River Oaks Presbyterian

Thomas Brooks "All Tears Of Godley Sorrow Drop From The Eye Of Faith"

2007-02-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

(Thomas Brooks, "A Cabinet of Choice Jewels" 1669)

"They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced--and
shall mourn." Zechariah 12:10

All godly sorrow is the fruit and effect of evangelical faith.
Godly sorrow flows from faith--as the stream from the fountain,
the branch from the root, and the effect from the cause. All
gracious mourning flows from looking, from believing. Nothing
breaks the heart of a sinner like a look of faith. All tears of
godly sorrow drop from the eye of faith. Godly sorrow
rises and falls--as faith rises and falls. The more a man is
able by faith to look upon a pierced Christ--the more his
heart will mourn over all the dishonors which he has done
to Christ. The more deep and wide the wounds are, which
faith shows me in the heart and sides of Christ--the more
my heart will be wounded for sinning against Christ.

The free love and favor of God, and His unspeakable goodness
and mercy manifested in Jesus Christ to poor sinners--is the
very spring and fountain of all evangelical sorrow. Nothing
breaks the heart of a poor sinner like the sight of God's free
love in Christ, the Redeemer. A man cannot seriously look upon
the firstness, the freeness, the greatness, the unchangeableness,
the everlastingness, and the matchlessness of God's free favor
and love in Christ--with a hard heart, or with dry eyes! It is
only such a love as this, which sets the soul a-mourning and
a-lamenting over a crucified Christ.

The fears of wrath, of hell, and of condemnation--works unsound
hearts to mourn. But it is the sight of a bleeding, dying Savior--
which sets sincere, gracious souls a-mourning.

My Family

2007-01-29T15:31:00.000-08:00

My Boys

2007-01-29T15:30:00.000-08:00

My Soldier, Lord keep him Safe!

2006-12-28T16:40:00.000-08:00

Chad And Calista playing War.

2006-12-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

The Covenant of Works Gen. 2:4-17 by the Rev. Todd Bordow

2006-12-22T17:18:00.000-08:00

It is imperative that you understand the covenant of works. You may not realize it but the future of the church and of the gospel depends upon it. Now this may sound rather pretentious for me to say. After all, you may have been a Christian for many years and have never needed to use the term before.

But my concern is not first and foremost about the term, but its meaning. When God created man, he entered into a covenant with him. Every time in Scripture that God relates to man, he does so in the form of a covenant. If we want to understand the nature of our relationship to God, we must therefore understand the covenant he has made with us.

Covenants were common in the ancient world. A king would make a covenant with his subjects. He would write out the stipulations, or laws, for his people to follow. After giving his laws, he would list the blessings and curses to come upon them based upon whether they obeyed or disobeyed his laws. If they obeyed all his laws, the king would grant them protection from their enemies and bless them with the riches of his kingdom. If they disobeyed his laws he would punish them.

After the king had written out his covenant, he would choose a physical sign to serve as a reminder of the terms of the covenant. This sign would also seal the people to perform the duties of the covenant, and seal them in the curses if they did not obey the terms. Think about our modern contracts. The signature on the bottom of the contract serves as a reminder of the contract, and it legally seals the signatory to do what the contract stipulates.

Our Westminster Confession speaks of two covenants in Scripture; the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. The covenant God made with man in the garden is a covenant of works. Adam represented all mankind in this covenant. In the covenant of works God the great king gave Adam His law.

He required Adam to keep that law if humanity was to receive God's eternal blessings.

Adam was warned of the curse that mankind would incur if he failed to keep the law of the covenant. And the Lord gave Adam a physical sign to remind him and seal him in that covenant.

Chapter 2 of Genesis introduces God's covenant of works with Adam. We see from the beginning that the God of the covenant is a good God, a God to be trusted. In v. 4 Moses introduces a new name for God. In chapter 1 He had been called "Elohim," "God" in your English Bibles. Elohim is the God of creation.

But in v. 4 He is called "Yahweh Elohim,""Lord God." Elohim is His creation name; Yahweh is His covenant name. It is His personal name. Only those who know Him in an intimate way know Him by this name.

So in chapter 2 God reveals himself not only as the creator, but He who has entered into covenant with man. The Lord God would give Adam every reason in the world to keep the terms of the covenant. Adam would have ample evidence to trust that God would fulfill the promises if Adam kept the law.

If Adam failed, it would not be because God had left some deficit in the creation that Adam needed. If a poor man steals a loaf of bread from a rich man, we know it is wrong, but we at least we are somewhat sympathetic. But when a rich man steels a loaf of bread from a poor man, we are much more indignant. As you see how God abundantly provided for Adam, you are to see that Adam's sin is all the more sinful and repugnant.

In Genesis 2 God ensures that Adam has everything he would need in the creation, including a helpmate. In vv. 5-7 we are informed of two deficits in the creation that needed solving. V. 5 says that there was no plant of the field in the earth. This Hebrew word for "plant" refers specifically to the wild growth on the hills that require rain to grow. This would include the grass the cattle and sheep needed to graze on. In the Middle East during the dry winters, the hills are bare, but when the spring rains come everything turns green.

The second deficit in v. 5 was that there was no herb in the field. This Hebrew word for "herb" refers to cultivated growth, such as wheat and barley. No wild vegetation for the domesticated animals, and no cultivated vegetation for man.

Now two reasons are given for these deficits. V. 5 says that the wild shrubs had not grown on the hills because the Lord God had not yet caused it to rain. And the reason given for no cultivated vegetation was is that there was no man to till the ground. God could have plowed the fields supernaturally, but He chose instead to use the ordinary means of man to do so.

So we are given the deficits, and the reasons for the deficits, and now we are given the divine solutions to these deficits. God comes to the rescue and solves both these problems for Adam. V. 7 shows how God solved the problem of no cultivated crops, and v. 6 shows how God solved the problem of no grass on the hills.

V. 6 has been the cause of much difficulty, and I know your translations speak of a mist or a stream, but I would suggest another translation. For the text to make sense; it must tell us how God solved the problem of v. 5; that there were no wild plants because the Lord had not yet sent rain. I suggest to you that v. 6 states that God began to make rain clouds rise from the land and water the whole surface of the ground; in other words, ordinary rain. The creation accounts in Psalm 104 and Prov. 8 teach that God created our system of evaporation and rain from the beginning. The Hebrew word translated "mist" or "stream" can also be translated rain cloud, which will lend much sense to the passage.

So the Lord solved the first problem by sending rain on the hills. Now God solves the second problem; there was no man to cultivate the ground so he creates man. Now man will till the ground so that he would have abundant food to eat.

V. 7 returns us to Day 6 of the creation but gives us more information. God fashioned man from the dust of the ground. Man was from the earth. There is a negative and positive aspect to v. 7. The negative we will discuss in a moment. Positively, though man was made from dust as the animals, he was created differently. God personally formed him as a potter fashions his prized cup God created man uniquely in His own image, body and soul.

So physically man was provided everything he would need. But man not only needs physical sustenance, he needs spiritual sustenance.

So God creates a beautiful garden for man and places him in it. This luscious garden would be a place of intimate fellowship between God and man. This is confirmed in the Book of Revelation where the place of perfect, unbroken communion with God is described as a garden.

In Ezekiel the Garden of Eden is pictured as atop a mountain. The geographic description found in vv. 10-14 is from the vantage point of standing on the mountain overlooking the lands below. A river watered the trees of Eden and branched off into four rivers that watered the whole land.

God gave to man an abundance of provision for his work and his enjoyment. Among other things waiting for man to explore and use were gold, onyx and bdellium. Onyx is a multi-colored quartz stone and bdellium is a substance from trees used for fragrant aromas. Adam truly was the man who had everything! He had no reason to complain.

Adam's descendants were given the job of subduing these lands. Work itself was not the result of the fall, toil was. Adam's descendants had wonderful work to do. But God called Adam to a special work. In v. 15 Adam was to cultivate the garden of God and guard it from being profaned. This word "keep" is the Hebrew word for "guard." The garden was God's temple on earth. Adam was to beautify it and protect it. Of course the serpent would soon attempt to profane God's temple. Adam was to rebuke Satan from the garden with God's authority.

So the Lord as the great King created a beautiful kingdom for his people. Now in vv. 16&17 the King reveals the terms of the covenant with his subjects. Here is what Adam must do if he and his race were to receive the blessings of the king, and not be cursed in judgment.

What did God require of man? God required obedience. Because He is a holy God He required perfect obedience. God always requires perfect obedience; He can never change.

Adam was given a test to prove himself obedient to the king. The terms were clear. If he refrained from eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good or evil, he would receive the reward for his obedience. If he ate of the tree, he would surely die. Placed before Adam was life and death.

Now we said that in the Bible when a covenant is made it includes a physical sign reminding the parties of their obligations and rewards. In v. 9 God places before Adam a sign. In the midst of the garden God places a tree of life. If Adam passed his probation, if he passed the test of obedience, he could enter into that life signified by the tree of life.

Now what made the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so different from all the other fruit? Why was only that tree off limits?

Adam did not know. That's the point. Adam would need to trust in God who knows good from evil. He would be required to obey God simply because God said it. He would have to live in complete dependence on God's Word in telling him what was good and evil. To his eyes the fruit would all look the same. But Adam was not allowed to take the prerogative of God and decide for himself what is right and wrong. He would either remain in dependence upon God or proclaim his own authority apart from God.

The Lord clearly warned Adam that if he failed to pass the test he would die. Death here not only includes physical death, but spiritual death. Adam and his race would be spiritually separated from God for all eternity.

But this was a temporary test; Adam was under probation. If Adam passed God would reward Adam and his descendants with life. During this probation the tree of life would serve as an encouragement to press on in obedience so that he may attain the reward.

Now what did that tree of life represent to Adam? It couldn't represent the life he already possessed. No the tree of life pointed to a life beyond Adam's present existence. You see as special as man was, he was still made of dust. He was earthly. Remember what we read from I Cor 15? First comes the earthly, then the heavenly. God could take His breath out of man as He breathed it into man. Isaiah says as much in 40:6&7: "All flesh is grass, but the grass withers." Adam was created able to die.

Man would need a new and better breath from God. He would need a better body; a glorified body that could live in God's presence forever. Adam's body was earthly, but it was not yet heavenly. God lived in heaven.

Adam also was created able to sin. He needed to come to a point where he could no more fall away from God. Adam saw in that tree of life both the promise of a glorified body and the promise of a soul confirmed in righteousness.

There was even a deficit in man's fellowship with God. You see, in the garden God came and went. He did not remain there. Fellowship was not constant. And God would not allow Himself to be truly seen by man. John said that no man had ever seen God, including Adam. That Tree of Life held out the promise of a time when God would reveal Himself fully to man. And of course the garden itself was not God's eternal temple. Like the OT tabernacle it was a temporary provision pointing to something greater.

Now we have all the components of a covenant. We have two parties; God and Adam. Adam represented mankind in this covenant. We have the stipulations of this covenant; the law Adam must obey to receive everlasting life. The curse he would receive if he disobeyed. We have the sign of the covenant. The Tree of Life signified of what was to come if Adam fulfilled the covenant of works. Upon fulfillment his corruptible body would become incorruptible. The peccable, or ability to sin, would become impeccable, not able to sin. The earthly garden would be translated into the heavenly one. And partial fellowship with God would become full fellowship.

But Adam rebelled. You rebelled. You broke the covenant of works in Adam. Eternal death was what God had promised. All men are now born under the curse of the covenant of works. God cannot change His terms and still be holy. The covenant of works is still in full force for all mankind. If man is to attain to that state of everlasting life, he must obey God perfectly. But man cannot obey God because he is born a sinner.

The Lord would have been perfectly justified in fulfilling his promise of judgment and leaving it at that. But God made a second covenant after the first one. This we call the covenant of grace, or the gospel.

Did God then change his mind; did He change his strict terms of the covenant of works? No, He changed the one he made the covenant with.

There was another Adam; Paul calls Him the last Adam. He would represent a chosen race. The covenant of works was made with this new representative. If this Man obeyed God perfectly, the rewards of the covenant would be His and all those He represented.

It wasn't as easy for the second Adam. A barren desert instead of a garden; alone instead of a helper. Rejection from his closest friends. Mocking from the religious leaders. And of course the painful and shameful death of the cross. This was the covenant of works the Father gave the Son to perform. Christ's obedience must include suffering the punishment of those whom he would represent, for the penalty of breaking the covenant of works must be paid.

But Jesus Christ, our second Adam and covenant head, lived by every Word that proceeded from God's mouth. He rebuked Satan instead of falling for his lies. He fulfilled all the obligations of the covenant of works. He obeyed God perfectly. He laid down his life in obedience to his Father. The Second Adam brought God's eternal blessings to his race; those blessings Adam failed to merit.

As a tree was at the center of the first Adam's probation, so a tree was at the center of the Second Adam's probation. For Christ to fulfill the terms of the covenant He must obey all the way to the tree of Calvary. Ironically that cross became for us our tree of life.

Do you see how important it is that you understand the covenant of works. Because Christ fulfilled the terms of Gods covenant for you, for you it is a covenant of grace. All you receive from God is the result of Christ's obedience in your place. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

You are no longer in a works relationship with God. Your obedience to God does not flow out of a desire to meet the terms of a covenant. Your obedience must flow out of the realization that the terms have already been met by your Savior. Your obedience flows out of the Holy Spirit, that Spirit Christ poured out on His church upon His ascension.

Do not get this wrong! Do not mix the two covenants. This is the whole reason the Protestants broke away from the Roman Catholics. The Roman Catholics teach that we are still under a covenant of works with God. In their thinking Christ fulfilled some of the terms of the covenant, but our obedience to Christ fulfills the rest of the terms. This is not the gospel; this is why we are Protestants.

The cup you are about to drink is the cup of the new covenant in his blood. It is the sign of the covenant of grace. It serves as a regular reminder of the covenant you are in; a covenant where Jesus' body and blood fulfilled the terms and reconciled you to God. As with the tree of life in the garden, this sign is a foretaste of the life you will partake of in the new heavens and earth, when Christ will fellowship with us in person. Until then he fellowships with us as we gaze upon him by faith in this meal.

The church can only survive if she knows the different between grace and works. Knowing how Christ fulfilled the terms of the covenant of works in your behalf will prove to your own assurance a healing balm to your souls, and will bring about true obedience of the heart overcome by grace.

Life cannot come from your obedience. Life comes from Christ our covenant head. Let us by faith feed upon Him for everlasting life. Amen

Absentia

2006-12-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

I have been off line for awhile we moved and my computer died. My bro. the computer whiz got me up and running again, and I found a great deal on a new one. So me and my seveteen year old son are both back on-line. I am not sure what is more dangerous him or me being online. I am looking forward to letting you know what is going on in my extremely provincial life. My oldest son is graduating from security trainung in the Air Force and says he was told he will be going to Kuwait. We are praying he stays in a peaceful area, But the Lord's will be done. I will keep you informed about my boring Life. Pray that this insane war will be over soon and all our service men will come home soon.

Genesis 15 by Rev. Todd Bordow

2006-12-17T15:48:00.000-08:00

More and more Christians are coming to understand the importance of covenant in the Bible. Whenever the Lord establishes a relationship with man, he does so by way of a covenant; so much so that theologian Geerhardus Vos once wrote, “God says nothing to man apart from covenant.”
Children, a covenant is a legal, binding arrangement between two parties. Think of a contract, or the promises made in a wedding ceremony. What you need to know is that in the Bible, as well as in the ancient world, there were two types of covenants; unilateral covenants and bilateral covenants. Bilateral covenants were covenants where both parties promised to fulfill the terms. Unilateral covenants were covenants where only on party promised to fulfill the terms.
An example of a bilateral covenant would be a covenant between kings. In this type of treaty, each king would bind himself to fulfill the terms of the agreement. The treaty was then ratified in a covenant ceremony, where each king would officially swear upon his life to fulfill his terms of the covenant.
An example of a unilateral covenant would be where a king would swear to grant a servant a tract of land. A modern example would be a last will and testament. A parent legally binds himself to ensure that his children receive a certain amount of money when he dies. There is nothing the children agree to; the children are only the receipts of this unilateral promise.
In Genesis 15 the Lord makes a covenant with Abraham. This covenant is unilateral; a covenant of pure grace. It must be unilateral because in Adam Abraham was already a covenant breaker. The first covenant between God and Adam was bilateral; a covenant of works. Adam needed to obey God for man to be given eternal life.
All people, including Abraham, are born into this world covenant breakers because of their father Adam. People think at Judgment Day God will look at their whole life and decide if that person did enough good to enter heaven. But you were born with a verdict of “guilty” already over your head, because in Adam you broke the covenant with God.
But the Lord promises in Genesis 15 to save Abraham from the consequences of breaking the original covenant. In this covenant the Lord promises Abraham all the blessings of eternal salvation, including a relationship with God, forgiveness of sins, an eternal paradise to live in, the righteousness needed to stand before a holy God, and that from his offspring the Lord would form a great band of people from around the world who would also be beneficiaries of this covenant.
All this is too much for Abraham to believe; he often struggles to believe it. In v. 1 God appears to Abraham in a vision and repeats the promises. Abraham, do not fear, I am your shield and I will greatly reward you.
We have seen that when the Lord tells Abraham not to fear, it means he is afraid. Why would Abraham be afraid? Well, remember that Abraham rejected a deal with the king of Sodom that would have made him rich and powerful. Abraham didn’t want anyone thinking he was relying on that king for riches and protection, but on God, so he turned down the offer. Now he was again weak and vulnerable in the midst of all the powerful kings in the Ancient Near East.
Added to this fear was the growing worry as time went on that he would never bear children. God had promised him offspring, but he is over 75, and his wife over 65! It was impossible for them to bear children! Abraham needed assurance that God would do as he promised. So God comes to Abraham and gives him assurance just when he needed it. Do not fear, I am your shield; I will protect you, and you shall receive all I promised.
Though these promises would have a temporary fulfillment with the nation Israel, Abraham understood that God was promising him the gospel. Abraham knew that from his physical descendants a Savior would be born who would take away his sin. Abraham knew that the Land of Canaan pictured the paradise God’s people would inherit at the resurrection. Jesus said in John 8 that Abraham rejoiced that a savior would come and bring them to a city from heaven.
In vv. 2&3 Abraham asks a question to God about the promises. How can this be since you have not given me any offspring, and my servant will end up being my heir?
We can certainly sympathize with Abraham; everyone else around him was having babies, but his wife and he remained childless. Lord, are you sure you are going to do all these things for me?
Abraham is not being disrespectful here, he is being honest. He is pouring out to God his doubts. It is difficult to believe the gospel sometimes, is it not? We all feel like Abraham at times. As I was on the ship last week looking out over the vast sea, I couldn’t help but thinking how puny I am, and wondering why the Creator of all this would have anything to do with me.
Sometimes, after a particularly bad week, where our sinfulness is rather apparent and our hearts rather cold, we wonder if we really are in a relationship with God. We rightly think, I need to go to church and hear how God accepts me because of Christ and not because of my Christian performance. Abraham simply needed to hear the gospel again.
God answers Abraham’s concerns by bringing Abraham outside and instructing him to look up into the night sky. Abraham, do you know how many offspring I will give you? Do you know how many of your children will live in Paradise with me? Look up, try to count the starts. You will not even being able to count your eternal family.
In v. 6 we have that glorious statement that Abraham believed God’s promise, and God counted Abraham as righteous. Since Adam’s fall this is every man’s need; to be counted as righteous in the eyes of a holy God. God freely grants Abraham the status of “righteous” when Abraham believed the gospel.
The Apostle Paul uses this verse to prove that we are given a right standing with God through faith alone, not through our good works. Abraham had done many noble deeds; he had left his country to follow God, he had offered his nephew Lot the best of the land, he had rescued Lot in a great battle, he had given Melchizedeck a tenth of the spoils; but none of these was the cause of his right standing before God. Abraham was granted all these promises because he believed God.
It is not that Abraham’s faith was so impressive that God was bound to reward such faith. Abraham a sinner had nothing to offer a holy God, even his faith was imperfect. It was not the quality of his faith that saved Abraham, but the object of his faith, Jesus Christ the Savior.
This brings us to vv. 7-21. It is time for the covenant ratification ceremony. Outside of the birth, death and resurrection of Christ, this may be the most remarkable passage in the entire Bible.
God reminds Abraham in v. 7 that he is the sovereign Lord who called Abraham out of his idol worship to serve the true God. Abraham now belongs to the Lord by ownership. God called Abraham to confer upon him abundant and wonderful blessings. Because Abraham was still struggling to believe all this, evidenced by his question in v. 8, the Lord seals his promise with a covenant ceremony.
In those days, two parties would ratify a covenant by splitting apart animals and forming a bloody pathway between the carcasses. Each party would walk through the bloody pathway, which was in essence saying, may I become like these animals if I fail to perform the terms of this covenant. To walk through the animals was to call a curse upon yourself for breaking the covenant.
The Lord instructs Abraham to gather together the animals for the ceremony, then to split them in two to make the bloody path. What was Abraham thinking as he gathered up the animals? Since God is not here to walk the path, will I be required to walk through and pledge my obedience? Who would swear upon his death to fulfill the terms of the covenant? Whose blood was on the line here?
Vultures fly down and try to eat the carcasses, but Abraham shoos them away. In the Old Testament, birds of prey symbolize the enemies of God’s people. Not everyone is thrilled with this covenant God is making with Abraham. The spiritual forces of darkness especially do not want God to make such a binding agreement to save sinners.
Gathering and cutting up those animals must have made Abraham tired, so at sunset he fell asleep. In his sleep a dreadful darkness engulfs him, a darkness he had never experienced before. In the darkness the Lord reveals that Abraham’s descendants would not experience the promises until they first suffered. They will be enslaved for many years, but after an appointed time God would bring them to the Promised Land and judge their enemies.
Abraham learns that the blessings of God’s covenant will only come through suffering. To some degree Abraham was experiencing in that nightmare the darkness of Christ’s sufferings; those sufferings that would enable these promises to be fulfilled terenally.
As extraordinary as all this seemed to Abraham, nothing could have prepared him for what was to come next. Abraham is still asleep. Soon he would need to wake up for the ceremony. But in his sleep he sees a large pot with smoke spewing out, forming a cloud. Next to this pot was a burning torch. Remember that God led Israel by a cloud and pillar of fire? This cloud and pillar of fire represented God’s legs.
God had come down to walk through bloody pathway. Abraham beholds God walking between the animal carcasses. Abraham would not be required to walk through it all. God would be the one to pledge his loyalty to Abraham!
Beloved, do you see what is happening? God is pronouncing a curse upon himself if he does not give Abraham all he promised. God is saying, may I die if I do not perform all the promises of this covenant.
In essence God did exactly that. To confer what he promised God would need to come down to earth in the form of a man and die on the cross. The Lord of glory was crucified so that we might inherit all these promises. We who trust in Jesus Christ are as the stars of the sky, and we will inherit paradise forever.
How gracious is our God? As the mighty Creator he has the right to make the demands. He has the right to demand that we walk through the animals and pledge our loyalty to be saved. But instead, he made his own eternal Son take upon himself the wrath due to our covenant breaking. We should be like those animals, but instead Christ died in our place.
Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ to save you? This is the work of God; that ye believe on Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. He asks nothing of you but faith in the work of his Son, because you have nothing in yourself to please him. Humble yourself and believe; be justified by faith like Abraham by believing in the Savior Jesus Christ.
Christian, as Abraham’s children you will also doubt. Sometimes the promises of God also seem impossible; how can he love me so much? To assure your doubts, God binds himself in a covenant ceremony. God can never forget the covenant he bound himself to.
Man breaks covenants all the time. Husbands and wives break the covenants they make to each other at their marriage ceremony. Political leaders break covenants. But God never lies. He cannot break the covenant he made.
God shall fulfill his promises to you, and no matter how weak you are, no matter how often you fall, empty handed you came to him trusting only in the merits of Jesus Christ to save you, and God will do all he promised. He will lead through the hardships of life to possess the Promised Land with all Abraham’s children. Amen

Matthew 26:36-46 A sermon preached By Rev. Todd Bordow

2006-05-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

A garden is a place of beauty and peace. Throughout the Bible, gardens represent the wonderful communion and harmony between God and man. In the beginning, the Lord created a garden as the place for fellowship for him and his image bearers. When our father Adam fell, man was kicked out of the garden, thus cast out of fellowship with God.
The Old Testament anticipates the restoration of fellowship between God and man by using the symbol of a restored Garden of Eden. Ezekiel 36:35 says; And they will say, ``This land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden.’ The Book of Revelation describes the new heavens and earth as a paradise garden where God and man live in perfect communion.
Between the Garden of Eden and the garden of paradise stands another decisive garden; the Garden of Gethsemane. To restore the damage caused by Adam in the first garden, and to bring man to the garden of paradise, the Son of God needed to endure the agony of the Garden of Gethsemane.
Gethsemane is the garden of testing for our Second Adam, Jesus Christ. As Adam was tested in Eden, Jesus is tested in Gethsemane. Christ will be tested more severely than Adam ever was.
As the Lord Jesus approaches the garden, hours away from his arrest, the apprehension of his imminent sufferings begin to overwhelm him. We can never fully grasp the agony Christ experienced in Gethsemane, but each of the four gospels adds to the picture.
In John, the Lord says, Now my soul is troubled. Luke writes that Jesus was in agony. Mark reports that in the garden, Jesus began to be greatly distressed and troubled. Matthew notes that the Lord began to be sorrowful and troubled, and then records Christ’s own words, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.
In Gethsemane the Father granted the Son a clear apprehension of what lay before him on the cross. As he began to feel the weight of what would soon transpire, he commanded eight of the disciples to remain near the entrance of the garden. He then took three of his closest disciples deeper into the garden for support while he prayed to his Father alone.
As he walks deeper with the three, Christ’s emotions rise to the surface. His closest friends would see fear and sadness on his face like never before.
The Lord asked the three to watch with him, which we should understand as asking them to pray for him in this, his neediest hour. Then Jesus moves further into the trees alone, falls to the ground, and unleashes the full force of his fears to God in prayer.
We see from Christ’s prayer that it was not the apprehension of his physical sufferings that caused him such anguish. Many martyrs have faced torture and death bravely, and even calmly.
What distressed our Lord to the point of death was the apprehension of the cup he was about to receive. In the Old Testament, God’s anger against sin was described as a cup of wrath he would pour out on sinners at Judgment Day.
If you take sin lightly, behold our Lord’s horror as he contemplates falling under God’s judgment. How bitter must the wrath of God against sin be if even the apprehension of it caused our Lord to faint with fear?
Jesus, who in his divine nature had enjoyed full fellowship with his Father throughout eternity, agonized over the prospect of the Father turning away from him on the cross. He who only knew the Father’s love must now experience his justice. Jesus would soon undergo hell for his people, and the apprehension of hell caused him to shudder in aguish.
Here in the garden would be Christ’s greatest test. Not only would the Father grant him a sense of what he would soon undertake, and thus Jesus would be tempted to shrink back, but Satan would now be allowed to direct the full force of his temptations against Jesus.
Would not Satan again offer Christ the whole world if he gave up his quest to die for his people? Would he not tempt Christ with his weakness; you will not be able to bear up when the storm clouds of God’s anger engulfs you; even now you can barely stand considering the prospect of it?
Satan would have tempted Jesus to abandon the cross considering the sinfulness of the world. The people of this world have done nothing but oppose you. They will soon dress you up and ridicule you; they will parade you through the streets of Jerusalem and laugh at you as you hang on a cross. They are not worthy of you; let them remain with me where they belong.
But the fiercest temptation would come after Jesus stopped praying to check on his three disciples. He walked back and found the three disciples asleep.
Imagine in your most desperate hour, when you asked your best friend to stay awake and help you; that he fell asleep not long after asking. The disciples did not have enough concern for Jesus to stay awake and pray for him. The Lord expresses his hurt to them; you cannot even watch with me one hour?
How easy for Satan to say to our Lord, “why should you endure such suffering for those who are so ungrateful? Why should you receive the wrath of God for those who claim do not have enough concern for you to stay awake one hour?” To make matters worse, three times Jesus finds them asleep, even after expressing his urgent need for their support.
We can barely comprehend the hellish agony our Lord experienced alone in this garden. If he shrinks back from his mission and gives into his fears or Satan’s temptations, we are all lost, and have only the most dreadful future awaiting us.
But our Savior prevailed. Though he cries out, Father, if there is any way for me not to drink this cup, may it be so; though he expresses his complete horror at what his Father had sent him to do, he resigns himself to the will of God; not my will, but thine be done.
The Second Adam uttered the words our first Adam should have uttered. Though the temptation of the serpent was enticing, Adam should have said to God, not my will, but thy will be done.
Our second Adam passed the test and arose victorious. He passively submitted to trusting his Father, and he resisted Satan to the point of death. When Jesus utters, thy will by done, nothing would stop the Son from saving you.
Our weakness and lack of devotion, represented in the three sleeping disciples, did not stop Christ from loving us unto death. Though he was deeply hurt by the disciples, he loved them so much that he even stops twice praying for himself to check on them.
And after rebuking them for their selfishness, he speaks to them compassionately; watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation, for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. He excuses the ingratitude of Peter and the disciples.
Because they possessed renewed hearts, the Lord commends the good desires in them. I know you desire to be more faithful, but the flesh is weak. The "flesh" here does not refer to the physical body as much as simply man this side of heaven, man still not fully sanctified.
So as Satan was tempting Jesus to give up on us, Christ affirms his love for us; a love that motivated him to continue the path of suffering.
You also see Christ’s victory in the calmness in which he speaks at the end of his prayers. The hour is now at hand, the son of Man will now be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going.
Do you see the contrast from the entrance into the garden to the exit? He entered in turmoil, he exits in calm resignation. He entered in distress and fear; he exits in bold confidence. As an answer to his prayers the Father granted Jesus a peace which surpasses understanding.
You are invited into Gethsemane that you may behold the price of your salvation; that you may see your Savior agonize over the wages of your sin would pay if would did not die for you.
You are invited in to see the excellencies of your Saviors’ love for you, for he was thinking of you, Christian, as he withstood the fierce temptations of Satan. He longed for your salvation more than he cared for his own well-being.
You are invited into Gethsemane that you may see the only one worthy to represent you before God. See his perfections in the midst of the fiercest trials. You only stand before God because of your Savior’s perfections.
You are invited into Gethsemane that you may learn an important lesson about yourself. Once Satan realized he could not tempt the perfect one, he devoted his attention to tempting you. As Jesus was experiencing the onslaught of the enemy, he thought of your weakness in withstanding Satan’s temptations.
The Lord warned you from Gethsemane not to trust in your strength or wisdom to remain faithful to God. Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. To enter into temptation is to succumb to it; it is to deny the Lord out of fear, or embarrassment, or selfishness.
If the holy Son of God needed to pray to withstand the fiery darts of the evil one, do you think you can stand apart from prayer? Your prayers will be answered because Jesus your representative withstood the test in Gethsemane; he won the battle and brought you to God.
Satan will tempt you to give up serving God; to give up on God’s people because of their weaknesses. He will tempt you to lie and cheat to get what you want. He will tempt you with sexual immorality. He will tempt you to fear people instead of God. He will tempt you with the love of money.
How will you withstand his temptations? You may be willing, but you are weak. The answer; watch and pray; trust in the Lord and come to him regularly for strength.
You are invited into Gethsemane so you may not take sin lightly. Jesus saw the horror of sin’s consequences and cried out in fear. If anyone does not flee to Jesus Christ for salvation, he will experience the awful wrath of God that made our Lord shudder.
You are invited into Gethsemane so that you would see how much God hates sin; that you would not simply ignore the sin in your life, but you would confess it and ask God for help in not continuing in it.
You are invited into Gethsemane to help you when you are tempted to grumble and complain. When people treat you poorly, when you think life has treated you unfairly, come and behold the agony the holy Son underwent for you; the righteous for the unrighteous. How can you complain; how can you pay back evil for evil, when Jesus paid back your evil with good; even with his own life?
The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a garden. In between the two gardens is Gethsemane. At Gethsemane the Covenant Mediator restored fellowship between you and God. Where Adam failed, Christ prevailed. Because Christ prevailed in that garden; your place is secure in that heavenly garden, the garden the Bible describes as place with no more testing, no more curse, no more death, and no more tears. Amen

My Dog TeQuila She doesn't drink tequila but she does love Shiner Bock beer.

2006-05-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

My kids

2006-05-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

My Family and Me.

