Pride, Preachers, and the Word of God

When ye received the word of God which ye heard from us, 

ye received it not as the word of man, 

but as it is in truth, the word of God. 

1 Thessalonians 2:13

Pride is a great tool in the hand of Satan to make the preached word ineffective.  And nowhere do we see pride more in exercise than over this issue of the word of God being preached by sinful men.  If one has heard the word of God, he has heard it "from us," that is, sinful men called to declare the unsearchable riches of Christ.  Contempt for the preacher often leads to contempt for the word he preaches, and if it is God's word he preaches, how dangerous it becomes to show contempt. 

This Is My Beloved Son

God will glorify the Son.  John 13.32

I love to brag on my children.  In my eyes, they are among the finest of people, possessed of talents and qualities everyone should find impressive and want to hear about.  So, I often tell others about them.  I believe all parents should feel that way about their children and build them up in the eyes of the public.

How much more the heavenly Father!  How He loves and delights in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; and how determined He is to make that glory known to all the universe.  There is nothing about the Lord Jesus that the Father finds embarrassing, but in every point, Christ is the “spittin’ image” of His Father.  In righteousness, justice, grace, mercy, love, power, and glory, Christ matches His Father to such a degree that He could say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.(John 14.9)  Therefore God has given Him the preeminence in all things;  has “committed all things into His hands;” has made Him, “head over all things,” has “seated Him at God’s right hand,” is “bringing all things in subjection to Him,” and has sent His Spirit into the world to testify of Him and empower preachers to declare Him.

We could rightly say that God is enamored of His Son, and to such a degree that He insists that all others be likewise enamored of Him.  To reject the Son is to reject the Father: to receive the Son is to receive the Father.  May God reveal to each of us the glory of His Son, that we may, with the Father, glorify the Son!     

Unbelief and Blessing

In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!"  

Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help. 

Psalm 31:22

 The Lord must endure a great deal of unbelief from us.  We are often so alarmed by the things of this life that we say, or at least think, "I am cut off from God's sight!"  A slight turn in providence, a little trouble in life, a loss of spiritual enjoyment on our part, or the fall to some pet sin and we are ready to proclaim that we are lost, that God has lost His patience with us and that our sin has evidently become to much for His grace.  Thankfully, God has pity on us, recognizing that we are merely dust, easily blown about by the winds of trouble.  So when our doubtful, despairing plea for mercy rises to His throne, He hears it as though it were delivered in the full confidence of perfect faith and, in His time, comes to our aid, proving once again that all His promises can be believed at all times. 

With shamefacedness, all we who profess to believe must profess after this manner "Lord, I believe: help Thou my unbelief."  I have heard many a preacher blame their inability to work miracles on the lack of faith in those who wanted the miracles.  Our Lord is not so restricted.  He rescues those whose faith is so weak so as to be unable to keep them from the despairing cry of the Psalmist. 

My blessings have been too great and my faith too weak to allow me to think that the strength of my faith determines the greatness of my blessings.  I am rather forced to conclude that the greatness of my blessings is determined by the greatness of the God who gives them; and the certainty of my salvation does not change with the wavering of my faith, but is as unchangeable as the God who worked my salvation. 

It is a shame that God's people can prove to be so weak in faith, but it is a great glory to God that He is so strong in salvation despite the weakness of our faith.  

The Offense and Power of the Gospel

Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. “Galatians 5.11

It would be an utter waste of time to try to remove the offense of the cross from gospel preaching.  The message of the cross is offensive to the flesh, so the only way to remove that offense is to remove the cross.  It would be good for all of us to try to remove from ourselves any offense arising from our methods, conduct or personality;  but, if we are to be any glory to Christ or any good whatsoever to those who hear us, we must, with all plainness and diligence, declare the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in a way that not only does not hide its offence, but actually accents its offense.  Those things about our Lord and His cross which are most offensive to the flesh are the very things most helpful to the sinner:  man's total depravity and inability to do anything pleasing to God; God's sovereign disposition of His grace according to His will in election and predestination; Christ's effective and particular redemption of God's elect, and the Holy Spirit's sovereign, omnipotent call of God's elect, which call never fails.  Yes, we could gain more hearers if we allowed for a little of man's righteousness, will, and works to enter into he scheme of the gospel.  But it would prove our undoing and the destruction of our hearers.  The fact is, the glory and power of the cross lie in its offense.

