There is a wonderful pamphlet titled, “Honey Out of the Rock,” by Puritan Thomas Wilcox that I read today. Read it and allow yourself the pleasures of rich and sweet ancient wisdom!
Pastor Bill
Honey Out of the Rock by Thomas Wilcox (1621-1687)
“But I would feed you with the best of foods.
I would satisfy you with honey from the rock."
Psalm 81:16
A word of advice to my own heart and yours. You are a religious person and partake of all the ordinances. You do well: they are glorious privileges: but if you have not the blood of Christ at the root of your religion, it will wither, and prove but painted pageantry to go to hell in.
If you retain guilt and self-righteousness under it, those vipers will eat out all the vitals of it at length. Try and examine with greatest strictness every day, what ground your religion and hope of glory is built upon, whether it was laid by the hand of Christ. If not, it will never be able to endure the storm that must come against it; Satan will throw it all down, and great will be the fall thereof (Matt 7:27).
You that glory in being a Christian, you shall be winnowed. Every vein of your profession will be tried to purpose. It is terrible to have it all come tumbling down, and to find nothing but itself to stand upon.
You who pride yourself on being a Christian, see to your waxen wings, which now will melt with the heat of temptation. What a misery is it to trade much, and be bankrupt at length, and have no stock, no foundation laid for eternity in your soul!
You who pride yourself on the gifts you have, look to see there is not a worm at the root that will spoil all your fine gourd, and make it die about you in a day of scorching. Look over your soul daily, and ask: Where is the blood of Christ to be seen upon my soul? What righteousness is it that I stand upon to be saved? Have I got away from all my self-righteousness? Many eminent religious people have come at length to cry out, in the sight of the ruin of all their duties, “Undone, undone, to all eternity!”
Consider, the greatest sins may be hid under the greatest duties, and the greatest terrors. See that the wound that sin has made in your soul be perfectly cured by the blood of Christ! not skinned over with duties, humblings and enlargements. Apply what you will besides the blood of Christ, it will poison the sore. You will find that sin was never mortified truly, if you have not seen Christ bleeding for you upon the cross. Nothing can kill it, but beholding Christ’s righteousness.
Nature can afford no balsam fit for soul cure. Healing from duty, and not from Christ, is the most desperate disease. Poor, ragged nature, with all its highest improvements, can never spin a garment fine enough (without spot) to cover the soul’s nakedness. Nothing can fit the soul for that use but Christ’s perfect righteousness.
Whatsoever is of nature’s spinning must be all unraveled before the righteousness of Christ can be put on. Whatever is of nature’s putting on, Satan will come and plunder every rag away, and leave the soul naked and open to the wrath of God. All that nature can do, will never make up the least gram of grace, that can mortify sin, or look Christ in the face one day.
You are known as a Christian person, and go on hearing, praying and receiving, yet miserable you may be. Look about you: did you ever yet see Christ to this day, in distinction from all other excellencies and righteousness in the world, and all of them falling before the majesty of His love and grace (Isa 2:17)?
If you have seen Christ truly, you have seen pure grace, pure righteousness in Him in every way infinite, far exceeding all sin and misery. If you have seen Christ, you can trample upon all the righteousness of men and angels, so as to bring you into acceptance with God. If you have seen Christ, you would not do a duty without Him for ten thousand worlds (I Cor 2:2). If ever you saw Christ, you saw him as a Rock, higher than self-righteousness, Satan, and sin (Psalm 61:2), and this Rock follows you (I Cor 10:4); and there will be continual dropping of honey and grace out of that Rock to satisfy you (Psalm 81:16). Examine if ever you have beheld Christ as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Be sure you have come to Christ, that you stand upon the Rock of Ages, and have answered to His call to your soul, and have closed with Him for justification.
Men talk bravely of believing, while whole and sound; but few know it. Christ is the mystery of the Scripture; grace the mystery of Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world. Put any thing of your own to it, and you spoil it. Christ will not so much as look at it for believing. When you believe and come to Christ, you must leave behind you your own righteousness, and bring nothing but your sin: (Oh, that is hard!) leave behind all your holiness, sanctification, duties, humblings, and so on; and bring nothing but your needs and miseries, or else Christ is not fit for you, nor you for Christ. Christ will be a pure Redeemer and Mediator, and you must be an undone sinner, or Christ and you will never agree. It is the hardest thing in the world to take Christ alone for righteousness: that is to acknowledge Him Christ. Join any thing to Him of your own, and you un-Christ Him.
Whatever comes in when you go to God for acceptance, besides Christ, call it anti-Christ; bid it be gone; make only Christ’s righteousness triumphant. All besides that is Babylon, which must fall if Christ stand, and you shall rejoice in the day of the fall thereof (Isa 14:4). Christ alone did tread the winepress, and there was none with Him (Isa 63:3). If you join anything to Christ, Christ will trample upon it in fury and anger, and stain His garments with the blood of it. You think it easy to believe. Was ever your faith tried with an hour of temptation, and a thorough sight of sin? Was it ever put to grapple with Satan, and the wrath of God lying upon the conscience, when you were in the mouth of hell and the grave? Then did God show you Christ a ransom and a righteousness; then you could say, “Oh! I see grace enough in Christ.” You may say that which is the greatest word in the world, believe. Untried faith is uncertain faith.
To truly believe, there must be a clear conviction of sin, and the merits of the blood of Christ, and of Christ’s willingness to save upon this consideration, merely, that you are a sinner. These things are harder than to make a world. All the power in nature cannot get up so high in a storm of sin and guilt as really to believe there is any grace, any willingness in Christ to save. When Satan charges sin upon the conscience, then for the soul to charge it upon Christ, that is gospel-like; that is to make Him Christ. He serves for that use, to accept Christ’s righteousness alone, His blood alone for salvation, that is the sum of the gospel. When the soul, in all duties and distress, can say, “Nothing but Christ, Christ alone, for righteousness, justification, sanctification, redemption” (I Cor 1:30); not my humblings, not my duties, not my graces; then that soul has got above the reach of the billows.
All temptations, Satan’s advantages, and our complaining, are laid in self-righteousness, and self-excellency. God pursues these, by setting Satan upon you, as Laban did Jacob for his images. These must be torn from you, be as unwilling as you will. These hinder Christ from coming in; and until Christ comes in, guilt will not go out; and where guilt is, there is hardness of heart; and therefore much guilt argues very little if anything of Christ.
When guilt is raised up, take heed of getting it quieted in any way but by Christ’s blood: that will tend to hardening. Make Christ your peace; “for he is our peace” (Eph 2:14); not your duties and your tears, Christ your righteousness, not your graces. You may destroy Christ by duties, as well as by sins. Look at Christ, and do as much as you will. Stand with all your weight upon Christ’s righteousness. Take heed of having one foot on your righteousness, another on Christ’s. Until Christ come and sit on high upon a throne of grace in the conscience, there is nothing but guilt, terrors, secret suspicions; the soul hanging between hope and fear, which is an ungospel-like state.
He that fears to see sin’s utmost vileness, the utmost hell of his own heart, he suspects the merits of Christ. Be you ever such a great sinner (I John 2:1); try Christ to make Him your Advocate, and you shall find Him Jesus Christ the righteous. In all doubting, fears, storms of conscience, look at Christ continually, do not argue with Satan, he desires nothing good for you; bid him go to Christ, and He will answer him. It is His office to be our Advocate (I John 2:1), His office to answer law as our Surety (Heb 7:22), His office to answer justice as our Mediator (Gal 3:20; I Tim 2:5); and He is sworn to that office (Heb 7:20,21). Put Christ upon it. If you will do anything yourself, as to satisfaction for sin, you renounce Christ the righteous, who was made sin for you (II Cor 5:21).
Satan may bring forward and corrupt Scripture, but he cannot answer Scripture. It is Christ’s word of mighty authority. Christ foiled Satan with it (Matt 4:7). In all the Scripture there is not an ill word against a poor sinner stripped of self-righteousness. No! it plainly points out this man to be the subject of the grace of the gospel, and none else. Believe but Christ’s willingness, and that will make you willing. If you find you cannot believe, remember it is Christ’s work to make you believe. Put Him upon it; He works to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). Mourn for your unbelief, for unbelief is but a setting up of guilt in the conscience above Christ, and undervaluing the merits of Christ, accounting His blood an unholy, a common, and un-satisfying thing.
You complain much of yourself. Does your sin make you look more at Christ, less at yourself? That is right, or else complaining is but hypocrisy. To be looking at duties, graces, enlargements, when you should be looking at Christ, that is pitiful. Looking at them will make you proud; looking at Christ’s grace will only make you humble. By grace you are saved (Eph 2:5). In all your temptations be not discouraged (James 1:2). Those scourges may be not to break you, but to heave you off yourself upon the Rock, Christ.
You may be brought low, even to the brink of hell, ready to tumble in; you cannot be brought lower than the belly of hell. Many saints have been there, even doused in hell; yet even then you may cry, even there you may look toward the holy temple (Jonah 2:4). Into that temple none might enter but purified ones, and with an offering too (Acts 21:26). But now Christ is our temple, sacrifice, altar, high priest, to whom none must come but sinners, and that without any offering, but His own blood once offered (Heb 7:27).
Remember all the patterns of grace that are in heaven. You think, oh, what a monument of grace you would like to be! There are many thousands as rich monuments as you can be. The greatest sinner did never pass the grace of Christ. Do not despair. Hope still. When the clouds are blackest, even then look towards Christ, the standing pillar of the Father’s love and grace, set up in heaven for all sinners to gaze upon continually. Whatever Satan or conscience say, do not conclude against yourself, Christ shall have the last word. He is Judge of quick and dead, and must pronounce the final sentence. His blood speaks reconciliation (Col 1:20); cleansing (I John 1:7); purchase (Acts 20:28); redemption (I Peter 1:19); purging (Heb 9:13,14); remission (Heb 9:22); liberty (Heb 10:19); justification (Rom 5:9); nearness to God (Eph 2:13). Not a drop of this blood shall be lost. Stand and hear what God will say, for He will speak peace to His people, that they return no more to folly (Psalm 85:8). He speaks grace, mercy and peace (II Tim 1:2). That is the language of the Father and of Christ. Wait for Christ’s appearing, as the morning star (Rev 22:16). He shall come as certainly as the morning, as refreshing as the rain (Hosea 6:3).