2006-05-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

True Peace

2006-04-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

How did this whole mess start?
In Adam's sin we all played a part.
Now we suffer through this life
I find nothing here but toil and strife.
Comfort for trouble we cannot find,
Whiskey and women should be sublime.
In work and worth we look for rest,
Only to find we can't pass the test.
Sin we find so deep within,
No answer found we rouse again.
Conscience we find our greatest foe,
On our pillows befriended woe.
We fight on looking for release,
Short moments of joy we find little peace.
Money and children, homes and careers,
All these things only bring us to tears,
Temporary relief we think we have found,
Eventually they leave us fettered and bound.
What is the answer that all of us need,
At the foot of the cross we must come to plead.
For mercy and pardon, release from our sin,
Only from Christ's blood shed for us do we find peace within.

by Irishcat

Sinners In The Hands of An Angry God

2006-04-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Enfield, Connecticut
July 8, 1741

--Their foot shall slide in due time.--
Deuteronomy 32:35
In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God's visible people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works towards them, remained (as vers 28.) void of counsel, having no understanding in them. Under all the cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. -- The expression I have chosen for my text, their foot shall slide in due time, seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.
. That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the manner of their destruction coming upon them, being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed, Psalm 72:18. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction."
. It implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning: Which is also expressed in Psalm 73:18,19. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction: How are they brought into desolation as in a moment!"
. Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.
. That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foor shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.
The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this. -- "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." -- By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God's mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment. -- The truth of this observation may appear by the following considerations.
. There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands. -- He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defence from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?
. They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, "Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?" Luke 13:7. The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back.
. They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell. John 3:18. "He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23. "Ye are from beneath:" And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.
. They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell.
So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God bums against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the fumace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them.
. The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The scripture represents them as his goods, Luke 11:12. The devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.
. There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isa. 57:20. For the present, God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;" but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked me live here, it is like fire pent up by God's restraints, whereas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.
. It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand. It is no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he does not see which way he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages, shows this is no evidence, that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into another world. The unseen, unthought-of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen. The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discem them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment. All the means that there are of sinners going out of the world, are so in God's hands, and so universally and absolutely subject to his power and determination, that it does not depend at all the less on the mere will of God, whether sinners shall at any moment go to hell, than if means were never made use of, or at all concerned in the case.
. Natural men's prudence and care to preserve their own lives, or the care of others to preserve them, do not secure them a moment. To this, divine providence and universal experience do also bear testimony. There is this clear evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them from death; that if it were otherwise we should see some difference between the wise and politic men of the world, and others, with regard to their liableness to early and unexpected death: but how is it in fact? Eccles. 2:16. "How dieth the wise man? even as the fool."
. All wicked men's pains and contrivande which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.
But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself -- I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief -- Death outwitted me: God's wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me."
. God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant.
So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men's earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.
So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.
Application
The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. -- That world of misery, that take of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.
You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.
Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies. God's creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. There are the black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff of the summer threshing floor.
The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw his hand from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.
The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never bom again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God. However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God, it is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you, see that it was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying, Peace and safety: now they see, that those things on which they depended for peace and safety, were nothing but thin air and empty shadows.
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great fumace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. -- And consider here more particularly,
1. Whose wrath it is: it is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, who have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. Prov. 20:2. "The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: Whoso provoketh him to anger, sinneth against his own soul." The subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict. But the greatest earthly potentates in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty Creator and King of heaven and earth. It is but little that they can do, when most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury. All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. Luke 12:4,5. "And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear him."
. It is the fierceness of his wrath that you are exposed to. We often read of the fury of God; as in Isa. 59:18. "According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries." So Isa. 66:15. "For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." And in many other places. So, Rev. 19:15, we read of "the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." The words are exceeding terrible. If it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but it is "the fierceness and wrath of God." The fury of God! the fierceness of Jehovah! Oh, how dreadful that must be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them! But it is also "the fierceness and wrath of almighty God." As though there would be a very great manifestation of his almighty power in what the fierceness of his wrath should inflict, as though omnipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men are wont to exert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath. Oh! then, what will be the consequence! What will become of the poor worms that shall suffer it! Whose hands can be strong? And whose heart can endure? To what a dreadful, inexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be sunk who shall be the subject of this!
Consider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in an unregenerate state. That God will execute the fierceness of his anger, implies, that he will inflict wrath without any pity. When God beholds the ineffable extremity of your case, and sees your torment to be so fastly disproportioned to your strength, and sees how your poor soul is crushed, and sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom; he will have no compassion upon you, he will not forbear the executions of his wrath, or in the least lighten his hand; there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor will God then at all stay his rough wind; he will have no regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful lest you should suffer too much in any other sense, than only that you shall not suffer beyond what strict justice requires. Nothing shall be withheld, because it is so hard for you to bear. Ezek. 8:18. "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them." Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare. God will have no other use to put you to, but to suffer misery; you shall be continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only "laugh and mock," Prov. 1:25,26,&c.
How awful are those words, Isa. 63:3, which are the words of the great God. "I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." It is perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them greater manifestations of these three things, viz. contempt, and hatred, and fierceness of indignation. If you cry to God to pity you, he will be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing you the least regard or favour, that instead of that, he will only tread you under foot. And though he will know that you cannot bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet he will not regard that, but he will crush you under his feet without mercy; he will crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his raiment. He will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost contempt: no place shall be thought fit for you, but under his feet to be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
. The misery you are exposed to is that which God will inflict to that end, that he might show what that wrath of Jehovah is. God hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is. Sometimes earthly kings have a mind to show how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would execute on those that would provoke them. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty monarch of the Chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath when enraged with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and accordingly gave orders that the burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fierceness that human art could raise it. But the great God is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful majesty and mighty power in the extreme sufferings of his enemies. Rom. 9:22. "What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?" And seeing this is his design, and what he has determined, even to show how terrible the unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will do it to effect. There will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadful with a witness. When the great and angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. Isa. 33:12-14. "And the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire. Hear ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites, " &c.
Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the ineffable strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty. Isa. 66:23,24. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."
. It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For "who knows the power of God's anger?"
How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been bom again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing would it be to think of! If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell? And it would be a wonder, if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, even before this year is out. And it would be no wonder if some persons, that now sit here, in some seats of this meeting-house, in health, quiet and secure, should be there before tomorrow morning. Those of you that finally continue in a natural condition, that shall keep out of hell longest will be there in a little time! your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in all probability, very suddenly upon many of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that heretofore appeared as likely to have been now alive as you. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect despair; but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity such as you now enjoy!
And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the souls of the people at Suffield, where they are flocking from day to day to Christ?
Are there not many here who have lived long in the world, and are not to this day born again? and so are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and have done nothing ever since they have lived, but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath? Oh, sirs, your case, in an especial manner, is extremely dangerous. Your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Do you not see how generaity persons of your years are passed over and left, in the present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God's mercy? You had need to consider yourselves, and awake thoroughly out of sleep. You cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God. -- And you, young men, and young women, will you neglect this precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as with those persons who spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness. -- And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the King of kings?
And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of God's word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favour to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls; and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land; and probably the greater part of adult persons that ever shall be saved, will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on the great out-pouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the apostles' days; the election will obtain, and the rest will be blinded. If this should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day, and will curse the day that ever you was born, to see such a season of the pouring out of God's Spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree which brings not forth good fruit, may be hewn down and cast into the fire.
Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed."

My Kids Chelsea, Chad, Caleb, Calista

2006-04-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

Matthew 25:31-44 By Rev. Todd Bordow

2006-04-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

Some of you remember the late Keith Green. Keith Green was a singer and songwriter. Keith was in a sense the last public figure that embodied the Jesus movement of the sixties and seventies.
The Jesus movement, also known as the Christian hippie movement, had some very good characteristics. They were zealous for the Lord; they were interested in substance more than form; and they cared for the lost. Unfortunately, Christian movements weak in theology and church government end up lasting a relatively short time, as was the case with this movement.
Keith Green wrote a song which made quite an impression on those of us who were fans of his. His song, entitled, “The Sheep and the Goats,” repeated word for word our passage this morning. Those of you familiar with the song remember how Keith added a statement of commentary at the end of the song. After singing the passage, he said;
And my friends, the only difference between the sheep and the goats, according to this scripture, is what they did, and didn't do!!
That last word “do” was delivered with such an ominous tone, it sent shivers down your spine. I would suggest to you that a shiver down your spine is not a bad response to this passage.
Our parable this morning looks ahead to final judgment. It is Christ’s last parable recorded by Matthew, though it can barely be called a parable. There are only a few parabolic elements to it; the sheep and goats are obviously symbolic, as is the conversation.
But the beginning and end are written in straightforward language. Christ will sit on his glorious throne; his angels will surround him; the righteous will receive everlasting life; the wicked, eternal punishment.
This parable stands out for its clear opposites; the right hand vs. the left hand; the sheep vs. the goats; the kingdom prepared for believers vs. the eternal fire prepared for unbelievers, and those who served Jesus vs. those who did not.
Note also that the description of Jesus hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, a stranger and in prison is repeated four times. The Lord gave you this final parable in a clear, stark, repetitive style; that all ages, even small children, would easily remember it.
Jesus presents himself as God here, for in the Old Testament God himself promised to come and judge the world. Here Christ, the Son of Man, judges. The same Jesus who was so gentle while on the earth; the same Jesus in whose name you pray before your meals; this same Jesus is the mighty King whom every single person who ever lived will stand before and give an account.
This parable answers the disciples’ question about when the kingdom will come in glory. The disciples were expecting Jesus to show his glory and judge the wicked in their day. But Christ will hold off displaying his glory and judgment until he returns in the future.
Now, if you only considered this passage, and ignored the rest of Matthew, you might come to the conclusion that people are saved by their works; specifically, by acts of mercy toward the needy. Those who help the needy are the righteous, and they will receive God’s kingdom; and those who are cheap and selfish are the wicked; and they will go to hell.
But throughout the gospel Jesus has held out the blessedness of his kingdom as a free gift. Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
The Lord is not contradicting his former teaching and suggesting you must do good to earn the kingdom. He is revealing that those who truly belong to Christ will have evidenced their salvation by the way they loved; specifically, by the way they loved other Christians.
Note how Jesus says, if you have done it to the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me. He is not referring to your helping the homeless, or the starving in Africa, as worthy as those endeavors may be.
Christ’s brethren throughout Matthew refer to Christ’s disciples; each and every one of them. Supplying the needs of food, clothing and hospitality are representative of any type of love and service expressed toward fellow believers.
This raises the question; why would a genuine love and care for the needs of fellow Christians be the most basic evidence that you belongs to Christ? After all, there are more aspects to the Christian life than loving Christians.
Well, nothing demonstrates your belief in the gospel better than love for God’s people. Why would you care for other Christians at all? We understand why you would care for you own family; that’s natural. We understand why you would care for your best friends; you need them; you are willing to put up with many of their sins and weaknesses.
But why would you care for other Christians to the point of sacrificing for them, simply because they are Christians? You must believe something about those people. You must believe deep down in your being that Christ went to the cross to save those people, and thus they are important to God. Thus your love of other Christians demonstrates most clearly what you believe about Jesus.
Why care for other Christians, even Christians that have not first cared for you? Something must have happened inside of you that you have love for people you have not known very long, or that you have little in common with. Only one who has received the love and forgiveness of Christ can love Christ’s people.
Finally, Jesus sacrificially loved his people. The best demonstration of being like Christ is not your personal holiness, but your love and care for God’s people.
So what about that ominous threat at the end of Keith Green’s song? Is this passage a threat, or is this passage an encouragement? It depends; it is meant as both encouragement and threat; it all depends on you.
This passage is an encouragement for those of you serving God’s people. Though serving is difficult, there is great reward ahead if you persevere. Note the wonderful encouragement in the passage. You are called “blessed” by the Father. Before the world was even created, God was preparing a kingdom for you that you have not entered yet.
You see from this passage that God remembers every prayer you prayed for another Christian, every act of hospitality or kindness, every time you resisted temptation to gossip because it was one of Christ’s sheep you were gossiping about; every time you gave in the offering so your fellow Christians could benefit from the ministry of the church, every time you helped another along, every time you warned a believer, every timed you did something to help the sheep, no matter haw small or inconsequential it may seem, it is recorded in God’s memory. Even though we forget, he does not.
These acts will become the very evidence on Judgment Day that you truly belong to Christ. The universe will see by these acts that God did redeem a people for himself and change their hearts.
So this passage is a great encouragement not to give up; not to think too lowly of the common acts of care you show to your fellow believer, for God does not think lowly of them.
On the other hand, for those who claim to know Christ, but do not love other Christians; those who freely gossip, or lie, or ignore, or take advantage of Christians, you have no reason to expect entrance into God’s kingdom. It doesn’t matter how much theology you know, or how pure you are in your personal morality.
For the thousands of Texans who do not believe they need to belong to a church and contribute to the life of the body of Christ, this passage is a sever warning; if you do not care about helping in the local family of God, you will prove yourself a goat and be rejected.
Look how closely Christ identifies with each of his disciples? Not only does he die on the cross to save you, but when someone does any small act of good or evil to you, they are doing it to Christ himself. If you do it to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.
Husbands, if you ignore the needs of your Christian wife, you ignore Christ, and wives to husbands. Church member, if you gossip against the people of the church, you slander Christ. If you do not care about serving Christians, you do not care about Christ.
Remember what the Lord asked Paul when he was persecuting Christians; “why are you persecuting me?”
What a great honor that the eternal Son of God so loves you that to hurt you is to hurt him. As we reflect on this we should shudder in godly fear; how we treat other Christians is how we treat Christ.
Augustine distinguished the city of man, unbelievers, form the city of God, believers, in this way: the city of man is sustained by the love of self, even to the despising of God. The city of God expresses the love of God, even to the despising of self.
Beloved, when you partake of the elements of the Lord’s Supper; you are proclaiming your faith. Since you are not saved by works but by faith, you do not need to fear participating because of your weaknesses in loving Christians.
Instead, confess your sin and weakness; thank God that your salvation does not depend on your works, but Christ’s work for you, and ask God for strength to be a better Christian in loving others. That is all God requires to partake in faith.
God sent his Son because before the world began he ordained for you to enter his blessed, eternal kingdom. He is preparing this kingdom for you even now. He saved you when you had nothing good to offer him. He loves you so much that when someone hurts or ignores you, they hurt and ignore Christ. He feels it as you do. Remember that as you deal with all of Christ’s beloved sheep.
On Judgment Day Christians will be known as those who loved other Christians; even when their love was filled with weakness. Hypocrites will be surprised when they are not allowed entrance into the kingdom. They will claim to have believed in Christ, but because they ignored his sheep they will prove themselves unbelievers and be cast into the lake of fire.
Each of you will stand before God one day, in the presence of all his angels. He who believed in Christ for salvation will be saved. The evidence of that belief is your love and submission toward your fellow believers, from the greatest of them to the least of them. Amen.

2006-03-30T18:40:00.000-08:00

B.B. Warfield

A BRIEF AND UNTECHNICAL STATEMENT OF THE REFORMED FAITH by B.B. Warfield

2006-03-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

1. I believe that my one aim in life and death should be to glorify God and enjoy Him forever; and that God teaches me how to glorify and enjoy him in His holy Word, that is, the Bible, which He has given by the infallible inspiration of His Holy Spirit in order that I may certainly know what I am to believe concerning Him and what duty He requires of me.

2. I believe that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and incomparable in all that He is; one God but three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier; in whose power and wisdom, righteousness, goodness and truth I may safely put my trust.

3. I believe that the heavens and the earth, and all that in them is, are the work of God's hands; and that all that He has made He directs and governs in all their actions; so that they fulfil the end for which they were created, and I who trust in Him shall not be put to shame but may rest securely in the protection of is almighty love.

4. I believe that God created man after is own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, and entered into a covenant of life with him upon the sole condition of the obedience that was his due: so that it was by wilfully sinning against God that man fell into the sin and misery in which I have been born.

5. I believe, that, being fallen in Adam, my first father, I am; by nature a child of wrath, under the condemnation of God and corrupted in body and soul, prone to evil and liable to eternal death; from which dreadful state I cannot be delivered save through the unmerited grace of God my Savior.

6. I believe that God has not left the world to perish in its sin, but out of the great love wherewith He has loved it, has from all eternity graciously chosen unto Himself a multitude which no man can number, to deliver them out of their sin and misery, and of them to build up again in the world His kingdom of righteousness: in which kingdom I may be assured I have my part, if I hold fast to Christ the Lord.

7. I believe that God has redeemed His people unto Himself through Jesus Christ our Lord; who, though be was and ever continues to be the eternal Son of God, yet was born of a woman, born under the law, that He might redeem them that are under the law: I believe that He bore the penalty due to my sins in His own body on the tree, and fulfilled in His own person the obedience I owe to the righteousness of God, and now presents me to His Father as His purchased possession, to the praise of the glory of His grace forever: wherefore renouncing all merit of my own, I put all my trust only in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ my redeemer.

8. I believe that Jesus Christ my redeemer, who died for my offences was raised again for my justification, and ascended into the heavens, where He sits at the right hand of the Father Almighty, continually making intercession for his people, and governing the whole world as head over all things for his Church: so that I need fear no evil and may surely know that nothing can snatch me out of His hands and nothing can separate me from His love.

9. I believe that the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ is effectually applied to all His people by the Holy Spirit, who works faith in me and thereby unites me to Christ, renews me in the whole man after the image of God, and enables me more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness; until, this gracious work having been completed in me, I shall be received into glory: in which great hope abiding, I must ever strive to perfect holiness in the fear of God.

10. I believe that God requires of me, under the gospel, first of all, that, out of a true sense of my sin and misery and apprehension of His mercy in Christ, I should turn with grief and hatred away from sin and receive and rest upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation; that, so being united to Him, I may receive pardon for my sins and be accepted as righteous in God's sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to me and received by faith alone: and thus and thus only do I believe I may be received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.

11. I believe that, having been pardoned and accepted for Christ's sake, it is further required of me that I walk in the Spirit whom He has purchased for me, and by whom love is shed abroad in my heart; fulfilling the obedience I owe to Christ my King; faithfully performing all the duties laid upon me by the holy law of God my heavenly Father; and ever reflecting in my life and conduct, the perfect example that has been set me by Christ Jesus my Leader, who has died for me and granted to me His Holy Spirit just that I may do the good works which God has afore prepared that I should walk in them.

12. I believe that God has established His Church in the world and endowed it with the ministry of the Word and the holy ordinances of Baptism, the Lord's Supper and Prayer; in order that through these as means, the riches of his grace in the gospel may be made known to the world, and, by the blessing of Christ and the working of His Spirit in them that by faith receive them, the benefits of redemption may be communicated to his people: wherefore also it is required of me that I attend on these means of grace with diligence, preparation, and prayer, so that through them I may be instructed and strengthened in faith, and in holiness of life and in love; and that I use my best endeavors to carry this gospel and convey these means of grace to the whole world.

13. I believe that as Jesus Christ has once come in grace, so also is He to come a second time in glory, to judge the world in righteousness and assign to each his eternal award: and I believe that if I die in Christ, my soul shall be at death made perfect in holiness and go home to the Lord; and when He shall return in his majesty I shall be raised in glory and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity: encouraged by which blessed hope it is required of me willingly to take my part in suffering hardship here as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, being assured that if I die with Him I shall also live with him, if I endure, I shall also reign with Him.

And to Him, my Redeemer,

with the Father,

and the Holy Spirit,

Three Persons, one God,

be glory forever, world without end,

Amen, and Amen.

Our new sign

2006-03-25T18:44:00.000-08:00

Matthew 22:1-14 by The Rev. Todd Bordow

2006-03-25T18:39:00.000-08:00

This morning we consider the parable of the wedding feast. This parable is the last in a series of three parables all dealing with the Lord’s rejection and coming judgment of the nation Israel.
It is the last week of Christ’s life. He is in Jerusalem; the religious leaders are attempting to trap Jesus into saying anything that might discredit him or cause him to be arrested. The Lord is fully aware that speaking these parables will hasten his arrest, torture and crucifixion.
Now the Lord spoke in parables for two reasons. First, parables signified exclusion. Because Israel had rejected the message of the prophets and Jesus, Christ spoke to the Israelites in somewhat mysterious language, demonstrating that because of their unbelief they are now outsiders to a relationship with God.
These parables were also signs of blessing on those who did believe. Those who believed were granted insight by the Lord into the meaning of these parables, and they were given the blessings of these parables as those in a close relationship with God.
The fact that Christ would even tell this story reveals his amazing love. If you knew that in the next few days you would be arrested, tortured and put to death, what would you be thinking about? You would be engulfed in your own worries. At the most you might make peace with your closest loved ones.
But instead of being consumed with self-concern, the Lord condescends to your needs and draws you to himself with a story. He is thinking of you, when by all natural reasoning he should be only thinking of himself. Brethren, listen with a child-like spirit that you would gain true benefit from our Lord’s teaching.
The king in this story is God the Father, and the bridegroom is the Son. The wedding feast is the union between Christ and his beloved church. The wedding feast represents the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises of the blessings God would bring to sinners.
No other picture represents the intimacy between Christ and his people more than a wedding. God the Father allowed his Son to become man that we might be wedded to him forever.
A bridegroom that is truly in love takes no thought to using the marriage to gain riches or reputation. His only thought is to be wed to his bride. He only desires to be near her and love her and protect her. So Christ only thought of us when he became a man and went to the cross to die.
But what did we have to offer him as a bride? We might understand the bridegroom’s love if the bride herself was lovely. But we were impure and unlovely, as if a wealthy, cultured gentleman bestowed his love on a dirty, drunken prostitute lying in the gutter.
And what does he supply to us in this marriage? In this marriage the Lord gives himself to us completely. He takes on our sins and bravely suffers for them so we could be forgiven. He wraps us up with his own righteousness that we might be presentable to his Father. He gives us assurance and eternal life, so that we can say with full confidence, “I am saved, I am forgiven, I am loved by my bridegroom.”
In the parable the king graciously invites certain people in the kingdom to the banquet. These people invited represent the nation Israel, whom God especially invited to believe upon his Son for salvation.
Now it was the custom in those days to send out invitations days or weeks before the banquet, and when the preparations were ready the king would send servants to call those invited to come to the banquet.
Now that Jesus was about to go to the cross, the banquet was ready, the blessings of salvation were available, but the people invited refused to attend when the banquet was ready. It was a great act of disrespect, even treason, to refuse an invitation of the king.
How does the king respond to such a slight? Does he refuse to invite them again? No, he sends out other servants to ask again. Oh the longsuffering of God! The king humbles himself by graciously inviting these ungrateful people again to the wedding feast. He humbles himself by enhancing the offering with blessed descriptions of the banquet: I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.
But the people paid no attention to the invitation. Some simply showed disinterest; others became angry and killed the king’s servants. In their refusal to attend the banquet you see the depravity of sin. Why would the people despise such a gracious invitation?
Well, the feast was in honor of the king’s Son. Had the king thrown a party honoring them, they would gladly attend. But sinful man has no interest in honoring God’s Son by humbling himself and receiving the free offer of the gospel. They become angry when they here that their good works will avail them nothing, that they must come humbly to Christ and receive freely from his hand.
How foolish man is to despise the gospel. It is understandable why man would despise God’s law. Man’s consciences bears witness that they cannot fulfill God’s holy requirements, so they despise what their conscience declares and create their own god they can please. Yes, it makes sense why man would despise God’s law.
But to despise the free, gracious, offer of the gospel; of forgiven sin, of a relationship with the Creator, of eternal life; that is pure insanity! Only the most ungrateful and wretched of people would despise such an invitation from the Creator. We are all born with this ungrateful nature in relationship to our Creator.
The gospel is offered to ungrateful people. But when you treat as nothing the gospel of Christ, you despise the mightiest of all of God’s work; you despise that which cost God the most; the agony and suffering of his Holy Son on the cross.
What is the response of the king when the people reject his repeated invitations? he becomes angry and sends judgment on these ungrateful people.
For two thousand years God had pointed the Israelites toward Jesus Christ. He placed his law upon them to demonstrate their need for a righteousness outside of themselves; he provided the sacrifices and types so they would look forward to the Savior God would provide. He gave them hundreds of prophecies of a new covenant where God would wash away their sins through the messiah.
But all these gifts and offers they ignored and despised. So the Lord brought judgment on Jerusalem and his ended his special relationship with the nation Israel.
But the king still desired to honor his Son with a banquet. So the king sends his servants out to the main roads to invite anyone who would come. Here is pictured the gospel going out to the entire world as the church preaches the gospel in every nation.
Now we might expect the Lord to finish the parable at v. 10, which seems an appropriate ending. The Jews rejected the offer of the gospel, so the offer goes out to the Gentiles, and many Gentiles stream into the church accepting God’s gracious offer of salvation.
But the parable ends with a warning, not for Israel, but for us. For the same hardening that occurred with Israel can occur in the church. Note that in v. 10 both the good and bad accept the king’s offer and attend the banquet. The bad here refers to bad soil; or those in the church for sinful reasons. The good are those with good soil; those who received the gospel with sincerity and came to the banquet to thank and honor the Son.
The Lord highlights the case of one bad guest as a warning to all in the church. This final banquet pictures the heavenly celebration with Christ and his church when he returns.
The king arrives to behold his guests, but he notices one who was not dressed properly. A guest to a banquet was to wear nice clothes to honor the host, but this man came in his old, dirty clothes, dishonoring the host.
The king asks the man; how did you get in here without the proper clothes? The man was speechless, meaning he had no excuse. As with the nation Israel, God becomes angry and casts him out into the outer darkness of eternal judgment.
The proper clothing to Christ’s feast is repentance and faith. A true repentance will result in a desire to be obedient to the Lord. We are reminded again that some will join the church for the wrong reasons. They will not come with a sincere faith in Christ and love for his gospel. They will come with no interest in loving and honoring the Son for saving them, but only with self-interest.
The church may not know who these people are, but on Judgment Day the King himself will see into the hearts of all who claim to believe in his Son. He will cast out the hypocrites who only desired their own interests opposed to the interests of Christ.
You see beloved, the gospel of Christ is the most powerful declaration of God in the universe, more powerful than the words that formed the world at creation. The gospel may not seem powerful because it is so simple a child can understand it.
But the gospel is so powerful that there are only two reactions to it. Either one hears the sweet words of invitation and is drawn to the Savior in faith and repentance, even if it takes years, or the gospel hardens the heart. There is no neutrality when it comes to the gospel.
This means that for those in the church, you must watch your hearts. If you harden your hearts to the words of Christ and refuse to rejoice in what Christ has done for you, treating him lightly, you will become as hardened as the Israelites.
How often people say, I know Christ calls me to receive these blessings from him, to then to love and serve him, but right now I need to think about my needs. In time I will get more serious about the Lord.
While they might sincerely believe this, what happens over time is that a hardening takes place in their hearts, and the more they hear the gospel the worse off they are, because their consciences grow colder and colder.
I was speaking to a young person last week from another state. Although she grew up in the church and says she believes in Jesus, she finds no desire in her heart to live for Jesus. She is not motivated to go to church anymore or to pray.
I remember years ago as she wept to me about committing serious sin. But now she finds no tears for her sin, no desire for God. I told her that the hardening process was almost complete in her, soon it will be too late; you cannot remain indifferent to the gospel this many years without growing cold.
There will come a time, yes, even in this life, when the Lord’s patience will run out, and he will turn your heart over to hardening. If you find in your heart no motivation to come to church, no desire to hear the glorious news of what God has done for you, if you have no desire to be a faithful Christian, you are in great danger. Your heart is being hardened. You need to respond now with repentance and faith in Christ. You need to give your attention and love in hearing the words of your Savior.
The parable ends with a statement that many who hear the call of the gospel and even enter the church are not chosen. Man’s rejection does not take God by surprise. God has chosen to honor his Son by uniting his Son with a bride, and God will draw a bride to Christ who will willingly embrace the bridegroom.
Beloved, since there are so many thousands, even millions, who refuse to honor him, and thousands more who only honor him with their lips, honor and love Christ all the more. Rejoice in the Lord and bless his wonderful name.
It is a glorious gospel we have been given; the feast is a wonderful banquet. Christ is a blessed Savior, and he offers himself freely to all who will come to him, repent of their sins, and believe upon him for salvation, loving his gospel more than all else. Do not harden your hearts to Christ and the blessedness of salvation. Rejoice in the Lord and serve him with your whole hearts. Amen.

Can a person be a Christian and remain outside the visible Church?

2006-03-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

This is a question i have been contemplating lately. I am curious what people think. I talk to people all the time who say you don't have to go to Church to be a Christian. My question is if a person is a Christian and never goes why should you consider that person a Christian. Spurgeon said "If a brick is lying on the ground by itself it is simply trash, good for nothing, but if it is part of a wall in a building it is a useful part of the structure." I agree with Spurgeon.

1Jo 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

Heb 10:25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

John Newton’s Letter On the Doctrine of Election and Perseverence

2006-01-14T19:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Sir:

Your letter breathes the spirit of a Christian, though you say you are not a Calvinist. I should have still confined myself, in my letters, to the great truths in which we are agreed, if you had not invited me to touch upon the points wherein we differ. If you were positive and peremptory in your present sentiments, I should not think it my duty to debate with you: in that case, we might contend as much for victory as for truth. But as you profess yourself and inquirer, and are desirous of forming your judgment agreeably to the Word of God, without being influenced by the authority of names and parties, I willingly embrace the occasion you offer me. You say, that though you are not prejudiced against the doctrines of election and perseverance of the saints, they appear to you attended with such difficulties, that you cannot yet heartily and fully assent to them. May the Lord the Spirit, whose office it is to guide His people into all truth, dictate to my pen, and accompany what I shall write with His blessing. It is not my intention to prove and illustrate these doctrines at large, or to encounter the various objections that have been raised against them. So much ahs been done in this way already, that I could only repeat what has been said to greater advantage by others. Nor need I refer you to the books which have been professedly written upon this argument. In a letter to a friend, I shall not aim at the exactness of a disputant, but only offer a few unpremeditated hints, in the same manner as if I had the pleasure of personally conversing with you.

Permit me to remind you, in the first place, of that important aphorism, John 3:27, (which, by the bye, seems to speak strongly in favor of the doctrines in question): “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from Heaven.” If you should accede to my opinions upon my persuasion only, you would be little benefited by the exchange. The Lord alone can give us the true, vital, comfortable, and useful knowledge of His own truths. We may become wise in notions, and so far masters of a system, or scheme of doctrine, as to be able to argue, object, and fight, in favor of our own hypothesis, by dint of application, and natural abilities; but we rightly understand what we say, and whereof we affirm, no farther than we have a spiritual perception of it wrought in our hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost. It is not, therefore, by noisy disputation, but by humble waiting upon God in prayer, and a careful perusal of His holy Word, that we are to expect a satisfactory, experimental, and efficacious knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. I am persuaded that you are seeking in this way: if so, I am confident you shall not seek in vain. The Lord teaches effectually, though for the most part gradually. The path of the just is compared to the light, which is very faint at the early dawn, but shineth more and more to the perfect day.

If you sincerely seek the Lord’s direction by prayer, you will of course make use of His appointed means of information, and search the Scriptures. Give me leave to offer you the following advices, while you are reading and comparing spiritual things with spiritual. First, not to lay too great stress upon a few detached texts, but seek for that sense which is most agreeable to the general strain of the Scripture. The infallible Word of God must, doubtless, be consistent with itself: if it does not appear so to us, the obscurity and seeming inconsistency must be charged to the remaining darkness and ignorance of our minds. As many locks, whose wards differ, are opened with equal ease by one master-key; so there is a certain comprehensive view of Scriptural truth, which opens hard places, solves objections, and happily reconciles, illustrates, and harmonizes many texts, which to those who have not this master-key, frequently styled the analogy of faith, appear little less than contradictory to each other. When you obtain this key, you will be sure that you have the right sense.

Again: You will do well to consult experience as you go along. For though this is not to be depended upon in the first instance, but must itself be subjected to the rule of the written Word, yet it is a good subordinate help. Consider which sense is most agreeable to what passes within you and around you, and which best answers to the dealings of God with yourself, and to what you can observe of His dealings with others.

Farther: When you are led (as I think you will be, if you are not already) to view the Calvinist doctrines in a favorable light, be not afraid of embracing them, because there may be perhaps some objections which, for want of a full possession of the key I mentioned, you are not able to clear up; but consider if there are not as strong or stronger objections against the other side. We are poor weak creatures; and the clearing up of every difficulty is not what we are immediately called to, but rather to seek that light which may strengthen and feed our souls.

Lastly: Compare the tendency of different opinions. This is an excellent rule, if we can fairly apply it. Whatever is from God, has a sure tendency to ascribe glory to Him, to exclude boasting from the creature, to promote the love and practice of holiness, and increase our dependence upon His grace and faithfulness. The Calvinists have no reason to be afraid of resting the merits of their cause upon this issue; notwithstanding the unjust misrepresentations which have been often made of their principles, and the ungenerous treatment of those who would charge the miscarriages of a few individuals, as the necessary consequence of embracing those principles.

But I must check myself, or I shall finish my letter before I properly begin my subject. You have objections to the doctrine of election. You will, however, agree with me that the Scripture does speak of it, and that in very strong and express terms, particularly St. Paul. I have met with some sincere people, as I believe, who have told me, they could not bear to read his 9th chapter to the Romans, but always passed it over: so that their prejudices against election prejudiced them against a part of the Scripture likewise. But why so, unless because the dreaded doctrine is maintain too plainly to be evaded? But you will say, that some writers and preachers attempt to put an easier sense upon the Apostle’s words. Let us judge then, as I lately proposed, from experience. Admitting, what I am sure you will admit, the total depravity of human nature, how can we account for the conversion of a soul to God, unless we likewise admit an election of grace? The work must begin somewhere. Either the sinner first seeks the Lord, or the Lord first seeks the sinner. The former is impossible, if by nature we are dead in trespasses and sins; if the god of this world has blinded our eyes, and maintains the possession of our hearts; and if our carnal minds, so far from being disposed to seek God, are enmity against Him. Let me appeal to yourself. I think you know yourself too well to say, that you either sought or loved the Lord first; perhaps you are conscious, that for a season, and so far as in you lay, you even resisted His call; and must have perished, if He had not made you willing in the day of His power, and saved you in defiance for yourself. In your own case, you acknowledge that He began with you; and it must be the case universally with all that are called, if the whole race of mankind are by nature enemies to God. Then, farther, there must be an election, unless all are called. But we are assured that the broad road, which is thronged with the greatest multitudes, leads to destruction. Were not you and I in this road? Were we better than those who continue in it still? What has made us differ from our former selves? Grace. What has made us differ from those who are now as we once were? Grace. Then this grace, by the very terms, must be differencing, or distinguishing grace; that is, in other words, electing grace. And to suppose that God should make this election or choice only at the time of our calling, is not only unscriptural, but contrary to the dictates of reason, and the ideas we have of the Divine perfections, particularly those of omniscience and immutability. They who believe there is any power in man by nature, whereby he can turn to God, may contend for a conditional election upon the foresight of faith and obedience: but while others dispute, let you and me admire, for we know that the Lord foresaw us (as we were) in a state of utterly incapable either of believing or obeying, unless He was pleased to work in us to will and to do according to His own good pleasure.

