A WITNESS FOR CHRIST

CHRIST . . the KEY to UNLOCKING the SCRIPTURES

2010-09-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

With that in mind, I have carefully selected transcripts of sermons from Godly men (Jer. 3:15), which show Christ's fulfillment in prophecy, Christ as He is pre-figured, typified and foreshadowed (Hebrews 8 & 10) in the Old Testament, and Christ as the only Saviour for sinners (Matt. 1:21; Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Hebrews 7:25) and the only way to God(John 14:6; 1 Pet. 3:18) to the end that you might "know Him"! (1 John 5:20)

My prayer is that you too might "see Jesus" (Hebrews 2:9-18) as He is revealed in the Scriptures . . . how "precious" He is (1 Peter 2:6-7) . . . and come to regard Him, as have I, as the "one thing needful"! (Luke 10:42)

May it please the Lord Jesus Christ to open your eyes that you too might behold Him in all His glory!

(Matt. 11:25-27); (Luke 24:13-45)

In Christian love, June

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Isaac . . a 'foreshadowing' of Christ's miraculous birth . . and 'in type'. . of the miraculous "new birth" of sinners!

Source: Gleanings In Genesis
25. The Birth of Isaac / Genesis 21

The birth of Isaac marked a pivotal point in the outworking of God's eternal purpose. The coming of this son to Abraham and Sarah was the second great step toward the fulfillment of Jehovah's plan. This purpose and plan was to have a people of His own, separate from the surrounding nations; a people to whom should be entrusted the Holy Oracles, a people of whom as concerning the flesh the Savior was to be born; a people who should ultimately become the medium of blessing to all the earth. In the realization of this plan and purpose the first great step was the selection of Abram to be the father of the chosen nation, the call which separated him from the idolatrous people among whom he lived, and the migration unto the land which Jehovah promised to give him.

Some twenty-five years had now passed since Abram had left Ur of the Chaldees, and during these years he had received promise from the Lord that He would make of him a great nation (Gen. 12:2) and that He would make his seed as the dust of the earth (Gen. 13:16). But years went by and Abram remained childless: the promised seed had not been given and Abram was exercised and perplexed. "And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezar of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir" (Gen. 15:2, 3). To these questions the Lord returned answer, "This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir" (Gen. 15:4). Another interval passed and yet no child appeared, and "Sarai said unto Abram, Behold, now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai, and he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived" (Gen. 16:2, 4). A further thirteen years dragged their weary course and (Gen. 17:15-19). Shortly after this the Lord, accompanied by two angels, appeared unto His servant in the plains of Mamre and, "God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations: Kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before Thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac""they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And He said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son" (Gen. 18:9-14).

And now the appointed hour for the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham and Sarah had struck, and we read, "And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him" (Gen. 21:12). Thus we reach, as we have said, the second stage in the accomplishment of Jehovah's purpose. The birth of Isaac marked an important crisis in connection with the history of the chosen line, for not in Ishmael but in Isaac was Abraham's seed to be called (Gen. 21:12).

Many are the important truths illustrated in the above Scriptures, and many are the profitable lessons to be learned therefrom. We name a few of them without attempting to enlarge. We see from the above that God is in no hurry in the working out of His plans. Man may fret and fume, hurry and bustle, but Jehovah has all eternity at His disposal and works leisurely and with deliberation. Well for us to mark this attentively- "he that believeth shall not make haste" (Isa. 28:16). Again, we note here God's Almightiness. Nothing can hinder or thwart the outworking of His purpose. Abraham may be old, Sarah may be barren, but such trifles present no difficulty to Him who is infinite in power. Abraham may seek to obtain an heir through Hagar, but Jehovah's plan cannot be foiled: Sarah's son shall be his heir, not Ishmael. Behold, too, the faithfulness of God. The Lord had said Sarah shall have a son, and what He promised He performed. His promise may seem unreasonable and impossible to the carnal mind, but His word is sure. Learn, also, how faith is tried and tested. This is in order to display its genuineness. A faith that is incapable of enduring trial is no faith at all. A hard thing was promised to Abraham but, "he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Rom. 4:19, 20). Finally, note that God has a set time for the accomplishing of His will and the fulfilling of His word. Nothing is left to chance. Nothing is contingent on the creature. Everything is definitely fixed beforehand by God. "For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him" (Gen. 21:2). Mark how this is emphasized by repetition- "But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year" (Gen. 17:21); "At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son" (Gen. 18:14). So also we read in another connection, "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak" (Hab. 2:3). Compare Galatians 4:4.

Isaac was the child of promise. The Lord took great interest in the birth of this boy. More was said about him before his birth than about any other, excepting only Abraham's greater Son. God first made promise to Abraham; "As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her" (Gen. 17:15, 16). The response of the aged patriarch is recorded in the next verse- "Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed." Later, the promise was renewed in the hearing of Sarah, "And He said I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son" (Gen. 18:10). Then we are told, "Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?" How reason ever opposes the promises of God. The "laughter" of Abraham was the laughter of worshipful joy, that of Sarah was credulous unbelief. There is a laughter which the Lord fills the mouth with, when, at some crisis, He comes to our relief. "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them" (Ps. 126:112). But there is also the laughter of cynicism and unbelief. The former we are not afraid to avow; the latter makes us, like Sarah, cowards and liars. But are we not told "Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised" (Heb. 11:11). How shall we harmonize this with her laugh of unbelief? To the infidel this would appear a contradiction, but the believer has no difficulty in reconciling these two, for he knows from experience there is a continual struggle going on in his heart between faith and unbelief, sometimes the one and sometimes the other being uppermost. But is it not beautiful and blessed to note that in the New Testament Sarah's unbelief is passed over, just as nothing is said there of Rahab's deception (Heb. 11:31), or of Job's impatience (Jam. 5:11).

Isaac was the child of miracle. Sarah's womb was "dead" (Rom. 4:19) and ere she could conceive a supernatural "strength" must be given her (Heb. 11:11). In this, of course, we discover a foreshadowment of the miraculous birth of the Lord Jesus- now, alas, so generally denied. We are tempted to digress here but must refrain. Certain it is that the vital importance of the virgin birth of our Savior cannot be overestimated. Well did Sir Robert Anderson say, "The whole Christian system depends upon the truth of the last verse of Matthew one" ("The Coming Prince"). Returning to the miraculous birth of Isaac, do we not see in it, as also in the somewhat similar cases of Rachel, the mother of Samson, Hannah, and Elisabeth, not only a foreshadowing of the supernatural birth of Christ, but also the gracious way of God in preparing Israel to believe in it, facilitating faith in the Divine incarnation. If God quickened a dead womb and caused it to bear, why should it be thought a thing incredible if He made the virgin give birth to the Child!

The birth of Christ was markedly foreshadowed by that of Isaac and this in seven ways at least.

First, Isaac was the promised seed and son (Gen. 17:16); so also was Christ (Gen. 3:15; Isaiah 7:14).

Second, a lengthy interval occurred between God's first promise to Abraham and its realization. When we are told, "And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said" (Gen. 21:1), the immediate reference is to Genesis 17:16 and Genesis 18:14, but the remote reference was to the original promise of Genesis 12:7. So also was there a lengthy interval between God's promise to send Christ and the actual fulfillment of it.

Third, when Isaac's birth was announced, his mother asked, "Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?" (Gen. 18:13), to which the answer was returned, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" and the striking analogy is seen in the fact that when the angel of the Lord made known unto Mary that she was to be the mother of the Savior, she asked, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34), to which query the answer was returned, "With God nothing shall be impossible'' (Luke 1:37): so that in each case God's omnipotency was affirmed following the annunciation of the birth of the child.

Fourth, Isaac's name was specified before he was born- "And thou shalt call his name Isaac" (Gen. 17:19); compare with this the words of the angel to Joseph before Christ was born- "And thou shalt call his name Jesus" (Matthew 1:21)!

Fifth, Isaac's birth occurred at God's appointed time (Gen. 21:2) "at the set time"; so also in connection with the Lord Jesus we read "But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman" (Gal. 4:4).

Sixth, as we have seen above, Isaac's birth required a miracle to bring it about; so also was it with the incarnation of Immanuel.

Seventh, the name Isaac (given unto him by Abraham and not Sarah, Genesis 21:3), which means laughter, declared him to be his father's delight; so also was the one born at Bethlehem- "this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:17) Need we remark how strikingly this sevenfold type evidences the Divine inspiration of Scripture, and demonstrates that the book of Genesis- so much attacked by the critics- was written by one" moved by the Holy Spirit."

It has been noticed by others that in Abraham we have a striking illustration of election, while in Isaac we get, typically, the precious truth of sonship. Abraham was the one chosen and called by God; Isaac was the one promised and born of God's power. The historical order of Genesis is thus the doctrinal order of the New Testament. Thus we read in Ephesians 1:4, 5, "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him: in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will."

Isaac brings before us in type regeneration, and it is this which will now engage our attention.

The first point we would here dwell upon is that before Isaac was born the power and activities of nature were made an end of. Abraham and Sarah had come to the end of themselves. Abraham's body was "dead," and so too was Sarah's womb (Rom. 4:19). And in order for Isaac to be born that which was dead must be quickened, quickened by God. This is a very humbling truth; one which is thoroughly distasteful to man; one which nothing but the grace of God will enable us to receive. The state of the natural man is far worse than he imagines. It is not only that man is a sinner, a sinner both by nature and by practice, but that he is "alienated from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18). In a word the sinner is dead- dead in trespasses and sins. As the father said of the prodigal, "This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found" (Luke 15:24). That the natural man is dead in trespasses and sins is no mere figure of speech; it is a solemn reality, an awful fact. It is ignorance and the denial of this fact which lies at the root of so much of the false teaching of our day. What the natural man needs first and foremost is not education or reformation, but life. It is because the sinner is dead that he needs to be born again. But how little this is pressed today! The unspeakably dreadful state of the natural man is glossed over where it is not directly repudiated. For the most part our preachers seem afraid to insist upon the utter ruin and total depravity of human nature. This is a fatal defect in any preaching: sinners will never be brought to see their need of a Savior until they realize their lost condition, and they will never discover their lost condition until they learn that they are dead in sin.

But what does Scripture mean when it says the sinner is "dead"? This is something which seems absurd to the natural man. And to him it is absurd. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). To the natural man it seems that he is very much alive. Yes, and Scripture itself speaks of one that lives in pleasure as being "dead while she liveth" (1 Tim. 5:6). Herein lies the key to the meaning of that expression employed by our Lord in His teaching upon the Good Samaritan. Describing the condition of the natural man under the figure of one who had fallen among thieves, who had stripped him of his raiment and left him wounded by the wayside, the Savior termed him "half dead" (Luke 10:30). Mark then the absolute accuracy of Christ's words. The sinner is "half dead": he is alive manward, worldward, sinward, but he is dead Godward! The sinner is alive naturally- physically, mentally, morally- but he is dead spiritually. That is why the new birth is termed a "passing from death unto life" (John 5:24). And just as the deadness of Abraham and Sarah- in their case natural deadness, for they but foreshadowed spiritual truths had to be quickened by God before Isaac could be born, so has the sinner to be quickened by God into newness of life before he can become a son of God. And this leads us to say.

Second, before Isaac could be born God had to perform a miracle. As we have said, Abraham's body was "dead" and Sarah was long past the age of child-bearing. How then could they have a son? Sarah laughed at the mention of such a thing. But what was beyond the reach of nature's capacity was fully within the scope of Divine power. "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" (Gen. 18:14). No, indeed. "Ah, Lord God, behold! Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee" (Jer. 32:17).

As it was with Isaac so it is with every Christian. Before any of us could be born again God had to work a miracle. Make no mistake on this point; regeneration is the direct result of the supernatural operation of God. This needs to be stressed today, for regeneration has been so misrepresented by modern evangelists that to the popular mind the "new birth" signifies nothing more than a process of reformation. But the new birth is no mere turning over of a new leaf and the endeavor to live a better life. The new birth is very much more than going forward in a religious meeting and taking the preacher's hand; very much more than signing a card and "joining the church." The new birth is an act of God's creative power, the impartation of spiritual life, the communication to us of the Divine nature itself.

Abraham and his wife- each of them nearly a hundred years old- desiring a son- what could they do? Nothing! absolutely nothing. God had to come in and work a miracle. And thus nature had nothing to glory in. So it is with us. The natural man is not only a sinner, a lost sinner, but he is a helpless sinner impotent, unable to do anything of himself. If help comes it must come from outside of himself. He is, like Abraham and Sarah, shut up to God.

Third, the coming of Isaac into Abraham's household aroused opposition and produced a conflict. "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking" (Gen. 21:9). In the epistle to the Galatians we are shown the dispensational meaning and application of this, and there we read, "But as then he that was born after the flesh (Ishmael) persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now" (Gal. 4:29); but it is with the individual application of this type that we are now concerned. Ishmael exemplifies the one born after the flesh: Isaac the one born after the Spirit. When Isaac was born the true character of Ishmael was manifested; and so when we are born again and receive the new nature, the old nature, the flesh, then comes out in its true colors.

Just as there were two sons in Abraham's household, the one the product of nature, the other the gift of God and the outworking of Divine power, each standing for a totally different principle, so in the believer there are two natures which are distinct and diverse. And just as there was a conflict between Ishmael and Isaac, so the flesh in us lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh (Gal. 5:17).

It is of first importance that the Christian, especially the young Christian, should be clear upon the two natures in the believer. The new birth is not the improving of the old nature, but the receiving of a new; and the receiving of the new nature does not in any wise improve the old. Not only so, the old and the new natures within the believer are in open antagonism the one to the other. We quote now from the works of one deeply respected and to which we are much indebted: "Some there are who think that regeneration is a certain change which the old nature undergoes; and, moreover, that this change is gradual in its operation until, at length, the whole man becomes transformed. That this idea is unsound, can be proved by various quotations from the New Testament. For example: The carnal mind is enmity against God. How can that which is thus spoken of ever undergo any improvement? The apostle goes on to say, "It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." If it cannot be subject to the law of God, how can it be improved? How can it undergo any change? Do what you will with flesh, and it is flesh all the while. As Solomon says, "Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him" (Prov. 27:22). "There is no use seeking to make foolishness wise. You must introduce heavenly wisdom into the heart that has been hitherto only governed by folly" (C. H. M.).

Fourth, it is to be noted that it was the birth of Isaac which revealed the true character of Ishmael. We know practically nothing of Ishmael's life before the birth of Isaac, but as soon as this child of promise made his appearance the real nature of Hagar's son was made manifest. He may have been very quiet and orderly before, but as soon as the child of God's quickening-power came on the scene, Ishmael showed what he was by persecuting and mocking him. Here again the type holds good. It is not until the believer receives the new nature that he discovers the real character of the old. It is not until we are born again we learn what a horrible and vile thing the flesh is. And the discovery is a painful one: to many it is quite unsettling. To those who have supposed that regeneration is an improving of the old nature, the recognition of the awful depravity of the flesh comes as a shock and often destroys all peace of soul, for the young convert quickly concludes that, after all, he has not been born again. The truth is that the recognition of the true character of the flesh and a corresponding abhorrence of it, is one of the plainest evidences of our regeneration, for the unregenerate man is blind to the vileness of the flesh. The fact that I have within me a conflict between the natural and the spiritual is the proof there are two natures present, and that I find the Ishmael-nature "persecuting" the Isaac-nature is only to be expected. That the Ishmael-nature appears to me to be growing worse only goes to prove that I now have capacity to see its real character, just as the real character of Ishmael was not revealed until Isaac was born.

Fifth, we read, "And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him" (Gen. 21:4). Our space is exhausted and we must be very brief on these last points. The circumcising of Isaac, and later of the Israelites, was a foreshadowing of our spiritual circumcision: "And ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power: in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ" (Col. 2:10, 11). Judicially we have been circumcised and God no longer looks at us in the flesh but in Christ, for circumcision- typically and spiritually- is separation from the flesh, and the eighth day brings us on to resurrection ground in Christ. Compare Colossians 3:9, etc.

Sixth, "And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned" (Gen. 21:8). Here again the type holds good. Isaac "grew" by feeding on his mother's milk. Thus, too, is it with the believer. By the new birth we are but spiritual babes, and our growth is brought about by feeding on the milk of the Word. "As new-born babes, desires the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Pet. 2:2). We cannot now touch upon the significance of the "great feast" above.

