Holiness 1

September 26, 2016

Holiness must have a root of its own, a divine nature, to produce it. The new creature cannot rise from the old. As well may figs spring from thistles, or light from darkness, as a spiritual mind from the carnal, or as love to God from enmity towards Him, or as faith from unbelief. Mere morality rises from self, and terminates there; but holiness, springing from a divine nature, tends toward God, centers in God, and ceases not till it comes to God. It contains all morality; but what is called morality may be without holiness, and never will rise up to it. Think not to find in yourself the materials of Gospel-holiness, nor to raise it from the dust of natural endowments. Go to a holy God for holiness.         John Berridge, Gospel Gems

Here is a beautiful statement about the vital nature of holiness. It is vital to grasp this in terms of what biblical holiness is versus a mere morality. It is also very helpful to distinguish between those who are truly regenerate and those who follow the ways of external morality and think that they are regenerate. It may also be very helpful to true believers who have many struggles with sin and their own hearts, yet they look upon others who seem to be confident in their doctrine, their religion, and their holiness.

It is utterly vital to note what Berridge says here in pointing out the source of true holiness. Holiness must, absolutely and positively must, have a root that sinks into the divine nature rather than the human flesh. All human morality and human works apart from flowing from this root of divine nature come from the flesh and as such are loaded with the stench of sin. If it does not come from God, then it is produced from the flesh and as such it is nothing but carnal self that works it up and it does so out of self-love and self-interest rather than love for God. Every act and every motive that the soul has will come from the divine root which comes by the grace of God or it will come from the flesh.

It may be argued that this is a great burden, but the reality of the matter is that it is a great relief. Holiness, then, is not so much a matter of the efforts of self, but instead true holiness comes from true life in the soul. It is, as the book by Scougal points out, the life of God in the soul of man. It is the life of Christ in the soul. It is the soul under the great influences of the Spirit working His fruit into the soul and then through the soul. It is the believer being brought in to share in the divine life (II Peter 1:3-5) and as such the believer becomes a partaker or sharer of holiness (Heb 12:10). These texts should teach us that holiness is not what comes from man, but it is what comes from God. As Jesus said in John 15, apart from Him we can do nothing.

The illustrations used by Berridge points us to the impossibility of holiness coming from the flesh. The new creature does not come from the old creature, but instead the new creature is a new creation of God. Figs cannot come from thistles, so surely it is clear that holiness must come from He who is holy rather than from the flesh which is sinful. Holiness, which is compared to light in the New Testament, cannot come from the darkness of the human flesh, but instead it must come from Christ who is light. Holiness cannot come from a carnal mind, but instead must come from the living God who is thrice holy. Mere morality, as opposed to true holiness, is rooted in self while true holiness is rooted in the divine life.

The morality that is acceptable to men and apparently acceptable to most religious men in our day is really nothing more than what was acceptable to the Pharisees. Their righteousness came from hearts that loved self, which is the only root of morality if one does not have the root of divine life and holiness from which true holiness can alone come from. This teaches us with great clarity that what comes God alone can constitute true holiness. It must come from God and always be focused on Him and be for Him and His glory. External morality is showy at times, but true holiness is aimed at God out of love for Him and His glory.

While some may struggle with their hearts relating to true holiness, those who are at ease do not seem to be in the battle at all. True holiness will cause a battle in the soul as the flesh will war against it, so those who have struggles are most likely those who have true holiness despite what the externals may reflect. The lover of Christ must never be satisfied with the externals, but instead keep focused on the upward goal of true holiness. The lover of Christ must never look to self for holiness, but must always be going to God for holiness. The lover of Christ will not be satisfied with anything but His holiness, but others will be satisfied with the mere outward show of it.

