine is in the land and that God is hiding His face from us. We must repent, absolutely, but we must be given true grace from the true God to truly repent.

One of the most obvious ways (from Romans 1:18-32) that God hardens hearts and turns men over to sin is when He hardens their hearts toward Himself and turns them over to various forms of humanism. The core aspect of sin is always in relation to God.

1. Men suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them.
2. Men exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man
3. Men exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator
4. Men do not see fit to acknowledge God any longer
5. Men are haters of God
6. Men approve the sinful practices of others even though God hates those practices

It would appear to some that it is an obvious sin when preachers preach for their own honor rather than the glory of God, they will still not think that their pastors do that. Even more, it is perhaps even harder to see and believe that a pastor has exchanged the truth of who God is and the truth that God has revealed for a lie. In the context this passage teaches us that God has make it known to each man who God is. The text tells us that “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them” (Romans 1:19). Men are not ignorant of God in reality, the problem is that they hate God and suppress the truth. In suppressing the truth of God in unrighteousness these men grab hold of lies. In doing that, then, they turn from God and worship and serve the creature rather than God.

What we must understand is that man is inherently religious and men love to work for their righteousness and a standing before God based on themselves. Men do not like a sovereign God and instead want the sovereignty of their own “free-will.” Men do not like the idea that God must save them for the sake of His own name and instead want to be saved because of their own value and worth. Men don’t like the idea that they must be saved by a free-grace which is always and must always be apart from anything they can merit or work up. This glorious teaching of God saving by grace alone destroys any hope that a sinner has in self and leaves him as a vile and wretched sinner in great need of a Savior who saves sinners for the sake of God.

When man is religious and yet is involved in suppressing the truth of God, that man is turning from God and serves and worships the creature rather than God. When religious men turn from proclaiming the truth of the living God and begin to focus on man and his earthly feelings and needs, those men have turned from Christianity and are now guilty of humanism which does not worship the true God but serves the creature. What we must see is that man was created for the glory of God and to be the image of the true God in the world and was not created for himself and his own purposes. When men turn religion into something where they think that by serving men they are serving God, they have become vile idolaters. When men turn religion into something where they teach that God serves men and does what He does to benefit men, they have become vile idolaters.

Not only do men become vile idolaters, but they teach an entirely wrong view of God and the Gospel as well. God has no need of men or the service of men. God glorifies Himself through men as He pleases and has no need of men to glorify Himself. He uses men to glorify Himself by grace, but He has no need of men to do so. For some reason men think that God is focused on them and longs to do what they want in order that other men will notice Him. That is simply a horrible blasphemy despite how popular that opinion is. God lives in perfect love within Himself as triune and does not need anything or anyone other than Himself. When men try to bring this great God down in their preaching, then the men who are preaching are themselves serving the creatures and even worship the creature rather than God. Unless preaching is done out of love for God and proclaims the truth of God, it is exchanging the truth of God for a lie. Preaching can be a great, great evil rather than an expression and proclamation of the true God.

One of the most obvious ways (from Romans 1:18-32) that God hardens hearts and turns men over to sin is when He hardens their hearts toward Himself and turns them over to various forms of humanism. The core aspect of sin is always in relation to God.

1. Men suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them.
2. Men exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man
3. Men exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator
4. Men do not see fit to acknowledge God any longer
5. Men are haters of God
6. Men approve the sinful practices of others even though God hates those practices

If it is a great sin for men in general, and certainly it is, to exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man, then it is a far greater sin for ministers to do that in their preaching. After all, teachers and preachers will have a greater judgment. The Great Commandment is to love God with all of our being. As I Corinthians 10:31 puts it, “whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” I Peter 4 puts it directly to those who preach and teach: “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Preaching is not to be practical as for what it primarily is. Preaching is not to be primarily doctrinal. Preaching is not to be primarily gracious and winsome. Preaching is not meant to primarily be encouraging to men. Preaching is primarily to be to the glory of God and is to be one way that God is glorified through Jesus Christ. After all, all the glory belongs to Him forever. Preaching that does not aim at the glory of God out of love for that glory is not preaching with the proper aim and goal. Preaching that aims at the honor of the preacher, whether the preacher consciously says that or not, is idolatry. This is to say that when preaching is not an act of love for God and aimed at and meant to manifest His glory through Jesus Christ that preaching is idolatry.

While men may not intentionally aim at something which is not for the glory of God out of true love, that does not lessen their obligation to preach in light of the Great Commandment and His glory. It is a slippery slope and it appears that men slide downward in terms of their preaching. It is thought to be compassionate to preach to men in a gracious and winsome way, but that makes men the center of preaching and is a lie. It is thought that if we preach in order that men will be more moral that it is the way to preach, but in fact that is not preaching to the glory of God in the face of Christ. We can approach men in a rational way and try to reason them into the kingdom, but in fact that is not preaching to the glory of God. Preachers must get with God and bow to Him asking Him to grip their hearts with His glory and a love for Him before they try to preach.

When the preaching is not out of a heart of love for God and His glory then the hearts of the people will not be taken up with God. When the preaching has exchanged the glory of God for lesser things, then the hearts of the people will do the same thing. When the preacher, though it may be internal and not external, longs for the people to honor him rather than beholding the glory of God that preacher is an idolater and hides the glory of God from the people. The preacher has at that point exchanged the glory of God for his own glory. The preacher wants the people to honor him rather than God. The preacher wants to turn the attention of the people from God to himself. Surely it is self-evident that this is a wicked thing, yet how many sermons in our modern day are all about the preacher or all about his ability to say things or his ability to gain converts? It is not just any old form of idolatry, but it is a hideous and virtually infinite form of idolatry. It is a setting up an idol in the very face of God.

If preaching in the modern day is primarily acts of external religion and is not aimed at the glory of God, then assuredly it is no surprise that God is not visiting His people or those who claim to be His people in our day. One can almost hear Him crying out to let the gods that you are chasing save you. Let the gods that you love more than Me deliver you. What we need deliverance from; however, is the judgment of God upon us who is turning us over to ourselves. We must have God and we must have Him come to us in power or we will perish!