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Sobering Thoughts 4

September 19, 2016

Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Mat 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell– and great was its fall.”

The verses above present to us a very, very sobering reality. There is a coming judgment and there is no escape from it. Even very religious people will miss out on life and they will perish forever in hell. We should take great pains and strive to enter thought that narrow door, for many will seek to enter and will not be able. It is true that in the modern day Christians are mocked and the truth of God in Christ is held up for ridicule. It is true that the idea that having Christ is the only way to the presence of God is thought to be absurd. But the text is not even talking about people like that. The text is not talking about those who ridicule Christianity and ridicule the very idea and notion of hell.

May it be that the whole world would read that text of Scripture and be instantly sobered. The text is speaking to those who believe that there is a heaven and a hell and they are making some efforts at entering through the narrow door. These are people who know that heaven is not obtained easily and with not much thought. The text tells us that many will seek to enter in and they will not be able to do so. Knowing that there is a narrow door and seeking to enter in through that door is not enough. A person must not have died to a little of self to have Christ, a person must die to self in order to have Christ. Oh how the person who enters must strive (hard labor, strenuous) to enter and not be put off by the cries of the flesh and the cries of self. A little seeking and perhaps a lot of seeking will not do what needs to be done.

The passage in Matthew 7:13-14 is speaking the same truth, yet in a different way. It tells us that we must enter through the narrow gate. Why must we enter through the narrow gate? Because it is the only gate that leads to life. But again, note that there is a wide gate and a broad road as well. It is not that people on the broad road think that they are going to destruction, but they think that they are on the road to life. Note this very, very carefully. Of the people who think that they are on the road to life the majority (perhaps the vast majority) are on the broad road to eternal destruction. There are many who enter through that wide gate and travel on the broad road.

The only way to life has a narrow gate and a narrow way or narrow road. There are only a few who find it. Surely these are sobering words! Surely this should awaken any person who picks up a Bible and reads those words! There are so many careless professors in our day who are only concerned enough to do a little here and there and seem so assured that they are on the way to heaven and eternal life. But again, the vast majority of those who think that they are on the way to heaven are actually on the way that ends in destruction. This is not at all to say that a person can work his or her way into heaven, but it is to say that the denial of self and the dying to self that is needed in order to be united to Christ is very, very hard. Indeed this must happen by grace alone, yes, but it is hard for people to be convinced that it must happen. It is easier to just say a prayer and live a moral life than it is to seek the Lord asking Him to bring death to self. Yet we are told that we must deny self and take up the cross in order to follow Christ.

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Sobering Thoughts 3

September 18, 2016

Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Mat 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell– and great was its fall.”

Set a high rate upon your own soul. What we lightly prize, we easily part with. Many men sell their souls at the rate of profane Esau’s birth-right. “For a morsel of meat”, nay, “for that which,” in the sense of the Holy Ghost, “is not bread.” Oh consider your soul is the most precious and invaluable jewel in the world! It is the most beautiful piece of God’s workmanship in the whole creation! It is that which bears the image of God and which was bought with the blood of the Son of God, and shall we not set a value upon it and count it precious?

The apostle Peter speaks of three very precious things:
1. A precious Christ
2. Precious promises
3. Precious faith

Now, the preciousness of all these lies in their usefulness to the soul. Christ is precious, being the Redeemer of precious souls. The Promises are precious, as making over this precious Christ to precious souls. Faith is precious, as brining a precious soul to close with a precious Christ as He is held forth in the precious promises. O take heed that you are not found overvaluing other things and undervaluing your soul. Shall your flesh, nay your beast, be loved, and shall your soul be slighted? Will you clothe and pamper your body and yet take no care of your soul? This is as if a man should feed his dog and starve his child. “Meat is for the belly and the belly for meats, but God will destroy both it and them.” O let not a tottering, perishing carcass have all your time and care, as if the life and salvation of your soul were not worth the while. Matthew Meade, The Almost Christian Discovered, (International Outreach).

Oh how men should take stock of what the flesh and the world are worth and then how valuable their souls are to them. If a person ends up in eternal flames then that person will regret every moment on earth that was given to the things of this world. If a person lifts up his or her eyes in hell, how awful it will be to realize that you have trashed all that was truly precious and spent your precious time and soul on all that was truly vile. It will be something like waking up and realizing that you have spent a vast fortune on nothing but trash. Look to your eternal soul as what is valuable, not the things of this world. Look to your eternal soul as what is valuable, not the opinions of those in this world. Look to your eternal soul as what is every so precious in light of eternity, but the things of this world are very temporary.

