Not So Random Thoughts 18

September 14, 2017

Matthew 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. 15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits. 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.’

I wonder how many people hear or read through these words and pass on by them in a thoughtless manner. I wonder how many people have heard or read through these words and since they have prayed a prayer or walked an aisle they never even gave these passages a serious thought. How many people have been told that if you pray this prayer you should never doubt your salvation and as such they blow off passages like Matthew 7? There are perhaps multitudes that have been inoculated against the truth of Christ because of a false teaching of the gospel and of assurance. Yes, it is true, wrong theology can inoculate people against the truth of Christ and the Gospel.

Do people really believe that they must enter through the narrow gate and the narrow way? No, they are simply told that they must believe or walk the aisle. The idea that they must enter through a narrow gate and walk a narrow way is unheard and would be unwelcome. Yet the Lord Jesus tells us without equivocation that the gate is wide and the way is broad to destruction. In other words, it is easy to be on the way to destruction and think that you are on the way to life. Yet Jesus tells us that many are on that road to destruction. On the other hand, we are told that the way to life has a small gate and a narrow way. There are few who find it.

The text goes on to tell us to beware of false prophets. Part of what a false prophet does is to tell people that they are on the way to life when in fact they are on the way to destruction. One of the major reasons that there are so many people on the way to destruction is because of the many false prophets we have had and still have. False prophets are selfish and greedy men. They want the honor of being followed so they are not going to tell people that they must go through a narrow gate and follow a way that is narrow. The false prophet, though indeed some may be strict in their external practices of religion, is one that follows the way of self rather than the way of Christ. The false prophet speaks smooth things and does not want to disturb people who are on the way to destruction as they might stop their tithing or their honoring him.

The Sermon on the Mount has been honored as a system of morality and good teaching, but it appears that the passage quoted above is ignored. It does not easily fall into a system of morality and it is not easy teaching. In fact, it obliterates it. Those who go through the motions of an easy religion should be shaken. Those who go through an extreme form of external religion should also be frightened. This passage is speaking to religious people who are aware of eternal things to some degree and it is telling us that the vast majority of religious people are on the way to destruction. The text is not telling us about the careless or the indifferent, it is telling us about those who are in the way of true religion in some way.

What is the problem? Can it be true? Is it still true in our day? Can it possibly be the case that the vast majority of professing Christians are lost and on the way to destruction in our day? What does this say of the prophets or preachers who have such easy ways of salvation? What does this say of those who have such easy and popular messages? What does this say of those who are unwilling to issue a warning to people about what a false profession is? Can we really believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and not take to heart His strong words in this passage? Does it shake us up just a little? Will we just go on in our easy lives with an easy religion? If so, then it sure appears that we are on the broad road.

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Thoughts on the Church 4

September 12, 2017

If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. (Augustine)

Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

The churches (even the gospel churches) are worldly in spirit, morally anemic, on the defensive, imitating instead of initiating and in a wretched state generally because for two full generations they have been told that justification is no more than a “not guilty” verdict pronounced by the Heavenly Father upon a sinner who can present the magic coin faith with the wondrous “open sesame” engraved upon it. (A.W. Tozer)

“Justification is the article by which the church stands and falls.” (Martin Luther)

If it is the case that justification is the article by which the church stands or falls, then each church does in fact stand or fall by how they hold to and preach it. Clearly it is not enough to simply agree that this is true, but in fact a person must truly have true faith and truly be justified. It is not enough to think that one has true faith and that one is truly justified, but one must be truly justified. In like manner to be a true church the true teachings of Christ and His apostles must be taught concerning justification and those in the church must truly be justified. It is not enough for the professing church to have a creed and for the people to assent to it.

The Church is the body of Christ and nothing less. How does one become a member of the body of Christ? One must be put in there by the sovereign grace of God. God does not just put a person in a building or an organization, but He actually joins a person to Christ Himself. A person is not a member of Christ because of some choice s/he made, but because of what God has done and done by grace alone. My hand did not join my body by a decision, but my hand is part of my body because I was born with it. In the same way a person becomes a member of Christ (body of Christ) when God regenerates the soul and unites it to Christ. In other words, a person becomes a member of the body of Christ in a way that corresponds with the biblical teaching on justification. Justification is by grace alone through faith. Only those that God calls to Himself are justified and it is not the man who runs or the man who wills who is justified.

