God Loves… Himself

The Lord Jesus Christ was and is the standard and life of humility. If Christ is the life of the believer, then believers will reflect the humility of Christ in some way because it is the life of His humility in them. But of course the world has a form of humility which is not a true humility and it has seeped into the professing Church. But there is no true humility apart from human beings being emptied of self rather than full of the humility self tries to work up and are then filled with the life of Christ which is also the humble life of Christ.

Mat 27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. 31 After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

Here is simply a display of the humility of Christ that the human mind and the human language cannot begin to truly describe. The soldiers of the governor took Jesus and gathered around Him. But the angels who were all around Him held their peace. The very infinite power of God could have destroyed each and every person there instantly, but they were spared though they did not know a thing about it. The perfectly pure and holy King of kings and Lord or lords was stripped by wicked and sinful hands. He who never knew sin was in some hands that were reeking with sin and blood. Yet in humility He bowed His head and endured because He was called to this by the Father and He loved His Father more than all. What humility it took to endure what these vile men were doing to Him! It was nothing but mockery as they put a scarlet robe on Him. It was even more of a mockery when they twisted together thorns that they fashioned into a crown. They then put that on His head. The very King of the universe was before them and they mocked Him. The depths of humility that He is putting on display should drive all human beings to their knees in utter amazement. While people were amazed at His teaching, they should have been even more amazed at His humility. It is the very power of God in His soul.

After these men had put a crown of thorns on His head they put a reed in His hand. They then mocked Him by saying “Hail, King of the Jews!” The irony of the situation that Divine wisdom put on display should strike us virtually speechless. These men loved power and yet He who had infinite power was before them and in perfect humility took their vile words. They mocked Him as King of the Jews which in fact He was, but His was a different realm. The whole earth was and is but a drop in the bucket compared to Him and these very small men were mocking the One that all was created through. The humility of Christ shines. He who created water and all things was spat on by these wicked men. He who gave them their breath and sustained their every breath by His mercy meekly took their spittle and their using the reed to beat Him on the head with. The humility of Christ shines with great glory. Do we see it?

After what would have been more shame than most human beings could endure without passing out the soldiers tired of their fun and so took the scarlet garment off of Him and put His own clothes back on Him in order to lead Him away to crucify Him. They “led Him away to crucify Him” should be shocking words to us if we only had ears to hear and eyes to see. The Lord of the universe bowing in meekness and humility and being led away to one of the most painful deaths every devised by fallen humanity. The Lord of the universe was mocked by these vile miscreants who did not utter a word in His defense and was now being led away to be crucified. The humility of Christ shines. Do we see the beauty of this glory?

When human beings think of the greatness of the injustice, the mocking, ridicule and perhaps shame that Christ suffered and did not say a word, it makes our little problems seem small. Fallen people will treat us badly and we will be shamed. But let us remember that Christ was treated far worse. The humility and meekness that He had will be our life and expressed through us if He is our life. Instead of seeking revenge and in some cases justice, let us remember the humility of Jesus. May the glory of His humility shine through us. It is simply so Divine.

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This past Sunday night Catherine Knapp was baptized. She is the wife of the pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca, Kansas where Curtis Knapp is the pastor. Last week Curtis gave his testimony in this newsletter. Why are we looking at testimonies like this? Remember that for several months we have been looking at how the judgment of God is on America and more specifically upon the professing Church in America. We have turned to looking at what it will take for God to turn His face and shine His countenance upon us again. Testimonies like this are making the point in ways that other discussions seem to lack. What if the professing churches have many people like the Knapps? Could it be that there are many people, perhaps more than we care to imagine, were raised in churches across the land, made professions of faith, were baptized like they were told, and then either led a moral life but really do not know Christ? That would lead to a church being a nice place to be and yet it would be spiritually dead. Perhaps people led a rather immoral life and yet rested on their profession as being enough. Either way, if these people never repented they would be damned through the local church. If people never hear of these things, they can go from a profession of faith as a child to an elderly person that is too proud to admit that s/he is not a converted person. Pastors, could it be that people are not being awakened to their lost conditions because we are slothful in the pulpit?

John Murray wrote a haunting volume entitled Damned Through the Church around 1970. It has been years since I have seen my copy but hopefully I can find it in the coming hours or days. The point, however, is that the preaching can be relatively orthodox and people can make sincere (in many ways) professions of faith and still be lost. We can be active in a local church and still not truly have Christ as our life. We can love what we call fellowship when in fact what we love is ourselves and the attention others give us. We can be very moral, even more moral than all of the other kids or neighbors and still not have Christ. We are not judged by the standard of others, we are judged by the standard of the holiness of God. We are not saved by our profession of Christ, but only by Christ Himself in the heart. Could it be that there are many professing churches with great programs and many activities that are simply busy places that are busily deceiving people about their souls?