Seventh, "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. And God said unto Abraham, let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away" (Gen. 21:9-14). At last the conflict is over. He who "persecuted" Isaac is now "cast out" (Gal. 4:29). So it will yet be with us. Judicially the life of the flesh is already ended for us, but practically it is still here with us and in us. But blessed be God what is true now judicially shall soon be true experimentally also. When Christ returns for us, the flesh shall be put off for ever, just as Elijah left behind him his earthly mantle. But mark how accurate our type is: not till Isaac "grew" and was "weaned" was the persecuting Ishmael cast out! Let this be our closing thought. Soon our Ishmael shall be cast out. Soon shall this vile body of ours be made like unto the body of Christ's glory (Phil. 3:21). Soon shall the Savior return and we shall be "like Him," for we shall see Him as He is (John 3:2). Blessed promise! Glorious prospect! Does not the presence of the vile flesh within us now only serve to intensify the longing for our blessed Lord's return? Then let us continue to cry daily, "Come quickly. Even so, come Lord Jesus." (Rev. 22:20)

Source: http://www.biblebelievers.com/Pink/Gleanings_Genesis/genesis_25.htm

CHRIST . . the KEY to UNLOCKING the SCRIPTURES

2010-07-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

May it please the Lord Jesus Christ to open your eyes that you too might behold Him in all His glory!

(Matt. 11:25-27); (Luke 24:13-45)

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Joseph, A Type of Christ
from Care for God's Fruit-trees... by H. A. Ironside

The story of Joseph as given in Genesis (chapters 37 to 50) is perennially fresh and delightful. Young and old alike revel in it. Looked at as an old-world picture of customs and people long-since vanished, there is a freshness and charm about it that stirs the heart and holds our attention in a remarkable way.

But in studying Scripture there is not only the literal application, which is always important, but every part of the Word of God has a spiritual, typical, and dispensational application as well, and in Joseph's character and experience we have a wonderful type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ordinarily when we speak of any individual in the Old Testament being a type of Christ, we refer to what he is officially, and not to his personal character. David, for instance, in his official capacity is a striking type of our Saviour; Solomon, too, as the king of peace typifies Him who is yet to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords; but neither of these men could be said to typify Christ in their personal characters. With Joseph it is otherwise. His life shines forth from the pages of Holy Scripture as practically flawless. It is not indeed that he was actually sinless, for he had in himself the same corrupt nature that any other child of Adam has, but it has not pleased God to speak of any flaws or blemishes which His holy eye may have discerned in this devoted servant, but He has rather emphasized his faithfulness and practical godliness.

If we study him as a type of Christ, we would first notice him as

The Beloved of the Father's Heart

This comes out clearly in the early part of chapter 37. We read that Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. Here we have more than a hint of the One who from all eternity was the delight of God the Father, the One whom He ever sought to magnify and glorify, for our Lord Jesus Christ was with the Father from all eternity. There are some who question this, and particularly some who would deny His right to the term "Eternal Son"; but if He was not the Eternal Son, then there was no Eternal Father. Saintly J. G. Bellett has well asked, "Had the Father no bosom in the past eternity?" and the answer is clearly found in John 1:18, "The only begotten Son, which is in (or subsisting in) the bosom of the Father." The expression implies a relationship of devoted attachment, of deepest affection. The Father loved Him before the foundation of the world and ever delighted to honor Him.

Then we notice in Joseph the dreamer of dreams with

Premonitions of Coming Glory

He saw in a vision his brethren and all his father's house bowing down to him, and this was the vision granted to our Lord Jesus Christ. His delights were with the sons of men and He ever looked forward to the time when, as the exalted Man, He would be the means of blessing for all His brethren and His Father's house. That term, "His brethren" includes not only Israel but we read in the epistle to the Hebrews, "He is not ashamed to call us brethren." All the redeemed rejoice to own His authority and gladly bow in submission at His feet. But there is more than this involved in the thought of His coming exaltation for "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11).

Joseph comes before us in his first active ministry as the one who left the father's house and went forth

Seeking His Brethren

His father's heart was toward the sons who were caring for the flock, first at Shechem and then at Dothan, and to them Joseph went forth sent by the father to see how they did and to declare the father's concern for them. How truly this sets forth the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ who came "not to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved;" (John 3:17) who came from the Father's house into this dark world of sin seeking His brethren that He might declare the Father's Name to them and manifest the Father's love. Of this we have more than a hint in the journey of Joseph to distant Dothan, but as the story proceeds how the whole tragedy of the

Rejection of the Son

comes before us in the treatment accorded to him by those whom he sought out for blessing — hating him the more because of his father's love and detesting him because of his superior virtue. Angered too, because of those dreams of glory, they exclaimed in indignation as he drew near, "Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams" (Gen. 37:19-20). And so in the sordid tale of their hatred and rejection we have more than a foreshadow of the treatment that Israel and the Gentiles would yet accord to God's beloved Son. While every detail does not, of course, fit perfectly with the experiences of our blessed Lord and His unbelieving brethren after the flesh, yet it is plain to see that the story is one and the same: the love of the Father's heart, the yearning of the Son, and the cruel setting at nought by those whom He loved so tenderly, all are clearly manifested. Hated, spurned by those who should have welcomed him with gladness, Joseph is cast into the pit, which speaks of death, and then sold to the Gentiles and carried down into Egypt. Of course, with our Lord He was sold first and then crucified, but both stories alike tell of the corruption of the human heart and the love of the heart of God.

The scene changes and we next see Joseph as

The Tempted One

and here how his experiences illustrate the testings and triumphs of our Lord who was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). In Joseph's case we have a man sinful by nature triumphing in the hour of testing because of the fear of the Lord. "How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Gen. 39:9) This was his strength. He had set Jehovah always before him and therefore he was not moved when the hour of trial came. In the case of our Lord, He was, of course, the sinless One and His temptation was but the demonstration of this. "Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," (Hebrews 7:26) it was unthinkable that sin should ever hold dominion over Him. He stood unflinchingly against every attack of the evil one, and He could ever say, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me" (John 14:30). In Joseph's temptation and victory we see clearly set forth the way in which every one of us may overcome. It is as the Word of God is hidden in our hearts that we shall be kept from sinning against Him.

But Joseph's testing was not only in Potiphar's house. There he was tempted in the midst of luxuries. There was a further trial when, falsely accused, he suffered for righteousness' sake in the prison-house. But there his integrity was demonstrated and the fear of God preserved him. He shone just as brightly in the dungeon as he did in the mansion. D. L. Moody once said, "Character is what a man is in the dark," and this indeed comes out wonderfully in the case of Joseph. They put him in fetters of iron, but the prison-cell was only the antechamber to the royal palace.

He is as truly the messenger of Jehovah in the prison, interpreting the dreams of the butler and the baker, as when he told his own dream so long before. It is evident that there was no break in his communion with God. It was as easy for him to interpret a dream as to see visions, for he was under the control of the Holy Spirit.

And so in due time we find him

Exalted in Glory

He who had been despised and rejected, he who had been hated and spurned, given up for dead and sold into slavery, unjustly accused and imprisoned, came forth in due time to share the throne with Pharaoh as the preserver of the lives of both the Egyptians and all his father's house.

His Gentile bride, Asenath, seems to give a hint of the fact that our Lord, while rejected by Israel, has found a Bride among the Gentiles, and Joseph's two sons Manasseh (forgetful) and Ephraim (fruitful), tell how he was made to forget all his sorrows because of the fruitfulness of his ministry by the Spirit among the Gentiles. The day came when all of Egypt and the peoples of distant lands bowed at his feet asking for the sustaining corn. When they cried to Pharaoh and said, "Give us food," his answer was, "Go to Joseph," for he was the custodian of all the treasured corn of Egypt, and so today, all blessing is centered in Christ, and to every seeking soul the Father says,

"Go to Jesus"

"There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12) but the Name which was written above Him when He hung rejected on Calvary's cross, and, thank God, no other name is needed, for He declares, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth" (Matt. 28:18). He is exalted to God's right hand, speaking peace to all who trust Him and ministering grace to every seeking soul.

Joseph's dreams were wonderfully fulfilled when his brethren came in their abject need, bowing at his feet, glad to receive from his hand that which would maintain physical life, and so now He who is greater than Joseph gives eternal life to bankrupt sinners who bow before Him confessing their guilt and owning His grace.

The tender heart of Joseph, his deep compassion for his brethren, comes out most clearly when he reveals himself to them, and again when they doubt his love after his father's death. Like the One of whom he was but a foreshadow, he was a man of tears. As he beheld his brethren, he could not refrain from weeping, and when they feared that he would remember their sins after the burial of Jacob, their distrust of his love moved him again to sobs uncontrolled. He loved to be trusted; he could not bear to be doubted, and in this how truly he portrays the character of the Lord Jesus.

But the type falls far short of the reality, and the book of Genesis closes with the death of Joseph and his body placed in a coffin in Egypt. Thank God, He of whom Joseph speaks lives to die no more, but just as Joseph gave commandment concerning his bones, and Israel carried those bones all through the wilderness and at last laid them to rest in the land of Canaan, so a pilgrim people today are called upon to always bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in us. The bones of Joseph were the memorial of death. Suppose a stranger noticed his bier carried reverently throughout the wilderness and inquired concerning it, he might have been answered by something like this, "We were in deep distress, likely to die of famine, but Joseph our brother, whom we had rejected, saved us. Our deliverer died, and we are carrying the memorial through the wilderness to find a resting-place in the land to which we go."

And so we too have that which reminds us of our Saviour's death, "As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till He come" (1 Cor. 11:26). Some day we will be through forever with the memorials of death when we shall have gone to that rest which remains for the people of God, and there we shall have our blessed Lord in all His fulness to be the delight of our hearts throughout an eternity of bliss, while a regenerated world will see Him enthroned in highest glory and all peoples will be nourished by His beneficence and bow at His feet in rapt adoration.

Copied from Care for God's Fruit-trees and Other Messages by H.A. Ironside. Rev. ed. New York: Loizeaux Brothers, [1945].

Link: http://www.wholesomewords.org/etexts/ironside/care2.html

FAR FROM ROME . . NEAR TO GOD by Richard Bennett & Martin Buckingham

2009-12-13T10:34:00.000-08:00

This book contains the moving testimonies of fifty priests who found their way by the grace of God out of the labyrinth of Roman Catholic theology and practice into the light of the gospel of Christ.

From the back cover:

This is not a narrowly polemical work, nor is its relevance limited to the ongoing controversy between Rome and the churches of the Reformation. The love and concern felt by the former priests for those they left behind, and their fervent desire that they too should experience the joy and peace of salvation in Christ are seen throughout. The wider relevance of the experiences described will also be felt in many contexts remote from Roman Catholicism where human pride and presumption have erected rival sources of authority between people and the Word of God, so obscuring the way of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone.

Richard Bennett is the Director of Berean Beacon, based in Portland, Oregon, USA. Martin Buckingham is the Director of The Converted Catholic Mission in Leicester, UK.

***********

Reviews commending this book from Amazon.com

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book if you want to really get an unbiased view of the RCC, March 14, 2008

By MacLover (Missouri)

This book is probally the best I have yet to read regarding the RCC. I was looking for something that my brother would be able to read that was too loaded with all the technical RCC doctrines. This gives testimony's of priests who studied and studied and still did not find salvation. The more they seeked God, the more they turned away from the RCC and to the one and only Saviour Jesus Christ. The testimonies also provide scriptures which is wonderful. This is the perfect book to give a Catholic person in search for the truth. I have not given it to my brother yet because I can't put it down! What a great book. It really helps me because I was born and raised Catholic and it confirms that when you are far from Rome you are surely nearer to God.

5.0 out of 5 stars Protestant/Catholic Household, August 18, 2006

By Irish Girl "christ like" (jackson co. west virginia)

This is a great book and I recomend it to both Protestant and Catholic alike.It is a book for the open minded only!!!I am sorry to say that I havent run into to many open minded when it comes to religon.This book gives you a good look at the brainwashing involved in not just Catholics but any religion that requires its people to study church doctorine only and not the Bible itself.Out of each story in this book not one of these men came to know God until they picked up and read a Bible.That is amazing to me!!!!

4.0 out of 5 stars A good testimony of those that left the organization., May 23, 1998

By Lee Jensen "riolion" (Rio Rancho, New Mexico USA)

(REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Far from Rome Near to God: (Paperback)

This book contains a small sample of testimonies of people that felt the need to know their Creator but did not find it within the church with its elaborate rituals, dogmatic belief system, and authoritative hierarchial power structure. I read that nearly all of the priests that left either were directed by a small voice within themselves as they carried out their assigned duties or were drawn away from it after reading the Bible which they found to conflict with the unique doctrines of the Roman Church. The book points out the failure of the Roman Church in teaching their leaders the Scripture who are to feed the flock. It is a book that also make one sad in that the spiritual needs of people are not met or the feed that they receive is not at adequate for ones daily spiritual life. As in all critiques, one can gain an understanding of the beliefs of the Roman Church by examining the views of those that left. This book is indeed adequate for that.

4.0 out of 5 stars Far From Rome Near to God, March 23, 2006

By Arnold Urbonas "Bible connoisseur" (Edmonton, AB Canada)

(REAL NAME)

I am enjoying this book very much. This book provides a condensed version of life stories of former priests. Although I was never a priest, I did find that I could identify with many stories, having personally undergone a similiar spiritual transformation.

I am particularly moved by the courage and risk that these men took after studying for the priesthood for 10+ years, and found no other alternative than to leave all that they had come to know. They didn't know what they would do for a living, but God provided for them.

These men didn't just decide to leave the Roman church, but after honest soul searching were convicted even after growing up in the Roman church. But each and every testimony had this in common- these priests encountered True faith from witnesses who were not afraid to speak the Truth.

4.0 out of 5 stars Unless One Is Born Again, November 9, 2004

By CHRIS TAN (Langley, British Columbia Canada)

An excellent testimony and revelation of men (actually, ex-catholic priests) being regenerated by the Holy Spirit to see the Truth. And the Truth have set them free. Jesus said in John 3:3, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Only two things stands out from this book, believing in salvation by grace (only God converts) or believing in salvation by works (that man has the ability to convert themself). In the words of Jesus Christ, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound!, April 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Far from Rome Near to God: (Paperback)

Though this is a book with 50 testimonies from former priests, it should be viewed as one testimony to God's grace in calling forth his people, even when the odds are against it. I was struck by the extent to which God's Word cut like a sword into the hearts of these men, and awakened them to God's truth and away from the "magisterium" of man-made and erroneous Catholic doctrines. The book is also interesting for the varied perspectives offered by former priests from several orders (Jesuits, Franciscans, Carmelites, etc.), and from all around the world (North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia). One of the saddest testimonies, which would sum up much of Roman Catholic life, was the description of monastic life, and how earnestly deceived men sought to earn holiness and salvation through their futile acts of self-denial, self-flagellation and other acts of humiliation. Also, the testimonies touch briefly on several problematic areas of Catholic teaching that each priest had to accept were sinful, such as teachings on the worship ("veneration" in Catholic doublespeak) of Mary, idolatry, transubstantiation, the re-sacrifice of Christ in the Mass, and other serious errors. Lastly, I would counsel wisdom before this book is shared with Catholics because some of the testimonies are harsh in their criticism of the Roman church's teachings and bishops. Read this prayerfully before you give away, and consider how your Catholic friends and family would react....

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must For All Roman Catholics!!!, January 4, 2002

By Pastor Roger "Roger R." (Chicago, USA)

This review is from: Far from Rome Near to God: (Paperback)

I'm a former Roman Catholic. I got this book as a recent Christmas gift from a friend. I must admit, the evidence in this book is very compelling. If you're a Catholic struggling with your faith, you need to read this book. Or if you're thinking about becoming a Catholic, you need to read this book. God is found in the Bible and in its teachings. I must warn you-you'll find a lot of differences between the Catholic Church and the Bible if you read this book. As you read it, I'd suggest keeping a Bible close by. You'll find that all of the information these former priests give is 100% accurate. Excellent book!!!

4.0 out of 5 stars Far from Rome Near to God, July 22, 2001

By Rev. Ray Dubuque (East Haven, Conn. - USA)

This review is from: Far from Rome Near to God: (Paperback)

As one of the 100,000 priests who saw the light, I could have been featured as one of its contributors. When I saw the Roman Catholic Church do a U-turn and start undoing the 2nd Vatican Council's reforms that had been 3 centuries or more in coming, I joined the reformation and was welcomed into the ministry of the United Methodist Church.

But more important than my story is the teaching of JESUS that is too often neglected by BOTH the Catholic (as well as the Orthodox) and Protestant traditions, which I highlight at my extensive web site "Liberals Like Christ"....

