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Holiday Thoughts 5

December 20, 2016

Exodus 20: 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol…7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Matthew 6:9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

Psalm 2:11 Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.

Isaiah 6:3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

One of the most obvious things in the Bible is the attitude that God has toward His own name. He treats His own name as holy and commands human beings to treat His name as holy. In the Old Testament we see that out of all the ideas and concepts in the world one of the Ten Commandments was given to the Israelites by God to treat His name with reverence. If we are not going to use His name in vain, then we must treat it with reverence. It cannot be denied (by any serious reader of Scripture) that God has manifested His name in and through Christ. It is Christ who is the shining forth of His glory and the exact representation of His nature. It is Christ who has told us that if we have seen Him we have seen the Father. Therefore, we must realize that we are to speak the name of Christ and we are to treat Christ with reverence and awe.

The very word “Christ-mass” is taking the word “Christ” and joining it with the blasphemous activity of the mass. The mass is in some sense a supposed re-sacrificing of Christ and offering Him to the people to eat, which is to say that they say that they eat His very flesh. In other words, this is a very blasphemous activity. However, Protestants have taken up this time of year with utter abandonment and they also use the name of Christ and join the word “mass” to it so glibly and easily. How is this anything but a taking His name in vain or an irreverent use of the name of Christ? How can we take the name of Christ whom we are to revere and speak His name with awe and then join the blasphemous word “mass” to it and then celebrate this time of the year?

How can Protestants use this word as if it is nothing but a joyous time? Have we forgotten that out of love for Christ we should revere His holy name? Have we forgotten how blasphemous the mass really is? Have we not remembered that the name of Christ is to be set apart and used only in a reverent way and yet in “Christ-mass” we are joining His name to a blasphemous activity? This is simply inexcusable and yet no one seems to have the slightest concern with it. We have Reformed and Protestant people (in name) who seem to be quite unconcerned with using the name of Christ in such a casual manner even if they don’t think of it as joining His holy name to a blasphemous activity as represented by the word “mass.”

How far have we fallen from the basic principles of the Protestant Reformation! Not only will we use the name of Christ with such irreverence in our word for this season, but we join the world in worship and in this we should know that it is false worship because the world hates the true God and the true Christ. We also have a false idea of the Lord Jesus Christ when we worship the baby Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ is to be worshipped with reverence and awe and that can only be done by the Divine Person and in accordance with the cross of the adult Jesus and the imputed righteousness of the adult Jesus and of Christ as the only Mediator. The baby Jesus is not something that the Bible speaks of in a way that moves us to worship. It is the life of Christ in His people purchased by His blood that should move them to worship.

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Holiday Thoughts 4

December 19, 2016

Exodus 20: 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol…7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Matthew 6:9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

Psalm 2:11 Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.

Isaiah 6:3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

One of the most obvious ways that we should see with great clarity that the professing Church has gone so wrong in the way it approaches December 25th is that it joins the world in a celebration of baby Jesus or at least some form of turning that time into something other than true worship. It should give us great pause when we consider that the liberals and very worldly people will join us in this time of celebration of something. If the liberals and worldly people are willing to worship this “Jesus”, then this is not the biblical Jesus. The baby Jesus that the liberals and the world love and are willing to worship in some way is not the biblical teaching of Jesus.

The world hates Jesus, so how can it join in the true celebration of the true Jesus? The truth of the matter is that the world is not joining in the true celebration of the true Christ. But if the world has joined in something called worship with the professing Church, then what does that say about the professing Church? When will the professing Church wake up and realize this? The world and the liberals hate the true Jesus and so they cannot and will not worship the true Jesus. When will the true Church wake up and realize this? When will the true Church recognize that it cannot blend the truth of who Christ really is with that which is acceptable to the world? The baby Jesus that the world is so willing to be part of is not the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, as long as the professing Church is willing to be part of this, the world and the liberals will continue to think that they worship the true Jesus.

