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A regular columnist for our local newspaper wrote that pro-life advocates won't ultimately prevail, but are just not able to "let go", to "allow freedom of choice, thus ending the new form of slavery it has imposed on the bodies of women."
What a remarkably denigrating and disturbing view of motherhood... Slaves?! It ranks up there (or should I say down there) with a view of unborn children I recently heard described as a “parasites”, selfishly feeding off of their mother while contributing nothing. I would like to ask that individual “Who’s next? Parasite occupants in nursing homes and mental institutions?” Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were blessed with the God-given mandate to “Be fruitful and multiply; (to) fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). This exalted and blessed Biblical view of motherhood was reinforced by Adam who “called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20). Actually, the “new form of slavery” has been imposed on unborn children who are treated as a thing, less than human. That’s how slave holders regarded their slaves. Thankfully, that terrible institution was abolished. Similarly, there’s coming a day when the slaughter of children worldwide really will end when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, not as an infant, but as Judge. It will be a Day of vindication for those who trusted Him as Savior and followed Him as their Lord. Then will come the new heavens and new earth where, “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3). Some don’t believe this and scoff: “‘Where is the promise of His coming?” But, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise… but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:4-9).
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The incident of Saul’s disobedience regarding the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15) serves to highlight a particular mark of true repentance, which is not only the hatred of sin, but the hatred of all sin. In the case of Saul, his obedience fell short in that instead of totally destroying the Amalekites and their livestock as commanded by God, some sheep and oxen were spared along with king Agag. In the case of the former, he blamed the people instead of himself and in the case of the latter, he appeared to justify his action by mentioning the bringing back of Agag as a kind of proof that he had fully carried out God’s command. Clearly, Samuel’s “hack(ing) Agag in pieces before the Lord” (1 Samuel 15.33) was a dramatic demonstration of the danger of rationalizing partial obedience, and the need to hate and repent of every sin. The Psalmist exhorted, “You who love the Lord, hate evil!’, and in Amos we read, “Hate evil, love good”. The Apostle Paul clearly demonstrated that nothing changed in transitioning from the Old to the New Testament when he exhorted, “Abhor what is evil” (Psalm 97.10; Amos 5:15; Romans 12:9).
Scottish minister John Colquhoun (1748-1827) commented, “In false penitence the sinner is affected chiefly with his gross and open sins; whereas in true repentance the believer is more deeply affected with the secret and darling sins which he formerly delighted to commit… the sin of his nature in general, and the unbelief and legal temper of his heart in particular.” Naaman the leper illustrated this ungodly state of mind. After being healed of his leprosy, he proclaimed his intent to no longer sacrifice to false gods, but then proceeded to request, “When my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord please pardon your servant in this thing” (2 Kings 5:17,18). Matthew Henry wrote concerning this incident, “It was a happy cure of his leprosy which cured him of his idolatry, a more dangerous disease. But… he reserved to himself a liberty to bow in the house of Rimmon… We must cast away all our transgressions and not accept any house of Rimmon. If we ask for a dispensation to go on in any sin for the future, we mock God, and deceive ourselves.” The puritan John Owen wrote that repentance must be universal such that “it absolutely excludes all reserves for any sin.” Some, he went on, consider the reserved sin to be “small, and of no great importance… but true repentance respects the nature of sin, which is in every sin equally, the least as well as the greatest.” Others, he continued, reserve sins that are secret, “hidden from every eye… but this is an evidence of the grossest hypocrisy and the highest contempt of God, who seeth in secret.” Jesus was very clear regarding the totality of true repentance when He taught regarding a lustful adulterous eye, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:29). This forceful language was used by Jesus to emphasize that true repentance dealt not only with the outward act of adultery, but with the inward secret sins in the heart and mind of lust, envy, pride, self-righteousness, malice, earthly-mindedness and other such hidden transgressions. The true penitent sees all of sin as a barrier in his Christian walk. Like the Apostle John who wrote, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”, was overwhelmed by the love of God shown to him in Christ Jesus. This sense of awe and thanksgiving for the hope “that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” provides