5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth Will Set You Free, July 9, 2001

By A Customer

This book puts a human face on the number of those who eventually had to leave the Roman Church priesthood because they could no longer reconcile their changing beliefs with those that they were required to practice...and it does this via fifty testimonies of the over 100,000 men who have left the Roman Catholic priesthood since 1970

As these priest tell their stories, we are educated in a number of ways.

One, we learn a great deal about Roman Catholic Church theology, including the Mass, confession, justification, etc.

Two, we are provided fascinating insights into the various trainings, practices, duties and obligations of priestly and monastic orders. Some of these practices seem barbaric by our contemporary sense of spiritual awareness. It is appalling, for instance, to think we have Roman Catholic orders of monks who still practice medieval, physical forms of cruelty upon themselves (like flagellation) and their fellows (blows to the face) in an attempt to be right with and pleasing to God.

Since the spiritual journeys of these priests are internationally and ethnically diversified, we are also educated in terms of the Roman Catholic Church's role in various countries and cultures. In some countries, it is apparent that the RCC has a power that is every bit as dominant politically as it is religiously.

Many of these priests feared for their personal safety as well as their future careers when they entertained notions of leaving the priesthood, because of the Roman Church's vindictive representatives in government, in the police forces and in the business community. Some of these priests, after having left the priesthood, were forced to leave their countries to find hospitable refuge elsewhere. Evidently, in some parts of the world, leaving the priesthood is not like quitting a job.

For these reasons, and the fact that many faced the potential of a cultural stigma as well as intense disappointment of friends and family, we learn that leaving the priesthood required a good amount of courage. The fact that all the ex-priests in this book left because of a crisis of conscience or belief, as opposed to yearnings for worldly or physical desires, make their stories even more compelling and credible.

We also learn the extent to which the Roman Catholic Church, despite calling Protestants "brothers," in actual practice in various locales considers Protestantism its number one enemy. Many of these testimonial conversions are remarkable considering the fact that the priests relating them were raised and educated to hate Protestants. Many actually were led to believe that Protestant Bibles were radically different than Catholic Bibles. Protestant literature, in one man's story, was kept in a forbidden, locked closet in a church library.

When reading this book, anyone who considers himself a serious Christian will be shocked by how little the theological training of Roman Catholic priests involves the study of scripture. One man testifies in this book that in thirteen years of training to be a priest, he had twelve hours of studying the Bible. Another stated that he was not allowed to even read a Bible until after he had turned 21, despite the fact that he had been trained to be a priest since he was a ten. One is left with the impression that since so many Roman Catholic Church dogmas (like the sacrifice of the Mass, the Marian dogmas, confession, transubstantiation, purgatory, the priesthood itself) have questionable or no scriptural basis, the Roman Catholic Church prefers to train its future priests with literature on what they say about the Bible, rather than risk having seminarians question Church teaching by reading the Bible itself.

Despite this effort, the constant thread throughout many of the narratives is how God brought the truth to anguished, confused, and troubled souls in spite of Roman Catholic "brainwashing" as one ex-priest phrases it. Many times the seed of God's truth was sown as priests were required to perform actions that in their hearts they knew only God was capable of, such as absolution. Many more times conversion occurred as a result of studying the Word of God and learning that the Gospel message of God's love and forgiveness, and Christ's one time perfect sacrifice blatantly contradicts the Roman Catholic view.

We cannot simply dismiss the conversions of these brave and intelligent men as being a result of ignorance. In some cases, these men experienced decades of training and learning in Roman Catholic teaching. An objective reader, regardless of denominational affilliation, must conclude that there is something wrong with a Christian church that shields not only its laity, but its clergy from the Bible...but when one sees how a thorough grounding in the Word of God can lead to exodus from that church, we can at least understand why.

A quick read: informative and surprisingly entertaining as well.

5.0 out of 5 stars Putting God's Thinking Above Our Own, April 21, 2000

By Rande C. Snyder (San Antonio, TX)

This review is from: Far from Rome Near to God: (Paperback)

Unfortunately, most major denominations are based on what some person, or committee, thinks of some passage or passages of Scripture, and not what God intended at all. The Catholic Church is just one of many in a long list. While being raised in Catholicism, many times I was taught that a thing was okay as long as I thought it was, and didn't feel bad about it. That's NOT how it works! First you have to read the Bible and get real familiar with what He thinks and adjust your thinking to His -- not the other way around! This is the truth that these ex-priests have found. We cannot do it our own way, or any man's way, and expect to get to Heaven. Sorry, but He says so -- it's His Word, and His thinking, not my own. It is a miracle that these men found their way out of the labyrinth of religion, and into the light of His infallible truth.

4.0 out of 5 stars Common threads in troubled priests - fascinating, January 11, 2000

By J. Long (Raleigh, NC USA)

(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Far from Rome Near to God: (Paperback)

I have always had a fascination for why people believe the way they do. I could not put this book down. It is interesting that all of the priests kept thinking that the next event (entering seminary, becoming a priest, saying the first Mass, becoming a missionary, etc.) would provide them with peace with God. Yet, at each turn, they found no answers to their questions, no peace. Each of them stumbled across the Bible under differing circumstances, but had trouble justifying Catholic dogmas with what they read in the Bible. Most of them had to sacrifice everything in order to leave the priesthood. Some testimonies were very insightful, others repetitious, but all provided me with an insight into the difficulties many priests must be faced with. Anyone opposed to Catholicism should first read this book to gain a greater sense of compassion for the person on the other side. The author should focus on organization of the testimonies (perhaps chronilogically), add dates where missing, and add transitions where it seems to jump.

With Christian love,

June & Ralph Nadolny, two witnesses for Christ

Sinners by birth (Ps. 51:5); Roman Catholics by tradition; converted to Christ by His grace (Eph. 2:1-9); made "new creatures in Christ" (II Cor. 5:17) by virtue of the "new birth" (John 3:3-8) to the praise & glory of God's grace (Eph. 1:3-14)

"For I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ . . ." Rom. 1:16

2009-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

"With deep love for Catholic people, Peter Slomski in this DVD explains his own coming to personal faith in Jesus Christ. Peter is from a Polish Catholic family and photos from his Catholic youth give clarification to his touching testimony to the Lord’s love and grace."
- Richard Bennett

This video is "embedded" here with permission from Richard Bennett, Christian Apologist & former Catholic priest. Additional Christian commentary, testimony & videos by Richard Bennett and others can be accessed at his website www.bereanbeacon.org

The Massive Scale of Child Abuse by Priests in Ireland

2009-08-23T12:27:00.001-07:00

Excerpt: "Millions of Roman Catholics have left their “Church” in disgust. And for the true Christian, it must always be remembered that even if millions of Roman Catholics ultimately rejected their religion, this is not the same as conversion to Christ!

Their Romish priests may have abused them, but the Lord Jesus Christ is the one true great High Priest (Heb. 3:1), who is holy, harmless, and undefiled (Heb. 7:26). The priests of Rome claim to possess the power to forgive sin, but only Christ truly has such power. Neither priests of Rome, nor psychological “counselling”, can help them; but if they come to Christ the Lord, He will save them to the uttermost! Here is good news indeed, the very best of news, glad tidings of a true Saviour and Friend!"

Shaun Willcock, Gospel Minister & Christian Apologist

**********August 22nd, 2009

A massive, 2600-page report on child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in Ireland was published in May 2009 by an independent commission, the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse, after listening to evidence from victims given over a nine-year period. The commission was established by the Irish government in 2000 to hear evidence from people, now in their 50s to 80s, alleged to have suffered abuse at institutions since 1940. These institutions, which were funded by the state but usually run by Roman Catholic religious orders, included schools, orphanages, hospitals, children’s homes, and other facilities.

The report (known as the Ryan Report) stated that physical and sexual abuse, including rape, was endemic in government institutions for boys that were run by Roman Catholic religious orders, chiefly by the order known as the “Christian Brothers”, between 1940 and the late 1970s. Literally thousands of boys were abused during this period. It said: “A climate of fear, created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment, permeated most of the institutions and all those run for boys.” Children lived in daily terror. And although girls supervised by orders of nuns, chiefly the order known as the “Sisters of Mercy”, suffered much less sexual abuse (although it certainly did occur), they suffered frequent assaults and humiliation designed to make them feel worthless. “In some schools,” the report stated, “a high level of ritualized beating was routine…. Girls were struck with implements designed to maximize pain and were struck on all parts of the body. Personal and family denigration was widespread.” Witnesses not only described being hit and beaten, but being flogged, kicked and otherwise physically assaulted, scalded, burned, and held under water. They described being beaten in private, as well as in front of other staff, residents, patients and pupils. One man described everyday humiliations he had suffered as a boy in “Christian Brothers” institutions, such as being forced to wrap his urine-stained sheets around his neck and parade in front of other children when he had wet his bed.i

Proper spanking, of course, has been used since the beginning of the world and is a very biblical form of chastisement (Prov. 13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13,14; 29:15); and unfortunately in today’s world, psychologists and others have convinced many that any form of corporal punishment is wrong, which is nonsense. But flogging, kicking, scalding, burning, and being held under water! Such things are methods of torture. The report said the overwhelming, consistent testimony from the victims had demonstrated beyond a doubt that the entire system treated children like prison inmates and slaves. It stated: “It was systemic and not the result of individual breaches by persons who operated outside lawful and acceptable boundaries.”

It also said that sexual abuse was reported by approximately half of all those who testified before a confidential committee of the commission. And sexual abusers were often repeat offenders. Furthermore, it was clear from the documented cases that monks and priests were aware of the propensity for abusers to continue to abuse – despite the religious orders’ claims that the recidivist nature of sexual offenders was not understood. The report uncovered previously secret Vatican records which showed that “Church” leaders knew of the child sex abusers in their ranks, going as far back as the 1930s. And not only did “Church” officials do nothing about it, but they deliberately and knowingly shielded such sex abusers from arrest! They simply shunted the offenders off to new parishes or locations where they continued the abuse.

The Ryan Report is full of horrifying detail. But it does not name the abusers. The leaders of the religious orders, despite claiming to have co-operated fully with the investigation, were adamant that the identities of the perpetrators be kept out of the report – and they indicated that they would continue to protect their identities even now. The “Christian Brothers” order claimed to have co-operated fully with the investigation, and yet in 2004 it successfully sued the commission to keep the identities of all its members, dead or alive, unnamed in the report.ii Partly for this reason the report will not be used for criminal prosecutions. This was very disappointing to the victims of the abuse, who strongly believed that the guilty should have been named and shamed. As one of the victims, John Walsh of Irish Survivors of Child Abuse, said, “It has devastated me and will devastate most victims because there are no criminal proceedings and no accountability whatsoever.”iii

Officials of the Roman Catholic institution in Ireland claimed to welcome the report, and to express sorrow about the incidents it documented. And yet, as always, the sincerity of these high-ranking ecclesiastical officials is to be seriously doubted, especially when the president of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Sean Brady, the Romish cardinal of Armagh, Northern Ireland, said that “the report throws light on a dark period of the past”.iv The past? What a lie! This is not a dark period of the past, it is still going on right now! Thus, even while professing sorrow over these shocking crimes, he chooses his words carefully so as to give the impression that it’s all over now, it’s in the past, it isn’t happening anymore, and it won’t happen again. He hereby continues to do his best to cover up the truth, and push it all into some “dark period of the past”.

A.W. Richard Sipe is an ex-Benedictine monk and priest, who is involved in full-time research into the sexual and celibate practices of the priests and bishops of Rome. Not a Christian and moreover sadly a psychotherapist, so that he sees the problem and the solution in terms of the unbiblical muddy waters of psychotherapy, which can never help anyone, Sipe nevertheless has ripped the veil off much of the goings-on of priests, caused by the doctrine of priestly celibacy. Commenting on the claim that these sins had been committed only “in the past”, he wrote (italics added): “Apologies from the hierarchy continue to be offered as if the problem of sex abuse is ‘now behind them.’ News Flash! The problem of sex by Catholic clergy and religious is very much alive and well within the clerical system. Sexual distortion… is endemic to the clerical culture….Most are not actually interested in understanding or practicing celibacy…. The system of authoritarian ecclesiastical control fosters and protects secret sexual expression – homosexuality and a double life. The power structure colludes to cover up the facts about clergy sexual activity. Sexual failings by bishops and priests are relegated to the confessional wastebasket where all is forgiven and forgotten…” He went on: “The problem is over? Is there anyone who thinks that Irish and American bishops and priests have lost their sexual drive – or their orientation, or their habits and relationships? In what ways has the clerical system of education or culture changed?”v As a psychotherapist and not a Christian, Sipe speaks of “sexual orientation”, and this of course is nonsense; but nevertheless he is absolutely correct in stating categorically that the abuse of children continues. It is most certainly not “in the past”. These men have not suddenly all undergone a moral change. They are evil men, with evil desires.

Getting back to the Romish cardinal, Brady: commenting on the report, he said moreover: “The publication of this comprehensive report and analysis is a welcome and important step in establishing the truth, giving justice to victims and ensuring such abuse does not happen again.” Another lie, for the Romish hierarchy certainly does not welcome this report or any other into these crimes. For centuries these things have been going on, and yet they have always been hushed up by the Roman Catholic leadership. The priests, bishops and cardinals of Rome have done their utmost to prevent the truth from ever being known. The only reason they now say such a report is “welcome” is because they have no choice, it has come to light and been exposed and there is nothing they can do about it, so they have to go into damage-control mode and try to make the best of a terrible situation. If it was up to them, they would never, ever have either issued such a report, nor done any investigation in the first place. It is as Jesus said: these men “loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (Jn. 3:19,20).

Brady said, “This report makes it clear that great wrong and hurt were caused to some of the most vulnerable children in our society. It documents a shameful catalogue of cruelty – neglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse – perpetrated against children.” And: “I am profoundly sorry and deeply ashamed that children suffered in such awful ways in these institutions. Children deserved better, and especially from those caring for them in the name of Jesus Christ.” It all sounds good, and contrite – but it’s all a sham. For years now, it has been solidly documented all over the world that Roman Catholic bishops and cardinals knew about the abuse going on right under their noses – and did nothing. They simply shunted the guilty priest off to another parish where he could continue to abuse children; they turned a blind eye. And this is what Rome has always done, when its priests have been caught out in any crime, as ex-priest Charles Chiniquy shows in his classic work, 50 Years in the “Church” of Rome.vi

That the hierarchy deliberately shielded these predator priests was even admitted in an editorial of the Roman Catholic southern African weekly, The Southern Cross, which said (italics added): “The culpability, however, does not reside only with those who committed these abuses… but also with those who could have taken action to prevent these, but failed to do so. Witnesses before the commission testified that they were intimidated and silenced when they sought to bring these abuses to the attention of Church leaders. This suggests very strongly that the cover-up went to the top of the Irish Church, to superiors and bishops.” vii Of course it did, as indeed it did all over the world, not just in Ireland. This has ever been Rome’s way. Perhaps the fact that this particular editor, although a Papist, is not a priest, made him more forthright than many. He added that the betrayal was “in the interest of an institution that clearly was inebriated with the hubris of its unchallenged power.” Strong words from a Roman Catholic editor, and true ones as well. Yet this man remains a Roman Catholic all the same.

Brady also said that the Papal institution “remains determined to do all that is necessary to make the Church a safe, life-giving and joyful place for children.” The “Church” of Rome has never been safe for children, as history testifies. Its priests have abused children, and its abominable confessional has been the means of corrupting youth through the centuries.viii

Another high-ranking Irish ecclesiastic, the Romish archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said that the victims’ “stories of horrible abuse are, in many cases, stomach-turning; their courage in telling their stories [is] admirable.”ix Hollow words, once again. This is a religious system that has condoned this kind of abuse for much of its history. By the time a man reaches the position of archbishop, if he has not personally been involved in such abuse himself he is well aware of the fact that a great many priests, bishops, archbishops and others have been. But it only becomes “stomach-turning” once it is made public.

He went on to say that all “Church” organisations involved in the report should seriously examine “how their ideals became debased by systematic abuse.” The answer is as plain as can be, but sadly these organisations will not admit to it. This is a religious system which forbids its priests, monks and nuns from marrying, which is called a doctrine of devils in 1 Tim. 4:1-3. It is a system that, by its very nature, encourages a huge percentage of sodomites to enter the priesthood, for priests, not allowed to marry, spend large amounts of time in very intimate all-male company, and then through the confessionals are given access to young children in a secretive, private setting. It is a system which is so concerned with appearing outwardly holy to the world, that it covers up any scandals emanating from its priesthood, pushing them under the carpet and glossing them over. It is a system of diabolical evil.