Many people would condemn the testimony of Catherine Knapp because she leaves out certain elements that they consider essential. One of those would be an exact day and time when the profession was made. Does the Bible ever require such a thing? What Paul teaches is that we examine ourselves to see if Christ is in us (II Corinthians 13:5). The issue is not whether we have made a profession, but if Jesus Christ is the life of our soul and if He is in the heart. In I John we are told several things about how to know and not know if we are believers or not. However, he never tells us to look back and remember a day when a profession was made. My great fear is that many churches are full of people who have made professions, are orthodox in theology, lead moral lives, and attend church on a regular basis which deceives them about the true state of their souls. The testimony of Catherine (as seen below) takes into account what must happen and that is a change of heart and the life of Christ in that heart. May we all read what she says and be moved to search our own souls.

The Testimony of Catherine Knapp

Like my husband, I was raised in a church-going family. I was a faithful attender of even optional events, faithfully read and re-read all the interesting Old Testament stories, participated in family devotions, prayed every night, loved to sing praise songs and hymns, and used my Bible as a talisman against bad dreams, scary thoughts and shadows. I thought I was trusting in Jesus because I wasn’t praying by name to someone else. I do not remember ever being exposed to the gospel, and I never thought of sin as anything more than a vague blanket that covered us all. There was really nothing to be ashamed of because all people sinned. I prayed the sinner’s prayer many times, and even persuaded a guest to do it once. Neither of us ever exhibited any change in our lives whatsoever. I went through the act of baptism unconverted and not even realizing it, but I did enjoy the attention, praise, and the dinner afterward in honor of the candidates.

I did not understand that there were different kinds of belief, or that saying something with my mouth and going under water did not make it true, anymore than making a wish and blowing out candles makes the wish come true. I did not know about the verse that says, “even the demons believe, and they shudder.” I would have vehemently denied that I had been an enemy of God. I did not even know enough of my Bible to understand that denying my enmity with God was proof that I needed to be reconciled. Nor did I know that I needed to be saved from SIN, and that being saved from hell was a benefit of that. The warning signs were there: tuning out of the worship service after the singing was over and as the minister got up to preach; being enslaved to the approval of other people but not God; reading selected passages and skipping over those that made me uncomfortable; viewing devotional time as a duty instead of a meal for my soul; the fact that I was repelled by the idea of worshipping God in heaven all the time; often siding with “moderates” in my thinking and considering certain parts “dated” instead of the viewing the Bible as living; rarely being able to make sense of or remember anything that WASN’T a story in the Bible; the resentment that welled up in me when I read something I didn’t like (what seemed like the unfair death of Uzzah, and the instructions to the Israelites to kill even infants of other tribes, and that women were not to preach); and the audacity (that amazes me still) of thinking that the Almighty King and Creator of all I see and have not fathomed, was blessed to have me on His team because so few had been joining the club recently.

It never occurred to me that I didn’t HAVE a testimony. There was no before and after. No then and now. My “conversion” (which time?) was just an event in my life, not a change OF my life. I was a rule-keeper, and the most important rules to keep were, of course, the ones I was keeping. Sometime between the end of my sophomore year in college and several years into our marriage I was saved. I can’t pinpoint the time because I was not on the lookout for it. I became aware, gradually, of two things. That I had been blind, and that now I could see. I knew I needed a bigger view of God and I had been praying that God would show me my sin. He did. I really WAS a sinner-not just generally, but specifically. And that, strange as it sounds, was so relieving to me. The more I saw of my sin, the more I saw of God’s greatness. It was me who was blessed to be chosen by God. I was so happy to know these things in my heart, and I thought about them often. I received a power to do REALLY HARD things, like submit to my husband when I had thought my way was better, to recognize when I am sinning against my children and to ask their forgiveness, to consider that I might be wrong in a conflict and to pray for God’s grace in it, and other things I could not do in earnest before.

I still sin, but now I can’t bear it very long and want forgiveness instead of a cover-up. I understand that God is always right, and if I don’t understand something in the Bible or in life, the problem is with my fallen understanding. I became hungry for the Bible and missed it when I didn’t take the time for devotions. I began to see that God doesn’t get old and irrelevant, and that His genius is beyond my comprehension. I did not become brave, but I began to love Him so much that I wanted to be brave for His sake. I began to think of His approval and to worry that I might not be a faithful servant. I began to understand that I needed His discipline in my life, and to see it as a sign of His love. I loved church time, and I began to be able to remember sermons past noon on Sunday.