the underlying desire and motivation such that he “purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:1-3). Thomas Watson penned, “He who hates a serpent hates all serpents: ‘I hate every false way’ (Psalm 119.104). Hypocrites will hate some sins which mar their credit, but a true convert hates all sins, gainful sins, complexion-sins, the very stirrings of corruption.” David not only hated all known sin, but was willing and desirous of submitting himself to God’s searching of him to discover what might be any unknown or hidden sin. He prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”, and then asked, “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me” (Psalm 139:23-24; 19:12-13). In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Apollyon encountered Christian in the Valley of Humiliation and attempted through accusation to discourage Christian from persevering in his walk. We read, Apol. Thou hast already been unfaithful in thy service to him; and how dost thou think to receive Wages of him? Chr. Wherein, O Apollyon! Have I been unfaithful to him? Apollyon then paraded before him all of his past sins to which Christian replied, Chr. All this is true, and much more, which thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honour, is merciful and ready to forgive… I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and have obtained Pardon of my Prince. In this way, Christian demonstrated the state of mind of a true penitent in confessing not only his more prominent sins, but his willingness to confess and seek pardon for all of them, knowing as Colquhoun put it, “the sin of his nature in general, and the unbelief and legal temper of his heart in particular.” We read, “‘Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’ So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm” (Joel 2:12-13). The late John Murray, former professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, provided a very helpful definition of repentance when he wrote, “Repentance consists essentially in change of heart and mind and will. The change of heart and mind and will principally respect four things: it is change of mind respecting God, respecting ourselves, respecting sin, and respecting righteousness.” This change of mind respecting sin therefore, is such that the truly penitent sinner sees sin as that which has alienated him from God whom he now desires and loves. He detests his offenses against God who has been merciful, gracious, good, forbearing and longsuffering in His dealings with him. He wants to be done with sinning like one who longs to be rid of a dreadful disease, and now desires to be one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). David knew this detesting of his sin when he wrote, “My sin is always before me. Against You, You only have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight – that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge” (Psalm 51:3-4). He would also write regarding his sin, “Innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me!” (Psalm 40:12-13). And these pleas for deliverance have their foundation in the hope of God’s pardoning mercy, out from which flows a sincere repentance characterized by sorrow for and abhorrence of sin.
As such, one mark of a true Godly repentance is that it emerges from a real loathing of sin. The true penitent sees sin as a barrier to his communion with God in his prayer life. When his sin is left un-confessed and un-repented of, he avoids coming into the presence of God in prayer because he’s ashamed. Like Peter he says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). He keenly feels what God spoke to Israel: “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). He hates sin because he knows and feels it to be absolutely contradictory to that gracious new principle of life in Christ within him. Its remnants are the enemy within which act as an impediment to his carrying out the deepest desires in his heart for God. Like the Apostle Paul he says, “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:21-24). The repentance of an unregenerate sinner is far different. His turning from his sin is only out of a heightened sense of fear and dread of impending judgment. His mindset regarding sin has only to do with the consequences of sin. The sinner in this case will often attempt to reform himself, but his efforts will not be out of love for God. Instead, self-love provides the only real motivation for his efforts to flee the wrath to come. King Saul provided a tragic example of this legal ungodly repentance on the occasion of his disobedience in the matter of the Amalekites. Samuel exposed Saul’s failure to obey God in utterly destroying them along with their livestock. To this Saul confessed, but attempted to excuse himself by saying that “I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” Further he pleaded with Samuel, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God” (1 Samuel 15:24,30). Saul’s conscience was stricken, and he was sorry for what he had done, but his repentance came only out of fear and a desire to perhaps reverse Samuel’s pronouncement of the loss of the kingdom along with an anxious desire to keep up appearances before his subjects. There was no true sense of having offended God, no hatred and taking ownership of his sin, just