The world and the liberals hate God and so when they see the true Jesus they will hate Him. The true Jesus came and was the very shining forth of the glory of God and as such was hated by those who were at enmity with Him by birth. As long as the world and the liberals do not hate the Jesus the professing Church is willing to join in some form of celebration with, we can know that the true God who shines forth in Christ is not being declared. But if the true God is not being declared in Christ, then we can know that it is not the true Christ that is being celebrated.

As said above, if the professing church is in worship of the same Jesus as the world and the liberals are celebrating, then the professing church is not celebrating the true Jesus. The professing church is never more like the world than when it celebrates the same Jesus that the world and the liberals do. This must be something that opens the eyes of the true Church. We must take it to heart and wake up. When we are joining with the liberals and the world in something of God, we must know that their hatred of God will not allow them to adore the true Christ. This means that we have descended to their level and we are involved in false worship. Oh how we must be awakened by the true and living God and be granted repentance from our false worship of Him.

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Gospel of Grace Alone 55

December 17, 2016

Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 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! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it. It is this sense and conviction which brings us to him hungering and thirsting, and casts the soul upon him with all the strength of its desire, for that change when he alone can work in it. It is the knowledge and belief of this, which makes Gospel mercy and Gospel power so welcome and seasonable a relief to us. It is the hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helpless state in sin, which constitutes the very life and spirit of prayer; and if it is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Little children are without strength and without knowledge, weak and ignorant, have every thing to learn, receive what is taught them with undisputing simplicity, and are incapable of thinking, acting for, and governing themselves. Just thus we should judge of ourselves. We are mere children in respect of any knowledge we have of our proper happiness, or ability to attain it. And this child-like, humble disposition is our necessary preparation for receiving the salvation of God—so called, because it is all his gift and his work. And neither the book of our own heart nor the book of Scripture has been opened to us, till we are brought to this conviction—“that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” (Thomas Adam, Sermons)

Adam makes a comment on prayer which is very telling regarding the nature of prayer. It could apply to the unconverted soul that sees itself as empty and helpless and so it is the type of prayer that one is to seek God with. It is also at the heart of all true prayer of the believer. The unconverted person needs grace for conversion and has nothing with which to move God and nothing with which to obtain life with. This person is cast utterly and totally upon the mercy and grace of God. That person (as all should be) should have the deep persuasion and the inward feeling of utter helplessness and in that the person can truly pray for grace. If the person is not truly helpless and in some way looks to self or what self has done, that person is not looking to Christ for pure grace.

The believing person that was converted by grace alone still has nothing within self to come to God with. The believer also has no righteousness before God and has nothing to obtain righteousness with. We must always know that in prayer we are coming to the throne of grace and we can expect nothing but grace. Only the truly humbled heart can truly pray, though anyone can say religious words and call it prayer. The Gospel of grace alone is deserted when we try to offer a prayer based on our own righteousness in any way or based on what we have done in any way. The Gospel of grace alone should teach us a deep humility and that we should never look to anything but grace in our pre-conversion and post-conversion life.

Adam says that if this (hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helplessness in sin) “is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God.” This is a tremendous, tremendous statement and should be meditated upon. If we are not convinced and deeply know and feel our helplessness in spiritual things and sin, then our prayers are fruitless and are dead formality. This may sound harsh to some, but this really gets at the heart of it. Apart from Christ we can do nothing, that is, nothing spiritual and nothing that will bear spiritual fruit. The unbeliever must recognize that and seek the Lord in utter emptiness of self knowing that s/he has nothing but sin. The believer must seek the Lord in prayer based on Christ and Christ alone. This is also one difference between religious activity and the life of Christ in the soul.

