Sep 17
17
“There was a division because of Him” John 7:43; 9:16; 10:19
In this religious world you will hardly find anyone that is “for” drunkenness, immorality or abortion. You can eliminate all the bars, houses of prostitution and even all abortions, but you have not even touched the real issue! The real issue, as in these passages, is where Christ is being challenged or His authority questioned or His right to rule and redeem those whom He has chosen! We can agree upon all the previously mentioned areas and still not come close to telling sinners the “Truth” about who God is, how He is satisfied and how vile rebels can be made just with the Holy God. If you look at each of these passages those religious people were divided regarding “HIM.” They would rather hear about the moral issues of the day or the economy of the hour or even the “moral majority” platform and what it is doing for our country. Paul said I am determined not to know anything among you except Christ and Him crucified…and the moment we pursue any other issue we have fundamentally turned our back on The Gospel. No sinner was ever saved by being in agreement with or not being in agreement with the world on the issues of the day. I’m not saying these causes are not important. I am saying that these are never THE ISSUE and we are simply to confess Christ in this Christ-less generation and confessing Christ is telling people the good news of the redemption in and by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. —
Drew Dietz
I Have Blotted Out Your Sins!
In Isaiah 44:22, the Lord commands His covenant sheep and His elect people to return to Him because He has put away their sin. “I have blotted out thy transgressions and thy sins, return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” What greater motive can any sinner have than to seek mercy where it is found, in Christ? What great motive can any sinner have than to seek forgiveness of sin because Christ made full payment for all the sin of His people (Heb. 9:26)?
Notice carefully, the Lord does not say, “return to me and I will forgive you and redeem you.” No, forgiveness of our sin is not based upon our doing but rather upon His doing and dying. This lost, religious world has turned the gospel of Christ upside down and inside out. They have made salvation based upon our performance and obedience not upon the Lord’s performance and obedience alone (Psalm 57:2; Phil. 2:8). They have made faith and repentance a meritorious and accomplishing work instead of the gift of God that looks to Christ alone for all salvation (Isa. 45:21; Eph. 2:8-9; Acts 5:31; Heb.12:2).
When the Lord Jesus Christ had mercy upon the woman caught in adultery (John 8:10-11), He did not say to her, “go and sin no more and I will not condemn thee,” that would not have been good news, (for there are none that do not sin). No, just the opposite He said, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” There is no condemnation in Christ (Rom. 8:1, 31-35).
When Peter preached the gospel on the day of Pentecost he told the crowd about the glorious victories of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He accomplished for His people through His satisfying atonement for sin and then told them to repent, not to put away sin, but rather, because the Lord had already put away sin (Acts 2:36-38).
May the Lord Jesus Christ be pleased to give us all holy determination to seek Him, not only to be forgiven, but because there is forgiveness in no other (Eph. 1:7). Let all who seek salvation in Him, do so because He is the only Saviour of sinners (Isa. 44:23; Rom. 5:6-9). Let us all be warned of those that preach and promote salvation by creature work and merit instead of Christ’s grace alone (Isaiah 45: 21; Rom. 4:24-26). Tom Harding
Tom Harding
The Heart and The Mouth
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
The faith itself is not righteousness, but it is UNTO righteousness because it connects us to Christ, Who is our righteousness. Salvation is an eternal act of God’s will in its origin and it is a powerful work of God on the heart of a sinner, in its application. With the heart man believeth. Not with the heart of flesh, for the flesh profiteth nothing (John 6:63). But that new heart that God promised He would give His people. The new man is the one who believes, not the old. The one created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
And then, what happens in the heart is expressed by the mouth. The Psalmist exhorted in Psalm 107:2, Let the redeemed of the LORD say [so]. And we do and shall. The Lord instructed the man, out of whom He had cast the legion of devils, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” And we do and shall.
Confession includes everything that is believed. It is owning our sin as Job did when he said, “behold, I am vile!” It is acknowledging our helplessness as Peter did, when he cried, “Lord, save me!” It is declaring His sufficiency as the leper did who begged, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” It is proclaiming the power of His blood, like the publican who prayed, “God, be propitious to me, the sinner.” It is bowing to His sovereignty as the thief who said, “Lord, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.”
Chris Cunningham
Taking Out the Trash
Darvin Pruitt
In Philippians 3 the apostle Paul talks about men and women who look to the flesh to find a confidence and assurance of a relationship with God. He likens it to an account of money. We deposit our earnings until we accumulate enough to put us in good standing with the bank. As it grows we gain a financial security. But what a tragedy to discover one day that everything we thought to be of value was worthless. This is the experience of every true believer. As a religious man, Saul of Tarsus had more to his account than any man. Yet in Philippians 3:7 he says, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.”
A true believer, Philippians 3:3, is one who worships God in the spirit, rejoices in Christ Jesus, and has NO confidence in the flesh. It is a good exercise for us daily to examine our spiritual account and then take out the trash. Nothing in us is of any value except the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. Concerning this, Paul said, “I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung (rubbish), that I might win Christ, and be found in Him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of (faithfulness of) Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith (Philippians 3:8-9).”