As to final perseverance, whatever judgment we form of it in a doctrinal view, unless we ourselves do so persevere, our profession of religion will be utterly vain; for only “they that endure to the end shall be saved.” It should seem, that whoever believes this, and is duly apprised of his own weakness, the number and strength of his spiritual enemies, and the difficulties and dangers arising from his situation in this evil world, will at least be desirous to have (if possible) some security that his labor and expectation shall not be in vain. To be at an uncertainty in a point of so great importance; to have nothing to trust to for our continuance in well doing, but our own feeble efforts, our partial diligence and short sighted care; must surely be distressing, if we rightly consider how unable we are in ourselves to withstand the forces of the world, the flesh, and the devil, which are combined against our peace. In this view I should expect, that the opposers of this doctrine, if thoroughly sensible of their state and situation, upon a supposition, that they should be able to prove it unscriptural and false, would weep over their victory, and be sorry that a sentiment, so apparently suited to encourage and animate our hope, should not be founded in truth. It is not to be wondered at, that this doctrine, which gives to the Lord the glory due to His name, and provides so effectually for the comfort of His people, should be opposed and traduced by men of corrupt hearts. But it may well seem strange, that they who feel their need of it, and cannot be comfortable without it, should be afraid or unwilling to receive it. Yet many a child of light is walking in darkness upon this account. Either they are staggered by the sentiments of those whom they think wiser than themselves, or stumbled by the falls of professors who were once advocates for this doctrine, or perplexed because they cannot rightly understand those passages of Scripture which seem to speak a different language. But, as light and knowledge increase, these difficulties are lessened. The Lord claims the honor; and He engages for the accomplishment of a complete salvation, that no power shall pluck His people out of His hand, or separate them from His love. Their perseverance in grace, besides being asserted in many express promises, may be proved with the fullest evidence from the unchangeableness of God, the intercession of Christ, the union which subsists between Him and His people, and from the principle of spiritual life He has implanted in their hearts, which in its own nature is connected with everlasting life; for grace is the seed of glory. I have not room to enlarge on these particulars, but refer you to the following texts, from which various strong and invincible arguments might be drawn for their confirmation: Luke 14:28-30, compared with Phil. 1:6; Heb. 7:25, with Rom. 8:34-39; John 14:19, with John 15:1,2; John 4:14. Upon these grounds, my friend, why may not you, who have fled for refuge to the hope set before you, and committed your soul to Jesus, rejoice in His salvation; and say, “While Christ is the foundation, root, head, and husband of His people, while the Word of God is Yea and Amen, while the counsels of God are unchangeable, while we have a Mediator and High Priest before the throne, while the Holy Spirit is willing and able to bear witness to the truths of the Gospel, while God is wiser than men, and stronger than satan, so long the believer in Jesus is and shall be safe? Heaven and earth must pass away; but the promise, the oath, the blood, on which my soul relies, affords me a security which can never fail.”

As the doctrines of election and perseverance are comfortable, so they cut off all pretence of boasting and self-dependence when they are truly received in the heart, and therefore tend to exalt the Savior. Of course they stain the pride of all human glory, and leave us nothing to glory in but the Lord. The more we are convinced of our utter depravity and inability from first to last, the more excellent will Jesus appear. The whole may give the physician a good word, but the sick alone know how to prize him. And here I cannot but remark a difference between those who have nothing to trust to but free grace, and those who ascribe a little at least to some good disposition and ability in man. We assent to whatever they enforce from the Word of God on the subject of sanctification. We acknowledge its importance, its excellency, its beauty; but we could wish they would join more with us in exalting the Redeemer’s name. Their experience seems to lead them to talk of themselves, of the change that is wrought in them, and the much that depends upon their own watchfulness and striving. We likewise would be thankful if we could perceive a change wrought in us by the power of grace; we desire to be found watching likewise. But when our hopes are most alive, it is less from a view of the imperfect beginnings of grace in our hearts, than from an apprehension of Him who is our all in all. His Person, His live, His sufferings, His intercession, compassion, fullness, and faithfulness --- these are our delightful themes, which leave us little leisure, when in our best frames, to speak of ourselves. How do our hearts soften, and our eyes melt, when we feel some liberty in thinking and speaking of Him! For we had no help in time past, nor can have any in time to come, but from Him alone. If any persons have contributed a mite to their own salvation, it was more than we could do. If any were obedient and faithful to the first calls and impressions of His Spirit, it was not our case. If any were prepared to receive Him beforehand, we know that we were in a state of alienation from Him. We needed sovereign, irresistible grace to save us, or we had been lost for ever. If there are any who have a power of their own, we must confess ourselves poorer than they are. We cannot watch, unless He watches with us; we cannot strive, unless He strives with us; we cannot stand one moment, unless He holds us up; and we believe we must perish after all, unless His faithfulness is engaged to keep us. But this we trust He will do, not for our righteousness, but for His own name’s sake, and because, having loved us with an everlasting love, He has been pleased in loving kindness to draw us to Himself, and to be found of us when we sought Him not.

Can you think, dear Sir, that a person who lives under the influence of these sentiments, will desire to continue in sin because grace abounds? No: you are too candid an observer of men and manners, to believe the calumnies which are propagated against us. It is true, there are too many false and empty professors amongst us; but are there none amongst those who hold the opposite sentiments? And I would observe, that the objection drawn from the miscarriages of reputed Calvinists is quite beside the purpose. We maintain, that no doctrines or means can change the heart, or produce a gracious conservation, without the efficacious power of Almighty grace: therefore, if it is found to be so in fact, it should not be charged against our doctrine, but rather admitted as a proof and confirmation of it. We confess, that we fall sadly short in every thing, and have reason to be ashamed and amazed that we are so faintly influenced by such animating principles; yet, upon the whole, our consciences bear us witness, and we hope we may declare it both to the church and to the world without just fear of contradiction, that the doctrines of grace are doctrines according to godliness.

I am, etc.

John Newton

Heidelberg Catechism

2006-01-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

Zacharias Ursinus and Casper Olevianus Co-authored the Heidelberg Catechism in the mid sixteenth century.

I Love this, just thought I would share it with anyone interested.

Question 1
Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own,[1] but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death,[2] to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.[3] He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood,[4] and has set me free from all the power of the devil.[5] He also preserves me in such a way[6] that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head;[7] indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.[8] Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life[9] and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.[10]
[1] 1Co_6:19-20 [2] Rom_14:7-9. [3] 1Co_3:23; Tit_2:14. [4] 1Pe_1:18-19; 1Jo_1:7; 1Jo_2:2. [5] Joh_8:34-36; Heb_2:14-15; 1Jo_3:8. [6] Joh_6:39-40; Joh_10:27-30; 2Th_3:3; 1Pe_1:5. [7] Mat_10:29-31; Luk_21:16-18. [8] Rom_8:28. [9] Rom_8:15-16; 2Co_1:21-22; 2Co_5:5; Eph_1:13-14. [10] Rom_8:14.

Our New Building.

2006-01-10T04:42:00.000-08:00

After several years of wanderings The Lord has graciously provided us with a Home. We celebrated this past Lord's day the opening of the new and Lord willing, permanent Home of Covenant Presbyterian Church.

I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Ps. 27:13

2006-01-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

Let me explain limited Atonement to you one more time!

Through Briar and Bush

2006-01-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

By Faith Cook based on a letter by Samuel Rutherford

Soft nature seeks a path of ease
Secure from strange alarms;
Borne through the troubled scenes of life
In Christ's protecting arms;
Yet nobler far our strength to draw
From grace to call His will our law.

For Christ who knows our feeble mould
Ordains that here below
Through brier and bush to heavenly ground
His bairns wet-shod must go;
Past hostile thorn His steps to trace
And follow still with steadfast face.

Our heav'n is in the bud and soon
Must to a harvest grow;
For time's brief span shall eat away
And root out every woe.
Then watch in hope till sorrows end,
And Christ appear — our living Friend.

The Heart Healed and Changed by Mercy By William Cowper

2005-12-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

Sin enslav'd me many years,
And led me bound and blind;
Till at length a thousand fears
Came swarming o'er my mind.
Where, I said in deep distress,
Will these sinful pleasures end?
How shall I secure my peace,
And make the LORD my friend?

Friends and ministers said much
The gospel to enforce;
But my blindness still was such,
I chose a legal course:
Much I fasted, watch'd and strove,
Scarce would show my face abroad,
Fear'd, almost, to speak or move,
A stranger still to GOD.

Thus afraid to trust his grace,
Long time did I rebel;
Till, despairing of my case,
Down at his feet I fell:
Then my stubborn heart he broke,
And subdu'd me to his sway;
By a simple word he spoke,
"Thy sins are done away

Acts 1:4-11 by Rev. Todd Bordow

2005-12-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

A question you must answer as you read the Book of Acts is, "how do you account for the change in the disciples?" In the gospels, the disciples were confused and cowardly. They understood very little what Jesus was teaching them. They abandoned the Lord out of fear when he was arrested. After Christ died they become despondent; convinced Jesus had failed his mission.
In the Book of Acts these same disciples are full of joy, bold in the face of opposition, and able to teach clearly the message Christ imparted to them. The Apostle Peter of Acts hardly seems like the same man as the Apostle Peter of the gospels. What happened?
Well, there were a few watershed moments where the light turned on for the disciples. The initial watershed moment was when Christ first appeared to them after his resurrection. The disciples realized then that Jesus had not failed, and that he was truly God in the flesh.
Another watershed moment is found in our passage this morning. You see from our passage that there remains some confusion and immaturity among the disciples that Christ must address before their official mission as Apostles can begin.
First let's consider the Old Testament background of our passage. In the book of Isaiah, the Lord promised that one day he would send his servants to the ends of the earth as his witnesses to advance his glorious kingdom. In those days God would pour forth his Spirit on his witnesses, and as a result his witnesses would boldly proclaim that they belong to God, and that he is the only Savior.
The key verse of our passage, v.8, picks up on two key phrases in those Isaiah prophecies; "witnesses," and "ends of the earth." We are now in the time of fulfillment. Christ says, you are my witnesses to advance the kingdom the Old Testament promised; that kingdom that would cover the earth. You might note that in Isaiah, Jehovah promises that a redeemed people will be "his" witnesses. Here Jesus calls the Apostles "my witnesses," demonstrating that Jesus is indeed God.
But the disciples are not quite ready to be Christ's witnesses. Even though for forty days after the resurrection Christ spoke to them of the kingdom, the disciples still were confused about the nature and timing of the kingdom. So our passage contains the disciples' final preparation and corrections before being officially commissioned as Apostles.
Christ had instructed the disciples to remain in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father; that promise being the Holy Spirit. Why Jerusalem? Why couldn't the disciples go back home to Galilee and receive the Spirit there? Well, according to the Old Testament, the glory and kingdom of the Lord would shine first in Jerusalem and work its way outward. Also, the fact that the disciples could do nothing on their own, but needed to wait for the Lord, reveals their utter dependence on God to fulfill their mission.
In v. 6, Luke, the Author of Acts, records the final appearance of Christ to the disciples before ascending to heaven. The disciples' question in v. 6 reveals their continued confusion and immaturity. Is it at this time you will restore the kingdom to Israel? Though the disciples understood that Christ's kingdom included forgiveness of sins, they still thought of that kingdom in terms of a geopolitical victory for Israel.
Note that in the Lord's answer, he does not address their misunderstanding of the place of national Israel. When Christ ascends to heaven it would be clear enough that he would not rule from an earthly Jerusalem, but from a heavenly Jerusalem.
Instead the Lord corrects their desire to know the times of full restoration, revealing a selfish impatience among the disciples. It is not for you to know the times and seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth.
In asking if the kingdom would be restored to Israel now, the disciples wanted to know if now was the time for God's final rewards and blessings to be bestowed upon God's people.
The Lord's answer; now is not the time to think about your rewards. There is work to be done. You must become the Apostles of the New Covenant church and spread my kingdom to the ends of the earth.
Note well Christ's command not to speculate on when this age will end. I cannot think of a command more disregarded by the American church than this. It is not for you to speculate if we are in the so-called last days. Yes, many prophecy conferences and books on how the events of our day signal the end are direct violations of our Lord's command here. You are not to speculate about the times of his return. And no, you cannot get away with saying we may not know the day of his return, but can at least discern in which generation he will return. The Bible is clear; it is not for you to know when Christ will return.
Instead of speculating on the time of his return, focus on your mission. You are to be my witnesses unto the ends of the earth. You are to be so busy with this mission that you do not have time to speculate. If you are fulfilling your calling to be God's witnesses you will not have to worry about being ready for his return. You will be ready!
So the disciples needed correction on the timing of his kingdom, but also on the nature of his kingdom. You see by the term "witnesses," that God's promised kingdom would advance through the Word of the gospel. From this point on the disciples understood that God's kingdom would not come through force or politics, but through the preaching of the gospel.
Now many have rightly noted that the geographic places of v. 8 form the outline of the Book of Acts. Chapters 1-8:3 occur in Jerusalem; 8:4 through 12 occur in Judea and Samaria, and chapters 13 through 28 record the gospel advancing to the ends of the earth.
But these geographical signposts also reveal the nature of the true Israel. The Book of Isaiah promised that the blessings of this final kingdom would fall on the true Israel. Many groups within Israel in Jesus' day claimed to be that true Israel.
But the true Israel, the Israel who would become God's end-time witnesses, would be Jews and Gentiles who believe the gospel preached by the Apostles; Jews and Gentiles from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. You in Christ are the true Israel of God; heirs of all the Old Testament promises to Israel.
Note that the power the Holy Spirit would bestow is the power to be witnesses for God. The disciples may have still considered power as power in ruling from thrones in Jerusalem. We too often consider the power of the Spirit as the power to perform miracles or to create emotional experiences.
But the power the Holy Spirit bestows is the power to live for Christ in word and deed before an unbelieving world. We as God's redeemed become God's testimony, we become living proof that God saves and sanctifies. By our words and deeds we testify to the world that we belong to the Lord.
This leads us to v. 9. The disciples behold Jesus being lifted atop a cloud of glory into heaven. This is the same glory cloud throughout the Old Testament that signified God's presence. The disciples are so filled with awe beholding this sight that they do not notice two angels in the form of men standing near them.
Not only are the disciples filled with awe as Jesus ascends, they are filled with confusion. The angels address the disciples' confusion. Why are you standing there gazing into the sky?
The question haunting the disciples would be, where are you going? Are you not staying to establish your kingdom to the ends of the earth? The angels assure the disciples that Christ indeed would return in clouds of glory to bring in the full consummation of his kingdom.
Now the light turned on. For the first time the disciples realized that Christ's kingdom would come in two stages. In this age Christ would work though the church to advance his gospel kingdom. In his absence Christ would pour out his Holy Spirit onto his church to be spiritually present with them for that task. In a sense Christ would be with his church through his Spirit in a more powerful way than when he was with his disciples physically. After all, now Christ lives inside you by his Spirit.
But lest the mission become overwhelming or discouraging, the disciples, and you through this passage, receive a glimpse into the end of the mission. No, you do not know when Christ will return with his rewards, but be assured, he will return. Let that motivate you as you fulfill your mission in this fallen world.
Note then the similarity between Christ's mission and his church's mission. Before Christ began his mission to be God's witness he was anointed with the Holy Spirit. He then fulfilled his mission though discouragement, sufferings, and opposition. At the end of his mission he died and rose again to be with the Father.
In Acts, what happens to Christ happens to his church. The church is given a mission, but first they are anointed with the Spirit to be able to fulfill this mission. After being witnesses through discouragement and opposition, God's people die and rise again to be with the Lord. Jesus said, as the Father has sent me, so I send you.
Once you were blind, but now you see. God has opened your eyes through the gospel. You have been given the glorious privilege and responsibility to be God's witnesses of his grace and glory. Beloved, you are the fulfillment of those ancient prophecies in Isaiah that God would open the eyes of sinners and make them his witnesses to the ends of the earth.
How do you fulfill your calling as witnesses? The Apostles had their role, and you have yours. First, remember that the church witnesses as a body. By doing your part to help the body of Christ function, you are God's witnesses.
Second, you are witnesses in all you say or do. You might think, I have so many problems in my own life to deal with that I don't have time to be God's witness. But remember, how you deal with your problems testifies that you belong to the Lord. Do you pray for help? Do you seek to serve the Lord through your trials? Do you admit your weaknesses? In all these you testify that Christ is your Savior and you now belong to him. Your testimony is not a dramatic event, nor is it the story of your conversion. Your testimony is a life-long, humble obedience to God through the ups and downs of this life.
Now, often times, people assume that the role of the preacher is to apply the Bible to your life and concerns. But just the opposite is true. You are to see the truth in the Bible and adjust your life and concerns to these truths.
So, Beloved, adjust your lives a round these truths. Your every day life is much grander that you think. As Christians you were called from eternity to bear the name of God; you are called to be God's witnesses of his salvation in all you say and do. God has poured his Spirit into you to give you the strength to be his witnesses. After testifying through your service and devotion that you belong to God, Jesus Christ will return for you and bestow on you the full rewards and blessings of his Kingdom. Amen

Prayer answered by Crosses by John Newton

2005-12-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

1 I ask'd the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and ev'ry grace,
Might more of his salvation know,
And seek more earnestly his face.

2 'Twas he who taught me thus to pray,
And he, I trust has answer'd pray'r;
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

3 I hop'd that in some favour'd hour,
At once he'd answer my request:
And by his love's constraining pow'r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

4 Instead of this. he made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow'rs of hell
Assault my soul in ev'ry part.

5 Yea more, with his own hand he seem'd
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Cross'd all the fair designs I schem'd,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

6 Lord, why is this, I trembling cry'd,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
"'Tis in this way," the Lord reply'd,
"I answer pray'r for grace and faith.

7 "These inward trials I employ,
"From self and pride to set thee free;
"And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
"That thou mayst seek thy all in me."

"Free Will-Slavery" by Charles Spurgeon

2005-10-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

And ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life
(John 5:40).

This is one of the great guns of the Arminians, mounted upon the top of their walls, and often discharged with terrible noise against the poor Christians called Calvinists. I intend to spike the gun this morning, or, rather, to turn it on the enemy, for it was never theirs; it was never cast at their foundry at all, but was intended to teach the very opposite doctrine to that which they assert. Usually, when the text is taken the divisions are: --- First, that man has a will. Secondly, that he is entirely free. Thirdly, that men must make themselves willing to come to Christ, otherwise they will not be saved. Now, we shall have no such divisions; but we will endeavor to take a more calm look at the text; and not, because there happen to be the words “will,” or “will not” in it, run away with the conclusion that it teaches the doctrine of free-will. It has already been proved beyond all controversy that free-will is nonsense. Freedom cannot belong to will any more than ponderability can belong to electricity. They are altogether different things. Free agency we may believe in, but free-will is simply ridiculous. The will is well known by all to be of the soul, and to be a secondary thing. Philosophy and religion both discard at once the very thought of free-will; and I will go as far as Martin Luther, in that strong assertion of his, where he says, “If any man doth ascribe aught of salvation, even the very least, to the free-will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright.” It may seem a harsh sentiment; but he who in his soul believes that man does of his own free-will turn to God, cannot have been taught of God, for that is one of the first principles taught us when god begins with us, that we have neither will nor power, but that He gives both; that He is “Alpha and Omega” in the salvation of men.

Our four points, this morning, shall be, --- First, that every man is dead, because it says, “Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life.” Secondly, that there is life in Jesus Christ --- “Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life.” Thirdly, that there is life in Christ Jesus for every one that comes for it --- “Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life;” implying that all who go will have life. And fourthly, the gist of the text lies here, that no man by nature ever will come to Christ, for the text says, “Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life.” Why, beloved, I am almost ready to exclaim, Have all free-willers no knowledge that they dare to run in the teeth of inspiration? Have all those that deny the doctrine of grade no sense? Have they so departed from God that they wrest this to prove free-will; whereas the text says, “Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life.”

I. First, then, our text implies THAT MEN BY NATURE ARE DEAD. The text speaks very strongly when it says, “Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life,” though it saith it not in words, yet doth in effect affirm that men need a life more than they have themselves. My hearers, we are all dead unless we have been begotten unto a lively hope. First, we are all of us, by nature, legally dead: --- “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death,” said God to Adam; and though Adam did not die in that moment naturally, he died legally; that is to say death was recorded against him. As soon as, at the Old Bailey, the judge puts on the black cap and pronounces the sentence, the man is reckoned to be dead at law. Though perhaps a month may intervene before he is brought on the scaffold to endure the sentence of the law, yet the law looks upon him as a dead man. It is impossible for him to transact anything. He cannot inherit, he cannot bequeth; he is nothing --- he is a dead man. The country considers him not as being alive in it at all. There is an election --- he is not asked for his vote because he is considered as dead. He is shut up in his condemned cell, and he is dead. Ah! and ye ungodly sinners who have never had life in Christ, ye are alive this morning, by reprieve, but do ye know that ye are legally dead; that God considers you as such, that in the day when your father Adam touched the fruit, and when you yourselves did sin, God the Eternal Judge, put on the black cap and condemned you? You talk mightily of your own standing, and goodness, and morality: --- where is it? Scripture saith, ye are “condemned already.” Ye are not to wait to be condemned at the judgment-day --- that will be the execution of the sentence: --- “ye are condemned already.” In the moment ye sinned; your names were all written in the black book of justice; every one was then sentenced by God to death, unless he found a substitute, in the person of Christ, for his sins. What would you think if you were to go into the Old Bailey, and see the condemned culprit sitting in his cell, laughing and merry? You would say, “The man is a fool, for he is condemned, and is to be executed; yet how merry he is.” Ah! and how foolish is the worldly man, who, while sentence is recorded against him, lives in merriment and mirth! Do you think the sentence of God is of no effect? Thinkest thou that thy sin which is written with an iron pen on the rocks for ever hath no horrors in it? God hath said thou art condemned already. If thou wouldst but feel this, it would mingle bitters in thy sweet cups of joy; thy dances would be stopped, thy laughter quenched in sighing, if thou wouldst recollect that thou art condemned already. We ought all to weep, if we lay this to our souls: that by nature we have no life in God’s sight; we are actually, positively condemned; death is recorded against us, and we are considered in ourselves now, in God’s sight, as much dead as if we were actually cast into hell; we are condemned here by sin, we do not yet suffer the penalty of it, but it is written against us, and we are legally dead, nor can we find life unless we find legal life in the person of Christ, of which more by-and- bye.

But, besides being legally dead, we are also spiritually dead. For not only did the sentence pass in the book, but it passed in the heart; it entered the conscience; it operated on the soul, on the judgment, on the imagination, and on everything. “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,’ was not fulfilled by the sentence recorded, but by something which took place in Adam. Just as, in a certain moment, when this body shall die, the blood stops, the pulse ceases, the breath no longer comes from the lungs, so in the day that Adam did eat that fruit his soul died; his imagination lost its mighty power to climb into celestial things and see heaven, his will lost its power always to choose that which is good, his judgment lost all ability to judge between right and wrong decidedly and infallibly, though something was retained in conscience; his memory became tainted, liable to hold evil things, and let righteous things glide away; every power of him ceased as to its moral vitality. Goodness was the vitality of his powers --- that departed. Virture, holiness, integrity, these were the life of man; but when these departed man became dead. And now, every man, so far as spiritual things are concerned, is “dead in trespasses and sins,” spiritually. Nor is the soul less dead in a carnal man, than the body is when committed to the grave; it is actually and positively dead --- not by a metaphor, for Paul speaketh not in metaphor when he affirms, “You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.” But my hearers, again, I would I could preach to your hearts concerning this subject. It was bad enough when I described death as having been recorded; but now I speak of it as having actually taken place in your hearts. Ye are not what ye once were; ye are not what ye were in Adam, not what ye were created. Man was made pure and holy. Ye are not the perfect creatures of which some boast; ye are altogether fallen, ye have gone out of the way, ye have become corrupt and filthy. Oh! listen not to the syren song of those who tell you of your moral dignity, and your mighty elevation in matters of salvation. You are not perfect; that great word, “ruin,” is written on your heart, and death is stamped upon your spirit. Do not conceive, O moral man, that thou wilt be able to stand before God in thy morality, for thou art nothing but a carcass embalmed in legality, a corpse arrayed in some fine robes, but still corrupt in God’s sight. And think not, O thou possessor of natural religion! that thou mayest by thine own might and power make thyself acceptable to God. Why, man! thou art dead! and thou mayest array the dead as gloriously as thou pleasest, but still it would be a solemn mockery. There lieth queen Cleopatra --- put the crown upon her head, deck her in royal robes, let her sit in state; but what a cold chill runs through you when you pass by her. She is fair now, even in her death --- but how horrible it is to stand by the side even of a dead queen, celebrated for her majestic beauty! So you may be glorious in your beauty, fair, and amiable, and lovely; you put the crown of honesty upon your head, and wear about you all the garments of uprightness, but unless God has quickened thee, O man! unless the Spirit has had dealings with thy soul, thou art in God’s sight as obnoxious as the chilly corpse is to thyself. Thou wouldst not choose to live with a corpse sitting at thy table; nor doth God love that thou shouldst be in his sight. He is angry with thee every day, for thou art in sin --- thou art in death. Oh! believe this; take it to thy soul; appropriate it for it is most true that thou art dead, spiritually as well as legally.

The third kind of death is the consummation of the other two. It is eternal death. It is the execution of the legal sentence; it is the consummation of the spiritual death. Eternal death is the death of the soul; it takes place after the body has been laid in the grave, after the soul has departed from it. If legal death be terrible, it is because of its consequences; and if spiritual death be dreadful, it is because of that which shall succeed it. The two deaths of which we have spoken are the roots, and that death which is to come is the flower thereof. Oh! had I words that I might this morning attempt to depict to you what death is. The soul has come before its Maker; the book has been opened; the sentence has been uttered; “Depart ye cursed” has shaken the universe, and made the very spheres dim with the frown of the Creator; the soul has departed to the depths were it is to dwell with others in eternal death. Oh! how horrible is its position now. Its bed is a bed of flame; the sights it sees are murdering ones that affright its spirit; the sounds it hears are shrieks, and wails, and moans, and groans; all that is body knows is the infliction of miserable pain! it has the possession of unutterable woe, of unmitigated misery. The soul looks up. Hope is extinct --- it is gone. It looks downward in dread and fear; remorse hath possessed its soul. It looks on the right hand --- and left --- and there the rampart of blazing fire forbids the scaling ladder of e’een a dreamy speculation of escape. It looks within and seeks for consolation there, but a gnawing worm hath entered into the soul. It looks about it --- it has no friends to aid, no comforters, but tormentors in abundance. It knoweth nought of hope of deliverance; it hath heard the everlasting key of destiny turning in its awful wards, and it hath seen God take that key and hurl it down into the depth of eternity never to be found again. It hopeth not; it knoweth no escape; it guesseth not of deliverance; it pants for death, but death is too much its foe to be there; it longs that it might be swallowed up in nothingness just as would the galley slave long for freedom, but it cometh not --- it is eternally dead. When eternity shall have rolled round multitudes of its everlasting cycles it shall still be dead. For-ever knoweth no end; eternity cannot be spelled except in eternity. Still the soul seeth written o’er its head, “Thou art damned for ever.” It heareth howlings that are to be perpetual; it seeth flames which are unquenchable; it knoweth pains that are unmitigated; it hears a sentence that rolls not like the thunder of earth which soon is hushed --- but onward, onward, onward, shaking the echoes of eternity --- making thousands of years shake again with the horrid thunder of its dreadful sound --- “Depart! depart! depart ye cursed!” This is the eternal death.

II. Secondly, IN CHRIST JESUS THERE IS LIFE, for he says, “ye will not come unto Me that ye may have life.” There is no life in God the Father for a sinner; there is no life in God the Spirit for a sinner apart from Jesus. The life of a sinner is in Christ. If you take the Father apart, though He loves His elect, and decrees that they shall live, yet life is only in His Son. If you take God the Spirit apart from Jesus Christ, though it is the Spirit that gives us spiritual life, yet it is life in Christ, life in the Son. We dare not, and cannot apply in the first place, either to God the Father, or to God the Holy Ghost for spiritual life. The first thing we are led to do when God brings us out of Egypt is to eat the Passover --- the very first thing. The first means whereby we get life is by feeding upon the flesh and blood of the Son of God; living in Him, trusting on Him, believing in His grace and power. Our second thought was --- there is life in Christ. We will show you there are three kinds of life in Christ, as there are three kinds of death.

First there is legal life in Christ. Just as every man by nature considered in Adam had a sentence of condemnation passed on him in the moment of Adam’s sin, and more especially in the moment of his own first transgression, so I, if I be a believer, and you, if you trust in Christ, have had a legal sentence of acquittal passed on us through what Jesus Christ has done. O condemned sinner! thou mayest be sitting this morning condemned like the prisoner in Newgate; but ere this day has passed away thou mayest be as clear from guilt as the angels above. There is such a thing as legal life in Christ, and, blessed be God! some of us enjoy it. We know our sins are pardoned because Christ suffered in our stead. The Passover is slain for us; the lintel and door-post have been sprinkled, and the destroying angel can never touch us. For us there is no hell, although it blaze with terrible flame. Let Tophet be prepared of old, let its pile be wood and much smoke, we never can come there --- Christ died for us, in our stead. What if there be racks of horrid torture? what if there be a sentence producing most horrible reverberations of thundering sounds? yet neither rack, nor dungeon, nor thunder, are for us! In Christ Jesus we are now delivered. “There is, therefore, now no condemnation unto us who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Sinner! art thou legally condemned this morning? Dost thou feel that? Then, let me tell thee that faith in Christ will give thee a knowledge of thy legal acquittal. Beloved, it is no fancy that we are condemned for our sins, it is a reality. So, it is no fancy we are acquitted, it is a reality. A man about to be hanged, if he received a full pardon would feel it a great reality. He would say, “I have a full pardon, I cannot be touched now.” That is just how I feel.

Now freed from sin I walk at large,
The Savior’s blood’s my full discharge;
At His dear feet content I lay,
A sinner saved, and homage pay.

Brethren, we have gained legal life in Christ, and such legal life that we cannot lose it. The sentence has gone against us once --- now it has gone out for us. It is written, “THERE IS NOW NO CONDEMNATION,” and that now will do as well for me in fifty years as it does now. Whatever time we live it will still be written, “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”

Then, secondly, there is spiritual life in Christ Jesus. As the man is spiritually dead, God has spiritual life for him, for there is not a want which is not supplied by Jesus, there is not an emptiness in the heart which Christ cannot fill; there is not a desolation which He cannot people, there is not a desert which He cannot make to blossom as the rose. O ye dead sinners! spiritually dead, there is life in Christ Jesus, for we have seen --- yes! these eyes have seen --- the dead live again; we have known the man whose soul was utterly corrupt, by the power of God seek after righteousness; we have known the man whose views were carnal whose lusts were mighty, whose passions were strong, suddenly, by irresistible might from heaven, consecrate himself to Christ, and become a child of Jesus. We know that there is life in Christ Jesus, of a spiritual order; yea, more, we ourselves, in our own persons, have felt that there is spiritual life. Well can we remember when we sat in the house of prayer, as dead as the very seat on which we sat. We had listened for a long, long, while to the sound of the gospel, but no effect followed, when suddenly, as if our ears had been opened by the fingers of some mighty angel, a sound entered into our heart. We thought we heard Jesus saying, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” An irresistible hand put itself on our heart and crushed a prayer out of it. We never had a prayer before like that. We cried, “O God! have mercy upon me a sinner.” Some of us for months felt a hand pressing us as if we had been grasped in a vice, and our souls bled drops of anguish. That misery was a sign of coming life. Persons when they are being drowned do not feel the pain so much as while they are being restored. Oh! we recollect those pains, those groans, that living strife which our soul had when it came to Christ. Ah! we can recollect the giving of our spiritual life as easily as could a man his restoration from the grave. We can suppose Lazarus to have remembered his resurrection, though not all the circumstances of it. So we, although we have forgotten a great deal, do recollect our giving ourselves to Christ. We can say to every sinner, however dead, there is life in Christ Jesus, though you may be rotten and corrupt in your grave. He who hath raised Lazarus hath raised us; and He can say, even to you, “Lazarus! come forth.”

In the third place, there is eternal life in Christ Jesus. And, oh! if eternal death be terrible, eternal life is blessed; for He has said, “Where I am there shall My people be.” “Father, I will, that they also, whom Thou hast given unto Me, be with me where I am, that they may behold My glory.” “I give unto My sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Now, any Arminian that would preach from that text must but a pair of India rubber lips, for I am sure he would need to stretch his mouth amazingly; he would never be able to speak the whole truth without winding about in a most mysterious manner. Eternal life --- not a life which they are to lose, but eternal life. If I lost life in Adam I gained it in Christ; if I lost myself for ever I find myself for ever in Jesus Christ. Eternal life! Oh blessed thought! Our eyes will sparkle with joy and our souls burn with ecstasy in the thought that we have eternal life. Be quenched ye stars! let God put His finger on you --- but my soul will live in bliss and joy. Put out thine eye O sun! --- but mine eye shall “see the King in His beauty” when thine eye shall no more make the green earth laugh. And moon, be thou turned into blood! --- but my blood shall ne’er be turned to nothingness; this spirit shall exist when thou hast ceased to be. And thou great world! thou mayest all subside, just as a moment’s foam subsides upon the wave that bears it --- but I shall have eternal life. O time! thou mayest see giant mountains dead and hidden in their graves; thou mayest see the stars like figs too ripe, falling from the tree; but thou shalt never, never see my spirit dead.

III. This brings us to the third point: that ETERNAL LIFE IS GIVEN TO ALL WHO COME FOR IT. There never was a man who came to Christ for eternal life, for legal life, for spiritual life, who had not already received it, in some sense, and it was manifested to him that he had received it soon after he came. Let us take one or two texts: --- “He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto Him.” Every man who comes to Christ will find that Christ is able to save him --- not able to save him a little, to deliver him from a little sin, to keep him from a little trial, to carry him a little way and then drop him --- but able to save him to the uttermost extent of his sin, unto the uttermost length of his trials, the uttermost depths of his sorrows, unto the uttermost duration of his existence. Christ says to every one who comes to Him, “Come, poor sinner, thou needst not ask whether I have power to save. I will not ask thee how far thou hast gone into sin; I am able to save thee to the uttermost.” And there is no one on earth can go beyond God’s “uttermost.”