Our minister is my husband, but when he is in the pulpit he becomes first the tool of God for our congregation, and I have a vested interest in praying that God will keep him faithful in his study. Earthly things that once were so important to me have receded in their significance and I enjoy talking about God and His Word in the appointments He has prepared for me. I have come to see that not even my dear family can come ahead of God in my affections. I have a concern over who I listen to and learn from and I have become one of those true

Bible believers I used to privately scorn. I have been surprised by how much scripture has remained in my memory, and God brings it up at just the right time. I am no longer appalled at spending all my time worshipping God in heaven and sometimes can hardly wait to get there and see so much more of the riches of His glory. Before I was converted, if I had read a sentence like the last one, I would have thought the person was pretending holiness. Now my life, my mind, my heart, are all changed. They function differently toward and around God. And I am so glad.

This Sunday night (October 26) there will be an unusual service at New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca, Kansas. The pastor of that local church (even a Baptist one) will be baptized. It is not that he had not been under the water before and thought he was baptized, but now he realizes that he was not truly converted when he was put under the water as baptism before. Many will sneer at this or perhaps shake their heads at this radical. However, if we really believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a vital issue and that only believers are to be baptized, this should make us all think about the issue carefully. While there are many thoughts about what baptism is and what it means, certainly it is a New Covenant issue. Water baptism is the outward sign of receiving the covenant promise of God and it is also a covenantal promise to God.

The sacraments or ordinances are not taken very seriously in our day in many places, yet in others they are overly emphasized as bringing grace in and of themselves. What is happening this Sunday night is a sign that baptism is being taken seriously because Jesus Christ and His Word are being taken seriously. If we expect Christ and His Word to be taken seriously by others, we must begin to search our own hearts first. The Church in America is under spiritual judgment and we must understand that one of the meanings of this is that spiritual understanding has been withdrawn. When spiritual understanding has been withdrawn, this leaves a people without insight into their own spiritual condition. There are many in our churches that think they are converted when they are not. True revival begins in the churches, yet unless the ministers and members of the churches begin to take God at His Word and cry out to Him, we will not see revival because the agent of revival (the church) is full of unbelievers who are deceived and deceiving others.

In the modern world being nice and polite has replaced true love. We have also replaced true love now with the desire to be inoffensive. We are not willing to offend others with the biblical teaching about sin and we are not willing to offend ourselves with the biblical teaching about sin. But Jesus Christ is a Rock of Offense. It may offend our own hearts to examine ourselves to see if Christ is there as Paul commanded (II Cor 13:5). Paul did not tell them to examine themselves to see if they had walked an aisle or if they had prayed a prayer or if they had changed to become a little more moral, he told them to examine themselves to see if Christ was indeed presently there. In the days of Jesus and Paul there were many people adding things to and taking things away from the Gospel. We must not imagine that in our dark day that things have not been this way for many years and are not that way today. While it may not add to the membership roll and look impressive to many others, baptism is an act of obedience and an act of total renunciation of our rights to self. It is to declare that we are nothing and should do nothing but be instruments of His glory in the world.

It is very true that any who begin to consider their hearts as to whether Christ is really there or not will have a battle with pride. Others who begin to see that they were not converted until after they were baptized will also begin to battle with pride. We will always wonder what others will think of us. Ministers of the Gospel must realize that they cannot seek the glory of God as long as they seek the glory of men (John 5:44). In fact, until we are willing to live and teach in a way where we are not seeking to please men we will not be servants of Christ (Gal 1:10). It is my hope that this baptismal service will be one of many in the coming days because it is my hope that God will use the testimony and example of Curtis Knapp and others to shake some from their false confidence and pride to search the Scriptures and their hearts to a true seeking of the true Christ. What would a church look like that was full of religious people without Christ in their hearts and the power of the Spirit working in them? To be blunt, it would look pretty much what we look like today. That should be enough to send us to our knees. Please read this testimony and search your own hearts. If Christ is there according to Scripture and not just because you want it to be so, ask God to give you a burden for others so great that you are willing to suffer their wrath in order to speak plainly with them about their souls.

The Testimony of Curtis Knapp

This Sunday night, my wife and I, as well as another couple from our church, will be baptized. My wife and I feel that we were converted somewhere in the early to mid-1990s, whereas the other couple feel that they have been converted more recently. Although we were all “baptized” long ago, we believe that it was not truly what the Bible means by baptism, since it preceded our conversion. It has taken a long time for my wife and I to realize that we should be baptized following our true conversion. I have been asked to share a brief testimony in this regard.

Though the details of our respective testimonies are different, the basic scenario is the same – we all thought we were saved and then later we really were saved, and later we realized what happened. For my own part, I was raised by parents who took me to church. I was not allowed to take communion until I made a profession of faith and was baptized. I distinctly remember hating Jesus Christ as a child for two reasons: 1) I did not understand His parables and then heard Him say that he spoke in parables intentionally to conceal the meaning. 2) I thought him to be cruel and unfair to the man who wanted to bury his father first. I knew I was not saved because I hated my brother and read in 1 John that I could not love God and hate my brother at the same time.