Blesséd be the Name of the Lord

The Lord gave; the Lord has taken away; 

blesséd be the name of the Lord. (Job 1:21)

 A man's best utterances often com in times of deep distress and trouble.  So it was with Job:  he had it all; then he lost it all: not just the material things of this world, but also his family and health.  I suppose that Job was as miserable as a man can get.  But in that hour, he declared three of the basic truths of life which, if a person knows them and lives by them, he is a wise person:

 First, The LORD gave:  Whatever I have in possessions, family, health - and certainly whatever I have in grace - is a gift of the Lord.  My home, pantry and automobile are the Lord's gifts.  My wife and children ‑ all from His bounty.  My good health ‑ a favored gift.  So with faith, righteousness, and eternal life.

 Second, If I ever lose these things, it is by the work of the same LORD.  What He gives in spiritual matters is never recalled, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.  But, concerning the things of my natural life, let me remember that since they were given to me by God, He has the right to recall them at any moment. And further, let me learn that if He recalls some natural blessing, I may diminish the pain of the loss by realizing that the taking away was accomplished by the same loving Father that gave, so it must be for my good.

          

Third, whether giving or taking away, the LORD is blesséd.  Let us not be like the pagans who judge the value of their gods by their temporal happiness.  Jehovah is worthy of worship at all times and in all circumstances.  He is as glorious when I am sad as when I am happy.  He is as blesséd when I lose as when I gain.  Blesséd be the name of the LORD!

Pride and Despair Killed By Grace

Where is boasting then?  It is excluded!  (Romans 3:27)

 
What would you think if someone said to you, "I have been so good today, I'm just certain that I am a child of God."  I'm sure you would be shocked by such a statement and might well wonder if, indeed, such a one were a child of God. The self‑righteousness of such a statement would be revolting to any believer.  Why then, do we often think, "I have been so bad today, I wonder if I am really a child of God."  Since we do not believe that it is by our righteousness we stand, why do we believe that by our lack of it we shall fall?  Sin cannot help but grieve the child of God, BUT IT NEVER NEED BE AN OCCASION OF DOUBT!  Those who, by grace, have learned the meaning of, "Where then is boasting?  It is excluded!" can go on to say, "Where then is despair?  It is, likewise, excluded!"  The same grace that excludes boasting in our righteousness also excludes despair over sin.  When you fall, grieve for it, for sin is a grievous thing.  But, if your hope is in the Living God and His Son, Christ Jesus, never think for a moment that a failure in your righteousness has brought you once again into condemnation.  Your acceptance before God does not rest one iota upon your righteousness, so any failure in the same can have no affect on that acceptance.  No, if you are accepted at all, you are "accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6) and His righteousness never fails!

A Personal Need for Sovereign Grace

It is an amazing thing, to me, that people are so opposed to the doctrine of the gospel that declares man to be absolutely depraved and God to be absolutely sovereign.  Those who oppose such doctrine would do well to consider the alternative. 

If the gospel is not for the "Totally Depraved," then it must be that I am required to produce at least some of my own righteousness before God ‑ a thing I know by experience is impossible for me.

If my salvation did not come about by the sovereign, electing will of God, then my salvation is left up to my will which I know to be a perverse and changing thing. 

If my redemption was not utterly secured by Jesus Christ in such a fashion that His work cannot fail to save me, then I am left with the job of redeeming myself; a redemption which is far too high a price for me to pay. 

If my knowledge of the gospel and faith in Christ are not by the omnipotent, and therefore, irresistible work of the Spirit of God, then I am left with the job of teaching myself and generating my own faith, a task which I tried and at which I utterly failed for a long time. 

If my preservation and perseverance in the faith are not by the continual love of God for me, the continual, effectual intercession of Christ in my behalf, and the unlimited patience and power of the Holy Spirit to create and maintain life in me, then I am on my own from now until I reach heaven and I know myself too weak for such a long and strenuous march. 

In short, if my salvation is not by the sovereign grace of God, then it is up to me.  And that means that if my salvation is not by the sovereign grace of God, I will not be saved.  It is a head‑shaking amazement to me that men demand the right to damn themselves if they choose to do so.  Rather, let me magnify the sovereign, free, omnipotent grace of God that saved this depraved sinner and may I continually exult in the gospel of Isaiah (52:7) which says, "Your God reigns!" 


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