The essence of what the Church is should determine what it means to be a member of a church and what membership truly is. One cannot simply join the Church, one must be born into the Church and one cannot do this by self-effort and promises. The work of joining the Church is the work of God. This should never be let go of. The way people join churches today is opposite of the Gospel itself. A person becomes a member of Christ by the grace of God, yet local churches require a lot of the person to join their organization. If Christ died for His people to become members of His body, then does a local church have the biblical warrant for denying membership to those who are part of Christ? In the body of Christ people are members of Christ and members of each other. So, on what basis do local churches have in demanding things of people that Christ does not? All true believers are members of Christ and each other, so it would appear that local churches should recognize that all true believers are members of Christ and of those in the local church and that they are members.

The great doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone should establish a biblical church membership. No one can join a professing church in reality unless it preaches the Gospel as it is not a church. No believer should try to join a professing church apart from a clear Gospel preaching. It does not matter what the creed of that local group is, unless the Gospel is being preached there it is deceiving people regarding the Gospel and of salvation. If Luther was correct, and I am not sure how he could be wrong at this point, Rome was not a Church because it did not preach the true Gospel. But that sword cuts both ways. Protestants must take that to heart as well. Rome preached things about Christ. Rome preached that people must have Christ. Rome preached grace. Rome preached faith. Rome denied that it preached works for salvation. Rome preached that a person must be a member of the right church. But Rome did not preach the Gospel and it was not a true Church. When Protestants do not preach the true Gospel, they are not churches either and one should not try to join a professing church like that.

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Thoughts on the Church 3

September 9, 2017

If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. (Augustine)

Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

The churches (even the gospel churches) are worldly in spirit, morally anemic, on the defensive, imitating instead of initiating and in a wretched state generally because for two full generations they have been told that justification is no more than a “not guilty” verdict pronounced by the Heavenly Father upon a sinner who can present the magic coin faith with the wondrous “open sesame” engraved upon it. (A.W. Tozer)

“Justification is the article by which the church stands or falls.” (Martin Luther)

The concept of the local church in our day is far removed from the teaching of the New Testament and perhaps has been for a long time. It is not just important for people to show up on Sunday mornings at a place that has the word “church” on the door and/or sign. It is not just important to sign up and be on the roll of a local “church.” It is not just important to be busy in the local “church.” It is not just important to subscribe to a creed of a “church”. It is not enough just to be a part of or on the roll of a conservative professing church.

If we look at the three quotes and one Scripture from above, one can see that it is utterly vital to be careful in this area. Professing churches preach a so-called gospel that is what the people want rather than what is biblical. That can range from liberal views to conservative thinking on moral issues and theological issues as well. As seen from the quotes above, one can go so far as to think that one is holding to justification by faith alone and be terribly deceived about it. The old self will go far in denying what it wants to deny and “believing” what it wants to believe. It is not simply accepting as true what certain statements say and attaching to them what we want them to mean. We must bow to what Scripture says and what Scripture means in what we believe.

The doctrine of justification is vitally important to the very idea of the Church. If the Church stands or falls depending on its views and treatment of justification, then this is not something that can be minor or not stressed. If the Gospel is not preached, then how can a professing local church be considered to be part of the Church? Luther thought that this was so important that without it there could be no Church. Roman Catholicism denied justification by grace alone through faith alone and by that was considered a non-Church by the Reformers. But again, it is not just any view of justification by grace alone through faith alone that was acceptable and is acceptable. The glorious Gospel cannot just be readily accepted by the human will as if it is free to apply grace to itself. It is not enough to say the word “Gospel” during the sermon as if that is preaching the Gospel, but one must preach the Gospel that is in accordance with Scripture if that person is going to preach the Gospel at all. If the Reformers were right about the Gospel, then one must preach what they preached. We must be careful.

This is no idle thought. How can one be a “member” of a professing church that is not a true church because it does not preach the true Gospel? If the Reformers were right, then it may be that the vast majority of members of professing churches are not members of a true church at all. In our day there are many who profess to be Reformed and they press church membership on others, a focus on the Gospel itself would be more helpful. A person must be a member of Christ to be in the true Church and not just “join” a local professing church. It could be that ministers can be adding many members to a local church and they are doing nothing but making those who join twice the sons of hell that they are.