It is crucial for the soul to be brought to the low state where it will look to Christ for all things regarding spiritual life. It is crucial for the soul to look for all things it needs and look for it on the basis of grace alone. The proud self will fight and try to insert itself in the prayer, but this ruins the prayer unless Christ shows even that grace. Our prayers will never bring us closer to God unless we are emptied of self-sufficiency and the proud self and look to come to God through Christ alone by grace alone. The grace that saves sinners is also the grace that sinners are to live by day in and day out. Oh how free-grace should reign at all times and in all ways.

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Gospel of Grace Alone 54

December 16, 2016

Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 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! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it. It is this sense and conviction which brings us to him hungering and thirsting, and casts the soul upon him with all the strength of its desire, for that change when he alone can work in it. It is the knowledge and belief of this, which makes Gospel mercy and Gospel power so welcome and seasonable a relief to us. It is the hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helpless state in sin, which constitutes the very life and spirit of prayer; and if it is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Little children are without strength and without knowledge, weak and ignorant, have every thing to learn, receive what is taught them with undisputing simplicity, and are incapable of thinking, acting for, and governing themselves. Just thus we should judge of ourselves. We are mere children in respect of any knowledge we have of our proper happiness, or ability to attain it. And this child-like, humble disposition is our necessary preparation for receiving the salvation of God—so called, because it is all his gift and his work. And neither the book of our own heart nor the book of Scripture has been opened to us, till we are brought to this conviction—“that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. (Thomas Adam, Sermons)

The Gospel of grace is the Gospel of grace alone or the Gospel of free-grace or the Gospel of sovereign grace. It is therefore the Gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ. This should always be kept front and center when one thinks of the Gospel or any other doctrine. The problem we find today, however, is that there is great confusion as to the distinction between believing the Gospel of grace alone as a doctrine and believing in Christ alone in reality. Any scholar or student of the Bible, whether secular or not, can come to the belief that Christ saves sinners by grace alone. However, there are things about the Gospel and that run parallel with the Gospel that the secular person is simply blind to. Is the Gospel really preached when there is nothing preached that the unbelieving mind cannot grasp and comprehend?

The Gospel message is nothing more than a rational doctrine that a rational man can readily see is taught in the Bible unless the Spirit works in the heart of man and gives the person a hunger and thirst and even a desire or longing to truly be saved in this way. The soul that the Lord is working in will be moved to the point where the soul is seen as extremely sinful and utterly helpless before God. The soul that the Spirit convicts of sin and brings to the point of conversion will utterly despair of any help from itself. This is the soul that God teaches in the inner man how desperately it needs the work of Christ for it to have life. This is the soul that the Spirit shows it that it is dead and how life cannot come apart from the grace of God in giving it life. This soul has been taught by the Spirit the depths of its sin and inability and it willingly and with strong desires (sometimes) will look to Christ alone for all things regarding salvation. It knows that regeneration is beyond its own powers and that God must do it.

It is only the soul that has been taught of God that it has nothing but sin on its account and nothing but inability in terms of power will look to Christ alone. It is this soul that will gladly look to Christ alone for faith itself or newness of life or a new and believing heart because it knows that there is no hope in self or anyone or anything else. It is this soul that has been broken by the kindly work of Christ by His Spirit that will look to grace alone and do so gladly. It looks to itself as nothing but darkness and with no power to help it, so it is good news to look to Christ alone. It is also good news to look to Christ alone for grace since the soul knows that it deserves nothing but eternal misery for its own sin. Oh how gladly this soul will look upon the omnipotent hand of God for the power of the Gospel that saves sinners.

Here we see and will see more again how it is the kindness of God to break the hearts of those He draws to Himself and leave them with nothing to hope in but Himself. Here we see the inward working of the Spirit who brings conviction and leaves the soul without any hope in itself at all. Here we see something of the working of God that cannot be seen by the unbeliever and certainly will not be felt. When so many today think of the Gospel of grace alone as a doctrine to be believed, the Bible teaches us that the Gospel of grace alone is all about the Lord Jesus and how sinners are really and truly saved by His power. It is not just an intellectual belief, but it is a change of heart that He works. Sinners are really and truly changed.

