Genuine Christianity Rare 3

April 14, 2014

As the praise of true religion is not of men but of God, so there certainly is a thing called Religion which will please the world, whose praise is not of God but of men; but the downright libertine and the real Christian will both be disapproved of, though the latter more than the former.   Sir Richard Hill

True religion (true Christianity) is all about Christ and Christ alone. The only way to obtain Christ and to drink of the water of life is by grace alone. There is nothing in religion apart from the true Christ that can do anything but draw the wrath of God, yet there is nothing in Christ that does not draw the praise of God. On the other hand, the religion of the world that is apart from the true Christ will draw the praise of men, yet all that is of the true Christ will draw the wrath of man.

When the Lord Jesus, who is the shining forth of the glory of God, came and dwelt among men, that glory that He was full of was a glory that was full of grace and truth. He was in one sense grace incarnate and love incarnate, yet He was hated by men and most particularly hated by the most religious of men. It appears from the New Testament that the more religious a man was (in accordance to the religion of the day) the more that person hated Christ. Not much has changed today. The followers of Christ are hated and the more like Christ they are the more they will be hated and mistreated in some way, and that from religious people.

Christianity is all about the glory of God manifested in the grace of God to His children by and in Christ. All the paths of true Christianity are covered with the pure gold of pure grace which is in Christ alone, though the paths of religion and false Christianity are littered with fool’s gold. Those who love themselves and refuse to bow to the true Christ and true grace will follow the paths of fool’s gold which includes the praise of men. This praise of men comes in the form of praise for how nice and reasonable these people are. This praise will say that these people accept the tenants of science and reason. This praise will say that these are modern people who understand how the Bible cannot be taken literally. Oh how the praise of men is so attractive to those who love themselves.

The religion that pleases men hates true Christianity and will not be reconciled with it, and this shows how the religion that men approve of is really a way to hate God and man retain his own self-righteousness. The concept of self-righteous seems to be reserved (for the most part) for those who are outwardly proud of the way they avoid outward sin. But the Scriptures use the term to refer to those who trust in themselves in any way. The religion that pleases men can be an orthodox version of justification and sanctification which relies upon men to be responsible. This stress on the responsibility most often hides some great truths of Scripture and gives men a way to trust in themselves and their own righteousness. As long as men think (without clear instruction) that there are things they must do to be sanctified, they will do them and rest in them and so have a hidden righteousness that they trust in.

It is certainly true that Scripture puts many obligations upon human beings, but one of those obligations is to realize that they have no strength to keep the least of God’s commands in their own strength. Another of those obligations is that men are to glorify God in all they do and this can only be done by His strength which dwells in men by grace alone. This shows us that the obligations that men are under is to turn from all actions that are done in the strength and motives of flesh and do them in the strength which God provides by grace. Sadly enough, then, in stressing man’s responsibility and doing that without the utter helplessness and inability of man in doing those commands of God, a system of works for righteousness is being set forth. This system of works is said to be sanctification or perhaps man’s duty to God, but underneath it is the inescapable result of self-righteousness.

Men hate grace and love their own power. Men hate the sovereignty of God and love their own choices. Men hate the sovereignty of grace and love their own ability to work as they please. Men hate the sufficiency of God and love their own sufficiency. Men hate the ability of God and love their own ability. In looking at this from this light, one can see that true Christianity operates upon the basis of man’s inability of grace alone from salvation to and through glorification. Any teaching, then, that teaches men to work from their own ability is not true Christianity. It is incredibly rare to find the Gospel of grace sounding forth that will teach men how unable they are to perform the least work for self-righteousness and their utter need for grace to be saved and gragrace to be sanctified. How incredible it is that something that is taught so plainly in Scripture is so plainly ignored.

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Examining the Heart 24

April 14, 2014

Men talk bravely of believing whilst whole and sound; few know it. Christ is the mystery of the Scripture; grace the mystery of Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world. Put any thing of your own to it, and you spoil it. Christ will not so much as look at it for believing. When you believe and come to Christ, you must leave behind you your own righteousness, and bring nothing but your sin: (Oh, that is hard!) leave behind all your holiness, sanctification, duties, humblings, and so on; and bring nothing but your wants [lacks] and your miseries, or else Christ is not fit for you, nor you for Christ. Christ will be a pure Redeemer and Mediator, and you must be an undone sinner, or Christ and you will never agree. It is the hardest thing in the world to take Christ alone for righteousness; that is to acknowledge Him Christ. Join anything to Him of your own, and you un-Christ Him.         Thomas Willcox

God is always doing all for His own glory and not because of anything found in the sinner. When sinners understand from the heart that God saves to His own glory and not for any merit or work found in the creature, they see salvation as by grace alone. When sinners seek the face of God, they must also realize that God seeks His own glory and He only does this by grace. Holiness does not come because sinners seek to be holy, but because by grace God shares His holiness in the sinners and sinners become partakers of His holiness (Heb 12:14). This is why sinners must “leave behind all their own holiness, sanctification, duties, humblings, and so on and bring nothing but what they lack and their miseries to Christ. God has no use for what they have worked up in their sinful hearts and flesh, but instead is only pleased with what comes from Him and through Christ.