Modern professing churches in our day are little different than Roman Catholicism in the time before the Reformation. Rome said that one must be a member of Rome in order to be saved. However, being a member of Christ is not the same as being a member of Rome. In our day people are saying that if one is not a member of a local professing church that person is either in sin or is not saved. Of course there is no biblical evidence for this, but that does not stop them at all. The true Church preaches the true Gospel. That is an issue more important than all the talk on membership. If people who focus so much on local church membership would focus on the Gospel instead, they would be far more biblical.

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Not So Random Thoughts 17

September 7, 2017

Matthew 22:29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32 ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB ‘? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.

If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. (Augustine)

Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

The Bible starts off with “In the beginning, God.” It ends with “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.” Virtually the whole time in between is God shining forth His glory in and through sinful men. It is not like we can surprise God with our sins and with the depths of our sinfulness. He has seen it all and from all eternity He has known about the sin of man and in some way He has ordained it. Man hates God and continues to try to hide sin from God and from himself. Sin is truly an abominable thing, yet man makes it worse with his denial and attempt to change God rather than strive against sin.

Man wants to be righteous in and of himself and that is a terrible sin in and of itself. Man was not created to be righteous by his own standards and he was not created to live off of his own strength and wisdom. Holiness will not come by the strength of man and it will not come by the wisdom and power of man. It will only come in utter dependence upon God and His grace. Man not only sins, but in his struggle to be thought of as righteous he goes deeper and deeper into sin.

The proud and selfish heart of man struggles against the thought that he is a sinner and cannot help himself. The proud and selfish heart of man wants to think highly of himself regardless of how low sin has brought him. The proud heart of man will turn to religion in order to better himself, but without realizing it he has just found a way to deceive himself and to feed his own pride. True Christianity is not a way that man can save himself and become righteous by his own works, but instead true Christianity is a way of the grace of God in saving sinners for His own glory. True Christianity is a way where God works in man to make him holy. In other words, the Bible rings with the glory of the grace of God toward sinners rather than ways man can make himself better.

When men are sincere in their belief system and moral system that is either a little off or a long way off, they are sincere but sincerely wrong. Their sincerity can be evident and that will convince others, but when others are convinced they are assuredly worse off than before. False religion is in some ways a hardening of the heart into a false belief system about God. This is why so many modern versions of Christianity are so dangerous. They provide ways for the proud heart of man to be deceived and the proud heart of man does not need more ways. The Joel Olsteens and those of his ilk are obviously teaching error, but it gets worse. There are many who have more truth than Olsteen and yet being closer to the truth is more deceptive in many ways. We live in a day where imposters wear the cloak of truth in many ways and each may be sincere. However, if it does not start with the true God, be filled with the true Christ in all places, and end with His true grace in Christ; then it is nothing more than what deceived people love. People who are deceived love to be deceived in order to keep their sin. They will also give a lot of money (in some cases) to the preachers of deception in order to remain deceived.

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Selfish “Christianity” 85

September 5, 2017

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

“Self is the great antichrist and anti-God in the world, that sets itself above all that is called God…It sits in the temple of God, and would be adored as God…It is so far from bending to the righteous will of the Creator, that it would have the eternal will of God stoop to the humor and unrighteous will of the creature” (Stephen Charnock).

II Cor 4:4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Matthew 6:23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

John 11:40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

The opposite of selfish “Christianity” is a Christ-centered and God-centered Christianity. The opposite of a selfish “Christianity is a humble heart that loves God in Christ. The opposite of a selfish “Christianity” is a broken heart that is not self-reliant. The opposite of a selfish “Christianity” is a person that loves and rests in grace alone. The opposite of a selfish “Christianity” is a church that has Christ as its head. The opposite of a selfish “Christianity” are leaders who recognize that Christ is the true Shepherd of the Church and as such they humble seek the good of the people.