The sun may as well be hindered from rising as Christ the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2). Look not a moment off from Christ. Look not upon sin, but look upon Christ first. When you mourn for sin, if you see Christ then, away with it (Zech 12:10). In every duty look at Christ; before duty to pardon; in duty to assist; after duty to accept. Without this it is but carnal, careless duty. Do not legalize the gospel, as if part remained for you to do and suffer, and Christ were but half a Mediator and you must bear part of your own sin, and make part satisfaction. Let sin break your heart, but not your hope in the gospel.
Look more at justification than sanctification. In the highest commands consider Christ, not as an exacter to require, but a debtor, committed to work according to His promise. If you have looked at word, duties and qualifications, more than at the merits of Christ, it will cost you dear. No wonder you go about complaining; graces may be evidences, the merits of Christ alone must be the foundation of your hope to stand on. Christ only can be the hope of glory (Col 1:27).
When we come to God, we must bring nothing but Christ with us. Any ingredients, or any previous qualifications of our own, will poison and corrupt faith. He that builds upon duties, graces, etc., knows not the merits of Christ. This makes believing so hard, so far above nature. If you believe, you must every day renounce, as dung and dross (Phil 3:7,8), your privileges, your obedience, your baptism, your sanctification, your duties, your graces, your tears, your meltings, your humblings, and nothing but Christ must be held up. Every day your workings and your self-sufficiency must be destroyed. You must take all out of God’s hand. Christ is the gift of God (John 4:10). Faith is the gift of God (Eph 2:8). Pardon is a free gift (Isa 45:22). Ah, how nature storms, frets, rages at this, that all is of gift and it can purchase nothing with its acting and tears and duties, that all workings are excluded, and of no value in heaven.
If human nature had been left to contrive the way of salvation, it would have rather put it into the hands of saints or angels to sell it, than of Christ who gives it freely, whom therefore it suspects. It would have set up a way to purchase by doing; therefore it abominates the merits of Christ, as the most destructive thing to it. Nature would do anything to be saved rather than go to Christ, or close with Christ. Christ will have nothing, the soul would force something of its own upon Christ. Here is that great controversy. Consider, did you ever yet see the merits of Christ, and the infinite satisfaction made by His death? Did you see this when the burden of sin and the wrath of God lay heavy on your conscience? That is grace. The greatness of Christ’s merit is not known but to a poor soul in the greatest distress. Slight convictions will but have slight low prizing of Christ’s blood and merits.
Despairing sinner! You look on your right hand and on your left, saying, “Who will show us any good?” You are tumbling over all your duties and professions to patch up a self-righteousness to save you. Look at Christ now; look to Him and be saved all the ends of the earth (Isa 45:22). There is none else. He is a Savior, and there is none beside Him (v 21). Look anywhere else and you are undone. God will look at nothing but Christ and you must look at nothing else. Christ is lifted up on high, as the brazen serpent in the wilderness, that sinners at the ends of the earth, at the greatest distance, may see Him and look towards Him. The least sight of Him will be saving; the least touch healing to you.
And God intends that you should look on Him, for He has set Him on a high throne of glory, in the open view of all poor sinners who desire Him. You have infinite reason to look on Him, no reason at all to look away from Him: for He is meek and lowly of heart (Matt 11:29). He will do that Himself which He requires of His creature, namely bear with infirmities (Rom 15:1), not pleasing Himself, not standing upon points of law (v 2). He will restore with the spirit of meekness (Gal 6:1), and bear your burdens (v 2). He will forgive, not only until seven times, but seventy times seven (Matt 18:21,22). It hard put the faith of the apostle to it to believe this (Luke 17:4,5). Because we are hard to forgive, we think Christ is hard.
We see sin great; we think Christ does so, and measure infinite love by our own line, infinite merits with our sins, which is the greatest pride and blasphemy (Psalm 103:11,12; Isa 40:15). Hear what He says, “I have found a ransom” (Job 33:24). “In him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). God will have nothing else. Nothing else will do you good, or satisfy conscience, but Christ who satisfied the Father. God does all on account of Christ. You deserve hell, wrath, rejection: Christ’s deserving are life, pardon and acceptance. He will not only show you the one, but He will give the other. It is Christ’s own glory and happiness to pardon.
Consider, while Christ was upon the earth, He was more among Scribes and Pharisees, His professed adversaries; for they were self-righteous ones. It is not as you imagine, that His state in glory makes Him neglectful, scornful to poor sinners: no; He has the same heart now in heaven. He is God, and changes not. He is “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He went through all your temptations, dejections, sorrows, desertions, rejections (Matt 4:3-12; Mark 15:24; Luke 22:44; Matt 26:38), and has drunk the bitterest of the cup and left the sweet; the condemnation is out. Christ drank up all the Father’s wrath at one draught; and nothing but salvation is left for you.
You say you cannot believe, you cannot repent. Fitter for Christ if you have nothing but sin and misery. Go to Christ with all your impenitence and unbelief, to get faith and repentance from Him; that is glorious. Tell Christ, “Lord, I have brought no righteousness, no grace to be accepted in, or justified by: I am come for Yours, and must have it.” By nature, we would like to be bringing something to Christ, but that must not be. Not a penny of nature’s highest improvements will pass in heaven. Grace will not stand with works (Titus 3:5; Rom 11:6). That is a terrible point to human nature, which cannot think of being stripped of all, not having a rag of duty or righteousness left to look at.
Self-righteousness and self-sufficiency are the darlings of sinful human nature, which she preserves as her life. That makes Christ seem ugly to sinful human nature. Sinful human nature cannot desire Him. He is just directly opposite to all nature’s glorious interests. Let sinful human nature but make a gospel, and it would make it quite contrary to Christ; it would be to the just, the innocent and the holy. But Christ made the gospel for you: that is, for needy sinners, the ungodly, the unrighteous, the accursed. Human nature cannot endure to think the gospel is only for sinners: it will rather choose to despair than to go to Christ upon such terrible terms. When nature is but put to it by guilt or wrath, it will go to its old haunts of self-righteousness and self-goodness. An infinite power must cast down those strongholds; Christ will look at the most abominable sinner before Him. None but the self-justified stands excluded from the gospel, because to such an one Christ cannot be made justification: he is no sinner.
To say in compliment, “I am a sinner,” is easy; but to pray with the publican indeed, “Lord, be merciful to me the sinner,” is the hardest prayer in the world. It is easy to say, “I believe in Christ”; but to see Christ full of grace and truth, of whose fullness you may receive grace for grace; that is faith indeed. It is easy to profess Christ with the mouth; but to confess Him with the heart, as Peter, to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, the alone Mediator, that is above flesh and blood. Many call Christ, Savior; a few know Him so. To see grace and salvation in Christ, is the greatest sight in the world! None can do that, but at the same time they shall see that glory and salvation to be theirs. Sights will cause applications. I may be ashamed to think in the midst of so much profession, that I have known so little of the blood of Christ, which is the main thing of the gospel. A Christless, formal religion, will be the blackest sight next to hell that can be. You may have many good things, and yet one thing may be lacking, that may make you go away sorrowful from Christ. You have never sold all; you have never parted with all your own righteousness, and so on. You may be high in duty and yet a perfect enemy and adversary to Christ, in every prayer, in every ordinance. Labor after sanctification to your utmost; but make not a Christ of it to save yourself; if so, it must come down one way or other. Christ’s infinite satisfaction, not your sanctification, must be your justification before God. When the Lord shall appear terrible from out of His holy place, fire shall consume that as hay and stubble.
This will be sound religion: To rest all upon the everlasting mountains of God’s love and grace in Christ, to live continually in the sight of Christ’s infinite righteousness and merits- these things are sanctifying. Without them the heart is carnal, and in those sights to see the full vileness, yet littleness of sin (in comparison to Christ’s righteousness), and to see all pardoned: in those sights to pray, hear, and so forth, seeing your polluted self, and all your weak performances, accepted continually; in those sights to trample upon all your self-glories, righteousness, privileges, as abominable, and be found continually in the righteousness of Christ only, rejoicing in the ruins of your own righteousness, the spoiling of all your own excellencies, that Christ alone, as Mediator, may be exalted in His throne. Mourn over all your duties however glorious, that you have not performed in the sight and sense of Christ’s love. Without the blood of Christ on your conscience, all is dead service (Heb 9:14).
That opinion of free-will (so cried up), will be easily confuted, as it is by Scripture, in the heart, which has had any spiritual dealing with Jesus Christ as to the application of His merits, and subjection to His righteousness. Christ is every way too magnificent a person for poor nature to close with or to apprehend of his own unaided free-will. Christ is so infinitely holy, nature never dare look at Him; so infinitely good, nature can never believe Him to be such, when it lies under a full sight of sin. Christ is too high and glorious for nature so much as to touch. There must be a divine nature first put into the soul, to make it lay hold on Him, He lies so infinitely beyond the sight or reach of sinful human nature.
That Christ which natural free-will can apprehend, is but a natural Christ of a man’s own making, not the Father’s Christ, nor Jesus the Son of the living God, to whom none can come without the Father’s drawing (John 6:44).