This is so hard for sinners to understand and to grasp and love. Whatever the commandment is it tells us what we must do rather than what we can do. The commandment tells us that we must have Christ as our propitiation (sacrifice that removes wrath), but also we must have the life of Christ in us to keep the commandment. No one has the capacity to understand the depths of the commandments or the ability or faculty or power to keep it from the depths. The Lord Jesus Christ alone can do that. As the Pharisees were extremely wicked in their thinking they could keep the commandments after they watered them down to where they could keep them, so men in our day have watered down the commandments of Christ in order to keep them without Christ. As this led the Pharisees to be proud in their self-righteousness, so men are proud in their self-righteousness today despite their orthodox creed and conservative stances. Working up our own holiness and sanctification is a repugnant to God as anything, even though we may call it something else. We must live by grace and by the perfect righteousness of Christ or we are wicked people seeking to build up our own self-righteousness, and the wickedness is precisely at the point of trying to obtain and appear righteous before God and others based on the morality and works of self.

For a person (sinners) to come to Christ it means for a person to come to the true Christ in all that He is. Every person is a sinner by birth and by practice. The most religious people (but not true Christians) may be worse than all others in the sight of God as they are setting out to obtain some righteousness of their own. As long as a person has Adam as his or her head, that person will never have the slightest bit of righteousness in truth but will only have a self-righteousness which is as fool’s gold. It only has the appearance of righteousness and will fool those who don’t know real gold, but in the eyes of God there is no real righteousness but His own. Coming to the real Christ, who is the real righteousness of all who are in Him, means that sinners must cast down all of their own works, worth, merit, holiness, and righteousness. Christ is the only way to the Father, but in order to come by His way one has to leave his or her own way.

In order to have Christ one must have Him by grace alone and that means one must cast aside all of his or her own holiness in order to have His. In order to have Christ alone by grace alone one must have Christ as his or her sanctification rather than have any of his own. In order to have Christ alone by grace alone one must give up all hope in his or her duties and rest in the grace of Christ alone. In order to come to Christ alone by grace alone one must give up on the humility of self and all of the inward and outward things that one things may have earned or merited something in the eyes of God. In a way that is backwards to human reasoning and human thinking on morality, if we come to Christ with anything but what we lack and our sin and misery, we are not fit for Christ. Even more, when we come to Christ in some way without our own righteousness (even if very small), in truth Christ is not fit for us either. Christ is fit for those who have no righteousness and instead look to Him for it all. Christ is fit for the worst of sinners who will bow to grace and grace alone. We cannot add to His perfection.

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Examining the Heart 23

April 13, 2014

Men talk bravely of believing whilst whole and sound; few know it. Christ is the mystery of the Scripture; grace the mystery of Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world. Put any thing of your own to it, and you spoil it. Christ will not so much as look at it for believing. When you believe and come to Christ, you must leave behind you your own righteousness, and bring nothing but your sin: (Oh, that is hard!) leave behind all your holiness, sanctification, duties, humblings, and so on; and bring nothing but your wants [lacks] and your miseries, or else Christ is not fit for you, nor you for Christ. Christ will be a pure Redeemer and Mediator, and you must be an undone sinner, or Christ and you will never agree. It is the hardest thing in the world to take Christ alone for righteousness; that is to acknowledge Him Christ. Join anything to Him of your own, and you un-Christ Him.       Thomas Willcox

Willcox makes it clear for those who will look closely what believing (having faith in) in Christ includes, or at least part of what that includes. A person that comes to Christ must leave behind his or her own righteousness and bring nothing but his or her sin. This sounds simple to many, but in truth it is very hard to do once much less on a consistent basis. This is necessary for justification and it is what sinners need to hear as they struggle with sinful hearts that seem to fight them and even overwhelm them at times as they pursue Christ. It is hard for a person to give up all hope in self and what self can do and look to Christ alone to save him or her for no reason other than grace which says that no one deserves to be saved. At times when a person wants to look to Christ apart from all self-righteousness it can lead to an overwhelming fear. It means that I have never accomplished one thing in life that would contribute to my salvation and I can never do one thing in life that can contribute to my salvation. It means that I give up all control in terms of my salvation and cast all my hopes on God.