Selfish “Christianity” is the opposite of all true Christianity. It is opposite of what it means to truly bow before God. Selfish “Christianity” is the opposite of what it means to live by grace. It is the opposite of each member of the Trinity and it is the opposite of the Gospel. It is the opposite of what it means to be Christ-centered and God-centered. There can be no true Christianity in a person or a group of people as long as the people are selfish. There can be a lot of the externals of Christianity, a lot of the external teachings of Christianity, but as long as a person is selfish in heart there will be no true Christianity.

A selfish heart will not hear of a true Christ-centeredness, but a heart that has been humbled by God will not hear of a man-centered Christ. Charnock is exactly right, “Self is the great antichrist and anti-God in the world, that sets itself above all that is called God…It sits in the temple of God, and would be adored as God.” Christianity is not present when Christ does not have the throne of submissive hearts. Christianity is not present when self is anti-God and anti-Christ. Christianity is not present when self is setting itself above God. Christianity is not present when self wants to be adored as God.

A selfish heart is a heart that has not been regenerated but instead is dead in sin. A selfish heart is a heart that loves self with all of its being rather than God. A selfish heart is a heart that submits to the selfish desires of the heart rather than to Christ. A selfish heart is the temple of self rather than the temple of the Spirit of God. A selfish heart is a heart that is the image of the devil rather than the image of God in Christ. But again, it is utterly impossible for true Christianity to be where selfishness reigns.

Until this old doctrine is paid attention to people will go on in their selfish religion thinking it is true Christianity. Until God opens the eyes of a soul to its horrible selfishness people will not see their deepest need of being regenerated. Until this doctrine is set out plainly and clearly from the pulpits people will be in great darkness regarding their sin. Until this doctrine of the heart of sin is set out, people will not see how helpless they are in their sin. Until this doctrine of the heart of sin is set out, people will not see their need to be saved from their sinful hearts by grace alone. A selfish heart is the exact opposite of the grace of God and as such it will always remain in opposition to the Gospel of Christ alone and grace alone. May this be declared in such a way where sinners will be broken when they see the despicable self of their own hearts and the glory of a free-grace in Christ.

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Thoughts on the Church 2

September 3, 2017

Matthew 22:29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32 ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB ‘? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.

If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. (Augustine)

Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

It may cause the question to arise as to why the verses above are listed regarding when the discussion is on the Church. The reason for that is that when people are mistaken about God and suppress the truth about God, they are mistaken about the nature of the Church and the churches as well. It took centuries for Roman Catholicism to arise from the traditions of men and then for that to be perpetuated. Could it be that the Reformers did not reform the Church enough regarding what the nature of the Church really is? Could it be that the Reformers were not perfect in all aspects of the Reformation? The point is that we must look to Scripture for the nature of the Church and not just the history of the Church. Selfish men are selfish men when they are religious as well as when they are not.

“If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.” The previous quote is from Augustine and the context is clearly the Gospel, but it can also be applied in the same way to the Church. “If you believe what you like regarding the Church, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel that you believe, but yourself.” This is a devastating comment when applied to any doctrine or theological teachings. The foundation for belief must come from Scripture and not self. When we have self as the basis for what we believe, even if we have many verses to quote to support us, it is self that we lean on.

There have been many posts on how selfish “Christianity” is not true Christianity at all. Surely when this is applied to the doctrines on the Church and churches, we can see that selfish “churches” are not true churches at all. Jesus Christ is Lord of the Church in all things or He is not Lord of the Church or churches at all. The Church is the very body of Christ and must not be made to be anything less. The Church, as the body of Christ, has members and those members are actual parts of the body of Christ. A hand is a member of the body, but the hand never joined the body but it was made to be part of the body when God created it. As such a person is born into the Church and is a member of Christ. A true believer is part of Christ Himself, that is, must be considered to be a member of Christ Himself.

When a person reflects on that, it should change what a person thinks regarding church membership and what a church should be. The local church should reflect something of the true nature of what true membership in Christ is. The local church should point people to a true membership in Christ Himself rather than on what it means to join the local church and all the duties in that. The local church should point people to the lordship of Christ and His grace. The local church is not the Church, it consists of sinners that Christ has saved for His purposes and not for the purposes of ministers or others. Christ saves sinners for His own purposes and glory. Christ is the chief Shepherd and all others are not only under that, but way under that. The local church must not be blown up and out of proportion. It must be a means of seeking and glorifying Christ who is the Head.