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Sobering Thoughts 2

September 17, 2016

Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Mat 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell– and great was its fall.”

Look upon things to come as the greatest realities; for things that are not believed work no more upon the affections than if they had no being, and this is the grand reason why the generality of men suffer their affections to go after the world, setting the creature in the place of God in their hearts.

Most men just the reality of things by the visibility and proximity to sense; and, therefore, the choice of that wretched Cardinal becomes their option who would not leave his part in Paris for his part in Paradise. Surely, whatever his interest might be in the former, he had little enough in the latter. Well may covetousness be called idolatry when it thus chooses the world for its god.

Oh, consider that eternity is no dream! Hell and the worm that never dies is no melancholy conceit! Heaven is no feigned Elysium! There is the greatest reality imaginable in these things. Though they are spiritual and are out of the view of sense, yet they are real and within the view of faith. “Look not, therefore, at the things which are seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Matthew Meade, The Almost Christian Discovered, (International Outreach).

This is a vital piece of advice. We cannot judge things by the way the world judges things and we cannot view things only in light of worldly benefit. That is simply another way of setting our hearts on the things below rather than on the things above. Even the modern professing Church is judging things according to worldly standards. What matters, as is plan to see, is the number of people walking in the door and the amount that those people give in the offering or online. The idea is not truly seeking the presence of God, but it is seeking the things of the world and then saying that is for the glory of God.

Col 3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

The logic of the verse just above is that if you have been raised with Christ, then keep (didn’t say start) seeking the things above. However, if you have not been raised with Christ, you will not seek the things above. This is a powerful warning to those whose hearts are on the world and not on Christ. This is a powerful punch to the gut of the professing Churches who are not only in the world but of the world. We are to seek Christ first and foremost and not the things of the world under the guise of Christianity. It is, after all, only a guise if we seek the world.

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Sobering Thoughts 1

September 16, 2016

Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Mat 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell– and great was its fall.”

“You have here one of the saddest considerations imaginable presented to you, and that is how far it is possible a man may go in a profession of religion and yet, after all, fall short of salvation; how far he may run and yet not so run as to obtain. This, I say, is sad, but not so sad as true; for our Lord Christ plainly attests it: “Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

“…who have a name to live and yet are dead, being busy with the form of godliness but are strangers to the power of it. These are the proper subjects of this treatise, and may the Lord follow it with His blessing wherever it comes, that it may be an awakening word to all and, especially, to that generation of profligate professors with which this age abounds, who, if they keep to their church, bow the knee, talk over a few prayers and, at a good time, receive the sacrament think they do enough for heaven and, hereupon, judge their condition safe and their salvation sure, though there is a hell of sin in their hearts and the poison of asps under their lips.

“If eternal life is so easy attainment, and to be had at so cheap a rate, why did our Lord Christ tell us, “Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be what find it?” And why should the apostle perplex us with such a needless injunction to give diligence to make our calling and election sure?

“Take heed of resting in a form of godliness, as if duties ex opere operato could confer grace. A lifeless formality is advanced to a very high esteem in the world, as a “cab of dove’s dung” was sold in the famine of Samaria at a very dear rate. Alas! The profession of godliness is a very sandy foundation to build the hope of an immortal soul upon for eternity. Remember, the Lord Jesus called him a foolish builder who founded his house upon the sand.”

Matthew Meade, The Almost Christian Discovered (International Outreach)

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The Church 12

September 15, 2016

Revelation 2:8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: 9 ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

We have the words of Christ through Paul regarding a few aspects of the Church in the text from Ephesians, but we also have the words of Christ through John regarding some issues of the church in Smyrna. But again, we can learn or see the essence of the nature of the Church by positive statements and the examples of this faithful church. In the words of Christ to the church in Smyrna we can see that the essence of the church is spiritual rather than physical by His telling them that in their poverty (physical) they are rich (spiritually). Having Christ is true riches for those who have Him. Despite what appears to have been a time of tribulation and poverty, Christ tells them that they are rich. Even when they were being blasphemed by some who made false professions of who they were, the other people were considered a synagogue of Satan.