This is impossible for an unregenerate person to do in and of themselves. They will try and try to give up all hope in themselves without realizing that their striving to give up all hope is in the strength of self which means that they have hope in what self can do. The regenerate but poorly taught (in the experimental sense) person will always doubt his or her salvation because of sin, though it must be said that many should doubt and perhaps a lot that don’t doubt should. However, the truly regenerate person has a conscience that is more sensitive than the unregenerate and is troubled far more for his or her sin. Part of this trouble with the regenerate person is not growing (in a parallel sense) in resting in the righteousness of Christ. The regenerate person will grow and as that person grows, so will that person’s sight of his or her own heart and so that person will see more and more sin. That person will fight this sight of sin and in fighting will find out the inability of the heart and apart from sinking into nothingness and desiring helplessness so that s/he may look to the righteousness of Christ alone, that person will in some way be looking to the righteousness of self (or lack thereof) as a basis to stand on.

The person that truly comes to Christ as an unbeliever will be stripped of all hope in self at that moment. God will have brought that person off of hope in self and will break that person from trust in self and pride. However, now the real battle begins. Grace begins to teach the soul more and more of its sinfulness and need of grace. The believer may indeed be growing in holiness, but that believer is also growing more and more aware of his or her own sin. A greater sight of Christ and a growing sense of resting in His righteousness is needed. How can one trust in grace ALONE if one is trusting in self to some degree? How can one trust in the righteousness of Christ ALONE if one is trusting in some work or righteousness of self? What is needed for the unregenerate person and the believer is in one sense the same. They must all learn to bring nothing in their hands to Christ and look to His cross and righteousness alone.

A person must come to Christ if that person is to come truly to Christ and bring nothing but his or her own sin. That is, as Willcox points out, hard. Oh how the desire to control God in some way and remain in control of ourselves will fight this. Oh how the pride of man in his own self-sufficiency fights to withstand this. The formal person and the religious person and the civil person will fight this to the death, but the only thing a person has to bring to Christ is sin. Jesus Christ did not come to save the righteous, nor did He come to help people sanctify themselves. Christ is the sinner’s justification and Christ is the sinner’s sanctification. Christ will only save and sanctify by grace alone and so if the sinner brings any shred of his own righteousness to Christ, then that is what disqualifies the sinner. Christ came to save sinners who have nothing in their hands and hearts but sin. They look to Him alone for righteousness. Sinners must flee to Christ alone and look to Him ALONE  by and for grace ALONE.

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Examining the Heart 22

April 13, 2014

Men talk bravely of believing whilst whole and sound; few know it. Christ is the mystery of the Scripture; grace the mystery of Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world. Put any thing of your own to it, and you spoil it. Christ will not so much as look at it for believing. When you believe and come to Christ, you must leave behind you your own righteousness, and bring nothing but your sin: (Oh, that is hard!) leave behind all your holiness, sanctification, duties, humblings, and so on; and bring nothing but your wants [lacks] and your miseries, or else Christ is not fit for you, nor you for Christ. Christ will be a pure Redeemer and Mediator, and you must be an undone sinner, or Christ and you will never agree. It is the hardest thing in the world to take Christ alone for righteousness; that is to acknowledge Him Christ. Join anything to Him of your own, and you un-Christ Him.     Thomas Willcox

Christ is the mystery of Scripture and grace is the mystery of Christ. This sets forth the heart of Scripture and does it with beauty and glory. Scholars and people can become quit enamored with Scripture in studying out certain details, but unless they see the glory of Christ in the Scriptures and the glory of the grace of God in Christ they have quite missed the main point. It is in light of grace and the Gospel of the glory of grace that believing (faith) is what it is. In the modern day many have twisted what it means to believe (faith) in one direction or other. Believing (faith) in Christ is not limited to just a factual information issue about Christ, but it is an actual faith/believing in the Person of Christ. It is believing in who He is and what He has done, most assuredly, but it is also believing/faith in what He is doing and will do.

Willcox writes if we put anything of our own to it (faith/belief), you spoil it. This is a point at which the Gospel of Christ ALONE and grace ALONE rests. If any human being adds one slight bit to believing/faith, that spoils grace ALONE because it is adding to it and grace is no longer alone. This is vital for justification, but also for the whole of the Christian life that we can think of as sanctification. Believers are to walk by grace each moment of each day and not by their own works. Believers are to live by grace and not by their own works. When believers sin, as they do virtually every second in some way, they should know that their lack of sanctification does not detract from what Christ has done to purchase His people and if they think that have some level of sanctification it does not add to what Christ has done in purchasing His people. Sinners are saved by Christ ALONE and grace ALONE and not by anything they do or can do.