Now another text: “Him that cometh to Me, (mark the promises are nearly always to the coming ones) I will in no wise out.” Every man that comes shall find the door of Christ’s house opened --- and the door of his heart too --- Every man that comes --- I say it in the broadest sense --- shall find that Christ has mercy for him. The greatest absurdity in the world is to want to have a wider gospel than that recorded in Scripture. I preach that every man that believes shall be saved --- that every man who comes shall find mercy. People ask me, “But suppose a man should come who was not chosen, would he be saved?” You go and suppose nonsense and I am not going to give you an answer. If a man is not chosen he will never come. When he does come it is a sure proof that he was chosen. Says one, “Suppose any one should go to Christ who had not been called of the Spirit.” Stop, my brother, that is a supposition thou hast no right to make, for such a thing cannot happen; you only say it to entangle me, and you will not do that just yet. I say every man who comes to Christ shall be saved. I can say that as a Calvinist, or as a hyper-Calvinist, as plainly as you can say it. I have no narrower gospel than you have; only my gospel is on a solid foundation, whereas yours is built upon nothing but sand and rottenness. “Every man that cometh shall be saved, for no man cometh to Me except the Father draw him.” “But,” says one, “suppose all the world should come, would Christ receive them?” Certainly, if all came; but then they won’t come. I tell you all that come --- aye, if they were as bad as devils, Christ would receive them; if they had all sin and filthiness running into their hearts as into a common sewer for the whole world, Christ would receive them. Another says, “I want to know about the rest of the people. May I go out and tell them --- Jesus Christ died for every one of you? May I say --- there is righteousness for every one of you, there is life for every one of you?” No; you may not. You may say --- there is life for every man that comes. But if you say there is life for one of those that do not believe, you utter a dangerous lie. If you tell them that Jesus Christ was punished for their sins, and yet they will be lost, you tell a willful falsehood. To think that God could punish Christ and then punish them --- I wonder at your daring to have the impudence to say so! A good man was once preaching that there were harps and crowns in heaven for all his congregation; and then he wound up in a most solemn manner: “My dear friends, there are many for whom these things are prepared who will not get there.” In fact, he made such a pitiful tale, as indeed he might do; but I tell you who he ought to have wept for --- he ought to have wept for the angels of heaven and all the saints, because that would spoil heaven thoroughly. You know when you meet at Christmas, if you have lost your brother David and his seat is empty, you say: “Well, we always enjoyed Christmas, but there is a drawback to it now --- poor David is dead and buried!” Think of the angels saying: “Ah! this is a beautiful heaven, but we don’t like to see all those crowns up there with cobwebs on; we cannot endure that uninhabited street: we cannot behold yon empty thrones.” And then, poor souls, they might begin talking to one another, and say, ‘we are none of us safe here, for the promise was --- ‘I give unto My sheep eternal life,’ and there is a lot of them in hell that God gave eternal life to; there is a number that Christ shed His blood for burning in the pit, and if they may be sent there, so may we. If we cannot trust one promise we cannot another.” So heaven would lose its foundation, and fall. Away with your nonsensical gospel! God gives us a safe and solid one, built on covenant doings and covenant relationships, on eternal purposes and sure fulfillment’s.

IV. This brings us to the fourth point, THAT BY NATURE NO MAN WILL COME TO CHRIST, for the text says, “Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life.” I assert, on Scripture authority from my text, that ye will not come unto Christ, that ye might have life. I tell you, I might preach to you for ever, I might borrow the eloquence of Demosthenes or of Cicero, but ye will not come unto Christ. I might beg of you on my knees, with tears in my eyes, and show you the horrors of hell and the joys of heaven, the sufficiency of Christ, and your own lost condition, but you would none of you come unto Christ of yourselves unless the Spirit that rested on Christ should draw you. It is true of all men in their natural condition that they will not come unto Christ. But, methinks I hear another of these babblers asking a question: --- “But could they not come if they liked?” My friend, I will reply to thee another time. That is not the question this morning. I am talking about whether they will, not whether they can. You will notice whenever you talk about free will, the poor Arminian, in two seconds, begins to talk about power, and he mixes up two subjects that should be kept apart. We will not take two subjects as once; we decline fighting two at the same time, if you please. Another day we will preach from this text: --- “No man can come except the Father draw him.” But it is only the will we are talking of now; and it is certain that men will not come unto Christ, that they might have life. We might prove this from many texts of Scripture, but we will take one parable. You remember the parable where a certain king had a feast for his son, and bade a great number to come; the oxen and fatlings were killed, and he sent his messengers bidding many to the supper. Did they go to the feast? Ah, no; but they all, with one accord, began to make excuse. One said he had married a wife, and therefore he could not come, whereas he might have brought her with him. Another had bought a yoke of oxen, and went to prove them; but the feast was in the night-time, and he would not prove his oxen in the dark. Another had bought a piece of land, and wanted to see it; but I should not think he went to see it with a lantern. So they all made excuses and would not come. Well the king was determined to have the feast; so he said, “Go into the highways and hedges, and” invite them --- stop! not invite --- “compel them to come in;” for even the ragged fellows in the hedges would never have come unless they were compelled. Take another parable: --- A certain man had a vineyard; at the appointed season he sent one of his servants for his rent. What did they do to him? They beat that servant. He sent another; and they stoned him. He sent another and they killed him. And, at last, he said, “I will send them my son, they will reverence him.” But what did they do? They said, “This is the heir, let us kill him, and cast him out of the vineyard.” So they did. It is same with all men by nature. The Son of God came, yet men rejected Him. “Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life.” It would take too much time to mention any more Scripture proofs. We will, however, refer to the great doctrine of the fall. Any one who believes that man’s will is entirely free, and that he can be saved by it, does not believe the fall. As I sometimes tell you, few preachers of religion do believe thoroughly the doctrine of the fall, or else they think that when Adam fell down he broke his little finger, and did not break his neck and ruin his race. Why, beloved, the fall broke man up entirely. It did not leave one power unimpaired; they were all scattered, and debased, and tarnished; like some mighty temple, the pillars might be there, the shaft, and the column, and the pilaster, might be there; but they were all broken, though some of them retain much of their form and position. The conscience of man sometimes retains much of its tenderness --- still it has fallen. The will, too, is not exempt. What though it is “the Lord Mayor of Mansoul,” as Bunyan calls it; the Lord Mayor goes wrong. The Lord Will-be-will was continually doing wrong. Your fallen nature was put out of order; your will, amongst other things, has clean gone astray from God. But I tell you what will be the best proof of that; it is the great fact that you never did meet a Christian in your life who ever said he came to Christ without Christ coming to him. You have heard a great many Arminian sermons, I dare say; but you never heard an Arminian prayer --- for the saints in prayer appear as one in word, and deed and mind. An Arminian on his knees would pray desperately like a Calvinist. He cannot pray about free will: there is no room for it. Fancy him praying, “Lord, I thank Thee I am not like those poor presumptuous Calvinists. Lord, I was born with a glorious free-will; I was born with power by which I can turn to Thee of myself; I have improved my grace. If everybody had done the same with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved. Lord, I know Thou dost not make us willing if we are not willing ourselves. thou givest grace to everybody; some do not improve it, but I do. There are many that will go to hell as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as much of the Holy Ghost given to them; they had as good a chance, and were as much blessed as I am. It was not Thy grace that made us to differ; I know it did a great deal, still I turned the point; I made use of what was given me, and others did not --- that is the difference between me and them.” That is a prayer for the devil, for nobody else would offer such a prayer as that. Ah! when they are preaching and talking very slowly, there may be wrong doctrine; but when they come to pray, the true thing slips out; they cannot help it. If a man talks very slowly, he may speak in a fine manner; but when he comes to talk fast, the old brogue of his country, where he was born, slips out. I ask you again, did you ever meet a Christian man who said, “I came to Christ without the power of the Spirit?” If you ever did meet such a man, you need have no hesitation in saying, “My dear sir, I quite believe it --- and I believe you went away again without the power of the Spirit, and that you know nothing about the matter, and are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.” Do I hear one Christian man saying, “I sought Jesus before He sought me; I went to the Spirit, and the Spirit did not come to me?” No, beloved; we are obliged, each one of us, to put our hands to our hearts, and say ---

Grace taught my soul to pray,
And made my eyes o’erflow;
‘Twas grace that kept me to this day,
And will not let me go.

Is there one here --- a solitary one --- man or woman, young or old, who can say, “I sought God before He sought me?” No; even you who are a little Arminian, will sing ---

O yes! I do love Jesus ---
Because He first loved me

Then one more question. Do we not find, even after we have come to Christ, our soul is not free, but is kept by Christ? Do we not find times, even now, when to will is not present with us. There is a law in our members, warring against the law of our minds. Now, if those who are spiritually alive feel that their will is contrary to God, what shall we say of the man who is ‘dead in trespasses and sins?” It would be a marvelous absurdity to put the two on a level; and it would still more absurd to put the dead before the living. No; the text is true, experience has branded it into our hears, “Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life.”

Now, we must tell you the reasons why men will not come unto Christ. The first is, because no man by nature thinks he wants Christ. By nature man conceives that he does not need Christ; he thinks that he has a robe of righteousness of his own, that he is well-dressed, that he is not naked, that he needs not Christ’s blood to wash him, that he is not black or crimson, and needs no grace to purify him. No man knows his need until God shows it to him; and until the Holy Spirit reveals the necessity of pardon, no man will seek pardon. I may preach Christ for ever, but unless you feel you want Christ you will never come to Him. A doctor may have a good shop, but nobody will buy his medicines until he feels he wants them.

The next reason is, because men do not like Christ’s way of saving them. One says, “I do not like it because He makes me holy; I cannot drink or swear if He saves me.” Another says, “It requires me to be so precise and puritanical, and I like a little more license.” Another does not like it because it is so humbling; he does not like it because the “gate of heaven” is not quite high enough for his head, and he does not like stooping. that is the chief reason ye will not come to Christ, because ye cannot get to Him with your heads straight up in the air; for Christ makes you stoop when you come. Another does not like it to be grace from first to last. “Oh!” he says, “If I might have a little honor.” But when he hears it is all Christ or no Christ, a whole Christ or no Christ, he says, “I shall not come,” and turns on his heel and goes away. Ah! proud sinners, ye will not come unto Christ. Ah! ignorant sinners, ye will not come unto Christ, because ye know nothing of Him. And that is the third reason.

Men do not know His worth, for if they did they would come unto Him. Why did not sailors go to America before Columbus went? Because they did not believe there was an America. Columbus had faith, therefore he went. He who hath faith in Christ goes to Him. But you don’t know Jesus; many of you never saw His beauteous face; you never saw hos applicable His blood is to a sinner, how great is His atonement; and how all-sufficient are His merits. Therefore, “ye will not come unto Him.”

And oh! my hearers, my last thought is a solemn one. I have preached that ye will not come. But some will say, “it is their sin that they do not come.” It is so. You will not come, but then your will is a sinful will. Some think that we “sew pillows to all arm-holes” when we preach this doctrine, but we don’t. We do not set this down as being part of man’s original nature, but as belonging to his fallen nature. It is sin that has brought you into this condition that you will not come. If you had not fallen, you would come to Christ the moment He was preached to you; but you do not come because of your sinfulness and crime. People excuse themselves because they have bad hearts. That is the most flimsy excuse in the world. Do not robbery and thieving come from a bad heart. Suppose a thief should say to a judge, “I could not help it, I had a bad heart.” What would the judge say? “You rascal! why, if your heart is bad, I’ll make the sentence heavier, for you are a villain indeed. Your excuse is nothing.” The Almighty shall “laugh at them, and shall have them in derision.” We do not preach this doctrine to excuse you, but to humble you. The possession of a bad nature is my fault as well as my terrible calamity. It is a sin that will always be charged on men; when they will not come unto Christ it is sin that keeps them away. He who does not preach that, I fear is not faithful to God and his conscience. Go home, then, with this thought: “I am by nature so perverse that I will not come unto Christ, and that wicked perversity of my nature is my sin. I deserve to be sent to hell for it.” And if the thought does not humble you, the Spirit using it, no other can. This morning I have not preached human nature up, but I have preached it down. God humble us all. Amen.

This Week in Reformed History

2005-10-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

Three hundred years ago, On October 5, 1703, Jonathan Edwards was born in East Windsor, Connecticut.

Generally regarded as America’s greatest theologian, Edwards authored several classics in Christian literature, including The Religious Affections, The Freedom of the Will, and The Nature of True Virtue. In addition he is well known for preaching what might be the most famous sermon in American history, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (see entry for July 2–July 8). He was an ardent supporter of the Great Awakening, defending the revival both against its critics and its zealous extremists.

Pastor, theologian, missionary to Native Americans, and President of the College of New Jersey for a brief time before his death in 1758, Edwards’ legacy has generated divided assessments. For some his theological orthodoxy and spiritual zeal exemplify the best of “experiential Calvinism.” For other interpreters, his incorporation of Enlightenment ideas inevitably led to theological deviation of his successors in the rise of “New England Theology.”

From the O.P.C. website. www.opc.org

CampOnThis

2005-09-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

What are your thoughts on Steve Camps Blog? I love this guy a friend and i saw him in Concert in I think it was 1981 and I have liked him ever since. I really like his blog, even more so now that I know he is reformed.

CampOnThis

"And Can It Be" by Charles Wesley

2005-09-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

What a great hymn even if he was an Arminian.

And can it be that I should gain An interest in the Savior’s blood! Died He for me who caused His pain! For me who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies! Who can explore His strange design? In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine. ’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore; Let angel minds inquire no more. ’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore; Let angel minds inquire no more.
He left His Father’s throne above (so free, so infinite His grace!), Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam’s helpless race. ’Tis mercy all, immense and free, For O my God, it found out me! ’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Thine eye diffused a quickening ray; I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee. My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him, is mine; Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne, And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne, And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Luther on Galatians

2005-08-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a great and timely book. I wish the modern "meritmongers" as Luther aptly calls them or the "Reformed Catholics" as they have been deemed by discerning Christians would read this book and carefully consider their position. As Luther says they are in grave danger, or as the Apostle Paul says without Christ. This was such an encouraging read i would highly recommend it to all who love the Lord Jesus. Luther who experienced first hand trying wihtin the framework of the Roman Catholic church to earn his salvation, shows the immpossibility to please God outside of our expression of Faith in Christ + nothing. This I believe is the experience of many who have approached Christianity under their own power. Without the power of the Spirit working through our faith in Christ it is immpossible to please God. If you have never read this book get it, and read it.

And to Whom is the Arm of the Lord Revealed” Isaiah 53:1 by James Durham

2005-07-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

There are many mistakes in the way of religion, wherewith the most part are possessed; and amongst the rest there is one, that generally the hearers of the gospel think it so easy to believe, that there is no difficulty in that by any thing. They think it hard to pray, to keep the Sabbath, to be holy; but the most part think there is no difficulty in believing; and yet unbelief is so rife [widespread], and faith so rare and difficult, that the prophet Isaiah in his own name, and in [the] name of all the ministers of the gospel, cries out, Who hath believed our report?
He complains that he could get but very few to take the word off his hand. And, because it weighted him to find it so, and because he would fain have it to take impression on his hearers, he doubles expressions to the same purpose, And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Which in sum is, there is much preaching and many hearers of the gospel, but little believing of it, few in whose heart the word of faith is wrought. It’s but here one, and there one, that this gospel has efficacy upon, for uniting of them to Jesus Christ, and for working a work of saving grace in them; the effectual working of God’s grace reaches the hearts but of a few.
For opening the words, we shall speak a little to these three: 1. To what is meant by the arm of the Lord. 2. To what is meant by the revealing of the arm of the Lord. 3. To the scope and dependence of these words on the former.
1. For the first, in general, know [that] the arm of the Lord is not to be understood properly; the Lord being a Spirit, has no arms, hands, nor feet, as men have. But it’s to be understood figuratively, as holding out some property or attribute of God; by the arm of the Lord, then, we understand in general the power of God, the arm of man being that whereby he executes his power, performs exploits, or does any work. So the arm of the Lord is His power, whereby He produces His mighty acts; as it’s said in the Psalms: the right hand of the Lord has done valiantly (118:15); His hand and His arm hath gotten Him the victory (98:1). And, because the power of God is taken either more generally for that which is exercised in the words of common providence, or more particularly for that which is put forth in the work of saving grace; we take it here in short to be the grace of God exercising its power, in and by the gospel, for the converting of souls, and causing them savingly to believe. So Romans 1:16, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believes; not simply as it consists in speaking of good, sweet and seasonable word, but as it comes backed by the irresistible power of the grace of God, as the word is, We preach Christ, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness; but unto them who are called, both Jews and Greeks, the power of God and the wisdom of God (I Cor. 1:23, 24). And that it is so to be taken here, the connection of these words with the former will make it clear; for sure[ly] he is not speaking of the power of God in the works of common providence, but of His power in the conversion of souls to Christ, even of that power which works saving faith in the elect.
2. For the second, the revealing of the arm of the Lord, by this we do not understand the revealing of it objectively, as it’s brought to light by the preaching of the gospel; for thus it’s revealed to all the hearers of the gospel, it’s in this respect not kept hid, but brought forth clearly to them in the word. And therefore, secondly, the revealing of this arm of power of the Lord is to be understood of the subjective inward manifesting of it, with efficacy and life, to the heart, by the effectual operation of the Spirit of the Lord; as it’s said of the great things prepared for them that love God, But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit (I Cor. 2:10). It’s that which is called the demonstration of the Spirit and of power (I Cor. 2:4), which make plain and powerful to the spirit of the hearer inwardly that which the word preaches outwardly to the ear, which without this would strike only on the ear, and yet remain still an hidden mystery. This is the revealing of the Lord’s arm that is here spoken of, because it is that on which believing depends, and of the want whereof the prophet sadly complains, even where there was much preaching.
3. For the third, to wit, that scope, dependence and connection of these words with the former; we conceive they come in, both for confirmation and explication of the former words.
(1) For confirmation, there are (as has been said) but few that believe, for there are but few that have this saving and effectual work of God’s grace reaching their heart; thought they have the word preached to them, yet they have not the arm of the power of God’s grace manifested to them; and so he confirms his former doctrine concerning the paucity of believers under the preaching of the gospel, first, by asserting the fewness of them that are brought to believe, to be converted, and effectually called by the gospel; which comes to pass through their own unbelief; and secondly, by asserting their fewness in respect of God’s sovereign applying of His grace in the gospel, which is but to few; it’s but few that believe, for it’s but few that He makes effectual application of His grace to.
2. We say it comes in to clear and explicate the former words, whether we take it by way of reason, or of an answer to an objection. For it be said, “How can it be that Isaiah, Paul, yea, and our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, should preach so powerfully, and yet that so few should believe?” He answers, it’s not to be marveled at, in respect of God, as if He were frustrated of His design; no so much matter. It’s because the power of Jesus Christ is revealed but to few. And we take this the rather to be the meaning of these words, because, when Christ is preaching and many take offense and stumble, He says, Murmur not among yourselves; no man can come unto Me, except the father, which hath sent Me, draw him (John 6:43, 44). “There must be an effectual work of the grace of God put forth on the heart, else none will believe on Me.” So it’s said, They believed not on Him; that the saying of Isaias might be fulfilled which he spoke, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes... (John 12:37, 38). He speaks not so, to apologize for, or to excuse their unbelief, but to show the connection that is between these two, the not revealing of the arm of the Lord, and their not believing; even so here the Lord shows the connection that is between the efficacy of the work of grace, and believing or turning to God, that where the powerful and effectual work of His grace goes not forth with the preached gospel, there will be then no believing nor conversion, no saving change of the person from nature to grace.
That which we would say from these words, may be drawn to three doctrines, which I shall first propose, and then clear and apply them for use. 1. The first is, that in the work of conversion, and begetting of saving faith, there is requisite and necessary, beside the preaching of the word, a distinct, inward, peculiar, real, immediate, efficacious, and powerful work of the Spirit of the Lord on the hearts of as many hearers as are converted by this gospel. 2. That it is but few of many hearers, in whom the Lord thus efficaciously and effectually works by His Spirit and the power of His grace. It’s but here one and there one, a very few who are thus wrought upon and converted. 3. That there is a necessary and inseparable connection between this inward and efficacious work of the Spirit, and faith or conversion. Where this work of grace is not, there cannot be faith; and where it is, faith necessarily must be, otherways these two could not be commensurable, of equal extent and reciprocal, Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? He is not, neither can be a believer, to whom it is not revealed; and he is and cannot but be a believer, to whom it is revealed.
DOCTRINE ONE: For the first, we say, there is in the work of conversion and begetting of faith, beside the preaching of the gospel, a distinct, inward, peculiar, real, immediate, efficacious and powerful work of the Spirit of the Lord requisite and necessary for conversion and begetting of faith, to convince of sin, and to humble for it, to enlighten the mind in the knowledge of Christ, to renew the will and affections, and to persuade and enable the soul of the sinner to embrace and receive Jesus Christ, as He is offered in the gospel. We shall first take notice of, and clear, some words in the doctrine; and then confirm it.
1. For clearing of some words in the doctrine, we say:
(1) It is the distinct work of the Spirit, distinguished and separable from the word; though it goes along as pleases with the word, yet it is not as if there were some power infused into the word, and went always and necessarily along with the word, which is the foolish and groundless conceit of some; for albeit it accompany the word, yet it’s from a distinct agent working, and a distinct work, and is separable (as I said) from the word, though it be wrought on the heart of the same sinner, to whose ear the word is preached.
(2) It’s an inward work of the Spirit; for, beside the outward and external preaching and calling by the word, there is an inward, powerful, effectual work and calling of the Spirit in the conversion of a sinner, which speaks to the heart, as well as the word speaks to the ear. So that this work of the Spirit, that goes along in conversion, is much more than any external persuasion of the preached word can produce.
(3) We say, it’s a peculiar work, to difference it from what is common to the hearers of the gospel, for it’s a work that is peculiar to them whom the Lord converts, and is applied to none other, but to those in whom He works faith, and whom He effectually calls by His grace. It’s a peculiar work then, and not common; for, if it were common to all the hearers of the gospel, and not peculiar to some; these two could not go together and be commensurable (as we said), Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
(4) We say, it’s a real work, as well as powerful; a real work of the Spirit, that is not only able and powerful to produce the effect, and to convert the sinner, but real and powerful in producing and bringing of it about, and to pass, by a real influence of the Spirit, actually renewing their will, infusing and creating the habits of grace, and particularly the very habit of faith amongst others in the soul; which is quite another thing than the supposing and saying that a man has power to believe and be converted; that there is no more requisite to his conversion, but to persuade him to put forth that power or strength, which he has, into exercise of practice. It’s a real work of the Spirit, and a powerful bringing about of the conversion of the sinner in a physical way, as they say in the school.
(5) We say, it is an immediate work of the Spirit on the heart, to difference it from a mediate persuasion, or moral suasion (as it’s called) as if there were no more requisite in conversion, but god’s enlightening of the mind, and by that persuading the will to close with Jesus Christ, without any immediate work of the Spirit on the will itself. In this doctrine, we take in all these, according to the Scripture, in opposition to the several errors vented by men of corrupt minds, [about] the work of conversion and of saving faith. God’s arm and had must be revealed; the work and power of His efficacious grace must be put forth, for moving and inclining the heart and affections, and for determining the will itself.
We might further clear and confirm all these from that famous instance of Lydia (Acts 16:14), where Paul preaching to some women, it’s said of her whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul; where we find these things differenced. (1) The Lord’s powerful work on her heart, from Paul’s preaching to her ear; the Lord opened her heart. (2) It’s an inward work, for it’s on the heart. (3) It’s a peculiar work; it’s not all who hear Paul preach whose hearts are opened, but it’s the heart of one Lydia. (4) It’s in the nature of it a real work, that makes a real inward change on her. (5) It’s an immediate work; for the Lord not only enlightens her judgment, but goes down to the heart, and opens it, and works a change in it immediately. Paul indeed, by his preaching, opens the way of salvation to all that hear him; from which, though many go away with their hearts unopened, yet the Lord has a secret, mysterious, real, inward work on her heart, which is evidenced by the effect; for He not only enlightens her mind, but makes her willingly yielded to the call of the gospel, by opening of her heart.
2. In the second place, to speak a little for confirmation of the doctrine, we would consider these four or five grounds or reasons, to show that there is such a work of the Spirit wherever faith is begotten, and that most intelligibly in them that are at age.
REASON ONE: It’s clear from these places of Scripture, where there is an express distinction and difference put between the outward ministry of the word, and this inward, powerful efficacious work of grace on the heart, and wherein the great weight of conversion is laid on this inward work, and not on the outward ministry of the word; as Deut. 29:4 where the Lord by Moses tells the people, how many things they had seen and heard, and yet says he, The Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear unto this day. They had the outward means in plenty, when they wanted in the meantime the inward power; the gift of a spiritual life, and the making them spiritually active to exert it, was with-holden, and therefore they did not savingly perceive, see, nor hear. Murmur not among yourselves; no man can come unto Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him; It’s written in the prophets, And they shall be taught of God; every man, therefore, that hath heart and learned of the Father, cometh unto Me (John 6:44 ff.); where there is very clearly a distinction put between the outward teaching and the Father’s drawing, between the minister’s teaching and God’s teaching. It was one thing to be taught outwardly by Christ as the Prophet of His Church, and another thing to be drawn and taught inwardly of the Father; this inward teaching is called drawing, to show that it is not external oratory or eloquence consisting in words, to persuade, that can effect the business, but a powerful draught of the arm of the Lord reaching the heart. There are several other Scriptures full and clear to this purpose, as Ps. 103:3 and Acts 11:21.
REASON TWO: A second ground, of kin to the former, is from the many and various expressions that are used in the Scriptures for holding forth this work of the Spirit of God in conversion, that point out, not only an hand working, and a work of wrought; but an inward powerful way of working, and bringing about the work, as Jeremiah 31:34: I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. Ezekiel 11:19: I will give them one heart, I will put a new Spirit within them, and will take away the stony heart out of their flesh. Ezekiel 36:26, 27: A new heart will I give unto you, and a new Spirit will I put within you. Jeremiah 32:40: I will put My fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from Me.
It’s called the Father’s drawing (John 6:44), as I show. In the saints prayers (cf. Psalm 51) it’s called, even as to further degrees of this work, or restoring of lost degrees, creating of a clean heart, and renewing a right spirit within. And many more the like expressions there are, which show not only man’s impotency and inability to convert, or savingly to change himself; but also, that to his conversion there is necessary, an inward, real, peculiar, efficacious, powerful work of the Spirit of grace.
REASON THREE: It’s clear, and may be confirmed from the power of God which He puts forth and applies in the begetting of faith, and in working conversion. It’s not a mediate work, whereby He only persuades congruously, as some love to speak; but an immediate and efficacious work, whereby with mighty power He works conversion. It is God (saith the apostle, Phil. 12:13), that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. and as He not only persuades, but effectually works; so He not only works on the judgment, to the enlightening of it, but on the will to incline and determine it, by curing it of its crookedness and perverseness, backwardness, obstinacy, and rebellion. And the power whereby He works this great work is said (Eph. 1:19) to be that same mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand, etc. It is such a power that works faith, and so exercised in the working of faith, as it was in the raising of Christ from the dead. Now, could there be use for such a power, if there were no more requisite to conversion but an objective suasion, or a bare proposal of the object, with external persuasion to embrace it, wherein the soul is left to itself to choose or refuse as it pleases? Certainly, if there were no more, considering our natural enmity at God and His grace, the devil and corruption would have much more influence, and a far greater stroke upon the heart to closing up of the same in unbelief, than any outward persuasion would have as to the opening of the heart, and the begetting of faith. Therefore His power is necessarily called for, and the Lord adds it in converting sinners, else the work would forever lie behind; and if men be spiritually dead in sins and trespasses (as all men by nature are) as real a power must be exerted in raising and quickening of them, as there is exerted in raising and quickening of the dead.
REASON FOUR: It may also be cleared from some in whom this power is exerted; as some children, some deaf persons, and others, whom we cannot deny to be reached by the grace of God, and yet there can be no other way how they are reached, but by this effectual, efficacious, and immediate powerful work of the Spirit, they not being capable of reasoning or persuasion by force of argument.
We shall only add two reasons further, to confirm, and some way to clear, why it is that the Lord works, and must work thus distinctly, inwardly, really, powerfully, and immediately, in working faith, and converting of sinners.
REASON ONE: The first is drawn from the exceeding great deadness, indisposition, averseness, perverseness, impotency, inability, and impossibility that is in us naturally from the exerting of faith in Christ. If men naturally be dead in sins and trespasses, if the mind be blind, if the affections be quite disordered, and if the will be utterly corrupted and perverted; then that which converts, and changes and renews them, must be a real, inward, peculiar, immediate, powerful work of the Spirit of God. There being no inward seed of the grace of God in them to be quickened, that seed must be communicated to them and sown in them, ere they can believe, which can be done by no less nor lower than the power of God’s grace. It’s not oratory as I said, nor excellency of speech that will do it; it’s such a work as begets the man again, and actually renews him.
REASON TWO: The second is drawn from God’s end in the way of giving grace, communicating it to some, and not to others. If God’s end, in being gracious to some and not to others, be to commend His grace solely, and to make them alone in grace’s common or [sic] debt; then the work of grace in conversion must be peculiar and immediate, and wrought by the power of the Spirit of god, leaving nothing to man’s free will to difference himself from another or on which such an effect should depend. But if we look to Scripture, we will find, that it’s God’s end in the whole way and conduct of His grace, in election, redemption, calling, justification, etc., to commend His grace solely, and to stop all mouths, and cut off all ground of boasting in the creature as it is [in] I Cor. 4:7: Who makes thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou hast not received? Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou didst not receive? This being certain, that if the work of grace in conversion were not a distinct, inward, peculiar, real, immediate work, and did not produce the effect of itself by its own strength, and not by virtue of anything in man, the man would still be supposed to have had some power for the work in himself, and some way to have differenced himself from another. but the Lord has designed the contrary, and therefore the work of grace in conversion must be suitable to His design.
USE ONE: The first use is from the refutation of several errors, and for the confirmation of a great truth of the gospel which we profess.
It serves, I say, first, for the refutation of errors, which in such an auditory we love not to insist on; yet we cannot here, the ground being so clear, and the call so cogent, forbear to say somewhat briefly this way, and the rather that the devil has taken many ways, and driven many designs to weaken the estimation of God’s grace among men, and to exalt proud nature, and that there is here a collection and concatenation of those designs and ways against the truth, which this doctrine holds forth, vented by corrupt men.
As (1), they will have nothing to be necessarily applied for the working of conversion, but the preaching the word, taking it for granted that all men have universal or common grace, which God by His sovereignty (say they) was obliged to give, else He could not reasonably require faith of them. And upon this comes in the pleaded-for power of free will, and man’s ability to turn himself to God. Others, by pleading for this notion of a light within men, become to be patrons of proud and petulant corrupt nature, as if there were need of nothing to beget saving faith but that common grace within, and oratory or suasion of mouth from without. And hence they came to maintain the foulest errors, which have not only been condemned by the Church of God in all ages, but have even by some Papists been abominated. And many of these same errors are creeping in, even, in these times wherein we live, the design whereof is to tempt folk to turn loose, vain, and proud, and to turn the grace of God into wantonness, as if they needed not at all to depend on god and His grace, having a sufficient stock within themselves, on which they can live well enough.
And it’s not only the errors of Papist, Pelagians, Socinians, Arminians, or errors in the judgment, that we have to do with; but of such as overturn the very foundation of the work of man’s salvation, and who, though pretending to higher notions do yet go beyond all these. but if it be true, that in the work of conversion, beside the preaching of the word, there is a distinct, real, inward, peculiar, immediate efficacious work of the Spirit, necessary for bringing about such an effect; then there is no common or universal grace, that all the hearers of the gospel have, nor is there any power or ability in man to believe of himself; other wise there were no necessity of such a work as this, for the converting of a sinner, the prophet need not to cry, Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And Christ needed not say, No man can come unto Me, except the Father draw him; for men might come without the drawing, and believe without the revelation of God’s arm. But, in opposition to that, we say, and have made it clear, that the work of conversion is brought about by a distinct, peculiar, powerful, real and immediate work of the Spirit on the heart, whereby He not only enlightens the mind but renews the will, and rectifies the affections.
2. There is another error that this refutes, which seems to be more subtle; for some will grant a necessary connection between the effect and the grace of God, who yet say that it is suasion or persuasion (for here we take these for the same); so and so trysted to prevail with some, that brings about the effect or work of conversion in them, and not in others where that persuasion is not so trysted. But this opinion lays not the weight of conversion on the arm of the Lord, but on some circumstances accompanying the word, and leaves still some ground of boasting in the creature.
3. A third error, which this doctrine refutes, is that of some others, who will have grace necessarily to go alongst with the word in the working of faith, but so as it reaches not the will, but that the will necessarily determines itself, as if the will were not corrupt, or as if that corruption that is in the will were indeed no corruption, as if that corruption that is in the will could be any more removed from the will without the immediate work of the Spirit upon it, than darkness can be removed from the judgment without the Spirit’s immediate work on it. But seeing the will is the prime seat of man’s perverseness while in nature, and the principle part to be renewed; it’s a strange thing to say, that in the work of conversion, other faculties and powers of the soul must be renewed, and yet that this which comes nearest to the life of the soul should be neglected, or not stand in need of renovation. But from this text it is clear, that in conversion the arm of the Lord must be revealed, and that there is a powerful work of grace, that not only presents reasons from the word to move the will, but really regenerates and renews the will.
Now, what is for the refutation of these errors, serves also to confirm us in the truth of the doctrine opposite to these errors.
USE TWO: Secondly, it serves to refute something in folks practice, and that is, their little sense of the need of grace. Most part come and hear preaching, as if they had the habit of faith, and as if it were natural to them; and pretend to the exercise of faith, never once suspecting their want of faith, nor thinking that they stand in need of such a work of grace to work it in them, as if it were impossible for them not to believe. Hence many think that they have grace enough; and if they pray, it’s that they may do well, never minding the corruption of nature that is in them; and indeed it is no wonder that such persons fall readily into error, when their practice says plainly they think they have grace enough already.
DOCTRINE TWO: The second doctrine is, that this distinct, real, inward, efficacious, powerful work of the grace of God in conversion, is not common to all the hearers of the gospel, but is a rare thing applied but to few. It’s even as rare as faith is. And what we touched on, to evidence the rarity of faith, will serve also to evidence the rarity of this work of grace in conversion; it’s on as many as are believers, and are saved, that the work of grace is revealed, and no more. I will take one of a city, and two of a family, and bring you to Zion, saith the Lord (Jer. 3:14). It’s two or three in the corner of a parish, or in the end of a town, to speak so, who are converted, and the rest are suffered to lie in black nature. If the reason hereof be inquired after, this might be sufficient to stop all mouths, which the Lord gives: Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight (Matt. 11:26). It is of the Lord, who is debtor to none; and who shows mercy on whom He will, and whom He will He hardens (Rom. 9:15). And here we must be silent, and lay our hand on our mouth, and answer no more; all being found guilty, He is just in what He does, in calling or not calling effectually, as He pleases.
And yet, secondly, the Lord has thought good to call few of many, for holy and wise ends.
As (1), to hold forth His sovereignty, and that He is free, and will walk freely in the dispensing of His own grace. Hence, He not only takes few, but ordinarily these that are the most mean, contemptible, silly, and in a manner, foolish, or the multitude of hearers. It is not many noble, not many wise according to the flesh, not many rich, not many learned, that He chooses and converts, very ordinarily He hides His grace from these. It’s but seldom that He calls and takes the stout and valiant man, and the learned scholar; but it’s this and that poor mean man, the weaver, the shoemaker, the simple plowman, etc., whom most ordinarily He calls, when He suffers others to continue in their sin.
2. That He may make all the hearers of the gospel walk in holy fear and awe of Him, He reveals His grace in few; it’s not the multitude that believes, but here one and there one, that all that have the offer of grace may fear lest they miss it and receive it in vain, and may be careful lest they miss it and receive it in vain, and may be careful to entertain and make right use of the means of grace, and may withal cherish the Spirit in His motions, and not grieve Him. Oh! If you knew and believed what a rare thing the work of the Spirit of grace is, you would be feared to quench, extinguish, or put out any of His motions.
3. As to the godly, He does thus to make them admire, adore, and praise His grace, and the power of it, so much the more.
The uses are three:
USE ONE: It serves to move all to reverence, adore and admire the grace of God, and His sovereign way in it. Presume not to debate or dispute with Him, because they are few that believe, and few that He has determined His grace for; it’s an evidence of His dread, a proof of His sovereignty, in which He should be silently stooped unto, and reverently adored, and not disputed with. We ought to bound all our reasoning within His good pleasure, who might have taken many, and left few, or taken none, as pleased Him; and we should not think strange, nor fret that the gospel is powerful but on few. Here is the reason of it, that may quiet us, the Lord has determined effectually to call but few, and yet He will not want one of His own, All that the Father hath given to Christ, shall come to Him, though none come but as they are drawn; a thing that we should be sensible of, but yet calm and quiet our spirits, rather wondering that He has chosen and calls none [some?], than fret because He has past by many.
USE TWO: The second use is, to exhort you that are hearers of the gospel, and have not had this distinct and powerful work of grace begetting faith in you, to be persuaded of this truth, that faith and the work of grace is no common thing. The most part, alas! think that they have grace, and that it is not one of many that want it. they will readily say, it’s true I cannot believe of myself, but God has given me the grace. But I would ask you this question: Do you think that grace is so common a thing, that it comes to you and you never knew how, or so common that never a body wants it? If not, how comes it then to pass that you think and speak of grace as you do? We would think it a great length, if many of you could be persuaded of your gracelessness. It’s not our part to point particularly at the man and woman, though the deeds of many of you say within your heart, that there is no fear of God before your eyes, and that many of you think you have grace who never had it. And therefore we would say three or four words to you:
1. Begin and suspect yourselves that matters are not right between God and you. We bid none of you despair, but we bid the most part of you be suspicious of your condition; suspect, nay be assured, that hypocrisy is not grace, and that your presumption is not faith. For, if but few get grace, then many should suspect themselves; and seeing grace is so rare a thing, do not you think it common.
2. Neglect no means that may bring you through grace to believe, but be diligent in the use of them all, of the word, prayer, sacraments, meditation, etc. It’s by these that the Lord begets grace, and by neglecting of them you may make yourselves guilty of destroying your own souls.
3. Beware of quenching the Spirit in any of His operations or motions, of smothering or putting out any challenges or convictions; if the conscience be at any time touched, or the affections tickled, go not away, as the temporary believer does, sitting down there without going any further. Fear to strangle the beginnings of the life of grace, for grace may begin at little; and if you quench any motion, conviction or challenge, you know not if ever you shall meet with the like again, because when He knocked hard at your heart, you held Him out and kept Him at the door; and you may be in hazard of that terrible charge: Ye uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye have always resisted the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye (Acts 7:31).
4. Seeing this work is not common to all the hearers of the gospel, but peculiar to some, labor to have it made sure to yourselves, by putting it to proof and trial in good earnest.
USE THREE: The third use is for you that are believers (and would God there were many such), to whom I would also speak three or four words.
1. Learn from this to be humble. What hast thou, man, but what thou hast received? And if thou hast received it, why dost thou boast, as if thou hadst not received? Oh! But it’s unsuitable to believers, who are free grace’s debtors and beggars (whereof yet none need to think shame) to be proud and forget themselves. You have nothing, believer, to boast of, but that He has shamed you with His grace; and should you be proud of that, as if you had made yourself thus? Therefore guard watchfully against all puffing up, self-conceit, and high-mindedness, and study to be humble, and to carry a low sail, else you may break out into some scandalous offense, and may become a shame and reproach to the gospel. We commend humility to you above many things; for we think that in these days, folks’ pride is like to break their necks. For when once conceit creeps in, they begin to think they are so far advanced in holiness, that they must keep company with others, nor join in worship with them; and from that they go to another thing, and form that to a third, that it is hard to tell where they will halt or end. They grow so giddy, that they are scarcely like to leave so much ground as themselves may stand upon. Oh! Think shame of pride; it’s a most intolerable thing to be proud of that which God has given, wherein you have no more hand, and whereof you can no more boast, than they who never had it.
2. Be thankful, and give God the praise of that you have gotten. It becomes the upright to be thankful. It’s no little matter, to have God’s power manifested in the working of faith, and conferring grace; the temporal throne and kingdom, and great things in the world, are nothing to this. It’s peculiar to the Lord’s own, and not common. Many get their fill of the world, who never get, nor will get this. The world is of so little value with the Lord, that (to speak so) He does no much regard who get it, though it be exactly distributed by His providence; but converting and up-building grace is peculiarized to His favorites. Being therefore clear that He has bestowed grace on you, O how should you exult in blessing God (as David did) for giving you counsel to make choice of such a portion, and for His powerful determining of your heart by His grace to embrace it, for which you have not yourselves to thank, but God!
3. Be compassionate and tender towards others, considering that it is only grace that has made the difference between you and them, and not any good nature in you, which was not in them, as some foolishly fancy. Be not puffed up at the faults and falls of any, but rather mourn for them, as well as for your own; and be the more humble, when you think of the difference that grace has made, lest you fall; and since your standing is by grace, be not high-minded, but fear. Of all persons , it worst becomes you to look lightly on, let be to mock at the falls of others, considering who, and what, has made the difference.
4. If it be so peculiar a privilege, to be partakers of this powerful and special grace of God that is put forth in the great work of conversion; then sure[ly] there is something peculiar called for in your conversation, even that it may in all things be as it becomes the gospel, and answerable to this grace bestowed on you. O what manner of persons ought you to be, in all holy conversation and godliness!