Finally, search the Scriptures daily as mines of gold in which the heart of Christ is laid open. Watch against sins to which you are prone, see them in their vileness, and they shall never break out into act. Keep always a humble, empty, broken frame of heart, sensitive to any spiritual misconduct, observing all inward workings, fit for the highest communications. Keep not guilt in the conscience, but apply the blood of Christ immediately. God charges sin and guilt upon you to make you look to Christ, the brazen serpent.
Judge not Christ’s love by providence, but by promises. Bless God for shaking off false foundations, for any way whereby He keeps the soul awakened and looking after Christ; better sickness and temptations, than security and superficiality.
A slighting spirit will turn a profane spirit, and will sin and pray too. Slightness is the bane of real religion, if it be not rooted out of the heart, by constant and serious dealings with, and beholding of Christ in duties. It will grow more strong, and more deadly, by being under church-ordinances. Measure not your graces by others’ attainments, but by Scripture trials. Be serious, exact in duty, having the weight of it upon your heart; but be as much afraid of taking comfort from the performance of religious duties, as from sins. Comfort from any hand but Christ is deadly. Be much in prayer, or you will never keep up much communion with God. As you are in private prayer, so you will be in all other ordinances.
Reckon not duties by high expressions, but by low humble frames of heart, and the beholding of Christ. Tremble at religious duties and spiritual gifts. It was the saying of a great saint, “He was more afraid of his duties than of his sins”; they often made him proud, the other always made him humble. Treasure up manifestations of Christ’s love, they make the heart low for Christ, too high for sin. Despise not the lowest, smallest evidence of grace; God may put you to make use of the lowest as you think; even that may be worth a thousand worlds to you (I John 3:14).
Be true to truth, but not turbulent and scornful. Restore such as are fallen; help them up again with all the affections of Christ. Set the broken disjointed bones with the grace of the gospel. Confident Christian! despise not weak saints; you may come to wish to be in the condition of the most despised of them. Be faithful to others’ infirmities, but realizing especially your own. Visit sick beds and deserted souls much; they are excellent scholars in the school of experience.
Abide in your secular calling. Be dutiful to all relations as to the Lord. Be content with little of the world; little will serve. Think little of the earth, not much, because it is unworthy of the least. Think much of heaven, not little, because Christ is so rich and free. Think every one better than yourself, and always carry self-loathing about you, as one fit to be trampled upon by all saints. See the vanity of the world, and the doom of all earthly things; and love nothing but Christ. Mourn that you see so little of Christ in the world; so few wanting Him; trifles please them better. To a self-secure soul Christ is but a fable, the Scriptures but a story. Mourn to think how many are under baptism and church-order, who are not under grace, looking much after duty, obedience, little after Christ, little versed in grace. Prepare for the cross; welcome it; bear it triumphantly like Christ’s cross, whether scoffs, mocking, jeers, contempt, imprisonments, and so on, but see it be Christ’s cross not your own.
Sin will hinder from glorying in the cross of Christ. Omitting little truths against light may breed hell in the conscience, as well as committing the greatest sins against light. If you have been taken out of the belly of hell into Christ’s bosom, and made to sit among princes in the household of God, oh, how you should live as a pattern of mercy!
Redeemed, restored soul! what infinite sums you owe Christ! With what singular feelings should you walk and do every duty! On sabbaths, what praising days, singing of hallelujahs, should they be to you. Church-fellowship, what a heaven, a being with Christ, and angels’ and saints’ communion! What a drowning the soul in eternal love as a burial with Christ, dying to all things beside Him. Every time you think of Christ, be astonished and wonder; and when you see your sin, look at Christ’s grace that did pardon it; and when you are proud, look at Christ’s grace, that shall humble and strike you down in the dust.
Remember Christ’s time of love when you were naked (Ezek 16:8,9), and then He chose you. Can you ever have a proud thought? Remember whose arms supported you from sinking and delivered you from the lowest hell (Psalm 86:13), and shout in the ears of angels and men (Psalm 148), and for ever sing praise, praise; grace, grace. Daily repent and pray, and walk in the sight of grace, as one that has the anointing of grace upon you. Remember your sins, Christ’s pardoning; your deserving, Christ’s merits; your weakness, Christ’s strength; your pride, Christ’s humility; your many infirmities, Christ’s restoring; your guilts, Christ’s new applications of His blood; your failings, Christ’s raising up; your needs, Christ’s fullness; your temptations, Christ’s tenderness; your vileness, Christ’s righteousness. Blessed soul! whom Christ shall find not having on his own righteousness (Phil 3:9), but having his robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14).
Trifle not with ordinances. Be much in meditation and prayer. Wait diligently upon all hearing opportunities. We have need of doctrine, reproof, exhortation, consolation, as the tender herbs and the grass have of the rain, the dew, the small rain, and the showers (Deut 32:2). Do all you do as soul-work, as unto Christ (Zech 7:5,6), as immediately dealing with Christ Jesus, as if He were looking on you and you on Him, and fetch all your strength from Him.
Observe what holy motions you find in your souls to duties. Prize the least good thought you have of Christ, the least good word you speak of Him sincerely from the heart. Rich mercy! Oh, bless God for it! Observe, if every day you have the dayspring from on high, with His morning dew of mourning for sin constantly visiting you (Luke 1:77). Have you the bright morning star, with fresh influences of grace and peace constantly arising (Rev 22:16), and Christ sweetly greeting the soul in all duties! What duty makes not more spiritual, will make more carnal; what does not quicken and humble, will deaden and harden.
Judas may have the sop, the outward privilege of baptism, supper, church-fellowship, etc., but John leaned on Christ’s bosom (John 13:23), that is the gospel-ordinance posture in which we should pray, and hear, and perform all duties. Nothing but lying on that bosom will dissolve hardness of heart, and make you mourn for sin, and cure superficiality and ordinariness of spirit, that gangrene of religious profession. That will humble indeed, and make the soul cordial to Christ, and sin vile to the soul; yes, transform the ugliest piece of hell into the glory of Christ. Never think you are right, as you should be, a Christian of any attainment, until you come to this, always to see and feel yourself living in the bosom of Christ, who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18). Come and move the Father for sights of Christ, and you will be sure of speed! You can come with no request that pleases Him better. He gave Him out of His own bosom for that very end, to be held up before the eyes of all sinners as the everlasting monument of His Father’s love.
Looking at the natural sun weakens the eye. The more you look at Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, the stronger and clearer will the eye of faith be. Look but at Christ, you will love Him and live on Him. Think on Him continually. Keep the eye constantly upon Christ’s blood, or every blast of temptation will shake you. If you will see sin’s sinfulness, to loathe it and mourn, do not stand looking upon sin, but look upon Christ first, as suffering and satisfying. If you would see your graces, your sanctification, do not stand gazing upon them; but look at Christ’s righteousness in the first place (see the Son and you see all), look at your graces in the second place.
When you exercise faith, what you first look at, that you expect settlement from, and make it the ground of your hope. Go to Christ in sight of your sin and misery, not of your grace and holiness. Have nothing to do with your graces and sanctification, they will but veil Christ, until you have seen Christ first. He that looks upon Christ through his graces, is like one that sees the sun in water, which wavers and moves like the water does. Look upon Christ only as shining in the firmament of the Father’s love and grace; you will not see Him but in His own glory, which is unspeakable. Pride and unbelief will put you upon seeing somewhat in yourself first; but faith will have to do with none but Christ, who is inexpressibly glorious, and must swallow up your sanctification as well as your sin; for God made Him both for us, and we must make Him both (I Cor 1:30; II Cor 5:21). He that sets up his sanctification to look at, to comfort him, he sets up the greatest idol which will strengthen his doubts and fears. Do only look away from Christ, and straightaway, like Peter, you sink in doubts.
A Christian never lacks comfort, but by breaking the order and method of the gospel, looking on his own righteousness, and looking off Christ’s perfect righteousness, which is to choose rather to live by candlelight, than by the light of the sun. The honey that you suck from your own righteousness will turn into perfect gall, and the light that you take from it to walk in, will turn into black night upon the soul. Satan is tempting you by putting you to plod on in your own grace, to get comfort from that; then the Father comes and points you to Christ’s grace, as rich, glorious, infinitely pleasing Him, and bids you study Christ’s righteousness. And His biddings are enablings; that is a blessed motion, a sweet whispering, checking your unbelief. Follow the least hint close with much prayer; prize it as an invaluable jewel, it is an earnest of more to come.
Again, if you would pray, and cannot, and so are discouraged, see Christ praying for you; using His interest with the Father for you; what can you lack (John 14:16)? If you are troubled, see Christ your peace (Eph 2:14), leaving you peace when He went up to heaven, again and again, charging you not to be troubled, no, not in the least sinfully troubled, so as to obstruct your comfort or your believing (John 14:1-27). He is now upon the throne, having spoiled upon His cross in the lowest state of humiliation, all whatever that can hurt or annoy you. He has borne all your sins, sorrows, troubles, temptations, and is gone to prepare mansions for you. You who have seen Christ as all, and yourself absolutely nothing, who make Christ all your life, and are dead to all righteousness besides; you are a true Christian, one highly beloved, and who has found favor with God, a favorite of heaven. Do Christ this one favor for all His love to you—love all His poor saints and churches, the most despised, the smallest, the weakest, notwithstanding any difference of judgment, they are engraved on His heart as the names of the children of Israel on Aaron’s breastplate (Exo 28:29). Let them be so on yours. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love you” (Psalm 122:6).
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
THE GIFT THAT IS INDESCRIBABLE
"Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!"
(2 Corinthians 9:15 ESV)
One of the most common traditions at Christmas is the giving of gifts. At our house we start out with the opening of our stocking gifts. These are usually things like candy, surfboard wax, sunscreen, makeup, and gift cards for Starbucks, funny trinkets, and various small items. After this we begin unwrapping the gifts under the tree and always save the best gift for last as the grand finale. After Christmas, we will undoubtedly be asked by someone what we received for Christmas and will be proceed to describe each gift that we received.