fear and dread of the consequences of his disobedience. Saul even tried to draw Samuel into his disobedience by asking him to return and worship with him, to sacrifice the animals which should have been destroyed. In this way, Saul might have maneuvered Samuel into appearing as if he sanctioned this use of the spared animals. Samuel was not taken in. He declined. Concerning this legal repentance, Scottish minister John Colquhoun (1748-1827) wrote, “Let conscience but be pacified, and the tempest of the troubled mind allayed, and these false penitents will return with the dog to his vomit, until some new alarm revive their convictions of sin and danger, and with them, the same process of repentance. Thus, many sin and repent, and repent and sin, all their lives. Or it may be, distress of conscience makes a deeper impression, and fixes such an abiding dread of some particular sins that a visible reformation appears. Yet in this case the sinner’s lusts are only dammed up by his fears, and were the dam but broken down, they would immediately run again in their former channel with increasing force.” And yet, many true penitents are able to look back and see how God used this legal ungodly form of repentance as a prerequisite to real Godly repentance in that they were graciously helped to see their utter inability to reform themselves, trying to be reconciled to God through the keeping of the law. The Apostle Paul wrote about himself, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). From the time of his conversion to his last day on earth, Paul could never be thankful enough for that incredible and undeserved love whereby Jesus Christ would suffer, bleed and die for him, or as he put it, to give Himself for him, the “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). It was the ongoing contemplation and experience of that reality that, out of love for His Savior, drove him in his ministry, and caused him to hate sin, his sin… to loathe it! By God’s grace may we truly and really loathe sin in our life. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
Romans 12:2 It is ultimately the mind that acts as the governor of the soul, exercising its sovereignty over the affections and the will, and ultimately the body. As such, the renewal of it is of the utmost importance in the believer’s duty of “putting to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8.13). It is here that we find the letter of James to be helpful where he wrote, “Each is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15). This drawing away occurs first in the mind where sinful behavior is deceitfully presented in a light which seems to be favorable. This is exactly the device the serpent employed against Eve when he lied to her regarding the consequences of eating the fruit of the tree. The “You shall not surely die”, was followed with the deceitfully presented benefit of becoming like God. The sad irony of this temptation was that she and Adam were already like God, being created in His image. But in their minds, they became convinced that their happiness and welfare was not in being like God in their perfect reflection of His character, but in their being like God in their supposed autonomy. And so, the subtlety of sin worked firstly in their minds through this deceit of considering the satisfaction of eating from the tree as more beneficial than obedience to God. In this way, the understanding of the danger and vileness of sin was radically lessened in their minds. Circumstances and consequences appeared to them as being other than what they really were. Furthermore, it was accomplished in a way where the deceit was not presented to them all at once. Before the outright lie of “You will not surely die” was presented, the serpent introduced doubt with, “Has God really said…?” (Genesis 3:1,4). In this way, temptation was worked progressively and deceitfully in their minds to produce the result of being convinced that eating from the tree was a good thing to do. After the fall, everything changed including the mind. The Apostle Paul described fallen men who walk “in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them” (Ephesians 4:17-18). The remnants of this futility and darkness of the mind is present in the true believer and subtly, deceitfully and persistently works to present sin as desirable. When the deceit of sin overcame the minds of Adam and Eve, the door was opened for the polluting and corrupting of their affections and will. Their soul’s governing faculty, the mind, was deceived into relinquishing its work of preserving the pure moral inclinations of the affections and the will. They chose to listen to the lie of their enemy rather that to rely solely and utterly upon the spoken word of God. They were drawn off from considering that their chief good and general welfare could only come from their Creator who was already meeting every one of their needs and desires. Satan attempted the same ploy against Jesus in the wilderness. God the Father publicly proclaimed regarding Jesus, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased”, to which Satan uttered to Jesus the equivalent of “Has God really said?” with “If you are the Son of God…” This attempt to progressively deceive was soundly thwarted when Jesus countered by saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 