Biyernes, Nobyembre 29, 2019

The Blessedness of Not Being Offended in Christ (Thomas Boston, 1676-1732)

Matthew 11:6

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

THESE words are the conclusion of our Lord's answer to the question upon which John's disciples came to him. John himself had no doubt of Christ's being the Messiah, for he was his forerunner to point him out to the world; he had baptized him, seen the Spirit descending, and had given testimony to him as the Lamb of God, John 1:29–35. But it seems his disciples were not so firm in the faith, and therefore he sends them to Christ to be from himself fully satisfied in that grand point. And indeed, nothing less than a divine power can silence the clamours of unbelief going about to rase foundations.
Our Lord gives them answer by referring them to his works compared with the word, Isa. 35:4–6. and 61:1–3. The things which were prophesied concerning the Messiah, they heard and saw to be fulfilled in him, and therefore behoved to conclude him to be the Messiah. Divine power can cast such a beam of light over the works and word of God, as will stare the strongest unbelief out of countenance, and make that raging lust fall down unable to create more trouble.
But because his outward mean appearance was a vail, through which most of the world could not see, he declares them happy whose faith carries them over those things in him over which the graceless world, the despisers of the gospel, stumble and fall to their own utter destruction. "And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." In which words, there is,
1. A fatal stumble in the way to happiness, which many of the hearers of the gospel make. They are offended in Christ. They stumble at him. Observe here, the object of their offence, Jesus Christ. It is at him the world is offended. The God that made and guides the world, the Saviour that redeemed them, does not please the world. What wonder then that others cannot do it. There is something in the mystery of Christ, with which the unbeliever will always be finding fault. The Jews were offended at the meanness of his life, and in this the disciples of John seem to have joined them. The Gentiles were offended at the ignominy of his death. Some at one thing, some at another, and every unbeliever at something in him. This is surely a great mistake in them. Jesus Christ is holy, and there is nothing in him to give offence. The world is unholy, and takes offence at him. He is the brightness of his Father's glory: and they like owls and bats are blinded at the shining sun, and therefore carefully keep at a distance from him. They are offended. In the Greek, scandalized. The word scandal, in a natural sense, signifies, 1. Some obstacle in one's way, by which he is stopped in his passage; particularly a sharp stake, which soldiers put in the field in time of war, to wound the feet and legs of the enemy that were to follow them that way. 2. A stone or block in the way, over which men are apt to fall. A trap or snare to catch beasts. This shews what a dreadful sin, and soul destroying evil, an offence given is; and withal, what a soul ruining the taking offence is, and the stumbling over real stumbling blocks.
Now the blind world by reason of their own corruption, are thus offended or scandalized in Christ. "And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, to both the houses of Israel; for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken." He is the way to the Father, but they see something in him which they cannot digest, and therefore they stop, or go off the way. They stumble at him, looking for matters in him, according to their carnal wish, they are disappointed, and they cannot get over that. Thus eventually, he is a trap and a snare to them, by which their ruin is more secured than ever. Their disease gathers strength from the remedy abused.
2. In the text there is the happiness of those who escape this fatal stumble. He that is not offended in Christ, who sees nothing in Christ that offends him, nothing in him to turn him away from him, nor to stop his going forward to him, and to the Father through him; he is a happy man, blessed here and shall be blessed hereafter. The party is described negatively, to shew us that there can be no neutrality among the hearers of the gospel. He that is not offended in Christ is one that is well pleased with him, with every thing in him, or about him; and he that is not so is offended in him.
Doctrine. Stumbling at some one thing or another in Christ abounds so much in the world that they are happy persons who are preserved from falling along with the rest. In prosecuting this subject, I shall shew,
I. What it is to stumble at Christ and be offended in him.
II. That stumbling at Christ abounds very much in the world.
III. That they are happy indeed who are kept from being offended in him. And then add some improvement.
I. To shew what it is to stumble at Christ, and be offended in him.
This is a very awful matter. For a man to die of his disease, when he might have been cured, is sad; but it is a double death for one to destroy himself by the abuse of a remedy prescribed that would have cured him infallibly. It has reference to four things in the general.
1. To the grand device of salvation through Jesus Christ, laid in the infinite wisdom of God, and fixed by the divine counsel. This is the foundation on which the Father has laid the weight of the elect's salvation, and on which he requires all to lay their weight for eternity. And at this the unbelieving world ever stumbles, and their hearts can never fall in with it. We preach, says the apostle, Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.
2. To the offer of Christ made in the gospel. There he is offered to sinners, to be the Captain of their salvation. To be the sinner's head, Lord, and husband. To be their Prophet, Priest, and King, their all and instead of all. But sinners love not the offer, they stumble at his offices; there is something in them at which they perpetually stand, and so they cannot come forward. Ye will not, says he, come unto me that ye might have life.