He then said: “We must find ways of ensuring that the cries and anxieties of children are heard and listened to. This is not a report to be put on a shelf – it’s a real cry for a new look at the way we care for our children. If we truly regret what happened in the past, we must commit ourselves to a very different future.” The cries and anxieties of Roman Catholic children stem from the fact that they are forced into intimate, private proximity with sodomite priests who can get away with almost anything because of the high regard in which the children’ parents hold priests of Rome. And as for not putting this report on a shelf, when the dust settles down (if it settles down) that is precisely where most predator priests will put it. This Romish archbishop can prattle on about regretting the past and committing to a different future, but in practical terms, what will actually change? Nothing. The system is an abomination, and that is not changing.

Both Brady and Martin met with the Roman pope, Benedict XVI, for 45 minutes to brief him on the findings of the commission; this after a series of meetings to discuss the report with Vatican officials, including cardinals. And they claimed that Benedict was “visibly upset” to hear of the abuse suffered by the thousands of Irish children in the care of religious orders. Martin said Benedict was saddened to hear “how the children had suffered from the very opposite of an expression of the love of God”, while Brady said, “The Holy Father listened very carefully, very attentively and very sympathetically to what we had to say”. He added, “He said in reply that this was a time for a deep examination of life here in Ireland in the Church.”x

A Roman Catholic man in Ireland, writing in a Roman Catholic newspaper, summed up Benedict’s crocodile tears perfectly when he wrote: “The media in Ireland have said much about Pope Benedict’s ‘sadness’ about the abuse when he was briefed about that, but the pope’s sadness means nothing without action. The pope granted exile in Rome to Cardinal Bernard Law, who was the archbishop of Boston when he was implicated in moving rapist priests from parish to parish where they continued their abuse of children. Why is Cardinal Bernard Law not being handed over to the authorities in the United States so that he can answer for his involvement in the abuse of children in Boston? Why does the pope not call for the criminal prosecution of bishops and heads of religious orders who knowingly put children at risk of predators?”xi He hit the nail right on the head. It is a conspiracy to cover up the truth which goes right up to the pope of Rome himself. Benedict’s “sorrow” is a sham. It is worthless.

What must always be borne in mind is that the pope of Rome has risen through the ranks to get to where he is now. He was once a priest, then a bishop, then a cardinal, and finally pope of Rome. Thus there is simply no way that Benedict was ignorant of these goings-on. Until recent times they may have been hidden from the general public, but they have always been well known within the fraternity of the Romish priesthood. There, behind closed doors, sexual abuse of children, as well as of women and men, was never a secret. The history of the Papal system is full of these wicked goings-on. Benedict, then, may now express “sorrow” over the suffering of these thousands of children; but the abominations committed by so many members of the priesthood, and which have always been so well known within the system, did not deter him from his ambitions within the system; and he was perfectly content to stay within it, to turn a blind eye to it, and to rise up through the ranks so as to eventually become pope of Rome. His expressions of sorrow, then, can hardly be accepted as genuine.

Others issued their own “apologies”. Eight chapters of the report were devoted to institutions run by the “Christian Brothers” order, whose schools cared for more boys than all the other Roman Catholic-run institutions put together. And a spokesman for the order, known to Papists as “Brother” Edmund Garvey, said on May 20: “We apologise openly and unreservedly to all those who have been hurt – either directly or indirectly – as a result of the deplorable actions of some brothers or by the inaction or inappropriate action of the congregation as a whole. We are deeply sorry for the hurt caused. We are ashamed and saddened that many who complained of abuse were not listened to. We acknowledge and regret that our responses to physical and sexual abuse failed to consider the long-term psychological effects on children.”xii

Please note, even while issuing the “apology”, the attempt to give the impression that only “some brothers” were guilty of this abuse. Some? The report shows that this abuse was committed by hundreds and hundreds of priests and monks! Yet over and over again, these wicked institutions try to make the public believe that there were just a few “rotten apples” in the basket. What a lie.

And this man admits that many who complained of abuse were not listened to. Well then, this alone shows that there was a deliberate conspiracy to keep the truth hidden, and that it must have been known by many more men in these orders than even the many who actually committed the abuse!

The “apology”, then, is meaningless, as all such “apologies” are.

The editor of The Southern Cross, despite voicing his disgust at the priestly child abusers, still wrote that “the dignity of the priesthood has been diminished by the crimes of a small number of priests, and by bishops who covered up for them.”xiii A small number? The number of those who have been exposed already runs into thousands – is this a small number? About a decade ago, Roman Catholic priest Andrew Greeley estimated that priests in the United States had abused at least 120 000 minors.xiv This was a conservative estimate – the true number was far, far higher. And another decade has now passed, so that the true number is even higher still.

The Roman pope, himself, has made the same claim – that although “some” priests have done great harm, the majority have been exemplary. After praising priests who work under the threat of persecution and endure much suffering, Benedict added, “there are also, sad to say, situations which can never be sufficiently deplored where the Church herself suffers as a consequence of infidelity on the part of some of her ministers.”xv There’s that word, “some”, again. It’s only some priests who do these things – this is the continual message we’re hearing. But it’s a lie.

This constant refrain we are hearing from the hierarchy of Rome – that only a small minority of priests have been guilty of such abuses and that the vast majority are decent, upright, godly men – is Rome’s subtle way of covering up the full truth of the matter. As they say, tell a lie, tell it often enough, and the people will believe it. For example, a Brazilian cardinal, Cláudio Hummes, said that people must recognise that the vast majority of the world’s priests have never been involved in any kind of abuse.xvi But how can he be so sure? How can he possibly know? As already many thousands of priests worldwide have been exposed as child abusers, who can say how many more will be exposed in the future? The system itself is wicked, and makes it easy for such abusers to find a home within the priesthood. Rome’s priesthood has always been stuffed full of such men, and there is absolutely nothing to indicate it’s suddenly going to change now.

Although some priests and bishops have issued “apologies” and expressed shock and dismay at the revelations of the Ryan Report, others have dismissed the report and rallied to the defence of Rome; and the real attitude of Rome to such reports and revelations is revealed by these priests, not by those who sanctimoniously issue “apologies” and wring their hands. When William Donohue of the Catholic League called the reaction to the Ryan Report “hysteria”, ex-priest Richard Sipe came out with guns blazing and wrote, “Donohue is a Bozo. I don’t know any other appellation that can adequately describe the uninformed, unintelligent, and frankly stupid reaction of a man who responds thus to the facts of abuse by supposedly responsible and trusted religious”. He went on: “As one reviews the list of clerics who support Donohue and the League – Egan, Mahony, Chaput, O’Brien, O’Malley and others – with encomiums for ‘the protection of the faith, the defense of victims, courage to speak up candidly, teaching the hard truths of the Gospel’ – one is struck by the oppositional, obstructionistic, and arrogant way all of the clerical Donohue supporters still operate…. Those like Donohue who minimize and distort the real picture of clergy abuse of sex and power continue to do a huge disservice to the Catholic Church. Every U.S. Grand Jury investigation into clergy sexual abuse of minors came to exactly the same conclusion: the church has colluded to cover up facts, protect offenders and preferred institutional image and the avoidance of scandal above the safety of children. Hundreds of thousands of Catholics know the truth even if many are too intimidated or tired to say so aloud. There is nothing hysterical – over emotional or attention seeking – in the Irish Report or in reactions to it. Only a Bozo would think so. Facts, even painful facts, are still facts – the truth remains solid even after attacks or dismissals from powerful coalitions. Truth silently prevails, Bozos don’t.”xvii

Just how “sorry” the priests and monks really are is shown by the reaction of many to the anger displayed by Diarmuid Martin, the Romish archbishop of Dublin, when the details of the Ryan Report became known. Martin claimed that he was so angry over the documents in his archives that he threw them to the ground. Perhaps he did, perhaps not. But the Irish religious orders accused him of “throwing us to the wolves” (their phrase) after the revelations came out – and they were furious with him. A Redemptorist priest named Tony Flannery revealed that many members of religious orders felt “terrified”, “ashamed”, “hurt” and “betrayed” by the actions and public statements of Martin and other members of the hierarchy who led the public criticism of members of the religious orders of Ireland. He said “there is enormous anger among religious [members of religious orders]. They feel that they have been scapegoated, particularly by one member of the hierarchy, the Archbishop of Dublin.”xviii

This just shows that many of the men in these orders were more concerned with their own reputations than with the abuse that had been committed against thousands of children. At the same time, of course, one can understand their anger over the fact that high-ranking ecclesiastical leaders put on pious faces and express shock and horror, when there is simply no way they did not know that these things were going on right under their noses, and no doubt many of them are guilty of abuse as well. They are indeed making scapegoats of those under them, when they are just as guilty and utterly hypocritical to express sorrow and dismay over the report. As journalist Damiean Thompson correctly observed: “underneath all his [Martin’s] public soul-searching and the sound of documents hitting the archiepiscopal floor, I think we can hear the sound of nifty footwork.”xix

What, then, should be done for the victims?

The report recommended that “counselling” and educational services should be made available to victims, as many of them never received a secondary school education.xx Tragically, in these times, psychology is always recommended, but this is not the answer at all. Psychologists have become the high priests of the new religion of psychotherapy, but psychotherapy is utterly unproven, unscientific, and cannot possibly help. The real solution for those who have been abused by priests and monks of the Roman Catholic institution is to come to the Lord Jesus Christ and find salvation and everlasting peace in Him.

A solution put forward by Christine Buckley, a leader in seeking to expose the abuse, is for the religious orders to provide 50% of all their assets, estimated to be 20 billion euros, towards compensating the victims. She suggested that 5 billion euros be used to increase compensation to those who presented evidence to the commission, with the remaining 5 billion euros being set aside to compensate survivors who have not yet come forward.xxi And indeed, leaders of eighteen religious orders implicated in the abuse agreed to increase their contribution to a compensation fund, although no amount was set. An Irish government-appointed panel paid 12000 victims of the “Church”-run schools, orphanages and other institutions an average of $90,000 each, on condition that they surrender their right to sue either the Roman Catholic “Church” or the state. Thousands of other claims are pending.xxii

This has become the preferred solution worldwide, but it is far from ideal. The main reason being that knowing there is a lot of money to be made from testifying could very easily induce people who were not abused to come forward and pretend to have been, and accuse perhaps innocent people. This is a great danger. Still, by way of restitution the courts do not have many options available to them other than some form of financial compensation to the victims. Most important is for those individuals who committed the abuse, or who were accessories to it, to be punished by the full weight of the law. And yes, the religious institutions themselves should be punished too, wherever it is proved that they knew about the abuse going on within their structures and did nothing about it.

And where to, now, for the Roman Catholic institution in Ireland itself? Does it have a future in Ireland? The crisis for Rome in that once-so-Romanist country is truly immense in scale. This was admitted even by the Romish archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, who publicly conceded that the scandals had seriously damaged the image and credibility of the Roman Catholic institution in Ireland.xxiii And writing in The Irish Times, historian and journalist Brendan Ó Cathaoir described the Irish Republic as a state of “unbridled clerical power”, where the Romish “Church” possessed “unrivalled authority”, but stated that the Ryan Report has now consigned the triumphalist Roman Catholic “Church” in Ireland to the dustbin of history.xxiv

The following quotation from the editorial in The Southern Cross is worth quoting, as it is (for once) extremely honest about what has happened there:

“After a series of abuse scandals and the rise of secularism in Ireland – which in part is a reaction to inordinate ecclesial power in secular affairs – the Irish Church is at a nadir. For all the good it has done among the bad, the Church in Ireland as we know it is broken. Where its vocations were once so rich that Ireland lavishly sent priests and religious to the missions, today few men and women enter the consecrated life. Where its priests once were honoured, they are often publicly disrespected, to the point that some don’t even wear their clerical garb in public so as to avoid being maligned. And where once trust in the Church was implicit, it is now lost.”xxv

The numbers of men and women joining Roman Catholic religious orders in Ireland are in serious decline today. Michael Kelly, editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper in Dublin, said: “Most of these orders will literally die out in Ireland within the next generation or so. Many of them are already in wind-up mode. They lack the confidence even to seek new vocations (recruits), due to the stigma associated with their members’ shocking, scandalous behaviour.”xxvi

Large numbers of Irish Roman Catholics are shocked, hurt, disillusioned, and very angry with their priests, and with their “Church” in general. One, writing from Dublin to the southern African Roman Catholic newspaper, said: “Archbishop Martin has not acknowledged in full the conspiracy of the hierarchy in covering up the abuses…. Until all victims are properly compensated and all the perpetrators are prosecuted, his fine words amount to very little. The Catholic hierarchy and orders have failed to show that they are really serious about this. It seems rather that they want to pay out as little compensation as possible, and to keep the abusers out of jail. It is insulting of the Catholic leadership to pretend that they never knew about the physical and sexual violence. When individuals complained, they were intimidated into silence, and seldom was any action taken…. What the Church doesn’t understand, it seems, is that people are not angry only with the abusers but also with the whole Catholic Church that tolerated and covered up the violence against children, and now refuses to pay proper compensation. In my opinion, the whole hierarchy of Ireland should resign in shame. That includes Archbishop Martin. What a statement of solidarity with the victims that would be!”xxvii

He went on: “You [the editor of the Romanist newspaper] say that the Catholic Church in Ireland must now rebuild itself. This ignores the anger among Ireland’s people. Most want nothing to do with the Catholic Church after years of collusion with the government and the abuse scandal…. Many Irish people, probably the majority, have had enough, and the Catholic Church will never recover from this. It has forfeited its moral authority…. Many Catholics in Ireland have lost their faith not in salvation, but in the Church which claims to represent our Saviour, but then allowed evil men and women to commit evil acts against defenceless children.”

An article in the Irish Post was entitled “Where to now for Catholicism in Ireland?” The author, Joe Horgan, voiced precisely the sentiments of so many shocked and disillusioned Irish Roman Catholics when he wrote: “It is hard to know what to do now with all of that residual Catholicism. What to do with that reflex that wants to make the sign of the cross on passing a grotto. What to do when a priest passes by in the street. Still catch the eye and say hello, Father? What to do when a nun passes by in the street. Still catch the eye and say hello, Sister? Still? Now? After the Ryan Report? After being given full knowledge of what the institutions of that Church did? What to do with it now?”xxviii

He went on: “If you were writing a short history of the Catholic Church in Ireland now how would you assess it? Would you say it supported and helped the people through an often grim, difficult history? Or would you say it oppressed and manipulated the people?…. Or would you say that, on the shocking, overwhelming evidence of the Ryan Report that the Catholic Church has been a malign, divisive force in Irish life? Has been the one consistently proven force for evil?”

But perhaps the most damning indictment of all came from an Irish American Jesuit priest, known online simply as “Father Tim”. He has seen the handwriting on the wall as far as the Roman Catholic institution in Ireland is concerned, and he sees no future for Rome in that once staunchly Papist country after the Ryan Report revelations. Astoundingly, this is what he wrote, entitled “Memo to: Catholic Church/ From: Irish people/Re: Your services are no longer needed”:

“For the Catholic Church in Ireland, the game is over.

“The Irish people, and I am convinced it is the majority, no longer wish to have the Catholic Church in their country, or in their lives, and possibly not in their faith.

“I cannot blame them. The Church is solely to blame for this, from front to back, start to finish. It is reaping what it sowed. Although running away from a fire rather than toward it is not the example many of us in the Church believe should be our service to God and His Children, it may be best for all that we settle up our debts, hand over our criminals, and catch the next plane out of Dublin. I am sure that, after a transition period, many of the services the Church provides in Ireland can be contracted to others, and I would hope whatever damage settlements we must and should pay will smooth that changeover.

“Ireland is strong, and it will live on, and heal. Yes, it can and will do this without us. And, assuming it has learned anything, the threads that were once the garment of the Irish Church will heal too, and not repeat the horrible mistakes and misdeeds that have doomed its work in ‘the land of scholars and saints.’ Perhaps, in some tomorrow, the Church and Ireland will again be together. That is a prayer worth saying and a dream worth having – but not a reality worth expecting, not now or anytime soon.

