May 14
10
Religion and Eternal Life – The Difference
Romans 8:38-39
Religion is to know biblical facts; life is to know God (I John 5:20). Religion is to know what I believe; life is to know Whom I believe (II Timothy 1:12). Religion is to be baptized into the church; Life is to be baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3). Religion is to be reformed, life is to be regenerated (John 3:3). Religion is to be a new convert; life is to be a new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17). A man was asked, “And what is your religious persuasion?” He replied, “I am persuaded that nothing can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
– Pastor Henry Mahan
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Christ is figuratively regarded as coming down to “the Garden of nuts” (the Church on earth) to hold communion with His members—they transporting their chariots of faith and love up to the Gates of Heaven to quicken His approach—”before I ever knew it—my soul bore me (margin) on the chariots of a willing people” (6:12).
The Great Redeemer, the Heavenly Bridegroom, is now represented under the leading emblem of the Book, as surveying the beauties and excellences of His betrothed bride. “Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon you.” Amazed at His condescension she replies—”What will you see in the Shulamite?” “What, O my Savior, will You see in me?” by nature lost, by daily transgression incurring Your displeasure; my love so weak, my resolutions so feeble—”What will you see?” Nothing but a divided heart; “the company of two armies.” Grace on the one hand, corruption on the other; faith on the one hand, sight and sense on the other; the remains of the carnal mind still enmity against God, the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.
And did You not “cover my head in the day of battle”—fight for me the good fight of faith; restrain my foes and curb my wavering affections; I would long ago have been able only to tell of one army; that I was leagued on the side of Satan against You; the helpless victim of my own legion-sins, my present tyrants, my future tormentors. Even now, with all Your wondrous mercy and gracious forbearance, I feel too often and too mournfully the tendency of the evil heart of unbelief. Self-abased, and self-condemned, alas! I need no other lips than my own to attest the humbling reality—You see nothing but “as it were the company of two armies” (2:13).
Her Lord replies in the verse of the text. The whole chapter is an apostrophe to her. She is in herself full of conscious unworthiness—blemishes and shortcomings which seem to mar her best services and highest consecration. But He sees her clothed in the bridal attire of His own righteousness, having “neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing,” and instead of upbraiding her for avowed imperfections, He begins with the words—“How beautiful are your sandaled feet, O Prince’s daughter!”
She is one of the adopted children of the “King of kings,”—those who, by virtue of their spiritual relationship to the Prince of the kings of the earth, their Elder Brother, are themselves “made Kings and Priests unto God.” Their glory is His glory. Their lives are, through this mystical indissoluble union, “hidden with Christ.” He feels what is done to them as sensitively as if it were done to Himself. Oh wondrous thought! God not only recognizes them as His children, but includes them in the same paternal affection which He bears to His own dear Son. And Christ, the Brother in their nature, regards them with a like measure and intensity of love—”As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.”
The concluding words of His memorable Valedictory prayer are among the most marvelous in the Bible—”That the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them!” Well may we echo the challenge—”Who is a God like unto our God, who pardons iniquity and passes by the transgressions of the remnant of His heritage?” “He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the ash-heap, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory!” (extract, author unkown)
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“You must be born again.” — John 3:7
Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are “born again,” for there are many who imagine they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian—is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion—is of no avail whatever, unless there is something more added to it — the being “born again,” by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Regeneration is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it. “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt. It is known by works of holiness—and felt by a gracious experience.
This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself. It is a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name—but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be—but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive! Man can do the one—God alone can do the other.
If you have then, been “born again,” your acknowledgment will be, “O everlasting Father, You are my spiritual Parent; unless Your Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life—I would have been to this day, ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ My heavenly life is wholly derived from You—to You I ascribe it. ‘My life is hid with Christ in God.’ It is no longer I who live—but Christ who lives in me.” May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope! Charles Spurgeon.
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The good Shepherd’s flock
(Henry Law, “Deuteronomy” 1858)
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know
them, and they follow Me.” John 10:27
The good Shepherd’s flock is widely
scattered. They wander far on hills, and
valleys, in every land, and every climate.
Some pant beneath a tropic sun.
Some shiver in perpetual snows.
A watchful eye sees all.
And in fit time each is approached.
Jesus Himself draws near.
He wins the heart.
He enters in.
He takes the throne.
He shows His smile.
He melts the rock.
He turns the enmity to love.
He sits a conqueror in a once rebel camp.
All given by the Father come to
Him, because He comes to them.
They follow, because He calls.
They run, because He draws.
He opens out His arms; and then
they flee quickly to the shelter.
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THE KING’S GARDEN?
What wonders are wrought in the garden of the King.
He transplants weeds from the dunghill, and makes them
to grow as lilies in the midst of his fair garden.
-Spurgeon, “The King’s Garden”
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“Without Me ye can do nothing.”
John 15:5 Pastor Henry Mahan
I suppose the most difficult thing any believer has to learn is that ‘Without Him we can do nothing.’ This is our creed but not our experience! We will never be effectually used for God’s true glory until it becomes our experience. God will never use men that are proud enough to think themselves necessary or capable. He will throw away the vessel which begins to boast in itself or allows others to boast in it. Whatever is our strength in the flesh is sure to become our weakness in the spirit — whether it be our intelligence, our morality, our length of service, our doctrine, our courage or whatever. Gideon feared the Midianites because of the small number of his soldiers, but the Lord said, ‘Your soldiers are yet too many for me.’ I wonder if we will ever become weak enough, empty enough, and ignorant enough for God to use us for His glory! The logic of the Lord is strange to the natural mind. ‘For when I am weak, then am I strong’ (2 Corinthians 12:10). ‘Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me’ (2 Corinthians 12:9). The Lord must go back to the seashore and raise up some fishermen. — We’ve all become masters and doctors, wise men in theology and great counselors. I disqualify myself for God’s use when I become qualified. My fine talents and lofty credentials become hindrances rather than helps. I thought to prepare myself for great things, only to learn that it was the rough voice in the wilderness He planned to use, not the polished preacher; it was the weak, impulsive shepherd with the sling He planned to use, not the mighty warrior with his armor of wit and arsenal of facts, doctrines, and learning. It may not be too late for some, but most are too proud to become expendable. If we don’t pour contempt on ourselves — God will!