3. To the making use of Christ for all the purposes for which the Father has given him. Here they stand again. They are obstinate patients that will not receive the remedy, though they should die of their disease. If their own way will do with them, good and well; but as for the Lord's way they are offended at it, and cannot fall in with it. "But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone."
4. To the practical understanding of sinners. They ever form a wrong judgment of Christ, and nothing less than overpowering grace will rectify their apprehensions of him. They still say what is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? It is true they may please themselves and others, with fine speculations about Christ. If they be Ministers they may preach him, or professors may talk of him and recommend him to others. But in this they are like the mountebank, who recommends his drugs to others, yet perhaps in the meantime he himself abhors them and makes no use of them. I find no fault in him, says Pilate, yet he condemned him. So the unrenewed world constantly stumble in their views of Christ with respect to practice. "If they knew the gift of God, and who Christ is, they would ask of him and he would give them living water." "They that know thy name will put their trust in thee; for thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee." This stumbling at Christ, lies in these four things,
1. The blind soul ever finds some fault in the mystery of Christ. There is always something in or about Christ, that disgusts the sinner, is quite disagreeable and shocking to him. The Son of God is not a match suitable to those, whose minds are not savingly enlightened. "To them he hath no form nor comeliness, and when they see him, there is no beauty that they should desire him." Though his Father is well pleased with him, and he hath the hearts and praises of all the saints, yet they are not pleased with him. If they would speak their minds, they would tell you, they see not how they could be happy in him for all.
2. That which disgusts them, is what they cannot get over. There is something not to be found in him, which they cannot want, and something in him which they cannot endure. And by no art can they reconcile their hearts to it. It is with many as with the young man, "who was sad at what Jesus said to him, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions." Many a time they are aiming at the bargain betwixt Christ and their souls, but they can never finish it. For there is always one thing that stands between Christ and them. His holiness will not allow him to yield it to them, and their corruption will not allow them to yield it to him. And so in the end the soul parts with Christ, perhaps with grief and tears, because it will do their way, and they cannot do otherwise, Mark 10:21, 22.
3. Because they cannot get over that one thing, it keeps Christ and the soul asunder effectually. Could the Jews have got over the offence of the mean appearance of Christ, and reconciled it to their own notion of the Messiah, they would have been fond of him, as they were while he was not come. "He was then the Lord whom they sought." But the bargain must needs be marred, where the parties cannot agree. And there can be no uniting with Christ by faith, while there is any one objection against him reigning in the heart. We must be all his, or none at all. We must receive whole Christ, or want him altogether.
Lastly, This keeping Christ and the soul asunder, the soul is at length thereby ruined, and brought into a worse case, than if Christ had never come in the way. "If I had not come, says he, and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin." For then the remedy for sin is despised, and while that continues the disease must needs be desperate. And none can think that their debt will be so severely exacted as those who have refused a cautioner. And as the sourest vinegar comes of the most generous wine, so the vengeance that comes on the despisers of the gospel will be the most terrible. No fire will burn so keenly, as that which comes from the altar. We now proceed,
II. To shew that stumbling at Christ abounds very much in the world. Let us view the heaps upon heaps that are lying broken, snared and taken.
1. Let us take a view of those that are lying rotting above the ground in open profanity; they are kept away from Christ, even by the very far off sight of him and his way. "There are many at this day, who cry, let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords from us. We will not have this man to reign over us." These are the profane persons, and such as will not take on so much as a form of godliness. They are terrified at the holiness of his way, and therefore they run far from him. They keep at such a distance from him, they will not set their foot on the holy ground. They are so far from covenanting with God, that it is evident, they will engage to be any thing sooner than to be the Lord's. Our holy Redeemer does not please these people more than a palace would please swine.
2. Let us take a view of those who are lying dead upon their murdered convictions. Our Lord has taken some persons in hand to cure them, and by the Spirit of conviction, he has begun to let blood of the heart vein of their beloved lusts. But the pain of this operation hath made them disagree with the Physician, start up and break the lancet, and stifle their convictions. And now their wound is whole, their convictions are gone, and their conscience, which was so uneasy before, is now as dead as stone. Go where they please, they are not troubled. Darts are as stubble.
3. Those that are lying broken and pining away, having stumbled over the cross of Christ. Like the stony ground hearers, "not having root in themselves but dureth for a while; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by they are offended." Many have made a good appearance in a fair day, when in the time of a storm, have soon turned their backs upon Christ. It is now long since the times of persecution, and yet there is no doubt, but the wounds then received are lasting with many to this day. But I fear that private crosses in the time of the Church's peace, have made greater havock in the case of many professors, than ever public ones did. And O! but it is much to wait upon the Lord, in all the turns of providence, which may be in our lots and not to be offended in the great manager of all. They may follow Christ far, time and circumstances may at length cause to draw back.