But when the Apostle Paul thought about gifts there was one gift that he had received that he could not describe, he calls this gift inexpressible. In our text in 2 Corinthians 9, the apostle Paul at first is writing about human gifts. The church in Corinth is taking up offerings to give to the poor Christians in Jerusalem. He commends them for their eagerness to help, and reminds them that those who sow sparingly will also reap sparingly, but that those who sow generously will reap generously.
But the subject of giving turns his mind to God and the gift of Christ to His people, which is the greatest of all possible gifts, and he ended his comments by referring to this divine bounty. He said, "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift"
This text contains only eight words, yet it points us beyond words. It points us to a gift which, if we have it, makes us richer and happier than any earthly gift could possible do. When Paul speaks of Jesus as God's "inexpressible gift" it is evident that he is not merely toying with words or exaggerating by an undisciplined use of superlatives. He is only saying what is patently true and is as true for us as it was for him.
His gift was so above and beyond the norm that Bible translators have had difficulty choosing adjectives to describe the gift. Their dilemma is obvious when reviewing how they struggled to translate the last sentences of 2 Corinthians 9:15. Translators of The Living Bible, the New Century Version and the Contemporary English Version refer to God’s gift of Jesus as one “too wonderful for words.” The Message translates the same verse this way: “Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!” The King James Version describes it as “his unspeakable gift.” The New King James Version, The New International Version, and New American Standard Version have it as “his indescribable gift.” And the Amplified Version combines these and says: “His gift precious beyond telling His indescribable, inexpressible, free gift!”
What is an inexpressible gift or indescribable gift? Indescribable simply means: that cannot be described; surpassing description. It is a gift of such magnitude and worth that it goes beyond our understanding and ability to describe it. Some things are beyond description, definition and explanation. What then does Paul mean when he says the gift of Jesus Christ is 'inexpressible'?
I. IT IS INEXPRESSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE INFINITE GENEROSITY OF GOD’S GIFT
The prophet Isaiah spoke of this inexpressible gift. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Then in the New Testament John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.”
God is a most generous and giving God. Every moment of our life God is giving us something. James tells us that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”(James 1:17). He gave the most astounding gift imaginable when the Lord Jesus Christ. God loves as no other being can love. That is why Paul says that His love surpasses all knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). He has given us undeserving sinners the greatest gift of love that He could possibly give us; He gave us His only Son.
God has loved us by providing the ultimate gift and bringing to us the highest good possible. This is the most loving thing imaginable and beyond imagination that God could do for us. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). He has given a gift more valuable, more worthy, and more important than anything we could possibly give to anyone or any gift we could desire on this earth. In short, it is inexpressible, indescribable, inconceivable, and incomprehensible.
God is the giver, par excellence; God gives a gift, not because He feels obligated to give a gift but because His love is so overwhelming. It’s a gift of grace. And when you stop at the manger at Bethlehem & look at the Christ child, you must realize that He is a gift of grace. And there are no words adequate enough to describe God’s grace towards us in Jesus
II. IT IS INEXPRESSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE GIFT ITSELF-JESUS CHRIST
The embodiment of God's greatest gift is Jesus. Who can begin to describe God's tiny present, lovingly wrapped in swaddling clothes on that first Christmas morning? Within Jesus' fragile frame, undiminished deity and true humanity existed together as God's supreme gift of grace to us-a gift too wonderful for words!' How can I begin to describe such an indescribable Person? If the heavens could open and we could all get a glimpse of Christ in His glory, we would be struck speechless and would fall at His feet as if we were dead (Revelation 1:12-17). We cannot begin to imagine the splendor, the glory, and the riches that Jesus Christ has and gave up to come to this earth. We can rightly say,
A. None was richer than Christ was.
He was rich in supremacy and power: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:15-16).
He was rich in glory: “And He is the radiance of His glory, and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). He is one with the Father, having shared His glory before the creation of the earth (John 10:30; 17:5). He receives the worship of myriads upon myriads of angels, who bow before His throne proclaiming, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah. 6:3). Of Isaiah’s vision John wrote, “These things Isaiah said, because he saw His [Christ’s] glory, and he spoke of Him” (John 12:41). We cannot begin to imagine the riches of Jesus Christ before He came to this earth. Yet,
B. None became poorer than Christ became. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9) Jesus became poor in that He voluntarily gave up the use of certain divine attributes during His earthly life. He did not cease to have these attributes; He simply gave up His use of them. He could have struck His persecutors dead on the spot. He could have done many other things as God, but He chose not to. Instead, He took on human flesh and became a servant, obedient to death on the cross. Paul profoundly speaks of this in Philippians 2:5-11, “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
He could have been born in a palace; He was born in a stable. He could have been born with a superhuman body, not subject to pain, hunger, and tiredness; He was born with a body like ours, except for sin. He could have come to earth as an adult, strong and ready to assume power; He was born as a weak infant, who had to be rescued from Herod’s murderous threats. He could have been born into wealth, where His hands would never be rough from calluses; He worked as a carpenter. He could have begun His ministry as a miracle-working child or young adult; He waited until He was about thirty. He could have been waited on by a contingent of servants; He became a servant. Good men rightly should have died for Him; He died for sinners.
Who can describe the chasm between the glory of heaven and the humiliation of the cross? If billionaire Bill Gates were to give up his wealth and possessions and go to Calcutta, clothe himself in rags, eat meager food and serve the poor, it would not compare to what Jesus Christ did in giving up the riches of heaven to take on the poverty of our sinful humanity through His birth and death on the cross! From highest heaven He descended to the shame and agony of Golgotha. From the glory of perfect holiness, He was made sin on our behalf. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). None was richer than Christ was! None became poorer than He did for our sakes so that we might become rich through Him! He is God’s indescribable gift to us!
III. IT IS INEXPRESSIBLE BECAUSE JESUS SATISFIES OUR DEEPEST NEEDS
God’s gift is also inexpressible for the effects it produces. This is unmeasurable by human beings. The gift of God accomplishes everything in those who believe. At Christmas many are thinking about their felt needs as they think about gifts and advertising and the media and a therapeutic society don’t exactly help. Marketers, salesmen, therapists, self-help gurus, and popular religion all pander to our felt needs (which our corrupt nature is deceived to think are our actual needs); but God’s determines and therefore knows our deepest needs and His gift of Jesus Christ meets and satisfies our deepest and real needs:
1. The need for salvation: The Bible says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "It is appointed to man once to die and after that comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27). We will give an account to God for our lives. Jesus Christ came and suffered and died and rose again from the dead to pay the price for our sins. The angel told Joseph “Jesus… will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21) and the shepherds “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”(Luke 2:10-11) .When we trust him as Lord and Savior of our lives we have peace with God, our sins are forgiven, and there is no more condemnation (Romans 5:1; 8:1; Ephesians 2:13-16).Jesus is God's inexpressible gift to meet this need
2. The need for eternity with God: The Bible is clear on this: there is a heaven and there is a hell. Both last forever. And where we spend eternity is chosen in this life. And Jesus is the way to heaven, the only way. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Jesus is God's inexpressible gift to meet this need.
3. The need to satisfy our empty hearts: Jesus said, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).Everybody is thirsty. Everybody is searching for a fountain of everlasting joy. When you find Jesus the search is over. Jesus is God's inexpressible gift to meet this need.
4. The need to know God: We can know God — just as personally and intimately as you know anyone in this world. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father" (John 1:1-4,14). God in the person of His Son has become flesh - human. And Jesus said to Philip, "If you have seen me you have seen the Father" (John 14:9). Jesus is God reaching out to us. God wants to be known. He wants to be loved. He wants to be a Father and a Friend. And though he is great beyond all imagination, he came near in Jesus so that we could know him. "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him" (John 14:7). Jesus is God's inexpressible gift to meet this need
5. The need to change: Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). And the life Paul lived by faith in the Son of God was an incredible life of love and sacrifice and joy for the good of people and the glory of God. Paul had no doubt at all that there is a power that really changes people. Namely, the power of Jesus Christ when we trust in him. Jesus is God's inexpressible gift to meet this need.
IV. OUR EXPRESSIVE RESPONSE TO GOD’S INEXPRESSIBLE GIFT A four-year-old boy asked his father, “Daddy, what does ‘ignore’ mean?” His father explained that it meant not to pay attention to someone. The boy responded, “I don’t think we should ignore Jesus.” Puzzled, the dad replied, “I don’t either.” Then the boy explained, “But that’s what the Christmas carol says, ‘O come let us ignore Him.’” Many people really sing it that way, don’t they? Could you be ignoring Jesus this Christmas? Would you slow down to take the time to reflect and respond to God the Father in the only appropriate way to respond to such an indescribable gift of His Son Jesus? I close with this thought. Even though the gift of God in Christ is "inexpressible", it is nevertheless to be spoken of. And the primary reason is because it is so wonderfully, profoundly, amazingly, inexpressible.
To whom shall we speak of it? Well, to God first of all! This is the other half of the text, for 2 Corinthians 9:15 does not speak merely of God's gift. It says, "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift." Have you thanked God for his great gift of salvation through Jesus Christ? Have you thanked God for anything? At Christmas you and I thank will thank all kinds of people for gifts. But what of God? If that gift is as great as the Bible says it is, then we should literally cry out with Paul in worship, praise, and thanksgiving, "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!" Thanks be to God for Jesus!
And when we are crying out thanks, let us not forget that the best thanks are not in word alone. Thanks are expressed in deeds too that express our love and gratitude towards Him. What deeds? If you have never received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your first deed should be to receive him and worship him, as the shepherds, wise men and others of the Christmas story did. That is, you should receive and take the gift God gives you. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”( John 1:12). Do not think of it in terms of your worthiness. You are not worthy and never will be worthy. Just take it. Let it be yours. Receive it as that treasure in the field or that pearl of great price for which the wise men and women of this world sell all that they have.
