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Musings on Sovereignty 10

November 28, 2016

It would be foolish for us to expect that this work will meet with general approval. The trend of modern theology—if theology it can be called—is ever toward the deification of the creature rather than the glorification of the Creator, and the leaven of present-day Rationalism is rapidly permeating the whole of Christendom. The malevolent effects of Darwinianism are more far reaching than most are aware. Many of those among our religious leaders who are still regarded as orthodox would, we fear, be found to be very heterodox if they were weighed in the balances of the Sanctuary. Even those who are clear, intellectually, upon other truth, are rarely sound in doctrine. Few, very few, today, really believe in the complete ruin and total depravity of man. Those who speak of man’s “free will,” and insist upon his inherent power to either accept or reject the Savior, do but voice their ignorance of the real condition of Adam’s fallen children. And if there are few who believe that, so far as he is concerned, the condition of the sinner is entirely hopeless, there are fewer still who really believe in the absolute Sovereignty of God. (A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God)

The doctrine and biblical teaching of the sovereignty of God seems to have been eclipsed today by many things. The sovereignty of God, while many would verbally assent to it, in the doctrine of it, the preaching of it, and the application of it appears to be absent in the modern professing Church. While the sovereignty of God may be mentioned, where can one find it really preached and perhaps stressed? If the true God is indeed sovereign, then can we preach the true God if we do not preach and even stress sovereignty?

If the sovereignty of God is not preached, then are we not by neglect allowing for or even pushing the sovereignty of man? Is this not, as Pink says above, something toward the deification of the creature? If we are not preaching and teaching the sovereignty of God and even being clear about it, I am not sure how we can get away from (at the very least) allowing for the deification of man to be asserted. If we are not preaching and teaching the sovereignty of God, then men will not hear about the true God and will think of themselves as being in control. If men do not look to the hand of the sovereign God for all things, then they will look to themselves. If men do not think of God as absolutely sovereign, it is not clear how they will escape forms of Rationalism and Arminianism. There is no logical stopping point between the sovereignty of God and absolute atheism, though men will usually find a resting point somewhere in between.

Pink notes that many religious leaders with the reputation for being orthodox would be heterodox if they were examined. But why is this? Is there any heterodox position that does not start with an attack on the sovereignty of God in an attempt to exalt man or free man? Even in Reformed (by creed or in name) churches there has been a massive backing away from the sovereignty of God. Fleeing from God as the special Creator of all things is fleeing from the sovereign God. Regardless of where the god of Rationalism will take men, the true God reigns over all at all times and in all ways. God is sovereign and man is not. God is sovereign and science is not. Shall we simply say that God is God and science is science and we must know that while science is a wonderful gift of God, it is not God and it is not sovereign.

The present day certainly appears to be a wonderful time to be alive, yet it is also a very deceptive time to be alive. There are so many things to take our attention from God and so many things to take our time. There are so many religions and so many beliefs that it makes our heads and our hearts swim. However, we must never, never, never back away from the plain and basic truth that God alone is sovereign. It is a wicked and idolatrous thing for men to deny the sovereignty of God and following from that is the idolatrous trust in self. We either look to self for wisdom or we look to the sovereign God for wisdom. We either look to God as all-sufficient or we look to self for some sufficiency in some way. Again, there is no middle ground. God is either absolutely sovereign and reigns supreme over all or He is not and man makes up for the lack in his own estimation. When preachers back off from declaring God as absolutely sovereign, they are making room for men to trust in themselves rather than God.

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Great Quotes

November 26, 2016

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Acts 8:23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

Romans 7:14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.

Galatians 4:3 So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.

The natural free will is put by Arminians to act above its own sphere, spiritually, while it is but a natural will. Making use of Christ as a Physician, believing, repenting, &c., are looked upon by Arminians to be in the power of every natural man; and these are spiritual, supernatural acts, or acts that do arise from the bestowment of grace, which raises the agent in those proper acts to act above nature. {Phil.1:29, Eph.2:8} Man’s will hath a natural freedom for natural acts, as he is a reasonable creature; but he hath no free will for spiritual acts, though he be a reasonable creature. For these are acts above his capacity as a natural man. {John 6:44}

The will of man in unregeneracy is a dead will, a hard, stony, inflexible will. The wills of all natural men are at enmity with God. Their wills cannot freely bow to will that which God wills. No will can say, without eminent sanctification, not my will, but thine be done. {Luke 22:42} The will of the creature is of itself a blind, enslaved, disobedient faculty; and for this will to be put immediately upon making use of Free Grace, and coming to Christ as he is the Great Physician, is putting it to act spiritually before it is made spiritual. It is bid to discern and look while it is blind. To come, while it is tied and bound with the chain of its own sin. Vitally to look to Christ before it is quickened by Him.