3:22; 4:3-4). In this way, Jesus made it clear that the key to the warding off and subduing of this deceitful influence of the remnants of sin in the mind is found in the absolute dependence upon, believing in, and acting in in accordance with the Word of God. Otherwise, once the mind is no longer utterly convinced that one lives only by dependence upon every word of God, it then becomes open to all that is false, and the remnants of sin are given a free pass to work havoc in the affections and will of the believer. The importance of the mind as the governor of the soul was underscored in Jesus telling those whom he taught to “take heed how you hear” (Luke 8:18). The Apostle Paul’s exhortations regarding the believer’s fight against the flesh often were focused on cultivating the mind. He exhorted the Ephesians to, “…put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind”. In his prayer for them he asked, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power…” (Ephesians 4.22-23; 1.17-19). Likewise, his exhortation to the Philippians of, “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things” (Philippians 4.8), deals with the discipline and progressive renovation of the mind in the control of the will and affections in the exercise of faith. And so, the believer is commanded to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of (his) mind.” In this way, the will and the affections progressively incline more and more towards God and set themselves further and further against the residual enmity towards God that still resides in the soul. Paul described the use of the mind in fighting the remnants of sin when he wrote, “…reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11). Charles Hodge wrote concerning this verse, “… believers are to look upon themselves in their true light… as dead to sin, freed from its penalty and dominion.” This reckoning is essentially the governing activity of the mind, reminding oneself that they are a new creature in Christ that has been freed from the bondage of sin. Sin is then seen as inconsistent with that new life. The believer is called to reason that for him, now joined to Christ and part of a royal priesthood, to sin would be as out of step with his new character and standing as it would be for an earthly prince to put on rags, get drunk and lie in the gutter. This use of reason in the mind of the believer is a very effective means for resisting temptation. But if the mind becomes ineffective in this mental watchfulness over the soul through the deceitfulness of sin, then the affections are impacted whereby one is easily “enticed.” This progression of the subtle deceitfulness of sin after the mind has been disarmed is exactly what happened to Eve. Having first been “drawn away” in her mind in that “the woman saw that the tree was good for food”, we then read that to her the tree “was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). As such, through the medium of her eyes, her imagination was stirred and became fixated on the anticipated pleasure and satisfaction in eating the fruit. All reason of the mind had taken leave and the affections and ultimately the will became dominantly engaged in leading to the actual act of sin. The same occurred to Achan who first “saw” the Babylonian garment, silver and gold, then “coveted” them, and finally “took them” (Joshua 7:21). When this progression towards sin happens, it is the affections and will which then begin to influence and govern the mind, bringing about perverse and vain thoughts and judgments. Job understood connection between these faculties of the soul and the channel of the senses. In defending himself against the accusations of his friends, he asserted, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?” (Job 31:1). In this he demonstrated that he understood that there was what Paul would later call “a law, that evil is present” (Romans 7:21) within him which warred against his desire to do good. Job knew he was susceptible to the temptation of lusting after a beautiful young woman, and he rightfully knew and believed this to be contrary to God’s law. As such, his mind, armed with the truth about sin served to guard his soul by cutting off the avenue of temptation through his eyes. He knew that if this channel remained open, his imagination would be fed with lustful thoughts. The same can be said of Joseph in his resisting the temptation of Potiphar’s wife. He knew his vulnerability to her wiles, but he was armed with God’s word firmly fixed in his mind. This kept the other faculties of his soul in check and he was able to tell her, “How can I then do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9), finally fleeing from her presence. May God graciously and progressively transform our minds by belief in His sufficient Word, illuminated by and effectually applied by the Holy Spirit, so that we may not be conformed to this world and sin, but to Jesus Christ. A local newspaper guest columnist, John Crisp, asked, “What’s to become of human beings?” He then proceeded to paint a very bleak picture regarding the questionable continuation of the human race. For him, even the belief that we were “created by an all-powerful God” offers him no comfort because in his estimation of creation, “humans were never inevitable and their continued existence is not assured.”