Sinners are saved by Christ, but they are saved through faith. Faith is what receives Christ and faith is what receives grace, but sinners are not saved because they came up with faith on their own. No!!!!!! Romans 4:16 tells us that it is by faith in order that it may be by grace. At any point in the New Testament when the subject of true faith comes up, we must know that it is by faith in order that it may be by grace. It seems that so many in our day take the nature of faith and say that it must issue forth in works, which is quite true, but then they want to say that if there are works that the person has faith. No, true faith looks to grace alone for its salvation and for its sanctification. True faith does not look to itself or its works, but it looks to grace and grace alone. The whole teaching of faith seems to have been turned into a work itself. Faith is not a work of man, but of God. Faith cannot come from the human flesh as it is from the heart and is a spiritual matter. Faith (as a work of the flesh) cannot add to anything that Christ has done and cannot add to grace, but instead it destroys the very concept of grace. The only thing that true faith does is receive grace and Christ.

It cannot be trumpeted too loudly that anything the human being does to help to or add to grace is a work and as such it is no longer pure grace and it is no longer grace at all. Anything a human being does to add to grace is at odds with the sovereign God who gives grace as He pleases. As Romans 11:6 teaches, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Anything we try to add to grace ALONE makes grace no longer to be grace. For true believers who grow in the knowledge of the sinfulness of their own hearts, know that your sinfulness does not detract from your justification. The work of Christ on the cross was for ALL the sins of His people and from the vantage point of 2000 years ago all of your sins were future. He is not surprised at your sinful heart. The perfect righteousness imputed to a poor sinner is perfect for all the sinners life and for all eternity. True believers will grow in knowledge of their own sin, but that does not detract from the righteousness of Christ imputed to them. Our sanctification or lack of it does not add or detract from what Christ has done and we cannot add to what He has done. Look to Christ ALONE and to His grace ALONE. There is life and abundant life.

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Genuine Christianity Rare 2

April 12, 2014

The enmity there is in the fallen heart of man to God will ever show itself against Christ’s faithful people. Self-love and self-deceit are the parents of this hatred which the world shows toward real Christians.
Sir Richard Hill

It is a surprise to men when the teaching of Scripture regarding man’s enmity toward God is taught to them. It is almost always denied, though in ways that shows the reality of the enmity. In one sense the Scriptures are full of the enmity of man toward God and His people. We can see this from Genesis 3 when the curse was announced on the serpent (Satan) and that curse was that God would put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the woman. Throughout the Old Testament there was constant war between the seeds. This enmity toward God is seen in the enmity of the heart toward His people.

We see this teaching in Scripture that sinners are at enmity with Him and are in fact His enemies in several ways. First, and perhaps most obvious, when people are friends of the world they are in fact enemies of God. James 4:4 is quite clear that friendship with the world is hostility toward God and that those who want to be friends with the world makes him or herself and enemy of God. This teaching, while hated like many of the true teachings of Christianity, is clear and unequivocal. It is not just the obvious worldly people that are enemies of God, but also those who want to be friends with the world. This is a very sobering teaching. Regardless of whether a person has prayed a prayer or walked an aisle or confirmed a creed as true, friendship with the world means a person is hostile to God and is an enemy of God. Again, that teaching must sink into our hearts and the sobering reality of it must drive us to grace which alone can reconcile us to God by Christ alone. But we continue to see the masses wanting Christ (in name) and the world at the same time. It simply cannot be.

James 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

This enmity toward God comes out against “Christ’s faithful people.” The enmity toward God is not seen in those religious people who are friends with the world, but only the faithful followers of Christ. The fieriest of darts that Satan fires are also against true believers and he fires those at times through religious people who are friends with the world. While it may not appear to be the case, especially with those who are nice and outwardly religious who perform many religious duties, the enmity is there. Perhaps it does not come out with the strength that one expects, but the enmity is there and it is seen. True Christians are hated by many and will always be hated because of Christ. Jesus warned His people that if they hated Him they will hate His people (you) as well. But again, Jesus warned His people and His people are the faithful followers of Christ. They can expect persecution in some way and they will be hated because of their stand for the truth.

All those in the world are full of self-love and self-deceit. When a person is told that s/he must repent of this self-love and love God, this teaching will be hated. When a person is told that s/he is full of self-deceit and that person must repent of that self-deceit and look to Christ as reality and Truth, that teaching will be hated. The hatred of that teaching will then be turned on the one who is speaking the message. Again, we have to remember that there is enmity in the hearts of the people we are talking to. They will hate the truth when they first hear it. This is one of the things that is so concerning about the message of the modern day. People are not offended by it and the enmity they have in their hearts does not come out when they hear the modern message. The professing “Church” of the day has watered down the message of the Gospel of the glory of God so much that the enmity that is in the hearts of the people is not given cause to rise. If the enmity is there, it will come up when the truth is taught.

There is enmity toward people on moral issues, whether they are Christian or not, but not on the Gospel of grace alone and Christ alone. We are told that we are to present the Gospel simply and clearly so that people can understand. The problem with that, however, is that when we simplify things so much people don’t see their own hearts and the true character of God and the Gospel. The so-called “Christian” message is then kept watered down in order for people not to get angry and leave the church. Perhaps this is just another way of deception of keeping the Gospel and the character of God hidden from people as they take the religious way to hell.

