ResponsiveReiding

Be willing always to suspect mixed motives in your own heart – and you will not be on the defensive when others question you. Owning our sin and sinfulness is the only sure way to have it dealt with in Christ.

When inviting sinners to trust Christ, Spurgeon, the “Prince of the Victorian Preachers” once preached thus:

“I am sure you may come, my friend, because you are the very sort of character that is bidden to come. “This man receiveth sinners.” Is not that your name? Does not the Lord say, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts”? Is not that you? Well, if it be you, then come to him. He calls you;—you distinctly, for so he describes you; so, surely, you may come to him. I have often said that, if I had read in the Bible, “Charles Spurgeon may come to Christ,” there was a time when I should have said, “That must mean somebody else whose name is the same as mine; it is not meant for me.” Then I should have wanted to know the address, and if it had been Nightingale Lane, I should have said, “Ah! there was a man of the name of Spurgeon living there, no doubt, years ago, so the promise may have been for him.” I should never have felt sure about the matter; but when it says, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;”—well, the devil is a great liar, but he never tried to make me believe that I was not a sinner. If he did, I should tell him I knew better than that. On the contrary, he is often telling me what a sinner I am, and I am much obliged to him for that; because, the more clearly he makes me out to be a sinner, the more certain I am that I am one of those whom Christ came to save. Martin Luther used to say, “This is true wisdom, to cut off the devil’s head with his own sword; when he charges you with guilt, reply, ‘It is quite true, I am a sinner; and, therefore, I am one whom Christ came to save.’ ” We know that Christ gave himself for our sins, but he never gave himself for our virtues; so we, having sins and iniquities, come to him as guilty sinners, and he saves us from our sins.¹

¹ C. H. Spurgeon, “Taking Hold of God’s Covenant,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1902), 34.

Vss 4-5. These 2 verses are in no wise contradictory, but in fact establish a most important principle: Scripture speaks to people on all sides of a question.

There are passages which speak of great assurance to those of weak but believing hearts – (Matt. 12 how the Messiah would not break a bruised reed or put out a smoldering wick), and conversely give great warnings to those who are complacent and careless in their spiritual lives – (Luke 12:47-48 “that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”)

The Bible shows both how our faith is to be exercised, and how God works through it, And at the same time we see that God does not need our faith in order to work.

Believing women have absolutely equal spiritual status with men before God, and yet the roles of men and women in the Church differ.

Countless multitudes throughout the centuries had little or no personal access to the Bible and yet lived godly, Christ honoring lives. But to neglect or ignore the Word does irreparable damage to the soul.

Many Christians throughout the centuries have been debarred from Church gatherings and yet are pleasing to God. And many need to be exhorted to not to willfully forsake the gathering of the saints.

Such examples in Scripture and life are numberless. But the Word is so designed to speak to all in differing circumstances. And which may be what applies most to me at that any given time may be vastly different.

So it is to the one who is confident in their religion or perhaps even their spiritual heritage for right standing before God – we have Matt. 3:9-10 “And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And to those outside the camp, we have Eph. 2:11-13 “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Eph. 2:14-19 “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

Hallelujah!

God is HOLY – not of or bound to this material world and its values.

It is fascinating to see how many look at the descriptions of the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21 with its 12 magnificent pearl gates, street of gold and gem stones for foundations – and think of this in terms of material wealth.

There are no store in Heaven. No places to spend money. Material wealth plays no role whatever. That is not the point of God’s great blessings upon us.

The royal Jewel of Heaven, of the new heavens and the new earth – is Christ Himself. To be in His presence. To gaze on His glory. To be with Him in all of His manifest glory for eternity. THIS! Is wealth. And why wearing ourselves out to get rich here and now is so utterly foolish and contrary to the economy God wants us to live in.

Remember Jesus words?: ““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matt. 6:19-21

There is no form of wealth, be it material, health, employment, family or even just plain happiness in this life but what is truly fleeting. If these are all we aim for, it is all we will have. And in the end then, we’ll be left with nothing. So the text reminds us the accumulation of material wealth is not a right goal. It is purely temporal. You are not.

Father, how easily I go down this path, and make the possession of temporal, earthly goods something to consume my time and effort. Free me from it. Make me to pour all that I have and am into the advancement of your kingdom, within myself and others. Show me the way of true wisdom in this regard.

It takes no skill to get into arguments. Any idiot can bicker, fight argue and quarrel. This is the domain of fools. To avoid these or end them once they’ve begun, this takes wisdom, courage, self-control and uprightness. It is sad to see how many who bear the name of Christian are noted almost exclusively for their ability to enter into one conflict after another. They seem to be on endless crusades against others. Oh that we would expend the same energy fighting our own sinfulness.

Heavenly Father, make it so in my life.

Seeking debate is not an honorable pursuit. Preach the Gospel? Yes. Whenever and wherever we can. But deliberately go seeking debate? No. Jesus went about preaching, not looking for debates. When issues were brought to Him, He did not dodge them. But He didn’t try to be an agitator either.

The weapons of our war are spiritual, not carnal. And it is in preaching the truth and the Gospel of Christ that we best “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.” Logic is good and right. God is rational and rational thought is honoring to Him. But the soul is not argued into Christ’s Kingdom – it is instead the power of the Gospel in producing faith by the Spirit that does so.

I fear many today have given up on the simple Gospel as though it is not sufficient to meet the need of the day. Preaching Christ and Him crucified, proclaiming the Gospel – this is God’s appointed means. We cannot improve upon it.

Yes, we are to give an answer to everyone who asks for the reason behind the hope in which we live. Rationally and soundly. But our best tactic is not to curse the darkness. You cannot end darkness by denouncing it as dark. You can only bring light instead. And Christ alone is the Light of the World. Preach Christ!

Fear can be a terrible and tormenting thing. It can also be very liberating. If, that is, we fear the right things. Right fears keep us from other fears. That is the point of this text. If one fears the God who gives and rules life, one need not fear what life may bring. Such fear brings peace and satisfaction.

When I was a young man, I feared the jeers and rejection of my peers. When one is young and unsure, fear of not fitting in can be a tremendous burden. Fear of certain groups like those I labored to make my friends, soon brought with it pressures to participate in their activities. Activities that were certain not to be approved of by my parents, and in some cases by the police either. In fact, fear of being excluded, laughed at, rejected, etc. even allowed me to overcome fear (in some circumstances) of getting caught and/or punished.

The day came, when yielding to such pressures and fears found me entering into actions that soon brought me face to face with the police and the courts. Even the threat of those things was not as great as the fear of not participating in what I knew was dead wrong. Then, up to my neck in trouble, I finally had to break down and tell my Dad what I had done. He did not respond with rage, or threats or punishments or anything else of the like. But Oh! The hurt and disappointment that filled his eyes that day. I would rather had gone to jail and suffered physical harm than to see what that produced in him. In his crushing, I was crushed. And, I never did the like again. I feared ever to be responsible for doing such a thing to him again.

Time and maturity work together to make us more afraid of things like the law and the dangers we once risked so carelessly in our youth. But The Cross, brings us face to face with the horrors of our betrayal against our holy, perfect, Heavenly Father. Metaphorically, if we could have seen the eyes of God in our fall in Eden, and glimpsed the hurt and disappointment that we His image-bearers brought to Him – I dare say we would fear to bring such reproach upon Him once more. And such fear, that fear borne of true love, would keep us from a host of evils, culminating in a rest and satisfaction that the world cannot disturb by its parade of worthless enticements.