Now sinner let me not flatter thee, but in faithfulness give thee more encouragement, thy dead will must be quickened by a being born from above, life and motion of another kind than what thou hast from Adam to hear, and pray, and read, and give alms, must be put into thee by a supernatural power, even by the Holy Ghost Himself, given to be and dwell in thee {I Cor.3:16, II Tim.1:14;} so that this dead will of thine must be quickened by the Divine will, and willingness of Another. {James 1:18, John 3:8} The quickening of this will and freeing it must be Pure Grace! These things must proceed in the will and act of God, and do so, before a vital act of faith. For a dead will cannot believe, because faith on the Son of God is a living act. Deut.29:2, John 6:44. The will must be taught of the Father, by sending down the Holy Spirit before the will goes to Christ.

We must preach the Gospel so as it is fitted, under the exalted Operations of the Spirit, to beat down the practical Arminianism of all our natures. We are ready to think that Arminianism lies only in the book, or the apostate churches; and that if we profess or protest against the ‘Acta Synodalia Remonstrantium’ {a book compiled by the Remonstrants in 1620, in explanation and defence of their five articles against the decisions of the Synod of Dort} against the Canons of the Synod of Dort all is well. But this is just another mistake. Arminianism is the universal nature of mankind. It is by nature everybody’s principle; and there is no more religion in it than reasonable nature under corruption. It is our own state by nature; and I find it as natural in me to be an Arminian, as it is to breathe.

I will own it, that every man before the Power of Grace changes him, hath free will, or rather slavish will to be an Arminian by nature. We were all born so, and without the Power of Grace we die so. Now we that are Ministers under that power, must preach the Gospel so as to beat down Arminianism. If we lay down the Gospel in a Gospel way of Truth, we are delivered from the abominations of the Arminians; neither is there room for their subtleties to bring men into such labyrinths, as the things have been stated against offers of grace in this treatise of Gospel Truth. {Is.30:1,2} I must here profess my sorrow and burden for some of our present day Non-Conformists, who have lost so much ground to serve the Gospel in their learning, as well as in their zeal for orthodoxy, {Rom.10:2,} that they seem at this day to be mere strangers to everything in the Arminian controversy, but the bare name of it.  (From the site Supralapsarian.com)

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Gospel Preaching 45

November 25, 2016

I Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

“Preach Christ, let your end be to glorify him, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people; to lead them to him as a sanctuary to protect, a propitiation to reconcile, a treasure to enrich, a physician to heal, an advocate to present, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save, as an inexhausted fountain of pardon, grace, comfort, victory, and glory.” (Edward Reynolds)

There is spiritual wisdom in understanding the mysteries of the gospel, that we may be able to declare the whole counsel of God, and the riches and treasures of the grace of Christ, unto the souls of men. See Acts 20:27; I Cor 2:1-4; Eph 3:7-9. Many in the church of God were, in those days of light, growing and thriving; they had a great insight into spiritual things, and into the mysteries of the gospel. The apostle prays that they might all have it, Eph 1:17-18, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” Really it is no easy thing for ministers to instruct in such kind of duties. If there be not some degree of eminency in themselves, how shall we lead on such persons as these to perfection? We must labor ourselves to have a thorough knowledge of these mysteries, or we shall be useless to a great part of the church. There is spiritual wisdom and understanding in the mysteries of the gospel required hereunto. (John Owen, Sermons to the Church)

The apostle Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus that the Father of glory would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. He prayed for them that the eyes of their understandings would be enlightened and that they would know what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints really are. This is something that should shock us and grab us. Paul prayed for spiritual understanding for the people. Surely he would not pray for this if they (or us) could understand things simply by reading a commentary style book that explained the words of the text. It takes spiritual insight to understand spiritual things.

Gospel preaching, therefore, should be preaching that is focused on spiritual things. Gospel preaching cannot be attained apart from the minister giving himself to prayer and the Scriptures looking for spiritual things in order to preach spiritual things to spiritual people. If the preaching of the Gospel requires spiritual preaching, then the study of the preacher in his preparation must include seeking spiritual understanding. Spiritual understanding cannot be found in a commentary and it cannot be found by doing what carnal men do. Spiritual understanding can only take place when spiritual men seek the Spirit to give them light as it shines out in Christ and His Gospel.