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Thoughts on the Church 1

September 1, 2017

Matthew 22:29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32 ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB ‘? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.

If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. (Augustine)

Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

In reading the words above I am struck again at how different the Bible is than modern Churchianity. While the Bible speaks of sin and false religion with great seriousness, it is not that way in our day. The Bible speaks of sin as against God, but men in our day speak of sin as something that harms people. The Bible speaks of all things as if God is the center and purpose of all things, but men in our day speak of men as the center and purpose of all things. The local church becomes the focus of all things as if it is through the church that grace is given.

The Bible speaks of the Church as the very body of Christ. It does not speak of the church as an institution that has a tax-exempt status. The Bible speaks of the Church as the very body of Christ, but it does not speak of the church as being the very body of Christ. The Bible speaks of the Church as having saved sinners as the very members of the body much the same way as a hand is a member of a body, but it does not speak of the church as being made of a membership. The Bible speaks of the Church as being a pillar of the Truth, but it does not speak of the church as having men or creeds as the standard of Truth.

The Bible speaks of God electing sinners to being part of the Body of Christ, but it does not speak of men electing themselves to be in a membership of a church. The Bible speaks of all in the body of Christ as believers, but it does not make that assertion about those who have membership in a church. If the Pharisees could travel on land and sea to make a proselyte, yet in doing so that proselyte became twice the son of hell as themselves, then perhaps we should be far more careful regarding what it means to be part of the true Church.

There are books that have been published today about church membership. That may or may not be fine, but the issue should be just how biblical is it? We find no biblical testimony that people must become members of a local church. We do find clear biblical teaching that regeneration is the sovereign work of God and it is not according to the will (choice) of any man. One would think that the fact that regeneration is a sovereign work of God would weigh on how membership is viewed. One would think that the fact that the Gospel is a Gospel of grace alone would weigh in on how membership is viewed. However, it appears that membership is viewed along Arminian lines and is more in line with free-will than sovereign grace.

People are now told that they are sinning when they will not join a local church. Really? Where do we find that in the Bible? Where is anything at all like that in the Bible? Is it a sign of unbelief that a person will not join (in the modern sense) a local “church” in our day? Surely people are confusing the body of Christ with the local church when they make such statements. This is closer to Roman Catholicism than it is with the Bible. Roman Catholicism used to teach that one had to be in communion with Rome to be a Christian at all. In modern America we have Protestant “churches” teaching that one must be part of them to be thought of as a Christian. All this time I thought a person had to be part of Christ to be a Christian. It is understandable (sort of) for Rome to say that, but it is not understandable for a Protestant to say that. Being on the membership role of a local professing church can be more of a sign of unbelief than true faith. If a local church does not preach the true Gospel, how can it be a church at all? Is it sin not to join a place that does not preach the Gospel of grace alone? No, it is a good thing.

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Selfish “Christianity” 84

August 30, 2017

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

“Self is the great antichrist and anti-God in the world, that sets itself above all that is called God…It sits in the temple of God, and would be adored as God…It is so far from bending to the righteous will of the Creator, that it would have the eternal will of God stoop to the humor and unrighteous will of the creature” (Stephen Charnock).

II Cor 4:4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Matthew 6:23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

John 11:40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

The Gospel is the Gospel of the knowledge of God in the face of Christ. Eternal life is to know God and His Son (John 17:3). We can see a great contrast between the quote from Stephen Charnock above and II Corinthians 4:4-6. The Gospel is all about the glory of God and the Gospel is about knowing God. It is not enough to say a prayer or do some act of the will, the eyes of the soul must be opened and the soul must behold the glory of God. One would think that this would be sufficient to show at least an aspect of the true nature of sin, that is, that men are selfish. When men are blinded to the true glory of the Gospel, they are blinded by their own selfish hearts and desires.

In John 11 we are given the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus told Martha (sister of Lazarus) that if she believed she would see the glory of God. Jesus did raise Lazarus from the dead and it was an undeniable resurrection from the dead. Some saw the glory of God and others did not. Those who saw the glory of God saw that Jesus was the Messiah and that He had the power of life and death. Those who saw the glory of God (believed) saw something of the beauty of God and the shining out of the character of God. On the other hand, those who saw the resurrection and yet did not have faith hated Jesus even more. They went away to tell the Pharisees and as such gain the approval of man.