Faith in God by J. Gresham Machen

2005-07-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

“In the first place, religion is here made to depend absolutely upon doctrine; the one who comes to God must not only believe in a Person, but he must also believe that something is true; faith is here declared to involve acceptance of a proposition. There could be no plainer insistence upon the doctrinal or intellectual basis of faith. It is impossible, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews, to have faith in a Person without accepting with the mind the facts about the Person.
“Entirely different is the prevailing attitude in the modern Church; far from recognizing as the author of Hebrews does, the intellectual basis of faith, many modern preachers set faith in sharp contrast to knowledge. Christian faith, they say, is no assent to a creed, but it is confidence in a Person. The Epistle to the Hebrews on the other hand declares that it is impossible to have confidence in a Person without assenting to a creed. “He that cometh to God must believe that He is.” The words, ‘God is,’ or ‘God exists’ constitute a creed; they constitute a proposition; and yet they are here placed as necessary to that supposedly non-intellectual thing that is called faith. It would be impossible to find a more complete opposition than that which here appears between the New Testament and the anti-intellectual tendency of modern preaching.”

Worldview Quiz

2005-06-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=43870

This is how I scored, Go to the sight above and let me know how you scored.

You scored as Reformed Evangelical.

You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God's Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are sceptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die.

Reformed Evangelical

93%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

71%
Fundamentalist

68%
Neo orthodox

61%
Roman Catholic

32%
Emergent/Postmodern

32%
Classical Liberal

18%
Charismatic/Pentecostal

14%
Modern Liberal

0%

2005-05-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

Our Kids from left to right, Chad, Calista, Chelsea, Caleb.

A Man's a Man for A' That by Robert Burns

2005-05-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

Is there for honest poverty
That hings his head, an a' that?
The coward slave, we pass him by -
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an a' that,
Our toils obscure, an a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an a' that?
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine -
A man's a man for a' that.
For a' that, an a' that.
Their tinsel show, an a' that,
The honest man, tho e'er sae poor,
Is king o men for a' that.

Ye see you birkie ca'd 'a lord,'
What struts, an stares, an a' that?
Tho hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a cuif for a' that.
For a' that, an a' that,
His ribband, star, an a' that,
The man o independent mind,
He looks an laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an a' that!
But an honest man's aboon his might -
Guid faith, he mauna fa' that!
For a' that, an a' that,
Their dignities, an a' that,
The pith o sense an pride o worth.
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may
[As come it will for a' that],
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree an a' that.
For a' that, an a' that,
It's comin yet for a' that,
That man to man, the world, o'er
Shall brithers be for a' that.

Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther

2005-04-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

A response written to Erasmus work on free will. Luther is genius in this book. His style is lucid, yet always to the point. Like a surgeon removing a malignant tumor he works with precision to topple all of Erasmus's argument's. Luther makes you think this is child's play.
Luther's point simply put is that man is capable of no genuine good outside of God's grace. And that any attempts to approach God outside of the power of the Holy Spirit is blasphemous and futile. As Luther reminds us that without Christ we can do nothing. The great point of the book is God's absolute soveriegnty over all things. A friend recently asked me if I believed God micro-managed the entire universe. My response was well he says that a sparrow does not fall to the ground without Him, and he has numbered every hair on my head, so yes He micro-manages every thing that happens in the universe. More importantly is the point of Luther's book that God soveriegnly controls the will of man. Praise the Lord! He is in control.
I give this book two enthusiastic thumbs up. Luther was anything but the stoic theologian, at times he would make me laugh out loud, and other times I felt humbled in the dust. I wish every Christian would read this book, but especially those who believe their good works add anything to Christ's finished work, or those who believe they chose Christ. Please if you haven't read this book get it and read it.

Music

2005-04-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

What are your thoughts on being a Christian and listening to certain types of music? We all know that music in and of itself is amoral but is music good or bad based only on personal preference, or does it have to adhere to certain classical aesthetic standards in order to be considered good? I love Sproul but as I was listening to a series he did on music I am not sure I agreed with his view on what exactly is beautiful music. I love Country and Western and Heavy Metal and some Classic rock, but what some reformed people consider great music I consider boring and personally meaningless and opt not to spend my time listening to it. I am a little varied I suppose when it comes to music but here is a list of music that I like not in any particular order. Feel free to post yours.

Metallica
Pat Green
Pantera
Alice Cooper
Garth Brooks
George Strait
Lynard Skynard
Larry Norman
Kieth Green
Second Chapter of Acts
Rush
Brad Paisley
Johnny Cash
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
Pink Floyd
Rich Mullins
Mozart
David Allen Coe

Well there are probably a lot more I will think of later, but it's late and tomorrow is the Lord's day so I'm going to bed.

A Closer Look at Pope John Paul's View of Salvation

2005-04-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

By Pastor Todd Bordow

For many it was the commencement of a new era of cooperation and understanding. When many leaders of the evangelical movement signed the "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" document, many rejoiced that the fresh breath of long-awaited ecumenism was now arising in the land.

We certainly live in a time of historical ignorance. Very few have studied the historic doctrines of Roman Catholicism so that they may discern this movement knowledgeably. But some also might be surprised that Rome has undergone some significant changes in the last century.

One would be surprised to hear from the current Pope himself his view of salvation. In the 1994 best-seller "Crossing the Threshold of Hope," we learn that John Paul II's view of salvation might be a far cry from what most would assume.

The Modus Operandi of "Crossing..." is the Pope answering a series of questions posed to him by journalist Vittorio Messori. Our focus will be on the Pope's answers to the questions concerning his definition of salvation.

Messori asks, "What does `to save' mean (pg. 69)?" The Pope explains:

To save means to liberate from radical, ultimate evil. Death itself is no longer that kind of evil, if followed by the Resurrection. And the Resurrection comes through the work of Christ. Through the work of the Redeemer death ceases to be an ultimate evil; it becomes subject to the power of life (pg. 70).
If some men are saved from this ultimate evil, "death," then the logical conclusion would be that some aren't saved from this. So Messori questions the Pope about those who do not receive this salvation. The Pope replies:

There is a destination to eternal damnation as well, which consists in the ultimate rejection of God, the ultimate break of the communion with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit...Eternal damnation is certainly proclaimed in the Gospel. To what degree is it realized in life beyond the grave? This is, ultimately, a great mystery (pg. 72-73).
The Pope seems to be supporting the orthodox position on eternal reward and punishment, but a further look reveals something quite different. Vittorio asks, "How does one attain to this salvation?" The Pope answers:

Everyone who looks for salvation, not only the Christian, must stop before the cross of Christ (pg. 73).
Now what does "not only the Christian" mean? Is the Pope teaching that salvation belongs to all men, as a universalist would say, or is he reaffirming what most evangelicals affirm, that salvation is only through the work of Christ on the cross. His next comment on salvation would leave one to think the former:

The mystery of salvation is an event which has already taken place. God has embraced all men by the Cross and the Resurrection of His Son. God embraces all men with the life which was revealed in the Cross and in the Resurrection, and which is constantly being born anew from them. As indicated by the allegory of "the vine" and the "branches" in the Gospel of John, the Paschal Mystery is by now grafted onto the history of humanity, onto the history of every individual (pg.73-74).
The Pope's answer seems openly universalistic. His answer to the next question goes even further to support this possibility. Vittorio asks, "But if God...is One and only One and is He who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, why has He allowed so many religions to exist" (pg 77)?

The Pope:

From the beginning, Christian Revelation has viewed the spiritual history of man as including, in some way, all religions, thereby demonstrating the unity of humankind with regard to the eternal and ultimate destiny of man... There is only one community and it consists of all peoples.... And they have one ultimate destiny, God, whose providence, goodness, and plan of salvation extend to all...(pg. 78).
Truly the Pope is affirming universalism here. John Paul reveals his mystical understanding of salvation present in all religions, even apart from any faith or knowledge in the recipient of that salvation. He affirms with the Vatican Council II:

The Church teaches that there are "seeds of the Word," semina verbi, in allreligions, and, the Holy Spirit works effectively outside the visible structures of the church, making use of these very "semina verbi" that constitute a kind of soteriologicalroot present in all religions (pg. 81).
Messori insightfully inquires as to why then the church even proclaims salvation to men? Because, the Pope explains, Christ is "the way and the truth and the life," in whom men must find the fullness of religious life and in whom God reconciled everything to Himself (pg. 80-81).

This opens a number of questions. If God has already reconciled every individual to Himself, why does the Church need to evangelize? Is it so these already saved on one level can experience salvation on a deeper level? What would discourage an individual from rejecting the Church altogether and enjoying his own level of salvation his own way?

This seems the thrust of Vittorio's thoughtful question, "When all is said and done, what is the use of believing" (pg.188)? The Pope responds by giving a somewhat surprising definition of faith:

The value of faith cannot be explained, even though efforts are often made to do so, by merely stressing its usefulness for human morality.... The basic usefulness of faith lies precisely in the fact that a person believes and entrusts himself. By believing and entrusting ourselves, in fact, we respond to God's word (pg. 188-89).
It seems to the Pope, faith is responding to what is already inside of you; but it is not faith that saves, only faith that deepens your understanding of the salvation you have already received. What your conscience is already telling you about right and wrong, good and evil, and God, only affirms God's saving work in you. He supports this with the following explanation:

...it is wrong for one to make an act of faith in Christ if in one's conscience one is convinced , however absurdly, that it is wrong to carry out such an act. If man is admonished by his conscience--even if an erroneous conscience, but one whose voice appears to him as unquestionably true--he must always listen to it (pg. 191).
So is there salvation apart from the Church if one simply obeys his conscience, even if his conscience tells him he can save himself by good works? Surprisingly, the Pope says "yes." He quotes Vatican Council II:

In fact, those who through no fault of their own are not aware of the Gospel of Christ and of the Church, but who nonetheless search sincerely for God, and with the help of grace attempt to carry out His will, known through the dictates of his conscience--they too can attain eternal salvation. Nor will Divine Providence deny the help necessary for salvation to those who have not yet arrived at a clear knowledge and recognition of God, and who attempt, not without divine grace, to conduct a good life (pg. 193- 94).
In order to counter the obvious accusation of works salvation suggested by these words, the Pope adds:

...if a life is truly upright it is because the Gospel, not known and therefore not rejected on a conscious level, is in reality already at work in the depths of the person who searches for the truth with honest effort and who willingly accepts it as soon as it becomes known to him. Such willingness is, in fact, a manifestation of grace at work in the soul (pg. 194).
So what Protestants usually call common grace, or the conscience convicting us of sin, the Pope calls saving grace; grace enough to give salvation. It is not clear how this still is not works salvation if a man must continually obey his conscience to obtain this salvation, and how this squares with his previous statements concerning universalism. This confusion heightens as he explains:

The fact that man can cooperate with God determines his (man's) authentic greatness. The truth according to which man is called to cooperate with God in all things, with a view toward the ultimate purpose of his life--his salvation and divinization--found expression in the Eastern tradition in the doctrine of synergism. With God, man "creates the world; with God, man "creates his personal salvation" (pg. 194-95).
Still the bothersome question remains, "what will happen to those who do not join the Church, or obey their consciences, such as a Hitler or Stalin?" " Will they end up in hell?" The Pope again reverts back to his universalism in his answer:

In Christ, God revealed to the world that He desires "everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth"(I Tim 2:4). This phrase from I Tim is of fundamental importance for understanding and preaching the Last Things. If God desires this--if, for this reason, God has given His Son, who in turn is at work in the Church through the Holy Spirit--can man be damned, can he be rejected by God? (pg. 185)
This seems to leave him in an uncomfortable position, for the Scriptures speak often of hell and judgement. The Pope adds:

Can God, who has loved man so much, permit the man who rejects Him to be condemned to eternal torment? And yet, the words of Christ are unequivocal. In Matthew's Gospel He speaks clearly of those who will go to eternal punishment. Who will these be? The Church has never made any pronouncements in this regard. This is a mystery, truly inscrutable, which embraces the holiness of God and the conscience of man. The silence of the church is, therefore, the only appropriate position for Christian faith (pg. 185- 86).
From Cyprian to Augustine, from Dante to Luther, the Church has hardly remained silent on the doctrine of hell. And the Scriptures are clear; "...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus (II Thess 1:8)."

It seems that the apparent inconsistency born from affirming universalism while holding to the inspiration of Scripture forces John Paul to only call hell a mystery, not able to be spoken of.

This leads to another insightful question from Messori regarding the Catholic Church's view of salvation. "Today many people seem to rebel against the claim that salvation can be found only in the Church. Many Christians, and even some Catholics--ask themselves, `Why, among all the Christian Churches, should the Catholic Church alone possess and teach the fullness of the Gospel'" (pg. 136)?

The Pope responds:

There is salvation only and exclusively in Christ. The Church, inasmuch as it is the body of Christ, is simply an instrument of this salvation...The Church is in Christ as a sacrament, or a sign and instrument, of ultimate union with God and of the unity of the entire human race (pg. 136).
One suspects a backing away from the historical Catholic affirmation of the Church being the only way of salvation. A "sign" of salvation is different than being the only way to salvation. The Pope then reaffirms the Vatican Council II position:

Christ, present among us in His body which is the Church, is the one mediator and the way to salvation...For this reason men cannot be saved who do not want to enter or remain in the Church, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded byGod through Christ as a necessity (pg. 139)
So are we to understand that it is the physical acts of joining the church and receiving the sacraments that save? The Pope guards against this by adding:

Those who do not persist in charity, even if they remain in the Church in "body" but not in "heart," cannot be saved. All of the Church's children must remember that their privileged condition is not the result of their own merits, but the result of the special grace of Christ. Therefore, if someone does not respond to this grace in thought, in word, and in deeds, not only will that person not be saved, he will be even more severely judged. (pg. 140)
So our salvation then consists in how we respond to God's general goodness and love. This surely is works salvation. One would suspect that the pendulum must swing back to the other "levels" of salvation, for these statements could turn off many people to the Church's exclusive claims of salvation. The Pope therefore clarifies the previous assertion with the following:

The Council speaks of membership in the Church for Christians and of being related to the Church for non-Christian believers in God, for people of goodwill. Both these dimensions are important for salvation, and each one possesses varying levels... Besides formal membership in the Church, the sphere of salvation can also include other forms of relation to the church...This is the authentic meaning of the well-known statement "Outside the Church there is no salvation"... The Church, as the mystical body of Christ, penetrates and embraces all of us. The spiritual, mystical dimensions of the Church are much greater than any sociological statistics could ever possibly show (pg. 140-43).
Now how does one analyze these seemingly paradoxical statements on the definition of salvation? Surely any honest reader can see that the Pope's understanding of salvation is much different from the historic Protestant understanding of salvation.

To the Pope, the work of Christ accomplished redemption for all humanity. He does not seem to be asserting that Christ died to make salvation possible, but that only some receive it by faith (evangelical Arminianism), but that Christ's death atoned effectually for all the sins of mankind.

The Pope understandably has a problem with the doctrine of hell, for if Christ died for the sins of all, how can anyone be punished again for those sins? How can God be righteous if He requires two deaths for one man's sin, Christ's and the sinner's. So the Pope is at least consistent in this sense; that for Christ's work of redemption to be truly efficacious for all, no one could be on the outside of his saving work.

Of course this is where the idea of Purgatory would possibly help, for suffering in Purgatory would show that God does judge sin while holding to the idea that Christ's death does (eventually) save. Thus eternal punishment becomes something which the Pope calls a mystery, so the Church must "remain quiet" on the subject.

What one can clearly discern is that the Pope and Protestantism use the same words, but attach different meanings to those words. When a Protestant speaks of people being saved by grace, he means grace that transformed people who were "by nature children of wrath"(Eph 2:3). God shed His grace on certain men by forgiving them all their sins and pronouncing them righteous, because the death and righteousness of Christ was applied to them judicially. Because it is completely a work of God Protestants speak of free grace. And because it is free it can only be received through faith alone.

But to the Pope grace is that enabling God has given all people through their consciences to respond to His love for them by being a good person; by following the dictates of their conscience. Grace is something that is always within people, and the more they respond to it the more they receive it. Of course the fullness of this grace can only be received through the sacraments of the Catholic Church, but for those who are in other religions it is enough grace to save them.

To the Pope "salvation" has already been accomplished for all humanity, and for those who follow the dictates of their consciences they grow in this universal salvation.

But if anyone followed the dictates of the conscience it was the Apostle Paul, who, before coming a Christian, was "zealous for God" (Acts 22:3) and "found blameless as to the righteousness which is in the Law" (Phil 3:6). Yet in Jesus' own words, Paul was persecuting Him (Acts 9:4).There were no levels of salvation for Paul; he was lost in his sin, and then he was found!

The Apostle never went to the pagans and announced that they had already attained to one level of salvation, but because of lack of knowledge must come to the Church for higher levels of salvation. His message was not that they were already engrafted into the mystical body of Christ.

Paul preached to the Athenians that they must repent from their ignorance because Christ will one day judge all who do not believe the gospel (Acts 17:30-31).

Biblical salvation is a judicial act by which Christ died for the ungodly and imputes His own righteousness to them, thus declaring them righteous before a holy God. Romans 5:19 states, "For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."

Salvation is not presented in Scripture as general goodness flowing through all men, bringing them closer to God, even if they don't believe in Christ. Christ died for the elect, and at the cross all their sins were placed upon him, and His righteousness was applied to them. This is the historic and orthodox gospel.

For all practical purposes, the Pope seems to be more a pragmatic liberal than a hard-line conservative. For those moderns who scoff at the idea of eternal punishment, he has a doctrine where Christ has already saved all because He loves all, and the Pope just won't speak about hell.

For those who scoff at the exclusive claims of the Church, he teaches that all people of good will in any religion are engrafted into the mystical body of Christ.For those Christians who scoff at works righteousness, he teaches that everyone is saved by grace.

But for those that see the need for works, he adds that grace through the sacraments must be received and added to by works of love. And for those Catholics he wants to remain in the Church, he warns them that there is no salvation for those that abandon the Church.

To rightly discern the recent attempts to mend the fences between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, one must first understand what Rome means when she uses terms like salvation, grace, and faith. The chasm is still quite wide. There is much more to be discussed before true Biblical unity can be accomplished.

A Letter to Pope Pius IX

2005-04-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

By Charles Hodge

This letter was written by the Princeton theologian in response to the pope’s invitation to Protestants to send delegates to the first Vatican Council (1869-1870). Professor Hodge wrote this letter on behalf of two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in the USA. His explanation of the differences between Roman Catholic and Protestant theology is extremely important in the light of today’s movement among evangelicals to co-operate with Romanism. Truth does not change.

To Pius the Ninth, Bishop of Rome,
By your encyclical letter dated 1869 you invite Protestants to send delegates to the Council called to meet at Rome during the month of December of the current year. That letter has been brought to the attention of the two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Those Assemblies represent about five thousand ministers and a still larger number of Christian congregations.
Believing as we do, that it is the will of Christ that His Church on earth should be united, and recognizing the duty of doing all we consistently can to promote Christian charity and fellowship, we deem it right briefly to present the reasons which forbid our participation in the deliberations of the approaching Council.
It is not because we have renounced any article of the catholic [universal] faith. We are not heretics. We cordially receive all the doctrines contained in that Symbol which is known as the Apostles’ Creed. We regard all the doctrinal decisions of the first six ecumenical councils to be consistent with the Word of God, and because of that consistency, we receive them as expressing our faith. We therefore believe the doctrine of the Trinity and of the person of Christ as those doctrines are expressed in the symbols adopted by the Council of Nicea, A.D. 321, that of the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381, and more fully that of the Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451. We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are the same in substance and equal in power and glory. We believe that the Eternal Son of God became man by taking to Himself a true body and a reasonable soul, and so was, and continues to be, both God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever. We believe that our adorable Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the prophet who should come into the world, whose teachings we are bound to believe and on whose promises we rely. He is the High Priest whose infinitely meritorious satisfaction to divine justice, and whose ever prevalent intercession, is the sole ground of the sinner’s justification and acceptance before God. We acknowledge Him to our Lord not only because we are His creatures but also because we are the purchase of His blood. To His authority we are bound to submit, in His care we confide, and to His service all creatures in heaven and earth should be devoted.
We receive all those doctrines concerning sin, grace and predestination, known as Augustinian, which doctrines received the sanction not only of the Council of Carthage and of other provincial Synods, but of the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus, A.D. 431, and of Zosimus, bishop of Rome.
We therefore cannot be pronounced heretics without involving in the same condemnation the whole ancient church.
Neither are we Schismatics. We cordially recognize as members of Christ’s visible Church on earth, all those who profess the true religion together with their children. We are not only willing but earnest to hold Christian communion with them, provided they do not require, as conditions of such communion, that we profess doctrines which the Word of God condemns, or that we should do what that Word forbids. If in any case any Church prescribes such unscriptural terms of fellowship, the error and the fault is with that church and not with us.
But although we do not decline your invitation because we are either heretics or schismatics, we are nevertheless debarred from accepting it, because we still hold with every increasing confidence those principles for which our fathers were excommunicated and pronounced accursed by the Council of Trent, which represented, and still represents, the Church over which you preside.
The most important of those principles are: First, that the Word of God, contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. The Council of Trent, however, pronounces Anathema on all who do not receive the teachings of tradition pari pietatis affectu (with equal pious affection) as the Scriptures themselves. This we cannot do without incurring the condemnation which our Lord pronounced on the Pharisees, who made void the Word of God by their traditions (Matt. 15:6).
Secondly, the right of private judgment. When we open the Scriptures, we find that they are addressed to the people. They speak to us. We are commanded to search them (John 5:39). To believe what they teach. We are held personally responsible for our faith. The apostle commands us to pronounce accursed an apostle or an angel from heaven who should [teach] anything contrary to the divinely authenticated Word of God (Gal. 1:8). He made us the judges, and has placed the rule of judgment into our hands, and holds us responsible for our judgments.
Moreover, we find that the teaching of the Holy Spirit was promised by Christ not to the clergy only, much less to any one order of the clergy exclusively, but to all believers. It is written, “Ye shall all be taught of God.” The Apostle John says to believers: “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things...but the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you; and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is not lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him (I John 2:20, 27). This teaching of the Spirit authenticates itself, as this same apostle teaches us, when he says, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself” (I John 5:10). “I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth” (I John 2:21). Private judgment, therefore, is not only a right, but a duty, from which no man can absolve himself, or be absolved by others.
Thirdly, we believe in the universal priesthood of believers, that is, that all believers have through Christ access by one Spirit unto the Father (Eph. 2:18); that we may come with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16); “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:19-22). To admit, therefore, the priesthood of the clergy, whose intervention is necessary to secure for us the remission of sin and other benefits of the redemption of Christ, is to renounce the priesthood of our Lord, or its sufficiency to secure reconciliation with God.
Fourthly, we deny the perpetuity of apostleship. As no man can be an apostle without the Spirit of prophecy, so no man can be an apostle without the gifts of an apostle. Those gifts, as we learn from Scripture, were plenary knowledge of the truth derived from Christ by immediate revelation (Gal. 1:2), and personal infallibility as teachers and rulers. What the seals of the apostleship were Paul teaches us, when he says to the Corinthians, “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds” (II Cor. 12:12). As for prelates who claim to be apostles, and who demand the same confidence in their teaching, and the same submission to their authority, as that which is due to the inspired messengers of Christ, without pretending to possess either the gifts or signs of the apostleship, we cannot submit to their claims. This would be rendering to erring men the subjection due to God alone or to His divinely authenticated and infallible messengers.
Much less can we recognize the Bishop of Rome as the vicar of Christ on earth, clothed with the authority over the Church and the world which was exercised by our Lord while here in the flesh. It is plain that no one can be the vicar of Christ who has not the attributes of Christ. To recognize the Bishop of Rome as Christ’s vicar is therefore virtually to recognize him as divine.
We must stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. We cannot forget our salvation by putting man in the place of God, giving one of like passions with ourselves the control of our inward and outward life which [is due] only to Him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead.
Other and equally cogent reasons might be assigned why we cannot with a good conscience be represented in the proposed Council. But as the Council of Trent, whose canons are still in force, pronounces accursed all who hold the principles above enumerated, nothing further is necessary to show that our declining your invitation is a matter of necessity.
Nevertheless, although we cannot return to the fellowship of the Church of Rome, we desire to live in charity with all men. We love all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. We regard as Christian brethren all who worship, love, and obey Him as their God and Savior, and we hope to be united in heaven with all who unite with us on earth in saying, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:6).

2005-03-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

The Church at Wittenburg

I don't have to go to Church to be a Christian?

2005-03-26T18:18:00.000-08:00

Our Church, Covenant Presbyterian is in the midst of building a building, as a result I have felt compelled to invite friends and co-workers to visit our church. It is interesting the response you get when you ask people to visit your church or to go to church at all, they almost unanimously agree you don't have to go to church to be a Christian. Is that true? Do we have to go to church to be a Christian?

It is true many are born-again outside of the walls of a building where the Church meets, but I disagree that anyone comes to Christ outside of his Church.

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

You see it is always through the Church that the gospel is preached and people are converted. So, what exactly are these folks saying when they say they don't have to go to church? Aren't they saying they don't need the Church, are they saying they are not interested in the means God has provided for their growth in grace? Are they saying they don't enjoy the company of the people of God?

1Jo 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

1Jo 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

If people say they don't have to go to church to be Christians, what are they saying? I'm curious what that means, I'm a Christian and I know the Church is not perfect, but I love the Church because I love the Lord who founded it. Just as Christ called me from a life of following after the corruptions of my own heart, so he has called all those who are members of his Church, and we are all one in Christ. We all need his grace and his Church is the means of that grace. If you are a Christian, and you love the Lord Jesus, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, you need to be a member of a Gospel preaching, Bible believing Church. God commands it and he says if you love him you will keep his commands.

1Jo 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Here are a few more scriptures for your consideration:

Act 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Act 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell1 shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Act 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Act 14:23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
Act 14:27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
Act 15:4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.
Act 20:17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
1Co 11:18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
1Co 11:22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

2005-03-24T16:29:00.000-08:00

B.B. Warfield

Terri Schindler-Schiavo

2005-03-19T14:09:00.000-08:00

What are your thoughts on what is going on in Fla. I think it is an absolute atrocity, our nation is quickly becoming a culture of DEATH. Francis Schaeffer said we had become a post-christian society, it seems our culture is rapidly becoming anti-christian, at least from the liberal medias perspective. I have one thing to say while I am outraged about the decisions of the courts in Fla. I am outraged every day at the senseless MURDER of precious babies committed for the sake of women's rights. God have mercy on the U.S.A. I am praying for a miracle for Terri, and for our Country.

Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.