4. Those that are fallen away from the lusts of Christ's consolation, to the fulsome breasts of the world and their own lusts. In every age there are many like the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt, who for a time kept up in the wilderness, but afterwards lost hopes of Canaan, and fell a "lusting, and even the children of Israel also wept again, and said, who shall give us flesh to eat?" We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick. Such persons keep steady and flourishing a while, so long as religion is new to them. But the grace which they receive being awakening only, and not changing, and their souls never truly uniting with Christ; their comfort and satisfaction from that quarter dry up, when once the novelty is away: so they do not find that in Christ which they expected, and therefore they are offended, and even fall away to their former courses, having entirely lost their taste and relish for spiritual things.
Finally, Look at those whose soul exercises have issued in putting their case in the hands of a Physician of no value. There are many who being awakened by a spirit of conviction, and are really exercised about their souls' condition, put their case to Christ for healing. But not being able or willing to wait his time, till the wound be sufficiently searched, but being for peace at any rate, they are offended in him, and so put themselves in the hand of the law that wounded them. Thus they make themselves whole, not by the believing application of the blood of Christ, but by their prayers, tears, and external reformation. And so they settle down upon their lees farther from Christ than ever. It now remains,
III. To shew that they are happy indeed who are kept from being offended in him. What this attainment is, you may know from what is here said of it. It consists in this. This happy soul is well pleased with Christ, and has no objections against him. The soul says of him, "His mouth is most sweet; yea, he is altogether lovely." The heart of this person now corresponds in all respects to the covenant of peace, and says that it is well ordered in all things and sure. There is nothing in the mystery of Christ which they desire to have out, and there is nothing out which they desire to have in it. They are pleased with the gospel offer, they love Christ in his person, natures, offices, relations, all that is in him or about him is welcome to them. And are all such blessed ones? They are. For,
1. Their eyes are opened to see that superlative glory in Christ, that all the unbelieving world cannot discover. And therefore I may say, Blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. And indeed in this case the hidden glory of the Mediator is taken up, darkening all created excellency. Whereas the most piercing eyes of nature can never see through the vail. "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." But they who are pleased with him can say, "We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth."
2. Their hearts are new formed, cast into a new mould, otherwise they could never be pleased with him. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on his name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Adam's covenant is engraved in our nature, and the way of believing is the very reverse of nature's way. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God." Sin is our natural element, and though it be our disease, yet we naturally love it, and cannot but love it so as to loathe the physician. If then the heart be pleased with Christ, it is turned and changed, and made willing in a day of power. The natural enmity is cured, and the heart of stone is become a heart of flesh.
3. That soul cannot fail to embrace Christ, to receive him by faith and unite with him. For to be well pleased with Christ, is in effect to say amen to the great bargain. And the cause is won when the sinner is pleased with the gospel offer. Now he is the person, "who having found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
Lastly, Hence all the blessings of the covenant fall to the share of him who is well pleased with Christ, as to his having a right to them, as a believer through Jesus Christ.
Uses for improvement
1. Be convinced then of this bias of the heart, this disposition of the soul to stumble at Jesus Christ. O, says the poor fool, would any thing in Jesus Christ offend me? Pleased with Christ! who would not be well pleased with him? Alas! you know not what spirits you are of! you are little acquainted with the natural enmity of your souls against the Lord, and particularly with that corruption of your nature, by which it is strongly averse to the gospel plan of salvation. If it be not so, how can it be an evidence of the grace of God in the text, to be well pleased with him. "While Christ crucified is to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, he is to them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
I tell you many are pleased with Christ, as Jacob was with Leah, while he thought she had been Rachel. It is a mistaken Christ whom they love, even as sure as they love their lusts. No man can serve two masters. And if a new light would spring up in their dark hearts, they would see it to be so. Many love Christ very well, to be a rest to their consciences, while they can get the world and their lusts to be a rest to their hearts. And thus they can do very well between the two. But take away these from them, and their hearts can rest no more than a fish drawn out of the water till it be in it again. Their souls can never truly say as the Psalmist, "Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee." Now was ever Christ a covering for the eyes to them. Nor did they ever find such sweetness in Christ as they have in following their lusts.