Owen notes that this is not an easy thing for preachers. In order for the preacher to preach and guide people into spiritual things, the preacher must be spiritual himself. The preacher must long for and seek the Lord for insight and light into these mysteries of the Gospel or the preacher will be of no help to the people. This should be a great insight into the true nature of preaching and the true nature of preparation. The true nature of preaching is what is taught of the Spirit in the soul of the preacher during the week so that the preacher is doing more than just lecturing on words. The preacher of the Gospel must seek these things from the hand of God and he must seek them on the basis of grace alone.

The preparation of the preacher for preaching the Gospel must no longer be simply the use of commentaries and the study of works, but it must be an entering into the mysteries of the Gospel in a spiritual sense. The preacher must know what it means to understand spiritual things of the Gospel. The preacher must understand how to be taught spiritual things of the Gospel. The preacher must understand how to point people to Christ who must teach the people spiritual things. This requires the preacher to seek a broken heart and a humble heart before God that he may seek understanding by grace alone. It is only when Christ by His Spirit has taught the preacher in the inner man the Gospel that the preacher will preach the Gospel.

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Gospel Preaching 44

November 24, 2016

I Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

“Preach Christ, let your end be to glorify him, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people; to lead them to him as a sanctuary to protect, a propitiation to reconcile, a treasure to enrich, a physician to heal, an advocate to present, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save, as an inexhausted fountain of pardon, grace, comfort, victory, and glory.” (Edward Reynolds)

There is spiritual wisdom in understanding the mysteries of the gospel, that we may be able to declare the whole counsel of God, and the riches and treasures of the grace of Christ, unto the souls of men. See Acts 20:27; I Cor 2:1-4; Eph 3:7-9. Many in the church of God were, in those days of light, growing and thriving; they had a great insight into spiritual things, and into the mysteries of the gospel. The apostle prays that they might all have it, Eph 1:17-18, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” Really it is no easy thing for ministers to instruct in such kind of duties. If there be not some degree of eminency in themselves, how shall we lead on such persons as these to perfection? We must labor ourselves to have a thorough knowledge of these mysteries, or we shall be useless to a great part of the church. There is spiritual wisdom and understanding in the mysteries of the gospel required hereunto. (John Owen, Sermons to the Church)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the glory of God in Jesus Christ is not simply a few propositions that are to be mentioned on occasion. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Gospel which is about Jesus Christ and shines forth the wonder and glory of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about His humanity, but let us never forget it is also and perhaps primarily about His Divinity. It is also about how the Father shines forth in Christ. Clearly, then, the Gospel has spiritual meanings and spiritual truths that are to be preached. If the preacher is just focused on the physical things or the words and things that the natural man can explain and understand, then the preacher is not preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If God has given His people all spiritual blessings in Christ (Eph 1:3), then unless the preaching involves the things that are spiritual the preaching will never reach the souls of men and it will never get at the heart of the Gospel. Yes, it is true, this sounds so mystical to some. However, the Scriptures are quite clear that there is a spiritual knowledge, a spiritual wisdom, and spiritual blessings. These things cannot be dismissed so easily if we are to be faithful to Christ and the Gospel of Christ. If there is nothing spiritual, then what of the things of the Holy Spirit and how we must be illumined in order to understand the things of God? The Gospel is not just two or three points and the Gospel is not something the natural man can understand. The Gospel is spiritual and it is spiritual food to spiritual people. This is also to say that spiritual people (people who are regenerated by the Spirit and have the fruit of the Spirit as He dwells in them) will not be fed apart from having spiritual food. True preaching that is faithful to the God who is spirit must be spiritual.

In our own day we see many men and women who are on the televisions who think that the blessings of God are primarily health and financial. They have failed to understand the nature of spiritual blessings and so they focus on the only blessings they can really understand. While this may seem obviously wrong to many, it is not so obvious when people focus on the externals of Christianity and do not preach the spiritual things of Christ and of His Gospel. As Jesus taught so clearly, a person must be born from above in order to see or enter the kingdom. It is not just information given joined with some urging for the people to make a decision, there has to be preaching regarding spiritual things.