Secondly, you can also express your thanks by service. You have much, but there are others who have little. Reach out to them in Christ's name. Let God's generous gift be the pattern for your giving of your money, possessions, time, self, and your very life and his service be the pattern for your service.
Finally, know that you are not merely under obligation to speak to God about his indescribable gift. You have an obligation to speak to others also. I notice that in the Christmas story nearly everyone spoke to others about God's gift. The wise men said, "We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him" (Matt. 2:2). The shepherds "spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child" (Luke 2:17). Simeon "praised God" (Luke 2:28). Anna, the prophetess, "gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2:38).
That last is the perfect combination: thanks to God and testimony to other people. May we together with Paul say to God and others with joy, awe, gratitude, and praise: Thanks be to God for his inexplicable gift!
(2 Corinthians 9:15 ESV)
One of the most common traditions at Christmas is the giving of gifts. At our house we start out with the opening of our stocking gifts. These are usually things like candy, surfboard wax, sunscreen, makeup, and gift cards for Starbucks, funny trinkets, and various small items. After this we begin unwrapping the gifts under the tree and always save the best gift for last as the grand finale. After Christmas, we will undoubtedly be asked by someone what we received for Christmas and will be proceed to describe each gift that we received.
But when the Apostle Paul thought about gifts there was one gift that he had received that he could not describe, he calls this gift inexpressible. In our text in 2 Corinthians 9, the apostle Paul at first is writing about human gifts. The church in Corinth is taking up offerings to give to the poor Christians in Jerusalem. He commends them for their eagerness to help, and reminds them that those who sow sparingly will also reap sparingly, but that those who sow generously will reap generously.
But the subject of giving turns his mind to God and the gift of Christ to His people, which is the greatest of all possible gifts, and he ended his comments by referring to this divine bounty. He said, "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift"
This text contains only eight words, yet it points us beyond words. It points us to a gift which, if we have it, makes us richer and happier than any earthly gift could possible do. When Paul speaks of Jesus as God's "inexpressible gift" it is evident that he is not merely toying with words or exaggerating by an undisciplined use of superlatives. He is only saying what is patently true and is as true for us as it was for him.
His gift was so above and beyond the norm that Bible translators have had difficulty choosing adjectives to describe the gift. Their dilemma is obvious when reviewing how they struggled to translate the last sentences of 2 Corinthians 9:15. Translators of The Living Bible, the New Century Version and the Contemporary English Version refer to God’s gift of Jesus as one “too wonderful for words.” The Message translates the same verse this way: “Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!” The King James Version describes it as “his unspeakable gift.” The New King James Version, The New International Version, and New American Standard Version have it as “his indescribable gift.” And the Amplified Version combines these and says: “His gift precious beyond telling His indescribable, inexpressible, free gift!”
What is an inexpressible gift or indescribable gift? Indescribable simply means: that cannot be described; surpassing description. It is a gift of such magnitude and worth that it goes beyond our understanding and ability to describe it. Some things are beyond description, definition and explanation. What then does Paul mean when he says the gift of Jesus Christ is 'inexpressible'?
I. IT IS INEXPRESSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE INFINITE GENEROSITY OF GOD’S GIFT
The prophet Isaiah spoke of this inexpressible gift. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Then in the New Testament John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.”
God is a most generous and giving God. Every moment of our life God is giving us something. James tells us that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”(James 1:17). He gave the most astounding gift imaginable when the Lord Jesus Christ. God loves as no other being can love. That is why Paul says that His love surpasses all knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). He has given us undeserving sinners the greatest gift of love that He could possibly give us; He gave us His only Son.
God has loved us by providing the ultimate gift and bringing to us the highest good possible. This is the most loving thing imaginable and beyond imagination that God could do for us. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). He has given a gift more valuable, more worthy, and more important than anything we could possibly give to anyone or any gift we could desire on this earth. In short, it is inexpressible, indescribable, inconceivable, and incomprehensible.
God is the giver, par excellence; God gives a gift, not because He feels obligated to give a gift but because His love is so overwhelming. It’s a gift of grace. And when you stop at the manger at Bethlehem & look at the Christ child, you must realize that He is a gift of grace. And there are no words adequate enough to describe God’s grace towards us in Jesus
II. IT IS INEXPRESSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE GIFT ITSELF-JESUS CHRIST
The embodiment of God's greatest gift is Jesus. Who can begin to describe God's tiny present, lovingly wrapped in swaddling clothes on that first Christmas morning? Within Jesus' fragile frame, undiminished deity and true humanity existed together as God's supreme gift of grace to us-a gift too wonderful for words!' How can I begin to describe such an indescribable Person? If the heavens could open and we could all get a glimpse of Christ in His glory, we would be struck speechless and would fall at His feet as if we were dead (Revelation 1:12-17). We cannot begin to imagine the splendor, the glory, and the riches that Jesus Christ has and gave up to come to this earth. We can rightly say,
A. None was richer than Christ was.
He was rich in supremacy and power: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:15-16).
He was rich in glory: “And He is the radiance of His glory, and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). He is one with the Father, having shared His glory before the creation of the earth (John 10:30; 17:5). He receives the worship of myriads upon myriads of angels, who bow before His throne proclaiming, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah. 6:3). Of Isaiah’s vision John wrote, “These things Isaiah said, because he saw His [Christ’s] glory, and he spoke of Him” (John 12:41). We cannot begin to imagine the riches of Jesus Christ before He came to this earth. Yet,
B. None became poorer than Christ became. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9) Jesus became poor in that He voluntarily gave up the use of certain divine attributes during His earthly life. He did not cease to have these attributes; He simply gave up His use of them. He could have struck His persecutors dead on the spot. He could have done many other things as God, but He chose not to. Instead, He took on human flesh and became a servant, obedient to death on the cross. Paul profoundly speaks of this in Philippians 2:5-11, “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
He could have been born in a palace; He was born in a stable. He could have been born with a superhuman body, not subject to pain, hunger, and tiredness; He was born with a body like ours, except for sin. He could have come to earth as an adult, strong and ready to assume power; He was born as a weak infant, who had to be rescued from Herod’s murderous threats. He could have been born into wealth, where His hands would never be rough from calluses; He worked as a carpenter. He could have begun His ministry as a miracle-working child or young adult; He waited until He was about thirty. He could have been waited on by a contingent of servants; He became a servant. Good men rightly should have died for Him; He died for sinners.
Who can describe the chasm between the glory of heaven and the humiliation of the cross? If billionaire Bill Gates were to give up his wealth and possessions and go to Calcutta, clothe himself in rags, eat meager food and serve the poor, it would not compare to what Jesus Christ did in giving up the riches of heaven to take on the poverty of our sinful humanity through His birth and death on the cross! From highest heaven He descended to the shame and agony of Golgotha. From the glory of perfect holiness, He was made sin on our behalf. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). None was richer than Christ was! None became poorer than He did for our sakes so that we might become rich through Him! He is God’s indescribable gift to us!
III. IT IS INEXPRESSIBLE BECAUSE JESUS SATISFIES OUR DEEPEST NEEDS
God’s gift is also inexpressible for the effects it produces. This is unmeasurable by human beings. The gift of God accomplishes everything in those who believe. At Christmas many are thinking about their felt needs as they think about gifts and advertising and the media and a therapeutic society don’t exactly help. Marketers, salesmen, therapists, self-help gurus, and popular religion all pander to our felt needs (which our corrupt nature is deceived to think are our actual needs); but God’s determines and therefore knows our deepest needs and His gift of Jesus Christ meets and satisfies our deepest and real needs:
1. The need for salvation: The Bible says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "It is appointed to man once to die and after that comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27). We will give an account to God for our lives. Jesus Christ came and suffered and died and rose again from the dead to pay the price for our sins. The angel told Joseph “Jesus… will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21) and the shepherds “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”(Luke 2:10-11) .When we trust him as Lord and Savior of our lives we have peace with God, our sins are forgiven, and there is no more condemnation (Romans 5:1; 8:1; Ephesians 2:13-16).Jesus is God's inexpressible gift to meet this need
2. The need for eternity with God: The Bible is clear on this: there is a heaven and there is a hell. Both last forever. And where we spend eternity is chosen in this life. And Jesus is the way to heaven, the only way. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Jesus is God's inexpressible gift to meet this need.
3. The need to satisfy our empty hearts: Jesus said, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).Everybody is thirsty. Everybody is searching for a fountain of everlasting joy. When you find Jesus the search is over. Jesus is God's inexpressible gift to meet this need.
4. The need to know God: We can know God — just as personally and intimately as you know anyone in this world. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father" (John 1:1-4,14). God in the person of His Son has become flesh - human. And Jesus said to Philip, "If you have seen me you have seen the Father" (John 14:9). Jesus is God reaching out to us. God wants to be known. He wants to be loved. He wants to be a Father and a Friend. And though he is great beyond all imagination, he came near in Jesus so that we could know him. "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him" (John 14:7). Jesus is God's inexpressible gift to meet this need
5. The need to change: Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). And the life Paul lived by faith in the Son of God was an incredible life of love and sacrifice and joy for the good of people and the glory of God. Paul had no doubt at all that there is a power that really changes people. Namely, the power of Jesus Christ when we trust in him. Jesus is God's inexpressible gift to meet this need.