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Holiday Thoughts 3

December 15, 2016

Exodus 20: 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol…7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Matthew 6:9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

Psalm 2:11 Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.

Isaiah 6:3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

The time of Jesus on earth was the time the second Person of the Trinity took human flesh and walked on this planet. To some He manifested the glory of the Father and to some He blinded them to who He really was. One of the basic points that this little series is trying to do is to show that baby Jesus is not an accurate picture of the true God. There are teachings, yes, but we are not to make final deductions from the narrative sections about the birth of Christ regarding the Father, but instead we are to behold Jesus in His words and works. Yes, His humility and condescension are seen. Yes, we can behold sovereignty at this point as well. But we are not to worship baby Jesus as such, we are to worship the living God as revealed by Christ and we are to worship with reverence and awe.

John 14:5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father ‘? 10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

Once again the passage from John 14 is so instructive. Jesus Himself is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus Himself is the only way to the Father. It is Jesus Himself that if the disciples would have known Him they would have known the Father. It was in the adult Jesus that Jesus said that to know Him (Jesus) was to know the Father. It was the adult Jesus that spoke to Philip who wanted Jesus to show them the Father. The words of Jesus to Philip were this: “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” This is simply a stunning passage of Scripture.

The ministry of Jesus was three years or less, so this was the time He was speaking of to Philip. He was not speaking of His birth and early years. One could make a sharp distinction between the time before Jesus was baptized with the Spirit without measure and the time after. This was the time He began His ministry. It is the adult Jesus that it is said that the Father was with the disciples when Jesus was with them. It was the adult Jesus that the glory of God shown through in His ministry. Nothing like this was ever said about the baby Jesus.

What we must see, however, is that the humanity of Jesus was nothing apart from the Divine. In the adult Jesus as He went about teaching, living, and doing miracles that the Father was seen. Regarding the baby Jesus, in and of Himself, we have no command to worship and we are never told that the Father did His works in and through Him. If we are to worship Christ in truth as the Truth, we are not to worship Him as baby Jesus. If we are to worship Christ as the Way, we must worship Him as Divine. If we are to worship Christ as the life, we are to worship Him as eternal life in human flesh, that is, the Divine life. The practices surrounding baby Jesus in our day are far, far from the truth of who He really was, though they are not far from the practices of Rome and Mary.

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Holiday Thoughts 2

December 14, 2016

Exodus 20: 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol…7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Matthew 6:9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

Psalm 2:11 Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.

Isaiah 6:3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

There are many texts in the New Testament that teach us the proper worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, though they may not be thought of in that way. The first passage that we will deal with is that of John 12 (the text just below). Our usual thought is to think of Isaiah 6 as speaking of the Father or of God in a general way. However, what John teaches us is something a lot different. Read Isaiah 6 and then the passage below and imagine speaking to the God of Isaiah 6 as most people speak of the baby Jesus and ask yourself if that is treating His holy name reverently.

John 12:37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.” 41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.

Jesus performed many signs before the Israelites. However, they did not believe in Him which is to say that they did not believe that He was God in human flesh and He was not the Messiah. The failure of the Israelites to believe who this Jesus truly was seems unimaginable in some ways, but the following verses show us how this could be. When the Israelites did not respond to the words of Isaiah, it was clear that people did not believe because God had not revealed Himself to them. However, and to go even deeper, verses 39-40 tells us that God blinded them and hardened their eyes so that they could not see and could not perceive. Who was Isaiah speaking of? He was speaking of Christ and we can see this in verse 41. The text says that Isaiah said those things because he say His glory and spoke of Him. He is speaking of Christ.