At age 12, I began to fear going to hell and the fear increased until I quenched it by doing what my church had taught me to do — praying a prayer to ask Jesus in my heart. After doing this, I walked down the aisle at church and professed my faith in Jesus. I was then baptized a couple of months later. For a few months, I resolved that I would live differently. I would stop cussing and be good for Jesus. But my self-empowered resolutions did not last and I returned to my sinful ways. I continued as a Pharisee for many years. My church thought of me as a good boy and a fine Christian man, I suppose, because I did not rebel against my parents, did not party, and kept the rules. But they did not know my heart. I was entirely focused on myself. I was full of pride. I thought I was better than these others and that I obeyed those commandments that really mattered to God. My faith was in me. I was a slave to the approval of others. I did not see the glory of God, nor did I love God. I did not read the Bible, did not

understand what I read, and did not enjoy it. I did not pray except occasionally ask God to give me things.

While in college, I drifted farther away from God, but a few years after college, God permitted himself to be found by one who was not seeking Him. He led me to John 6 and opened my eyes to see His glory and enabled me to love what I saw. He also opened my eyes to see my sin and caused me to mourn over it. He gave me a love for His word and the ability to understand it for the first time. He gave me repentance, a new heart, a new nature, and true faith in Christ Jesus. For the first time I trusted in Christ, not in my free will decision at age 12. I should have been baptized during this time, but I really did not know what was happening to me. When I was 12, I was relieved because I thought I had obtained fire insurance. When I was truly converted, I was relieved because I felt I had found God.

For His glory,

Curtis Knapp

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).

We live in a nation where we think little of suffering for Christ. But the promises of persecution are as certain as other promises of God. We are not suffering because we are not living godly in Christ: “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). This nation is more civil than it was before and more civil than other nations have been. But maybe the problem is the “Church” being less godly rather than the nation being more tolerant. Perhaps we are wrong on what it means to be godly and so what we think of as godly is really being like the world and not the godliness found in Christ Jesus. Our forefathers thought godliness included telling unbelievers the truth about God and their sin even if it offended and brought persecutions. This article will come out the day after Reformation Day, and so is an effort to remind us of what true godliness is. In our day we think that we have to be gracious and speak of moral defects rather than sin to be godly. We think we have to be “kind and gracious” to heresy. Biblical godliness and kindness teach the truth about God, sin and repentance. Unbelievers truly hate God and if they are comfortable with what we teach we are doing something wrong. The enmity toward God will come out if we are teaching the truth as godliness demands of us.

Another thing we need to recognize is that persecution usually comes from religious people. Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that we will escape insults and persecution from denominational leaders if we stand for truth. Let us not think that if we are accused of heresy and of being unkind that we are in fact being unbiblical. If men and women during the time before the Reformation and the time of the Reformation would not have thought the Scripture and the truth were worth getting kicked out of their pulpits and the “church” as a whole, the Reformation would not have happened. Until we get over the fact that being gracious and winsome is not the instrument of bringing true revival we will have been trapped with the mindset of false religion and the world.

I would like to bring short stories from Reformation and Scripture to remind us what is really needed if true revival and reformation in our day is going to happen. Let’s look at the example of Jesus in Luke 4. He went into the desert to be tempted and He was full of the Holy Spirit. He returned and began to teach the Word of God:

“15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. 16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” 20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

What we notice is that when He was teaching He was praised by all (v. 15). On a Sabbath day He went into the synagogue and read the Word of God. All were still speaking well of Him and wondering at the gracious words He spoke (v. 22). Notice that the text tells us at this point all were praising Him and were wondering at His gracious words. But notice what happened very shortly if you keep reading the text in Luke: “28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29 and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.” What happened between verse 22 and verse 28? Did Jesus stop being love itself? Did He suddenly stand up and say obnoxious things to these people? No, he applied the word of God to their false religion. Applications of the Word of God will make people mad. Again we notice that this is in a religious setting. Religious people get very angry when their basis for righteousness or salvation is disturbed. It has always been that way and it always will be. The Word of God tells us that. An effort to make peace may be an effort to keep the truth of God’s Word quiet.

“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

Jon Huss was born in Bohemia (modern day Czech Republic where the Karaseks minister). He began to see the truth of the Word of God and spoke fiery words against the priests and their sinful practices. He was outraged at the sale of indulgences and when asked to quiet down he replied like this: “Shall I keep silent? God forbid.” Four times he was excommunicated and once was in exile for two years. He was invited to the Council of Constance in October 1414 by Pope John XXIII. He was arrested within one week despite being promised safe conduct. He was accused of being a wicked man and a heretic. On July 6, 1415 with shouts and jeers “the church” committed his soul to the devil. He was pushed by a crowd through the streets of Constance and wrapped by the neck to a stake. It was then set ablaze and he died singing these words: “Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me.”