2. I exhort one and all of you, that have a mind for any share of eternal happiness, and particularly communicants, that you would try yourselves this night, whether you be well pleased with Christ or not; that so if there be any thing which you have stumbled at in Christ in time past, you would now come over it, as ever you would see the face of God in mercy, and would not have it part betwixt Christ and you. And for this purpose let your consciences put the following questions.
1. Is there any thing in Christ's salvation offered in the gospel that offends you? Salvation from the wrath of God, is but the half of Christ's salvation. I doubt not but you are pleased with this part of it. But are you pleased with the part which is salvation from sin? "He saves his people from their sins?" What sayest thou, sinner? Christ is saying to thee, wilt thou be made whole? Wilt thou be made clean?
Wilt thou be made content, that the Physician not only remove death, but the disease also? Not only take away the guilt, but break the power, and also at last destroy the very existence of sin in you? Wilt thou be content to hold out the right eye to him that he may pluck it out, and the offending right hand that he may cut it off? If not, you are offended in Christ, his salvation does not please you. But if you come forward to him, he is pleased and you are welcome.
2. Is there any thing in Christ's offices that offends you? Any thing in his prophetical office that offends? Our Lord has the Father's commission to guide poor sinners through the wilderness of this world to Immanuel's land. "He hath given him to be a witness unto the people, a leader and commander to the people." He leads them by his word and Spirit, for it is not his will that they be trusted with the guiding of themselves. What think you of this commission. Will you take Christ this day for your guide for ever, or will you hold the reins still in your own hands, though you should lead yourselves to destruction? Will you then renounce your own wisdom, and take him for your sole oracle? I am sure you may know that your wilfulness has many a time shaken off this yoke. What say you of it now? If you have nothing to object against our Lord's command as a prophet, then I hope you will endeavour to shake off self-conceit, and lean no more to your own understanding. You will also resolve not to be such strangers as you have been, to seeking and depending on the Lord's light, in all matter of sin and duty.
You will allow the light of the Lord's word freely to turn you from your prejudices and preconceived opinions. And that a little child shall lead you, if he can but hold out the Lord's word, pointing you the way. You will prize his ordinances, and not make the Lord's work a sinking burden to the messenger, by despising his message. Seeing the ministry of the word is one thing by which Christ executeth his peophetical office, therefore, "He saith, he that heareth you, heareth me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me." Again,
Is there any thing in his priestly office that offends you? Man is fallen. Justice is offended. God's device for the salvation of sinners is, that the Redeemer Christ be both priest and sacrifice, that he build the fallen temple of the Lord, and bear the glory, being the alone way to the Father. Will you venture your salvation on this foundation, renounce your own righteousness, all your doings and sufferings, and lay the whole weight of your acceptance with God on the merits of Christ's blood? and take him for your only intercessor and way to the Father. If you have nothing to object; here then you will humbly and heartily acknowledge, that you deserve nothing at God's hand, but that he would be just, if he should cast you off for ever. You will confess that you have nothing to recommend you to God, and dare trust nothing to any thing that is yours: and that if you be received of the Lord, there is nothing in or about you to engage him to you. You will look for the acceptance of your duties, not from any value in themselves, but through the merits of Christ. And that you will look for the acceptance of your persons and for all the favours from the Lord, only through the wounds of a Redeemer.
Again, Is there any thing in his kingly office that offends you? He has got the kingdom by his Father's gift, and it is his Father's decree that he rule sinners according to his own will and pleasure, and his holy laws? Are you content with this? Will you give up yourselves to him without reserve? Alas! will you say the armies of hell in my breast are not so easily dispossessed. True, but I hope you are not so closely blocked up, but there may be intelligence got betwixt Zion's King and you; and though you cannot subdue the rebels, will you be content to make an offer of the kingdom to him over your whole man? If so, then you will renounce and heartily give up with all your lusts without exception of one. You will also look on Jesus Christ as your head of influences, for sanctification; and go no more out against temptations and to duties in your own strength, but in his strength who is mighty in battle. The long debate that has been betwixt providence and you, who should earve out your lot in the world, will be at an end. You will say, "He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved."
Lastly, Is there any thing in his covenant that offends you? Is there any thing in it that is not well ordered in your eyes? Does the taking up of the cross offend you? Or are you content to take him to follow him whithersoever he goes, and nothing shall part betwixt him and you? Blessed is he, whosoever is not offended in him. If nothing in Christ offends you, nothing in you will so far offend him, as to keep him at a distance from you. Nay if you be really offended and grieved at yourselves for that there is any thing in you so apt to be offended in Christ, it shall not mar your communion with him.
But, O brethren, search your hearts this night, for they are deceitful, and put yourselves to an impartial trial. And where you find your heart offended at Christ, put it into his own hand to remove the offence, and to reconcile the heart and gain it entirely to himself. Amen.
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Martes, Nobyembre 26, 2019