The Pharisees did not seem to specifically deny that Jesus did in fact resurrect Lazarus, but they hated Jesus because of it. Why is that? It was because they saw that Jesus would take their positions away. Their selfish hearts loved themselves and their own glory and honor so much that they wanted to kill Jesus. What we see with some degree of clarity, then, is that when the glory of God shines men either love it or hate it. Those who hate it are lovers of self rather than lovers of God. Men love their own honor and glory and positions among men and as such do not love Christ.

When the true Gospel is preached, the glory of God shines forth. When the true Gospel is heard in some manner by a selfish heart, that selfish heart hates it. This is why there are few preaching the true Gospel in our day. They are more interested in getting people to make a decision, get baptized, and join the local church that they water the true Gospel down in order to get more decisions. But how can a gospel that is focused on men be the true Gospel? How can a gospel that does not have the true glory of God shining forth in the face of Christ be a true Gospel at all? How can it be a true Gospel when it does not have the good news of God taking away our dead, selfish, and sinful hearts by grace and placing His Spirit in His people that they may love Him? It is a false gospel that does not deliver people from loving the glory of self and grant them a sight of His glory. It is a false gospel that does not give people a new heart which has true faith where they can behold the glory of God in the face of Christ and as such behold the true Gospel. A selfish “Christianity” denies all of that in practice if not reality and is not Christianity at all.

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Selfish “Christianity” 83

August 28, 2017

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

“Self is the great antichrist and anti-God in the world, that sets itself above all that is called God…It sits in the temple of God, and would be adored as God…It is so far from bending to the righteous will of the Creator, that it would have the eternal will of God stoop to the humor and unrighteous will of the creature” (Stephen Charnock).

II Cor 4:4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Matthew 6:23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

The passage of Matthew 6:23 (just above) shows us that selfish “Christianity” is quite the opposite of the Gospel of the glory of God. Once can speak much of Christ and yet not be speaking of the biblical Christ. One can speak much of the facts of the Gospel and speak true (in and of themselves) facts and yet not preach or speak the Gospel of the glory of God. When a preacher or another speaks with a man-centeredness, though indeed he is speaking facts as such, this is making men the focus of the Gospel and as such it is no longer the Gospel of the glory of God. The selfish eye will only accept that which it has twisted to be centered on self. The selfish eye will only accept as “light” what is in fact selfishness.

All the god of this world has to do is blind the minds of those who don’t truly believe and though they may see the facts of the Gospel they do not see the true Gospel of the glory of Christ. This is truly stunning when we think how preaching and evangelism are done in our day. All that is wanted is to present the facts and then people are to respond with a prayer or with a walk down an aisle or something. They are not expected to feel the weight of their sin or see something of the glory of Christ in the Gospel or the glory of God in the face of Christ. The selfish heart cannot see the glory of God in any way as s/he is too enamored with the glory of self. The eye that is bad only allows the darkness of self as light into it and as such it is blinded by the true light and so hates it. The bad eye of selfishness is a natural way that the evil one blinds people to the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The heart of the person with the bad eye (selfish eye) hears some truths or facts of the Gospel and yet is blinded to the light of the Gospel of Jesus. The bad eye twists the Gospel of the glory of Christ into the gospel of the glory of self and as such makes some sort of profession of faith (faith in self, not Christ) and is considered a true Christian. Thus the churches become more and more full of those who do not believe in the true Christ but in reality they are believers in self. This bad eye rejects anything it hears or reads about the true God and yet has enough facts to deceive self into thinking that it has truly been converted. This bad eye has no true light but only has darkness in it.