“There is simply no way that an institution so horribly tainted and so utterly mistrusted can or should speak in the name of Jesus Christ in Ireland, nor attempt to project spiritual and moral leadership. So many of my dear online friends have written me with the same question, which I cannot answer: ‘How can we ever trust the Church again?’ While the Church can and must surrender its criminals and the highly placed conspirators who made the crimes possible and policy, it will never be enough in Ireland. The rage is too strong, a dam has burst. No matter what it does or says, the Church cannot and will not be believed anymore. Without that, its ministry is finished, at least for now.”xxix

As this was written by a Jesuit priest, one must always be very cautious and seek to discern any ulterior motive behind it, for the Jesuits are always wily, subtle, and seeking to promote Romanism in whatever way they can, by fair means or foul. But in this case, it is difficult to believe there is any ulterior motive behind this man’s article. It is a brutally frank acknowledgement of the Roman “Church’s” sins, and one would struggle to find any good coming to Rome through it. It would appear that this man is genuinely convinced that Roman Catholicism in Ireland is finished as a result of the priestly sex scandals. Perhaps he is simply (despite being a Jesuit) a decent man, committed to his “Church” but aware that the damage done in Ireland seems to be irreparable for now, and is deeply sorrowful over it. There are a few such priests within the Roman religion. Not many, but a few. True Christians should pray much for such men, that they may have their eyes opened by the Lord to see the Papal system for the demonic institution it is, and “come out of her”, coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, repenting of their sins and believing on Him alone for everlasting salvation!

This man had even more to say, however. “There never was much reason to expect that Benedict XVI or his legion of Roman red hats would rise to this or any occasion requiring Divinely-inspired leadership. They are better examples of the problem than the solution. Of course, the sorrow from Rome IS genuine, the contrition IS real. But it doesn’t really matter. Many readers have rightly said that, if the Church was a corporation (and it is), all those responsible would have been locked up in prisons or hospitals by now, and the company would have been driven out of Ireland on a rail. The best the Irish Church can do now is to buy its one-way tickets. All the Faithful, or what’s left of them, can only pray that Our Loving Father will find a way to restore a pure Church to Ireland, and that Ireland will want it back.”

From this we see that he is still a faithful son of Rome; he honestly believes there is genuine sorrow and contrition in the Vatican over what has occurred. In this he is very sadly deceived. But even so, to write this way about his pope and his cardinals is extraordinary, and certainly we can be sure that if one priest feels this way, many others do too. And this is a good thing. Let the disillusionment continue!

He ended his article forcefully, by pointing out that “few churches ever exerted such domineering social power as the Irish Catholic Church”, and that it was a religion of hate and fear, in which Irish priests supported fanatical Irish Roman Catholic murderers (without naming them, he meant the IRA); and he said: “They helped teach Ireland to hate, to never forgive, to fear, to be suspicious. Now, they are the hated, and the ones who can never be forgiven, not even by their own people and not even in spite of many, many, many good and Godly works they have done for them. It is the life they made for Ireland, and ultimately, for themselves.”

Truly, a profound change is occurring in Ireland, the likes of which has never been seen before. The times are not slowly changing, they have already changed, and the world has witnessed a once-staunchly Papist country become a very different place from what it was before. Perhaps the Jesuit priest quoted above has over-stated the case; perhaps many Roman Catholic Irishmen still believe in their “Church” and their priests and want them to stay; perhaps Ireland will not cease to be Papist after all, despite what has occurred. Rome has an amazing ability to bounce back from the brink of disaster. And Ireland has always had fanatical Papists, including fanatical terrorist madmen in the form of the IRA, who were supported fully by their priests in their murderous deeds.

But perhaps after all, the game really is over for Roman Catholicism in Ireland. Perhaps we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the enormous power that Rome has always exerted in that country. It has happened to nations before. In Roman Catholic France, described as “the elder daughter of the Vatican”, the priests ruled with an iron fist for centuries; but finally it all became too much for the French people, and, spurred on by anti-clerical revolutionaries, the French erupted in an orgy of horrific violence against the “Church” of Rome during the French Revolution. Centuries of cruel oppression at the hands of their priests led to the destruction of Roman Catholic power and influence in France.

But even there it was only for a time. Rome again made strides there, and regained much of its old power. Still, France is not what it was prior to the French Revolution, and it never will be. Rome was never again as all-powerful there as it had once been.

Perhaps, in fanatically Papist Ireland, the once all-powerful “Church” has now suffered a blow from which it will never fully recover. Perhaps Joe Horgan, quoted above, is correct when he writes, “In many ways I suppose, we are living in a post-Catholic Ireland. Coming generations are hardly likely to show the mass devotion that existed in the past. The power of the Church, the ideological power, has diminished enormously. The Church still has huge power in education and health but it is hard to see how that can survive. How can the Church be allowed to wield such power in a society that no longer shares its prayers? Quite simply, it can’t.”xxx

If this is indeed so, then we are witnessing something extraordinary. Certain countries have always been known as staunchly, even fanatically, Roman Catholic; and Ireland was one of them. If this is now changing as a result of the disgust of the Irish Roman Catholic people themselves, it will be astounding. Time will tell.

But if indeed Ireland does an about-face and ceases to be as Papist as it was until recently, it would be a huge mistake for anyone to assume that the worldwide sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Papal institution for years now signals the beginning of the end of this giant religio-political institution. If only it were so! But no – Rome will survive it. It has been, and continues to be, a major blow, one of the greatest blows Rome has suffered since the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. Millions of Roman Catholics have left their “Church” in disgust; perhaps millions more will follow. But this is an institution of over one billion members. Almost one in six of the world’s population is Roman Catholic! Even if Rome shed a hundred million followers as a result of these revelations (and it won’t), it would still survive and prosper in the long run. Bible prophecy does not indicate that the Great Whore that sits on the seven hills will be destroyed by a scandal like this. Prophecy tells us that it will continue to exist, and work its evil, until the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. As the editor of the Papist weekly, The Southern Cross, put it, although Roman Catholics are angry and hurt, they “will have to find ways of reminding themselves that the salvific mission of the Church is not diminished by the abject failures of human individuals acting in its name.”xxxi And they will indeed find such ways, sadly. The vast majority of the millions of Papists are simply too enslaved to their “Church” to ever even consider leaving, much less to actually do so. As far as they are concerned, their eternal salvation depends upon their membership in it – and they are not going to risk losing that for anything. Even the terrible abuse of thousands of children by thousands of priests and monks the world over is not enough to make them forsake it. When it comes down to it, for them it’s a matter of “My eternal salvation, or the good of untold thousands of children”. The children come off second best, no matter what evils have been perpetrated against them. It has always been so, throughout Rome’s long history. The attitude is, “Turn a blind eye – my priest holds my salvation in his hand, and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters.”

Already Rome is consolidating and strengthening again. As the editorial in The Southern Cross, from which we have already quoted, put it: “The release of a 2600-page report detailing physical and sexual abuse perpetrated against minors in Catholic institutions over decades has profoundly humbled the Church [we would say it has embarrassed the “Church”, but not humbled it! – author]. At the same time, from its immediate position of weakness it can now emerge more solidly to truly serve Christ and the People of God.”xxxii

And for the true Christian, it must always be remembered that even if millions of Roman Catholics ultimately rejected their religion, this is not the same as conversion to Christ! They are disillusioned, shocked, disgusted – and so they leave Rome. But unless they turn by faith to Christ, they remain as lost, as dead in their sins, as ever. And this is the greatest tragedy of all. Their experience of Roman Catholicism may make them leave Rome, but their eyes remain blinded, their hearts remain hard. To them, all religion is now suspect – including, tragically, the truth as it is in Jesus.

And this is the great challenge for true Christians! – to seek to show these poor disillusioned people that the “Church” of Rome is not the Church of Christ! It is a false religion, no different from Hinduism, Islam, or Buddhism. Its “christ” is not the Christ of God, its priests are not the ministers of the Lord, its way of salvation is not the biblical way of salvation. The differences between Romanism and Christianity are as between night and day. And Christians must show Roman Catholics that although their false “Church” is a work of darkness, the Lord Jesus Christ is the light of the world! Although their pope is a deceiver, Christ is the way, the truth, and the light! Their false “Church” has failed them, but if they come to Christ, He will never fail them!

********This article is reprinted here with express permission from the author, Shaun Willcock, a Christian Apologist & Gospel Minister to South Africa. Additional resources are available at his website, Bible Based Ministries

ENDNOTES:

i.Associated Press, 20 May 2009. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090520/

ii.Associated Press, 20 May 2009.

iii.BBC News, May 20, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk.

iv.The Southern Cross, May 27 to June 2, 2009.

v.Irish Report on Sex Abuse, May 21, 2009. www.richardsipe.com.

vi.50 Years in the “Church” of Rome, by Charles Chiniquy. The Protestant Literature Depository, London, 1886; reprinted 1981 by Chick Publications, Chino, California.

vii.The Southern Cross, June 3 to 9, 2009.

viii.The Priest, the Woman, and the Confessional, by Charles Chiniquy. Chick Publications, Chino, California, USA.

ix.The Southern Cross, May 27 to June 2, 2009.

x.The Southern Cross, June 17 to 23, 2009.

xi.The Southern Cross, June 24 to 30, 2009.

xii.The Southern Cross, May 27 to June 2, 2009.

xiii.The Southern Cross, June 24 to 30, 2009.

xiv.Irish Report on Sex Abuse, May 21, 2009.

xv.The Southern Cross, July 1 to 7, 2009.

xvi.The Southern Cross, June 24 to 30, 2009.

xvii.Irish Report on Sex Abuse, May 21, 2009.

xviii.The Telegraph, July 1, 2009. http://blogs.telegraph.uk.

xix.The Telegraph, July 1, 2009.

xx.The Southern Cross, May 27 to June 2, 2009.

xxi.The Southern Cross, June 17 to 23, 2009.

xxii.Associated Press, 20 May 2009.

xxiii.The Independent, June 29, 2009. http://www.independent.ie.

xxiv.The Irish Times, June 30, 2009.

xxv.The Southern Cross, June 3 to 9, 2009.

xxvi.Associated Press, 20 May 2009.

xxvii.The Southern Cross, June 24 to 30, 2009.

xxviii.Irish Post online, undated, http://www.irishpost.co.uk/tabId/321/itemId/4219/Where-to-now-for-Catholicism-in-Ireland.aspx.

xxix.Irish Central, 4 July 2009. http://www.irishcentral.com.

xxx.Irish Post online.

xxxi.The Southern Cross, June 3 to 9, 2009.

xxxii.The Southern Cross, June 3 to 9, 2009.

For further reading by Shaun Willcock,

1) Child Sexual Abuse by Priests: Revelations of Shocking Crimes and Sinful Cover-Ups

2) Homosexuality in the Roman Catholic Priesthood

(available from Bible Based Ministries) Providing teaching from the Word of God, and a biblical exposure of the Papal system and all that is associated with it

CHRIST . . the Key to Unlocking the Scriptures

2009-07-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

God has laid it upon my heart to share with others those things that I have been "taught of God" (John 6:45) throughout my Christian pilgrimage (Heb. 11:13-16), namely the fulness and sufficiency that is to be found in Christ alone, and that Christ indeed is the key to unlocking the Scriptures. With that in mind, I have carefully selected transcripts of sermons from Godly men (Jer. 3:15), which show Christ's fulfillment in prophecy, Christ as He is pre-figured, typified and foreshadowed (Hebrews 8 & 10) in the Old Testament, and Christ as the only Saviour for sinners (Matt. 1:21; Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Hebrews 7:25) and the only way to God(John 14:6; 1 Pet. 3:18) to the end that you might "know Him"! (1 John 5:20)
My prayer is that you too might "see Jesus" (Hebrews 2:9-18) as He is revealed in the Scriptures . . . how "precious" He is (1 Peter 2:6-7) . . . and come to regard Him as the "one thing needful"! (Luke 10:42)
May it please the Lord Jesus Christ to open your eyes that you too might behold Him in all His glory!
(Matt. 11:25-27); (Luke 24:13-45)
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A Type of Christ . . . NOAH
Select Excerpts from Gleanings In Genesis / by A. W. Pink
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No study of the person and character of Noah would be complete without viewing him as a type of the Lord Jesus. With one or two notable exceptions it will be beside our purpose to do more than call attention to some of the most striking points of correspondency between the type and the antitype, leaving our readers to develop at greater length these seed thoughts.

1. To begin at the beginning, Noah's very name foreshadowed the Coming One. In Genesis 5:28, 29 we read, "And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son; and he called his name Noah." Noah means "rest." His father regarded him as the one who should be the rest-giver, and as one who should provide comfort from the toil incurred by the Curse. "He called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed." Lamech looked upon his son as one who should bring deliverance from the Curse, as one who should provide comfort and rest from the weariness of toil. Our readers will readily see how this ancient prophecy (for prophecy it undoubtedly was) receives its fulfillment in the One of whom it was also written, "And His rest shall be glorious" (Isa. 11:10), and who when on earth said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). But further than this, Noah's name, and the prophecy of his father on the occasion of the bestowment of it upon his son, also looks forward to the time of our Lord's Second Advent when He shall deliver the earth from its Curse- See Isaiah 9; 35, etc.

2. The first thing which is told us in connection with Noah is that he "found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 6:8). In a previous article we have commented upon the setting of these words and have pointed out the contrast which they are designed to emphasize. "All flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." The ruinous and ravaging effects of sin were universal. But as God looked down upon the creatures of His hand, now fallen and depraved, there was one who stood out by himself, one who was just and perfect in his generation, one upon whom God's eye delighted to rest. It is very significant that nothing at all is said about Noah's family- his "sons and their wives"- in this connection; Noah only is mentioned, as if to show he is the one on whom our attention should be fixed. When we note what a striking type of our Lord Jesus Noah is, the reason for this is obvious; He is the one in whom the heart of the Father delighted, and just as the first thing told us in connection with Noah is that he "found grace in the eyes of the Lord," so the first words of the Father after the Lord Jesus had commenced His public ministry were, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17).

3. The next thing told us about Noah is that he "was a just man" (Gen. 6:9). As is well known, the word just means "righteous." Like all other sinners who find acceptance with God, Noah was "justified by faith." He possessed no inherent righteousness of his own. Righteousness is imputed, imputed to those that believe (Rom. 4:6, 22-25). There was only one man who has ever walked our earth who was inherently and intrinsically righteous and that was He whom Noah foreshadowed, He of whom the centurion testified, "Certainly this was a righteous man" (Luke 23:47).

4. Next we read that Noah was "perfect in his generations" (Gen. 6:9). In a previous article we have seen that this expression has reference to the body and not to perfection of character. Noah and his family had not been defiled by contact with the Nephilim. "Perfect in his generations'' signifies that Noah was uncontaminated physically. "Perfect in his generations" is predicated of Noah alone; of none other is this said. How plain and perfect the type! Does it not point to the immaculate humanity of our Lord? When the Eternal Word was "made flesh" He did not contract the corruptions of our fallen nature. Unlike all of human kind, He was not "shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin." On the contrary His mother was told, "That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). In His humanity our Lord was "separate from sinners" (Heb. 7:26). He was uncontaminated by the virus of sin; He was "perfect in His generation."

5. Next we read of Noah that he "walked with God" (Gen. 6:9). In this also he was a type of Him who for thirty-three years lived here in unbroken communion with the Father. All through those years, however varied His circumstances, we find Him enjoying holy and blessed fellowship with the Father. During His early life, in the seclusion of Nazareth we learn that "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). During the long season of fasting and temptation in the wilderness, we find Him living by "every word of God" (Luke 4:4). While His disciples slept, our blessed Lord retired to the solitudes of the mountain, there to pour out His soul to God and enjoy fellowship with His Father (Luke 6:12). At the close of His sufferings on the Cross we hear Him cry, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit" (Luke 23:46). Truly His walk was ever "with God."

6. God Gave Noah an Honorous Work to Do "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. With thee will I establish My covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring in the ark, to keep them alive with thee" (Gen. 6:14, 18, 19). Here we find a work is entrusted to Noah by God, a highly important work, a momentous and stupendous work. Never before or since has such a task been allotted to a single man. The task of preserving from God's judgment representatives of all creation was committed to Noah! The type is so clear and plain that comment is almost needless. To the Lord Jesus Christ, God's beloved Son, was entrusted the task of effecting the salvation of lost and ruined sinners. It is to this He refers when He says, "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do" (John 17:4)- speaking here as though in Glory, where He now is as our great High Priest.