In Matthew 13 Jesus was asked why He spoke in parables. He basically said that He spoke in parables to keep people from seeing and to harden their hearts. He also said that the prophecy of Isaiah (same as John 12) was being fulfilled on them. This is a hard teaching and yet it is a biblical teaching. Jesus did not just come to provide a way of salvation; He also came to bring judgment and to harden. When one thinks of the biblical Christ and what it takes to truly see and believe in who He truly is, it takes the Divine hand to open eyes and illuminate the understanding. However, we should not think that the hardening work of God is finished in regards to His Son.

The Lord Jesus Christ is holy, holy, holy and the whole earth is full of His glory. The Lord Jesus Christ was the One that all things were created through and all things created for. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is very God of very God. When the Lord Jesus Christ took human flesh and in that was the very tabernacle or dwelling place of the glory of God on earth that was nothing less than the glory of God veiled and hidden in human flesh. What is it that people do every year during the time of December 25th and days surrounding that? They appear to try to honor the baby Jesus rather than God in human flesh.

We never read of the birth of Christ once we get into the epistles and we never read of the New Testament Church having a day of worship regarding this. Why is that? Perhaps it was because we are commanded preach Christ and Him crucified and to preach the resurrection. Perhaps it is because people can get overly sentimental about baby Jesus and not realize that to worship the human nature of Christ is idolatry. Perhaps it is so easy for human beings to think that they love Jesus when what they love is a harmless baby. If we are going to worship Christ in spirit and truth, we must worship Him as Divine. When was the last time we saw true reverence and awe for baby Jesus around December 25th in our day? I never have.

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Holiday Thoughts 1

December 13, 2016

Exodus 20: 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourthgenerations of those who hate Me… 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Matthew 6:9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

Psalm 2:11 Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.

Isaiah 6:3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

1 Timothy 6:16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

We live in a day and time where it is thought to be funny if we use God’s name as a curse word or as a way to curse others. It is thought to be no big deal for people to use God’s name in such a common way. However, the first four commandments (of the Ten) are built around the name of God and how we are to treat His name with reverence and awe. The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer teaches us that our first priority in prayer is to pray for the name of God to be hallowed (treated with reverence and awe). Since God is holy, holy, holy, all human beings are to treat His name as holy and to be before Him with reverence.

When we think of the name of God we are to think of His name as standing for all He is and all that specifically has to do with Him. His name is holy, that is, He is holy and all that has to do with Him is holy and as such we are to treat Him and all that has to do with Him in a holy way as well. The Scriptures are a revelation of God and as such they are termed the “Holy Scriptures” and termed that correctly. The worship of God is to be done with reverence as well, though this is not the same thing as following a rote ritual with a bowed head. The very rejoicing we are to do before God is to be done with trembling. In fact, there is no acceptable service to God apart from reverence and awe.

When we think of worship we should always think of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no worship that can reach the Father (so to speak) that does not go to Him through Christ. He is the only acceptable way and the only possible way to the Father. As we learn in John 14, if we truly understand who Christ is only then do we understand anything of the Father. When Jesus said to Thomas, He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” everything should come to a stop and let us be careful how we think of Jesus. He is, after all, the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 14:5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father ‘? 10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

In light of these verses and the powerful thoughts they contain, how are we to think of Jesus around December 25th each year? We must not just sing little songs and think of baby Jesus as the only acceptable worship of the living God is with reverence and awe. It is so easy and common to think of the humanity of Jesus this time of year as something apart from His full divinity. However, to do so is nothing less than idolatry and false worship. We do no worship because we pay attention to something on a religious holiday, but we only worship when we worship in truth, reverence, and awe. Jesus Christ was God in human flesh and He was and is to be treated as such at all times and in all ways.