IV. OUR EXPRESSIVE RESPONSE TO GOD’S INEXPRESSIBLE GIFT A four-year-old boy asked his father, “Daddy, what does ‘ignore’ mean?” His father explained that it meant not to pay attention to someone. The boy responded, “I don’t think we should ignore Jesus.” Puzzled, the dad replied, “I don’t either.” Then the boy explained, “But that’s what the Christmas carol says, ‘O come let us ignore Him.’” Many people really sing it that way, don’t they? Could you be ignoring Jesus this Christmas? Would you slow down to take the time to reflect and respond to God the Father in the only appropriate way to respond to such an indescribable gift of His Son Jesus? I close with this thought. Even though the gift of God in Christ is "inexpressible", it is nevertheless to be spoken of. And the primary reason is because it is so wonderfully, profoundly, amazingly, inexpressible.
To whom shall we speak of it? Well, to God first of all! This is the other half of the text, for 2 Corinthians 9:15 does not speak merely of God's gift. It says, "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift." Have you thanked God for his great gift of salvation through Jesus Christ? Have you thanked God for anything? At Christmas you and I thank will thank all kinds of people for gifts. But what of God? If that gift is as great as the Bible says it is, then we should literally cry out with Paul in worship, praise, and thanksgiving, "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!" Thanks be to God for Jesus!
And when we are crying out thanks, let us not forget that the best thanks are not in word alone. Thanks are expressed in deeds too that express our love and gratitude towards Him. What deeds? If you have never received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your first deed should be to receive him and worship him, as the shepherds, wise men and others of the Christmas story did. That is, you should receive and take the gift God gives you. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”( John 1:12). Do not think of it in terms of your worthiness. You are not worthy and never will be worthy. Just take it. Let it be yours. Receive it as that treasure in the field or that pearl of great price for which the wise men and women of this world sell all that they have.
Secondly, you can also express your thanks by service. You have much, but there are others who have little. Reach out to them in Christ's name. Let God's generous gift be the pattern for your giving of your money, possessions, time, self, and your very life and his service be the pattern for your service.
Finally, know that you are not merely under obligation to speak to God about his indescribable gift. You have an obligation to speak to others also. I notice that in the Christmas story nearly everyone spoke to others about God's gift. The wise men said, "We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him" (Matt. 2:2). The shepherds "spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child" (Luke 2:17). Simeon "praised God" (Luke 2:28). Anna, the prophetess, "gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2:38).
That last is the perfect combination: thanks to God and testimony to other people. May we together with Paul say to God and others with joy, awe, gratitude, and praise: Thanks be to God for his inexplicable gift!
Friday, December 7, 2007
LIVING ON GOD ALONE Part 2
There is a false view of Christianity that has all the appearances of Christianity but is not Biblical Christianity. The apostle Paul warns that this kind of religion will characterize the Last Days. “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” 2 Timothy 3:1-4
Notice the key component of End Times religion: “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power”. It is a kind of religion that is manageable, duty-defined, decision oriented, willpower based, and only limited to what I can do on my own strength without God’s help. I call it “can-do” religion. Where the apostle Paul cried “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). The attitude of the natural man is “I can do all things”.
How does it show itself in daily living? You do well as long as you never have to jump higher than six feet! As soon as the bar goes over six feet you either quit jumping, rest content to jump no more than six feet, and play it safe. How many of you are living your life like that?
I find that many people are satisfied living a religious life within the confines of their own weaknesses, inabilities, limitations and who deny that God would want them to jump ten feet. They reason like this: Even though the Bible says, “love your enemies”, “I cannot love my enemies, therefore I am not required by God to love my enemies. So I don’t and that is okay or it’s not okay but there is nothing that I can do about it so it’s still okay. The irony of this belief is that in part it is true. In the end, loving your enemy is a gift from God, not something you can do yourself. But it is not Biblical to say that the only things that God can require of you are things that you are good enough and able to perform. That kind of Christianity is easy and doable.
But true Christianity doesn’t lower the bar, it raises it. Every single thing God requires is beyond my reach. Biblical Christianity is impossible! Do you know why? Because the Christian life is supernatural! The mystery of the Christian life is that God commands us to jump ten feet we and we cannot. Then He offers us the promise of that we can and will jump ten feet and that He will give us a new desire to jump ten feet and will grace us with an enablement to do it!
When God promised the New Covenant He made these wonderful promises: “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live… But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people…. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:27)
John Piper says about these promises: “All of these covenant promises have been secured for us by Christ who said at the last supper, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20) The blood of Jesus Christ obtained for us all of the promises of the New Covenant. What distinguishes them from the Old Covenant is that they are promises for enablement. They are promises that God will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves”.
We need a new heart to desire God and to delight in God. We need the Spirit who’s fruit is love and joy in God and who gives us a new power to obey God, so that when we are called to fulfill the two commandments “love God and love others” (Luke 10:27), the Spirit and the Word of God produce these wonderful realities within us.
Christianity means that change is possible; amazing, lasting, and powerful change. It is possible to be tender hearted where once you were calloused and insensitive. It is possible to stop being dominated by bitterness or anger. It is possible to become a loving and caring person. It is possible to be a forgiving instead of a vengeful person. Why? Because the Bible tells us that God is the decisive factor in making us who we should be and doing what we should do!
Oh beloved of God, this is so wonderfully freeing. It frees us from unbelief, pessimism, and fatalism that keep us living as six foot high jumpers. I want to flood you with hope, the sovereign grace of God. The New Covenant promise of God is that He will transform your heart to do what it cannot do, namely, to want what it ought to s always come with want. Then He will change your life to do what you ought to do but cannot do!
Only God can make you ten foot high jumpers! Jesus told His disciples “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God"” (Mark 10:27). Paul said, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). That is why the commands of God “are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). His commands always come with freeing, life-changing truth to believe and power to perform. You have a situation come where God wants you to love somebody that to you is a very difficult person to love. In modern language, a jerk. You might hear a voice inside say, “I can’t stand that person” or “I’m not a loving person”, but then you say, “Christ loves me right now and His love for me makes me a new kind of person. I can obey the command to love that person with the love that God has for me and the He is pouring in me. Therefore, I can and will love this person”.
God commands us to love Him and we cannot love God. But God can change our hearts want to love Him when we don’t and then by His grace God will change our hearts in order to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Obedience is a gift. Augustine understood it in a profound way when he prayed, “Give me the grace oh Lord to do as You command, and command me to do what you will...Oh holy God…when your commands are obeyed, it is from you that we receive the power to obey them.” That is a Biblical prayer. That is the cry of one who lives on God.
So to live on God is God’s doing in our doing. Christianity is a supernatural life that we are called to actively live and participate each and every moment of our lives total dependence upon God. We live, serve, love, work, speak, obey in a supernatural way. In short, we begin to do things that we cannot do.
Fruit like love grows in our lives by His doing in our doing. Somehow he makes it happen. It won't happen without him. Here is how it works. God has called me to preach. I come here Sunday tired, and I am anxious that I will not do a good job. I worry that nobody will listen and that nothing will happen. But I pray, Lord, I trust you, not me and not my preaching. I trust your enabling grace. In fact, I trust you even to help me trust you because you said that faith is your gift. And I go to my ministry today in the strength that you supply so that in everything you might get the glory." Then I do it. But it’s not me, it’s Christ in me (Gal. 2:20). I know what is really happening and I am exceedingly grateful to God the great giver and to Him be all of the glory! That's the point of 1 Peter 4:11, "Whoever renders service, [let him do so] as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ." (Read Hebrews 13:20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Colossians 1:28-29)
Oh reader, this is the life that God has for you, which He has told you to live. This is the greatest life, the abundant life. We exist to do things that we cannot do without the special, supernatural grace of God. We exist mainly to do the humanly impossible. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing...nothing is impossible with God” This is good news, not bad news. It is good news because God himself, known to us in Jesus Christ, is more valuable and more satisfying than anything we could ever be or do in our own power.
The most loving thing that God can do for us is to make Himself indispensable to us. Do you agree with Jesus? Are you willing to begin your day with a declaration of dependence? Are you ready to begin living on God alone? Do you hear His command to raise the bar to ten feet and run and jump? Do you hear His promise that you can? Will you trust Him and with faith and courage begin jumping? William Carey said it best, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God”.
A Prayer
Oh God of life, in You is life. I long to live and to experience the peculiar life that is offered to me through Your precious Son Jesus Christ. I want to stop living within the confines of my weaknesses and limitations. I hear you telling me that I can do extraordinary and supernatural and inexplicable things. I receive your enabling power at this moment to and in obedience to your commands I will do them. I am resolved to do them. I want to jump ten feet! So in faith in your promises and trust in your power I will get up from this book and I will run and jump and behold your glory. IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
When Satan Hurts Christ’s People
"I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God."
Revelation 2:10
Being confident in God does not make the pain less deep, but less broad. If some things are settled with God, there are boundaries around the field of pain. In fact, by being focused and bounded, the pain of loss may go deeper—as a river with banks runs deeper than a flood plain. But with God in his firm and proper place, the pain need not spread out into the endless spaces of ultimate meaning. This is a great blessing, though at the time it may simply feel no more tender than a brick wall. But what a precious wall it is!
As a father, I want to help our twelve-year-old daughter Talitha settle some things with God now, so that when little or big losses come—and they will come—her pain will be bounded and will not carry her out, like a riptide, into the terrifying darkness of doubt about God. So as we read God’s word together twice a day, I point out the mysterious ways of God.
Two days ago, we read this from the lips of Jesus to the church at Smyrna in Revelation 2:10:
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
I asked Talitha, “Is Jesus stronger than the devil?” “Yes,” she said. Indeed, I added, ten million times stronger. It’s not even close. In fact, as Mark 1:27 says, “He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” So all Jesus has to do is say to the devil, “You shall not throw my loved ones into prison,” and the devil will not be able to do it. Right, Talitha? Right.
So, Talitha, why does Jesus let the devil do this? Why does he let the devil throw his precious followers in jail and even kill some of them? She shook her head. I said, well, let’s read it again slowly, and you tell me the reason that the Bible gives. Slowly, “Behold the devil is about to throw some of you into prison . . . that . . . you . . . may . . . be . . . tested.” So why does Jesus let this happen, Talitha? “That they may be tested.” That’s right.