This (last sentence above and verse 9 above) is also an insightful statement about the true state of the church. The church consists of those who are of Christ as opposed to the national Jews who were not true Jews. The physical Jews who were standing and wanting Judaism restored or at least brought into the church were not true Jews, but they were of the synagogue of Satan. The true church is spiritual and the essence of the true church is that it has Christ and is the body of Christ. The church is not just an extension of Judaism, it is the very body of Christ and there are to be no works to the grace He gives by grace alone.

The true church is that which one can die for and yet still have true life. The true church has Christ in the midst of Her and He is Her life, which means that one can be threatened with death and if that one truly has Christ that is nothing to fear. This crown of life is something one has in eternity. Those with ears to hear are those with spiritual hearts and can hear the words of Christ in a spiritual manner. The church at Smyrna was clearly a faithful church and the essence of it was spiritual rather than physical. They were not concerned with things like fancy buildings and Hollywood guests, they were concerned with standing firm during tribulation and death. These people appeared to have eternity in their sight with no possessions or riches to weight them down.

How fitting the passage of Scripture in Ephesians is in light of the church in Smyrna. Christ is the Head of the church and Christ is Savior of the church. The church, therefore, is to submit wholeheartedly to Him in all things and at all times and places. Even when their lives were in danger, they were to submit to Christ in all things. Even when they were in the midst of hard tribulations, they were to submit to Christ. Even when they were going to assuredly die if they did not deny Christ, they were to stand firm and submit to Christ. They were to be faithful to Christ even unto death.

It seems that submission to Christ is a far different thing in our day (in the USA) than it was in the biblical times. People were ready to kill true believers and true believers were ready to stand firm. They counted the cost and many of them were indeed killed. In our day these things are true there as well as many people are being killed for being Christian. However, if the essence of the church is physical and the people are promised health and wealth, then those people are not faithful and the people at Smyrna were not faithful. Faithfulness comes from truly having Christ as our life and submitting to Him at all times. This only fits with a church that the essence consists of being the body of Christ rather than being some institution following a set of rules and laws.

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The Church 11

September 13, 2016

Revelation 2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place– unless you repent. 6 ‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

When we view what Christ revealed to John and had him write to the churches, it is plain that the issues and concerns were different then than now. While there were positives listed, the main issue was that they had left their first love. The issue was not that they were not growing in numbers and were not giving enough money, nor was the issue that they did not have a building program going. They were not told that the number of professions or that the number of baptisms were not high enough. They were told that they had left their first love.

John wrote the churches with the words he was given by Christ and with each one it was said to them what the problem or problems were. In the modern day we do not hear things like this spoken to the churches, but then again we don’t hear much of Christ or about Christ either. What people are now interested in concerning the churches appears to have to do with things other than the church. People are concerned with numbers and money. They are concerned with buildings, comfort, and style. They are concerned with appearances. There appears to be no concern or little concern for the love of Christ. This is most likely strong evidence that at best there has been a great fall from loving Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 16:22 Paul wrote that “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.” He did not say that if preachers do not perfectly exegete a text that they are to be accursed. He did not say that if preachers do not preach with a certain outline or a certain number of points that they will be accursed. He did not say that if people do not join a local church (with modern standards) that they will be accursed. He did not say that if people do not protest all the moral evils of the day that they will be accursed. He simply said that if anyone does not love the Lord that person is to be accursed.

The Greatest Command is to love the Lord your God with all of your being, that is, with the whole of every aspect of your being. Yet, like the Pharisees, we want to water that down to a level where we can keep this command and others as well. We would rather be able to boil the church down to a matter of external things so we can do what we think we should in our own strength. Yet the love of Christ is not in our own strength and power, it must be given to us that we may love Him. We cannot love apart from the love we receive which is the fruit of the Spirit.

The essence of the true Church is that it is the body of Christ and it follows the Head of the Church and receives all from the Head who is the vine as well. Whatever spiritual fruit we bear, which love is part of that fruit, must come from Him first. In the modern day we read that verse and think that we should make a greater commitment. While that may be a true need, what we really need to do is die to self and seek Him to bring us back to our true love. After all, it is a fact that all spiritual blessings are found in Christ and the love of God is a great blessing. We do not need more works of the flesh, we need more of Christ.