Our Master in Heaven (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 1899-1981)

Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.’–Ephesians 6:8,9
. . . This is the second grand motive that should govern the whole of our Christian life and living; namely, our accountability to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the realization of the fact that we are his slaves, and that we shall all have to render up an account to him. This is a principle which many dislike at the present time; indeed a dislike of this whole idea of accountability and judgment has been characteristic of much religious thinking during the whole of this present century. It is disliked, and has become most unpopular. People say, ‘Ah, but that is a very unworthy motive for living the Christian life. ‘ You should live the Christian life, they say, because it is a noble and exalted life. You must not live it in terms of the fear of hell or of the hope of being in heaven. You must live the life for its own sake, because it is so good and so wonderful. You find that sentiment in some of the hymns. They condemn what they regard as a mercenary and a selfish motive.
That kind of teaching came in about the middle of the nineteenth century. Men called ‘scholars’ began to say that the Bible was not divinely inspired in a unique sense, and they began to substitute for it their own philosophy. They put up ‘goodness, beauty, and truth’ in the abstract as the great principles for which men were to live, and they said it was not desirable that you should think of yourself at all. But that is by no means the Christian position; it is philosophy, idealism, but not Christianity. I say so because of the teaching of the New Testament, indeed I say so because of the teaching of the whole Bible. The Bible from beginning to end holds before us the idea of heaven and hell. It is God who appointed the two mountains — Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal — in order to teach a vital lesson to the Children of Israel when they entered their Promised Land. According to whether they obeyed him or not they would have blessing or cursing.
Our Lord himself taught this same truth, as seen in Luke chapter 12. The servants in his parable recorded in verses 42-48, are to be examined when the Master comes. Some are going to be beaten with a few stripes, some with many stripes. In other parables also he teaches the same truth, for example, the parable of the Foolish Virgins, the parable of the Talents in Matthew 25, and the parable of the Pounds in Luke 19. All were spoken in order to emphasize this idea of judgment and reward. In 1 Corinthians chapter 3 it is made quite plain and explicit — ‘Every man’s work shall be judged’, says Paul. The Christian teacher as a builder must be careful how he builds on the foundation that has been laid, because ‘every man’s work shall be made manifest’ (verses 11-15). Then, again in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 it is made very clear: ‘We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ’ — we who are Christians — ‘that every one may receive the things done in the body, whether good or bad’ (verses 9-10). That is the New Testament teaching. We must therefore dismiss the false idealistic teaching. It is just here that it shows its cloven hoof. It represents itself as something better than the Scripture — a sheer impossibility!
But the highest, and most irrefutable argument in favour of this teaching is found in the Epistle to the Hebrews chapter 12, verse 3. There we read that even our blessed Lord himself was sustained by the thought of that which awaited him. We are exhorted to ‘lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us’ as we run this race; ‘looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross, despising the shame.’ ‘For the joy that was set before him!’ That was what helped him and sustained him.
The Scripture does not mean, of course, that by doing these things you earn your salvation. No! salvation is entirely by grace, it is the free gift of God. The Scripture teaches that ‘we are saved by grace, through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God.’ Man is justified by faith only, ‘not by the deeds of the law.’ We are all saved in exactly the same way, that is, by simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It matters not whether we were good or bad before conversion in a moral sense, whether we had sinned much or little — we are all brought to the same level, and saved and justified through faith alone, by grace. But having made that abundantly clear, the Scripture goes on to say that there is to be an assessment of our Christian life and works, and that, though we are all equally saved, there is some kind of difference. The Apostle says very clearly that a man who has been building ‘wood and hay and stubble’ on the foundation, Christ Jesus, will find at the great day that all his work will be burnt up, and that ‘he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire’ (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). In other words, though the man who built wood, hay and stubble remains justified by faith, he is going to suffer loss. How, we do not know. But we do know that there is to be a judgment for rewards, that we shall all appear before ‘the judgment throne of Christ’, and receive rewards according to the ‘deeds done in the body, whether good or bad.’ Such is the apostolic teaching, and it is precisely the teaching the Apostle gives to the slaves and masters in this peculiarly difficult relationship of employer and servant. It is teaching that should always be in our hearts, in all our thinking, and in all our living. It holds great encouragement for us.
As the Apostle continues his exhortation, he uses the word ‘knowing’, as he has done previously in verse 8. In talking to the servants he says ‘knowing’; in talking to the masters he again says ‘knowing.’ It might very well be translated, ‘knowing as you do know.’ In other words the Apostle takes this for granted. This is not some new and strange and wonderful doctrine which he is suddenly introducing. He says, ‘You know’; that is to say, ‘I take this for granted. This is something that I assume everyone who has any Christian instruction at all knows, and therefore, because he knows it, he should be governed by it.’ He is only reminding them of something that they knew already.
What, then, did they know? Here we reach the climax of all the Apostle has been saying concerning this duty of submitting ourselves one to another. He began that theme in the twenty-first verse of chapter 5. A new statement begins at the tenth verse of chapter 6. But the ninth verse supplies the climax of the doctrine of submitting ourselves one to another because we are filled with the Spirit and not with the ‘wine’. This is what we know — that all that happens to us in this life and in this world is only ‘according to the flesh.’ Paul starts with the statement in verse 5: ‘Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh.’ That really says all. It shows immediately the Christian way of facing the problem of slavery. Here is a poor fellow, a slave perhaps with chains hanging from his wrists, and possibly upon his feet also. His movements are restricted, and cruel task-masters are watching him, giving him too much to do, and ready to punish him. The Apostle says to him, ‘Be obedient to your master according to the flesh.’ That is only one relationship, says Paul; there is another and a superior relationship.
At this point comes in the grand principle. All that happens to us in this world belongs to the temporary order; these things only obtain while we are ‘in the flesh’, while we are ‘in the body.’ This is a passing transient life; this world is not the permanent world. We say we are ‘moving on.’
Here in the body pent,
Absent from him I roam,
Yet nightly pitch my moving tent
A day’s march nearer home.