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Genuine Christianity Rare 1

April 12, 2014

How long might one live with some persons who are looked upon as very good Christians, and not know whether they had any souls or not!   Sir Richard Hill

Christianity is rare in modern America, if not in the world. So much false religion, which includes so many branches that thinks of itself as Christian, is rampant in the nation. Perhaps it would be much more accurate and to the point to say that so much false religion that things itself as Christian is rampant in the professing churches. It would also be accurate to say that so much false religion that thinks of itself as Christian is rampant in the pulpits in the professing churches and in the conferences of the day. One could say, in line with the quote above, how long might one live with some elders and preachers who are looked upon as very good Christians and elders and not know whether they had any souls or not.

It seems that as long as a person is a moral person and makes some kind of profession of faith in Christ or at least of a creed that person is considered to be a Christian. If a person is involved in social activities and is involved in a professing church that person is a really good Christian. In other words, it appears that as long as a person is moral and is involved in something thought of as Christian that person is considered to be a Christian. But Scripture is full of places where men are to search themselves to see if they are Christians and of standards to discern if one is a Christian or not.

But taking the name of Christian upon oneself in baptism or profession is a far different thing than being one that God has taken, regenerated, and made that person a partaker of divine life in Christ. No one who has the slightest idea of what hell is really wants to go to hell, but the truth of the matter is that if people had even a slight idea of what heaven would be like they would not want to go to heaven either. Heaven is a place that is all about the greatness and glory of God in Christ. Heaven is a place where the angels fall before the living God and cry out about His holiness and glory constantly and they love it. Heaven is a place where proud and self-centered people would hate because it is not about them. Heaven is a place where those who love their own self-righteousness and good works will hate because only the righteousness and works of Christ will be exalted there.

If heaven is a place as given above, then we can know that not many people on earth have heaven (Christ) in them now. People would rather talk about themselves and their own works rather than the righteousness of Christ. People would rather exalt themselves and seek honor for themselves in “church” and all other places rather than abase themselves and honor and exalt Christ. It is also true that some love to abase themselves but in doing so they are seeking honor and glory in a different way. In many ways this shows how the statement of Sir Richard Hill (from above) is so accurate and is a devastating point. True Christianity is at such low ebb today that a person can be thought of as a very good Christian without even being one. True Christianity is at such low ebb today that a man can be considered to be an outstanding minister and not even be a true Christian. True Christianity today is at such low ebb that a man can be a successful minister and speaker at conferences selling millions of dollars of books and tapes while not even being aware of the nature of true Christianity.

The nature of Christianity is not easily faked with those who truly have Christ, but those who are without Christ in truth are easily deceived. True Christianity is not just about a benevolent God who winks at sin and hopes we will get better, but it is about a holy, holy, holy God who hates sin and His justice and wrath is only satisfied by Christ. This infinitely glorious God takes sinners and dwells in them and works Himself and His glory in them because of Christ and by the Spirit. It takes a spiritual eye to see the truth and reality of this, though the natural man will hate the true Christian and perhaps may think of the true Christian as narrow at best and perhaps even as a heretic. Jesus said that His followers would be killed by those who thought they were serving God. People should and even must examine themselves to see if they have Christ in truth or whether they are deceived. Jesus warned that many would be deceived and He also warned that many would strive to enter in and would not be able. While those were not nice and polite things (according to modern thinking) to say, incarnate love (Jesus Christ) spoke them. So many today are satisfied with being nice and not satisfied with the rudeness of true Christianity. It may be rude to say, according to modern thinking, but those people hate God and Jesus His Son.

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Examining the Heart 21

April 12, 2014

Men talk bravely of believing whilst whole and sound; few know it. Christ is the mystery of the Scripture; grace the mystery of Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world. Put any thing of your own to it, and you spoil it. Christ will not so much as look at it for believing. When you believe and come to Christ, you must leave behind you your own righteousness, and bring nothing but your sin: (Oh, that is hard!) leave behind all your holiness, sanctification, duties, humblings, and so on; and bring nothing but your wants [lacks] and your miseries, or else Christ is not fit for you, nor you for Christ. Christ will be a pure Redeemer and Mediator, and you must be an undone sinner, or Christ and you will never agree. It is the hardest thing in the world to take Christ alone for righteousness; that is to acknowledge Him Christ. Join anything to Him of your own, and you un-Christ Him.      Thomas Willcox

“Christ is the mystery of the Scripture” is a very biblical statement. It is hard to overstate the case, though some may be able to find Christ in ways that don’t really point to Him or find Him in ways that the Scripture does not intend. However, the main point is that Christ is the very mystery of Scripture which is to say that it is Christ who is the main message of Scripture. The Old Testament spoke much of Christ, though its message was and is hidden in mystery. Scripture tells us (in several places) that there was a mystery that had been kept secret for long ages past, but on the other hand we have Scripture telling us that Moses saw Christ. The New Testament, on the other hand, sets forth Christ using the Old Testament as well as new revelation which was and is Christ Himself.

