Sep 11
9
Consider Jesus– as Receiving Sinners- Winslow
“This man receives sinners!” –Luke 15:2
Nothing gave greater offence to the scribes and Pharisees than the divine mission of Jesus to save sinners. No greater and more virulent accusation could they allege against Him, than that, He extended His compassionate regards to the vile and the wretched, admitting the most flagrant offenders to His mercy, and inviting the most notorious sinners to His fellowship. And yet this, His greatest reproach, was His highest honor. Pluck this jewel from His mediatorial crown, and it has lost its costliest gem. Extract this note from the “joyful sound,” and you have hushed its sweetest melody. Remove this object of His mission from His coming, and you have reduced His incarnation, sufferings, and death to a gigantic waste.
Oh, with what glory does the fact that, “This man receives sinners,” invest the Son of God! How should our hearts glow with gratitude, praise, and love! If the individual who makes two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, is regarded as a public benefactor; if we deck the person of him who, at the risk of his own, saves the life of another, what shall we feel towards the Son of God who, in the plenitude of His compassion and love, bowed the heavens, and came down to save countless myriads of our race from the “bitter pains of eternal death”!
Yes, “He receives sinners.” He receives them as sinners–lost, undone, self-destroyed sinners–sinners too vile and too helpless to save themselves–who, if He does not save them, never can be saved. He receives sinners of all conditions and of every hue, of every depth of guilt and character of crime. Oh, if there were a sinner out-sinning all sinners–every sin tainting, every crime attaching to him–an abandoned profligate, an unbelieving scorner, a reviling blasphemer, a red-handed murderer, a profane infidel, a daring atheist, a moral parricide whose transgressions have broken a mother’s heart and bowed a father’s gray hairs in sorrow to the grave–sins as scarlet and red as crimson–as a cloud for darkness, and as the sands on the sea shore for multitude–if, I say, there be such a one whom He would not save, and could not save, then would there be silence in heaven and exultation in hell at the announcement that Jesus Christ had ceased to save to the uttermost bounds of sin and guilt all who, in penitence and faith, came to God through Him.
It follows, then, that, receiving them just as they are, He receives them freely, apart from all fitness or worthiness, of their own. “By grace are you saved.” “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” What a joyful sound! Come, then, O my soul, to Jesus, without hesitation or delay.
“Just as I am I and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot;
To Him whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come.”
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THE BRIEF GOSPEL
“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said,”
“Only believe!” — Mark 5:36
The briefest of the “words of Jesus,” but one of the most comforting. They contain the essence and epitome of all saving truth.
Reader, is Satan assailing you with tormenting fears? Is the thought of your sins — the guilty past — coming up in terrible memorial before you, almost tempting you to give way to hopeless despondency? Fear not! A gentle voice whispers in your ear, “Only believe. Your sins are great — but My grace and merits are greater! ‘Only believe’ that I died for you — that I am living for you and pleading for you, and that ‘the faithful saying’ is as ‘faithful’ as ever, and as ‘worthy of all acceptance’ as ever.”
Are you a backslider? Did you once run well? Has your own guilty backsliding alienated and estranged you from that face which was once all love, and that service which was once all delight? Are you breathing in broken-hearted sorrow over the holy memories of a close walk with God, “Oh that it were with me as in months past, when the candle of the Lord shone on me!” “Only believe.” Take this your mournful soliloquy, and convert it into a prayer. “Only believe” Him whose ways are not as man’s ways, “Return O backsliding children — and I will heal your backsliding!”
Are you beaten down with some heavy trial? Have your fondest schemes been blown upon — your fairest blossoms been withered in the bud? Has wave after wave of trouble been rolling upon you? Has the Lord forgotten to be gracious? Hear the “word of Jesus” resounding amid the thickest midnight of gloom — penetrating even through the vaults of the dead, “Believe, only believe.” There is an infinite reason for the trial — some lurking thorn that required removal — or some gracious lesson that required teaching. The dreadful severing blow — was dealt in love! God will be glorified in it, and your own soul made the better for it. Patiently wait until the light of immortality is reflected on a receding world. Here you must take His dealings on trust. The word of Jesus to you now is, “Only believe.” The word of Jesus in eternity (every inner meaning and purpose being unfolded), “Did I not tell you — that you will see God’s glory if you believe?”
Are you fearful and agitated in the prospect of death? Through fear of the last enemy, have you been all your lifetime subject to bondage? “Only believe.” “As your day is — so shall your strength be.” Dying grace will be given — when a dying hour comes! In the dark river, a sustaining arm will be underneath you — deeper than the deepest and darkest wave. Before you know it, the darkness will be past, the true Light shining — the whisper of faith in the nether valley. “Believe! Believe!” will be exchanged for angel-voices exclaiming, as you enter the portals of glory, “No longer through a glass darkly — but now face to face!”
Yes! Jesus Himself had no higher remedy for sin, for sorrow, and for suffering — than those two words convey. At the utmost extremity of His own distress, and of His disciples’ wretchedness, He could only say “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me.” Believe — only believe. “Lord, I believe — help my unbelief.” John MacDuff, 1858.
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Modern Church Machinery
from Spurgeon’s sermon, “FAITH OMNIPOTENT”
Friends! the Churches of Christ have no need of the Modern
Machinery which has supplanted the Simplicity of Faith.
I verily believe, if the Lord swept the church committees
and missionary societies out of the universe, we would be
better without them.