‘According to the flesh.’ So whatever your position is in this life and this world, let me remind you that it is only a temporary arrangement. It is not eternal. ‘The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.’ Nothing is more important than to realize that distinction, whatever your position may be. This applies not only to servant and master, to husband and wife, to children and parents, but to all other relationships and circumstances. You may be struggling with some terrible problem that is almost crushing you at this moment; you may be in some situation that is almost impossible for anyone to endure; or your difficulty may be concerned with your health; it matters not what it may be, remember that, whatever your position or problem, it belongs to the temporary order only. It is passing, it is ‘according to the flesh.’ It is not eternal. Thank God for that! The realization of this truth has been the secret of the saints in all centuries, the secret of the martyrs and the confessors, the men who would not say ‘Caesar is Lord’, the men who smiled when they were thrown to the lions in the arena, the men who thanked God that they had been ‘accounted worthy to suffer shame for his name.’
Paul’s second phrase emphasizes the first, in a sense; it puts it positively — ‘in heaven.’ He exhorts the masters to ‘do the same things, forbearing threatening’, because they are only masters ‘according to the flesh.’ Then positively, ‘Knowing that your Master also is in heaven.’ Here he introduces the eternal world, the realm of the Spirit. That is the realm of reality; this is the world of shadows and appearances. It is just here that men who do not believe the Gospel are blind. They think and say that they are realists, and talk contemptuously about ‘pie-in-the-sky’ and belief in another world. Here we have reality, they say — money, houses, motor-cars — solid tangible things. The truth is, of course, that it is all dissolving even while they are using it and enjoying it. ‘Change and decay in all around I see.’ This is true even of our physical bodies. We have none of the cells in our bodies which we had seven years ago; everything is changing and moving. No, this realm of the seen is an unreal, artificial realm; it is passing away, and is destined to dissolve and disappear. But then there is this other realm ‘in heaven’ — the unseen, the eternal, the realm of the absolutes, the realm of the endless and the perfect in every respect. ‘In heaven!’
The Christian is a man who lives with his eye on these things. Paul says to the Philippians ‘Our citizenship is in heaven’ (3:20). That is where we who are Christians belong. And in this Ephesian letter he tells these slaves that they belong to heaven. Their masters are but masters ‘according to the flesh’; the present is but a passing phase; the permanent lies ahead. He likewise reminds the masters that that is the ultimate realm. It is on that realm that we are to fix our gaze. As the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews reminds us, the men of faith were always ‘looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.’ There are no solid foundations in this passing world; they all are rocking at this present time, are they not? The atomic and hydrogen bombs are at last beginning to bring people to see that this world is not stable and eternal. This old world is quaking and is to disappear. The only solid and durable foundation is that which is to be found there — ‘in heaven.’
That is what all Christians, and especially masters, are to keep in the forefront of their minds, says the Apostle; for it will lead them to remember that there is Someone there who is over all, and above all, the One who controls everything and ‘changes not.’ He is your Master, says Paul. He is also your Lord: ‘Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.’
The only way to solve the problems of society is found here. At the mention of this blessed Person, Christian servants and masters get down on their knees together and look up into his face and submit themselves to him. They do so because he is ‘the Lord.’ He is the Lord of lords, the King of kings. He is supreme both in this world and in the world to come. ‘All authority has been given unto him in heaven and in earth’, and by him ‘all things consist.’ The moment you look at him, in heaven, then, as the Apostle says, the terms ‘bond’ and ‘free’ become comparatively unimportant and almost irrelevant. He says also, ‘the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.’ When you come into the realm of the absolute all other distinctions vanish, they cease to count; here ‘masters according to the flesh’ become servants and slaves exactly as the others. ‘Bond’ and ‘free’ are negative terms, and are only temporary. . .
Finally, it comes to this. The Christian is one who knows all that, and he knows that we shall all stand before this blessed Lord and Master and ‘receive the things done in the body, whether good or bad.’ The Apostle says that in the eighth verse: ‘Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.’ He shall receive! There is the judgment issuing in rewards. That should be the over-ruling and over-riding consideration in all our thinking and behaviour in every respect. ‘We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad’ (2 Corinthians 5:10). Before we get there we receive a great deal in this life, do we not? We serve a very generous as well as a very just Master. He does reward, he does encourage. Is there anything in life, in the whole world, comparable to his smile upon us, his expression of his satisfaction in us?
I am often amazed at the way in which Christian people dare and venture to do certain things, and also at the way in which they fail to do certain other things. So many seem to imagine that, because they believe and are ‘saved’, that is the end; they entirely forget this matter of rewards. They go on doing the minimum in the Kingdom of God, and in the church of God, and seem to fail to understand their true relationship to him. Never forget that everything you do, and everything you fail to do, is known to him, and that you will have to face your own record again, and ‘give an account of the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad.’
The Apostle tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, ‘Knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men.’ There were two great motives urging the Apostle, driving him on, in all his travelling and preaching: ‘The love of Christ constraineth me’, and ‘knowing the terror of the Lord.’ Those two motives should always govern us as Christians, be we servants or masters. ‘Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.’ Though your earthly master may not reward you, though he may treat you most unjustly, and though others may laugh at you and deride you, and your fellow-servants may say you are a fool, do not worry; you will get your reward. Your heavenly Master is looking down upon you, and he never forgets. He will reward you richly and abundantly whatever your position. And the same is said to the masters. ‘Masters, remember your Master also is in heaven, and there is no respect of persons with him.’ We Christians belong to eternity; we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, we belong to the realm of the spiritual. God forbid that anyone of us should look at his or her work in terms of this world. This is only ‘according to the flesh.’ We are ‘here today, gone tomorrow.’ What matters is that ‘We shall see him face to face.’ We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to receive the things done in the body, whether good or bad. ‘Therefore’ — let us say it with the great Apostle — ‘Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord’, we go on to implement the teaching with regard to slaves and masters, children and parents, husbands and wives ­whatever the relationship. ‘Knowing the terror of the Lord,’ let us live to him, and to his glory; let us ever remember that that is the realm which really matters. This world though transient and passing nevertheless has its influence upon that other realm, and determines whether we shall suffer loss, or receive a great and wonderful reward. Let us therefore ever live in the light of eternity; let us live as knowing that we are always under the eye of, and in the presence of, ‘our Master who is in heaven.’