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Justification by Christ 19

September 25, 2016

Justification by faith alone is the article upon which the Church stands or falls. Martin Luther

“4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” — Romans 4:4-5

Subject: We are justified only by faith in Christ, and not by any manner of goodness of our own. The following things may be noted in this verse:

4. It is evident that the subject of justification is looked upon as destitute of any righteousness in himself, by that expression, it is counted, or imputed to him for righteousness. — The phrase, as the apostle uses it here and in the context, manifestly imports that God of his sovereign grace is pleased in his dealings with the sinner, so to regard one that has no righteousness, that the consequence shall be the same as if he had. This however may be from the respect it bears to something that is indeed righteous. It is plain that this is the force of the expression in the preceding verses. In the last verse but one, it is manifest, the apostle lays the stress of his argument for the free grace of God — from that text of the Old Testament about Abraham — on the word counted or imputed. This is the thing that he supposed God to show his grace in, viz. in his counting something for righteousness, in his consequential dealings with Abraham, that was no righteousness in itself.          Jonathan Edwards, Justification by Faith Alone

Those who are justified have no righteousness in and of themselves. They are utterly “destitute” of righteousness themselves and whatever righteousness they have it is imputed to them. To those poor souls who have learned that they are utterly destitute of righteousness, this is good news. They are the ones that God justifies by Christ alone and grace alone. These are the souls that have learned that they are spiritually poor or impoverished of spirit. If Christ does not save them for His own glory and by grace alone, they will never be saved. If God does not justify them in the sense of declaring them just on the basis of Christ alone, they will perish forever. If God does not impute the righteousness of Christ to them and declare them righteous based on that, then they will have no righteousness for all eternity. The poor soul that has been shown just how destitute it is rejoices when Christ becomes his or hers and has the imputed righteousness of Christ to stand in.

It is clear from the context of the passages dealt with and the rest of the Bible that it is sovereign grace that God shows sinners. The whole world has sinned (original sin, all born dead in sin) and the whole world continues to fall short of His glory. There is no one more attractive to God than another, but all are by nature children of wrath. All humanity come into this world as children of the devil and with the poison of asps in their mouths. All human beings come into this world and are opposed to God and at enmity with Him. Yet God saves some to the praise of the glory of His grace. Since it is to the praise of the glory of His grace, the Gospel of Christ alone is all about what Christ has done in the place of sinners. It is not about sinners being able to obtain merit by works or some form of godliness, but instead justification is all about His grace and Christ.

The grace that is spoken of is free-grace which is a grace that is not moved by anything in the human or done by the human. This is a grace that is moved from within God and is for His own glory. This is a grace that comes to sinners as destitute and helpless in themselves and so must have another do all that is needed to save them or they will not be saved. These have no access and no ability to obtain righteousness, so it is only by sovereign and free-grace that righteousness is imputed to them or counted as theirs. As Edwards notes, when God counted something to Abraham as righteousness, this shows that Abraham was not righteous in himself and had no righteousness to count as his.

But again, we must look at our own hearts in light of this. Do we trust (have faith) in anything we have done? Do we trust in the fact that we have believed? Do we trust in the fact that we have done what we think is a good work or trust in good works? Until we have been broken from trusting in anything we have done we will not trust in Christ alone. Until we are broken from looking to any righteousness in ourselves or have lost hope in our ability to do any righteous thing, we will not look to the imputed righteousness of Christ alone. But we must also realize that this being broken is also the gracious work of Christ by His Spirit in our souls. We must not look to our own ability to break our own hearts either. We must not look to our own lack or righteousness or lack of ability as something we have worked up and therefore we can be proud of in a perverted way. It is all a work of grace from beginning to end. It is all to the praise of the glory of His grace!