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Gospel of Grace Alone 53

December 12, 2016

Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 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! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it. It is this sense and conviction which brings us to him hungering and thirsting, and casts the soul upon him with all the strength of its desire, for that change when he alone can work in it. It is the knowledge and belief of this, which makes Gospel mercy and Gospel power so welcome and seasonable a relief to us. It is the hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helpless state in sin, which constitutes the very life and spirit of prayer; and if it is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Little children are without strength and without knowledge, weak and ignorant, have every thing to learn, receive what is taught them with undisputing simplicity, and are incapable of thinking, acting for, and governing themselves. Just thus we should judge of ourselves. We are mere children in respect of any knowledge we have of our proper happiness, or ability to attain it. And this child-like, humble disposition is our necessary preparation for receiving the salvation of God—so called, because it is all his gift and his work. And neither the book of our own heart nor the book of Scripture has been opened to us, till we are brought to this conviction—“that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. (Thomas Adam, Sermons)

While the Gospel is often thought of as apart from regeneration, part of the good news is that God works a new heart in His people. All the promises of the Gospel cannot be brought about apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. When we are told that all the promises of the Gospel come to those who believe, we must ask ourselves and seek the truth of what that really means. Regeneration precedes faith and as such people must be born from above in order to believe. This is vitally important for those who are dead in sin in reality and when they come to realize that, all things are hopeless in fact and in their own eyes unless God grants them a new heart.

When we teach men that they are dead in sins and trespasses and press that upon them, then we must know that the Gospel we preach to them must answer the problem or we are offering them no hope at all. If the lost sinner understands just how deep his or her inability really is and what it means to be by nature a child of wrath, then that lost sinner will know that s/he cannot come up with faith on his or her own. The lost sinner should ask (if not taught this) where this life is to come from and on what basis it is to come. Should the lost sinner seek for faith from him or herself or should the lost sinner seek the Lord and put him or herself in the hands of the Lord and look to Him for a new heart that is a believing heart?

If the Gospel is indeed a Gospel of grace alone then the answer is very obvious. Men should seek a new heart from God in order that they may believe. The new heart does not come to sinners based on their own ability to believe and their exercise of that belief, but instead they are to look to God to give them a believing heart in the new birth. This is not just some minor distinction, but the very Gospel of grace alone rests upon this. The Gospel is either based completely and exhaustively upon the character and grace of God or it is not. If the Gospel is indeed based completely and exhaustively upon the character and grace of God, then there is not one work of man and there is nothing that man can do to move God to save him or her.

Adam makes a great point in the first sentence of the quote at the top of this page. “As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it.” This is really at the heart of the Gospel of grace alone. Jesus was so clear that the new birth is absolutely necessary for a person to enter the kingdom. If Jesus taught that, then it is an absolute fact that a person must be born from above to enter the kingdom. This newness of life comes to the sinner in the new birth. If that newness of life is to come to the sinner by grace alone, then in accordance with that grace it is just as necessary for the sinner to quit trusting in him or herself and simply look to God alone to receive that new life at His good pleasure. While the message of the Gospel in our day is full of works and things we do, the true message of the Gospel of grace alone is that we are to be broken from our self, our works, and our pride and look to God to give it based on grace alone.

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Musings 133

December 11, 2016

But who is sufficient for these things? Is all this change a small matter? And is it in the power of man thus to renew his heart, and change the whole bent of his affections—i.e. to new make himself? No, no more than it was to make himself at the first. And therefore the Scripture tells us plainly, “that it is God who works in us both to will and to do;” that “without him:–without Christ, “the wisdom of God, and the power of God,” enlightening our understandings, and renewing our wills; “we can do nothing.” And those who think they can do great things for themselves, either never tried, or else they are ignorant of their case, and do not know the work that is before them. Dear brethren, if we mistake here, we lost all. We expect light where there is nothing but darkness; strength from weakness; and look for health and salvation where there is nothing but corruption and death. We are self-sufficient, and can only be self-saved, i.e. miserable, and left to perish by the work of our own hands. (Thomas Adam, 1701-1784)

Till you feel yourself in this extremity of weakness, you are not in a condition (if I may say so) to receive the heavenly help. Your idea of remaining ability is the very thing that repels the help of the Spirit, just as any idea of remaining goodness thrusts away the propitiation of the Savior. It is your not seeing that you have no strength that is keeping you from believing” (Pink).

