Oct 15
31
Spiritual growth is in many ways the reverse of carnal growth. When we
were little children we asked, we believed, we were dependent on our
parents and we were happy for it to be so. As we grew the sin we are
became more apparent. Our asking became more questioning than asking. We
put more confidence in our own understanding than our father and mother.
Our hand was still open for the freebies but we wanted them
independently of submitting to dad and mom. Eventually, we moved out,
stopped asking and depended only upon ourselves.
Reverse that order and we have spiritual growth in the inner man. Christ
finds his elect child completely “moved out”—separated in sin and death,
with all confidence in ourselves, too proud to ask God for anything.
When God first converts us we become new born babes. But we still have
our old flesh which questions and is far too confident. As God grows us
in grace, growing up in grace is to become children in malice. The more
we grow in grace the less we think we deserve the least of God’s favors
and the more dependent we become on the God of all grace. Rising to the
greatness of grace is not becoming self-sufficient but becoming more and
more dependent upon Christ and more desirous for the other to have the
honor. It is growing little, simple, and trustful in Christ as a little
child. –Clay Curtis
The children of the promise
Romans 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the
glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of
God, and the promises; 5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as
concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.
Amen. 6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they
are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the
seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be
called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are
not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for
the seed.
The message of this passage of scripture is simple, clear and
unmistakable. The earthly nation of Israel are not God’s people. That is
plainly stated in verses 7 and 8. God’s people are called here the seed
and the children of promise and being a Jew does not make you one of
those. Only those who are chosen in Christ (the Seed) from before the
foundation of the world are God’s people. Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham
and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of
many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Galatians 3:29
And if ye be Christ‘s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according
to the promise.
All of the promises of blessing in Christ are made to the heirs of the
promise, not earthly Israel, but spiritual Israel. Nothing could be more
plainly revealed in the word of God. Many consider the earthly nation of
Israel to have some kind of divine protection and favor from God. Let me
be clear about this: If you reject the Lord Jesus Christ being a Jew
will not keep you from suffering God’s eternal wrath in Hell, and if you
receive Him, believe on Him, being a Gentile will in no way hinder you
from enjoying all spiritual blessings in Him. The favor of God is in
Christ, not in bloodlines or family trees.
Chris Cunningham
A Perverted Gospel
“I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the
grace of Christ unto another gospel; which is NOT another, but there be
some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ” (Gal.1:6,7).
“If thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt NOT build it of hewn
stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast POLLUTED it”
(ex.20:25).
Any perversion of the absolute free sovereign grace of God in the gospel
of Christ is an abomination unto our Great God. Whether it be molding
the altar stones to our liking to suit our demands, or putting anything
of self to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary, God is
not honored in it nor will He be tolerant of it.
Some perversions are very obvious, while others are much more subtle,
but the end result is the same. It is polluted by man and the stamp of
‘unacceptable’ is upon it. Oh, how I need your prayers as I stand here
to proclaim the wonder and mystery of ‘Christ and Him crucified’. Oh,
how I need your ears to ‘take heed how you hear as well as to what you
hear’. I am thankful that by the grace of God and faith in His blood
that you have not these many, many years tried to add one thing to that
perfect altar, that sinless Redeemer! Oh, may He keep us here together,
serving Him, worshipping at His footstool and rejoicing in that one and
only Sacrifice for sinners: Jesus The Christ! Drew Dietz.
The Gospel In Person – The Doctrine Of God
Tommy Robbins
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God, (Which He had promised afore by His prophets in
the holy scriptures,) Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord …” Romans
1:1-3
Before the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh the gospel of
God was in promise by oath, or covenant, Christ being the Surety and
Substance of that promise – “Who hath saved us, and called us with an
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began” 2Timothy 1:9.
HE IS THE PROMISE of the gospel. The gospel and Christ are synonymous.
He is the mystery of the gospel revealed to His people – “But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory” 1Corinthians 2:7. The
preaching of the gospel is the declaration of Christ, Who has come into
the world and effectually put away the sin of His people by the
sacrifice of Himself.
The Lord Jesus Christ IS the Good News. Make no mistake, if the message
which we preach is not saturated, permeated, with the person of Christ,
we have not preached THE GOSPEL. He is our doctrine! The Lord Jesus
Christ is not revealed in the doctrine of God, the doctrine of God is
revealed in HIM! If we preach the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed in
the scriptures our doctrine will be correct. Confused? Let me simplify
it; “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and
unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” 1Co 1:23-24.