The heart that is dead in sin is an idol and will not relinquish its throne to anyone and so will readily believe a false gospel of a false god. The true God is a true God of glory and does all to the glory of His own name. The person with the bad eye does all for his or her own glory and purposes and so can hear that facts of the true Gospel and yet twist those facts to where self is the focus. This wicked self will hear the message of the Gospel in such a way that it thinks the Gospel is all about him or her. The wicked self thinks that the Gospel will allow him or her to remain on the throne of self. The wicked self is blind to the glory of God in the true Gospel and as such it can only see its own glory and own interests. A truly converted soul is converted from self to God and as such will behold the glory of God in the Gospel. A truly converted soul is turned to where God is the chief love and not self. A truly converted soul is turned from twisting all to self-interests to beholding the glory of God in all. Once again we can see the great dangers of self being left alone and as such selfish “Christianity” is not Christianity at all.

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Selfish “Christianity” 82

August 25, 2017

John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

And when, in addition to these measures, the general strain of what is said to sinners is adapted to work upon their selfish feelings and animal passions, as most of what I have heard has been, and some of it extremely well adapted to work up those feelings to a high pitch, it would be strange if some affections were not excited which they might readily mistake for true religion. When God is represented as desiring their salvation, without the least qualification, and that his desire for it is infinitely strong, what impenitent sinner, that has the least seriousness of mind, is not prepared to be pleased? If “sinners love those that love them,” as our Lord assures us, they can love such a being as God is represented to be, without any change of heart. A God of all mercy, is just such a God as sinners desire. Will it be said that his justice is also brought into view, and that the terrors of hell are exhibited? True; but in what light are they exhibited? Is it not commonly in a light to which the selfish heart will as readily accord?

WILLIAM R. WEEKS.

“Self is the great antichrist and anti-God in the world, that sets itself above all that is called God…It sits in the temple of God, and would be adored as God…It is so far from bending to the righteous will of the Creator, that it would have the eternal will of God stoop to the humor and unrighteous will of the creature” (Stephen Charnock).

Matthew 6:23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

Regarding the individual, if the eye is bad the whole body is full of darkness. If the very light (or what is called light) that is in the person is darkness, then how great is that darkness. All that enters through that eye is darkness and all that is in that person is darkness. Regarding the professing Church or professing churches, if how they view spiritual things is through self and darkness (the essence of sin), then all that is in them will be darkness since all is interpreted by self. All that is interpreted by self is darkness and as such all that will be in the professing churches will be darkness.

The great horror is that when all that is interpreted by self (darkness or sin) is interpreted in accordance with the essence of sin, then sin appears as righteousness and true righteousness is hated. This cannot possibly be overstated. The selfish eye is darkness and as such the whole soul is filled with darkness. When the soul thinks that it has light and yet that light is darkness itself, how great is the darkness of that soul. The soul that is in that darkness (thinking that it is light) can be given over to a great fervor of religion and yet it all be fueled by self rather than Christ. The soul that is in darkness and yet deceived into thinking it is light may be very studious regarding the Bible, yet all that the soul reads is interpreted by that bad eye and so turn all things to self. The soul that is of self (darkness) can be given to a lot of time in prayer, yet all of that is interpreted by and motivated by self.

The eye that is bad or full of the darkness of self may be taught in the true things of God and yet that eye will not receive them in the true way, but that eye full of the darkness of self will turn all things toward self. This selfish eye that thinks it has light will take orthodox teaching and make them into the things of self. This selfish eye that thinks it has the light will take the true teaching of Christ and His Gospel and make them all about self. The minister with a bad eye will preach, teach, and direct a professing church all for the sake of self and yet think he is doing so for Christ. It is a terrible thing to be under the teachings of Christ and yet see them all with the eye of darkness or self for it is so deceptive.

The eye that is full of the darkness of self will hear of Christ and His work on the cross and be blind to the glory of God in the Gospel and only see the light (in reality it is darkness) of self. The eye that is full of the darkness of self will see something of the attributes of God and yet only see those things in terms of self. The bad eye cannot see things the way they truly are, and the eye of self is the same by analogy. It can only see things in terms of self and it turns all things into the things of self. That is simply how it views things. It will turn nature into things of self and it will turn Christianity into things of self. Even when a person is taught about the sinfulness of self even that is viewed with a selfish eye. Unless the Spirit of the living God changes the eye of the soul, that eye cannot see the true light. Unless the Spirit of God changes the eye to where it can receive true light, it will remain in darkness. Selfish hearts are nothing but darkness and they are helpless in that apart from a Divine work in the soul. We should seek the Lord for that work.

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