Preaching About Christ or Preaching Christ?
He (the Holy Spirit) shall glorify ME; for He shall receive of mine and show it unto you.”–John 16:14.
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The Holy Spirit does not reach after something novel, new, or spectacular in order to glorify Christ or to preach Christ to men. He does not need tongues, fleshly emotion, bodily healings, and creature fame and importance in order to bring glory to Christ and call out His sheep. He finds Christ’s glory IN CHRIST HIMSELF!
If we want to honor Christ, glorify Christ, and preach Christ, we must not look for something outside of Christ; but we must honor Him by preaching that which is His already–His deity, His person, His man-hood, His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His intercession, His return! Strange as it may seem, there is today very little preaching OF CHRIST HIMSELF.
Men preach about those who knew Him, who served Him, and who wrote of Him. They preach about His church, His doctrines, and His commandments. They preach series of messages on those who used to preach Christ, on the conduct and conversation of those who profess to know Christ, and on the duties and responsibilities of believers in Christ, but very few messages ON THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST HIMSELF. They read papers and conduct discussions on ways and means to serve Christ, to discipline and organize the kingdom of Christ, and how to honor Christ; and they seldom get around to doing that which God has ordained and commissioned us to do AND THAT IS TO PREACH CHRIST!
Jesus Christ is most glorified, His sheep most edified, His will and purpose accomplished, and His church perfected in faith, hope, and love WHEN WE PREACH CHRIST HIMSELF. The work of the Spirit of God is to reveal to us the beauties of Jesus Christ, AND THEY ARE ALL FOUND IN CHRIST HIMSELF.
Henry Mahan
New Heaven and New Earth
Revelation 21:1
And he that sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21: 5). The believer is looking for a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3: 10-13.) In the end, the new creation will have none of the dividing effects of sin, as the sea represents. In Revelation 13: 1 the beast rose up out of the sea and on his heads the name “blasphemy”. In Revelation 17: 15 the harlot of anti-christ religion sat upon the waters and “the waters…are peoples, and multitudes, and nations and tongues.” But in the new creation there will only be the Lord’s chosen generation, his royal priesthood, his holy nation, his purchased people and all shall speak but one language, “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Revelation 5: 9-10, 12-13). Try to think upon a heaven and earth without briars or sweat or division, only a perfect garden wherein dwells righteousness. What a place created just for you believer! Clay Curtis.
A Matter Of Revelation
Todd Nibert
No mater how simply and clearly the gospel of Christ is presented, no matter how intelligent the person is that is listening, the gospel cannot be understood or received apart from a revelation from God Almighty to the sinner’s heart ( Matt. 16:17). This is a humbling truth. No amount of seeking or study will enable one to believe. God must reveal Himself.
But it is also a very encouraging truth. Although our ability to preach and witness will not make a sinner more likely to believe and the sinner’s ability to listen, and comprehend what he has heard will not make him more likely to believe, yet God can and does make Himself known in an instant; and that sinner to whom God makes Himself known will believe! Not only will he believe when God makes Himself known, he can’t help but believe!
The Revelation of Faith
“But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit; for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God (I Corinthians 2:9-10)”
By the sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth the believer is given spiritual eyes. Spiritual eyes are eyes that see what others cannot and will not see. The apostle Paul describes this vision in II Corinthians 4: 18 saying —“We look not at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal..” The faith of God’s elect is the gift of God that enables the believer to see through the eyes of God. John said of Christ, “What he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. (John 3: 32-33)” The eyes of faith see through God’s eyes. They see God as he is, man as he is, and Christ reconciling the two. They see the eternal, immutable purpose of God in redemption, the everlasting covenant of grace and the one mediator between God and men accomplishing the will of God concerning these things. The eye of faith sees a bleeding substitute satisfying the justice of God concerning their sins and his righteous obedience as their own righteousness making them “holy, unblameable and unreproveable in his sight (Colossians 1:22).”
Seeing through his eyes we see the perfection of God in all he has done and found as God did when he looked upon his work, that it is good and complete and sufficient to cease from our labors and enter into his rest.
Darvin Pruitt
Kept From the Evil
Acts 14: 3, 4
Not only does the Lord Jesus Christ sanctify us by giving us the word of life in our hearts at conversion, but once the Lord Jesus creates this division between the believer and the unbeliever, between our old man and the new, between the spirit and the flesh, he also continues to keep us separated through this same word of his grace. Every time the gospel of Christ’s perfect atonement was preached to these believers, Christ Jesus continued testifying of the word of his grace in their hearts, that they were signs and wonders of his grace, kings and priest unto God, so that they held with the apostles (John 17: 14-19.) If the sinner is separated from the carnal heart of unbelief into Christ’s marvelous light and belief of the truth it will be through the word of truth, by the Holy Spirit, as Christ testifies of his word of grace. And if you and I will continue in the faith, separated unto Christ, kept from the evil of the ungodly, it will be the same way (2 Thessalonians 2: 13-15.) The word of truth is of utmost importance. Hear it while you can!
Clay Curtis.