He cited a recent Atlantic Magazine article entitled, “The End of Us”, in which it was claimed that there are “two emerging schools of thought about the future of humanity.” One is that, “Anthropocene anti-humanism,” which “holds that humans have thoroughly despoiled the only place in the universe that’s fit for them to live and that their elimination, suddenly by, say, nuclear war or gradually, then not-so-gradually, by climate change, is inevitable. But for anti-humanists, this is nothing to be regretted; the Earth will get along just fine without us. To imagine otherwise is a “symptom of human arrogance.” The other view, “‘Transhumanism’… is embraced by thinkers who are more interested in the future of the human mind than of the human body. Transhumanists picture the brain as a carbon-based computer that creates our experiences according to patterns that can be emulated by silicon-based computers. With enough computing power, the “mind” part of human beings can be uploaded and sustained by sophisticated artificial intelligence that has learned how to perpetually improve itself, erasing the need — or burden — of the human body entirely.” The Biblical creation account presents a very different picture. On the sixth day, “God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness… So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them… God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it’” (Genesis 1:26-28). Therefore, humans were indeed “inevitable.” Being in God’s image meant that Adam and Eve were perfect reflections of God’s transmittable attributes, including His moral perfections. They were meant to be pristine showcases of God’s glory. Their continuation in that state meant life eternal, but it was conditioned on sustained moral obedience. However, they chose to be lawbreakers, and therefore, corruption and death were introduced into this world. These things continue to characterize human behavior, as anybody with a newspaper could tell you. In spite of man’s rebellion, the “continued existence” of man is “assured” because God has provided a means of recovery through the sending of His Son to do all that was necessary in order to redeem sinful humans, such that those who by God-given faith avail themselves of this means of reconciliation with their Creator, are freely given eternal life (John 3:16). However, the continued existence of the unbeliever is also assured in that “He who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18), and as Jesus said, “will go away into everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46). The columnist went on to offer his own solution. He wrote, “…traveling a sustainable middle path between the extremes described above would require profound modifications in our behavior. We would have to be satisfied with less. We would have to fly less or not at all. We might have to sacrifice the freedom and comfort of a personal automobile. We might have to live in smaller houses. In order to preserve humanity, would we be willing to have fewer children and dispense with the pleasures produced by an economy that depends on continuing growth?” Referring to the two above-mentioned “emerging schools of thought” and to “his own solution”, he concluded with, “One leads to the annihilation of the humanity; another imagines that the human mind can somehow be uploaded to the cloud and transcend the need for corporeal existence; a third will require changes in behavior that will challenge the very idea of what we’ve always thought it meant to be human. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” “Have fewer children”—a rationale for abortion? “Changes in behavior”—like somehow all getting along and being self-sacrificing? We’ve had thousands of years of pride, greed, selfishness, et al, on a personal level, in families, in nations, in the world… and even in churches! No, we have proven that we can’t just get along! Pray for wisdom as Crisp urges? “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). And true wisdom is to know and believe that there is one God who created man and woman in His image, and that He is holy, righteous, and just. Further, its wisdom to know that, “‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one’… But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:10-12, 21-24). And for all who truly believe, life in Jesus Christ is inevitable and continuing, even forever. Amen? “…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” 2 Peter 3:18
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and it’s the day when we traditionally give special expressions of love to our wives, husbands, boyfriends, and girlfriends. Gifts of flowers, candy, jewelry and cards are all used to show the sincerity of our affections to our loved one. As the years go by, it’s often true that our love deepens and matures from its first bloom. Love is not a static. It changes in its intensity as one comes to more intimately know the one they love. There’s greater appreciation and affection for the one who’s shared with them not only the first stages of their relationship, but has also grown with them as they’ve gone through life and grown old together. The very same principle applies to the Christian’s relationship with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As they come into greater knowledge of His Person and work, the intensity of love for Him invariably grows. And when one’s love for Christ grows, then there are greater manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Let’s see how that works. Try meditating for example on God’s longsuffering towards you through the course of your life. Think of when you were not a believer, but “once walked according to the course of this world” (Ephesians 2:2). Then, all you mostly thought about and tried to please was yourself. You had very little consideration for God. You didn’t glorify Him. You routinely broke His commandments with lying, disrespect for authority, coveting, murderous hatred in your heart, regular disregard for worshipping Him on the Lord’s Day, sexual sins and taking for yourself what belonged to others. And yet God did not immediately bring down His righteous judgment upon you. Instead, He was immeasurably merciful, lovingly drawing you to Himself with cords of kindness. He opened your eyes to see that you had broken His laws and personally offended Him, not doing what you were created to do, which was to obey Him out of love. He brought godly parents, Christian friends or ministers into your life who pointed you to Christ as the One who is able to meet your greatest need, which is to be reconciled with your Maker. He patiently waited upon you to believe in Christ as the One who not only fulfilled the requirements of the law for you, but also received the punishment that was due to you for breaking the law. Even now that you’re a Christian, God continues to be longsuffering with you. He doesn’t come angrily crashing