This is an extract from a chapter in Dr Lloyd-Jones’ book published by the Trust, Life in the Spirit: in Marriage, Home and Work.
https://banneroftruth.org/

Sabado, Nobyembre 23, 2019

Don’t Confuse Spirituality with Righteousness (R.C. Sproul, 1939-2017)

When I first became a Christian I was introduced to the priorities of the Christian community. I learned quickly that it was expected of me that I have a daily devotion time, a time reserved for Bible reading and prayer. I was expected to go to church. I was expected to have a kind of piety that was evident by not cursing, not drinking, not smoking, and the like. I had no idea that biblical righteousness went far beyond these things. However, like most new Christians, I learned to emphasize such things. My personal letters took on a new pattern of language. They began to sound like pages from New Testament epistles. I soon learned to use Christian jargon in my everyday speech. I didn’t “tell” anybody anything, I “shared” it with them. Every good fortune was a “blessing,” and I found I could hardly speak without sprinkling my sentences with spiritual platitudes.
Soon, however, I found that there was more to the Christian life than daily devotions and sanctified words. I realized that God wanted more. He wanted me to grow in my faith and obedience, to go beyond milk to the meat. I also discovered that Christian jargon was an almost meaningless form of communication, both to non-Christians and Christians alike. I found myself more interested in echoing a subculture’s lingo than in finding true godliness.
My error was this: I was confusing spirituality with righteousness. I also discovered that I was not alone in this. I was caught up with a crowd who confused the means with the end. Spirituality can be a cheap substitute for righteousness.
Over the years I’ve had many young Christians ask me how to be more spiritual or more pious. Rare has been the earnest student who said, “Teach me how to be righteous.” Why, I wondered, does anybody want to be spiritual? What is the purpose of spirituality? What use is there in piety?
Spirituality and piety are not ends in themselves. In fact they are worthless unless they are means to a higher goal. The goal must go beyond spirituality to righteousness.
Spiritual disciplines are vitally necessary to achieve righteousness. Bible study, prayer, church attendance, evangelism, are necessary for Christian growth, but they cannot be the final goal. I cannot achieve righteousness without spirituality. But it is possible to be “spiritual,” at least on the surface, without attaining righteousness.
Jesus was a man of prayer. His prayer life was intense and powerful. He was a man of vast knowledge of the Scriptures. He obviously mastered the Word of God. He was spiritual. But His spirituality was not merely a surface thing. His inner life displayed itself in outward obedience, obedience even unto death.
What is righteousness? The simplest answer to that question is this: Righteousness is doing what is right in the sight of God. This is a simple definition that is far more complex under the surface. To be righteous is to do everything that God calls us to do. The demands of true righteousness are so great and so many that none of us ever in this world achieves it perfectly. It involves following the whole counsel of God.
https://www.ligonier.org/

Miyerkules, Nobyembre 20, 2019

The Lord's Prayer (A.W. Pink, 1886-1952) Part 9

CHAPTER - THE DOXOLOGY 
“For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13).