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Justification by Christ 18

September 24, 2016

Justification by faith alone is the article upon which the Church stands or falls. Martin Luther

“4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” — Romans 4:4-5

Subject: We are justified only by faith in Christ, and not by any manner of goodness of our own. The following things may be noted in this verse:

It is evident in the words, that by the faith here spoken of, by which we are justified, is not meant the same thing as a course of obedience or righteousness, since the expression by which this faith is here denoted, is believing on him that justifies the ungodly. — They that oppose the Solifidians, as they call them, greatly insist on it, that we should take the words of Scripture concerning this doctrine in their most natural and obvious meaning, and how do they cry out, of our clouding this doctrine with obscure metaphors, and unintelligible figures of speech? But is this to interpret Scripture according to its most obvious meaning, when the Scripture speaks of our believing on him that justifies the ungodly, or the breakers of his law, to say that the meaning of it is performing a course of obedience to his law, and avoiding the breaches of it? Believing on God as a justifier, certainly is a different thing from submitting to God as a lawgiver, especially believing on him as a justifier of the ungodly, or rebels against the lawgiver.     Jonathan Edwards, Justification by Faith Alone

Whatever else faith is, the context utterly demands that it is not a way of obedience and is not a way of earning wholly or partially any righteousness to add to the righteousness of Christ. It is true that James teaches us that faith without works is dead, yet James is not teaching that works that flow from faith contribute in any way to God justifying sinners by Christ alone. The faith spoken of here is opposite to good works for justification and is opposite to merit. The faith spoken of here is not what faith can do, but it is all about Christ. The person with faith is the person with Christ. It is not about the works that one does with faith, it is the works that Christ has done and is imputed to the one with Christ.

The phrase of Scripture in its own context is crystal clear on this. We are told that the one whose faith “is counted for righteousness” is the one who does not work for justification and is the one who believes on Him “that justifies the ungodly.” There is no mysterious teaching here, but instead this is plain and straight to the point. The way of the Gospel of Christ and the Gospel of grace is the way of faith. It is not that faith is the single work we come up with that God rewards it with salvation and it is not a way of working harder or better. The way of faith is in accordance with the doctrine of election and in accordance with the way of grace alone. Romans 4:16 tells us this:

Romans 4:16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

The passage just above (Romans 4:16) is in the direct context of Romans 4:4-5. Faith is not a way of doing good works in order to be justified. Faith is not a way of obtaining merit before God so that He will justify us. The biblical doctrine of faith teaches us that it is by faith in order that it may be in accordance with grace, that is, that based totally on the grace of God He will justify sinners by Christ alone. Faith is in accordance with grace so that the promise will guaranteed to all the descendants. In other words, since it is by grace all that the promise is for will be saved. The promise could not be carried out if it depended on the works of men, but instead it depends on the works of God and the promises of God. When sinners are justified by promise, that is, by Christ alone and grace alone, salvation does not depend on their own works and godliness. This is indeed good news.

In terms of the experience of the soul, this is profound. It does not depend upon the soul doing works and gaining merit, but instead the soul must learn not to depend upon itself and look to God alone to justify it by grace alone. The soul must learn to look to God as justifier by grace alone through Christ instead of the lawgiver who gives laws to be obeyed as a way of justification. Instead of working, the soul must learn not to work for justification. Instead of obtaining godliness, the soul must learn to look to God who justifies the ungodly. This is not an easy task, and instead it is as impossible to do this as it is to work for justification. It is Christ who alone can teach the soul and guide the soul in the way of humility and brokenness.

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Justification by Christ 17

September 23, 2016

Justification by faith alone is the article upon which the Church stands or falls. Martin Luther

“4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” — Romans 4:4-5

Subject: We are justified only by faith in Christ, and not by any manner of goodness of our own. The following things may be noted in this verse:
2. It appears, that by him that worketh not, in this verse, is not meant one who merely does not conform to the ceremonial law, because he that worketh not, and the ungodly, are evidently synonymous expressions, or what signify the same, as appears by the manner of their connection. If not, to what purpose is the latter expression, the ungodly, brought in? The context gives no other occasion for it, but to show that by the grace of the gospel, God in justification has no regard to any godliness of ours. The foregoing verse is, “Now to him that worketh, is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” In that verse, it is evident that gospel grace consists in the reward being given without works, and in this verse, which immediately follows it, and in sense is connected with it, gospel grace consists in a man’s being justified as ungodly. By which it is most plain, that by him that worketh not, and him that is ungodly, are meant the same thing, and that therefore not only works of the ceremonial law are excluded in this business of justification, but works of morality and godliness.       Jonathan Edwards, Justification by Faith Alone