The gospel is concerned with the Lord Jesus Christ, all He is, all He
has done, and all He is doing. He has preeminence in all things. It is
vital to be doctrinally correct. However, there is no correct doctrine
apart from Christ our Lord. Whether one labels me as a Calvinist or not,
is of no concern to me. I pray that it may be said of all who hear me,
“He determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and
Him crucified” 1Corinthians 2:2.
“BUT WE SEE JESUS”
How do we “See Jesus?” Not by means of mysterious dreams or ecstatic
visions, not by the exercise of our imagination, nor by a process of
visualization; but by faith. Just as Christ declared, in John 8:56,
“Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he saw it, and was glad.” Faith is
the eye of the spirit, which views and enjoys what the Word of God
presents to its vision. In the Gospels, Acts, Epistles, Revelation, God
has told us about the exaltation of His Son; those who receive by faith
what He has there declared, “SEE Jesus crowned with glory and honour,”
as truly and vividly as His enemies once saw Him here on earth “crowned
with thorns.”
It is this which distinguishes the true people of God from mere
professors. Every real Christian has reason to say with Job, “I have
heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye SEETH Thee”
(42:5). He has “seen” Him leaving heaven and coming to earth, in order
to “seek and to save that which was lost.” He has “seen” Him as a
sacrificial Substitute on the cross, there bearing “our sins in His own
body on the tree. He has “seen” Him rising again in triumph over the
grave, so that because He lives, we live also. He has “seen” Him highly
exalted, “crowned with glory and honour.” He has “seen” Him thus
presented to the eye of faith in the sure Word of God. To him the
testimony of Holy Scripture is infinitely more reliable and valuable
than the testimony of his senses.
Arthur W. Pink
“SAVING FAITH”
The faith of the natural man, the unregenerate man, is reasonable,
logical, and often very influential (Matt. 7:21-23); but the faith of
the Christain is a gift of God, a miracle, and is always the producer of
a radical change in those who possess it. A man cannot possibly possess
saving faith whose thinking and attitude has not been radically changed
concerning God and righteousness, man and sin, Christ and grace (II Cor.
5:14-17). The difference between the two kinds of faith is the
difference between shadows and substance, words and reality: natural
faith believes but saving faith knows! Natural faith merely acknowledges
what saving faith experiences.
Pastor Maurice Montgomery
I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
(Psa 13:6)
Faith keeps the soul from sinking under heavy trials, by bringing in
former experiences of the power, mercy, and faithfulness of God to the
afflicted soul. Hereby was the psalmist supported in distress. Oh, saith
faith, remember what God hath done both for thy outward and inward man:
he hath not only delivered thy body when in trouble, but he hath done
great things for thy soul; he hath brought thee out of a state of black
nature, entered into a covenant relation with thee, made his goodness
pass before thee; he hath helped thee to pray, and many times hath heard
thy prayers and thy tears. Hath he not formerly brought thee out of the
horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and put a new song in thy mouth,
and made thee to resolve never to give way to such unbelieving thoughts
and fears again? and how unbecoming it is for thee now to sink in trouble?
John Willison (1680-1750)
Saving faith is not merely a mental assent to the Word of God, but a
taking hold of God in His Word — believing God. Therefore, unbelief is
not the mere disbelief of some statements of fact, but disbelieving God.
Unbelief is a rebellious heart calling God a liar!!!
Maurice Mongomery
NONE BUT CHRIST
Have you any other rock but Christ? I do not ask you, whether you have a
feeling enjoyment of it? I know you will rejoice in Jesus when the Holy
Spirit enables you. But have you any other refuge? Can you go into
eternity, resting upon any other rock but the Lord Jesus Christ? Have
you any other righteousness but His? Can you lean upon, desire, or want
any other than Christ’s righteousness? ‘No,’ says the soul, None but
Christ! None but Christ! Bless your poor heart, then, you shall have it
as sure as God has wrought the desire in your conscience, and brought
you to trust alone in Jesus for refuge, righteousness, and salvation, by
stripping you of all false props and dependencies. Such a soul as this
will trust in the Lord, overcome all opposition, and be more than a
conqueror through Him that hath loved him.
John Warburton