This model for Divine worshipers concludes with a doxology or ascription of praise to the One addressed, evidencing the completeness of the prayer.
Christ here taught His disciples not only to ask for the things needful to them, but to ascribe unto God that which is properly His. Thanksgiving and praise are an essential part of prayer. Particularly should this be borne in mind in all public worship, for the adoration of God is His express due.
Surely if we ask God to bless us, the least we can do is to bless Him. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ!” exclaims Paul ( Ephesians 1:3). To pronounce blessing upon Cod is but the echo and reflex of His grace toward us. Devout praise, as the expression of elevated spiritual affections, is the proper language of the soul in communion with God.
The perfections of this prayer as a whole and the wondrous fullness of each clause and word in it are not perceived by a rapid and careless glance, but become apparent only by a reverent pondering. This doxology may be considered in at least a threefold way: (1) as an expression of holy and joyful praise; (2) as a plea and argument to enforce the petitions; and (3) as a confirmation and declaration of confidence that the prayer will be heard.
In this prayer our Lord gives us the quintessence of true prayer. In the Spirit-indited prayers of the Old Testament Psalter, prayer and praise are continually joined together. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul gives the following authoritative instruction: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” ( Philippians 4:6). All the prayers of eminent saints, recorded in the Bible, are intermingled with the adoration of Him who inhabits the praises of Israel ( Psalm 22:3).
In this pattern prayer, God is made both the Alpha and the Omega. It opens by addressing Him as our Father in heaven; it ends by lauding Him as the glorious King of the universe. The more His perfections are before our hearts, the more spiritual will be our worship and the more reverent and fervent our supplications. The more the soul is engaged in contemplation of God Himself, the more spontaneous and sincere will be its praise. “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” ( Colossians 4:2).
Is it not our failure at this point that is so often the cause of blessing being withheld from us? “Let the people praise Thee, O God; let all the people praise Thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us” ( Psalm 67:5,6).
If we do not praise God for His mercies, how can we expect Him to bless us with His mercies? “For Thine is the Kingdom.” These words set forth God’s universal right and authority over all things, by which He disposes of them according to His pleasure. God is Supreme Sovereign in creation, providence, and grace. He reigns over heaven and earth, all creatures and things being under His full control. The words “and the power” allude to God’s infinite sufficiency to execute His sovereign right and to perform His will in heaven and earth. Because He is the Almighty, He has the ability to do whatsoever He pleases. He never slumbers nor wearies (Psalm 121:3,4); nothing is too hard for Him ( Matthew 19:26); none can withstand Him ( Daniel 4:35). All forces opposed to Him and to the Church’s salvation He can and will overthrow. The phrase “and the glory” sets forth His ineffable excellency: since He has absolute sovereignty over all and commensurate power to dispose of all, He is therefore all-glorious. God’s glory is the grand goal of all His works and ways, and of His glory He is ever jealous ( Isaiah 48:11,12). To Him belongs the exclusive glory of being the Answerer of prayer.
Let us next notice that the doxology is introduced by the conjunction for, which here has the force of because or on account of the fact that Thine is the Kingdom, etc. This doxology is not only an acknowledgement of God’s perfections, but a most powerful plea as to why our petitions should be heard. Christ is here teaching us to employ the for of argumentation. Thou art able to grant these requests, for Thine is the Kingdom, etc. While the doxology undoubtedly belongs to the prayer as a whole and is brought in to enforce all seven petitions, yet it seems to us to have a special and more immediate reference to the last one: “but deliver us from evil: for Thine is the Kingdom....” O Father, the number and power of our enemies are indeed great, and they are rendered the more formidable because of the treachery of our own wicked hearts. Yet we are encouraged to implore Thy assistance against them, because all the attempts made by sin and Satan against us are really assaults upon Thy sovereignty and dominion over us and the promotion of Thy glory by us. “For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory.” What encouragement is here! Two things especially inspire confidence towards God in prayer: the realization that He is willing and that He is able. Both are here intimated. That God bids us, through Christ His Son, to address Him as our Father is an indication of His love and an assurance of His care for us. But God is also the King of kings, possessing infinite power. This truth assures us of His sufficiency and guarantees His ability. As the Father, He provides for His children; as the King, He will defend His subjects. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him” (Psalm 103:13). “Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob” ( Psalm 44:4).
It is for God’s own honor and glory that He manifests His power and shows Himself strong on behalf of His own. “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” ( Ephesians 3:20,21).
What instruction is here!
First , we are taught to enforce our petitions with arguments drawn from the Divine perfections. God’s universal kingship, His power, and His glory are to be turned into prevailing pleas for obtaining the things we need. We are to practice what Job sought to do: “I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments” ( Job 23:4).
Second , we are clearly directed to join petition and praise together.
Third , we are taught to pray with the utmost reverence. Since God is so great and powerful a King, He is to be feared ( Isaiah 8:13).
Hence it follows that we are to prostrate ourselves before Him in complete submission to His sovereign will.
Fourth , we are instructed to make a full surrender and subjection of ourselves to Him; otherwise we do but mock God when we acknowledge verbally His dominion over us ( Isaiah 29:13).
Fifth , by praying thus, we are trained to make His glory our chief concern, endeavoring so to walk that our lives show forth His praise. “For ever.” How marked is the contrast between our Father’s Kingdom, power, and glory and the fleeting dominion and evanescent glory of earthly monarchs. The glorious Being whom we address in prayer is “from everlasting to everlasting... God” ( Psalm 90:2). Christ Jesus, in whom He is revealed and through whom prayer is offered, is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever ( Hebrews 13:8). When we pray aright, we look beyond time into eternity and measure present things by their connection with the future. How solemn and expressive are these words for ever!
Earthly kingdoms decay and disappear. Creaturely power is puny and but for a moment. The glory of human beings and of all mundane things vanishes like a dream. But the Kingdom and power and glory of Jehovah are susceptible to neither change nor diminution, and they shall know no end. Our blessed hope is that, when the first heaven and earth have passed away, the Kingdom and power and glory of God will be known and adored in their wondrous reality through all eternity. “Amen.” This word intimates the two things required in prayer, namely, a fervent desire and the exercise of faith. For the Hebrew word Amen (often translated “verily” or “truly” in the New Testament) means “so be it” or “it shall be so.” This twofold meaning of supplication and expectation is plainly hinted at in the double use of Amen in Psalm 72:10: “And blessed be His glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen, and Amen.”

God has determined it shall be so, and the whole Church expresses its desire: “So be it.” This “Amen” belongs and applies to each part and clause of the prayer: “Hallowed be Thy name. Amen”—and so forth. Uttering the Amen, both in public and private prayers, we express our longings and affirm our confidence in God’s power and faithfulness. It is itself a condensed and emphatic petition: believing in the verity of God’s promises and resting on the stability of His government, we both cherish and acknowledge our confident hope in a gracious answer.

https://www.godrules.net/