7. Noah alone did the work. We shall consider separately the typical significance of the ark; for the moment we would direct attention upon Noah and his work. Is it not striking that there is no reference here to any help that Noah received in the executing of his God-given task? There is no hint whatever that any assisted him in the work of building the ark. The record reads as though Noah alone provided the necessary means for securing the lives of those that God had entrusted to his care! Surely the reason is obvious. The truth which is foreshadowed here is parallel with the typology of Leviticus 16:17- "And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out". When atonement was being made the High Priest must be alone. So it was in the antitype. The work of redemption was accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ, "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Pet. 2:24), and He needed no assistance in this work, for God had "laid help upon One that is mighty" (Ps. 89:19, R.V.). In full harmony then with the Leviticus 16 type, and in perfect accord with its fulfillment in our gracious Savior, we find that the record in Genesis reads as though Noah was alone in his task and received no assistance in the work of providing a refuge from the coming storm of Divine wrath.

8. Moreover, is not the perfection of the type further to be seen in the fact that the inspired record passes over the interval of time necessary for Noah to have performed his task? This is very striking, for many months, and probably years, would be required to build an ark of the dimensions given us in Genesis. But not a word is said about this. After God gave instructions to Noah to build the ark, the next thing we read is, "Thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him, so did he. And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark" (Gen. 6:22; Genesis 7:1)- as though to show that when he began, his work was speedily accomplished! How much we may learn from the silences of Scripture! Again we call attention to the parallel type in Leviticus 16- "For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord" (v. 30). In Leviticus 23 the Day of Atonement is classed among Israel's great feasts, and by noting this the point we are now making comes out more clearly by way of contrast. Others of these feasts, e.g., Unleavened Bread, Tabernacles, etc., extended over a period of several days, but Atonement was accomplished in one day. Nothing was left over to be completed on the next day; which reminds us of the blessed words of our triumphant Savior- "It is finished." (John 19:30) There is nothing now for us to do but rest on His Finished Work. In one day, yes, in three hours, on the Cross, our Lord put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. As we have said, this was anticipated in the typical significance of Noah's work by the silence of Scripture upon the length of time he was engaged in the performance of his task, the record reading as though it was speedily executed.

9. The successful issue of Noah's work, seen in "the saving of his house" (Heb. 11:7) reminds us of the language of Hebrews 3:6, "But Christ as a son over his own house" (Heb. 3:6). But the type goes further: Noah's work brings blessing to all creation as is seen from the fact that the animals and birds were also preserved in the ark. Observe how beautifully this is brought out in Genesis 8:1- "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark." So, too, the work of Christ shall yet bring blessing to the beasts of the field. At His return to the earth "the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21).

10. In Genesis 6:19 we have a hint of the animal creation being subject to Noah "And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee." We have a passing glimpse of the yet future fulfillment of this part of the type in Mark 1:13- "And He was there in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts." Noah's headship over all creatures comes out even more clearly in Genesis 9:2- "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered." How this reminds us of Psalm 8, which speaks of the future dominion of the Son of Man. "For Thou hast made Him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned Him with glory and honor. For thou madest Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under His feet" (compare Heb. 2:8), "But now we see not yet all things put under Him” . . . all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea! This same thought is repeated in the Genesis narrative again and again as if with deliberate emphasis. When we read of the animals entering the Ark we are told "They went in unto Noah (not unto Noah and his family) into the Ark," and then we are told "And the Lord shut him (not Ôthem') in" (Gen. 7:15, 16). And again, on leaving the ark we read that God said unto Noah, "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things" (Gen. 9:3). So Christ is "the Heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2).

11. In Genesis 6:21 we find Noah presented as the great food-provider: "And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them." We need hardly say that this finds its complement in Christ the Bread of Life. He is God's Manna for our souls. He is the Shewbread which was eaten by Aaron and his sons (Lev. 24:9). He is the Old Corn of the land (Joshua 5:11). In short, it is only as we feed upon Christ as He is presented unto us in the written Word that our spiritual life is quickened and nourished.

12. In Genesis 6:22 we learn of Noah's implicit and complete obedience- "Thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him, so did he." And again, "And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him" (Gen. 7:5). So, too, we read of the perfect obedience of Him whom Noah foreshadowed: "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even so I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love" (John 15:10). Only, be it noted, the obedience of our blessed Lord went farther than that of Noah, for He "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:8)- in all things He has the preeminence.

14. "And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar" (Gen. 8:20). Here we see Noah offering a burnt offering unto the Lord: the anti-typical parallel is found in Ephesians 5:2- "Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor."

15. "And God blessed Noah and his sons" (Gen. 9:1). It is beautiful to see Noah and his sons here linked together in the enjoyment of God's blessing, as though to foreshadow the blessed fact that every mercy we now enjoy is ours for Christ's sake. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3).

16. With Noah and his sons God established His Covenant, "And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you" (Gen. 9:8, 9). The word "covenant" occurs just seven times in this passage, namely, in verses 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17. Note, the covenant that God made with Noah was "an everlasting covenant" (Gen. 9:16), and so we read concerning the anti-type- "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant" (Heb. 13:20).

Source: http://www.biblebelievers.com/Pink/Gleanings_Genesis/genesis_12.htm

CHRIST . . the Key to Unlocking the Scriptures

2009-04-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

God has laid it upon my heart to share with others those things that I have been taught of God throughout my Christian pilgrimage (Heb. 11:13-16), namely the fulness and sufficiency that is to be found in Christ alone, and that Christ indeed is the key to unlocking the Scriptures. With that in mind, I have carefully selected transcripts of sermons from Godly men (Jer. 3:15), which show Christ's fulfillment in prophecy, Christ as He is pre-figured, typified and foreshadowed (Hebrews 8 & 10) in the Old Testament, and the beauty and the glory that reside in Him alone. Oh, that you too might "worship Him in the beauty of holiness." (Psalm 96:9)
May it please the Lord Jesus Christ to open your eyes that you too might see Him in all His glory! (Luke 24:13-45)

A prophecy of Christ . . . Christ the Conqueror of Satan
A Sermon by C. H. SPURGEON

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel"—Genesis 3:15

THIS IS THE FIRST gospel sermon that was ever delivered upon the surface of this earth. It was a memorable discourse indeed, with Jehovah himself for the preacher, and the whole human race and the prince of darkness for the audience. It must be worthy of our heartiest attention.

Is it not remarkable that this great gospel promise should have been delivered so soon after the transgression? As yet no sentence had been pronounced upon either of the two human offenders, but the promise was given under the form of a sentence pronounced upon the serpent Not yet had the woman been condemned to painful travail, or the man to exhausting labour, or even the soil to the curse of thorn and thistle. Truly "mercy rejoiceth against judgment." Before the Lord had said "dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return," he was pleased to say that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. Let us rejoice, then, in the swift mercy of God, which in the early watches of the night of sin came with comfortable words unto us.

These words were not directly spoken to Adam and Eve, but they were directed distinctly to the serpent himself, and that by way of punishment to him for what he had done. It was a day of cruel triumph to him such joy as his dark mind is capable of had filled him, for had he indulged his malice, and gratified his spite. He had in the worst sense destroyed a part of God's works, he had introduced sin into the new world, he had stamped the human race with his own image, and gained new forces to promote rebellion and to multiply transgression, and therefore he felt that sort of gladness which a fiend can know who bears a hell within him. But now God comes in, takes up the quarrel personally, and causes him to be disgraced on the very battle-field upon which he had gained a temporary success. He tells the dragon that he will undertake to deal with him; this quarrel shall not be between the serpent and man, but between God and the serpent. God saith, in solemn words, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed," and he promised that there shall rise in fulness of time a champion, who, though he suffer, shall smite in a vital part the power of evil, and bruise the serpent's head. This was the more, it seems to me, a comfortable message of mercy to Adam and Eve, because they would feel sure that the tempter would be punished, and as that punishment would involve blessing for them, the vengeance due to the serpent would be the guarantee of mercy to themselves. Perhaps, however, by thus obliquely giving the promise, the Lord meant to say, "Not for your sakes do I this, O fallen man and woman, nor for the sake of your descendants; but for my own name and honour's sake, that it be not profaned and blasphemed amongst the fallen spirits. I undertake to repair the mischief which has been caused by the tempter, that my name and my glory may not be diminished among the immortal spirits who look down upon the scene." All this would be very humbling but yet consolatory to our parents if they thought of it, seeing that mercy given for God's sake is always to our troubled apprehension more sure than any favour which could be promised to us for our own sake. The divine sovereignty and glory afford us a stronger foundation of hope than merit, even if merit can be supposed to exist.

Now we must note concerning this first gospel sermon that on it the earliest believers stayed themselves. This was all that Adam had by way of revelation, and all that Abel had received. This one lone star shone in Abel's sky; he looked up to it and he believed. By its light he spelt out "sacrifice," and therefore he brought of the firstlings of his flock and laid them on the altar, and proved in his own person how the seed of the serpent hated the seed of the woman, for his brother slew him for his testimony. Although Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied concerning the second advent, yet he does not appear to have uttered anything new concerning the first coming, so that still this one promise remained as man's sole word of hope. The torch which flamed within the gates of Eden just before man was driven forth lit up the world to all believers until the Lord was pleased to give more light, and to renew and enlarge the revelation of his covenant, when he spake to his servant Noah. Those hoary fathers who lived before the flood rejoiced in the mysterious language of our text, and resting on it, they died in faith. Nor, brethren, must you think it a slender revelation, for, if you attentively consider, it is wonderfully full of meaning. If it had been on my heart to handle it doctrinally this morning, I think I could have shown you that it contains all the gospel. There lie within it, as an oak lies within an acorn, all the great truths which make up the gospel of Christ. Observe that here is the grand mystery of incarnation. Christ is that seed of the woman who is here spoken of; and there is a hint not darkly given as to how that Incarnation would be effected. Jesus was not shadowed of the Holy Ghost, and "the holy thing" which was born of her was as to his humanity the seed of the woman only; as it is written, "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel." (Is. 7:14) The promise plainly teaches that the deliverer would be born of a woman, and carefully viewed, it also foreshadows the divine method of the Redeemer's conception and birth. So also is the doctrine of the two seeds plainly taught here—"I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed." There was evidently to be in the world a seed of the woman on God's side against the serpent, and a seed of the serpent that should always be upon the evil side even as it is unto this day. The church of God and the synagogue of Satan both exist. We see an Abel and a Cain, an Isaac and an Ishmael, a Jacob and an Esau; those that are born after the flesh, being the children of their father the devil, for his works they do, but those that are born again—being born after the Spirit, after the power of the life of Christ, are thus in Christ Jesus the seed of the woman, and contend earnestly against the dragon and his seed. Here, too, the great fact of the sufferings of Christ is clearly foretold—"Thou shalt bruise his heel." Within the compass of those words we find the whole story of our Lord's sorrows from Bethlehem to Calvary. "It shall bruise thy head": there is the breaking of Satan's regal power, there is the clearing away of sin, there is the destruction of death by resurrection, there is the leading of captivity captive in the ascension, there is the victory of truth in the world through the descent of the Spirit, and there is the latter-day glory in which Satan shall be bound, and there is, lastly, the casting of the evil one and all his followers into the lake of fire. The conflict and the conquest are both in the compass of these few fruitful words. They may not have been fully understood by those who first heard them, but to us they are now full of light. The text at first looks like a flint, hard and cold; but sparks fly from it plentifully, for hidden fires of infinite love and grace lie concealed within. Over this promise of a gracious God we ought to rejoice exceedingly.

We do not know what our first parents understood by it, but we may be certain that they gathered a great amount of comfort from it They must have understood that they were not then and there to be destroyed, because the Lord had spoken of a "seed." They would argue that it must be needful that Eve should live if there should be a seed from her. They understood, too, that if that seed was to overcome the serpent and bruise his head, it must auger good to themselves: they could not fail to see that there was some great, some mysterious benefit to be conferred upon them by the victory which their seed would achieve over the instigator of their ruin. They went on in faith upon this, and were comforted in travail and in toil, and I doubt not both Adam and his wife in the faith thereof entered into everlasting rest.

This morning I intend to handle this text in three ways. First, we shall notice its facts; secondly, we shall consider the experience within the heart of each believer which tallies to those facts; and then, thirdly, the encouragement which the text and its connection as a whole afford to us.

I. THE FACTS. The facts are four, and I call your earnest attention to them. The first is Enmity was excited. The text begins, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman." They had been very friendly; the woman and the serpent had conversed together. She thought at the time that the serpent was her friend; and she was so much his friend that she took his advice in the teeth of God's precept, and was willing to believe bad things of the great Creator, because this wicked, crafty serpent insinuated the same. Now, at the moment when God spake, that friendship between the woman and the serpent had already in a measure come to an end, for she had accused the serpent to God, and said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." So far, so good. The friendship of sinners does not last long; they have already begun to quarrel, and now the Lord comes in and graciously takes advantage of the quarrel which had commenced, and says, "I will carry this disagreement a great deal further, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman." Satan counted on man's descendants being his confederates, but God would break up this covenant with hell, and raise up a seed which should war against the Satanic power. Thus we have here God's first declaration that he will set up a rival kingdom to oppose the tyranny of sin and Satan, that he will create in the hearts of a chosen seed an enmity against evil, so that they shall fight against it, and with many a struggle and pain shall overcome the prince of darkness. The divine Spirit has abundantly achieved this plan and purpose of the Lord, combating the fallen angel by a glorious man: making man to be Satan's foe and conqueror. Henceforth the woman was to hate the evil one, and I do not doubt that she did so. She had abundant cause for so doing, and as often as she thought of him it would be with infinite regret that she could have listened to his malicious and deceitful talk. The woman's seed has also evermore had enmity against the evil one. I mean not the carnal seed, for Paul tells us, "They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." (Romans 9:8) The carnal seed of the man and the woman are not meant, but the spiritual seed, even Christ Jesus and those who are in him. Wherever you meet these, they hate the serpent with a perfect hatred. We would if we could destroy from our souls every work of Satan, and out of this poor afflicted world of ours we would root up every evil which he has planted. That seed of the woman, that glorious One,—for he speaks not of seeds as of many but of seed that is one,—you know how he abhorred the devil and all his devices. There was enmity between Christ and Satan, for he came to destroy the works of the devil and to deliver those who are under bondage to him. For that purpose was he born; for that purpose did he live; for that purpose did he die; for that purpose he has gone into the glory, and for that purpose he will come again, that everywhere he may find out his adversary and utterly destroy him and his works from amongst the sons of men. This putting of the enmity between the two seeds was the commencement of the plan of mercy, the first act in the programme of grace. Of the woman's seed it was henceforth said, "Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." (Psalm 45:7)

Then comes the second prophecy, which has also turned into a fact, namely the coming of the champion. The seed of the woman by promise is to Champion the cause, and oppose the dragon. That seed is the Lord Jesus Christ. The prophet Micah saith, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah; though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth." (Micah 5:2-3a) To none other than the babe which was born in Bethlehem of the blessed Virgin can the words of the prophecy refer. She it was who did conceive and bear a son, and it is concerning her son that we sing, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6) On the memorable night at Bethlehem, when angels sang in heaven, the seed of the woman appeared, and as soon as ever he saw the light the old serpent, the devil, entered into the heart of Herod if possible to slay him, but the Father preserved him, and suffered none to lay hands on him. As soon as he publicly came forward upon the stage of action, thirty years after, Satan met him foot to foot. You know the story of the temptation in the wilderness, and how there the woman's seed fought with him who was a liar from the beginning. The devil assailed him thrice with all the artillery of flattery, malice, craft and falsehood, but the peerless Champion stood unwounded, and chased his foeman from the field. Then our Lord set up his kingdom, and called one and another unto him, and carried the war into the enemy's country. In divers places he cast out devils. He spake to the wicked and unclean spirit and said, "I charge thee come out of him," (Mark 9:25) and the demon was expelled. Legions of devils flew before him: they sought to hide themselves in swine to escape from the terror of his presence. "Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" (Matt. 8:29) was their cry when the wonder-working Christ dislodged them from the bodies which they tormented. Yea, and he made his own disciples mighty against the evil one, for in his name they cast out devils, till Jesus said, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." (Luke 10:18) Then there came a second personal conflict, for I take it that Gethsemane's sorrows were to a great degree caused by a personal assault of Satan, for our Master said, "This is your hour, and the power of darkness." (Luke 22:53b) He said also, "The Prince of this world cometh." (John 14:30b) What a struggle it was. Though Satan had nothing in Christ, yet did he seek if possible to lead him away from completing his great sacrifice, and there did our Master sweat as it were great drops of blood, falling to the ground, in the agony which it cost him to contend with the fiend. Then it was that our Champion began the last fight of all and won it to the bruising of the serpent's head. Nor did he end till he had spoiled principalities and powers and made a show of them openly.