The essence of what the sinner does that is justified is vital to the biblical doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone. The person who is justified, that is, declared just by God on the basis of Christ alone is a person that does not work for salvation. This is so important, even utterly vital. The person that is declared just by God has given up on his works for justification and so does not work at all for justification. This does not mean that the justified person will not work out of love for God, but it teaches us that the justified person stops working for justification. While this text does not say what has gone on and is going on in the heart of the person, we can note that if a person has stopped working for justification, the heart of the person has been broken from looking to his own merits and his own abilities.
When God declares the sinner just in His sight, the sinner has stopped working for justification and the sinner is ungodly in and of himself. The sinner has arrived at the inward conviction that if he is working for salvation and that work did in fact contribute to salvation, then he would be earning something of his salvation. But Scripture is quite clear that works do not contribute to salvation. When the Holy Spirit is working in the conscience and in the heart of a sinner, that sinner begins to see that s/he is ungodly and cannot possibly contribute to justification in the slightest way. The sinner that sees himself as ungodly will know (if taught in the inward man) that there is no merit in his works and in fact the best of his works is full of sin. This person accepts the word of God and knows that s/he is ungodly and it must be Christ alone by grace alone if s/he is going to be justified.
Edwards makes a very important point in the paragraph (of his) above. In both verses 4 and 5 it is Gospel grace that is the issue. We cannot work in such a way to obtain merit because it is grace that justifies and not our works. If we had even a bit of godliness, then it is not Gospel grace that justifies apart from anything good found in us. The glory of God’s grace is that God justifies sinners because of Christ and nothing that the sinner has in terms of merit or godliness. In this way we see that Christ and grace shines in the justification of sinners.
Another issue, as pointed out by Edwards, is that it is not just the civil and ceremonial law that men are excluded from keeping as a way of merit, it is also the moral law. Men are ungodly which means that they do not keep any moral law at all in a way that is acceptable to God. It is not that God has divided His Old Testament laws up and now there are some we don’t keep and a few we do, but all law-keeping (for justification) is excluded in terms of His justifying ungodly sinners. All law-keeping is excluded in terms of His justifying sinners who no longer work for justification. The hearts of sinners that are justified by grace alone are broken from trying to earn any part of justification and their hearts are broken from any idea of trying to merit a part of it by their godliness. The justified sinner looks to nothing but Christ alone and His grace alone.

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Justification by Christ 16

September 22, 2016

Justification by faith alone is the article upon which the Church stands or falls. Martin Luther

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” — Romans 4:5

Subject: We are justified only by faith in Christ, and not by any manner of goodness of our own. The following things may be noted in this verse:

1. That justification respects a man as ungodly. This is evident by these words — that justifieth the ungodly, which cannot imply less than that God, in the act of justification, has no regard to anything in the person justified, as godliness or any goodness in him, but that immediately before this act, God beholds him only as an ungodly creature, so that godliness in the person to be justified is not so antecedent to his justification as to be the ground of it. When it is said that God justifies the ungodly, it is as absurd to suppose that our godliness, taken as some goodness in us, is the ground of our justification, as when it is said that Christ gave sight to the blind to suppose that sight was prior to, and the ground of, that act of mercy in Christ. Or as, if it should be said that such an one by his bounty has made a poor man rich, to suppose that it was the wealth of this poor man that was the ground of this bounty towards him, and was the price by which it was procured. Jonathan Edwards, Justification by Faith Alone

In viewing the text (Romans 4:5) it is plain to see that there is nothing in the human being that would move God to declare the person just in His sight. The justification that God declares only respects the human being as ungodly. If God regards the person or beholds the person as ungodly, then the person is ungodly and there is nothing in the person that would move Him to save that person and there is nothing in Him that could declare the person justified in His sight. This is an important teaching regarding the experimental aspect of justification. The soul of the person that is seeking God asking Him to convert the person must not come to God with any hope in anything that the person has done or can do.