Was Huss killed for being like Christ or not? We are told in our day that we are to be like Christ and admonished to be gracious and winsome at all costs. Huss would certainly have been accused of being unlike Christ in our day, and yet when we compare his life and death with that of Christ we can see that Huss was the one like Christ. When Huss spoke with fiery words against the doctrine and the practices of the religious elite of his day, he was condemned by them and yet he was like Christ who spoke fiery words against the religious elite of His day. We must wonder if people today are being like the modern version of Christ or like the One set out in Scripture.

“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

William Tyndale was born around 1494 in England. Just ninety years before his birth “the Church” had banned the only English Bible in the world. That translation was the work of John Wycliffe and to have a copy of it was a crime. Tyndale decided to translate the Bible from the original languages into English so that it could be read by all and that all Englishmen could hear the voice of God in it. He had to leave England as this was dangerous. He went to Germany where he possibly studied under Martin Luther for a time and then finished the New Testament in 1525. He went on to Antwerp where he finished the first five books of the Old Testament. In Belgium he met up with some English merchants. It was here that he was betrayed and was taken to a cell in a castle for eighteen months where he suffered a lot in the cold. He was charged with maintaining that faith alone justifies and believing that forgiveness of sins and the mercy of God were in the Gospel and was all that was needed for salvation.

Tyndale knew that he would die and that it was just a matter of time. However, despite his body shaking from the cold and with poor light for writing, he worked to complete the English Bible. In August of 1536 he was condemned as a heretic and defrocked. Then in early October he was led from prison to the stake. Fastened to the stake and surrounded by brush and logs Tyndale prayed this: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.” The final prayer was heard when two years after Tyndale’s death King Henry authorized the distribution of a Bible which was primarily Tyndale’s work. Tyndale’s dream and prayer had come true.

There will be no true revival or reformation in our time until God raises up men and women who are ready to stand for God’s Word with their reputations and lives. The Bibles we have in our possessions have in one sense been brought to us by the blood of the martyrs. The true Gospel has been brought to us by a succession of men who either died or paid dearly for preaching and standing for the Gospel. We must know that until we love God and His glory enough to be slandered and accused by the world and religious leaders alike we will not see the power of God come down in our day. If we are so focused on being winsome and gracious as the way of being peacemakers we will never see what it truly means to be like Christ. True revival and true reformation are brought about when men and women grow weary of being nice and from holding in the fire that is in their hearts and bones and they began to proclaim the Word of God regardless of the accusations. We need the fire of God to come down on us so that when we speak men will not wonder at our gracious words but want to kill us. That is to be like Christ.

We are approaching the yearly observance of Reformation Day. This Sunday is Reformation Sunday. There are many reasons that people remember the Reformation, and some of them are actually good. What was it that happened in the Reformation that was worth remembering? Was it the doctrines of the Reformation? Was it that the Reformation was a catalyst that sent forth political freedom as well? Was it the restoration of the Gospel? Was it freeing slaves of sin from the superstitious rites and works of Roman Catholicism? Was the Reformation nothing more than a powerful personality controlling the minds of the masses? Was Martin Luther a virtual madman? There are many ways to look at the Reformation. However, we must not miss the most important part; God.

The real issue of the Reformation was God and a returning to a God-centeredness in all things. We must not miss this point or all of our efforts at reform and revival in our day will be man-centered. While there is a “revival” of Reformed literature and to some degree of Reformed theology in our day, we have yet to see a true revival of God-centeredness. A quote from A History of the 1859 Ulster Revival (volume 5 of 7, pp. 9-11) might help us see the true nature of these things. The reason is that the Reformation was a true revival and not just a movement.

Then the Lord raised up a great army of Reformers, and the Reformers were but revivalists. They did not proclaim a new religion. They restored an old religion. They revived a decayed religion. They burst the bars that confined it. They went into the sepulchre of death, in which a corrupt system had contrived to bury it, and disinterred it. A divine voice spoke, and like another Lazarus, religion, true religion, spiritual and saving, came forth and walked abroad in beauty and power, under the protection of God, defiant of all its foes. The Reformation was but a revival. It cast down all the corrupt devices and imaginations of men, and enthroned Jesus as the Saviour of men-the only Mediator between God and man. It put down all the pretensions of men, and exalted Jesus, the High Priest of our profession…It put down all trust in human merit, and declares to the sinner the truth of God, that whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. And the world felt the power of God’s revived truth when preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, and now the first of its nations, England and America, are rejoicing in the truth-in the fruits of the Reformation revival of God’s truth. But a true creed is not a guarantee for true religion. Many a man believes aright in theology who does not believe aright in Christ. Many a man is ready to sign the most orthodox standards while his heart is hard, his soul is still corrupt and endangered. He has never felt that he is a sinner, although he admits himself to be a sinner. He admits his need of Jesus, but he has not felt his need. He allows that Jesus is the chief among ten thousand, just because the Bible declares it-and the Bible is true. But he has never seen, his soul and never thrilled with the perception of Jesus’ loveliness. The rapture of the true believer [rapture in the sense of being caught up with delight and joy in God] he cannot understand. He does not like excitement. He is afraid of physical manifestations. And the Christian whose heart glows with the love of Jesus, and whose tongue testifies to His glory is chilled and frozen in the company of that hard, impenitent, orthodox heart. When he leaves those whose hearts the Lord has touched to go into the society of such a one, it is like a transition out of the warm and balmy air of summer into the chill and frigidity of an ice-house.