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Great Quotes

September 11, 2016

Thirdly, because God would exercise the Faith and other graces of his Spirit in his own Children, that they might believe in and love Jesus Christ for his spiritual Beauty, though {at particular seasons} there appears nothing but spiritual Beauty, and no outward Beauty, as no outward Kingdom doth appear, but he reign as a Spiritual King only. It was a great and a glorious thing, in those three wise men that came to Christ that offered Frankincense, Gold and Myrrh to Christ when he was in a Manger; and so for God’s people now to believe in him, now to love, now to rejoice in him, now to offer all to him; for now his Kingdom is darkened, now he doth appear so despised as he is; for this is a glorious work of Faith, and we should desire much to be found in this way of faith, in looking upon this Spiritual Beauty that is in Christ, and satisfying our souls in that; that so we may not be offended at the darkening of Christ’s Kingdom outwardly in the world; and the less Christ doth appear to reign outwardly in the world, the less glorious his Kingdom doth appear outwardly, the more let us labor to bring our hearts under his spiritual Reign of Grace. The more others say, “we will not have this man reign over us,” the more let our souls subject themselves to him, and say, “Christ is our KING,” and may he reign forever over us; yea, let us labor to sympathize with Jesus Christ in the darkening of his glory and of his Kingdom.

Jesus Christ, though he be the glory of his Father, “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his Person,” yet is he contented to have his glory darkened for a season. Therefore who are we that we must have glory in this world and outward excellencies, when Christ is willing to be without them? Let us be willing to go like the Witnesses, clothed in Sackcloth, till Christ comes to reign. There are white shining garments prepared, but that time is not yet, though it will not be long. The Bridegroom yet seems to be absent, and therefore it is fit for the Spouse to go low and mean in the mourning weeds as a widow; the trimming of the Bride in her outward glory, may come hereafter, when Christ shall come in glory into the World. Lastly, the Kingdom of Christ is darkened for a while outwardly, and therefore it should teach us to bless God so much the more for that opportunity that we have of setting up Christ as King amongst us; for thus far, the Voice is not heard much, that the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth abroad in the world, though lately some noise we have heard; but, blessed be God, in our Congregations amongst us, may we hear the Voice, that the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

It is through our own wretched wickedness, if his Kingly Power be not fully set up amongst us in all his Ordinances; and that we should have an opportunity to set up his Kingly Power amongst us here, while it is so much opposed, and so little known in the world, it is a great mercy indeed. Therefore let us take heed of abusing that opportunity we have, for darkening the Kingly Power of Christ, which we profess to set up; especially in these {apostate} times, when there comes to be a Voice, though confusedly, from the Multitude, and some kind of Voice of thunder from the great ones. But though it be dark for a while, certainly he shall reign, and the Voice will be glorious and distinctive, saying, “Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”

William Kiffin {Glimpse of Zion’s Glory, or the Churches Beauty Specified, 1641}
Copied from Supralapsarian.com

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Great Quotes

September 10, 2016

Though Christ’s Kingdom be for a while darkened, yet certainly Christ will reign in his Church gloriously, at the which the saints will sing Hallelujah. Why, did not Christ reign before? Yes, but not in that manner that now he is to reign, for the Kingdom of Christ hath been exceedingly darkened in the World; though it now begins to appear a little more brightly, it hath been exceedingly darkened. When Christ came in his own Person, how did he appear to reign, and be the Lord God Omnipotent? I mean outwardly, for he was a man of sorrows; one that was rather a worm than a man; as it is said of him, He was one, in whom appeared no Form and Beauty; for which he should be desired. {Is.53:2} He was bruised by his Father; he was in the form of a servant; yea, made in the likeness of men; being made sin for us, and beaten like a condemned malefactor; yea, made a curse for us; and so how did he reign? They made him a king in way of derision, put a reed into his hand instead of a scepter, and bowed the knee in scorn, and called him the King of the Jews; and thus he reigned outwardly, and not otherwise, in his own Person. And afterwards in the primitive times how did he appear to be Lord God, and to reign there, when the Heathen Emperors reigned over his Subjects, and had their wills imposed upon them? His Subjects were but a company of poor distressed and forlorn people, wandering up and down, persecuted, and destitute of all comforts.