"Now is the hour of darkness past, Christ has assumed his reigning power; Behold
the great accuser cast Down from his seat to reign no more."

That conflict our glorious Lord continues in his seed. We preach Christ crucified, and every sermon shakes the gates of hell. We bring sinners to Jesus by the Spirit's power, and every convert is a stone torn down from the wall of Satan's mighty castle. Yea, and the day shall come when everywhere the evil one shall be overcome, and the words of John in the Revelation shall be fulfilled. "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." (Rev. 12:9-10) Thus did the Lord God in the words of our text promise a Champion who should be the seed of the woman, between whom Satan there should be war for ever and ever: that Champion has come, the man-child has been born, and though the dragon is wroth with the woman, and made war with the remnant of her seed which keep the testimony of Jesus Christ, yet the battle is the Lord's, and the victory falleth unto him whose name is Faithful and True, who in righteousness doth judge and make war.

The third fact which comes out in the text, though not quite in that order, is that our Champion's heel should be bruised. Do you need that I explain this? You know how all his life long his heel, that is, his lower part, his human nature, was perpetually being made to suffer. He carried our sicknesses and sorrows. But the bruising came mainly when both in body and in mind his whole human nature was made to agonize; when his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death, and his enemies pierced his hands and his feet, and he endured the shame and pain of death by crucifixion. Look at your Master and your King upon the cross, all disdained with blood and dust! There was his heel most cruelly bruised. When they take down that precious body and wrap it in fair white linen and in spices, and lay it in Joseph's tomb, they weep as they handle the casket in which the Deity had dwelt, for there again Satan had bruised his heel. It was not merely that God had bruised him, "though it pleased the Father to bruise him," (Isaiah 53:10) but the devil had let loose Herod, and Pilate, and Caiaphas, and the Jews, and the Romans, all of them his tools, upon him whom he knew to be the Christ, so that he was bruised of the old serpent. That is all, however! It is only his heel, not his head, which is bruised! For lo, the Champion rises again; the bruise was not mortal nor continual. Though he dies, yet still so brief is the interval in which he slumbers in the tomb that his holy body hath not seen corruption, and he comes forth perfect and lovely in his manhood, rising from his grave as from a refreshing sleep after so long a day of unresting toil! Oh the triumph of that hour! As Jacob only halted on his thigh when he overcame the angel, so did Jesus only retain a scar in his heel, and that he bears to the skies as his glory and beauty. Before the throne he looks like a lamb that has been slain, but in the power of an endless life he liveth unto God.

Then comes the fourth fact, namely, that while his heel was being bruised, he was to bruise the serpent's head. The figure represents the dragon as inflicting an injury upon the Champion's heel, but at the same moment the Champion himself with that heel crushes in the head of the serpent with fatal effect. By his sufferings Christ has overthrown Satan, by the heel that was bruised he has trodden upon the head which devised the bruising.

"Lo, by the sons of hell he dies; But as he hangs 'twixt earth and skies,He gives
their prince a fatal blow, And triumphs o'er the powers below."

Though Satan is not dead, my brethren, I was about to say, would God he were, and though he is not converted, and never will be, nor will the malice of his heart ever be driven from him, yet Christ has so far broken his head that he has missed his mark altogether. He intended to make the human race the captives of his power, but they are redeemed from his iron yoke. God has delivered many of them, and the day shall come when he will cleanse the whole earth from the serpent's slimy trail, so that the entire world shall be full of the praises of God. He thought that this world would be the arena of his victory over God and good, instead of which it is already the grandest theatre of divine wisdom, love, grace, and power. Even heaven itself is not so resplendent with mercy as the earth is, for here it is the Saviour poured out his blood, which cannot be said even of the courts of paradise above. Moreover he thought, no doubt, that when he had led our race astray and brought death upon them, he had effectually marred the Lord's work. He rejoiced that they would all pass under the cold seal of death, and that their bodies would rot in the sepulchre. Had he not spoiled the handiwork of his great Lord? God may make man as a curious creature with intertwisted veins and blood and nerves, and sinews and muscles, and he may put into his nostrils the breath of life; but, "Ah," saith Satan, "I have infused a poison into him which will make him return to the dust from which he was taken." but now, behold, our Champion whose heel was bruised has risen from the dead, and given us a pledge that all his followers shall rise form the dead also. Thus is Satan foiled, for death shall not retain a bone, nor a piece of a bone, of one of those who belonged to the woman's seed. At the trump of the archangel from the earth and from the sea they shall arise, and this shall be their shout, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Cor. 15:55) Satan, knowing this, feels already that by the resurrection his head is broken. Glory be to the Christ of God for this!

In multitudes of other ways the devil has been vanquished by our Lord Jesus, and so shall he ever be till he shall be cast into the lake of fire.

II. Let us now view OUR EXPERIENCE AS IT TALLIES WITH THESE FACTS. Now, brothers and sisters, we were by nature, as many of us as have been saved, the heirs of wrath even as others. It does not matter how godly our parents were, the first birth brought us no spiritual life, for the promise is not to them which are born of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but only to those who are born of God, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh"; (John 3:6a) you cannot make anything else and there it abides, and the flesh, or carnal mind, abideth in death; it is not reconciled to God, neither indeed can be. He who is born into this world but once, and knows nothing of the new birth, must place himself among the seed of the serpent, for only by regeneration can we know ourselves to be the true seed. How does God deal with us who are his called and chosen ones? He means to save us, and how does he work to that end?

The first thing he does is, he comes to us in mercy, and puts enmity between us and the serpent. That is the very first work of grace. There was peace between us and Satan once; when he tempted we yielded; whatever he taught us we believed; we were his willing slaves. But perhaps you, my brethren, can recollect when first of all you began to feel uneasy and dissatisfied; the world's pleasures no longer pleased you; all the juice seemed to have been taken out of the apple, and you had nothing at all. Then you suddenly perceived that you were living in sin, and you were miserable about it, and though you could not get rid of sin yet you hated it, and sighed over it, and cried, and groaned. In your heart of hearts you remained no longer on the side of evil, for you began to cry, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24) You were already from of old in the covenant of grace ordained to be the woman's seed, and now the decree began to discover itself in life bestowed upon you and working in you. The Lord in infinite mercy dropped the divine life into your soul. You did not know it, but there it was, a spark of the celestial fire, the living and incorruptible seed which abideth for ever. You began to hate sin, and you groaned under it as under a galling yoke; more and more it burdened you, you could not bear it. So it was with you: is it so now? Is there still enmity between you and the serpent? Indeed you are more and more the sworn enemies of evil, and you willingly acknowledge it.

Then came the Champion: that is to say, "Christ was formed in you the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27) You heard of him and you understood the truth about him, and it seemed a wonderful thing that he should be your substitute and stand in your room and place and stead, and bear your sin and all its curse and punishment, and that he should give his righteousness, yea, and his very self, to you that you might be saved. Ah, then you saw how sin could be overthrown, did you not? As soon as your heart understood Christ then you saw that what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, Christ was able to accomplish, and that the power of sin and Satan under which you had been in bondage, and which you now loathed, could and would be broken and destroyed because Christ had come into the world to overcome it.

Next, do you recollect how you were led to see the bruising of Christ's heel and to stand in wonder and observe what the enmity of the serpent had wrought in him? Did you not begin to feel the bruised heel yourself? Did not sin torment you? Did not the very thought of it vex you? Did not your own heart become a plague to you? Did not Satan begin to tempt you? Did he not inject blasphemous thoughts, and urge you on to desperate measures; did he not teach you to doubt the existence of God, and the mercy of God, and the possibility of your salvation, and so on? This was his nibbling at your heel. He is at his old tricks still. He worries whom he can't devour with a malicious joy. Did not your worldly friends begin to annoy you? Did they not give you the cold shoulder because they saw something about you so strange and foreign to their tastes? Did they not impute your conduct to fanaticism, pride, obstinacy, bigotry, and the like? Ah, this persecution is the serpent's seed beginning to discover the woman's seed, and to carry on the old war. What does Paul say? "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." (Galatians 4:29) True godliness is an unnatural and strange thing to them, and they cannot away with it. Though there are no stakes in Smithfield, nor racks in the Tower, yet the enmity of the human heart towards Christ and his seed is just the same, and very often shows itself in "trials of cruel mockings" (Hebrews 11:36) which to the tender hearts are very hard to bear. Well, this is your heel being bruised in sympathy with the bruising of the heel of the glorious seed of the woman.

But, brethren, do you know something of the other fact, namely, that we conquer, for the serpent's head is broken in us? How say you? Is not the power and dominion of sin broken in you? Do you not feel that you cannot sin because you are born of God? Some sins which were masters of you once, do not trouble you now. I have known a man guilty of profane swearing, and from the moment of his conversion he has never had any difficulty in the matter. We have known a man snatched from drunkenness, and the cure by divine grace has been very wonderful and complete. We have known persons delivered from unclean living, and they have at once become chaste and pure, because Christ has smitten the old dragon such blows that he could not have power over them in that respect. The chosen seed sin and mourn it, but they are not slaves to sin; their heart goeth not after it they have to say sometimes "the thing I do," (Romans 7:18-24) but they are wretched when it is so. They consent with their heart to the law of God that it is good, and they sigh and cry that they may be helped to obey it, for they are no longer under the slavery of sin; the serpent's reigning power and dominion is broken in them.

It is broken next in this way, that the guilt of sin is gone. The great power of the serpent lies in unpardoned sin. He cries "l have made you guilty: I brought you under the curse." 'No," say we, "we are delivered from the curse and are now blessed, for it is written, 'Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.' (Psalm 32:1-2) We are no longer guilty, for who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Since Christ hath justified, who is he that condemneth? (Romans 8:33-34) Here is a swinging blow for the old dragon's head, such as he never will recover.

Oftentimes the Lord also grants us to know what it is to overcome temptation, and so to break the head of the fiend, Satan allures us with many baits; he has studied our points well he knows the weakness of the flesh: but many and many a time blessed be God, we have foiled him completely to his eternal shame! The devil must have felt himself mean that day when he tried to overthrow Job, dragged him down to a dunghill, robbed him of everything, covered him with sores, and yet could not make him yield. Job conquered when he cried, "Though he slay me yet will I trust in him." (Job 13:15) A feeble man had vanquished a devil who could raise the wind and blow down a house, and destroy the family who were feasting in it. Devil as he is, and crowned prince of the power of the air, yet the poor bereaved patriarch sitting on the dunghill covered with sores, being one of the woman's seed, through the strength of the inner life won the victory over him.

"Ye sons of God oppose his rage. Resist, and he'll be gone: Thus did our dearest
Lord engage And vanquish him alone."

Moreover, dear brethren, we have this hope that the very being of sin in us will be destroyed. The day will come when we shall be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; and we shall stand before the throne of God, having suffered no injury whatever from the fall and from all the machinations of Satan, for "they are without fault before the throne of God." (Rev. 14:5) What triumph that will be! "The Lord will tread Satan under your feet shortly." When he has made you perfect and free from all sin, as he will do, you will have bruised the serpent's head indeed.

And your resurrection, too, when Satan shall see you come up from the grave like one that has been perfumed in a bath of spices, when he shall see you arise in the image of Christ, with the same body which was sown in corruption and weakness is raised in incorruption and power, (1 Cor. 15:42-43) then will he feel an infinite chagrin, and know that his head is bruised by the woman's seed.

I ought to add that every time any one of us is made useful in saving souls we do as it were repeat the bruising of the serpent's head. When you go, dear sister, among those poor children, and pick them up from the gutters, where they are Satan's prey, where he finds the raw material for thieves and criminals, and when through your means, by the grace of God, the little wonderers become children of the living God, then you in your measure bruise the old serpent's head, I pray you do not spare him. When we by preaching the gospel turn sinners from the error of their ways, so that they escape from the power of darkness, again we bruise the serpent's head. Whenever in any shape or way you are blessed to the aiding of the cause of truth and righteousness in the world, you, too, who were once beneath his power, and even now have sometimes to suffer from his nibbling at your heel, you tread upon his head. In all deliverances and victories you overcome, and prove the promise true,—"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him I will set him on high, because he hath known my name." (Psalm 91:13-14)

III. Let us speak awhile upon THE ENCOURAGEMENT which our text and the context yields to us; for it seems to me to abound.

I want you, brethren, to exercise faith in the promise and be comforted. The text evidently encouraged Adam very much. I do not think we have attached enough importance to the conduct of Adam after the Lord had spoken to him. Notice the simple but conclusive proof which he gave of his faith. Sometimes an action may be very small and unimportant, and yet, as a straw shows which way the wind blows, it may display at once, if it be thought over, the whole state of the man's mind. Adam acted in faith upon what God had said, for we read, "And Adam called his wife's name Eve (or Life); because she was the mother of all living" (verse 20). She was not a mother at all, but as the life was to come through her by virtue of the promised seed, Adam marks his full conviction of the truth of the promise though at the time the woman had borne no children. There stood Adam, fresh from the awful presence of God, what more could he say? He might have said with the Prophet, "My flesh trembleth from the fear of thee;" (Psalm 119:120a), but even then he turns round to his fellow-culprit as she stands there trembling too, and he calls her Eve, mother of the life that is yet to be. It was grandly spoken by Father Adam: it makes him rise in our esteem. Had he been left to himself he would have murmured or at least despaired, but no, his faith in the new promise gave him hope. He uttered no word of repining against the condemnation to till with toil the unthankful ground, nor on Eve's part was there a word of repining over the appointed sorrows of motherhood; they each accept the well-deserved sentence with the silence which denotes the perfection of their resignation; their only word is full of simple faith. There was no child on whom to set their hopes, nor would the true seed be born for an age, still Eve is to be the mother of all the living, and he calls her so. Exercise like faith, my brother, on the far wider revelation which God has given to you, and always extract the utmost comfort from it. Make a point, whenever you receive a promise from God, to get all you can out of it. If you carry out that rule, it is wonderful what comfort you will gain. Some go on the principle of getting as little as possible out of God's word. I believe that such a plan is the proper way with a man's word; always understand it at the minimum, because that is what he means; but God's word is to be understood at the maximum, for he will do exceeding abundantly above what you ask or even think.

Notice by way of further encouragement that we may regard our reception of Christ's righteousness as an installment of the final overthrow of the devil. The twenty-first verse says, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them." A very condescending, thoughtful, and instructive deed of divine love! God heard what Adam said to his wife, and saw that he was a believer, and so he comes and gives him the type of the perfect righteousness, which is the believer's portion—he covered him with lasting raiment. No more fig leaves, which were a mere mockery, but a close fitting garment which had been procured through the death of a victim; the Lord brings that and puts it on him, and Adam could no more say, "I am naked." How could he, for God had clothed him. Now, beloved, let us take out of the promise that is given us concerning our Lord's conquest over the devil this one item and rejoice in it, for Christ has delivered us from the power of the serpent who opened our eyes and told us we were naked, by covering us from head to foot with a righteousness which adorns and protects us, so that we are comfortable in heart, and beautiful in the sight of God, and are no more ashamed.

Next, by way of encouragement in pursuing the Christian life, I would say to young people, expect to be assailed. If you have fallen into trouble through being a Christian, be encouraged by it; do not at all regret or fear it, but rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy, for this is the constant token of the covenant. There is enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent still, and if you did not experience any of it you might begin to fear that you were on the wrong side. Now that you smart under the sneer of sarcasm and oppression rejoice and triumph, for now are ye partakers with the glorious seed of the woman in the bruising of his heel.

Still further encouragement comes from this. Your suffering as a Christian is not brought upon you for your own sake; ye are partners with the great seed of the woman, ye are confederates with Christ. You must not think the devil cares much about you: the battle is against Christ in you. When, if you were not in Christ, the devil would never trouble you. When you were without Christ in the world you might have sinned as you like, your relatives and workmates would not have been at all grieved with you, they would rather have joined you in it; but now the serpent's seed hates Christ in you. This exalts the sufferings of persecution to a position far above all common afflictions. I have heard of a woman who was condemned to death in the Marian days, and before her time came to be burned a child was born to her, and she cried out in her sorrow. A wicked adversary, who stood by said, "how will you bear to die for your religion if you make such ado?" "Ah," she said, "Now I suffer in my own person as a woman, but then I shall not suffer, but Christ in me." Nor were these idle words, for she bore her martyrdom with exemplary patience, and rose in her chariot of fire in holy triumph to heaven. If Christ be in you, nothing will dismay you, but you will overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil by faith.