Romans 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,

Ephesians 3:4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 5:32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Colossians 1:26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

What we must be careful to point out and see for ourselves is that the mystery is not just things about Christ, but it is Christ Himself. In reading the verses above, it is very striking to see that Christ Himself is the great mystery that has been hidden from the eyes of so many. This leads us (or should) to examine our hearts and our methods of studying Scripture. Do we look for Christ Himself or are we satisfied with looking for things about Christ? Are we satisfied with doctrinal statements about Christ and things that we like to think on because how it reflects on us and our comfort or do we want to know Christ Himself? The great point about reading Scripture is not to just know about it or memorize it, but it is to behold Christ Himself and bow in worship. Even pagans can know vast amounts of Scripture and the facts about Scripture, so it would at least appear self-evident that Christians should study Scripture in a way that is far higher than a pagan can do. That way is to pray and seek Christ Himself in the Scriptures. If we don’t see Christ as the central message, we have missed the message.

We must behold Christ, but we must behold something true in Christ and about Christ as well. That great mystery is the sovereign grace of God in Christ. It is not just that Christ has grace, but Christ is grace Himself. God the Father sent His Son, yes, but He sent His grace in Christ. All those that have Christ revealed to them have Christ revealed by grace and as grace. No one deserves to see Christ and to have Christ live and die in their place. No one deserves to know anything about the glory of Jesus Christ, which should teach us with a great deal of plainness that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about Jesus Christ and that the Gospel of Christ is the same Gospel of grace alone. There is no way for a person to know the mystery of Scripture (Christ) in truth apart from knowing the mystery of Christ which is grace. What we must know is that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. What did people see? They saw the very glory of God shining forth which is Christ and is in grace and truth. Behold and adore.

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Examining the Heart 20

April 12, 2014

Men talk bravely of believing whilst whole and sound; few know it. Christ is the mystery of the Scripture; grace the mystery of Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world. Put any thing of your own to it, and you spoil it. Christ will not so much as look at it for believing. When you believe and come to Christ, you must leave behind you your own righteousness, and bring nothing but your sin: (Oh, that is hard!) leave behind all your holiness, sanctification, duties, humblings, and so on; and bring nothing but your wants [lacks] and your miseries, or else Christ is not fit for you, nor you for Christ. Christ will be a pure Redeemer and Mediator, and you must be an undone sinner, or Christ and you will never agree. It is the hardest thing in the world to take Christ alone for righteousness; that is to acknowledge Him Christ. Join anything to Him of your own, and you un-Christ Him.    Thomas Willcox

It is easy enough to believe the basic historical facts about Christ, but it was also quite easy for people to believe in Christ when He performed miracles before them. When things are going well and men are healthy, they will speak easily of believing as long as there is no cost involved. When things are going well and no one is persecuting you or mocking you for your faith, it is easy enough to believe. But when your belief in Christ begins to cost you something, whether it is the esteem of others or of repenting of sin, things begin to change. When belief in Christ might make you look like a fool, whether in the eyes of the intellectuals or of those who you fear will laugh at you for what you will not do, it begins to take a toll on what you believe. When people find believing easy, they don’t know whether they really believe in truth.

A true faith in Christ is far different than a simple believing the historical things about Him. The devils and those in hell believe in the historical things about Him, but assuredly it makes no difference (for the good) in their situation. While Christ was on earth the demons believed who He was and what He could do, but instead of that being of comfort to them it made them tremble and cry out to Him. The same is true when it comes to the Gospel. It is easy to believe the facts of the Gospel, but it begins to be harder to believe when a person’s sin begins to be opened to his or her eyes. They being to wonder if they really believe because, they think, how can such a sinful person believe? Here is a very fine point (fine in the sense of the fine point of a needle). The Holy Spirit is the only One who can truly convict a person of sin deep in their person. When that happens, people will go one of two ways. They will struggle with the truth of their sinfulness of they will flee from a sight of their own sinfulness.

When a person flees from a sight of his or her own sinfulness, that person will be turned over to more and more sin because the person is hiding from the sight of sin and that is a blinding work and a fleeing from the Gospel of the righteousness of Christ. On the other side of things, however, some will struggle for faith and cry out for belief in Christ and His perfect righteousness in the midst of their struggles of whether they believe or not. They will be astonished at their own sin and their capacity and capability for sin, yet they will hang on to their small belief and pray for more. “I do believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). This is the heart of all who truly believe (most likely) when the Lord is pleased to open their hearts to see the depths of their sin. They see the sin and unbelief in their hearts and don’t see the little flame of life that is their souls. The Lord, in His great mercy and kindness, teaches sinners Himself in ways that they cannot do themselves and no other can do. He teaches them and shows them how absolutely and utterly they are undone in themselves.

