Feb 15
11
Meekness, one of the fruits of the Spirit, is an attitude toward God. Meekness believes all things come from God, and therefore receives them as good. Humility is her twin sister. The Lord said, “Blessed are the meek.” Here are some of the blessings of meekness. “The meek shall eat and be satisfied.” “The meek shall He guide.” “The meek will He teach.” “He saveth all the meek.” “The meek shall inherit the earth.” “The Lord lifteth up the meek.” “The Lord beautifies the meek with salvation.” A meek and quiet spirit is said to be of great value to God, a part of the worthy walk, one of the things God’s elect puts on, the demeanor of telling others of the hope in us, and the spirit in which we restore our fallen brothers. This is the spirit of receiving His Word. “Receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls.” Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of meekness is that the Lord Jesus Christ is meek. He said, “I am meek and lowly in heart.” May we be enabled to be clothed with meekness in our attitude toward God and men. RECEIVING THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH “Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (II Thess. 2:10). It is possible to receive the Truth without receiving the love of the Truth. Merely receiving the Truth is an acknowledgment that the Bible does in fact teach some particular doctrine. This is believing with the intellect and nothing more. Such receiving of the Truth will not end in salvation, but certain destruction. Paul goes on to say of these people, “And for this cause (because they received not the love of the Truth) God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” It is one thing to believe the Bible is God’s Word. It is another thing to love that it is so. It is one thing to believe the Bible teaches the sovereignty of God. It is another thing to love the God who is sovereign. It is one thing to acknowledge the Bible teaches election. It is another thing to love the God who elected sinners in Christ. It is one thing to agree that Christ is the only way. It is another to love Him as the only way. Where the Truth is not received in the love of it, it is not really believed. A man cannot be thoroughly humbled till he realizes that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, counsels, efforts, will and works, and depends absolutely on the will, counsel, pleasure and work of another – God alone. – Martin Luther CHRIST CRUCIFIED The preaching of Christ Jesus and Him crucified is hated by this religious world. But those who believe, and are saved, love it with a perfect love. It is our only hope, our Salvation. If we compromise on this to please the people of our day, we compromise the Gospel, and make the death of our Lord Jesus Christ of none effect. We have no Salvation. We have no hope. We will stand before a thrice Holy God with a hope only in what we can do to satisfy His justice. We will be obligated to pay our sin debt with the works of the flesh, while the Scriptures declare that, “By the works of the flesh shall no man be justified in His sight.” What hope is there in this? None whatsoever. – Unknown THE DANGER OF SUPPOSING “But when the first came they supposed that they should receive more” (Matt. 20:10). And who wouldn’t make that supposition? If I worked twelve hours I would suppose that I would earn more money than the one who worked merely one hour. But the supposition was wrong! Most of the things, perhaps all of the things we suppose are wrong. All of the suppositions we naturally make with regard to the Gospel are wrong! Many of the suppositions we make with regard to something somebody has said or done which offended us or hurt our feelings is wrong. What we supposed actuated them is usually not what actuated them at all. Beware that what you suppose could very well be wrong. The fact that all we have ever supposed concerning God is wrong ought to alert us to the fact that what we suppose regarding the response or the action of somebody else is wrong. May God give us the grace to always put the best construction on what others do instead of some negative supposition. It is always better to give our brethren the benefit of the doubt rather than supposing the worst! Every blessing of salvation is a means to a great end. Forgiveness, mercy and grace, justification, election, adoption and any other Gospel doctrine, as wonderful as they are, are only means to this great end: The glory of Jesus Christ the Lord. The glory of Christ is the end. All else is means to that great end.
THE TESTIMONY OF WILMA WARTA
I heard the Gospel for the first time again today, and it never sounded better. My life, if worth mentioning, has been an endless cycle of discovering that I’m wrong. Like the circular path of a lost man in the forest, I wandered in willful and helpless unbelief. The Gospel is the only Truth I’ve known. My only claim to glory is what I heard about what Jesus has done. Now, at the end of my life, I would like to praise my God and Savior. My cries were never loud enough, but His cries were heard for me. For His name’s sake alone, He found reason to save me.
How do I know that He did this for me? Because Christ’s experience, and what God thinks of Him, is all that matters to me. My righteousness is not on earth; He is in heaven. Christ reigns over His enemies to bring them under my feet. His satisfaction for sin satisfies God, and by His grace, it satisfies me.
My commitment and surrender are repugnant, could never influence the Judge of all the earth, but only bring me lower than the grave. But Christ died for me. My experience never measured up; but Christ’s experience is all that matters to me. My accepting Jesus didn’t make me acceptable to God, but God accepting Him did. We are told to look away from all that we are and look only to Him. All I want is to see His face, I shall be satisfied when I awake in His likeness. So you see, whatever good things you’ve heard about me, I’m sure it is not true. I will freely borrow words from one far better than me – “I am a great sinner, and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my All in All.” Don’t celebrate my accomplishments when I am gone; I have none. Do me this honor instead: hear what Jesus has done.