I hope the Church will soon say, like David in Saul’s clanking
armor, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them,”
and with only her sling and her stone, confident in her God,
I trust she will confront her foe.
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We Can Do All Things, If We Can but Trust Christ.
“All things are possible to him that believes.”
But nothing is possible to your schemes, and to your systems.
God will sweep them away yet, and happy shall be that
man who shall lead the van in their utter destruction!
Go up against her, take away her bulwarks, for they are not
the Lord’s; he did not ordain them, nor will he stand by them.
Act in faith, O you people of God, and prove the power of
prayer, for “all things are possible to him that believes.”
The fact is, God does not need our power, but our weakness;
not our greatness, but our nothingness.
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NEVER!
The following is by J. C. Ryle
“I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
Let every believer grasp these words
and store them up in his heart.
Keep them ready, and have them fresh in your memory;
you will need them one day.
The Philistines will be upon you,
the hand of sickness will lay you low,
the king of terrors will draw near,
the valley of the shadow of death
will open up before your eyes.
Then comes the hour when you will find nothing so
comforting as a text like this, nothing so cheering
as a real sense of God’s companionship.
Stick to that word, “never”.
It is worth its weight in gold.
Cling to it as a drowning man clings to a rope.
Grasp it firmly, as a soldier attacked on all sides grasps
his sword. God has said, and He will stand to it,
“I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”
NEVER! Though YOUR HEART be often faint, and you are sick
of self, and your many failures and infirmities overwhelm you-
even then the promise will not fail.
NEVER! Though THE DEVIL whispers, “I shall have you at last;
yet a little time and your faith will fail, and you will be mine.”
Even then the Word of God will stand.
NEVER! When the cold chill of DEATH is creeping over you,
and friends can do no more, and you are starting on that
journey from which there is no return-
even then Christ will not forsake you.
NEVER! When the day of JUDGMENT comes, and the books are
opened, and the dead are rising from their graves, and eternity
is beginning- even then the promise will bear all your weight;
Christ will not leave His hold on your soul.
Oh believing reader, trust in the Lord for ever,
for He says, “I will never leave you.”
Lean back all your weight upon Him, do not be afraid.
Glory in His promise.
Rejoice in the strength of your consolation.
You may say boldly, “The Lord is my Helper, I will not fear.”
—
I believe
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Acts 8:37
Perhaps you have thought, “this is not a very thorough confession, surely you must believe more than this, in order to be saved.” No, this is faith, this is what faith confesses, and all else is secondary. If someone says, I believe Jesus Christ died on a cross, this is a weak confession because you do not tell Who Jesus Christ is. The act of dying on a cross adds nothing to the thing; the vital issue is Who is it that died? If it was the Son of God, then let us marvel and worship. I was accustomed to hearing as a young man, in the religion in which I was involved, “the Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” This is not true. The Gospel is a Person. These events are meaningless unless the right One performs, accomplishes them. Is not this the way Paul wrote? Chris Cunningham
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Secretly, quietly, insidiously, plausibly
(J. C. Ryle, “Pharisees and Sadducees”)
“Watch out for false prophets! They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves!” Matthew 7:15
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light!” 2 Corinthians 11:13-14
False doctrine does not meet us face to face, and proclaim that it is false. It does not blow a trumpet before it, and endeavor openly to turn us away from the truth as it is in Jesus. It does not come before us in broad day, and summon us to surrender. It approaches us secretly, quietly, insidiously, plausibly, and in such a way as to disarm our suspicion, and throw us off our guard. It is the wolf in sheep’s clothing, and Satan in the garb of an angel of light—who have always proved the most dangerous foes of the church of Christ.
Let us be on our guard against the “insidiousness” of false doctrine. Like the fruit of which Eve and Adam ate—at first sight it looks pleasant and good, and a thing to be desired. “Poison” is not written upon it, and so people are not afraid. Like counterfeit coin, it is not stamped “bad.” It passes for the real thing, because of the very likeness it bears to the truth.
Let us be on our guard against the “very small beginnings” of false doctrine. Every heresy began at one time, with some little departure from the truth. There is only “a little seed of error” needed to create “a great tree of heresy!” It is the little stones, which make up the mighty building. It was the little pieces of lumber, which made the great ark that carried Noah and his family over a deluged world. It is the little leaven, which infiltrated the whole lump. It is the little flaw in one link of the chain cable, which wrecks the gallant ship, and drowns the crew. It is the omission or addition of one little item in the doctor’s prescription, which spoils the whole medicine, and turns it into poison!
Let us never allow a little false doctrine to ruin us, by thinking it is “but a little one,” and can do us no harm.
There are three things which we never ought to trifle with:
a little poison,
a little sin, and
a little false doctrine.
Let us read the Bible regularly, daily, and with fervent prayer. Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing—which is not in the Bible. Let our rule of faith, our touchstone of all teaching—be the written Word of God. “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20
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BELIEVE
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:23, 24
The Lord wants us to believe in his character, in His faithfulness, in His finished work. This seems like an easy task when all is well, when our children are well, when we, and all around us are strong and life is good. Give us a sick child, such as in the scripture here or circumstances that are out of our control and we begin to see that we believe but need God’s help to stop our unbelief. The more God helps us to see and feel our own weaknesses the more we look to Christ to fulfil all our spiritual needs. The more we know of Christ the more we will be able to believe in His work alone. Believer continue to look to Christ, ask, knock and seek to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him, who will never leave you or forsake you.