Jun 15
20
WHO made us to differ?
(James Smith, “The Pastor’s Evening Visit”)
“But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles” Galatians 1:15-16
Paul is speaking . . .
of being set apart from his mother’s womb,
of being called by grace to be saved,
of Christ being revealed in him, and
of his being made a preacher and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ
— and he traces up the whole to the good pleasure of God!
It pleased God to convert, consecrate, and crown the apostle with such eminent success. There was nothing in him to deserve it — nothing in him to move God to do it. God blessed Paul, just because He would — because it pleased Him to do it.
Just so in our case.
Do we differ from others?
Do we differ from our former selves?
Have we spiritual life?
Have we Christian graces?
Why were they conferred upon us — and not upon others?
WHO made us to differ? “Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?” 1 Corinthians 4:7
We can trace it to no cause — but the sovereign good pleasure of God!
He has mercy — on whom He will have mercy.
He has compassion — on whom He will have compassion.
“‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’ What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’” Romans 9:13-15
7.7.8.7. Joseph Hart
Happy Mourners. Matt. 5. 4; John. 16. 22
1 Christ is the Friend of sinners;
Be that forgotten never;
A wounded soul, and not a whole,
Becomes a true believer;
To see sin smarts but slightly;
To own, with lip confession,
Is easier still; but O to feel
Cuts deep beyond expression.
2 [Trust not to joyous fancies,
Light hearts, or smooth behaviour;
Sinners can say, and none but they,
“How precious is the Saviour!”
Then hail, ye happy mourners;
How blest your state to come is!
Ye soon will meet with comfort sweet;
It is the Lord’s own promise.]
3 The contrite heart and broken
God will not give to ruin;
This sacrifice he’ll not despise,
For ’tis his Spirit’s doing.
Then hail, ye happy mourners,
Who pass through tribulation;
Sin’s filth and guilt, perceived and felt,
Make known God’s great salvation.
4 [Dry doctrine cannot save us,
Blind zeal, or false devotion;
The feeblest prayer, if faith be there,
Exceeds all empty notion.
Then hail, ye happy mourners,
Ye will at last be winners;
By Jesus’ blood, the righteous God
Now reconciles poor sinners.]
A TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS IN HEAVEN
One day, as I was passing into the field, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul: “Thy righteousness is in heaven.” And I thought that I could see Jesus Christ at God’s right hand. Yes, there indeed was my righteousness, so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say about me that I did not have righteousness, for it was standing there before Him. I also saw that it was not my good feelings that made my righteousness better, and that my bad feelings did not make my righteousness worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself – “The same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Now, indeed, the chains fell off my legs, and I was loosened from my afflictions and irons. My temptations also fled away so that from that time forward those dreadful Scriptures terrified me no more. Now I went home rejoicing because of the grace and love of God, and went to my Bible to look up where the verse was found that said, “Thy righteousness is in heaven.” But I could not find it. And so my heart began to sink again, until suddenly, there came to my remembrance I Corinthians 1:30, “Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.” From this, I saw that the other sentence was also true. – John Bunyan
WHO GETS THE GLORY?
If you wish to know if the gospel you are hearing preached is the Gospel of God, ask yourself this question, “Who gets the glory?” If you wish to know whether your religious experience is of the flesh or of the Lord, ask yourself the same thing, “Who gets the glory?” Also, examine all your gifts, works, and missionary efforts by the same rule, “Who gets the glory?” God will not share His glory! That which is of God, from God, and for God’s glory will be blessed with His presence and power “That no flesh should glory in His presence…that, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (I Corinthians 1:29-31).
– Henry Mahan
By nature and by practice so far
How very far from God
Yet now by grace, brought nigh to Him
Through faith in Christ’s blood.
So near, so very near to God
I cannot nearer be
For in the person of God’s Son
I am as near as He.
So dear, so very dear to God
More dear I cannot be
The love wherewith He loves His Son
Such is His love for me!
– Author Unknown
Full Revelation
Matthew 11: 25-27
In his deity, the Son of God had nothing delivered unto him, but as Christ the Mediator all things are delivered unto him of the Father. The Lord Jesus had just thanked the Father, for revealing “these things”. Here he says “all things” are delivered unto me. The Lord Jesus had just thanked the Father for “revealing” then he says that it is the Son who “reveals the Father.” What does this mean? When through the Holy Spirit the Father reveals the Son in the believer, seeing the Son we see the Father–the glory as of the only begotten of the Father (John 1: 14). And seeing the Son we behold all things that please the Father–For it pleased the Father that in his Son should all fullness dwell (John 14: 9; Colossians 1: 14-20). And of his fullness every believer receives, grace for grace. (John 1: 16). Clay Curtis.
Righteousness revealed
“…I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ…for therein is the righteousness of God revealed…” Romans 1:16-17
The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ reveals the righteousness of God in the justifying work of Christ which He wrought for the elect and is credited to their account before God, and is imputed to them and imparted in them by the regenerating work of His omnipotent Spirit.
The gospel exalts the righteousness of Christ and condemns man’s self-righteousness. Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed”. God Almighty is just and righteous in accepting sinners clothed with the righteousness of their appointed Substitute. The righteousness of God is not revealed by the light of nature or by the works of man. Only the “good news” of the gospel of Christ reveals and declares this wondrous work and transaction.
Man has naught to accomplish or perform, therefore we glory in Christ and Him alone, and we are not ashamed – “To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Romans 3:26. In the gospel of Christ is the answer to the unanswerable question in Job 9:2 “I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?”
The glory of His righteousness is revealed to us and in us here by His Spirit by the preaching of the gospel, and will one day be revealed openly and universally for all to behold and wonder – “In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.” Jer 33:16.
This is what the gospel is all about – He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities. Isa 53:11. We may rightfully be ashamed of any other so-called gospel. Any messenger with any other message is accursed of God – “As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed”. Galatians 1:9 –Tommy robbins.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
(Isaiah 40.5).
There can be no sweeter sight to the eye of the child of God than to see His Savior glorified in the sight of all flesh. To the child of God, the truth of the gospel is not merely doctrine to be debated and defended, or even just a body of settled truth to be confessed as a matter of orthodox religion. No, to the believer the gospel of the Lord Jesus is a declaration of the glory of the One who loved him and gave Himself for him. It is a portrait of his Beloved, and he could no more tolerate a corruption of the truth than a woman could tolerate that a picture of her beloved husband should be desecrated in her presence.
What patience does the church exhibit as she sets forth the truth of her heavenly husband and lovingly instructs the children of the Kingdom giving time for them to absorb and come to terms with the truth. But see her kind face flash with anger when her Husband is insulted by a rebellious refusal to acknowledge His sovereign rights. Many religionists become upset when their particular form of religion is assaulted for they take it as an insult against them. But for the church of the Lord Jesus, it is not her own glory for which she is jealous, but for the glory of the One Who loved her and gave Himself for her.
It may be tempting to establish theological benchmarks and test all men by these. The danger in such a system is that it easily taps into our innate self-righteousness and can make us act as theological legalists. Instead, let us be enamored of the glory of the Lord Jesus. Then, as we make our way in this religious world we will know who it is that has seen the same Savior as we have seen, and we will be fit to defend His glory in this world.
Joe Terrell.