Whips And Chains And Biscuits
\nTim James
\nThe treatment afforded the demoniac of Gadara is a treatise on the means
\nused by false religion to keep its converts committed to its cause. In
\nMark 5:3-4, two words are used to describe this vile religious practice.
\nThe religious folks efforts to recover this poor sinner, were two-fold,
\nto bind and to tame.<\/p>\n
Their first efforts were to bind this sinner in fetters and chains.
\nThere can be no doubt that this is the illegal use of the law to control
\nbehavior (which is all the law can do, it never reaches the heart). This
\napproach to life is the tool of those who would “make a fair show in the
\nflesh.” These love themselves and no one else, and believe themselves to
\nbe responsible for the behavior of others. They operate in the realm of
\nguilt mongering. They keep folk in check with their rules, their
\nregulations, their personal convictions and inability to look at their
\nown behavior. They use scripture as a chain to bind the mind, and
\nfetters to bind the feet, thereby keeping their subjects exactly where
\nthey want them.<\/p>\n
The other means used to control folk is to tame them. There are only two
\nways to tame a wild beast, either with a whip or a biscuit. The whip is
\nthe slavish fear of wrath. Those who use this tactic hold their “beasts”
\nin fear of loss and fear of punishment. They make God out to be a petty
\nogre, veritably licking His lips with pleasure at the thought of someone
\nmessing up, so He can ravage their lives. The biscuit is the promise of
\nreward, the pat on the back, the public praise for the job well done. It
\nis the carrot on a stick, held before the mule, to keep him pulling the
\nplow while he stupidly chases what he can never attain. These are wicked
\nmeans of control. The gospel sets men free!<\/p>\n
\u201cFor I am the Lord, I change not.\u201d (Malachi 3:6) God is unchangeable in
\nHis essence, nature, and perfections. Isn\u2019t it wonderful that in our
\nexperience in a life that is nothing but change, to know that the Lord
\nchanges not? His purpose has never altered and never will. This gives
\nassurance and peace to all who have fled to Christ for refuge. ~David
\nPledger<\/p>\n
Eight times in I John we are told to abide in Christ. In Christ is a
\nplace. You were in a place when you were in the ark, in the house with
\nthe blood over the door, or in the city of refuge. To abide in Christ is
\na conscious and intelligent desire to be found only in Christ. \u201cOh, that
\nI may win Christ and be found in Him.\u201d If there was a room that in it
\nwas sinless perfection, nothing but pleasure, beauty, good food, good
\nfriends, perfect security, perfect satisfaction, with each moment being
\nbetter than the last and if outside of that room there was nothing but
\npain and wrath\u2026. you would never want to leave that room. At all times
\nthe believer wants to abide in Christ, so that all God sees when He sees
\nme is Christ, and me in Christ. In Christ is a big place. In Him
\ndwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in
\nHim.\u201d Why would we ever want to be anywhere else? The fact of the matter
\nis if we are believers, we do not! ~Todd Nibert<\/p>\n
To me the end of all controversy is \u201cThus saith the Lord.\u201d Only let me
\nknow that the Lord hath said this or that, and though the revelation
\nshould seem impossible to believe, and though it should come into
\nconflict with all my previous notions, I will bow before it without a
\nquestion. \u201cThe Lord hath said it,\u201d stands to us instead of all reason,
\nand argument, and evidence; yea, we believe God in the teeth of supposed
\nevidence and reason, saying, \u201cLet God be true, but every man a liar.\u201d
\nCharles Spurgeon<\/p>\n
We are so prone to judge God\u2019s love to us by his providence instead of
\nhis promises\u2014William Mason (1719-1791)<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his
\nraiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the
\nsmell of a field which the LORD hath blessed.\u201d Gen.27:27
\nThere is, without a doubt, no clearer picture or type of the blessing of
\nGod Almighty to an unworthy rebel than the blessing of Jacob by his
\nfather Isaac.
\nJacob had exhibited the true nature of a wretched sinner. In Jacob\u2019s
\nmind, the only way he could get his father\u2019s blessing was to impersonate
\nhis brother Esau. Lying with every breath, Jacob attempted to convince
\nhis father that he was someone else. Not until Isaac smelled the coat of
\nEsau did he bestow the blessing. The smell of his first born satisfied
\nthe aging Isaac.
\nAnd just as the smell of Esau\u2019s coat that covered Jacob ushered in the
\nblessing to the younger son\u2026Christ\u2019s royal robe of righteousness,
\nimputed to everyone that believeth in Christ, is the smell of
\nsatisfaction, obedience, and truthfulness to God the Father.
\nIn ourselves, we are but \u201cJacobs,\u201d deceivers, liars and supplanters. But
\nrobed in the glorious robe of Christ\u2019s imputed righteousness\u2026we are
\naccepted and blessed in the Beloved\u2026Apart from Him, there is no hope, no
\nlife, and no blessing from the just and Holy God. Pastor Marvin Stalnaker<\/p>\n
“But God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet
\nsinners, Christ died for us.”\u2014Romans v. 8.