The Gospel is not something that the natural mind can just hear and understand. The Gospel is a great mystery and it cannot be understood unless the Spirit opens the hearts and minds of souls and reveal the spiritual things of the Gospel. Apart from preaching the spiritual things of God and the Gospel the whole counsel of God cannot be declared as that is cutting off the primary issues of the Gospel. This is once again pointing to a great error of our day. We are so afraid of mysticism that we are focused on things that the carnal man can understand and so we have chased the biblical Gospel out of the churches out of fear. The Gospel is a Gospel of spiritual blessings and of spiritual beings (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and so the Gospel cannot be preached apart from spiritual understandings.

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Gospel Preaching 43

November 23, 2016

I Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

He should also open his mouth vigorously and confidently, to preach the truth that has been entrusted to him. He should not be silent or mumble but should testify without being frightened or bashful. He should speak out candidly without regarding or sparing anyone, let it strike whomever and whatever it will. It is a great hindrance to a preacher if he looks around and worries about what people like or do not like to hear, or what might make him unpopular or bring harm or danger upon him. (Martin Luther)

“Preach Christ, let your end be to glorify him, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people; to lead them to him as a sanctuary to protect, a propitiation to reconcile, a treasure to enrich, a physician to heal, an advocate to present, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save, as an inexhausted fountain of pardon, grace, comfort, victory, and glory.” (Edward Reynolds)

The duty of such an officer of the church—a pastor, teacher, elder of the church—…”is to feed the church with knowledge and understanding.” This feeding is by preaching of the gospel. He is no pastor who does not feed his flock. It belongs essentially to the office; and that not now and then (according to the figure and image that is set up of the ministry in the world—a dead idol) as occasion serves. But the apostle says, Acts 6:4, “We will give ourselves continually to the word.” It is to “labor in the word and doctrine” (I Tim 5:17). (John Owen, Sermons to the Church)

Paul said that he determined to know nothing among the Corinthians but Christ, and Him crucified. Reynolds (above) tells us that in preaching Christ our goal should be His glory. It is Christ that is to be preached to the people as the all in all rather than stress doctrine to the intellect alone and rather than stress morality and good works. It is from Christ that true doctrine flows and it is from Christ that true holiness and good works must come from. We do not do works in order to receive grace, but we receive grace in order to do good works. Since we can do nothing (spiritual or good) if we have not received it from Christ, then we should preach Christ as the root, spring, and foundation of all that is spiritual. Since we must have grace to perform any of God’s commands, we must preach Christ as the source of all grace and the goal of all the commands of God. Apart from Christ we do not have the strength to obey any command and apart from Christ and the glory of God in Him we do not have a proper goal or motive.

The essence of preaching is the Gospel. The Gospel is precisely the only true message suited to the soul of all sinners, converted and unconverted alike. Those poor believers who are being harassed by the evil one and troubled with his fiery darts need to hear that they are saved by grace alone and Christ alone. They need to hear that Christ is an inexhaustible “fountain of pardon, grace, comfort, victory, and glory.” Justified sinners must hear of Christ or their hearts will be hardened into self-sufficiency and various versions of moralism. Justified sinners need to hear of the glorious Gospel that they may rely upon Christ and Christ alone and look to His grace to enable them to rely upon Christ alone.

If the preaching of the Gospel is so important for both the converted and the unconverted, then it should be clear that Owen is hitting the issue where it needs to be hit. A pastor in name is not being a true pastor if he is not preaching the Gospel (preaching Christ) in such a way that sinners see He is all in all. There is nothing that we must have spiritually that Christ does not procure and apply, so there is nothing more important to preach than Christ and the Gospel of Christ. A preacher that is not preaching the Gospel is not preaching what the unconverted need to hear and he is not preaching what the converted need to hear. A preacher that is not preaching Christ and the Gospel is simply not a true preacher at all.

But again, if this is what the converted and the unconverted need to hear and/or must hear, then regardless of the orthodoxy of the man and regardless of the orthodoxy of the sermon that man is not preaching. There has to be a famine in the land when those in the pulpits will exposit a text and make application to the people for them to be moral and do works and yet the Gospel is not preached. The lack of Gospel preaching of which there is a severe shortage in our day should be demonstrative evidence that we are in a spiritual famine. We do not need conferences on this subject and we do not need committees and the like, we need broken hearts and the strength of grace to seek His face to turn us from our cold hearts to Him. No man or woman in elected office can change one heart or extend the smallest amount of grace to our hearts. We need God and the only way to God is Christ and so we must preach Christ and Him crucified.