There is no room for pride in the person that desires for God to declare him or her just on the basis of Christ alone. Instead, the proud heart must be humbled and broken and stand naked before God. The proud heart of the natural person that looks to self for something and looks to self for some sufficiency cannot have those things if s/he is going to be justified by Christ alone. The heart of man must look to Christ and no one else, especially self. The proud heart that thinks that it can please God and be converted because it now believes or that it came up with faith is still looking to self with trust. If God regards the soul as ungodly, then the soul should regard itself as ungodly and seek the Lord to open its eyes in order to see self in that way.

Edwards is showing all who will read his writings that justification is all of grace and nothing else but grace. In other words, sinners are justified by Christ and Christ alone and there is nothing but ungodliness in the soul of the person. This is seen in the following illustrations. First, when Christ gave sight to the blind, we never assume that there was some sight before the act of mercy in granting sight. No, the person was born blind and Christ gave the person sight. Second, if a rich man saw a man that was totally impoverished and made him rich, we should not assume that the rich man saw that the totally impoverished man had some riches and then gave him more to make him even richer. Both of these illustrations show the absolute folly of trying to attribute something to the ungodly that would move God to save them.

The justification of sinners is by Christ alone and He is moved by Himself and His grace alone. When sinners hear the truth of justification, they will either look to self to some degree or they will seek the Lord to empty them of all of their hope and trust in self. There is no middle ground. If the soul that has Christ trusts in Christ alone and the proud soul is not right before God, then souls should seek the Lord to humble them and break them from their trust in themselves. If God saves the humble, yet unregenerate souls are full of pride and enmity against God, then those who see the truth of justification should seek the Lord to empty them of pride and to break their hearts from their enmity toward God. The soul that God declares just before Him based on Christ alone by grace alone will work the trust that sinners have in themselves out that they may rest in Christ alone.

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Nature of True Preaching 7

September 21, 2016

I would have you notice, moreover, that theology itself, in certain of its aspects, has shared in the pessimistic reaction. There are those, for example, whose reflections on the contemporary scent have landed them in hopeless dualism. The world, as they see it, is the battleground where dark demonic forces wage war unceasingly with the hosts of heaven. By this conflict God Himself is limited, thwarted in His purposes, constrained to strive and struggle indecisively for the realization of His holy will. It is quite oblivious of the repeated trumpet note of the New Testament—that at the cross once for all Christ raided the dark empire and vanquished the demons, and led captivity captive.          (James Stewart, Heralds of God)

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

I visited a local congregation in another city this past Lord’s Day. One of the reasons I attended this particular place is that it advertises (found this by Google) itself as Reformed. There is no real need to go into details about what it means to be Reformed, but after tasting this for one Sunday I did not find any flavor of Reformed in it. There was also little (at best) to nothing of Christ and His cross and His Gospel in it either. There was nothing of the note of the New Testament (as Stewart says above) that at the cross Christ has won the battle and the war. There was nothing of the cross and there was nothing of grace. It was all about how men were to be faithful.

Are men to be faithful? Well, of course they are. But can they be faithful simply by listening to stories of how the pastor was faithful? Can they learn about how they cannot be faithful apart from grace simply by listening to the pastor tell them that they need to make a decision to be faithful? While the preacher was not an example of true preaching, he did serve as an example of the great need for there to be true preaching and the importance of why there needs to be true preaching.