And what is being tested? The answer is given in the way Jesus describes what passing the test looks like. He says, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Faithfulness to Jesus is being tested. Will his loved ones keep trusting him? Will they keep believing that he has their best interest at heart? That he is wise? That he is good? That he is stronger than all?
So, Talitha, there are a thousand things that God is doing every time something painful happens to you. Most of these you do not know or understand. Job, Joseph, and Esther did not know what God was doing in their losses. But there is always one thing you can know God is doing when pain comes into your life. This is something you can settle with God ahead of time. He is always testing you.
If the test leads to your death, as it did for some of the Christians in Smyrna, Jesus wants you to know something ahead of time. “You will receive the crown of life.” That means he will raise you from the dead and will crown you with the kind of everlasting joy in his presence that will make up for your loses ten-thousand-fold. “Crown” signifies majestic, royal restoration and exaltation.
James says the same thing:
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Passing the test means loving God to the end.
So settle it, Talitha. Loss and pain are coming into your life, but Jesus is infinitely stronger than the devil. So even if the devil is causing it, as he did in Smyrna, Jesus is letting it happen. And he always has his reasons—more than we can know. One of those reasons is always testing, namely, the testing of our faith and our love for him.
We cannot answer every why question. But there is always this answer: My faith is being tested. And our Lord never wastes his tests. Whether we believe this truth is, in fact, part of the test. In the mind of Jesus, the promise that he would give them the crown of life was enough to sustain the Christians in Smyrna. I pray that it will be enough for Talitha—and for you.
Trusting the wisdom and goodness of Jesus in loss,
Pastor John
Revelation 2:10
This is a wonderful article by John Piper that is of great comfort to those who suffer. Please read it and get encouraged! Pastor Bill
When huge pain comes into your life—like divorce, or the loss of a precious family member, or the dream of wholeness shattered—it is good to have a few things settled with God ahead of time. The reason for this is not because it makes grieving easy, but because it gives focus and boundaries for the pain.Being confident in God does not make the pain less deep, but less broad. If some things are settled with God, there are boundaries around the field of pain. In fact, by being focused and bounded, the pain of loss may go deeper—as a river with banks runs deeper than a flood plain. But with God in his firm and proper place, the pain need not spread out into the endless spaces of ultimate meaning. This is a great blessing, though at the time it may simply feel no more tender than a brick wall. But what a precious wall it is!
As a father, I want to help our twelve-year-old daughter Talitha settle some things with God now, so that when little or big losses come—and they will come—her pain will be bounded and will not carry her out, like a riptide, into the terrifying darkness of doubt about God. So as we read God’s word together twice a day, I point out the mysterious ways of God.
Two days ago, we read this from the lips of Jesus to the church at Smyrna in Revelation 2:10:
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
I asked Talitha, “Is Jesus stronger than the devil?” “Yes,” she said. Indeed, I added, ten million times stronger. It’s not even close. In fact, as Mark 1:27 says, “He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” So all Jesus has to do is say to the devil, “You shall not throw my loved ones into prison,” and the devil will not be able to do it. Right, Talitha? Right.
So, Talitha, why does Jesus let the devil do this? Why does he let the devil throw his precious followers in jail and even kill some of them? She shook her head. I said, well, let’s read it again slowly, and you tell me the reason that the Bible gives. Slowly, “Behold the devil is about to throw some of you into prison . . . that . . . you . . . may . . . be . . . tested.” So why does Jesus let this happen, Talitha? “That they may be tested.” That’s right.
And what is being tested? The answer is given in the way Jesus describes what passing the test looks like. He says, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Faithfulness to Jesus is being tested. Will his loved ones keep trusting him? Will they keep believing that he has their best interest at heart? That he is wise? That he is good? That he is stronger than all?
So, Talitha, there are a thousand things that God is doing every time something painful happens to you. Most of these you do not know or understand. Job, Joseph, and Esther did not know what God was doing in their losses. But there is always one thing you can know God is doing when pain comes into your life. This is something you can settle with God ahead of time. He is always testing you.
If the test leads to your death, as it did for some of the Christians in Smyrna, Jesus wants you to know something ahead of time. “You will receive the crown of life.” That means he will raise you from the dead and will crown you with the kind of everlasting joy in his presence that will make up for your loses ten-thousand-fold. “Crown” signifies majestic, royal restoration and exaltation.
James says the same thing:
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Passing the test means loving God to the end.
So settle it, Talitha. Loss and pain are coming into your life, but Jesus is infinitely stronger than the devil. So even if the devil is causing it, as he did in Smyrna, Jesus is letting it happen. And he always has his reasons—more than we can know. One of those reasons is always testing, namely, the testing of our faith and our love for him.
We cannot answer every why question. But there is always this answer: My faith is being tested. And our Lord never wastes his tests. Whether we believe this truth is, in fact, part of the test. In the mind of Jesus, the promise that he would give them the crown of life was enough to sustain the Christians in Smyrna. I pray that it will be enough for Talitha—and for you.
Trusting the wisdom and goodness of Jesus in loss,
Pastor John
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
THOUGHTS ON LIVING ON GOD
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to[c] his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
2 Peter 1:3-4
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:12-13
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
John 10:10
“True religion is a union of the soul with God, a real participation in the divine nature, the very image of God drawn upon the soul.”
Henry Scougal
The 17th century was a difficult time to be a Bible believing Christian in England. In the later part of the 17th Century, England was ruled by King Charles II. He was determined to rid England of its Puritan influences and persecuted intensely all non Anglicans, especially their Pastors. They were called in a maligning way Non-conformists or Puritans. One of the best known of these Puritans was John Bunyan. You have probably heard of him for his most famous work The Pilgrims Progress. In 1672 about 50 miles northwest of London in Bedford, Pastor John Bunyan was released from twelve years of imprisonment for preaching without a license. He was 44 years old.
Just before his release he updated his spiritual autobiography called Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. He looked back over the hardships of the last 12 years and wrote about how he was enabled by God to survive and even thrive in the Bedford jail. One of his comments was on what sustained him over the course of his most difficult life. His quotes from 2 Corinthians 1:9 where Paul says, "Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead" Then he says, “By this scripture I was made to see that if ever I would suffer rightly, I must first pass a sentence of death upon every thing that can be properly called a thing of this life, even to reckon myself, my wife, my children, my health, my enjoyment, and all, as dead to me, and myself as dead to them. The second was, to live upon God who raises the dead.”
God's first great design for our life is that we might let go of self-confidence and to rely on God and not ourselves. That was how John Bunyan lived and it is how all Christians must live. Either we live on God or we don’t really live. As the saying goes, “Just because you’re breathing doesn’t mean that you are living.” A Christian life is a “peculiar life”. It is an inexplicable, extraordinary, life. It is as Henry Scougal defines it in the title of his book as “The Life of God in the Soul of Man.”
The natural man lives on food, water, sleep, oxygen, etc.; but the spiritual man lives on God alone. He exists to do things that can't be done without God's special, supernatural grace. Henry Scougal contrasts what he calls the natural or wicked man with the religious or spiritual man in his profound book The Life of God in the Soul of Man: “The difference between a religious and a wicked man is, that in the one, Divine life bears sway, in the other, the animal life doth prevail.” So there is human life, natural life, fleshly life, or soulish life common to all mankind. But there is a peculiar life, the divine life, the life of God in the soul of man that is only common to those who are born again.
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.” 1 John 5:1-4
Let me illustrate with a picture. I want you to imagine with me that you are at a track meet held by Jesus Christ and you are in the high jump. He sets bar to begin at 3 feet. So you run up to the bar and easily jump over it. He keeps raising the bar three inches and you keep successfully jumping and clearing over each height. But then Jesus raises the bar to a height that you have never cleared: six feet. So you focus all of your energy, run as fast as you can, you jump, graze the bar, and you fail. You try a second time and you fail again. Finally, you go for the last time giving it your all. You jump, get a good lift into the air, and all of your body clears, except the edge of your heal grazes the bar. As you land you see the bar wobble and wobble and then it falls. You have failed and are out of the meet. You are discouraged because you realize that you are only able to jump under six feet at your best.
But then Jesus raises the bar to ten feet and surprisingly says “I want you to jump again and clear the bar.” You are thinking, “Lord Jesus, ten feet, why I can’t even jump six feet. As a matter of fact, nobody in the world can jump over 8’5”. Jesus knows that you are having a hard time with this so He says, “My child, I promise you that you will clear the bar. I will be with you every step of the way and I will be in You to empower you and enable you to clear the bar, I promise. I will make sure that you clear the bar. As a matter of fact I am writing this all down in a book telling everyone that you must do this, you can do this, and that I am going to enable you to do this, so that if you fail, I will look bad, not just you. I will look like a liar who doesn’t keep His promises, I will look unreasonable in my demands upon you, I will look powerless in my ability to help you, and one will try to jump any higher than their own natural abilities. Now do as I say and jump.”
How would you respond? Some would say, “Sorry Lord, I will just play it safe and stick to doing what I’m capable of jumping under six feet on my own. I’m content with jumping six feet, that’s good enough for me. I mean, hey, I jump higher than lots of other people! I think I’m a pretty good jumper”. Others will say, “Well Jesus never really meant ten feet... Hew meant the ten feet of possibilities. He is encouraging to jump to my full six foot potential.” Others will say, “Lord, I know you said ten feet, but I’ve tried that before and it didn’t happen and I can’t take another failure so I think I’ll pass. Then Jesus says to them, “I’m telling you all, if you want to be in my track meet you must jump ten feet.”