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Gospel Preaching 42

November 22, 2016

I Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

He should also open his mouth vigorously and confidently, to preach the truth that has been entrusted to him. He should not be silent or mumble but should testify without being frightened or bashful. He should speak out candidly without regarding or sparing anyone, let it strike whomever and whatever it will. It is a great hindrance to a preacher if he looks around and worries about what people like or do not like to hear, or what might make him unpopular or bring harm or danger upon him. (Martin Luther)

“Preach Christ, let your end be to glorify him, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people; to lead them to him as a sanctuary to protect, a propitiation to reconcile, a treasure to enrich, a physician to heal, an advocate to present, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save, as an inexhausted fountain of pardon, grace, comfort, victory, and glory.” (Edward Reynolds)

The duty of such an officer of the church—a pastor, teacher, elder of the church—…”is to feed the church with knowledge and understanding.” This feeding is by preaching of the gospel. He is no pastor who does not feed his flock. It belongs essentially to the office; and that not now and then (according to the figure and image that is set up of the ministry in the world—a dead idol) as occasion serves. But the apostle says, Acts 6:4, “We will give ourselves continually to the word.” It is to “labor in the word and doctrine” (I Tim 5:17). (John Owen, Sermons to the Church)

Whatever a pastor does or does not do, he is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that feeds the people. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that feeds the church with knowledge and understanding. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of God that is what people must hear to be converted and is what they need in order to grow. While it may be thought and said that the Gospel is nothing but a little message that a person hears and is then converted, that is far, far from the truth. One can never outgrow the Gospel. One can never mature enough to where the Gospel is not needed.

When a church tires of hearing the Gospel, something is far, far off. The church would then be only a church in name or the person preaching is not preaching the true Gospel. True believers do not get tired of hearing the true Gospel of the true Christ. The true Gospel is not just some little message to be given here and there, but the true Gospel is wound in and around all the truths of Scripture and the whole of the glory and character of God is set forth in and by Christ in the Gospel. The Gospel is not just some little message that is given to get people to agree to it, but instead the Gospel is where the greatness of God is set forth in Jesus Christ Himself. In fact, one cannot preach the truth of who God is apart from preaching Christ and one cannot preach Christ apart from preaching the Gospel of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Owen tells us that a person that does not preach the Gospel is not a pastor because preaching the Gospel is essential to the office. If we take that one step farther, the preaching of the Gospel is necessary to a church being a church. The ramifications of what Owen sets out are enormous. The failure of a man to preach the Gospel consistently would then show us that the man is not a true pastor and the professing church is not a true church. The non-preaching of the Gospel would at the very least lead to a people being weak because they are not being fed with sound nutrition. In other words, the preaching of the Gospel sermon after sermon is necessary to a church being a true church, to the pastor in name being a true pastor, and for the church to be nourished and fed. As Owen sets out, “It belongs essentially to the office.”

We must at the very least take care of where we attend church and where we join. While we may not notice it, the souls of those who attend a church where orthodoxy is preached, where morality is preached, and good doctrine is set out is not necessarily a place where Christ and His Gospel are preached. It must also be pointed out that there is no preaching of the true Gospel apart from preaching Christ and there is no preaching Christ apart from the true Gospel. There is no other option for preachers and there is no other option for professing churches. The Gospel must be preached.

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Deception 12

November 20, 2016

II Cor 11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

False teachers do in their hearts dignify, and in their words magnify, extol, and exhort with legal arguments a preposterous sanctification, repentance, mortification, grace, and graces, popishly and falsely understood; new life, holy and righteous walking, universal obedience to all God’s commandments, sincerity, humiliation, uprightness, fastings, regeneration, popishly also and falsely understood; and such like works exhorted with legal arguments, or a hope of rewards and blessings well, if we do them; and with fear of punishments and blessings ill, if we possess them not; which how much the more they are thus preposterously exacted and legally exhorted, so much the more under terms and titles of the Gospel, such preachers teach but the light of nature, the pride of works, and the vain glory of man; and so do withdraw people from Christ to hang upon their own works and doings; by resting upon the popish rotten pillar that God accepts {whereby their own sincerity is trusted to instead of Christ} the will for the deed, and so do drown Christ’s glory, free justification; do destroy faith, waste and consume the Church of Christ, teach a false bastard sanctification, and are those dangerous seducers of souls, that the faithful are commanded {as they will continue chaste virgins to Christ, and not to be beguiled with Eve by the subtlety of the serpent, and seduced from the simplicity of their faith that is in Christ} to discern and take notice of, as they are described; {II Cor.11:13-15;} where the Apostle fore-warns and thereby sufficiently fore-arms all the children of wisdom by thus plainly describing these seducers.