down on you when you’re careless in using the gracious means that God has given you for persevering and growing in your Christian walk. Instead, when you neglect prayer, Bible reading, regular coming together with God’s people to worship, or witnessing, He often begins to recover you with gentle nudges and rebukes, only becoming sterner after a long period of time, and even then, sometimes with profound parental restraint. Just think how our growing in the knowledge of God’s longsuffering, and then prayerfully meditating upon it would cause us to love Him more. Indeed, how grateful and how desirous of serving Jesus Christ we would be. And another marvelous result would be the growth of the fruit of longsuffering in us towards others. Parents would take a different view of their children, raising them to be godly men and women with more patience. Husbands and wives would treat each other differently, graciously overlooking faults in one another. The bearing with our brothers and sisters in Christ would come much more easily. Paul wrote to believers, “… as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Colossians 3:12-14). Make it your aim to come into greater knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through sermons, Sunday School classes, Bible reading, books and other Christians. See how God graciously makes this enhanced knowledge become active in your life in greater love towards Him as shown by greater manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit. Oftentimes, when you feel you aren’t growing as a Christian and have become spiritually stagnant, it’s likely that you’ve let up on your pursuit of the knowledge of God. It’s this knowledge only which can transform the mind and influence the affections. More about Jesus would I know, more of His grace to others show; more of His saving fullness see, more of His love who died for me. "Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me"
Matthew 11:6 While in prison, John the Baptist heard of the works of Jesus and then sent some of his disciples to ask Christ, “Are You the coming One, or do we look for another?” (11:3). John was in a very distressing situation and was likely experiencing some doubt and confusion regarding his understanding of Jesus’ public ministry. John knew of God’s last revelation to His people some 400 years before through the prophet Malachi, who wrote, “Behold I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple… But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap” (Malachi 3:1-2). As such, John knew himself to be the herald of this coming One, even the Lord, and his message therefore was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). He proclaimed the Lord will, “gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (v.12). As such, it’s not surprising that John during this time of extreme duress would be confused about the works of Jesus. Are these works he had heard Jesus doing the kinds of things the great coming Messiah would do? But instead of this Coming One immediately exercising final judgment as John supposed, Jesus confirmed in His answer to John that His present works were such that, “The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” And so, as would be the case for Jesus’ disciples, it seems John did not yet grasp and come into a full understanding of the nature of Christ’s present humiliation and condescension in His earthly ministry. He expected Christ’s coming to be the final ushering in of the kingdom when God would gather His people and punish His enemies. This kind of reaction to the Messiah was foretold by Isaiah, who wrote that God’s Servant, “shall be exalted and extolled and be very high” (52:13), but then asked, referring to Christ’s humbling of Himself in His earthly ministry, “Who has believed our report?”(53:1). Previously John had proclaimed regarding Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). But apparently, John did not yet see clearly that this Lamb of God must first become “the Lamb who was slain” in order that He might take away sin. He must first bear our sicknesses, carry our sorrows, be stricken, smitten, afflicted, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, be chastised for our peace, and finally be led as a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53). John indeed was a believer, and has since entered into the fullest understanding of that which he knew dimly and weakly held by faith in this life. Now, he who heralded the coming of the Lamb of God has joined that heavenly host who at Christ’s ascension sang, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12). John’s faith is now sight, and all confusion and doubt are no more! But we who remain are as the Apostle Paul was when he wrote, “Now we see in as mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Oh yes, we see more clearly then did John Christ’s atoning work on the cross. We see His righteousness as ours, and we believe He paid in full the debt of our sin and has purchased new life through His resurrection… and yet, as believers, we are often offended at Jesus. You might be asking, “Who me? I’m a true believing Christian. How could I be offended at Christ?” Let me answer by saying every time we complain about our circumstances, an affliction, or a cross we must bear, or when we bristle from the rebukes that come from His Word, or when we refuse to actively submit to His ordinances in public worship, prayer and preaching, or when we are ashamed of standing up for Christ in our conversation and actions, or when we resist being humbled by circumstances He brings into our lives, or when we doubt His many great and precious promises, or when we hesitate to confess our sins… then we in effect show we are offended at Christ. Beloved, as disciples of Jesus, let us be assured that we have a faithful High Priest who suffered, bled and died that we might be reconciled to God as His children. He has already accomplished all that was necessary for our greatest good and we are now objects of His favor. And therefore, let us not question the ways that Jesus Christ continues to administer and rule His kingdom, which He so dearly purchased with His precious blood. Let us not allow ourselves to be tripped up by any preconceived notions and ideas of how Jesus orders our lives, nor how it pleases Him to work out His will in the course of human history. Indeed, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me”. Local newspaper columnist Mr. R. began his column with, “No one is above the law, but sometimes one can be exempted from obeying a law, sometimes on religious grounds (“freedom of religion.”) He then provided several “notable examples” of these exemptions including the exemption from military service for an individual on the basis of their conscientious objection. Mr. R. would probably agree that it is a horrendous form of moral abuse to force someone to violate the strong dictates of their conscience.
