May 26
18
A Believer Is All Ear
A missionary to a remote tribe was attempting to translate the scriptures into their language, and he had difficulty finding a word for “obedience” a virtue that few of the natives practiced. One day, as he went home from the village, his dog stayed behind. The missionary called his dog to come and follow him. The dog came running at top speed. An old native by the roadside said in the native tongue, “YOUR DOG IS ALL EAR.” The missionary got hold of that expression at once and so had a beautiful word for “obedience.” A believer is “all ear” to the words of His Lord!
~Henry Mahan
TRUE CONVERSION
When the Word of God converts a man (woman), it takes away from him his despair (John 16:8, Romans 7:18) but it does not take from him his repentance.
True conversion gives a man a pardon, but does not make him presumptuous.
True conversion gives a man perfect rest, but does not stop his progress in faithfulness. (Romans 4:20)
True conversion gives a man security but does not allow him to leave off being watchful.
True conversion gives a man strength and holiness, but it never lets him boast.
True conversion gives a harmony to all the duties of Christian life … it balances all duties, emotions, hopes and enjoyments.
True conversion brings a man to live for God. He (she) does everything for the glory of God, – whether he eats, or drinks, or whatever he does. (Romans 6:4, 1 Cor. 10:31)
True conversion makes a man live before God. He desires to live as in God’s sight at all times, and he is glad to be there.
And such a man now comes to live with God. He has blessed communion with him; he talks with Him as a man talks with his friend.
The salvation of a soul is a creation. No man has ever been able to create even a fly. Jehovah alone creates. No human or angelic power can intrude upon this glorious province of divine power. Creation is God’s domain. Now in every Christian there is an absolute creation – “created anew in Christ Jesus.” As Colossians 1:27 states “Christ in you the hope of glory.” The new man, after God, is created in righteousness.”
Regeneration is not the reforming of principles which were there before, but the implantation of a something which had no existence; it is the putting into a man the indwelling Spirit, the new man – the creation not of a soul but of a higher principle – as much higher than the soul, than the soul is of the body… In the bringing of any man to believe in Jesus Christ, there is a true and proper manifestation of creating power, as when God made the universe or raised the Lord Jesus from the grave Ephesians 1:19-23, Colossians 1:27, 3:10
It is a work that is not to be paralleled, it is unique and unrivalled, seeing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit must all co-operate in it; for to implant a new nature in the Christian, there must be the eternal decree of the Eternal father, the death of the ever blessed Son, and the fullness of the operation of the adorable Spirit.
Charles SPURGEON
Does God save sinners apart from the preaching of the gospel?
(Don Fortner)
“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17
No one is saved apart from the hearing of the gospel.
Let no one deceive you in this matter. The issue is not whether or not God can save His people without the use of means. The issue is whether or not He will. We know that He will not, because He has revealed it plainly in His Word. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” It pleased God to save His elect by the foolishness of gospel preaching. All who are begotten of God, are begotten of Him by the gospel. All who are born again, are born again by the incorruptible seed of God’s Word, which is preached to them in the gospel.
These things are so plainly revealed in holy Scripture that there is no excuse for error regarding them (1 Corinthians 1:21; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23-25). Those who teach that God saves sinners apart from the preaching of the gospel, fly in the face of holy Scripture. It is therefore no surprise to see them favor emotionalism, experiences, dreams, custom, and religious tradition above the Word of God.
The preaching of the gospel is God’s chosen, ordained means of grace, by which He calls chosen, redeemed sinners to salvation in Christ by the irresistible power and grace of His Holy Spirit. The New Testament universally declares that the preaching of the gospel is vital to the salvation of God’s elect.
Our message is always the same.
We do not have one message for children, and another for adults.
We do not have one message for one group, and another for another group.
The preaching of the gospel is a proclamation . . .
of the unsearchable riches of Christ,
of salvation by His grace,
of peace with God,
of pardon of sin,
of righteousness, and life and salvation by Him.
The Scriptures plainly declare that no one will ever be saved who does not . . .
hear the gospel (Romans 10:17),
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15-16),
acknowledge and confess his sin (1 John 1:9),
repent of his sins (Luke 13:5), and
persevere in the faith (Matthew 10:22).
My dear Brother,
I am happy to say that the sermon has been blessed by God in this neighbourhood, and consequently has made a very great stir. I received a letter from a poor man at some distance, thanking me for printing the sermon, as it has been a comfort to his soul and to others. Of course I shall have neither the praise of the unbelievers, nor their good wishes. The gospel is a fan that will separate the chaff from the wheat. The Pharisees and philosophers get but little hope from me, and will, therefore, seek more flattering preaching elsewhere. I am thankful to say the Lord enables me to be faithful; but it will avail nothing to assent to this or that doctrine, unless the Lord writes it on the heart. What is received in the flesh is all nothing, for the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, nor can he know them; consequently a man must be born again of the Spirit to understand then. By nature there is no difference among us; we are all sprung from Adam, and Christ says, “A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit.” The Scriptures make no distinction in us; we are all vile sinners. “What then? are we better than they? no, in nowise.”