They profess themselves apostles; that is, sent forth of God; but they are false apostles, and they are great workers, but deceitful workers. How deceitful? Transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ; that is, as if they were the true ministers of Christ, and taught the true Gospel of Christ; and no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into a messenger of light, and therefore it is no great thing if his ministers transform themselves, as though they were the ministers of righteousness; that is, calling earnestly for all works of righteousness, and their end shall be according to their works and righteousness; that is, though they seem to be the principal men that shall be saved, yet the same Apostle threatens to them certain destruction; which he warns on purpose that we may not believe every spirit, but rather try the spirits whether they be of God. {I Jn.4:1}

Seeing these are the wolves whereof Paul gave warning, {Acts 20:29, 30,} that should arise up out of the very midst of them, and should teach not seeming false things, but only preposterous things, or true things out of order, setting the cart before the horse; that is, caring more to call for works and a good life, than they care whether the people have assurance of the sound faith of their free and perfect justification; whereby, although the people bear them record, and applaud them, that they have the zeal of God; yet it is not according to the knowledge of free justification in Christ, because {by a carnal understanding of justification} they being ignorant of the righteousness of God, must needs go about to establish and set up the golden calf of their own and the people’s own righteousness, of their supposed sanctification, works, and well doings; and by thinking secretly in their heart with the Papist that justification is easily learned and is ready to open the gate to the people to live wickedly and loosely, they seldom and slightly preach justification, and thereby show that they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God (Rom.10:2,3). (John Eaton, Discovery of a most Dangerous Dead Faith, 1641)

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Great Quotes

November 18, 2016

The Necessity of Righteousness – “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe” (Rom.3:21,22). Here he handles the principle and chief point of salvation, which is concerning Christian Righteousness, or concerning Christian wisdom, or the glory of Christ. For if we seek at God’s hand for salvation; that is, for life, we must first seek for Righteousness; by which being reconciled unto God, we being thus in His favor, do obtain life. For that we may be beloved of God, we must first of necessity be righteous, seeing He hates unrighteousness. For whereas the Gospel is said to be the power of God unto salvation, even therefore, because it reveals the righteousness of God, we must therein mark the necessity of righteousness unto eternal life; such a necessity antecedence there is of righteousness, as that without it there is no hope to be saved; God’s justice inclining Him to punish, His purity to hate all unrighteousness.

For God is of pure eyes and cannot see evil, He cannot behold wickedness, but He must needs destroy the sin or the sinner (Habak.1:13). Because God being the sovereign Righteousness, He must needs hate us, whilst He sees us in our sins; then stands it in hand for us to be made righteous, before we can be in God’s favor. Yea, I add further, that it must be with such a righteousness, so completely perfect, as that it may endure the strict censure of God’s justice (Gal.3:10). Now then the exhortation of our Savior easily follows; that we should therefore first and principally above all things seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mat.6:33). Such a righteousness as may stand before God, and endure the trial of his justice. Therefore is Justification the very sum of the Gospel; yea, this is the sum of all the benefits of Christ; for with them that are made righteous and reconciled, God is present; He endues them with new light, and with eternal life, He hears them, and defends them in all their troubles.

Therefore he handles here the principle and chief point of our salvation; namely – Justification; the pure knowledge whereof alone saves the Church; for it is the knowledge of the truth and of life, for which the Gospel is called the power of God unto salvation. On the contrary, when this knowledge of Justification is lost, together with it is lost Christ, and life, and the Church; neither any judgment of doctrines or of spirits is left, but darkness and blindness possesses all things. Therefore it is the duty of a good Pastor, that he suffer not himself to be drawn away with any disputations from the daily and continual handling of this point. So strange it is to carnal reason, so dark to the world, so many enemies it has, that except the Spirit of God from above reveal it, learning cannot reach it, wisdom is offended, nature is astonished, devils do not know it, men do persecute it.