But others will get excited and scared at the same time. They would look at Jesus with courage, they would think about what He said against what they think, and they would risk and run and jump and clear the bar at ten feet just like Jesus commanded and promise. When they clear the bar and land with overwhelming joy they cry out, “Lord, I did it just like you promised. I can clear ten foot high jumps through Christ who strengthens me”. And everyone watching is aware that they have done something extraordinary that didn’t come naturally to them. They have done the impossible, all because of the motivating promise and the enabling power of Jesus Christ.
How many of you readers are jumping ten feet? How many of you are doing things in your life that can only be explained by the power of God? How many of you feel that the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, promising you, commanding you, and challenging you to raise the bar in your life and begin to jump higher than ever? Perhaps God is calling for you to sacrifice something or surrender something. Perhaps God is asking you to step out in faith. Perhaps God is asking you to step out or get involved in ministry. Perhaps there are habits that need changing. Perhaps God has prompted you to begin daily Bible reading. Perhaps God is calling you to walk in a deeper obedience than ever. Perhaps God is calling you to persevere and serve Him in the midst of great trials. Perhaps God is calling you to reach out to the needy. Perhaps God is challenging you to evangelize a neighbor or friend. Perhaps He is asking you to give more of your money or time. Perhaps God has told you men to start listening to your wives.
Jesus describes the Christian life in these terms: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" John 13:34-35
“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:20
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments” John 14:15
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12-14
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” John 15:4-8
What is this fruit that Jesus says that His disciples will bear? Paul speaks of the fruit being this (I want to read this from the Amplified Bible):
“But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence).”
Galatians 5:22-23 Amplified Bible
So the nature of the Christian life is that God raises the bar to make impossible demands upon us with wonderful promises to us along with a supernatural enablement for us. He commands us to love like He loves. To do the things that He did. To speak his word. To live a moral standard of life exceeding that of the most moral and religious and virtuous men of the time. To obey His commandments. To bear fruit that lasts and glorifies Him.
Jesus is trying to overwhelm us to show us the utter impossibility of the Christian life on our own. He does this in order to show us that true Christianity is supernatural or it is nothing. It is either extraordinarily high jumping ten feet according to the promises and by the power of God or it is living on your own strength and limitations jumping at no more than six feet.
The Christian life is a supernatural life. It is not produced by merely human forces. It takes resources that we do not have. It is bad news to all those who chose to attempt to be a Christian and live the Christian life on their own strength. It refuses to believe the words of Christ who says “for apart from me you can do nothing.” But it is good news to the sinful, the weak, the limited, and helpless. It liberates and frees us to face our sinfulness, our weaknesses, and our limitations, and let them become a launching pad for the power and glory of God! But it makes a particular demand upon us all. It demands that we live on God alone. It demands a daily declaration of dependence!
To be continued...
2 Peter 1:3-4
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:12-13
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
John 10:10
“True religion is a union of the soul with God, a real participation in the divine nature, the very image of God drawn upon the soul.”
Henry Scougal
The 17th century was a difficult time to be a Bible believing Christian in England. In the later part of the 17th Century, England was ruled by King Charles II. He was determined to rid England of its Puritan influences and persecuted intensely all non Anglicans, especially their Pastors. They were called in a maligning way Non-conformists or Puritans. One of the best known of these Puritans was John Bunyan. You have probably heard of him for his most famous work The Pilgrims Progress. In 1672 about 50 miles northwest of London in Bedford, Pastor John Bunyan was released from twelve years of imprisonment for preaching without a license. He was 44 years old.
Just before his release he updated his spiritual autobiography called Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. He looked back over the hardships of the last 12 years and wrote about how he was enabled by God to survive and even thrive in the Bedford jail. One of his comments was on what sustained him over the course of his most difficult life. His quotes from 2 Corinthians 1:9 where Paul says, "Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead" Then he says, “By this scripture I was made to see that if ever I would suffer rightly, I must first pass a sentence of death upon every thing that can be properly called a thing of this life, even to reckon myself, my wife, my children, my health, my enjoyment, and all, as dead to me, and myself as dead to them. The second was, to live upon God who raises the dead.”
God's first great design for our life is that we might let go of self-confidence and to rely on God and not ourselves. That was how John Bunyan lived and it is how all Christians must live. Either we live on God or we don’t really live. As the saying goes, “Just because you’re breathing doesn’t mean that you are living.” A Christian life is a “peculiar life”. It is an inexplicable, extraordinary, life. It is as Henry Scougal defines it in the title of his book as “The Life of God in the Soul of Man.”
The natural man lives on food, water, sleep, oxygen, etc.; but the spiritual man lives on God alone. He exists to do things that can't be done without God's special, supernatural grace. Henry Scougal contrasts what he calls the natural or wicked man with the religious or spiritual man in his profound book The Life of God in the Soul of Man: “The difference between a religious and a wicked man is, that in the one, Divine life bears sway, in the other, the animal life doth prevail.” So there is human life, natural life, fleshly life, or soulish life common to all mankind. But there is a peculiar life, the divine life, the life of God in the soul of man that is only common to those who are born again.
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.” 1 John 5:1-4
Let me illustrate with a picture. I want you to imagine with me that you are at a track meet held by Jesus Christ and you are in the high jump. He sets bar to begin at 3 feet. So you run up to the bar and easily jump over it. He keeps raising the bar three inches and you keep successfully jumping and clearing over each height. But then Jesus raises the bar to a height that you have never cleared: six feet. So you focus all of your energy, run as fast as you can, you jump, graze the bar, and you fail. You try a second time and you fail again. Finally, you go for the last time giving it your all. You jump, get a good lift into the air, and all of your body clears, except the edge of your heal grazes the bar. As you land you see the bar wobble and wobble and then it falls. You have failed and are out of the meet. You are discouraged because you realize that you are only able to jump under six feet at your best.
But then Jesus raises the bar to ten feet and surprisingly says “I want you to jump again and clear the bar.” You are thinking, “Lord Jesus, ten feet, why I can’t even jump six feet. As a matter of fact, nobody in the world can jump over 8’5”. Jesus knows that you are having a hard time with this so He says, “My child, I promise you that you will clear the bar. I will be with you every step of the way and I will be in You to empower you and enable you to clear the bar, I promise. I will make sure that you clear the bar. As a matter of fact I am writing this all down in a book telling everyone that you must do this, you can do this, and that I am going to enable you to do this, so that if you fail, I will look bad, not just you. I will look like a liar who doesn’t keep His promises, I will look unreasonable in my demands upon you, I will look powerless in my ability to help you, and one will try to jump any higher than their own natural abilities. Now do as I say and jump.”
How would you respond? Some would say, “Sorry Lord, I will just play it safe and stick to doing what I’m capable of jumping under six feet on my own. I’m content with jumping six feet, that’s good enough for me. I mean, hey, I jump higher than lots of other people! I think I’m a pretty good jumper”. Others will say, “Well Jesus never really meant ten feet... Hew meant the ten feet of possibilities. He is encouraging to jump to my full six foot potential.” Others will say, “Lord, I know you said ten feet, but I’ve tried that before and it didn’t happen and I can’t take another failure so I think I’ll pass. Then Jesus says to them, “I’m telling you all, if you want to be in my track meet you must jump ten feet.”
But others will get excited and scared at the same time. They would look at Jesus with courage, they would think about what He said against what they think, and they would risk and run and jump and clear the bar at ten feet just like Jesus commanded and promise. When they clear the bar and land with overwhelming joy they cry out, “Lord, I did it just like you promised. I can clear ten foot high jumps through Christ who strengthens me”. And everyone watching is aware that they have done something extraordinary that didn’t come naturally to them. They have done the impossible, all because of the motivating promise and the enabling power of Jesus Christ.
How many of you readers are jumping ten feet? How many of you are doing things in your life that can only be explained by the power of God? How many of you feel that the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, promising you, commanding you, and challenging you to raise the bar in your life and begin to jump higher than ever? Perhaps God is calling for you to sacrifice something or surrender something. Perhaps God is asking you to step out in faith. Perhaps God is asking you to step out or get involved in ministry. Perhaps there are habits that need changing. Perhaps God has prompted you to begin daily Bible reading. Perhaps God is calling you to walk in a deeper obedience than ever. Perhaps God is calling you to persevere and serve Him in the midst of great trials. Perhaps God is calling you to reach out to the needy. Perhaps God is challenging you to evangelize a neighbor or friend. Perhaps He is asking you to give more of your money or time. Perhaps God has told you men to start listening to your wives.
Jesus describes the Christian life in these terms: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" John 13:34-35
“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:20
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments” John 14:15
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12-14
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” John 15:4-8
What is this fruit that Jesus says that His disciples will bear? Paul speaks of the fruit being this (I want to read this from the Amplified Bible):
“But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence).”
Galatians 5:22-23 Amplified Bible
So the nature of the Christian life is that God raises the bar to make impossible demands upon us with wonderful promises to us along with a supernatural enablement for us. He commands us to love like He loves. To do the things that He did. To speak his word. To live a moral standard of life exceeding that of the most moral and religious and virtuous men of the time. To obey His commandments. To bear fruit that lasts and glorifies Him.
Jesus is trying to overwhelm us to show us the utter impossibility of the Christian life on our own. He does this in order to show us that true Christianity is supernatural or it is nothing. It is either extraordinarily high jumping ten feet according to the promises and by the power of God or it is living on your own strength and limitations jumping at no more than six feet.
The Christian life is a supernatural life. It is not produced by merely human forces. It takes resources that we do not have. It is bad news to all those who chose to attempt to be a Christian and live the Christian life on their own strength. It refuses to believe the words of Christ who says “for apart from me you can do nothing.” But it is good news to the sinful, the weak, the limited, and helpless. It liberates and frees us to face our sinfulness, our weaknesses, and our limitations, and let them become a launching pad for the power and glory of God! But it makes a particular demand upon us all. It demands that we live on God alone. It demands a daily declaration of dependence!
To be continued...
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