2005-03-18T17:00:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Edwards

"A Lifting up for the Downcast" by William Bridge

2005-03-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

I don't know of any serious Christians who haven't struggled from time to time in their walk with the Lord with doubt, dicouragement, and depression. Pastor Bridge gives us the answer to the common maladies of the Christian life. The work is a series of sermons on Psalm 42:11 that were preached in 1648. This book is an example of the Puritans at their best. The Puritans seemed to have a keen understanding of the human psyche and the sin that plagues it. In this treatise Pastor Bridge ventures through almost every conceivable argument one might raise as an excuse to be discouraged, such as great sins, weak grace, failure in duties, lack of assurance, temptation, desertion, and affliction. As his contemporaries, Mr. Bridge, is very thorough, yet Pastoral. Pastor Bridge shows us the root cause of these afflictions can be traced back to the sin of unbelief, and that the cure is to take God at his word. Christians in the 21st century would do well to read books like this, if they would I believe the Church would be much stronger and healthier than it presently is.

I give this book the official 2 thumbs up!

Jonathan Edwards on the Sabbath

2005-03-14T21:26:00.000-08:00

PERPETUITY AND CHANGE OF THE SABBATH

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by
Jonathan Edwards

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ON DOCTRINE COMMENT
The author's conclusion is as follows:
1. The obligation to keep a Sabbath, regardless of day, is perpetual in nature.
2. The mind of God is that the first day of the week, the Lord's Day, is to be the day of observation of the Christian Sabbath.

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I Corinthians 16:1-2.
"Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."

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Subject: That it is the mind and will of God that the first day of the week should be the day that should be especially set apart for religious exercises and duties among Christians.

We find in the New Testament often mentioned a certain collection, which was made by the Grecian churches, for the brethren in Judea, who were reduced to pinching want by a dearth which then prevailed, and was the heavier upon them by reason of their circumstances, they having been from the beginning oppressed and persecuted by the unbelieving Jews. This collection or contribution is twice mentioned in the Acts, 11:28-30 and 24:17. It is also noticed in several of the epistles: as Rom. 15:26 and Gal. 2:10. But it is most largely insisted on, in these two epistles to the Corinthians: in this first epistle, 16, and in the second epistle, 8 and 9. The apostle begins the directions, which in this place he delivers concerning this matter, with the words of the text — wherein we may observe,

I. What is the thing to be done concerning which the apostle gives them direction — the exercise and manifestation of their charity towards their brethren — by communicating to them for the supply of their wants, which was by Christ and his apostles often insisted on, as one main duty of the Christian religion and is expressly declared to be so by the apostle James, chap. 1:27, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.”

II. We may observe the time on which the apostle directs that this should be done, viz. “on the first day of the week.” By the inspiration of the Holy Ghost he insists upon it, that it be done on such a particular day of the week, as if no other day would do so well as that, or were so proper and fit a time for such a work. — Thus, although the inspired apostle was not for making that distinction of days in gospel times, which the Jews made, as appears by Gal. 4:10, “Ye observe days, and months,” etc., yet here he gives the preference to one day of the week, before any other, for the performance of a certain great duty of Christianity.

III. It may be observed that the apostle had given to other churches, that were concerned in the same duty, to do it on the first day of the week: “As I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.” Whence we may learn, that it was nothing peculiar in the circumstances of the Christians at Corinth, which was the reason why the Holy ghost insisted that they should perform this duty on this day of the week. The apostle had given the like orders to the churches of Galatia.

Now Galatia was far distant from Corinth: the sea parted them, and there were several other countries between them. Therefore it cannot be thought that the Holy Ghost directs them to this time upon any secular account, having respect to some particular circumstances of the people in that city, but upon a religious account. In giving the preference to this day for such work, before any other day, he has respect to something which reached all Christians throughout the wide world.

And by other passages of the New Testament, we learn that the case was the same as to other exercises of religion, and that the first day of the week was preferred before any other day, in churches immediately under the care of the apostles, for an attendance on the exercises of religion in general. Acts 20:7, “Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them.” It seems by these things to have been among the primitive Christians in the apostles’ days, with respect to the first day of the week, as it was among the Jews, with respect to the seventh.

We are taught by Christ, that the doing of alms and showing of mercy are proper works for the Sabbath-day. When the Pharisees found fault with Christ for suffering his disciples to pluck the ears of corn, and eat on the Sabbath, Christ corrects them with that saying, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice;” Mat. 12:7. And Christ teaches that works of mercy are proper to be done on the Sabbath, Luke 13:15, 16, and 14:5. — These works used to be done on sacred festivals and days of rejoicing under the Old Testament, as in Nehemiah’s and Esther’s time, Neh. 8:10 and Est. 9:19, 22. — And Josephus and Philo, two very noted Jews, who wrote not long after Christ’s time, give an account that it was the manner among the Jews on the Sabbath, to make collections for sacred and pious uses.

DOCTRINE

It is the mind and will of God that the first day of the week should be especially set apart among Christians for religious exercises and duties.

That this is the doctrine which the Holy Ghost intended to teach us, by this and some other passages of the New Testament, I hope will appear plainly by the sequel. This is a doctrine that we have been generally brought up in by the instructions and examples of our ancestors, and it has been the general profession of the Christian world, that this day ought to be religiously observed and distinguished from other days of the week. However, some deny it. Some refuse to take notice of the day, as different from other days. Others own that it is a laudable custom of the Christian church, into which she fell by agreement and by appointment of her ordinary rulers, to set apart this day for public worship. But they deny any other original to such an observation of the day, than prudential human appointment. Others religiously observe the Jewish Sabbath, as of perpetual obligation, and that we want a foundation for determining that that is abrogated, and another day of the week is appointed in the room of the seventh.

All these classes of men say that there is no clear revelation that it is the mind and will of God, that the first day of the week should be observed as a day to be set apart for religious exercises, in the room of the ancient Sabbath, which there ought to be in order to the observation of it by the Christian church as a divine institution. They say that we ought not to go upon the tradition of past ages, or upon uncertain and far-fetched inferences from some passages of the history of the New Testament, or upon some obscure and uncertain hints in the apostolic writings. But that we ought to expect a plain institution, which they say we may conclude God would have given us, if he had designed that the whole Christian church, in all ages, should observe another day of the week for a holy Sabbath, than that which was appointed of old by plain and positive institution.

So far it is undoubtedly true that if this be the mind and will of God, he has not left the matter to human tradition, but has so revealed his mind about it, in his Word, that there is to be found good and substantial evidence that it is his mind. Doubtless, the revelation is plain enough for them that have ears to hear: that is for them that will justly exercise their understandings about what God says to them. No Christian, therefore, should rest till he has satisfactorily discovered the mind of God in this matter. If the Christian Sabbath be of divine institution, it is doubtless of great importance to religion that it be well kept, and therefore, that every Christian be well acquainted with the institution.

If men take it only upon trust, and keep the first day of the week because their parents taught them so, or because they see others do it, they will never be likely to keep it so conscientiously and strictly, as if they had been convinced by seeing for themselves that there are good grounds in the Word of God for their practice. Unless they do see thus for themselves, whenever they are negligent in sanctifying the Sabbath or are guilty of profaning it, their consciences will not have that advantage to smite them for it, as otherwise they would. — And those who have a sincere desire to obey God in all things, will keep the Sabbath more carefully and more cheerfully, if they have seen and been convinced that therein they do what is according to the will and command of God, and what is acceptable to him. [They] will also have a great deal more comfort in the reflection upon their having carefully and painfully kept the Sabbath.

Therefore, I design now, by the help of God, to show that it is sufficiently revealed in the Scriptures, to be the mind and will of God, that the first day of the week should be distinguished in the Christian church from other days of the week, as a Sabbath, to be devoted to religious exercises.

In order to this, I shall here premise that the mind and will of God, concerning any duty to be performed by us, may be sufficiently revealed in his Word, without a particular precept in so many express terms, enjoying it. The human understanding is the ear to which the Word of God is spoken; and if it be so spoken, that that ear may plainly hear it, it is enough. God is sovereign as to the manner of speaking his mind, whether he will speak it in express terms, or whether he will speak it by saying several other things which imply it, and from which we may, by comparing them together, plainly perceive it. If the mind of God be but revealed, if there be but sufficient means for the communication of his mind to our minds, that is sufficient: whether we hear so many express words with our ears, or see them in writing with our eyes, or whether we see the thing that he would signify to us, by the eye of reason and understanding.

Who can positively say that if it had been the mind of God, that we should keep the first day of the week, he would have commanded it in express terms, as he did the observation of the seventh day of old? Indeed, if God had so made our faculties, that we were not capable of receiving a revelation of his mind in any other way, then there would have been some reason to say so. But God has given us such understandings, that we are capable of receiving a revelation, when made in another manner. And if God deals with us agreeably to our natures, and in a way suitable to our capacities, it is enough. If God discovers his mind in any way whatsoever, provided it be according to our faculties, we are obliged to obedience, and God may expect our notice and observance of his revelation, in the same manner as if he had revealed it in express terms.

I shall speak upon this subject under these two general propositions.

I. It is sufficiently clear, that it is the mind of God, that one day of the week should be devoted to rest, and to religious exercises, throughout all ages and nations.

II. It is sufficiently clear, that under the gospel-dispensation, this day is the first day of the week.

I. Prop. It is sufficiently clear that it is the mind of God, that one day of the week should be devoted to rest and to religious exercises, throughout all ages and nations: not only among the ancient Israelites, till Christ came, but even in these gospel times and among all nations professing Christianity.

First, from the consideration of the nature and state of mankind in this world, it is most consonant to human reason that certain fixed parts of time should be set apart, to be spent by the church wholly in religious exercises, and in the duties of divine worship. It is a duty incumbent on all mankind, in all ages alike, to worship and serve God. His service should be our great business. It becomes us to worship him with the greatest devotion and engagedness of mind, and therefore to put ourselves, at proper times, in such circumstances as will most contribute to render our minds entirely devoted to this work, without being diverted or interrupted by other things.

The state of mankind in this world is such that we are called to concern ourselves in secular business and affairs, which will necessarily, in a considerable degree, take up the thoughts and engage the attention of the mind. However, some particular persons may be in circumstances more free and disengaged. Yet the state of mankind is such that the bulk of them, in all ages and nations, are called ordinarily to exercise their thoughts about secular affairs, and to follow worldly business, which in its own nature, is remote from the solemn duties of religion.

It is therefore most meet and suitable that certain times should be set apart, upon which men should be required to throw by all other concerns: that their minds may be the more freely and entirely engaged in spiritual exercises in the duties of religion and in the immediate worship of God, and that their minds being disengaged from common concerns, their religion may not be mixed with them.

It is also suitable that these times should be fixed and settled, that the church may agree therein and that they should be the same for all, that men may not interrupt one another, but may rather assist one another by mutual example: for example has a great influence in such cases. If there be a time set apart for public rejoicing, and there be a general manifestation of joy, the general example seems to inspire men with a spirit of joy: one kindles another. So, if it be a time of mourning, and there be general appearances and manifestations of sorrow, it naturally affects the mind: it disposes it to depression, it casts a gloom upon it, and does as it were dull and deaden the spirits. So, if a certain time be set apart as holy time, for general devotion and solemn religious exercises, a general example tends to render the spirit serious and solemn.

Second, without doubt, one proportion of time is better and fitter than another for this purpose. One proportion is more suitable to the state of mankind and will have a greater tendency to answer the ends of such times, than another. The times may be too far asunder. I think human reason is sufficient to discover that it would be too seldom for the purposes of such solemn times, that they should be but once a year. So, I conclude, nobody will deny but that such times may be too near together to agree with the state and necessary affairs of mankind.

Therefore, there can be no difficulty in allowing that some certain proportion of time, whether we can exactly discover it or not, is really fittest and best — considering the end for which such times are kept, and the condition, circumstances, and necessary affairs of men; and considering what the state of man is, taking one age and nation with another — more convenient and suitable than any other, which God may know and exactly determine, though we, by reason of the scantiness of our understandings, cannot.

As a certain frequency of the returns of these times may be more suitable than any other, so one length or continuance of the times themselves may be fitter than another, to answer the purposes of such times. If such times, when they come, were to last but an hour, it would not well answer the end. For then worldly things would crowd too nearly upon sacred exercises, and there would not be that opportunity to get the mind so thoroughly free and disengaged from other things, as there would be if the times were longer. Being so short, sacred and profane things would be as it were mixed together. Therefore, a certain distance between these times, and a certain continuance of them when they come, is more proper than others, which God knows and is able to determine, though perhaps we cannot.

Third, it is unreasonable to suppose any other, than that God’s working six days and resting the seventh, and blessing and hallowing it, was to be of general use in determining this matter. It was written that the practice of mankind in general might some way or other be regulated by it. What could be the meaning of God’s resting the seventh day and hallowing and blessing it, which he did before the giving of the fourth commandment, unless he hallowed and blessed it with respect to mankind? For he did not bless and sanctify it with respect to himself, or that he within himself might observe it: as that is most absurd. And it is unreasonable to suppose that he hallowed it only with respect to the Jews, a particular nation, which rose up above two thousand years after.

So much therefore must be intended by it, that it was his mind, that mankind should, after his example, work six days and then rest and hallow or sanctify the next following: that they should sanctify every seventh day, or that the space between rest and rest, one hallowed time and another, among his creatures here upon earth, should be six days. — So that it hence appears to be the mind and will of God that not only the Jews, but man in all nations and ages, should sanctify one day in seven: which is the thing we are endeavoring to prove.

Fourth, the mind of God in this matter is clearly revealed in the fourth commandment. The will of God is there revealed, not only that the Israelitish nation, but that all nations, should keep every seventh day holy, or which is the same thing, one day after every six. This command, as well as the rest, is doubtless everlasting and of perpetual obligation, at least as to the substance of it, as is intimated by its being engraven on the tables of stone. Nor is it to be thought that Christ ever abolished any command of the ten, but that there is the complete number ten yet, and will be to the end of the world.

Some say, that the fourth command is perpetual, but not in its literal sense: not as designing any particular proportion of time to be set apart and devoted to literal rest and religious exercises. They say that it stands in force only in a mystical sense, viz. as that weekly rest of the Jews typified spiritual rest in the Christian church, and that we under the gospel are not to make any distinction of one day from another, but are to keep all time holy, doing everything in a spiritual manner.

But this is an absurd way of interpreting the command, as it refers to Christians. For if the command be so far abolished, it is entirely abolished. For it is the very design of the command, to fix the time of worship. The first command fixes the object, the second the means, the third the manner, the fourth the time. And if it stands in force now only as signifying a spiritual, Christian rest, and holy behavior at all times, it does not remain as one of the ten commands, but as a summary of all the commands.

The main objection against the perpetuity of this command is that the duty required is not moral. Those laws whose obligations arises from the nature of things and from the general state and nature of mankind, as well as from God’s positive revealed will, are called moral laws. Others, whose obligation depends merely upon God’s positive and arbitrary institution, are not moral: such as the ceremonial laws, and the precepts of the gospel about the two sacraments. Now, the objectors say, they will allow all that is moral in the decalogue to be of perpetual obligation. But this command, they say, is not moral.

But this objection is weak and insufficient for the purpose for which it is brought, or to prove that the fourth command, as to the substance of it, is not of perpetual obligation. For,

1. If it should be allowed that there is no morality belonging to the command, and that the duty required is founded merely on arbitrary institution, it cannot therefore be certainly concluded that the command is not perpetual. We know that there may be commands in force under the gospel and to the end of the world, which are not moral. Such are the institutions of the two sacraments. And why may there not be positive commands in force in all ages of the church? If positive, arbitrary institutions are in force in gospel-times, what is there which concludes that no positive precept give before the times of the gospel can yet continue in force? But,

2. As we have observed already, the thing in general that there should be certain fixed parts of time set apart to be devoted to religious exercises, is founded in the fitness of the thing, arising from the nature of things, and the nature and universal state of mankind. Therefore, there is as much reason that there should be a command of perpetual and universal obligation about this, as about any other duty whatsoever. For if the thing in general, that there be a time fixed, be founded in the nature of things, there is consequent upon it a necessity, that the time be limited by a command. For there must be a proportion of time fixed, or else the general moral duty cannot be observed.

3. The particular determination of the proportion of time in the fourth commandment, is also founded in the nature of things, only our understandings are not sufficient absolutely to determine it of themselves. We have observed already that without doubt one proportion of time is in itself fitter than another, and a certain continuance of time fitter than any other, considering the universal state and nature of mankind, which God may see, though our understandings are not perfect enough absolutely to determine it. So that the difference between this command and others, does not lie in this (that other commands are founded in the fitness of the things themselves, arising from the universal state and nature of mankind, and this not), but only that the fitness of other commands is more obvious to the understandings of men, and they might have seen it of themselves. But this could not be precisely discovered and positively determined without the assistance of revelation.

So that the command of God, that every seventh day should be devoted to religious exercises, is founded in the universal state and nature of mankind, as well as other commands. Only man’s reason is not sufficient, without divine direction, so exactly to determine it. Though perhaps man’s reason is sufficient to determine that it ought not to be much seldomer, nor much oftener, than once in seven days.

Fifth, God appears in his Word laying abundantly more weight on this precept concerning the Sabbath, than on any precept of the ceremonial law. It is in the decalogue, one of the ten commands, which were delivered by God with an audible voice. It was written with his own finger on the tables of stone in the mount, and was appointed afterwards to be written on the tables which Moses made. The keeping of the weekly Sabbath is spoken of by the prophets, as that wherein consists a great part of holiness of life, and is inserted among moral duties, Isa. 58:13, 14, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and fee thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Sixth, it is foretold that this command should be observed in gospel-times, as in Isa. 56 at the beginning, where the due observance of the Sabbath is spoken of as a great part of holiness of life, and is placed among moral duties. It is also mentioned as a duty that should be most acceptable to God from his people, even where the prophet is speaking of gospel-times, as in the foregoing chapter, and in the first verse of this chapter. And, in the third and fourth verses, the prophet is speaking of the abolition of the ceremonial law in gospel-times, and particularly of that law, which forbids eunuchs to come into the congregation of the Lord. Yet, here the man is pronounced blessed, who keeps the Sabbath from polluting it, verse 2. And even in the very sentence where the eunuchs are spoken of as being free from the ceremonial law, they are spoken of as being yet under obligation to keep the Sabbath, and actually keeping it, as that which God lays great weight upon: “For thus saith the Lord, unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house, and within my walls, a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.”

Besides, the strangers spoken of in the sixth and seventh verses, are the Gentiles, that should be called in the times of the gospel, as is evident by the last clause in the seventh, and by the eighth verse: “For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto him.” Yet it is represented here as their duty to keep the Sabbath: “Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer.”

Seventh, a further argument for the perpetuity of the Sabbath, we have in Mat. 24:20, “Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath-day.” Christ is here speaking of the flight of the apostles and other Christians out of Jerusalem and Judea, just before their final destruction, as is manifest by the whole context, and especially by the 16th verse, “Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.” But this final destruction of Jerusalem was after the dissolution of the Jewish constitution, and after the Christian dispensation was fully set up. Yet, it is plainly implied in these words of our Lord, that even then Christians were bound to a strict observation of the Sabbath.

Thus I have shown that it is the will of God that every seventh day be devoted to rest and to religious exercises.

II. Prop. That it is the will of God that under the gospel dispensation, or in the Christian church, this day should be the first day of the week.

In order to the confirmation of this, let the following things be considered.

First, the words of the fourth commandment afford no objections against this being the day that should be the Sabbath, any more than against any other day. That this day, which according to the Jewish reckoning, is the first of the week, should be kept as a Sabbath, is no more opposite to any sentence or word of the fourth command, than that the seventh of the week should be the day. The words of the fourth command do not determine which day of the week we should keep as a Sabbath. They merely determine, that we should rest and keep as a Sabbath every seventh day, or one day after every six. It says, “Six days thou shalt labour, and the seventh thou shalt rest;” which implies no more, than that after six days of labour, we shall upon the next to the sixth, rest and keep it holy. And this we are obliged to do forever. But the words no way determine where those six days shall begin, and so where the rest or Sabbath shall fall. There is no direction in the fourth command how to reckon the time, i.e. where to begin and end it. But that is supposed to be determined otherwise.

The Jews did not know, by the fourth command, where to begin their six days, and on which particular day to rest: this was determined by another precept. The fourth command does indeed suppose a particular day appointed; but it does not appoint any. It requires us to rest and keep holy a seventh day, one after every six of labor, which particular day God either had or should appoint. The particular day was determined for that nation in another place, viz. in Exo. 16:23-26, “And he said unto them, this is that which the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake, today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over, lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And Moses said, Eat that today; for today is a sabbath unto the Lord: today ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.” This is the first place where we have any mention made of the Sabbath, from the first Sabbath on which God rested.

It seems that the Israelites, in the time of their bondage in Egypt, had lost the true reckoning of time by the days of the week, reckoning from the first day of the creation. They were slaves and in cruel bondage and had in a great measure forgotten the true religion. For we are told that they served the gods of Egypt. And it is not to be supposed that the Egyptians would suffer their slaves to rest from their work every seventh day. Now, they having remained in bondage for so long a time, had probably lost the weekly reckoning. Therefore, when God had brought them out of Egypt into the wilderness, he made known to them the Sabbath, on the occasion and in the manner recorded in the text just now quoted. Hence, we read in Nehemiah that when God had led the children of Israel out of Egypt, etc. he made known unto them his holy Sabbath, Neh. 9:14, “And madest known unto them the holy sabbath.” To the same effect, we read din Eze. 20:10, 12, “Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. Moreover also, I gave them my sabbaths.”

But they never would have known where the particular day would have fallen by the fourth command. Indeed, the fourth command, as it was spoken to the Jews, did refer to their Jewish Sabbath. But that does not prove that the day was determined and appointed by it. The precept in the fourth command is to be taken generally of such a seventh day as God should appoint, or had appointed. And because such a particular day had been already appointed for the Jewish church, therefore, as it was spoken to them, it did refer to that particular day. But this does not prove, but the same words refer to another appointed seventh day, now in the Christian church. The words of the fourth command may oblige the church, under different dispensations, to observe different appointed seventh days, as well as the fifth command may oblige different persons to honor different fathers and mothers.

The Christian Sabbath, in the sense of the fourth command, is as much the seventh day as the Jewish Sabbath, because it is kept after six days of labor as well as that. It is the seventh reckoning from the beginning of our first working-day, as well as that was the seventh from the beginning of their first working day. All the difference is that the seven days formerly began from the day after God’s rest from the creation, and now they begin the day after that. It is no matter by what names the days are called: if our nation had, for instance, called Wednesday the first day of the week, it would have been all one as to this argument.

Therefore, by the institution of the Christian Sabbath, there is no change from the fourth command; but the change is from another law, which determined the beginning and ending of their working days. So that those words of the fourth command, viz. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath-day, and hallowed it.” These words are not made insignificant to Christians, by the institution of the Christian Sabbath. They still remain in their full force as to that which is principally intended by them. They were designed to give us a reason why we are to word but six days at a time, and then rest on the seventh, because God has set us the example. And taken so, they remain still in as much force as ever they were. This is the reason still, as much as ever it was, why we may work but six days at a time. What is the reason that Christians rest every seventh, and not every eighth, or every ninth, or tenth day? It is because God worked six days and rested the seventh.

It is true, these words did carry something further in their meaning, as they were spoken to the Jews, and to the church before the coming of Christ. It was then also intended by them that the seventh day was to be kept in commemoration of the work of creation. But this is no objection to the supposition that the words, as they relate to us, do not import all that they did, as they related to the Jews. For there are other words which were written upon those tables of stone with the ten commandments, which are known and allowed not to be of the same import, as they relate to us, and as they related to the Jews, viz. these words, in the preface to the ten commandments, “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” — These words were written on the tables of stone with the rest, and are spoken to us, as well as to the Jews. They are spoken to all to whom the commandments themselves are spoken, for they are spoken as an enforcement of the commandments. But they do not now remain in all the signification which they had, as they respected the Jews. For we never were brought out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, except in a mystical sense. — The same may be said of those words which are inserted in the commandments themselves, Deu. 5:15, “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God commanded thee out thence, through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath-day.”

So that all the arguments of those who are against the Christian Sabbath, drawn from the fourth command, which are all their strength, come to nothing.

Second, that the ancient church was commanded to keep a seventh day in commemoration of the work of creation, is an argument for the keeping of a weekly Sabbath in commemoration of the work of redemption, and not any reason against it.

We read in Scripture of two creations, the old and the new, and these words of the fourth command are to be taken as of the same force to those who belong to the new creation, with respect to that new creation as they were to those who belonged to the old creation, with respect to that. We read that “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and the church of old were to commemorate that work. But when God creates a new heaven and a new earth, those that belong to this new heaven and new earth, by a like reason, are to commemorate the creation of their heaven and earth.

The Scriptures teach us to look upon the old creation as destroyed, and as it were annihilated by sin; or, as being reduced to a chaos again, without form and void, as it was at first. Jer. 4:22, 23, “They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have n knowledge. I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void: and the heavens, and they had no light!” i.e. were reduced to the same state in which they were at first; the earth was without form and void, and there was no light, but darkness was upon the face of the deep.

The Scriptures further teach us to call the gospel-restoration and redemption, a creation of a new heaven and a new earth; Isa. 65:17, 18, “For behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.” And Isa. 51:16, “And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.” And Isa. 66:22, “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make,” etc. — In these places we are not only told a new creation, or new heavens and a new earth, but we are told what is meant by it, viz. The gospel renovation, the making of Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy, saying unto Zion, “Thou art my people,” etc. The prophet, in all these places, is prophesying of the gospel-redemption.

The gospel-state is everywhere spoken of as a renewed state of things, wherein old things are passed away, and all things become new: we are said to be created unto Christ Jesus unto good works. All things are restored and reconciled whether in heaven or in earth, and God has caused light to shine out of darkness, as he did at the beginning. And the dissolution of the Jewish state was often spoken of in the Old Testament as the end of the world. — But we who belong to the gospel-church, belong to the new creation. Therefore there seems to be at least as much reason that we should commemorate the work of this creation, as that the members of the ancient Jewish church should commemorate the work of the old creation.

Third, there is another thing which confirms it (that the fourth command teaches God’s resting from the new creation, as well as from the old), which is that the Scriptures expressly speak of the one as parallel with the other: i.e. Christ’s resting from the work of redemption is expressly spoken of as being parallel with God’s resting from the work of creation. Heb. 4:10, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”

Now Christ rested from his works when he rose from the dead, on the first day of the week. When he rose from the dead, then he finished his work of redemption. His humiliation was then at an end: he then rested and was refreshed. — When it is said, “There remaineth a rest to the people of God;” in the original, it is, a sabbatism, or the keeping of a Sabbath: and this reason is given for it, “For he that entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” — These three things at least we are taught by these words:

1. To look upon Christ’s rest from his work of redemption, as parallel with God’s rest from the work of creation. For they are expressly compared together, as parallel one with the other.

2. They are spoken of as parallel, particularly in this respect, viz. the relation which they both have to the keeping of a Sabbath among God’s people, or with respect to the influence which these two rests have as to sabbatizing in the church of God. For it is expressly with respect to this that they are compared together. Here is an evident reference to God’s blessing and hallowing the day of his rest from the creation to be a Sabbath, and appointing a Sabbath of rest in imitation of him. For the apostle is speaking of this, verse 4, “For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.” Thus far is evident, whatever the apostle has respect to by this keeping of a Sabbath by the people of God: whether it be a weekly sabbatizing on earth or a sabbatizing in heaven.

3. It is evident in these words that the preference is given to the latter rest, viz. the rest of our Savior from his works, with respect to the influence it should have or relation it bears, to the sabbatizing of the people of God, now under the gospel, evidently implied in the expression, “There remaineth therefore a sabbatism to the people of God. For he that entered into his rest,” etc. For in this sabbatism appointed in remembrance of God’s rest from the work of creation, does not remain, but ceases, and that this new rest, in commemoration of Christ’s resting from his works, remains in the room of it.

Fourth, the Holy Ghost has implicitly told us that the Sabbath which was instituted in commemoration of the old creation, should not be kept in gospel-times. Isa. 65:17, 18. There we are told that when God should create new heavens and a new earth, the former should not be remembered, nor come into mind. If this be so, it is not to be supposed that we are to keep a seventh part of time, on purpose to remember it, and call it to mind.

Let us understand this which way we will, it will not be well consistent with the keeping of one day in seven, in the gospel-church, principally for the remembrance and calling to mind of the old creation. If the meaning of the place be only this — that the old creation shall not be remembered nor come into mind in comparison with the new, that the new will be so much more remarkable and glorious, will so much more nearly concern us, so much more notice will taken of it, and it will be thought so much more worthy to be remembered and commemorated, that the other will not be remembered, nor come into mind — it is impossible that it should be more to our purpose. For then hereby the Holy Ghost teaches us, that the Christian church has much more reason to commemorate the new creation than the old; insomuch, that the old is worthy to be forgotten in comparison with it.

And as the old creation was no more to be remembered, nor come into mind; so, in the following verse, the church is directed forever to commemorate the new creation, “But be you glad, and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy;” i.e. Though you forget the old, yet forever to the end of the world, keep a remembrance of the new creation.

Fifth, it is an argument that the Jewish Sabbath was not to be perpetual, that the Jews were commanded to keep it in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt. One reason why it was instituted was because God thus delivered them, as we are expressly told, Deu. 5:15, “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath-day.” Now can any person think that God would have all nations under the gospel, and to the end of the world, keep a day every week, which was instituted in remembrance of the deliverance of the Jews out of Egypt?

Sixth, the Holy Ghost has implicitly told us that instituted memorials of the Jews’ deliverance from Egypt should be no longer upheld in gospel-times, Jer. 16:14-15. The Holy Ghost, speaking of gospel-times, says, “Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt; but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them; and I will bring them again into their own land.” They shall no more say, The Lord liveth that brought, etc. i.e. at least they shall keep up no more any public memorials of it.

If there be a Sabbath kept up in gospel-times, as we have shown there must be it is more just from these words to suppose that it should be as a memorial of that which is spoken of in the latter verse, the bringing up of the children of Israel from the land of the north: that is the redemption of Christ and his bringing home the elect, not only from Judea, but from the north, and from all quarters of the world. — See Isa. 43:16-20.

Seventh, it is no more than just to suppose that God intended to intimate to us that the Sabbath ought by Christians to be kept in commemoration of Christ’s redemption, in that the Israelites were commanded to keep it in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt, because that deliverance out of Egypt is an evident, known, and allowed type of it. It was ordered of God, on purpose to represent it. Everything about that deliverance was typical of this redemption, and much is made of it, principally for this reason: because it is so remarkable a type of Christ’s redemption. And it was but a shadow, the work in itself was nothing in comparison with the work of redemption. What is a petty redemption of one nation from a temporal bondage, to the eternal salvation of the whole church of the elect in all ages and nations, from eternal damnation and the introduction of them, not into a temporal Canaan, but into heaven: into eternal glory and blessedness? Was that shadow so much to be commemorated as that a day once a week was to be kept on the account of it, and shall not we much more commemorate that great and glorious work of which it was designed on purpose to be a shadow.

Besides, the words in the fourth commandment, which speak of the deliverance out of Egypt, can be of no significance unto us, unless they are to be interpreted of the gospel-redemption. But the words of the decalogue are spoken to all nations and ages. Therefore, as the words were spoken to the Jews, they referred to the type or shadow. As they are spoken to us, they are to be interpreted of the antitype and substance. For the Egypt from which we under the gospel are redeemed, is the spiritual Egypt; the house of bondage from which we are redeemed, is a state of spiritual bondage. — Therefore the words, as spoken to us, are to be thus interpreted, “Remember, thou was a servant to sin and Satan, and the Lord thy God delivered thee from this bondage, with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day.”

As the words in the preface to the ten commandments, about the bringing of the children of Israel out of Egypt, are interpreted in our catechism (and as they have respect to us): [they] must be interpreted [as being] of our spiritual redemption. So, by an exact identity of reason, must these words in Deuteronomy, annexed to the fourth command, be interpreted [as] of the same gospel redemption.

The Jewish Sabbath was kept on the day that the children of Israel came up out of the Red sea. For we are told in Deu. 5:15, that this holy rest of the Sabbath was appointed in commemoration of their coming up out of Egypt. But the day of their going through the Red sea was the day of their coming up out of Egypt. For till then they were in the land of Egypt. The Red sea was the boundary of the land of Egypt. — The Scripture itself tells us that the day on which they sung the song of Moses, was the day of their coming up out of the land of Egypt; Hos. 2:15, “And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt;” referring plainly to that triumphant song which Moses and the children of Israel sang when they came up out of the Red sea.

The Scripture tells us that God appointed the Jewish Sabbath in commemoration of the deliverance of the children of Israel from their task-masters, the Egyptians, and of their rest from their hard bondage and slavery under them; Deu. 5:14, 15, “That thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath-day.” But the day that the children of Israel were delivered from their task-masters and had rest from them, was the day when the children of Israel came up out of the Red Sea. They had no rest from them till then. For though they were before come forth on their journey to go out of the land of Egypt, yet they were pursued by the Egyptians and were exceedingly perplexed and distressed. But on the morning that they came up out of the Red sea, they had complete and final deliverance. Then they had full rest from their taskmasters. Then God said to them, “The Egyptians which ye have seen this day, ye shall see no more for ever;” Exo. 14:13. Then they enjoyed a joyful day of rest, a day of refreshment. Then they sang the song of Moses, and on that day was their Sabbath of rest.