The work of regeneration being of absolute necessity unto salvation, it greatly concerns ministers especially, in all ways possible, to promote the same; and in particular that they guide souls aright who are under a work of preparation. There are some who deny any necessity of the preparatory work of the Spirit of God in order to a closing with Christ. This is a very dark cloud, both as it is an evidence that men do not have the experience of that work in their own souls, and as it is a sign that such men are utterly unskillful in guiding others who are under this work. If this opinion should prevail in the land, it would give a deadly wound to religion. It would expose men to think of themselves as converted when they are not… For men must see the plague of their own hearts, their helplessness, and that they are like clay in the hand of the potter before they come to Christ, and so will be afraid and be searching themselves. (Solomon Stoddard, Guide to Christ)

Thomas Adam tells us that if we make a mistake here, all is lost. Pink tells us it is those things that we continue to trust in that thrust away all Divine help. Stoddard tells us that the work of regeneration is of an absolute necessity and that souls must have a work of the Spirit of God with His work of preparation in them in order that they might close with Christ. Stoddard says that men must see three things before men can come to Christ: One, they must see the plague of their own hearts. Two, they must see their helplessness. Three, they must see that they are like clay in the hand of the potter. The quotes from the three men come to us from the 1700’s and then the 1900’s. The early writers represented what was the standard practice at the time and Pink represents the older writers in face of what the overwhelming majority practiced in his time.

While we can put the blame on Finney as such, it was clearly a backing away from the practice based on the sovereign God that brought the modern practices to pass. We had a solid Reformed practice that was eroded during the time of Finney, but in the 1800’s and early to mid-1900’s liberalism and rationalism took over as well. There was a battle against liberalism and rationalism, but there has not been a real battle against the teaching of Finney (Pelagianism). The teaching of the older writers (Luther, Calvin, Adam, Stoddard) have not been recovered and are even looked down upon by modern writers who are Reformed in name. The terrible danger that the older writers spoke of are now the common teaching among the Reformed in name as well.

What is known as Reformed in our day is really Arminianism at the heart of it as people are just told to believe. What is known as Arminianism in our day is really (for the most part) nothing but ancient Pelagianism. This can be seen in how sinners are instructed. In the past they were told that they must see the plague of their own hearts, that they were helpless, and that they were like clay in the hand of the Potter. We see nothing like that today.

We can think of it as practical Arminianism or practical Pelagianism or whatever other name one wants to use, but the heart of the matter is that terribly dangerous practices are being taught. Sinners are not taught the truth about themselves and they are not being instructed to seek the Lord who alone can take what is in them that fights true faith away. It is like having a blockage in your vein and the doctor telling you that your blood must flow but not doing anything to take the blockage away. The difference between the spiritual truth and the doctor is that one may lead to death in this life, but the other leads to eternity in hell. Preachers who do not warn the congregation of these things and only tell them to believe are guilty of spiritual malpractice. They are like the prophets who cried out “peace, peace” and yet there was no peace. Truth has been sold for a bowl of stew.

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Musings 132

December 10, 2016

But who is sufficient for these things? Is all this change a small matter? And is it in the power of man thus to renew his heart, and change the whole bent of his affections—i.e. to new make himself? No, no more than it was to make himself at the first. And therefore the Scripture tells us plainly, “that it is God who works in us both to will and to do;” that “without him:–without Christ, “the wisdom of God, and the power of God,” enlightening our understandings, and renewing our wills; “we can do nothing.” And those who think they can do great things for themselves, either never tried, or else they are ignorant of their case, and do not know the work that is before them. Dear brethren, if we mistake here, we lost all. We expect light where there is nothing but darkness; strength from weakness; and look for health and salvation where there is nothing but corruption and death. We are self-sufficient, and can only be self-saved, i.e. miserable, and left to perish by the work of our own hands. (Thomas Adam, 1701-1784)

Till you feel yourself in this extremity of weakness, you are not in a condition (if I may say so) to receive the heavenly help. Your idea of remaining ability is the very thing that repels the help of the Spirit, just as any idea of remaining goodness thrusts away the propitiation of the Savior. It is your not seeing that you have no strength that is keeping you from believing” (Pink).