But apparently his declaration above doesn’t apply to Bible-believing Christians who also are abiding by their conscience on religious grounds. He ended his column with, “Those who invoke religious freedom to justify denying services, benefits or rights to certain people have, I think, too narrow a concept of both freedom and religion.” Christians believe what God says in His word about gender and marriage. They have a love for and holy fear of God, and they seek to live their lives in ways that please God. But exposing his own apparent bias, Mr. R. falsely and erroneously accuses them of “social discrimination” in their refusal to offer certain services. In fact, they are conscientiously objecting because of their Bible-informed conscience. They are like the Apostles Peter and John who said, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29) when they were ordered to stop preaching. The Apostles were willing to suffer the repercussions for their civil disobedience. There are numerous service providers who would be happy for the business of those who are protesting. No one is stopping anyone in seeking them out. Actually, these provoking incidences are purposeful and insidious efforts to get Christians to retreat and stop standing for the truth in the way they live and in what comes out of their mouths. That’s simply not going to happen with true believers. At least Mr. R is honest in his concluding remark that what he wrote is only the result of what he thinks (“I think”), meaning, I take it, that its only his opinion, which has no absolute basis of moral authority other than himself. “The world… hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7)
When the Apostle Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his household, he described Jesus as one “who went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). And indeed, Jesus did. He healed the sick and lame, gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, cast out demons, fed multitudes and even raised the dead. You would think He would have been regularly honored as citizen of the month and given the key to every city and village where He went. But we read in the Bible of reactions by various groups of people which were very different. At the very beginning of His public ministry, those in the synagogue of His own home town of Nazareth tried to hurl Him off a cliff. On another occasion when Jesus cast out demons from a man, the people in the surrounding region collectively asked Jesus to go away. Those He fed complained about Him. The religious leaders, the Pharisees and scribes, plotted against Him, and sought to ultimately destroy Him. This finally led to their having Him put to death on a cross as a common criminal by the Roman authorities. Why were there such negative and even deadly responses to One who did so much good? In each of the cases above, Jesus himself provided the answer when he said to His disciples, “The world… hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). There’s the problem, and it’s still a problem that most people even today have with Jesus. Jesus confronted the Pharisees with their hypocritical abuse and misuse of the law in formulating their traditions. Jesus asked, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’… But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God” – then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus, you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites!” (Matthew 15:3-7). Now tradition in and of itself is not wrong. It has its place, but when it “replaces” God’s word, contradicts it, or is placed on the same level with God’s written divinely inspired word in the Bible, then man has presumptuously usurped God’s divine authority in giving revelation. As you can imagine, what Jesus said was not well received by the Pharisees. They outwardly looked very pious in their re-interpretation of God’s command, but their motive in receiving this gift, which should have been used to help one’s parents, was sinful greed, plain and simple. They were lining their own pockets, and they didn’t like being exposed. Fallen man is self-deceived, operating under the misguided conception of himself that he is fundamentally good. And so, comparing himself to his own standard of what constitutes good, he’s offended when that mindset and self-image is challenged. Jesus said, “This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20). Jesus told it the way it really is when He said to the rich young ruler, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17). And the Apostle Paul wrote, “There is none righteous, no, not one… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10,23). As it turns out, the best thing that can happen to someone is to finally realize they’re not good, and are in fact sinners who have offended a holy and righteous God. Its then, and only then that someone will recognize their need for a Savior. Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Mark 2:17). Thru the proclaiming of the gospel, Jesus calls those exposed sinners to Himself as the One who came to live, suffer, die and rise again for them so that they may be pardoned, cleansed and have everlasting life. Jesus not only confronts the world with its sin, but true believers as well. He accomplishes that through His word which is, “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). And it’s the sinful “thoughts and intents” which are the most harmful and insidious because if they’re not dealt with in confession and repentance, they can finally blossom into outward and sometimes grievous sins. King David, who was a true believer, welcomed the penetrating work of the Holy Spirit, using the law to search out the inner recesses of his heart. David understood there were still sinful inclinations there, and that he was helpless in not only having them found out, but in having them dealt with. He loved God and therefore wanted to please Him. And so, instead of being offended by being confronted with his sin, he prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart… see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). David understood that prayer to be an on-going prayer through the whole sanctifying course of his life. He further prayed, “Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me” (Psalm 119:133). Out of love for our Savior and Lord, and by God’s grace, may we too regularly make those prayers of David our own. “For we have great joy and consolation in your love,
because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother” Philemon 7 The Apostle Paul’s letter to Philemon does not primarily deal with weighty doctrinal issues. Instead, we see a moving personal letter between two Christian brothers that addresses a highly practical matter. In it, Paul presents a beautiful, yet urgent appeal for Philemon to receive back his runaway slave Onesimus in Christian brotherly love. The key to Paul’s appeal is his knowledge of the love Philemon has already exhibited “toward all the saints” (verse 5) such that their “hearts… have been refreshed”. One might praise another Christian for their knowledge or their personal skills, but to be characterized as one who refreshes the saints is high praise indeed. What are ways where we could refresh the hearts of other believers? One way is found in Proverbs 15:23 where we read, “A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word fitly spoken in due season, how good it is!” This verse teaches that others benefit from hearing a good word, and in the process, you receive the joy in giving that good word. Isaiah wrote, “The Lord has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word to him who is weary” (50:4). Has God placed a brother or sister in your path who is weary? Refresh them with a good word. Another way to be a refresher of the saints is given in Romans 15:1,3: “We then who are strong ought to bear with the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves… for even Christ did not please Himself.” Paul wrote again in Galatians 6:2, “Bear with one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” God has so designed the church, His body, such that it is made up of all kinds of Christians, some strong and others weak: “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Ephesians 4:7). Remember, “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen…” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28). Be careful you never despise those believers who are weak, because to God they are precious and chosen from eternity past to be fellow heirs and brothers with Christ Jesus. Rather, find ways to help them carry their loads. Those who are weak are special gifts to the church, providing other believers ample opportunity to be kind, patient, gentle, humble and longsuffering. You’ll receive a blessing in that you’ll see the fruit of the Spirit in yourself, thus helping to provide you assurance of your own faith, and joy in the seeing of Jesus Christ being formed in you. There’s still another way to be a refresher of the saints. Paul himself closed his first letter to the Thessalonians with, “Brethren, pray for us” (5:25). He knew that “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). Prayer brings you into the very throne room of God by faith. It is the place where saints do business with God, placing their offerings of thanksgiving and praise, and their petitions before their Sovereign God. Our Lord Jesus before His death on the cross, prayed to His Father, “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but those you have given Me, for they are Yours… I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word…” (John 17:9, 20). If our Savior prayed for the saints, can we do any less? What saint has not been refreshed by the knowledge that other saints were specifically praying for them? Are you a refresher of the hearts of other believers? Philemon provided great joy and consolation to Paul and other believers by his refreshing of the hearts of the saints. And in that way, he too was consoled and filled with joy. By God’s grace, be a refresher of the saints! |
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