Briefly; as there is no way to life so easy, so there is none so hard. Easy to whom it is given from above; hard to the carnal sense not yet inspired. The ignorance thereof is the root of all errors, sects, and divisions in the world. Yea, I do therefore so much beat upon it, because I know that Satan goes about nothing more, than that he may take away this knowledge from the sight and minds of men. Hitherto principally tend all the stirs which he raises up both publicly and privately, that men busying their heads in new disputations, should forget this article; for Satan feels the force and power of this article. For Justification, by which of unjust we are made just before God, is the strong Rock and foundation of Christian Religion. Upon this foundation of God’s free promise and grace first built the patriarchs, kings, and prophets. Upon the same foundation also Christ the Lord built His Church. For this doctrine advances and sets forth the true glory of Christ, and suppresses the vain glory of man; this whosoever denies, is not to be reputed for a Christian man, nor for a setter forth of Christ’s glory, but for an adversary to Christ and His gospel.

By the preaching of this doctrine the Devil is overthrown, his kingdom is destroyed; the law, sin, and death, {wherewith as most mighty and invincible tyrants, he hath brought all mankind in subjection under his dominion} are wrested out of his hands. Briefly, his prisoners are translated out of the kingdom of darkness, into the kingdom of light and liberty. Should the Devil suffer all this? Should not the father of lies employ all his force, and subtle policies to darken, to corrupt, and utterly root out this doctrine of salvation and everlasting life? Indeed Paul complains in all his epistles that even in his days the Devil showed himself a cunning work-man in his business, by darkening and hindering this doctrine of justification.

Now for us, let this suffice in this place, to stir up God’s children by these and the like reasons, to fortify their judgments in this main point of Christian faith. The Article of Justification is the very sum of the Gospel; that once corrupted, there can be no soundness; that truly and thoroughly understood, and believed, and applied, arms against all assaults of Satan; and let us be exhorted, as to edify ourselves in all other points of our most holy faith; so specially in this, which who so holds not aright, surely he holds not the Head, nor ever can be saved. Thus we see the necessity of earnest teaching, and diligent learning of this doctrine of Justification! (John Eaton Honeycombe of Free Justification by Christ Alone, 1642, Taken from Supralapsarian.com)

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Deception 11

November 17, 2016

Nothing is more common, and certainly nothing more fatal than self-deception. The number who are ruined by false views of religion is doubtless great even when compared with those who perish in avowed infidelity of careless indifference…Many are deceived by mistaking the mere dictates of the understanding for the gracious affections of the heart. This class of persons may be distinguished by the correctness of their sentiments and their opposition to error. Early instructed in the principles of christianity, their minds have become stored with evangelical truth, and they will, perhaps, even “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. The doctrines of entire depravity, of a vicarious atonement, of justification by faith, of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and of an eternal state of retribution, have their unqualified assent, and constitute most essential articles in their creed. It may be that their speculative acquaintance with these doctrines is superior to that of many humble believers, and instances are not wanting in which unsanctified men have written in defence of doctrines with great ability and effect. (Self-Deception by Jacob Helffenstein)

The most deceived man of all is he whose mind is influenced by the Evil Spirit and yet he believes that he is besought by the Good Spirit (Sermons by the Devil, W.S. Harris)

1 John 2:26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.

Ephesians 4:22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

Since deception of the soul is spread throughout the professing Church, it would be vital for each local church to remind people of these things and to help people search their own hearts. It would also be vital for each person to engage in self-examination as Paul said in II Corinthians 13:5. We can know with certainty that Paul did not engage in statements like that for no reason, but that he thought that people should examine themselves. He did not say that they should examine themselves to see if they were faithful in their attendance at church. He did not say that they should examine themselves to see if they read the Bible and said prayers more often than not. He did not say that they should examine themselves to see if they had joined a church. He did not say that they should examine themselves to see if they were doctrinally correct. He did not say that they should examine themselves to see if they were moral.

What Paul said that they should do is to examine themselves to see if they were in the faith and to see if Jesus Christ was in them. Here is the real issue and all else can contribute to self-deception. All the things listed in the previous paragraph can be used as self-deception, but the real issue is whether Christ dwells in the person or not. Being religious, and even religious to the extreme, can be a way of self-deception. Religious exercises can be ways of self-deception. What we must know is if Christ really and actually lives in us or not.