Afterwards when God brought Constantine the Emperor and others to reign, the Church enjoyed a little Peace, though this was but for a little time. In the 8th of the Revelation, it is said there was silence in Heaven for half an hour, which may perhaps be applied to that little time of respite that the Church had in Constantine’s time; for when Licinius who was joined with Constantine in the Empire, presently fell off, and grew a Persecutor, then spread Arianism over all the World, that all the World seemed to be an Arian, so that Christ was not acknowledged Lord God; and therefore not {recognized as} reigning. Then Antichrist spread himself, and he set himself up as Lord God, and prescribed laws to the consciences of men, and Christ was cast out {in the hearts of degenerate men} of his Throne; yea, to this day how little hath Christ reigned as to any outward display of his power? The Devil himself appears a greater king, I mean in regard of the multiplicity of his subjects. Divide the World into thirty parts, and there are not above five of those that even acknowledge Christ; and out of those five take them where Antichrist reigns, and how little doth Christ appear to reign? And among them where Christ is acknowledged, and Antichrist rejected, how is his Kingdom persecuted; and of the better sort, how is his Kingdom slighted, and many forward professors and zealous Ministers have trifling thoughts thereof. Yea, even among those that set up his Kingdom, in regard of their miscarriages his Kingdom is darkened; so that Christ doth appear to have but a little reign in the World; and it is a glorious thing spoken of to John, that Christ, “the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.” What shall we say to these things? That Christ should be King of Heaven and Earth, and should appear so diminutive in his reign as he hath done, and yet doth to this day.

Let us stay a little here, and admire at the infinite Depth and Wisdom of God’s Counsels that are past finding out. What God should aim at and indicate {if we may speak with holy reverence} to order these things, that his own Son so infinitely dear unto him, should have his glory so darkened in the World as he hath. We may think of some reasons why God doth ordain this; but what his aim and intentions are in the depth of his Counsels, is infinitely beyond us. It may be it is to be a stumbling-block to wicked and ungodly men in his just Judgment that they should see and not understand. {Mt.13:14} And it was upon this ground that God suffered his Kingdom to be darkened hitherto, that Antichrist might prevail, because of much Glory {that is, vindicate Glory as made known in the “day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God”} that he intended to bring out of the prevailing of Antichrist in the World; therefore in his Providence he hath so ordained it, as that the Kingdom of his Son for many years should indeed be darkened. And {my Brethren} if the Kingdom of Christ had been kept in Congregations, in that way that we and some other Churches are in, it had been impossible that Antichrist should have got head. But God in his Providence, because he would so order Antichrist to rise and to Rule for a long time, as he had many things to bring out of the Kingdom of Antichrist, to work for his Glory; therefore God hath left this particular truth {that of his absolute sovereignty & complete reign} to be so dark; that is, the setting up of Christ in his Kingly Office.

(William Kiffin {Glimpse of Zion’s Glory, or the Churches Beauty Specified, 1641})

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Glorifying God 9

September 9, 2016

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Matthew 22:37 And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

“As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4).

God does not seek His own glory because it makes Him happy, to be honored and highly thought of, but because He loves to see Himself, His own excellencies and glories appearing in His works. He loves to see Himself communicated and it was His intention to communicate Himself that was a prime motive of His creating the world. His own glory was the ultimate motive. He Himself was His end, that is, Himself communicated. The very phrase “the glory” seems naturally to signify this. Glory is a shining forth, an effulgence. So the glory of God is the shining forth or effulgence of His perfections, as effulgence is the communication of light. For this reason, that brightness whereby God was wont to manifest Himself in the wilderness, and in the tabernacle and temple, was called God’s glory. As the brightness of the sun, moon, and stars is called their glory, so the glory of God is the shining forth of His perfections. The world was created that they [His perfections] might shine forth, that is, that they [His perfections] might be communicated.         Jonathan Edwards

The pictures and the theology of Edwards in the paragraph above and how it agrees with the Scriptures gives us a breathtaking sight of the motives of God in creation and all things. It should remove from our minds any residual thoughts or ideas of legalism and moralism. God created all things for His own glory and has no need of our morals and our religion (as such). True Christianity flows from the throne of the living God and if we are to have anything of God in our souls it must be received from Him and received by grace alone. We have to have God Himself turn our hearts and our heads from self and pride and realize that He is the Creator of all things and that includes ourselves.

It is simply an exquisite thought that God’s love is primarily for Himself and He does all for His own glory. This is meat and rest for the soul. We do not have to give ourselves to work and always worry if we are doing it out of the right motive, but instead it is as we seek the Lord to communicate Himself to us and it is from Him that we receive the spiritual energy and strength to do what His wisdom dictates to us. Instead of being given to works outwardly and openly, many are deceived and say that we are to work and do it for His glory. However, that can be nothing but another system of works. Christ is our life and what we do should be and is supposed to be from life in the soul and that life expressed through the soul.