Until Christ the Prophet of His people teaches the soul and brings it through the fire of trials and temptations, the soul will no truly know itself and as such will think that it has great faith when it has but little or none at all. Those who suppress His teaching about sin will slide into more actual sin while suppressing the knowledge of that as well, but those who seek the Lord for a greater knowledge of themselves will see more sin but they will also begin to see more of the glory of the Gospel of free-grace and a perfect righteousness that comes to sinners by that free-grace. For a soul to earnestly and truly believe in Christ, that soul must leave behind all of its own righteousness, duties, and even all of its sanctification. After all, Christ is the sanctification of all true believers. When a poor sinner who is distraught at the sight of his own sinful and evil heart comes to Christ, that sinner will not bring anything of his own righteousness to Christ because that sinner knows that s/he has none to bring. That sinner knows that it is free-grace alone that can save him or her from sin and that s/he has no sanctification. That sinner wants nothing but Christ alone and wants Him by grace alone because s/he knows there is no other way.

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Examining the Heart 19

April 10, 2014

If ever you saw Christ, you saw Him a Rock, higher than self-righteousness, Satan, and sin (Psa 61:2) and this Rock follows you (I Cor 10:4); and there will be continual dropping of honey and grace out of that Rock to satisfy you (Psa 81:16). Examine if ever you have ever beheld Christ as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Be sure you have come to Christ, that you stand upon the Rock of Ages, and have answered to His call to your soul, and have closed with Him for justification.     Thomas Willcox

The great problem with the Pharisees and seemingly for all of history has been the issue of self-righteousness and pride in the works of self. The little paragraph above by Thomas Willcox is against self-righteousness in all aspects. The proud Pharisee wanted to trust in self, the will of self, and the works of self for a right standing before God, and so the proud heart of people today will look to their civility or their religion for a right standing before God. One interesting thing to note is that almost no one believes this to be true about him or herself. It is always the other person that does this, or perhaps people think that this passed away during the time of the Pharisees.

The human heart is proud, self-centered and full of evil as well as being very deceptive, which makes it easy for the deceiver to work a real deception under the cloak of darkness on human hearts. The deceiver will not work to get all people to believe that they can work their way to heaven by being good enough, but he will attack the heart on the nature of God and then on the nature of depravity and of the Gospel. He will tell people that a loving God will not require perfection from people and so they can relax as long as they are sincere and nice to others. This is nothing more than an attack on God and on the Gospel and it is teaching men that their righteousness is enough. It is a dastardly attack on the Gospel of grace alone and Christ alone. It teaches men that they can be saved by what they do or something in them rather than Christ and grace alone.

Well, some say, that is obvious and I certainly don’t do that. But how many today seem to trust in a creed, being conservative, or standing for moral issues of the day? How many people trust in themselves enough to trust in Christ and how many think that their faith has to be worked up by themselves in order that they may trust in Christ? How many think that “making” Christ Lord and being moral shows that they have faith? How many trust in the fact that they are orthodox and are stringently moral? How many trust in the fact that they believe justification by Christ alone rather than actually trust in Christ alone? How many believe they are converted because they believe that salvation is by grace alone but they don’t really rest in grace alone for salvation?

The heart must be shredded of faith in itself and believing that it can do anything before it can rest in Christ alone. It is a far different thing to trust in Christ alone by grace alone than it is to believe that one does so. It is easy to go to church and hear sermons that are orthodox as we live moral lives and conclude that we must be believers in Christ. But we must reach an end of self and that comes by the work of God in the soul rather than human strength. We must come to the end of the sufficiency of self that we may see all the sufficiency is found in Christ. We must come to an end of all hope in our sincerity, our orthodoxy, and our morality as a hope on which we stand. If we have hoped in those things we are standing on menstrual cloths at best. The Law was never given as a way of salvation in the slightest, and we must say that orthodoxy and morality were never given as a way to have hope in either. Those things should drive us to Christ that we may rest in Him and His righteousness and grace alone.

A justified soul is one that stands holy and blameless before God because of Christ alone and not because of anything that the soul has done or will ever do. Souls that are weak and wavering should know that they are justified by the cross and righteousness of Christ alone and not because they believe it, but they believe because of grace alone. We must not look to our own faith, but instead we are to look to Christ. We must not look to our own faith, our own sincerity, our orthodoxy, or our own morality because we must have Christ and His righteousness alone. Christ gives those things to His people because of grace, which is to say that He was sent by the Father to save a particular people and not because of anything they have done, can do, or ever will do. God saves sinners because of God and His own glory. That is the heart of grace.