\nIt is a very blessed heightening of divine mercies, when we behold them
\nas not only bestowed upon those that deserved them not, but upon those
\nthat deserved the reverse of them. It is not enough, in our account of
\nGod’s love, to say that God was gracious when we had done nothing to
\nmerit his favour, but that God was gracious when we had done every thing
\nto merit his displeasure. This is among the sweet features of the
\ngospel. And the reason is very plain. God himself is an infinite Being,
\nand therefore his love must be an infinite love. All the properties of
\nit are infinite; it must be exercised to suit an infinite power; it must
\nbe such as corresponds to infinite wisdom; and its effects must be such
\nas shall be suited to infinite goodness. Hence, therefore, in the
\ndisplay of it, such manifestations must be given as shall set forth,
\nthat the love of God, as an infinite Being, totally differs from the
\nlove of man, who is but a finite creature. Our love is bounded, like
\nourselves, by circumstances of a finite, limited, perishing, dying
\nnature, such as ourselves, and all the creatures around us partake of.
\nBut in the love of God, there are “breadths and lengths, and depths and
\nheights, passing knowledge!” Now God commendeth his love towards us by
\nthose properties; that is, he bids us take notice of it by those special
\nmarks and characters. And when the Lord surpriseth the souls of his
\npeople by the same astonishing instance of his grace, in those acts of
\ngoodness, he speaks as in these solemn words: “If it be marvellous in
\nthe eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be
\nmarvellous in mine eyes, saith the Lord of Hosts?” Zech. viii. 6. How
\nsweetly is this shewn to us in the gift of his dear Son Jesus Christ!
\nWhen’ was Christ given? When we were enemies. On what account was he
\ngiven? Purely on account of God’s love. And to whom was he given? Not to
\nhis friends; not to those who had never offended him; not to those who,
\nby their affection, or by their services, could make some return of
\nacknowledgment for such blessings; but to poor, helpless, barren,
\nunprofitable sinners. So that the love of God in Christ is particularly
\nrecommended, sent home, pressed upon our hearts, by this rich display of
\nit. To have blessed us, or to have loved us, if we had never offended
\nGod, would have been a stream too shallow, too trifling, to shew forth
\ndivine love. No! “God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we
\nwere yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Pause, my soul! mark these
\nproperties, admire divine, goodness, and learn how to put a proper value
\nupon the unparalleled love of God in Jesus Christ. So God commended his
\nlove towards us!
\nRobert Hawker
\nEven As Others<\/p>\n
… and were by nature children of wrath, even as others. Eph.3:3<\/p>\n
Are you a believer? Are you what is called a saved person, a child of
\nGod? If so, how did that come about? Why did God save you? If your
\nanswer is, “because I believed in Jesus,” then you are over-qualified to
\nbe a candidate for the mercy of God and are therefore deceived and lost.
\nGod saves sinners who are “even as others” and if you have distinguished
\nyourself from “others” by some kind of faith that you produced, you have
\ndisqualified yourself from receiving the unmerited, free, sovereign,
\ndistinguishing grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
Our text and its context clearly show that when God, Who is rich in
\nmercy, displayed and dispensed that mercy upon men, that He did so when
\nthey were just like everybody else. If God saved me because I believed
\nin Jesus and did not save “others” because they did not believe in
\nJesus, then the scriptures are meaningless and there is no such thing as
\npure grace.<\/p>\n
What does it mean to be \u201ceven as other?\u201d Read Ephesians 2. It means to
\nbe “dead in trespasses and sins,” in the “lusts of our flesh,” and to be
\n“by nature the children of wrath.” You may say, “Well I was a sinner and
\nGod saved me by grace, but I ‘improved’ upon that, grace whereas others
\ndid not.” Then you are not “even as others”; God has surely passed you
\nby and shall until you become so.<\/p>\n
This was the Pharisee’s problem. Luke 18:11. The Pharisee stood and
\nprayed thus with himself, \u201cGod, I thank thee, that I am not as other men
\nare, extortionist, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.\u201d Real
\nsinners, such as the publican referred to here, make no such claim, but
\nonly cry out for mercy! If we have any objection to the title “even as
\nothers,” it is only that surely there is no one quite as wretched as
\nourselves.<\/p>\n
What is your definition of grace? God saved me out of a world full of
\ndrowning worms just like me. If that’s not grace, then I don’t know what
\ngrace is. — Chris Cunningham<\/p>\n
On Death Row; Next In Line; Sleeping
\nDrew Dietz<\/p>\n
And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was
\nsleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains and the keepers
\nbefore the door kept the prison. Acts 12:6<\/p>\n
Look! what grace in the heart does for God’s dear children!! Peter was
\njust hours before his probable execution. James was already murdered
\n(vs.2) and I’m sure Peter was next in line. Yet, read the text again my
\nweak brother, let it liven your discouraged soul my sister\u2026\u2019Peter was
\nsleeping!’ Peter, who was the Lord’s own, had that peace that passes all
\nunderstanding. How can this be? What is the formula for such rest and
\npeace in the face of fiery trial? No formula, no 1,2 or 3; but simple
\nand child-like trust (all of grace) in the very person of Jesus Christ,
\nwho held nothing back for the free redemption of my vile, ugly and
\ndeplorable sin sick soul! If he be for us\u2026.none shall be against us
\nreally or more importantly, eternally!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whips And Chains And Biscuits Tim James The treatment afforded the demoniac of Gadara is a treatise on the means used by false religion to keep its converts committed to its cause. In Mark 5:3-4, two words are used to describe this vile religious practice. The religious folks efforts to recover this poor sinner, were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin-editions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4917"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4919,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4917\/revisions\/4919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}