What we see from this lengthy quote is the core of true religion and the central issue of the Reformation. It was the life and glory of God. The doctrines that came from the Reformation were not bare truths with aridity to them. No, no and a thousand times no. The doctrines of the Reformation came forth from men who were trained by God to see the depths of their sin and so they were broken from all human merit. Those men studied and meditated on the Scriptures and the Spirit gave them a sight of God and so they were strengthened to set out truth as the life of the living God. The real issue of the Reformation was God and God alone. It was a turn from man-centeredness to God-centeredness. It was a turn from rites and rituals to God in the soul. It was a turn from a creed confessed to truths burning in the hearts of men and women. The Reformation was far more than a discovery of the old Gospel; it was a coming down of the Holy Spirit to give power and life through the Gospel. During the Reformation Roman Catholicism was shown for what it was and that was a dead and lifeless form of religion. It was not just that it had bad theology and superstitious rites, but it was a dead, lifeless religion. Theoretically one could have removed Christ’s name from what was going on and it would have continued with no loss.

If anyone truly wants to see true reformation in the modern day, s/he must understand that it will not happen from pure churches and pure doctrine alone. It will only happen if our sovereign God pours out His Spirit and grants a true revival at the same time. We can recover our doctrine until it is pure, but that does not mean that the power of God is present. We can have pure churches as such, but that does not mean that the power of God is present. We can write the purest of creeds, but that does not mean that the power of God is present. What must happen for a reformation to take place in our day is for men to give up all hope in themselves, their efforts, their theology and their churches. All hope must be lost in anything but God Himself and we must look to Him alone. Theology is not the sole means of revival, but it teaches the truth of God and His glory so that we may seek Him in truth. In our day we look at the Reformation and try to see what we can copy. It is easy enough to copy the outward means of the great revival that took place that we know as the Reformation. But what cannot be copied is the broken hearts over sin and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Contrary to modern belief, even among those that profess that God is sovereign, He is sovereign in fact and beyond our control and any and all points.

God is not amused or humored when a speck of dust professes that He is sovereign. He already knows that and our professions do not add one thing to the infinite God who cannot be added to. God is not humored and pleased when we profess that justification is by faith alone even if we are orthodox about what we mean by that. He knows what the Gospel is and our profession does not mean that we are saved by what we profess. God is not pleased until our hearts are truly broken and Christ lives in those hearts. But can puny man break his own hard heart? Can puny man see into the very Godhead and perceive the glories of the Gospel of God? No, all man can do is seek the Lord. It is the sovereign God alone who can break the heart and make room for His life to flow in. It is the sovereign God alone who can open man’s eyes to see His glory in the Gospel and so draw a sinful dead human being to Himself and give that person life from the spiritual dead. It is not a mere intellectual recognition of God that is enough, but it is the living God taking over that person’s heart and making that soul alive.

It would appear that many in our land that cry out for Reformation don’t understand the real heart of what happened in the sixteenth century. It was a profound revival in which God came down and brought life to dead souls. It was from that life that the doctrines of the Reformation spread. We sing the praises of the Reformers and of the theology of the Reformation in some circles, but we don’t have the heart that God gave them. We don’t have the deep love for the glory of God that they did. We are not willing to suffer as they did and even count suffering a privilege and a blessing. No, we are content with mere academic knowledge and a few conferences where we talk about it. But do we really desire for God to come in and take over? Do we really desire the living God to be sovereign? After all, He is not safe and He may want to do things we don’t like. He may use another and not us. He may cause life to come in other churches and not ours. Down deep, are we afraid of true revival? Are we so hungry for it that we don’t care what happens as long as the glory of God is manifested? After all, our minds know that His glory manifested is what is best in all ways. But do we really love it that way? Do we really believe it?

Let us ask ourselves a few questions. Are we afraid of a person who is excited about God? Are we afraid of people who are thrilled with a sight of the glory of God? Are we afraid of people who have a deep and/or bubbly joy in God? Are we afraid of those whose hearts glow with the love of God? Are we uncomfortable around those who are simply thrilled with the glory of a sovereign God? Are we uncomfortable around those that desire for God to be free instead of human beings? If so, it may be that we have a dead orthodoxy. It may be that when a true believer comes into our presence it is like walking into a freezer for them. It may be that our preaching may be precise in its orthodoxy but in reality belongs in the cemetery more than a church of the living God. It may be that we don’t need peace in the SBC among differing theologies but that we need peace with God. It may be that we don’t need more excitement worked up in our churches but we need the living God to come down with real life. It may be that we don’t need more programs and more entertainment for the carnal people that come to church but that we need the living God to come down. It may be that we don’t need more evangelistic training but need our own hearts broken in order to see the glory of God in the Gospel. Dead people don’t need training, they need life.