The more you know of the truth in a spiritual way, the humbler you will be. To know the mysteries of the gospel it is necessary that you be taught of the Spirit, so as to divide the law and the gospel, and the flesh and the Spirit. Then you will understand the two covenants. Read your Bible frequently. The whole work of salvation is Christ’s, and Christ’s alone. It is to Him we owe all blessing, in Him all fullness dwells, and we are complete in Him. If you can understand and realise that, happy are you. Faith will not profit you without love to Christ and His people. He will then be precious to your soul, and you will rejoice in Him. You will see when the true light shines into your heart, that you are vile and sinful. You will say with the Bride, “I am black, because the sun has looked upon me.” Song of Solomon 1:5 We must be taught of God, that we are not even able to think a good thought. We shall then give all the glory to God, and shall not then think that we can choose between good and evil. A child must be born before it receives milk, and so must man be born again before he can receive the sincere milk of the word.
Praying that grace, peace, and love may be multiplied,
I am yours most affectionately,
William Tiptaft.
When God works in us—the will, being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, desires and acts, not from compulsion—but responsively.
Martin Luther
Ear stoppers!
C.H.Spurgeon
“But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.” Zechariah 7:11
Alas, men’s ears are still stopped up! An old Puritan has mentioned seven kinds of what he calls “ear stoppers,” which need to be taken out of the human ear.
They are frequently blocked up by ignorance.
They know not the importance and value of the truth, and therefore they refuse to give earnest heed to it. Judging the Gospel to be an idle tale, they go their ways to their farms and to their business.
Some ears are stopped up by unbelief.
They have heard the glad tidings of salvation, but they have not received it as an infallible revelation from God, a message backed by divine authority.
Skepticism and philosophy, falsely so called, barricade the Eargate against the assaults of the Gospel, so that even the great battering-rams of the gospel prove powerless to force an entrance. “He could not do many mighty works, because of their unbelief!”
Others ears are stopped up by impenitence.
The hardness of the heart, causes a deadness of the ear! You may discharge the great cannons of the law in the ears of some men, but they will not stir. The thunders of God startle the wild beasts of the forest, but impenitence is not moved thereby. The gospel itself sounds upon such ears with no more effect than upon a marble statue. The groans of Calvary are nothing to them.
Some ears are stopped by prejudice.
They have made up their minds as to what the gospel ought to be, and they will not hear it as it is. They have set up for themselves a standard of what the truth should be, and that standard is a false one, for they have put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, darkness for light and light for darkness.
The entrance into many ears is also effectually barred by the love of sin.
He who loves vileness, will not hear of repentance. The lover of pleasure, detests holy mourning. The immoral think holiness to be another name for slavery. The man who finds delight in sin, is a deaf adder whom the wisest charmer cannot charm. The poison of asps is under his tongue, and he cannot renounce his deadly hatred of a gospel which rebukes his evil ways. It would be vain to teach cleanliness to the swine which wallows in the mire–it loves impurity, and after impurity will it go.
Some ears are stopped through pride.
The plain, unflattering, humbling gospel of the sinner’s Saviour is not to their taste. The gospel for lost sinners, they think, is not addressed to them–for they imagine themselves to be good enough, and are by no means worthy of any great blame, or in danger of any great punishment. If the gospel flute could be tuned to notes of flattery, to praise the dignity of man–then they would attend to its music. But they will have nothing to do with a gospel for vulgar sinners! With their fine feathers all ruffled in disdain, they turn away in a rage.
Alas! how many ears are stopped through worldliness!
If you stand in a busy street where the constant thunder of rumbling wheels creates a din–it would be difficult to preach so as to command an audience, for the street noise would prevent all hearing. In the same way to a great extent, the mass of mankind are just in that position as to the joyful sound of the gospel. The rumbling of the wheels of commerce, the noise of trade and the cries of competition, the whirl of cares and the riot of pleasures–all these drown the persuasive voice of heavenly love, so that men hear no more of it than they would hear a pin fall in the midst of a hurricane. Only when God unstops the ear, is the still small voice of truth heard in the chambers of the heart.
“He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” John 8:47
February 23, 1849
My dear friend, Thomas Godwin—It is a mercy amid all one’s coldness, deadness, and hardness sometimes to feel a little revival, and to be blessed in speaking of the Lord’s people. It encourages us to go on in spite of all opposition within and without. I think more of the value and blessedness of the preached gospel than I once did. It often stirs up prayer, shows where we have been wandering, revives the soul, points to Jesus and His precious blood, and encourages us to believe that where sin did and does abound, there grace does much more abound. And, I believe, where the preached gospel is little valued, it arises from deadness and carnality. It is, I believe, a great mercy when the heart of the preacher is enlarged and his mouth opened to set forth the truth as it is in Jesus, and the ear and heart of the people enlarged and opened to receive and feel it. It will detect many snares, make the soul cry at times, “Search me, O Lord, and try me,” and give now and then a little strength to fight against besetting sins and temptations, as well as lead the poor soul at times to the fountain once opened for all sin and uncleanness. I once thought I really would get better before I died; more holy and pure, and strong and spiritual. But I find that these things are only at times and seasons, as the Lord is pleased to work in the soul to will and to do of His good pleasure; and that left to ourselves we are, and ever shall be, sinners of the deepest and blackest dye.
But religion and experience, and all that regards the work of grace in the soul will ever be a mystery; and we not only can know only just as much as we are divinely taught, but seem only then to know it when under the feelings and influences. I can recollect having seen and felt such and such things, and may, perhaps, be able to describe them; but how different this is from being under their power and influence. Then they seem to be really known, and only really then. . .
Yours very affectionately,
J. C. Philpot