In order to get at the thought of Edwards (and more importantly, the Bible) we must not get trapped into thinking that what he wrote is a system of works and even a system of works that is harder because it involves another layer to it. It is not based on a legal system, it is based on a system of life that flows from the throne of God and is how God glorifies Himself in and through human beings. We are not to set out a system on how to glorify God as such, but instead we are to understand how God does this and seek Him to do this by grace. Until we understand that we are to share in the life of God and His love for Himself as triune and how He glorifies Himself and loves to behold His glory in and through us, we will not really understand true sanctification.

Our legalistic hearts, which come from our being born dead in sins and trespasses, want to make a legal system of eating and drinking and whatever we do being to the glory of God. However, this cannot be dragged down into law, but instead this is the life of the soul that God dwells in. The heart that loves God and seeks God for the grace of love in the soul that it may love Him will do what it does for His glory and seek Him for more that it may glorify Him more and more. The law can never give power to keep the law, but love for God comes from God and He works that strength and power in the souls that love Him. There is power in life and love, but there is no power in the law but the power of condemnation and death.

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Glorifying God 8

September 7, 2016

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Matthew 22:37 And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

“As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4).

God does not seek His own glory because it makes Him happy, to be honored and highly thought of, but because He loves to see Himself, His own excellencies and glories appearing in His works. He loves to see Himself communicated and it was His intention to communicate Himself that was a prime motive of His creating the world. His own glory was the ultimate motive. He Himself was His end, that is, Himself communicated. The very phrase “the glory” seems naturally to signify this. Glory is a shining forth, an effulgence. So the glory of God is the shining forth or effulgence of His perfections, as effulgence is the communication of light. For this reason, that brightness whereby God was wont to manifest Himself in the wilderness, and in the tabernacle and temple, was called God’s glory. As the brightness of the sun, moon, and stars is called their glory, so the glory of God is the shining forth of His perfections. The world was created that they [His perfections] might shine forth, that is, that they [His perfections] might be communicated.          Jonathan Edwards.

God created all things in order to glorify Himself, that is, He planned to communicate Himself to sinful human beings. This should shock our minds and our hearts into wondering if Edwards was right and if we have missed what it means to glorify God. If so, our sin is far greater than we have imagined. We have made the idea of glorifying God into a work of the flesh rather than a spiritual fruit. Instead of living by grace and receiving what we do by God’s communicating Himself to us, we have thought and even tried to glorify God by the strength of the flesh and perhaps from a proud heart thinking that we are glorifying God simply by being religious. If we are not receiving communications of God to our souls, then it is utterly impossible to glorify God as He has given us to do. If we do not receive the communications of God by His free-grace to our souls, then our proud hearts have been deceived into thinking we have the ability to glorify God even if we deny that with our lips.

Edwards points out that the very word “glory” seems to point to this. The idea of glory is a shining forth as we can see in Hebrews 1:3—“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” The word “radiance” has the idea of shining forth. The sun is said to radiate, that is, to shine forth its light. Christ is the shining forth of the glory of God and as such what we see is that the glory of God is the shining forth of His perfections. As light shines forth from the sun, so the perfections of God shine forth in Christ. This is His glory and it is His shining forth of His glory in Christ.

This is simply a wonderful and beautiful teaching that Edwards brings us face to face with. We have no ability to glorify God in ourselves, but instead we must have His perfections communicated to us so that the very perfections of God would shine through us. We should know that we must behold the glory of God shining in and through Christ and it is in beholding Christ in that way that we are changed from one degree of glory to another. In this beholding Christ the Lord Himself is communicating Himself to our souls and is changing us to be like His Beloved Son.

We should also realize that the fruit of the Spirit is really the soul partaking of the Spirit of God who is changing us to be like God. The fruit of the Spirit is really the Spirit communicating the perfections of God to our souls and bringing us to partake in those. God is a God of love, but love is a fruit of the Spirit. As John 15 teaches us, apart from Christ we can do nothing (spiritual or bear fruit). But we are also told that if we as the branches are in Christ who is the vine we can bear fruit that glorifies God. This should teach us with great clarity that true spiritual fruit comes from Christ by His Spirit and whatever fruit we bear must come from Him. In this we see the great picture. God communicates Himself and His perfections to us in Christ and by the Spirit. With Christ as our life, the fruit of the Spirit is worked in and through us and then the very glory of God is expressed and manifested through us.

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