But this coming up of the children of Israel out of the Red sea, was only a type of the resurrection of Christ. That people was the mystical body of Christ, and Moses was a great type of Christ himself. And besides, on that day Christ went before the children of Israel in the pillar of cloud and of fire, as their Savior and Redeemer. On that morning Christ, in this pillar of cloud and fire, rose out of the Red sea, as out of great waters, which was a type of Christ’s rising from a state of death and from that great humiliation which he suffered in death. The resurrection of Christ from the dead, is in Scripture represented by his coming up out of deep waters. So it is in Christ’s resurrection, as represented by Jonah’s coming out of the sea, Mat. 12:40. It is also compared to a deliverance out of deep waters, Psa. 69:1-3, 14, and 15. These things are spoken of Christ, as is evident from this, that many things in this Psalm are in the New Testament expressly applied to Christ. [Compare verse 4 with John 15:25, verse 9 with John 2:17, and verse 2 with Mat. 27:34, 48; Mark 15:23; John 19:29, and verse 2, with Rom. 11:9, 10, and verse 25 with Acts 1:20.] Therefore, as the Jewish Sabbath was appointed on the day on which the pillar of cloud and fire rose out of the Red sea, and on which Moses and the church, the mystical body of Christ, came up out of the same sea, which is a type of the resurrection of Christ — it is a great confirmation that the Christian Sabbath should be kept on the day of the rising of the real body of Christ from the grave, which is the antitype. For surely the Scriptures have taught us that the type should give way to the antitype, and that the shadow should give way to the substance.

Eighth, I argue the same thing from Psa. 118:22-24. There we are taught that the day of Christ’s resurrection is to be celebrated with holy joy by the church. “The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing, it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” The stone spoken of is Christ: he was refused and rejected by the builders, especially when he was put to death. That making him the head of the corner, which is the Lord’s doing and so marvelous in our eyes, is Christ’s exaltation, which began with his resurrection. While Christ lay in the grave, he lay as a stone cast away by the builders. But when God raised him from the dead, then he became the head of the corner. Thus it is evident the apostle interprets it, Acts 4:10, 11, “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead,” etc. — “This is the stone which was set at nought by you builders, which is become the head of the corner.” And the day on which this was done, we are here taught, God has made to be the day of the rejoicing of the church.

Ninth, the abolition of the Jewish Sabbath seems to be intimated by this: that Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath, lay buried on that day. Christ, the author of the world, was the author of that work of creation of which the Jewish Sabbath was the memorial. It was he that worked six days and rested the seventh day from all his works, and was refreshed. Yet he was holden in the chains of death on that day. — God, who created the world, now in his second work of creation, did not follow his own example, if I may so speak. He remained imprisoned in the grave on that day and took another day to rest in.

The Sabbath was a day of rejoicing, for it was kept in commemoration of God’s glorious and gracious works of creation and the redemption out of Egypt. Therefore we are directed to call the Sabbath a delight. But it is not a proper day for the church, Christ’s spouse, to rejoice, when Christ the bridegroom lies buried in the grave, as Christ says, Mat. 9:15, “That the children of the bridechamber cannot mourn, while the bridegroom is with them. But the time will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them; then shall they mourn.” — While Christ was holden under the chains of death, then the bridegroom was taken from then. Then it was a proper time for the spouse to mourn and not rejoice. But when Christ rose again, then it was a day of joy, because we are begotten again to a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Tenth, Christ has evidently, on purpose and design, peculiarly honored the first day of the week, the day on which he rose from the dead, by taking it from time to time to appear to the apostles, and he chose this day to pour out the Holy Ghost on the apostles, which we read of in the second chapter of Acts. For this was on Pentecost, which was on the first day of the week, as you may see by Lev. 23:15-16. And he honored this day by pouring out his Spirit on the apostle John, and giving him his visions, Rev. 1:10, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,” etc. — Now doubtless Christ had his meaning in thus distinguishingly honoring this day.

Eleventh, it is evident by the New Testament that this was especially the day of the public worship of the primitive church, by the direction of the apostles. We are told that this was the day that they were wont to come together to break bread. And this they evidently did with the approbation of the apostles, inasmuch as they preached to them on that day, and therefore doubtless they assembled together by the direction of the apostles. Acts 20:7, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them.” So the Holy Ghost was careful that the public contributions should be on this day, in all the churches, rather than on any other day, as appears by our text.

Twelfth, this first day of the week is in the New Testament called the Lord’s day; see Rev. 1:10. — Some say, how do we know that this was the first day of the week? Every day is the Lord’s day. But it is the design of John to tell us when he had those visions. And if by the Lord’s day is meant any day, how does that inform us when that event took place?

But what is meant by this expression we know, just in the same way as we know what is the meaning of any word in the original of the New Testament, or the meaning of any expression in an ancient language, viz. By what we find to be the universal signification of the expression in ancient times. This expression, the Lord’s day, is found by the ancient use of the whole Christian church, by what appears in all the writings of ancient times, even from the apostles’ days, to signify the first day of the week.

And the expression implies in it the holiness of the day. For doubtless the day is called the Lord’s day, as the sacred supper is called the Lord’s supper, which is so called, because it is a holy supper — which is so called because it is a holy supper, to be celebrated in remembrance of the Lord Christ and of his redemption. So this is a holy day, to be kept in remembrance of the Lord Christ and his redemption.

The first day of the week being in Scripture called the Lord’s day, sufficiently makes it out to be the day of the week that is to be kept holy unto God. For God has been pleased to call it by his own name. When anything is called by the name of God in Scripture, this denotes the appropriation of it to God. — Thus God put his name upon his people Israel of old; Num. 6:27, “And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel.” They were called by the name of God, as it is said, 2 Chr. 7:14, “If my people which are called by my name,” etc. i.e. They were called God’s people, or the Lord’s people. This denoted that they were a holy peculiar people above all others. Deu. 7:6, “Thou art a holy people unto the Lord;” and so in verse 14, and many other places.

So the city Jerusalem was called by God’s name; Jer. 25:29, “Upon the city which is called by my name.” Dan. 9:18, 19, “And the city which is called by thy name,” etc. This denoted that it was a holy city, a city chosen of God above all other cities for holy uses, as it is often called the holy city, as in Neh. 11:1, “To dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city;” and in many other places.

So the temple is said to be a house called by God’s name; 1 Kin. 8:43, “This house that is called by name.” And often elsewhere. That is, it was called God’s house, or the Lord’s house. This denoted that it was called a holy place, a house devoted to holy uses, above all others.

So also we find that the first day of the week is called by God’s name, being called in Scripture God’s day, or the Lord’s day, which denotes that it is a holy day, a day appropriated to holy uses, above all others in the week.

Thirteenth, the tradition of the church from age to age, though it be no rule, yet may be a great confirmation of the truth in such a case as this is. We find by all accounts that it has been the universal custom of the Christian church, in all ages, even from the age of the apostles, to keep the first day of the week. We read in the writings which remain of the first, second, and third centuries, of the Christians keeping the Lord’s day (and so in all succeeding ages), and there are no accounts that contradict them. — This day has all along been kept by Christians, in all countries throughout the world, and by almost all that have borne the name of Christians, of all denominations, however different in their opinions as to other things.

Now, although this be not sufficient of itself without a foundation in Scripture, yet it may be a confirmation of it, because here is really matter of conviction in it to our reason. Reason may greatly confirm truths revealed in the Scriptures. The universality of the custom throughout all Christian counties, in all ages, by what account we have of them, is a good argument that the church had it from the apostles. And it is difficult to conceive how all should come to agree to set up such a custom through the world, of different sects and opinions, and we have no account of any such thing.

Fourteenth, it is no way weakening to these arguments, that there is nothing more plainly said about it in the New Testament, till John wrote his Revelation, because there is a sufficient reason to be given for it. In all probability it was purposely avoided by the Holy Spirit, in the first settling of the Christian churches in the world, both among the heathen and among the Jews, but especially for the sake of the Jews, and out of tenderness to the Jewish Christians. For it is evident that Christ and the apostles declared one thing after another to them gradually as they could bear it.

The Jews had a regard for their Sabbath above almost anything in the laws of Moses, and there was that in the Old Testament which tended to uphold them in the observance of this, much more strongly than anything else that was Jewish. God had made so much of it, had so solemnly, frequently, and carefully commanded it, and had often so dreadfully punished the breach of it, that there was more color for their retaining this custom than almost any other.

Therefore Christ dealt very tenderly with them in this point. Other things of this nature we find very gradually revealed. Christ had many things to say, as we are informed, which yet he said not, because they could not as yet bear them, and gave this reason for it: that it was like putting new wine into old bottles. They were so contrary to their old customs, that Christ was gradual in revealing them. He gave here a little and there a little, as they could bear; and it was a long time before he told them plainly the principal doctrines of the kingdom of heaven. — He took the most favorable opportunities to tell them of his sufferings and death, especially when they were full of admiration at some signal miracle, and were confirmed in it, that he was the Messiah.

He told them many things much more plainly after his resurrection than before. But even then, he did not tell them all, but left more to be revealed by the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. They therefore were much more enlightened after that than before. However, as yet he did not reveal all. The abolition of the ceremonial law about meats and drinks was not fully known till after this.

The apostles were in the same manner careful and tender of those to whom they preached and wrote. It was very gradually that they ventured to teach them the cessation of the ceremonial laws of circumcision and abstinence from unclean meats. How tender is the apostle Paul with such as scrupled in, in the fourteenth chapter of Romans! He directs those who had knowledge, to keep it to themselves, for the sake of their weak brethren. Rom 14:22 — But I need say no more to evince this.

However, I will say this, that it is very possible that the apostles themselves at first might not have this change of the day of the Sabbath fully revealed to them. The Holy Ghost, at his descent, revealed much to them, yet after that, they were ignorant of much of gospel-doctrine. Yea, they were so, a great while after they acted the part of apostles in preaching, baptizing, and governing the church. Peter was surprised when he was commanded to eat meats legally unclean, and so were the apostles in general, when Peter was commanded to go to the Gentiles, to preach to them.

Thus tender was Christ of the church while an infant. He did not feed them with strong meat, but was careful to bring in the observance of the Lord’s day by degrees, and therefore took all occasions to honor it: by appearing from time to time of choice on that day, by sending down his Spirit on that day in that remarkable manner at Pentecost, by ordering Christians to meet in order to break bread on that day, and by ordering their contributions and other duties of worships to be holden on it — thus introducing the observance of it by degrees. And though as yet the Holy Ghost did not speak very plainly about it, yet God took special care that there should be sufficient evidences of his will, to be found out by the Christian church, when it should be more established and settled, and should have come to the strength of a man.

Thus I leave it with everyone to judge, whether there be not sufficient evidence, that it is the mind and will of God, that the first day of the week should be kept by the Christian church as a Sabbath?

Willing to Wait!

2005-03-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

I start a new job next Monday driving a mixer i.e. a concrete truck. It will give me a little more opportunity to interact with other people. The job I am doing now I am by myself most of the day, which I don't mind, it gives me opportunity to read between trips. This new job, will be shorter runs, and more interaction with fellow employees. Perhaps some opportunities for discussion about the Gospel. I have resisted going back to driving a mixer, but it seems the Lord has laid this job right in my lap. I will be making more money so that is a definite positive. I have always felt a calling to full time ministry, but I am resolved at this point in my life to do my best to serve the Lord as a truck-driver. It is what I know how to do to make a living. I don't mean to digress, but you wonder sometimes if maybe you didn't take the opportunities that the Lord gave you, and that's why you are where you are today. But I am a firm believer in God's providence and soveriegnty so if He wants me to teach I believe he can still make it happen, if not I am content to drive a mixer and seek to glorify Him. Moses was eighty years old when he started his ministry. God is good!

God Can Be Known Through the Working of The Universe By John Calvin

2005-02-27T20:46:00.000-08:00

God shows himself in the structure of the universe so clearly that men need only open their eyes to see him in his works. It is true that men cannot fully grasp his essence, for it is hidden from them. But there are clear and certain marks of his glory in what he has made. We have no excuse for not knowing him. We may turn our eyes to whatever part of creation we wish and see it glisten with something of the glory he has given it. The apostle Paul tells us (Romans 1:19) that God has shown himself to men in the works of his hands, so that the invisible things of him -- his eternal power and Godhead -- are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.

There are so many things that show his wisdom. It is true that scientists can now search more deeply into the secrets of divine wisdom. They can use their knowledge to observe the movement of the stars and planets, sun and moon. They can measure their distance and admire their grandeur. But that does not mean that we who are not scientists have an excuse for not recognising the maker of these things. We have eyes. We can see how many, how varied and how orderly these heavenly bodies are. Quite clearly, God has revealed his wisdom in his wonderful works to ALL mankind.

In the same way, it takes a carefully trained doctor fully to recognise the structure, beauty and usefulness of the human body. Yet it is admitted by all that the framework of the body proves the great skill of its maker. Truly "God is not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:27). Now, if we only need go as far as our own body to find the handiwork of God, we are inexcusable in our laziness if we refuse to seek him. In fact this shows just how ungrateful men are. They have within themselves God's great works and immeasurable gifts, and swell with pride that they are so gifted. They should be praising the giver.

Men have used the word "nature" so that they do not have to think about God. They say that "nature" was the maker of all these wonderful things, everything from their eyes to the tips of their finger-nails. Most of all the swift working of a man's mind, his splendid powers of reasoning show plainly his creator. And ),et men use these God-.given powers to war against him.

Some people say the soul cannot exist without the body. Thus it would die when the body dies. But the soul does function independently of the body. It is nothing to do with the body when we study the skies. It is not with our bodies that we can consider past and future, remember what we have heard, hold a picture in our minds, and even have in our minds thoughts and pictures when we are asleep. These are further signs of God's handiwork in man. The marks of immortality can never be wiped from human nature. Surely man's own reason must compel him to acknowledge a creator.

Other men have tried to remove the idea of a true God by saying there is some sort of universal mind that gives life to the universe, This just replaces God with a shadowy power, and to such a power it would not be proper to give fear and worship. In matters of such importance, it is a mistake cf serious consequences to confuse God with the things he has made, and with the workings of nature which are subject to his will.

We should therefore remember, whenever we think of our bodies, that there is one God who governs all things. It is his desire that we turn to him, believe on him and worship him. It is against all sound reason to use and enjoy the great gifts he has given us and turn away from the giver who continues to give us all we need.

Let us admire God's wonderful works. By his power he holds up the heaven and earth. He makes the sky shake with thunder, and lights it up with lightning. He stirs up the air with storms and calms them in a moment. He gives a boundary, to the roaring waves of the sea, lashes them up to fury with wild winds and again brings peace. The power of God leads us to think of his eternity. He from whom all things come, must be eternal. He must have existence within himself'.

We can also see God's work in human affairs. He is kind to all men, and yet he shows his working in such a way that he is plainly and constantly good to the righteous and severe to the wicked. He shows himself in punishment of crime, and just as clearly as protector and avenger of innocence. The fact that he sometimes allows the wicked to triumph for a while and allows the innocent to suffer hardship and be oppressed by the wicked, does not hide his .justice. In contrast to this thought, we should learn when he punishes one crime, that he hates all crimes. And when we see that he leaves many for the present unpunished, we should learn that there is a judgment to come, when they will be punished.

The psalmist teaches us about God's care in Psalm 107. There he tells us how God gave marvellous and unexpected help to the unhappy, protected and guided those wandering in the desert, gave food to the hungry, delivered prisoners from captivity, healed the sick, gave fertility to the earth, and raised the people who had been brought low. Many people think such events are the result of chance, but the Psalmist shows they are God's care for his own people. He adds that those who realise this will understand the f loving-kindness of the Lord.

When we truly know God, we will look forward to the future life. When we know that God's present goodness and severity are incomplete, we must conclude that this life is only the beginning. There will be a fuller display of mercy and judgment in the world to come. When we see godly people suffer affliction from the wicked, while the wicked live in comfort, we are right to think there will be another life when both good and bad will receive the treatment that is right for them.

Augustine wisely said: "If every sin were now visited with punishment we might think that there was no judgment to come; and if no sin were immediately punished we might think that there was no such thing as divine power and care".

In spite of the fact that God clearly displays his immortal power in his handiwork, mankind does not learn from the lesson. We do not look often on the natural things around and think of the maker. We, too often, speak of' events as chance, instead of realising they are God's work. The works of creation shine around us like lamps to show forth the glory of their maker. But they shine in vain. We do not take enough notice of them. But because they are there, we cannot say we had no way to know God. However, God has most graciously given us another guide, a brighter light, to bring us to the true knowledge of our creator. That light is the scriptures.

Beat Up!

2005-02-23T18:41:00.000-08:00

Have you ever lost a fight, I mean really got beat up? I had a fight or two when I was younger and one time got beaten pretty bad. I had the crap kicked out me. Well I am on the last chapter of "The Mortification of Sin" by John Owens and I feel like I did the day after that fight. I am hurting, only the pain is deeper and more intense. Most of the Puritans I have read on sin will ussually apply a little healing balm as they go along, not Owens he never let's up. I would recommend to everyone who loves the Lord Jesus to read this book it will give you a deeper appreciation for what the Lord did for us. All I can say as i lick my wounds is I am undone, I abhore myself in dust and ashes. We tend to play games with sin Owens shows us that it is no game. We need to look honestly at our own hearts, and make sure we are not playing games with the Lord or ourselves.

John Calvin on the Knowledge of God This knowledge is stifled or corrupted by ignorance and wickedness.

2005-02-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

While it is an indisputable fact that men have some idea that there is a God, very few treasure this thought. Some people are superstitious. Others deliberately choose wickedness. They are not just foolish. They have rebelled against God. Even if they think about God, they do not have a high enough opinion of him. With all this wrong view of God, they think they are being wise. Paul says: "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" (Romans l:22).

David describes those who stifle the light God has given them when he says: "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God" (Psalm 14:1). Some of the wicked say there is no God. Others act as if there is no God. These David describes when he says (Psalm 36:2,10, I 1) that there is no fear of God before the eyes of the wicked, and that they flatter themselves in their evil ways with the imagination that God does not see them. At the same time, even those who wish to banish God from their hearts are faced at times by God's standard of .judgment. This judgment within them is the conscience.

Some think it doesn't matter what we believe so long as we try hard. But God doesn't change. His standards of right and wrong are not altered just to suit us. God must be known in the only right way or otherwise our view of him will be so wrong it would be better not to have it at all. The apostle Paul tells the Ephesians that they were without God, so long as they erred from the right knowledge of the only true God. This is true of us. If we do not know God in the right way, we might as well worship idols.

Never to think of God unless we are forced to is also sinful. The fear sinners have for him is forced from them by their fear of his judgment. They would even like to reverse his just decisions. Yet some of these same people make all outward show of being religious, while at the same time they are committing all kinds of sin.

There ought to be regular obedience to him through the whole of life, but sinners rebel against him by doing wicked things. Then they think they can regain his favour by a few sacrifices. By such evil-doing the sparks of the knowledge of God are extinguished. Such people lose what knowledge God gave them about himself. In good times they mock God. In bad times they turn to him in despair. Their prayers at such times show they are not entirely ignorant of him.

This Week in History

2005-01-21T05:45:00.000-08:00

On January 19, 1563, the Heidelberg Catechism was published in German under the title, “Catechismus, or Christian Instruction, as Conducted in the Churches and Schools of the Electoral Palatinate.”

It was named after the German city where it was prepared by Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus, at the request of the Elector Frederick III. Soon after it was written, it was translated into Dutch, and along with the Belgic Confession and the Canons of the Synod of Dort, the Heidelberg Catechism became part of the doctrinal standards of the Dutch Reformed churches. For centuries it has been cherished by Presbyterians as well, especially for its warm and autobiographical style, as displayed in its first question and answer:

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong – body and soul, in life and in death – to my faithful savior Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to serve him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These historical glimpses come from Mr. John Muether, Church Historian for the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Mr. Muether is also the Librarian at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, and an elder at the Lake Sherwood OPC in Orlando. With degrees from Gordon College and Westminster Theological Seminary, he is a frequent contributor to various academic journals and is co-author (along with D.G. Hart) of the book Fighting the Good Fight of Faith: A Brief History of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

1824 January 21
Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born at Clarksburg, [West] Virginia.
Parents: Jonathan Jackson (1790-1826) an attorney, and Julia Beckwith Neale (1798-1831). They were married in September 1817 and had four children: Elizabeth (1819-1826); Warren (1821-1841); Thomas (1824-1863), and Laura Ann (1826-1911).

The Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

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What is your eschatological view? Was this a fulfillment of Matthew 24?

The Christian Sabbath?

2005-01-17T04:28:00.000-08:00

Cont: by Fergus A.J. MacDonald M.A., B.D.

The Old Testament

It is for this reason that we must now go back to Hodge's second principle and ask, What was the original purpose of the Sabbath? The answer the Bible gives to this question is crucial to our enquiry, for as the Reformed Ecumenical Synod Committee observes,'all problems relating to our subject hinge on the question whether or not the Sabbath is a creation ordinance.' If it is, it has a universal significance and continuing obligation. If not, it is merely a statute belonging exclusively to the ceremonial ritual and civil order of the Jewish nation.

IS THE SABBATH A CREATION ORDINANCE!

On the face of it there seems to be little doubt as to how the Old Testament answers this question for it traces the origins of the Sabbath back to the creation of the world. This is the case in both the creation narrative in Genesis 2 and the fourth commandment in Exodus 20. Genesis 2.3 tells us that it was at the foundation of the world that,'God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Along with marriage it was revealed as an integral part of God's will for men from the very beginning. In passing it might be noted that the seven-day week, as well as the Sabbath which defined it, seems to have been regarded as a creation ordinance. (The Hebrew word for 'week' comes from the same root as 'seven' and means 'a period of seven days'). The rhythm of six days of work followed by one of rest is the divine blueprint for mankind's activities for it reflects God's own activity during and after the work of creation. The rhythm of divine activity is to be reflected in the rhythm of human activity. The Sabbath commandment rests on the same fundamental premise of all biblical ethics,--viz., that man's duty is to imitate God (cf. 1 Peter 1.16; Mart. 5·48)·

The fourth commandment also regards the Sabbath as a creation ordinance. It commands us to keep the Sabbath holy. Why? Because 'in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day' (Exodus 20.11). The point could scarcely be made more clearly. Furthermore, the introductory phrase 'remember the Sabbath day' assumes that the Sabbath was instituted before Sinai.

If the Sabbath is indeed a creation ordinance we would expect it to be found in the moral law of Israel. And this is in fact the case, for it is an integral part of the decalogue which was clearly demarcated from the purely ceremonial and civil laws in the Mosaic code in the following ways:

First, the ten words alone were spoken by the Lord directly to the people 'And the Lord spake all these words, saying .. .' (Exodus 20.1-19; Cf. Deut. 5·22)· Secondly, of all the Mosaic legislation only they were engraved on tables of stone (Exodus 34·28; cf. 32.I9; Deut. 4·13; 5.22; 10.4). Thirdly, only these two tables were accorded the honour of being placed within the Ark of the Covenant below the mercy seat in the most holy place of the sanctuary. The decalogue is thus differentiated from the other Mosaic laws because it is the moral law of God, a republication of the creation ordinances or life-norms given to the human race at the beginning of history. And this differentiation led the Westminster Assembly to regard the Sabbath as 'of the law of nature' and its sanctification as 'a positive, moral and perpetual commandment, binding in all ages.

However, there are many who maintain that Genesis 2 and Exodus 20 only appear to teach that the Sabbath is a creation ordinance, and that in fact it was a later and purely Jewish rite.

Some arrive at this conclusion as a result of questioning the integrity of the text in both passages. Neither passage, they contend, is a literary unity, but rather an interweaving of several different sources brought together nearer the end than the beginning of Old Testament history. This view, known as the documentary hypothesis, identifies Genesis 2.2-3 as belonging to a source originating sometime after the exile in Babylon in the sixth century B.C. On this view the presentation of the Sabbath as a creation ordinance in Genesis and Exodus is no more than a pious reconstruction in which doctrines, later associated with the Sabbath, were read back into the narrative of ancient events. The documentary hypothesis seeks to accommodate the Pentateuch to pre-conceived theories of the evolution of Israel's religion, and raises fundamental issues which we do not have time to go into here. We shall, therefore, restrict our survey of arguments against the Sabbath as a creation ordinance to those which respect the integrity of Scripture.

Some regard the account in Genesis 2.2-3 of God's blessing and sanctifying the Sabbath as a prospective reference to the fourth commandment to be imposed on the Israelites later. There is, we are told, no specific command in the passage to observe the Sabbath. However, this interpretation does not take the passage in its most natural sense, which surely is that man is to follow God's example by observing Sabbath rest. Further, the divine example would have been sufficient ground of obligation for unfallen man. Before the Fall it was not necessary for all divine commandments to be formally enacted. And finally, it is surely highly unlikely that God would have ordered his whole method of procedure at the creation of all things simply to facilitate the later establishment of a temporary ritual.

Others maintain that the creation narrative cannot be taken as normative in any universal sense for the observance of weeks and the consecration of one day in seven, because, according to them, the creation week of God's work and rest is not of the same order as our calendar time. Genesis 1.1-2.3 Simply casts its description of the divine activity into the 'conceptual mode' of a week. But surely whether or not the creation week can be regarded in exactly the same terms as our calendar week is beside the point which is that the pattern, or rhythm, of the creation process is, by divine arrangement, reflected in the pattern, or rhythm, of our calendar week. The seventh day of God's post-creation rest need not be identical with the seventh day of our weekly cycle in order to be the prototype of the latter. The most natural reading of the passage would suggest that the seventh day of Genesis 2.2 belongs to the creation week and the seventh day of Genesis 2.3 is that of the calendar week.

For some, a strong argument against the creation ordinance doctrine is the absence of all reference to the Sabbath commandment in the biblical record covering the centuries between Genesis 2 and Exodus 16. It is true that we are not explicitly told that the Patriarchs observed the Sabbath, although there is evidence that they divided time into periods of seven days (Genesis 7·4-10; 8.10-12) and that weeks were known in Padan-Aram (Genesis 29.27-28) and in Egypt (Genesis 50·10-11)· But arguments from silence are unreliable and, in this case, by no means conclusive, for any disregard for the Sabbath on the part of the patriarchs would no more disprove its divine appointment than their polygamy would deny that monogamous marriage was a creation ordinance. The unsatisfactory nature of this kind of argument can also be demonstrated from later history, for the accounts of the period from Sinai to the days of Elisha--which covers several centuries--contain no reference to the Sabbath either.

None of the evidence we have cited so far would justify us in interpreting Genesis 2.2-3 in any other way than in its most natural sense--viz. that God instituted the Sabbath for man at the creation of the world. However, we have still to consider two further arguments often cited against this conclusion. They concern the clear ceremonial overtones in the Mosaic legislation about the Sabbath and the typological use of the Sabbath in both testaments. We shall now turn to each of these in turn.

A COVENANT SIGN

It cannot be denied that the Sabbath was a covenant sign between the Lord and Israel (Exodus 3I·I3), a mark distinguising the Jews from other nations. As such it celebrated the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt to become the people of God (Deut. 5·I5). However, this later adoption of the Sabbath as a sign of God's covenant with Israel does not contradict the creation ordinance doctrine any more than the adoption of the rainbow as the sign of the Noahic covenant implied that sunlight refracted differently through water before that covenant was made. Nor does a practice require to be exclusive to Israel to become a sign of God's covenant with her, for circumcision, the sign of the Abrahamic covenant, was widely practised in the ancient world by other nations.

To regard the Sabbath purely as a sign of God's covenant with Israel is to isolate one of the ten commandments as possessing a different genre from the other nine which are universally regarded as being moral and permanent. But surely this is to put asunder what God has joined together ! As we have seen, the decalogue was clearly distinguished from the ceremonial laws. How strange then that the Sabbath should have been misplaced ! The fact that Scripture tends to regard the moral law as an organic unity--to keep one commandment is to keep all and to break one is to break all--should warn us against imposing arbitrary divisions.

To regard the fourth commandment as possessing the same moral genre as the other nine is not to deny that there were aspects of Sabbath legislation which were indeed purely ceremonial or civic and, therefore, of temporary validity. There were, after all, ceremonial and civic ramifications of most of the ten commandments, e.g. the Mosaic regulations governing the offence of adultery. Into this category fell the regulations governing the Sabbath sacrifices, new moon Sabbaths, the Sabbatical year, and the sanction of capital punishment for Sabbath-breaking (Exodus 35·2; cf·Numbers 15·35). Indeed some of the Sinaitic legislation surrounding the Sabbath probably fell into desuetude after the nomadic life of the wilderness years had passed, The prohibition to leave one's tent (Exodus 16.29) was specifically related to the gathering of manna which ceased at the conquest, and the prohibition to kindle a fire (Exodus 35·3) should probably also be understood against the background of life in the desert. Apparently not even the Sadduccees and the Pharisees considered it applicable in the cold wintry conditions of the Judean highlands, for Josephus, the Jewish historian of the first century, informs us that only the Essenes regarded Exodus 35·3 as perpetually binding.

SABBATH TYPOLOGY

We must now consider the argument that the typological use of the Sabbath implies its temporary validity. It is alleged that this places it in the same shadowy and preliminary category as the levitical sacrifices and laws on diet and hygiene. Now, as we have already seen, there are aspects of the Old Testament Sabbath which indeed have been fulfilled in Christ and are in consequence, no longer binding. But this cannot be said of the Sabbath institution as such, on typological grounds, for two reasons. First, in its original authorization there was nothing shadowy or typical of salvation. Man was unfallen, so as yet there was no need of salvation. Originally Sabbath typology was exclusively eschatological; only after the Fall did it assume soteriological significance. Second, while the writer to the Hebrews argues strongly that the sacrificial types have been completely fulfilled and done away with once for all in the death of Christ, in contrast he insists that the spiritual rest symbolized in the Sabbath still falls short in this life of complete fulfilment--' So then, there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God' (Hebrews 4:9,RSV).

It is helpful to compare the Sabbath with marriage in this regard.Both are creation ordinances, and, therefore, instituted before there was any need of redemption. Both were later taken as types of the end of salvation, the Sabbath of the eternal rest purchased for the people of God by Christ, and marriage of the union between the end of salvation, the Sabbath of the eternal rest purchased for the people of God by Christ, and marriage of the union between Christ and his church (Ephesians 5·32)· On the principle that the type remains until the antitype has come, both have continued and will continue as spiritual, viable institutions until that rest and union are consummated in the new order.

THE PROPHETS AND THE SABBATH

No survey of any aspect of Old Testament morality would be complete were it to ignore the prophets of the eighth century B.C. onwards. Fearlessly they denounced all legalistic reliance on form and ceremony, insisting that if men did nor do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God, then all their religious observances would be of no avail. The Sabbath, like the sacrifices and festivals, had become for many a religious end in itself. So inevitably its abuse was denounced by Isaiah along with the abuse of the sacrifices: 'To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me! saith the Lord .... Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and the sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting' (Isaiah 1. 11-13).

In contrast one cannot but be impressed how Isaiah upholds the observance of the Sabbath as an integral part of the great moral responsibilities of man. 'Thus says the Lord: "Keep justice, and do righteousness .... Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil"' (Isaiah 56.1-2, RSV). Note how the prophet cites Sabbath keeping along with doing justice and righteousness.

Perhaps the best known Sabbatic passage in Isaiah is chapter 58.13-14 where the prophet urges us to honour the Sabbath and call it a delight. The Sabbath could not have been given a more elevated moral context, for these verses form the climax of the chapter which contains one of the most powerful moral appeals in all Scripture. The prophet 'places the keeping of the Sabbath on a level with the practice of love' (George Adam Smith, The Book of Isaiah, Vol. 2, p. 420)· The older prophet Amos similarly gives the Sabbath a strong moral focus, albeit in a negative way, when he tells us that the merchants who found its strict observance unbearable were those who trampled on the needy, who dealt deceitfully with false balances and sold the poor for a pair of shoes (Amos 8.4-6). This prophetic emphasis on the moral nature of the Sabbath commandment follows on logically from what we have already learned of the Sabbath as an integral part of the creation order and the moral decalogue. Of course, as we would expect the prophets--especially Ezekiel--also underlined the ceremonial aspects of the Sabbath as a sign of the old covenant (see Jeremiah 17.19-27; Ezekiel 20.12, 16, 20, 24; 22.8, 26; 23.28; 31·13, 17;44·24), but this does not detract from the Sabbath as a moral commandment.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SABBATH

Thus far we have established that the Sabbath was a primitive and important moral commandment in the Old Testament. We must now go on to ask what was its significance! For it was no meaningless taboo, but a 'sign' which was intended to be understood helpfully by man.

First of all, the Sabbath was a reminder of man's origin as the creation of God. Its recognition of the need for physical rest reminds us that we are made from the dust and derive our physical life from God. Along with the seven day week it reflects the rhythm of the work of creation itself, regularly reminding us that we live in an ordered cosmos.

Secondly, the Sabbath is a pointer to man's duty as the creature of God. If its provision for physical rest reminds us of our finite nature, its insistence that this rest take the form of acts of worship and service reminds us of our spiritual nature. It tells us not only that we are dust, but also that we are made in the image of God. It asserts that the worship of God is our highest human function--and that we are to worship him in the totality of our being, with our body as well as with our mind. Further, its humanitarian motif (Deut. 5·15) insists that we worship God in the totality of our relationships.

Thirdly, the Sabbath is a pointer to man's destiny. The weekly rhythm for human activity of six days of work followed by one day of rest reflects the pattern of human history. Long before it assumed a soteriological significance, the Sabbath was an eschatological symbol. It symbolized the telos, or the end, of time, reminding us that history is not an aimless existence--either as a blind chaos or an endlessly recurring cycle--but a linear development which will climax in a great consummation. Before the Fall Adam would have been reminded by the weekly Sabbath of the eternal life which he and his race were promised should they live by faith and obedience. After the Fall the Sabbath did not lose this significance, for God in his grace promised to save his people and give them, through the work of Christ, the eternal life forfeited by Adam. Had Adam's probation been successful,'then the sacramental Sabbath would have passed over into the reality it typified, and the entire subsequent course of the history of the race would have been radically different. What now is expected at the end of this world would have formed the beginning of the world-course instead' (Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology, p.'57)· This eschatological dimension of the Sabbath lies behind the prophetic vision which saw the new heavens and the new earth as a perpetual Sabbath (Isaiah 66.22-23), and is taken up in the New Testament by the writer to the Hebrews.