What is clear or should be clear is that many are deceived by the information they have in their heads. Paul also taught us that knowledge puffs up, so great amounts of religious information can puff us up as well. The soul that is puffed up is also a soul that is blinded by being puffed up. Pride does lead to a fall and the more pride the greater the fall. The soul that is puffed up with religious information and religious activity is the soul that is deceived and will be in for a great shock on judgment day. It is utterly no evidence at all that a person has a lot of information about Christianity stocked in the brain, but what is needed is Christ in the heart.

This is so vital. It is not that having a creed is wrong or that teaching a catechism is wrong, but when people learn those things and only store up the information in the brain and do not have a changed heart, that very information can be a way of self-deception. Some of the Dutch branches of the professing Church are required to teach through the Heidelberg every year. That may or may not be a good plan, but those things do not in and of themselves produce spiritual fruit. They can be ways of puffing up the soul with pride as any other method. It is not the information that we have in our heads, it is the Christ we must have as the life of our soul. While knowledge of Scripture is important, it may only be used as a way of self-deception if we don’t have Christ truly.

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Deception 10

November 16, 2016

Nothing is more common, and certainly nothing more fatal than self-deception. The number who are ruined by false views of religion is doubtless great even when compared with those who perish in avowed infidelity of careless indifference…Many are deceived by mistaking the mere dictates of the understanding for the gracious affections of the heart. This class of persons may be distinguished by the correctness of their sentiments and their opposition to error. Early instructed in the principles of christianity, their minds have become stored with evangelical truth, and they will, perhaps, even “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. The doctrines of entire depravity, of a vicarious atonement, of justification by faith, of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and of an eternal state of retribution, have their unqualified assent, and constitute most essential articles in their creed. It may be that their speculative acquaintance with these doctrines is superior to that of many humble believers, and instances are not wanting in which unsanctified men have written in defence of doctrines with great ability and effect. (Self-Deception by Jacob Helffenstein)

The most deceived man of all is he whose mind is influenced by the Evil Spirit and yet he believes that he is besought by the Good Spirit (Sermons by the Devil, W.S. Harris)

1 John 2:26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.

Ephesians 4:22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

It would stand to reason that if nothing was more common and nothing more fatal than self-deception, then people would be very, very concerned if not approaching panic as they searched their own hearts. We know that if people contracted a disease that would kill their bodies (natural life) and it was common and fatal, then these people would go to extreme lengths not to contract that disease. However, if people had any spiritual concerns you would think that the knowledge that so many people were self-deceived regarding eternal things it would awaken even greater alarm. The truth of the matter, however, is that people are dead or fast asleep regarding spiritual things and so this great calamity does not even seem to disturb them.

We must pray and seek the Lord to open our eyes to the facts of the matter. Jesus was very clear in Matthew 7 that many had entered the wide gate and are on the broad road to destruction, but only few had entered through the narrow gate and were on the narrow road that led to life. This should drive us to the conclusion that perhaps even the vast majority of those who attend religious services and think that they are on the road to heaven are in fact on the road to everlasting destruction. This means that perhaps many of our own families and friends and those we attend “church” with are self-deceived. Even more, it may mean that “I” am self-deceived. Our hearts that are so sure about “me” and those around “me” need to realize that the vast majority on that broad road may indeed have the same self-confidence.

The biblical teaching on the depravity of man has much to teach us on this point. Because men are fallen and depraved, they are blinded to spiritual things and don’t see themselves as sinners or at least as very bad ones. They think of themselves as those who make mistakes or make choices that are not the best, but they don’t see themselves as vile, wretched, and obnoxious in the sight of God. They are blinded by pride and self and cannot see their evil nature. They are puffed up with pride which serves as blinders on the eyes to sin and anything which might humble a person.

As the body has reflexes that allow the body to escape harm in certain situations, so the soul is full of self which blinds it from perceived harm. The self simply cannot imagine that it deserves hell and that it deserves hell. The religious person uses religion to convince it that it is okay. The religious person will trust in its creeds and in its religion and morality to convince itself that it is okay. Even those who are orthodox in their external religion have false views of Christianity that blinds them to the reality of Christ. It is not the orthodox teaching of Christ that saves. It is not the orthodox teaching about the Gospel that saves. It is not the faith of the sinner that saves. It is God in Christ by the Spirit who saves. It is God who must really and actually shine Himself and His glory into the hearts of sinners and sinners will only behold that in the face (presence) of Christ. It is not the teaching about regeneration that gives a new heart; it is the Holy Spirit who must actually give a new heart. We must seek the Lord to open our eyes and hearts in fact and reality and not just hear about it.

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