What we need in our day is God. That sounds so simplistic and so ignorant to many, yet it is exactly what we need. God does not cost money, though He might require more suffering than you can imagine now. God will not come until our hearts are humbled and contrite. He will not dwell with anyone until the heart is broken and contrite (Isa 57:15). It is not only foolish to try to bring revival apart from God; it is foolish to think that we can enrich our theology or programs in order to bring it about. It is when God comes down that life is brought to our theology. Perhaps what we need to do is to do less or perhaps nothing in order to seek God who alone can bring revival. “Do nothing but seek God and pray? But nothing will get done.” It won’t get done in truth unless He comes anyway. We are simply deceiving ourselves and others if we think it will. The truth of the matter is that it makes us feel like we are helping God by doing our religious duties. We have forgotten what the Reformers knew and that truth is that God is sovereign whether we like it or not. He is sovereign whether we profess it or not. He is sovereign and is not manipulated by our professions. It seems so easy to think that we can manipulate God by professing certain beliefs or doing certain actions. That is nothing but Pelagianism in disguise of Reformed theology. God is sovereign so let us all bow and seek Him for a heart to truly seek Him. We will not see a true Reformation and revival without it. But don’t think that God will send it because we are doing it, but we will only be doing it because He may send it.

In the June 2007 issue of The Banner of Truth magazine an article moved me enough to take a week break from the Beatitudes. We all admit that pride is a problem with those who hold to Reformed theology. But the reason is not the theology but that we are all born with a heart full of pride. The author was Solano Portela and the article entitled “A Sin That Threatens Calvinists-Spiritual Pride.” A main problem with the article is not that the author is wrong about pride being a problem, but with his identification of what that problem is and what it looks like. To put it bluntly, in our day too many Reformed people are watering down the importance of Reformed theology and stressing tolerance and graciousness. While we must be gracious, we must also stand for the truth. Scripture must guide us and not aspects of the ecumenical movement. It is no true sign of humility to be tolerant of teaching that opposes the Gospel.

The heart of the issue is over what the Gospel is and what it means to be converted. It is not one system of theology over another; it is over what the Gospel is and the character of God. Spurgeon has been quoted by many as saying that Calvinism is simply stating the Gospel. If Calvinism is stating the Gospel, then it also defines that which is not the Gospel. That statement was and is either true or false. If false, then let us stop quoting him in defense of a particular theology. But if it is true, then let us defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We cannot have it both ways. If what he said is true, then it is not pride to defend Calvinism, it is defending the Gospel. Am I trying to say that Calvinism in all of its manifestations is the Gospel? No, but I am trying to say that whatever the Gospel is we must defend it at all costs.

In the article it is simply assumed that there is a Gospel and that all stripes of Arminians and Reformed people believe it and simply differ on the particulars. That is a naïve approach that is ecumenical at heart and a retreat from what the Reformers defended as the Gospel. In the article spiritual pride is defined: “Spiritual pride ever appears in a despising attitude toward other brothers and sisters in Christ. It harbours the thought that we possess a superior vision. It is the rejection of any need for further learning from others. It does not show the humility of life that God requires of others.” He goes on to say that “spiritual pride has generated many movements within the churches and those often add another category of people, although this is not always openly stated.”

First, in the article a believer in Christ is never distinguished from a non-believer and the Gospel is never distinguished from all other gospels. There are proud people who are Reformed and there are proud people who are Arminian. There are also unbelievers in both of those theological camps. It is not pride to believe that a theological system that sets out the Gospel is better than one that does not. It is not pride to believe that Reformed theology is better than Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, or Greek Orthodoxy. To get closer to home, it is not pride to believe that Reformed theology is better than Pelagian theology. If so, are we so sure that professing Arminians today are not really Pelagians? Are we so sure that many professing Calvinists today are not historical Arminians?

Without clear distinctions and parameters, the waters are muddied before we begin. For example, in a fairly recent so-called debate Paige Patterson and Al Mohler discussed a few issues. They started out with some glowing remarks about each other personally and professionally. They then discussed some differences, but they never really got to the real issues. They were more concerned with being gracious and tolerant than they were with setting out what the Gospel is and the different approaches to it. They were more concerned with saying that both practiced evangelism and that indeed it was important to practice evangelism. But they never talked about the differences that they might have about the Gospel and how to proclaim that Gospel. It was assumed that since both evangelized and that both talked about the Gospel that they both had the same Gospel and both truly evangelized. The assumption was that the differences were not about the Gospel and true evangelism. They should not have assumed those things.