SABBATH OBSERVANCE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

It is a logical step to pass from consideration of what the Sabbath symbolized to how it was observed. Most commentators agree that it was observed both by rest from work and by special religious worship, but there is no unanimity as to which aspect had priority. Patrick Fairbairn argues that physical Sabbath rest, however needful and beneficial, was never meant to be an end in itself:'It is no part of the fourth commandment, fairly interpreted, to prohibit ordinary labour, excepting in so far as it tends to interfere with the proper sanctification of the time to God' (op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 143)· On the other hand, the majority Reformed Ecumenical Synod report (1972) reckons that we must understand the Sabbath command 'first of all as an order to refrain from working.'

The question at issue is, could the Sabbath be kept merely by resting? Or was participation in worship also essential to its observance? This is not a quibble, for it has an important bearing on whether the Lord's day is basically continuous with the Sabbath. If the Sabbath was a day of rest rather than of worship, and the Lord's day one of worship rather than of rest, then the case for discontinuity is strong. But if, on the other hand, the Scriptures regard both days as primarily days of worship, then there is more likelihood of a connection between them.

While it is true that the fourth commandment is consistently stated as an injunction to cease from working (Exodus 16.29, 30; 20.10; 23.12; 31.12-17; 34.21; 35·2-3; Numbers 15·32-36; Deut. 5.12-15; Nehemiah 13.15-22), it hardly follows that the day is hallowed merely by cessation of labour. We must not forget that most of the ten commandments are couched in the negative form, and that the same principle of interpretation which covers them must also surely apply to the fourth--viz., that the prohibition of one kind of works is made with a view to works of an opposite kind being performed. For example, the commands not to commit adultery or to bear false witness are truly obeyed by loving our wives or husbands, and telling the truth. Not for a moment do they imply that avoiding adultery is more important than loving one's marriage partner, or that not bearing false witness is more important than telling the truth.

Furthermore, there are many passages where Sabbath observance is inextricably bound up with worship. For example, in Leviticus 23 the Sabbath stands at the head of the list of the religious festivals of Israel. It is one of the 'appointed feasts' (RSV) and is described as a'convocation' (verses 2-3)· Numbers 28.9--I0 prescribes special sacrifices for the Sabbath in addition to the normal daily offerings (cf. 1 Chron. 23.31; 2 Chron. 2·3; 8·13; 31·3), as did also Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 45.17;46.41). The Sabbath--designed to be a joyous festival (Hosea 2.11)--is desecrated by unethical worship (Isaiah 1.12-17) as much as by unnecessary labour. The Sabbath was considered an appropriate time to consult a prophet (2 Kings 4·23)·

Finally, and most significantly of all, the divine rest upon which the Sabbath rest was patterned was certainly not a rest of inactivity. When God ceased from the work of creation immediately he was actively rejoicing over it, sustaining and governing it. The raison d'etre of the Sabbath institution was to give man a special opportunity every seventh day to enter into communion with God, sharing in his rejoicing in the works of creation (and, later, of redemption). Hence our Lord's insistence that his Father 'is always at work to this very day' (John 5·'7 NIV)·

So the worship of God seems to have been the primary aspect of true Sabbath observance. However, cessation from work, was also an integral part. The works proscribed on the Sabbath included jobs essential to Israel's economy, such as sowing and reaping (Exodus 34.21), treading the winepress, trading and carrying burdens (Nehemiah 13.15-22; Jeremiah 17.19-27).

On the other hand, the prohibition of work was not absolute. As our Lord reminded the Pharisees, the priests did extra work on the Sabbath--offering special sacrifices (Numbers 28.9-10), preparing fresh shewbread (Lev. 24·5-9; I Chron. 9·32) and circumcising infants (John 7.27-28). Such work obviously helped to sanctify the day to the Lord and was not merely permitted, but positively commanded. The same principle seems to have operated in the case of ordinary Israelites travelling to consult a man of God (2 Kings 4·23)· 2 Kings 11.4 if indicates that a state of military alert was maintained on the Sabbath, and the writer tacitly commends the action of Jehoiada the priest in organizing the coup d'etat on the Sabbath which saw the young Joash crowned, his evil grandmother assassinated and the temple of Baal razed to the ground. However, military actions such as this and the conquest of Jericho cannot be taken as indicative of normal Sabbath observance in Israel. They merely demonstrate that the Old Testament made allowances for emergency situations.

One further aspect of Old Testament Sabbath observance remains to be discussed--that is, whether the prohibition of work was extended to include cultural and recreational activities. The fact that the cultural mandate of Genesis I and 2 is regarded as part of man's work as steward of the creation strongly suggests an affirmative answer to this question. So does Isaiah 58 13-14, for there the prophet warns the people against seeking their own pleasure on the Sabbath. To do this is to tread the Sabbath underfoot. Clearly, in the prophet's view, self-centred pleasure is inconsistent with the Sabbath ethos. The delight of the Sabbath is rather to come from taking delight in the Lord Himself. The Hebrew word hephets, translated 'pleasure' in the AV and RSV, is sometimes rendered by 'business' or 'affairs' (see RSV margin and NEB), but there is no justification for departing in this passage from the primary meaning of the root which is 'to delight in.'

Our study leads us to conclude that the Westminster view of the Lord's day as the Christian Sabbath still remains the most consistent and satisfactory interpretation of all the biblical evidence available. It does not solve all the problems, but it leaves us with fewer and less serious questions than does the contrary view. Although the New Testament evidence is inconclusive, the Old Testament does explicitly assert that the Sabbath is a creation ordinance. This assertion is not contradicted in the New Testament and it helps to make both our Lord's positive approach to the Sabbath and the Gentile church's attitude to the Lord's day more intelligible than they would otherwise be.

THE SABBATH TODAY

This study would be incomplete were it to end without some attempt to approach the practical implications of Christian Sabbath observance today, so we shall try and outline briefly three biblical lines of approach.

First of all, our Lord's day observance should be characterized by obedience.

Today the predominance of Sunday work in many industries throughout the greater part of the country makes obedience to the Lord of the Sabbath no easy matter for a large number of people. Most Sunday work is done purely for economic reasons. Management wants a quicker return on its investment and workers grasp at the double pay. As a result Christian worship and service tend to be accorded a low priority. This surely illustrates why unnecessary Sunday work is considered sinful by the fourth commandment. However, some secular work on Sunday is unavoidable. Works of necessity have multiplied both with the growth of vast connurbations and their web of supporting services, and with the establishment of modern industrial plants featuring continuous processes. In these complicated situations Christian workers will seek to bear a clear witness to the Lord's day. This will not be as simple as it may appear, for if Christians are ready to benefit from the system they should be prepared to play their part in maintaining it where and when this is necessary. On the other hand, where the work is unnecessary, Christians should be prepared to stand up and be counted for the Lord of the Sabbath regardless of the economic sacrifice this may involve.

The growth of Sunday entertainments also militates against our observing the Lord's day in modern society. Commercialized amusements and sports on Sundays are inconsistent with the Christian Sabbath. Private forms of entertainment and recreation are more problematical because many regard them as a form of relaxation. However, the fact that the Sabbath rest is to be distinguished from self-centred pleasure has convinced many Christians that they should abstain from what the Shorter Catechism calls 'worldly recreations' (Answer 61) on the Lord's day in order to demonstrate in a special way their love for God and for their neighbour.

The second feature of our Sabbath keeping should be love. Jesus and Paul taught that love is the fulfilling of the law. The clear implication is that mere respect for the commandments which does not spring from grateful love to God and neighbour is fleshly legalism, not Christian obedience. This point must be made with considerable emphasis for, traditionally, in Scotland an external obedience to the fourth commandment has been regarded as the measure of the community's acceptance of the Christian way of life. Too often we may have repeated the error of the Pharisees in thinking that the commandment is honoured in some measure by sheer inactivity. We must never forget that the Sabbath commandment demands from us a response of love. A total love to God expressed in private and public worship. And a sacrificial love to our neighbour demonstrated in acts of thoughtfulness and kindness.

Thirdly, our celebration of the Lord's day should be characterized by joy. It is the day of resurrection and ascension on which the Son of God entered into his rest after completing his work of redemption. Easter Sunday is every Sunday ! Along with the Lord's Supper, the Lord's day shares the unique distinction in the New Testament of being given the Greek adjective Kuriakos, meaning 'belonging to the Lord' (i.e. Jesus). The Lord's Supper commemorates the Lord's death, and his day, his resurrection, and both are to be observed with the joy of sharing in Christ's triumphant rest as the early church did at Pentecost. The Christian Sabbath thus fulfils in the deepest sense Isaiah's challenge to call the Sabbath a delight (Isaiah 58·I3)

The Sabbath's purpose is similar to that of all the commandments. It is to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3·24)· So it becomes truly the Lord's day for us when our observance of it brings us to a greater obedience to Jesus' Lordship, to a more ardent love for his person, and to a more exquisite delight in his creation and redemption.

Bibliography

Standard commentaries on the appropriate passages of Scripture.

Acts of the Reformed Ecumenical Synod, Australia, 1972

Biblical Theology, by Geerhardus Vos, Grand Rapids, I948·

Christian Graduate, September 1973, 'Sunday, puzzling Sunday' by John Wesson.

Christian Graduate, December 1974, 'A Reply to John Wesson' by William Still.

Class Book on the Confession of Faith, by A. A. Hodge, London,1870

Confession of Faith, Edinburgh, 1955·

Foundations of the Sabbath, by B. B. Warfield, London.

Sunday, by Willy Rordorf, London.

The Christian Use of Sunday, a report by the Church and Nation Committee of the Church of Scotland, 1964.

The Covenantal Sabbath, by Francis Nigel Lee, London, 1969.

The Day of light, by H. B. Porter, London, 1960.

The Lord's Day in History, Theology and Life, by an inter-denominational group of Scottish Ministers, Edinburgh.

The Sabbath Institution, by John Murray, London, 1953·

The Typology a Scripture, Vols. I & II, by Patrick Fairbairn, Edinburgh,1870.

The Westminster Journal of Theology, XXII.2, May 1960,'The Two Tables of the Covenant,' by Meredith G. Kline.

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. R. Kittel, Grand Rapids, articles sabbaton and Ruriakos.

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My Son Chad and his girlfriend Stephanie.

My Son's Graduation.

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My Oldest Son Chad graduated from high school Friday night! He scored a couple of scholarships and will be starting college next week He is aspiring to go to the Air Force Academy and become a Pilot. He graduated a semester early and we ar very proud of him.

2005-01-14T04:22:00.000-08:00

For God and Parliament

The Christian Sabbath?

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Cont: by Fergus A.J. MacDonald M.A., B.D.

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND THE SABBATH

Turning from the gospels to the Acts and the epistles, we find that the seventh day appears not to have been generally observed in the Christian Church. The general rule in all churches - Jewish and Gentile - was for believers to meet together for worship and fellow- ship on the first day. The questions we must seek to answer is this: Does this abandonment of the seventh day in favour of the first indicate the end of the Sabbath?

SEVEN-DAY WEEK

In reply we must, first of all, bear in mind that the new arrangement retained the Sabbath principle of one day in seven. The Lord's day was observed once every seven days, not once every three or every ten. This is more significant than it may appear at first sight, for it indicates that although the Jewish seven-day Sabbath was not laid upon the Gentile churches, the Jewish seven day week was. In the New Testament era the seven day week was not observed outside of Semitic and Egyptian spheres of influence. The Romans had for centuries followed a clumsy threefold division of the twenty-eight day month and the evidence available to us suggests that the seven day week was not adopted throughout the Roman empire until late in the first century. So H. P. Porter is almost certainly correct in his assertion that,'The Corinthians would not have known what the First Day was unless he (Paul) had taught them' (Day of Light, p.I8). Apparently the churches of Galatia were similarly instructed (1 Cor.16.1). The seven-day week was determined by the Sabbath, and it is difficult to see why the week should be retained if the Sabbatic principle of one day in seven specially dedicated to the Lord was not still valid. If, as will be argued later, both the Sabbatic principle and the seven-day week are creation ordinances and, therefore, valid for ail men in all ages of history, then Paul's action makes sense. On the other hand if these were not creation ordinances, as some maintain, we are presented with the very tricky problem of explaining why Paul should arbitrarily foist a purely Jewish convention on the Gentile churches, thus contradicting all that he said against the Judaizers.

It is possible, of course, that the adoption of the seven day planetary week throughout the Roman empire may have been earlier than known sources indicate. If so Paul's action could readily be understood in terms of prevailing custom. But even if this were the case we must ask why in Gentile churches--in Galatia, Corinth, Troas--the Jewish designation 'first day' was used instead of the

Gentile designation 'Sunday'? Furthermore, Sunday was not the first, bur the second, day of the planetary week which began on Saturday,-Saturn being regarded as the most powerful planet. Although the Christian church very soon accepted the names of days from the planetary week it resisted tenaciously that week's sequence, insisting that Sunday, and not Saturday, was the first day.

Although the New Testament has no explicit command to worship on the first day, this was undoubtedly the custom of the apostles and the early church. Their example should be sufficiently authoritative for us. Almost certainly an apostolic command lies behind this early practice. In Luke's account of Paul's visit to the church in Troas (Acts 20.6-12) we read that 'upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them.' The vocabulary--'came together,''to break bread,' 'preached'--implies Christian worship. The reference in the Corinthian letter to the collection for the famine-stricken Christians in Judea indicates that the Christian use of the day focused on service to one's fellows as well as on the worship of God--a striking correspondence with our Lord's use of the Sabbath. This is surely more than coincidence and warns us against dismissing out of hand the possibility of a connection between the Sabbath and the Lord's Day simply because this is not explicitly made by the New Testament.

LEGALISTIC SABBATARIANISM

Other evidence in favour of regarding the Sabbath as obsolete is allegedly found in Paul's teaching that for first-generation Jewish Christians, Sabbath observance is a matter of indifference (Rom. 14·5-6), and that for Gentile Christians it is tantamount to apostacy (Col. 2.16; Gal. 4·10).

One cannot be absolutely certain that Paul is here referring to the weekly Sabbath. The Colossian reference is to sabbaths in the plural, and in Galatians and Romans the more general term 'days' is used. Accordingly, some maintain that the references are to Jewish holy days other than the weekly Sabbath. But, although these days may have been included, it is more likely that the seventh day Sabbath is principally in view. The Greek plural sabbata signified a single Sabbath day when it reflected the Aramaic singular sabatha' (cf. Mark 1.21; 2.23; 3:2-4), and its singular coordinatesa a'feast' (AV 'holyday') and 'new moon' in Colossians suggest that this is the case here. Therefore, Fairbairn, Lightfoot and many others are probably correct in seeing the primary reference to be to weekly Sabbath days. There are, however, certain factors which make it precarious to read into these apostolic condemnations of Sabbatarianism the end of the Sabbath.

There is, for example, their background. Judaizers were seeking to impose Jewish customs on Gentile converts to Christ as conditions of their salvation. So what Paul is dealing with in these passages is not so much Sabbath observance as Sabbath perversion, which, we must recall, was as much a heresy under the Old Covenant as under the New (cf. Isaiah 1·13)· Again, the general term 'days' in Galatians and Romans might be used with equal force against Lord's day observance as against Sabbath observance. But these passages can hardly mean that no day at all was to be specially observed in the churches, for Paul instructed the Galatians and the Corinthians to assemble on the first day (1 Cor. 16.1-2), and, although he was in Troas for seven days, it was on the first day that he and the disciples there met together for worship (Acts 20.6--7).

SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME

Colossians 2.16-17 classifies the Sabbath along with the dietary laws and ceremonial festivals of the old covenant as 'a shadow of things to come.' On the most natural reading of his words, Paul is saying that the Sabbath has been fulfilled in Christ. For him to say this of Jewish food and festivals is readily understandable in the light of our Lord's teaching on these matters. But not so his inclusion of the Sabbath, for, as we have seen, Jesus reaffirmed its divine authority and its humanitarian purpose. Are Jesus and Paul then in disagreement! Not if we see in Colossians 2.16 a reference to the Seventh-day Sabbath only.'The Sabbath is here regarded not as it was primevally (Gen. 2.3) 'made for man' (Mark 2.27) ... but as it was adopted to be a symbolic institution of the Mosaic Covenant, and expressingly adapted to the relation between God and Israel (Exodus 31.12-17). In that respect the Sabbath was abrogated.' (H. C. G. Moule, Cambridge Bible, Colossians and Philemon, pp. I09 f.). Because of its role as a sign of the old covenant 'it became necessary to assign to such Sabbaths--the Jewish seventh day of rest-a place among the things that were done away, and so far to change the ordinance itself as to transfer it to a different day, and even call it by a new name' (Patrick Fairbairn, The Typology of Scripture, Vol. 2, p. 147)·

This interpretation of Colossians 2.16 is confirmed by the terms of Hebrews 4.9 which suggest that Christ's fulfilment of the Sabbath is not yet absolute and final. 'There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God' (RSV). The great day of rest--the eternal Sabbath--although come in Christ, is not yet fully come.

When we look back over the ground we have covered in this section, what pattern emerges! First, that the Christian church adopted the seven day week of the Jews. Second, that it observed one day in seven--the first day--as the Lord's day. Third, that what we know of the church's activities on this day corresponds strikingly with the twin emphasis on worship and service of our Lord's Sabbath observance. Fourth, the Sabbath has been fulfilled in Christ, but is not yet consummated in the eternal rest of the people of God.

We feel that the cumulative effect of this evidence points towards the identification of the Lord's day with the Christian Sabbath. But it would be a rash person who would claim that thus far the case is proved. Nowhere does the New Testament explicitly record the Fourth commandment. Nor does it command Christians to rest from work on the Lord's day. This silence may well be explained by the impracticability of first day Christian rest in a hostile society. But we cannot be sure. For this reason it is impossible, from the New Testament itself, to assert with certaintythat the Lord's day is the Christian Sabbath.

The Christian Sabbath?

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Continued: by Fergus A.J. MacDonald M.A., B.D.

The New Testament

In order to ascertain the New Testament's attitude to the Sabbath we shall have to look, in turn, at the teaching and practice of Jesus, and the teaching and practice of the early church.

JESUS AND THE SABBATH

The conflicts between James and the Scribes and Pharisees over the Sabbath are prominently reported in all four gospels. Obviously the evangelists were of the opinion that this was an important matter on which young converts (for whose instruction the gospels were originally written) should be informed. These conflicts revolved round two issues. First, the incident in the cornfields when the disciples plucked the ears of grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2.22-28; Matt. 12:1-8; Luke 6.I-5). And second, the various healing miracles performed by Jesus on the Sabbath.'There are seven such miracles recorded--the cripple at the pool of Bethesda (John 5·1-6), the demoniac in the synagogue at Capernaum (Mark 1.21-28), Peter's mother-in-law (Mark 1.29-3I), the man with the withered hand (Mark 3.1-6), the blind man at Siloam (John 9:I-4I) the woman with the spirit of infirmity (Luke 13.11-17), and the man with the dropsy (Luke 14·1-6). In the cornfields incident it is the disciples who were accused of Sabbath breaking; in the case of the Sabbath miracles it is the Lord himself. These events, along with the sayings of Jesus which they gave rise to, provide us with a considerable amount of evidence on which to decide whether Jesus ratified or abrogated the Sabbath.

DID JESUS ABROGATE THE SABBATH!

The article on sabbaton in Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament maintains that the dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees following the healing of the cripple at Bethesda (John 5) affords conclusive proof that Jesus abolished the Sabbath. Verse 18 is regarded as crucial:'therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his father, making himself equal with God.' The Greek verb luo, which literally means 'to loose,' and is translated here as 'broken,' sometimes means 'to abrogate,' as, e.g. in Matt. 5·19 (RSV (relax,' NEB 'set aside'). It is contended that this must be the meaning here since Jesus justifies his healing on the Sabbath by asserting that God the Father works on the Sabbath,'My Father worketh hitherto and I work' (v. 17)· The argument is that Jesus revokes the Sabbath commandment by declaring that God is working on the Sabbath, and not resting as the commandment assumes. This repeal of a divine commandment led to the Jewish charge of making himself equal with God.

However, this interpretation of John 5 is open to very serious question. Let us look at the facts in turn. First, the meaning of the verb luo. Most English translations understand it here in the sense in which it is used in 7.23--also in relation to the Sabbath-of 'to infringe.' The use of the imperfect tense ('was breaking') supports this, and suggests that the verb refers to Jesus' habitual action of healing on the Sabbath rather than to the saying in the previous verse specifically spoken on this occasion.

Secondly, the statement that Jesus broke the Sabbath is not the opinion of the Fourth Evangelist, but of the Jews.

Thirdly, the charge that Jesus claimed equality with God should probably be distinguished from that of breaking the Sabbath ('not only ... but also'). The saying in v. 17 in which Jesus puts his activity on a par with the Father's would have provided sufficient grounds in the Pharisees' eyes for formulating the charge of blasphemy.

Fourthly, had Jesus abrogated the Sabbath we would expect him to have been charged with this offence at his trial. But in fact his enemies found it impossible to sustain a genuine charge of any kind.

Fifthly, if Jesus did abrogate the Sabbath on this occasion, then the manner in which he did this is in sharp contradiction to his declared relationship to the Old Testament law. He came to fulfil the law, not to destroy it (Matt.5:17)· When this messianic fulfilment took the form of rendering the ceremonial aspects of the law unnecessary and obsolete, it was always on the grounds that with his coming their preparatory role had been exhausted, and never that he questioned or denied their original divine authorization. Surely, then, it would be most surprising to find him here abrogating the Sabbath in terms of contradiction rather than of fulfilment! But in fact there is no contradiction. Jesus is simply reminding the Pharisees that God's Sabbath rest involves his preserving and governing the completed creation, and that in consequence he himself is perfectly justified in sustaining created life on the Sabbath day.

This dialogue in John 5 illustrates well the fundamental rift between Jesus and many of his contemporaries on Sabbath observance. For them Sabbath observance was essentially cessation from all avoidable activity. But Jesus saw it as a day for doing the work of God. Deliberately and regularly he defied the scribal law by tending non-emergency cases of illness on the Sabbath. His quarrel was with the Scribes and Pharisees, not with the fourth commandment itself.

DID JESUS RATIFY THE SABBATH?

We must now enquire whether there is positive evidence that our Lord ratified the Sabbath. It is clear that he and his disciples regularly attended the synagogue on the Sabbath and that he often preached during the service (Mark 1.21-22; 1·39; 6.2; Luke 4.16-21; 13.10; John 6.59; 15.20). And his several sayings about the Sabbath suggest that this practice involved much more than religious convention and evangelistic opportunism.

The climax of the group of Jesus' sayings which arose out of the cornfields incident is undoubtedly the sentence,'the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.' It is recorded by all three synoptic gospels and may be alluded to in the fourth (John 9·35)· Closely associated with it is the well-known saying (recorded only by Mark),'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath' (Mark 2.27). The sayings found in the Sabbath healing accounts are perhaps summed up by that uttered immediately before the healing of the man with the withered hand,'It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath' (Mart. 12.12 RSV). These three sayings encapsulate Jesus' teaching on the Sabbath, and a close study of them in their contexts will show that he believed that the Sabbath possessed both a divine authority and a humanitarian purpose.

First of all, Jesus' emphasis on the divine authority of the Sabbath. His declaration that 'the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath' was made in order to explain by what authority he had pronounced his disciples 'guiltless' (Matt. 12.7) after the Pharisees had accused them of doing 'that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day' (Matt. 12.2). He asserts his messianic Lordship of the Sabbath over against the authority claimed by the Scribes to determine what is lawful and what is unlawful on the Sabbath. According to the Scribes, the disciples were guilty of Sabbath-breaking on four counts--they were reaping, they were threshing-for they plucked the ears of grain (Matt. 12.1)-they were winnowing ('rubbing them in their hands,' Luke 6.1), and they were preparing a meal. They argued that the Mosaic prohibitions of these activities on the

Sabbath, by implication condemned the disciples' action.

Clearly our Lord rejects this legalistic form of casuistry. But he does much more. He is in fact challenging the right of the Scribes to take it upon themselves to legislate for conscience. It is not they, but the Son of Man, who is Lord of the Sabbath, he reminds them. By adding to what was divinely written they were usurping the divine sovereignty over the Sabbath. So as God's special re-presentative (the term 'Son of Man' is a messianic designation) Jesus asserts the divine sovereignty over the Sabbath.

Furthermore, Jesus found support for his acquittal of the disciples in the Scriptures. He cites three Old Testament passages in support of his more liberal interpretation of Sabbath observance. First, he refers to the account in 1 Samuel 21.6 Of David's eating the shewbread when in dire hunger (Matt. 12·3)· The incident was relevant not only on account of the parallel between David's hunger and that of the disciples (Matt. 12.1), but also because it, too, probably took place on the Sabbath. According to Leviticus 24·8 the supply of shewbread was to be replaced with fresh bread every Sabbath, and the I Samuel reference suggests that this had been done on the day of David's arrival. Next, Jesus alludes to passages such as Numbers 28.9-10 which prescribed extra sacrifices for the Sabbath involving the priests in additional Sabbath work (Matt.12.5-6). Thirdly, he quotes Hosea 6.6,'I desire mercy and not sacrifice' (Matt. 12.7). This three-fold appeal to the Word of God underlines Jesus acknowledgment of the divine authority of the day of rest.

Jesus' second emphasis was on the humanitarian purpose of the Sabbath. 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath' (Mark 2.27) 'It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days' (Matt. 12.12). Divine in origin, the Sabbath is humanitarian in purpose.

Our Lord is recalling that the Sabbath was given to help man in his physical weakness. Our physical constitution is such that we cannot live without the rest and recuperation which the Sabbath affords us. It is God's gift to us in our frailty. Thus the Pharisees are condemned by Jesus for perpetuating hunger by their Sabbath observance. It should be noted that the Greek verb peinao used in Matthew 12:1 indicates that the disciples were famishing, not merely peckish. The quotation of Hosea 6.6 makes it clear that in our Lord's view the Sabbath for the Pharisees was no longer an instrument of mercy, but a ritual in its own right, an end in itself, just as the sacrifices had become in the prophet's time.

Similarly Christ's deliberate choice of the Sabbath as a day particularly suited to healing, confirms this humanitarian aspect. It is a day for doing good. We fall into the error of the Pharisees if, when thinking of the Sabbath observance, we place 'works of mercy' on a level with 'works of necessity.' Works of necessity are unavoidable, but the works of mercy in which our Lord engaged were not. For him the Sabbath was a day particularly suited to performing works of mercy. He declared that the woman with an infirmity for eighteen years 'ought' to be loosed from her bond on the Sabbath day (Luke

13.16). To do well on the Sabbath is lawful not because it is permitted, but because it is commanded.

However, Jesus did not view the humanitarian purpose of the Sabbath only--or even principally--in terms of physical rest and healing. After all he taught that man cannot live by bread alone (Mart. 4·4). So we find him commending not only work which mediates mercy to the hungry and the ill as appropriate to the

Sabbath, but also the work which is involved in worship. In the temple the priests profane the Sabbath, but, like his disciples in the cornfields, they are 'guiltless' (Av 'blameless'; the RSV preserves in English the link between verses 5 and 7 by translating the same Greek word 'guiltless' in both instances). A related saying is found in John 7·23 where Jesus reminds his enemies that the work involved in circumcising male infants born eight days previous to any Sabbath is justified in order that the ceremonial law be fulfilled.

The worship aspect of Sabbath observance played a relatively minor role in the Sabbath conflicts of Jesus not because Jesus considered it to be of lesser importance, but because it was not in dispute.

The keynote of Jesus' teaching and practice on the Sabbath seems to have been 'reform' rather than 'repeal,' for again and again he sought to purge it of Pharisaic distortions and restore it to its original spiritual purpose.

Of course, some would argue that the evidence of the gospels is of little importance to us, since, in his conflicts with the Jews, Jesus was simply meeting men on their own grounds. While it is conceivable that Jesus may have done this on occasion, to claim that this technique played a prominent role in his teaching method is surely to make him guilty of the slick oratory and mental adroitness which Paul shunned as utterly unworthy of the Christian message (1 Cor. 1·17 ff.). In fact Jesus relied no less on the authority of the

Scriptures in his Sabbath teaching than in his own spiritual life, whether when facing the devil in the wilderness, or bearing the wrath of God upon the cr

The Christian Sabbath?

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Continued: by A.J. Fergus MacDonald M.A., B.D.

Principles of interpretation

Our first task is to define the basic principles of interpreting the Bible, with special reference to its division into two distinct testaments or dispensations, with their differing religious orders and institutions. Under the old covenant the church was a nation, and it looked forward to the coming of the Messiah (or the Christ). In contrast, under the new covenant the church is no longer a nation but a voluntary society composed of those from all nations who profess faith in Jesus as the Christ. This contrast is sharpened by the discontinuation in the New Testament church of many of the Old Testament forms of worship.

The difference between the old and the new dispensations must not, however, be exaggerated. When the New Testament speaks of the new covenant it nearly always uses the Greek word meaning 'renewed,' rather than that meaning 'completely different.' There is continuity as well as discontinuity. For example, the simple form of synagogue worship became the pattern for Christian worship, and the Old Testament institution of the eldership was adopted by the Christian church, even in Gentile areas.

But the line between what was to be discontinued and what was to be carried over was not always cear. How then are we to approach this area of uncertainty! Are there any criteria by which we may distinguish the permanent from the merely preparatory, commands ofthe Old Testament!

A Commentary on the Confession of Faith by A. A. Hodge offers some very helpful guidance here:'(I) When the continued obligation of any commandment is asserted or practically recognized in the New Testament, it is plain that the change of dispensations has made no change in the law .... On the other hand, when the enactment is explicitely repealed, or its abrogation implied by what is taught in the New Testament, the case is also made plain. (2) Where there is no direct information upon the question to be gathered from the New Testament, a careful examination of the reason of the law will afford us good ground of judgment as to its perpetuity. If the original reason for its enactment is universal and permanent, and the law has never been explicitely repealed, then the law abides in force. If the reason of the law is transient, its binding force is transient also' (p. 255)· These two principles rightly assume that the New Testament, as the later and fuller revelation, is to interpret the Old for us.

Let us see how Hedge's principles work. On the basis of the first principle, we are, for example, to regard the eighth commandment as still binding because of Mart. 5.21-26, but the prohibition of 'unclean' food as having been relaxed because of Mark 7.I9b (RSV 'Thus he declared all foods clean'). On the basis of the second principle, the requirement of Deuteronomy 22.8 to build parapets on the roofs of houses, while no longer literally obligatory, does impose on us the duty to ensure personal safety on our property. However, many of the civil laws of Israel--e.g. the prohibition to wear garments of mixed cloth (Deut. 22.II)--and all the ceremonial ritual regulations, relate only to the historical setting and religious circumstances of the time, and, therefore, are not binding on the Christian.

We must now apply these two criteria to the Sabbath. So, first of all we must ask, Does the New Testament rarify or abrogate the Sabbath! And, if this question cannot be answered with certainty, we will have to go on to ask a second, Was the original reason for the Sabbath commandment permanent or transient'

The Christian Sabbath?

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Should Christians view Sunday as the Sabbath Day?

Part One: More to follow.

The Lord's Day

Fergus A.J. MacDonald M.A., B.D.

In Scotland Sunday is traditionally known as 'the Sabbath,' as well as 'the Lord's Day,' because the Scottish church, for at least three hundred years, has recognized the Lord's Day as the continuation into the New Covenant of the Old Testament Sabbath, albeit with certain modifications. This position is summed up by the Westminster Confession of Faith as follows: 'As it is of the law of nature, that, in general, a proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in His Word, by a positive, moral and perpetual commandment, binding men in all ages, He hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath, to be kept holy unto Him; which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which in Scripture is called the Lord's Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath' (XXI.7).

Recent years have seen a gradual, but radical, shift from this position, culminating in 1964 in the acceptance by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland of the report prepared by its Church and Nation Committee on The Christian Use of Sunday. This report drew a fairly sharp distinction between the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday concluding that,'the evidence of the New Testament for observing the Lord's Day as a day entirely distinct from the Sabbath, both in origin and purpose, is very strong.

This growing tendency to regard the Sabbath as exclusively an Old Covenant institution and altogether different from the Lord's Day is by no means confined to Scotland or the British Isles. For several years a Committee of the Reformed Ecumenical Synod which embraces 36 churches with a world-wide membership of some five million, has been studying this problem. The majority of the Committee which reported to the 1972 Synod introduced their section of the report as follows: 'We as members who sign this report have been reared in churches which regarded Sunday as the Christian Sabbath. And we are not asking Synod to reject this view. But we feel compelled to point out that there are certain weaknesses in this doctrine which should make us hesitant to impose it upon the churches as the will of the Lord.'

This tendency leads, in turn, to a more liberal form of Lord's Day observance. The majority of the RES Committee went on to assert.that, while Christians will desire to interrupt all their ordinary activities on the Lord's Day, 'nevertheless, ordinary activities do not become sinful because they are performed on the Sunday.' The Westminster Confession rakes a different view:'This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations; but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercise of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy' (XXI.8).

In the face of this growing tendency to question the Westminster view of the Sabbath within churches which have traditionally upheld it, we must ask what is to be the reaction of the Free Church of Scotland which, from its inception in 1843 has unambiguously upheld the Lord's Day as the Christian Sabbath?

First of all, we must resist the temptation to resort to censorious criticism as a substitute for courteous Christian debate. To yield to it would be to repeat the mistake of the Pharisees who so devastatingly belie the simplistic equation that strictness equals correctness.

Secondly, and more positively, we must look again at the Scriptures in an effort to study the whole problem afresh, praying that the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus has given to his church to lead her into the truth might make clear the will of the Lord in this matter. The Scriptures alone are our ultimate authority.

Thirdly, we must recognize that this difference of opinion regarding the Sabbath arises from what appears to be a tension within the New Testament itself. On the one hand Paul calls it a shadow of things to come now fulfilled in Christ, while on the other, the apostolic church followed a seven-day week and observed the first day as belonging specially to Christ.

Fourthly, it should disturb us that Christians are divided in their understanding of the mind of Christ in relation to one of the ten commandments. The fact that some aspects of Scriptural truth are not immediately clear is no reason for abdicating our responsibility to seek a common understanding of them. Should we not see this, then, as a divinely-given challenge to our faith to claim the guid ance of the Spirit according to Jesus' promises