For there to be true preaching the glory of God in Christ needs to be the focus and not the preacher. I learned more about the preacher this past Sunday than I did anything else. In fact, I heard more about the preacher than anything else this past Sunday. He spent the majority of His time speaking of how he was faithful rather than the faithfulness of Christ. He spent his time talking about his experiences (as interpreted by him) rather than the Scriptures and of the glories of God in the face of Christ. The preacher cannot be the focus of the sermon in any way or it is not true preaching. Jesus Christ is the light of men and not the preacher.

I went to this congregation with the longing of hearing about the true glories of God and how they are demonstrated in and by Christ. The whole world was created through Christ and for Christ, so one would think that going with a desire to hear of Christ would be appropriate and biblical. I guess it should suffice to set out a series of points regarding preaching in light of the fact that Christ has vanquished the enemy at the cross.

1. Preaching should focus on Christ and His glory and not the preacher himself.
2. Preaching should set forth the victory of Christ and not the victories of the preacher.
3. Preaching should be God-centered and not centered on the preacher.
4. Preaching should always have Christ and His cross in view as that is all we have to boast in.
5. Preaching should deal with the Scriptures as interpreted by the truth of Christ, not the experiences of the preacher.
6. Preaching should glory in the Gospel and how it shows Christ as our hope rather than our hope being faithfulness or any other fruit that comes by grace alone.
7. Preaching should look to the faithfulness of Christ as our hope of faithfulness.
8. Preaching should empty sinners of hope in themselves and not put obedience on them apart from grace to do it.

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Sobering Thoughts 5

September 20, 2016

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

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

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

It is imperative to understand that the words in these texts of Scripture are pointed to religious people who are doing religious things and think that they are on the road to life or enter the kingdom. Not everyone who calls Christ Lord will enter the kingdom. Not everyone who believes in the deity of Christ will enter the kingdom. Not everyone who has sound theology will enter the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone who prophesies or preaches in the name of Christ will enter the kingdom. Not everyone who casts out demons in His name will enter the kingdom. Not everyone who performs many miracles in His name will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again, this should sober our hearts. If we take the passage from Luke and the earlier passage in Matthew and look at the numbers in them, we could say rather safely that it may be few of those who call Jesus Lord who will enter the kingdom. It may be that only few of those who preach and or prophesy in His name will enter the kingdom. It may be that only few of those who cast out demons will enter the kingdom. It may be that only few of those who performed many miracles will enter the kingdom. Oh how these people will cry and look to their miracles and their works that they thought were demonstrative actions that showed that they were saved. These people cry out to Christ and ask Him to look at the religious things that they have done, but He tells them that He never knew them and to depart from Him. “DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

On judgment day those words will sink the hearts of those who receive them into utter and total despair and they will never be in anything else but total despair. Only those who do the will of the Father will enter into the kingdom. Only those whose life can be described as not in the practice of lawlessness will enter in. These are not academic points, these are points of eternal value and importance. Jesus told us that if we love Him we will obey His commandments. In other words, those who will enter life will not be religious in their own way and follow themselves in the things of religion, but they will love God and follow Him.

This is again quite vital. We must be sobered up by this hard teaching, yet we must never think that we can earn our way into heaven. The only way into heaven is by the free-grace of God. The only way is by Christ and Christ alone. In other words, all the religious people in the world can never obtain life in all the religious things they do. Instead of obtaining life by them, they are living in lawlessness because they are living in clear disobedience to God. Instead of picking and choosing the things we want to do, we must bow before God and ask for His grace to do all He commands. However, instead of doing them in the flesh and religious zeal, we must have true love for God in order to do anything that is acceptable to Him. However, let us never forget that the love we have for God is given to us by His free-grace. It is only when we live in love for Him and guided by His will and receive all from Him by grace that we truly keep the law. All else will end is building a house on sand and the coming storm of judgment will destroy it with a great fall.

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Sobering Thoughts 4

September 19, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sobering Thoughts 3

September 18, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sobering Thoughts 2

September 17, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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