As quoted above, the author of that article believes that spiritual pride does not show the humility of life that God requires. Indeed, that is a correct statement. But true humility before God stands for the truth. Was Martin Luther proud or humble when he stood before the Diet of Worms and stood against the whole world in order to hold to the Gospel? Was he proud when he wrote The Bondage of the Will? To those he opposed it appeared so. Erasmus thought Luther was proud when he said that Arminian or Pelagian thought was not Christian. But if Luther was correct in what he said, then those who opposed him at the Diet of Worms and then Erasmus were the proud ones. He was simply in all humility holding to the Gospel and was ready to die for it. The issue that defined Luther was the Gospel and his being willing to defend it at all costs. He was concerned with the Gospel and not with being tolerant.

In the modern world we are concerned with being gracious, tolerant, and winsome. On the one hand we must be those things, but those things themselves can be a sign of pride. We can be proud of how gracious, tolerant, and winsome we are without knowing that those can be the fear of man in disguise. We can be proud of those that we are tolerant of and proud of how we appear in doing so. But at that point our pride might be blinding us to our pride in actually not holding to the Gospel. If pride is seen in holding to a view too tightly, pride is also seen in not holding to the Gospel tightly enough. If it is pride that judges others, then what of the pride that is quick to judge that others are believers? Both are actually judgments passed. What is it that distinguishes pride from humility at this point? It is the state of the heart before God in terms of why the person is standing for the truth and if what the person is standing for is the truth.

In Galatians 1:6-10 Paul wrote this: “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! 10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” Was Paul proud in standing up and saying that there was only one Gospel and that he taught it? Was Paul proud in refuting Peter over the Gospel? Was Paul proud in seeking the favor of God over that of men? In biblical reality what would have been pride for Paul would have been for him to be tolerant and gracious in the modern sense of heresy.

Those who are more tolerant, gracious, and winsome than Paul and Luther should examine themselves. Notice the difference between Paul and Peter. We see Peter drawing back over a legalistic stance and not eating with certain believers. Paul drew the line at the Gospel. Peter was in error and should be charged with pride, but surely Paul should not be. He was setting out the Gospel of Christ and not deviating from that in doctrine or life. He was not willing to please men by being more tolerant or gracious. When pleasing men becomes that important, then we are no longer pleasing God. Could it be that when we are so concerned with how others view us that our tolerance and graciousness actually flow from pride? Could it be that our delight in being winsome is not pleasing to God and is from pride? In reality pride is defined in relation to who God is first and foremost. Humility is the proper stance of the creature before its Creator. Humility before human beings is then defined by how we stand before God. Humility before God always stands for the truth of the Gospel despite how it appears to other humans, though it should strive to be gracious in that if possible. The appearance of humility before men may actually be pride in the face of God.

I would like to give three quotes with remarks from the historical introduction to Luther’s Bondage of the Will. It shows the essence of Luther’s thinking on the issue. “The denial of free-will was to Luther the foundation of the Biblical doctrine of grace, and a hearty endorsement of that denial was the first step for anyone who would understand the gospel and come to faith in God” (pp 44-45). If Luther is correct about what the Bible teaches on this issue, then we must be very careful about those we think are believers and those we accept as brothers in Christ. Arminian teaching denies what Luther believed was a foundation of the Gospel. Can Reformed people believe this with a “hearty endorsement” of that denial if they are more concerned to be tolerant and gracious than to stand for the Gospel? Again, I am not denying that some who claim to be Arminian are converted. I am simply saying that we must be very careful about the Gospel and of what the Gospel is. Are we really Reformed in the historical sense if we are allowing such a wholesale departure from the Gospel and still think it is Christian?

“The man who has not practically and experimentally learned the bondage of his will in sin has not yet comprehended any part of the gospel; for this is the hinge on which all turns, the ground on which the gospel rests” (p. 45). Again we see Luther’s onslaught against “free-will” in terms of the Gospel. The revival that burst throughout the world with the Gospel taught by Luther and the Reformers is precisely the Gospel that denies “free-will” and says that the Gospel itself rests on the denial of “free-will.” We are not children of the Reformers when we accept as Christians those that emphatically deny what the Reformers said was against the Gospel. We must go back to Scripture and see if this is correct. “Whoever puts this book down without having realized that evangelical theology stands or falls with the doctrine of the bondage of the will has read it in vain” (p. 58). If Luther is correct, then we must be careful not to assume that Arminians teach the Gospel. We must also be careful not to assume that people who are Reformed teach the Gospel as well. After all, we stand before God and not a system of theology. I will continue writing on this subject on the Spurgeon Blog which can be found at: http://www.sbaoc.org/blog/.