 We must not look to self for anything nor expect anything of ourselves but sin, though we are to grow in holiness. All good comes to the soul as a spiritual blessing and all spiritual blessings are found in Christ. Unsaved sinners must learn to look to Christ alone by grace alone and saved sinners must learn to look to Christ alone by grace alone. All need to learn to live by grace each moment of the day and not just look to a time when we “were saved.” This is to say that Christ must teach us to live by Himself and the grace and honey He gives us each moment. To be justified by Christ is not just something to believe in the head, it is to actually see that Christ saves sinners by Himself and by grace alone. Sinners must actually look to Him with nothing in themselves and see Him by grace alone. They do this by grace alone as well.

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Examining the Heart 18

April 10, 2014

If ever you saw Christ, you saw Him a Rock, higher than self-righteousness, Satan, and sin (Psa 61:2) and this Rock follows you (I Cor 10:4); and there will be continual dropping of honey and grace out of that Rock to satisfy you (Psa 81:16). Examine if ever you have ever beheld Christ as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Be sure you have come to Christ, that you stand upon the Rock of Ages, and have answered to His call to your soul, and have closed with Him for justification.       Thomas Willcox

The true sight of Christ and something of His glory will drive the soul from self-righteousness. After all, if one sees Christ and the glory of His full and complete righteousness that comes to the soul on the basis of grace alone, who would try to work for righteousness which can be nothing better than menstrual cloths? Oh how people fight to maintain how righteous they are and how holy they, whether in their own minds or in the sight of others. But the more people fight for their own righteousness the more they reject the righteousness of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is perfect in righteousness and is infinite in terms of the glory of His righteousness and so there is no need for a person to work for any degree of self-righteousness. In fact, there is every reason not to work for any degree of self-righteousness because in working for it one is not resting in the righteousness of Christ alone.

The Holy Scriptures tell us that “to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Rom 4:4-5). It is utterly vital to stop working for righteousness and not defend self in terms of righteousness. When one has Christ and dwells in Christ and Christ dwells in that soul, any righteousness that comes from that soul comes from Christ and not the self. Christ is far greater in His righteousness and He is far greater than all sin. Sinners must give up all hope in self and look to grace alone to deliver them from trusting in self and self-righteousness. It is the empty and the humble and those who have been turned from their self-sufficiency who are enabled by grace to look to Christ alone by grace alone.

The soul that has Christ and follows Christ will taste of the sweetness of Christ as of honey to the tongue. We are told to “taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psa 34:8) and as such we are to know that Christ is better to the soul than anything. Christ is food indeed and Christ is drink to the soul. Christ is the milk to the weak and meat to the strong. Christ is dessert to those who want something sweet. Christ and Christ alone is fit for the soul that the sovereign grace of God has fitted for Him. The soul that has Christ sees His grace in all things. In the afflictions of life we can see that the grace of God is working in the afflictions and in our souls to make us more like Christ. In our sufferings and trials we can know that God has a greater purpose in them as He is working to humble us, but humility for the purpose of filling us with the grace of Himself and His own glory. As the soul is humbled and begins to taste of the sweetness of Christ and of grace, so the soul begins to bow in deeper humility before Him. It is in that humble soul that the sweetness of Christ and of His grace is tasted and is digested so that the soul becomes stronger and stronger.

The question, then, is raised by Willcox above. Have we ever beheld this Christ? Notice that the question is not have you worked hard to see Christ and it is not have you beheld Christ in the fullness of His glory. But have you beheld Christ even a little? Do you see that despite your weakness and your many sins that you are enabled by grace to behold Christ just a little? Do you grieve that you don’t see Him more? Do you see something of His glory and know that you have some delight in Him and some love for Him that does not come from your flesh but from the Spirit of the living God? Behold how Christ treats weak and doubting sinners: “A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY” (Mat 12:20).

For those who are battered and think they are barely hanging on (if at all), know that in Christ there is a complete justification for sinners based simply and only who Christ is and what He has done. Know that He has not promised to save the strong in faith and the self-confident, but those who are weak and have no strength in themselves. Christ did not promise to save the moral, but sinners and even the most vile of sinners. You have no need to punish yourself for sin, Christ has suffered fully for sin and made a complete satisfaction to the Father. There is no need to look at your sin as if it is greater than the righteousness of Christ, because it is nothing compared to His righteousness. There is no need to look to yourself for faith because He gives faith by grace alone as well. So to the weak believer who may think that s/he does not have faith enough, how much faith does it take? Isn’t something like faith as a mustard seed? But where does that faith come from? Look to Christ for faith by grace as well. Sinners are saved by grace alone and not much grace and a little of your faith. Bow and cry out for God to give you Christ by grace. Faith is the empty hand that simply asks and then receives.

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