The work of regeneration being of absolute necessity unto salvation, it greatly concerns ministers especially, in all ways possible, to promote the same; and in particular that they guide souls aright who are under a work of preparation. There are some who deny any necessity of the preparatory work of the Spirit of God in order to a closing with Christ. This is a very dark cloud, both as it is an evidence that men do not have the experience of that work in their own souls, and as it is a sign that such men are utterly unskillful in guiding others who are under this work. If this opinion should prevail in the land, it would give a deadly wound to religion. It would expose men to think of themselves as converted when they are not… For men must see the plague of their own hearts, their helplessness, and that they are like clay in the hand of the potter before them come to Christ, and so will be afraid and be searching themselves. (Solomon Stoddard, Guide to Christ)

Again, because of the vital importance of this issue it is needful that we go over and over it both for the sake of others and ourselves. The quotes from Pink and Stoddard show how vital this is and how their beliefs were in union with those of Adam. Men must see themselves as lost and utterly helpless in the hands of God to do with as He pleases. Where does one hear anything like that in these days? Where can one hear what in the past was considered a vital teaching in our day? We must see in ourselves and other sinners that there is utterly no hope in ourselves and yet there is a full hope in Christ when Christ is rested in totally and only. There is nothing in ourselves that we can trust in and that includes trusting in ourselves to trust in Christ.

As Pink so wisely points out, it is when we think that we have some remaining ability (however small) that repels the help of the Spirit. The mercy of God (by definition) is His helping those who cannot help themselves. When we can help ourselves, then we repel the very mercy of God who comes to us by the Spirit. Any idea that we have of having goodness is simply something we have and trust in that thrusts away our trusting in Christ alone to take away our sins. When we have not arrived at the point of seeing, understanding, and feeling that we are beyond all hope and ability in ourselves that makes us unable to believe. We must seek this from the hand of Christ who alone can break us and open our eyes to see our great need of being saved by Him apart from anything we can contribute.

Stoddard points out the utter necessity of this work in the heart. He says that when that opinion has prevailed in the land, it gives a deadly wound to religion. That opinion has not only prevailed in the land today, it is virtually the only opinion out there. The idea that the soul needs to be prepared by God to be saved is thought to be a system of works or adding to faith. Oh no, it is how God works to bring the soul to where it will be enabled to believe. It is not that the soul just lacks something to be able to believe, it is that the soul has insurmountable problems and walls to believe. The soul cannot believe in Christ alone until the wall of pride has been broken down. The soul cannot believe in Christ alone until the walls of self-love and pride are broken down. The soul cannot believe in Christ alone until the wall of enmity is taken away. There is nothing meritorious about this breaking of the heart; it is more like the walls that prevent true faith being removed. When those walls are not removed, there is no possibility of true faith. It is horribly dangerous for preachers not to set themselves against those walls, and if they do not then the faith people think they have is not a true faith.

The Gospel of Christ alone by grace alone cannot be preached unless the things above are preached. Eternal souls are bound in death behind the walls that they cannot break out from and preachers are not telling them that Christ alone can do that work for them and that Christ alone can give them repentance and faith. How can preachers even think that they are preaching the Gospel of Christ alone by grace alone when all they are doing is stating a few truths about Christ and telling people to believe those things? How can the deception be so strong when it is so clear that the proud heart is opposed to God and God opposes that heart and He only gives grace to the humble? Indeed the Gospel (true religion) has received a deep wound in our day. Will Christ find true faith on the earth when He returns?

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