Last of all, let us resist the devil always with this belief that he has received a broken head. I am inclined to think that Luther's way of laughing at the devil was a very good one, for he is worthy of shame and everlasting contempt. Luther once threw an inkstand at his head when he was tempting him very sorely, and though the act itself appears absurd enough, yet it was a true type of what that great reformer was all his life long, for the books he wrote were truly a flinging of the inkstand at the head of the fiend. That is what we have to do: we are to resist him by all means. Let us do this bravely, and tell him to his teeth that we are not afraid of him. Tell him to recollect his bruised head, which he tries to cover with a crown of pride, or with a popish cowl, or with an infidel doctor's hood. We know him, and see the deadly wound he bears. His power is gone; he is fighting a lost battle; he is contending against omnipotence. He has set himself against the oath of the Father; against the blood of the incarnate Son; against the eternal power and Godhead of the blessed Spirit, all of which are engaged in the defence of the seed of the woman in the day of battle. Therefore, brethren, be ye steadfast in resisting the evil one being strong in faith, giving glory to God.

"Tis by thy blood, immortal Lamb, Thine armies tread
the tempter down; tis
by thy word and powerful name They gain the battle and
renown. Rejoice ye
heavens; let every star Shine with new glories round the sky; Saints, while ye
sing the heavenly war, Raise your Deliverer's name on high."

JESUS CHRIST known only by divine revelation in the Scriptures

2009-04-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

The Lord Jesus Christ

Used by express permission of the author, Shaun Willcock, Christian Apologist, Gospel Minister & Ambassador for Jesus Christ (II Cor. 5:17-20)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
(John 1:1-4)

The world thinks of Jesus Christ as either a great man, or as a great teacher, or as a prophet, or as a madman. This is the world's view, or concept, of Jesus. But Christians have the infallible Scriptures, and in them they have learned the truth about Jesus.
Certainly, he was a great man, a wise teacher, and a prophet. Indeed, he was the greatest of all men who have ever lived, the wisest of all teachers the world has ever known, and the Prophet above all prophets. But he was, and is, more than all this. Jesus Christ is God.

“In the beginning was the Word,” says the text. “In the beginning.” He who is here called “the Word”, was there “in the beginning.” For this to be so, he must have existed before the beginning. And therefore he himself had no beginning. He always was. When a man begins a race, he has to be at the starting-point before the race begins. He has to be there before the beginning! The Word, Jesus Christ, existed before the beginning of space and time.
He was “with God”; for God has eternally existed in three persons (1 Jn.5:7), and the Word, who is the second person of the Godhead, was “with” the other two persons of the Godhead from eternity, though distinct from God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
“And the Word was God.” NOT a created being; for when creation began, he was already there; but the uncreated, eternal God. THIS is who Jesus Christ is! In these verses, we have the biblical truth of the divine mystery of the Godhead – three persons in one God – stated in stark clarity. “The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God, existing as he does in three persons, is not divided into three. It is not that the Father is one-third God, the Son is another third, and the Holy Spirit is another third. No! The Father is fully God, the Son is fully God, the Holy Spirit is fully God.
The Word was, and is, God!
It goes on to say, “The same was in the beginning with God.” Yes, he was there – in the very beginning – with the Father. And, “ALL things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”
But what do we read in Gen.1:1? “In the beginning GOD created the heaven and the earth.” If the Word created all things, then he created the heaven and the earth; and if he created the heaven and the earth, then he is God!

Many heresies have been spread abroad about the Lord Jesus Christ. But only in the pages of the inspired Bible will man ever learn the truth about him. That tiny babe, born into the world almost 2000 years ago, born of a humble virgin, was “GOD manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim.3:16)! As man, he had a definite beginning in space and time, as all men do; as God, he had no beginning. He who had existed from before the beginning, from all eternity, “from everlasting” (Psa.90:2), in the fulness of time took upon him flesh and blood, and entered this sinful world as a little babe. GOD had become man! And yet in doing so, he had not ceased to be God. “God was manifest in the flesh”, so that Jesus Christ was both God and man. Not half-God and half-man, but fully God and fully man.
THIS is the Christ of the Scriptures! He is “the brightness of [God's] glory, and the express image of his person” (Heb.1:3) – and this is one of the reasons why he is called “the Word”. He is “the image of the invisible God” (Col.1:15). That man who walked the dusty roads of the land of the Jews so long ago, was the perfect revelation of the eternal God to the human race; for he was himself God. All that God wanted to reveal of himself to the race of men, he revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (Jn.1:18).
How ignorant the people were of the true identity of the man, Jesus of Nazareth! “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (Jn.1:10). They had no idea; and truly, unless the heavenly Father reveals Christ's true identity to a man, no man will ever know him (Matt.16:17). As they beheld him, beheld him with the eyes of flesh alone, they said, “Is not this the carpenter's son?” and they were offended in him (Matt.13:55,57). Oh, blind and sinful world! Like Pilate, who, when Jesus stood before him, asked, “What is truth?” even as he stared the One who is Truth in the face (Jn.18:38), they beheld God manifest in the flesh – and knew him not. To them, he was merely the son of Joseph, the carpenter (Lk.3:23). But those who were given eyes to see, and ears to hear, came to know the truth, and knew better; and such blessed ones know better to this day: not the son of the carpenter, but “the Son of the Highest”; the Son of God (Lk.1:32,35).

That he “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Mic.5:2), should make himself of no reputation, and take upon him the form of a servant, and be made in the likeness of men (Phil.2:7), is the greatest of all wonders, and that which has caused the hearts of the elect in all ages to fill with praise and adoration. That “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy” (Isa.57:15), “was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death” (Heb.2:9), and “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil.2:8), is a marvel, the contemplation of which has, throughout the ages, prostrated the saints of God in the dust in awe and worship. The One who is “high and lifted up” (Isa.6:1), was made low! He who inhabits eternity, entered time! He whose name is Holy, came into this sinful world!
And why? Why?
To accomplish for the elect that which they were utterly powerless to accomplish for themselves. His name shall be called JESUS, the angel said; “for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt.1:21).
He came into this world to die in the place of all those chosen by God to salvation before the foundation of the world, according to his good pleasure; to secure their salvation (Isa.53; 2 Thess.2:13; Eph.1:3-6; Jn.10:28,29). His blood was shed for many for the remission of sins (Matt.26:28; Acts 20:28).
No wonder, then, that “God also hath highly exalted him [Christ], and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil.2:9-11).

Jesus Christ is Lord! The Scriptures declare that “there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 Jn.5:7). One God in three persons. Thus it has ever been, from all eternity. “But when the fulness of the time was come, God [the Father] sent forth his Son, made of a woman” (Gal.4:4). Yes, truly, GOD was manifest in the flesh! God the Father sent forth God the Son, that the Son should give eternal life to as many as the Father had given him (Jn.17:2). And indeed, Jesus Christ finished the work the Father gave him to do (Jn.17:4)! On the cross, just before he died, he said, “It is finished” (Jn.19:30). He perfectly completed his redemptive work. “Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Eph.5:25).

THIS is the Christ of the Bible! THIS is the Christ whom Christians love and adore. “A greater than Solomon” in wisdom, certainly (Matt.12:42); a Prophet greater than Moses or John the Baptist, indeed (Deut.18:15-19; Acts 3:22; Jn.3:27-31); a man greater than all men who have ever lived; and yet – more than all this.
Jesus Christ is God.

“To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (Rev.1:6). Amen, and Amen!

(End of Article)
*************
Our prayer for the readers of this blog is that they too might know the CHRIST of GOD, as revealed in God's Word . . . the Bible. The prayer of Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest for His people, as recorded in John 17 provides the template for our prayer for you:

Verse 20:
"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

1 John 5:20:
"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."

May the Holy Spirit be pleased to reveal HIM to you as He has to *each of us to His praise and glory!

*Luke 10:21-22:
"In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him."

In Christian love,

June & Ralph Nadolny,
two sinners saved by His grace (Eph. 2:1-9)
. . . made "new creatures in Christ" (II Cor. 5:17)
"But by the grace of God I am what I am:" (1 Cor. 15:10a)
"We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
****************
Author's Note:
Shaun Willcock is a minister of the Gospel. He lives in South Africa and runs Bible Based Ministries.
You may contact him directly here:

Bible Based Ministries
info@biblebasedministries.co.uk
www.biblebasedministries.co.uk

Providing teaching from the Word of God, and a biblical exposure of the Papal system and all that is associated with it

A Christian by virtue of the new birth (John 3:3-8) or Catholic ? ?

2009-01-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

The following article by Richard Bennett, former Roman Catholic priest of 22 years, now converted to Christ, is reprinted here with the author's permission. More of his articles can be accessed at http://www.bereanbeacon.org/

The Normal Christian Life and Catholicism

We must deal with the apparent normality of Catholicism. The Catholic Church is based on some of the great essential truths of God’s revelation. She holds to the existence of a self-existent and eternal God, the Creator of the universe, of man, and of all things. She teaches that in the Godhead there are three distinct Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the same in substance, and equal in power and glory. She teaches that man was created in God’s image and that he fell by the sin of disobedience and became subject to both temporal and eternal death. She teaches that Adam’s race shared in the guilt and consequences of his sin, and that each one is born as a sinner before God. She accepts the doctrine of man’s redemption by Jesus Christ, teaching that He became incarnate, and endured the death of the cross; that He rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, and will return on the Last Day. From my own experience, and from talking to quite a number of other former Priests and Nuns, I found that while we saw the normality that there is in Catholicism in many basic doctrines, yet we all sensed an inner gnawing emptiness. In preparation for the priesthood, there were times when I wanted in some way to share my religious experiences with fellow students. For the most part I was told that ‘we do not talk shop’. That phrase, ‘we do not talk shop’ was a recurring theme throughout the years of preparation and into the priesthood years. I remember as a Priest, one particular visit to Amsterdam. I stayed not in a Dominican Priory but in a Jesuit house. The Priests who met me at the airport were quite cordial and kind, however in trying to explain my daily search to know the Lord in the Scriptures, I was met with silence. Then later in Trinidad, when I spoke to another Priest about the fact that most of the babies we baptized never returned to Church, he joked that if infant baptism did work, we would never have enough room in our churches to hold all those whom we baptized. His jest was painful to me. I have heard the same sort of experience from quite a few former Nuns. Conversation, jokes, even those of the shady kind, and ordinary gossip were all quite acceptable, however when a Sister wanted to reveal her heart in her search to know the Lord, there was always a chilling silence.

With the beginning of the Catholic Charismatic movement in the early seventies things were somewhat different. With Pentecostal people, and with Charismatic Catholics, there was an eagerness to share religious experience. Nevertheless, again there were boundaries. Such things as claimed miracles, wonders, and the up-to-date Charismatic happenings, were all acceptable, what was definitely taboo was all talking about doctrine as such. Out of bounds were all questions and discussion on official Church teachings. Then, even at the annual Priests’ conference and other meetings, when I would question doctrines and cite Scriptures I was always informed that I was out of place. What a great contrast it has been for me coming to true
Biblical faith to find that fellow believers just treasure sharing with each what the Lord is doing personally in their lives. During my visit to Warsaw Poland, London, and Ireland in 2003 I was greatly edified by the openness and frankness with which believers shared enthusiastically with each other. The normal Christian life is always centered on the Lord, His presence, His answering prayer, even His discipline as He watches over His own. My experience and what I have learned from many other former Catholics, is that while things looked normal, we had no real inner life with the Lord. When we did begin to search and wish to share deeply what we were discovering about walking with the Lord, the general response was always the hackneyed phrase “we don’t talk shop”. The system of belief behind this shared experience that I have found among those who were Priests Nuns and lay Catholics; I will now layout in the way that

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can be understood. While major doctrines may seem to be biblical, Christ’s sacrifice and the redemption flowing from it are quite compromised in Catholicism, to the point of being soul damaging.

The Application of Christ’s Redemption

Sin is an evil of infinite significance, since it is committed against an infinite Person. There is no way of escaping the wrath of God against sin except by the application of the Lord Christ Jesus’ finished work. Concerning the Holy Spirit the Lord promised that, “when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”1 The Holy Spirit convicts of sin as He makes the sinner realize his lost condition and brings him to sense his need of Christ’s righteousness. The Holy Spirit only can impart spiritual life to the soul and supernatural light to the mind. Therefore the Lord Himself proclaimed, “verily, verily, I say unto thee except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 2 “Verily, verily,” is an expression used by Lord to draw attention to the crucial importance of what He said. What He calls being “born again,” He also establishes as a principle of life, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”3 The Holy Spirit is the sole and only efficient cause of being “born again”. The same principle of life is later repeated by the Lord, “it is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing…”4. The wonderful work of the Holy Spirit opening the mind and heart to redemption is highlighted by the Apostle Paul, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”5 The Lord God saves sinners gloriously,“according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”6 True believers are “born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God,” 7 “of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.”8 This is utterly splendid, clear and profound. The Spirit of God’s unique work is to apply Christ’s redemption to the sinner. In this regeneration He works as a Free Agent. He dispenses His power where, and when, on whom, He pleases. In the words of the Lord, “the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” 9 The wind is an element which man cannot control. The wind is not regulated by man’s desires or plans, so it is with the Spirit of God. The wind blows, where it pleases, as it pleases and when it pleases, so it is with the Holy Spirit, He is absolutely Sovereign in all His operations.

The necessity of the direct work of the Holy Spirit on the soul of man is because man is spiritually dead. In the words of the Apostle, “for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath

1 John 16:8
2 John 3:3
3 John 3:6
4 John 6:63
5 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
6 Titus 3:5
7 John 1:13
8 James 1:18
9 John 3:8

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made me free from the law of sin and death.” 10 The new birth by the Holy Spirit is essential, because natural man is totally deficient in and of himself. It is not that he is weak and needs stimulation, spiritually he is dead, in the words of the Apostle, “and you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”11 Because there is a direct connection between the redemption of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, it is serious error to substitute ritual or ceremony for the work of the Holy Spirit, because in the words of the Lord, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” 12 “God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in His Son”.13 The work of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary to bring the sinner to Christ, to overcome his innate opposition, and induce him to believe. In all of this, the Holy Spirit is Sovereign.

Salvation alleged as Autonomous and Self-Regulating

The Catholic Church does speak of the grace of the Holy Spirit, but not as a direct work in Christ Jesus, but as a work under her control in her sacraments. She makes a declaration of immense significance in stating,

“The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation. 'Sacramental grace' is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament.”14

The assertion attempts to replace the Person of Holy Spirit with ‘Sacramental grace’. Such grace or power it is claimed to come through the sacraments. She goes so far as to call her sacraments “God's masterpieces”.15 These sacraments are visible physical rites, as she states, “The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament.”16

The precious Word of God in Scripture explains how salvation is not accomplished; salvation is not by means of ceremonies or rites, rather by God’s grace through faith. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”17 "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.”18 Yet this word “works” is the very word that the Catholic Church uses to declare that her seven sacraments operate ‘ex opere operato’ ‘from the work, worked.’ The official teaching is,

“If any shall say that by the said sacraments of the New Law, grace is not conferred from the work which has been worked [ex opere operato] but that faith alone in the divine promise suffices to obtain grace: let him be anathema.”19

10 Romans 8:2
11 Ephesians 2:1
12 John 3:6
13 1 John 5:11
14 Catechism Para 1129
15 “In the liturgy the Holy Spirit is teacher of the faith of the People of God and artisan of "God's masterpieces," the
sacraments of the New Covenant.” Catechism Para 1091
16 Catechism Para 1131
17 Ephesians 2:8-9
18 Romans 11:6
19 Henry Denzinger, The Sources of Catholic Dogma, Tr. by Roy J Deferrari from Enchiridion Symbolorum, 30th ed. (St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1957), #851. Bolding in any quotation indicates emphasis added in this work.

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What is soul destroying is that this teaching attempts to substitute rituals or rites for the direct work of the Holy Spirit. The rites or sacraments it is claimed, ‘work by their own working’ ‘ex opere operato’, that is they function irrespective of the spiritual condition of the Priest giving them or the layperson receiving them. In a word, they work automatically. This claim in practice attempts to establish Rome’s sacraments as autonomous and self-regulating rites to confer grace. It is difficult to envisage a teaching so contradictory to the truth of the Lord, “it is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing”.20

Baptism by which it is claimed men and women are ‘born again’

We saw above how the Holy Spirit is the sole and only efficient cause of being “born again”. An example of Rome’s autonomous automatic sacraments is that of the claim that Baptism brings about spiritual rebirth. The Roman teaching officially declares,

“Baptism…by which men and women are freed from their sins, are reborn as children of God…is validly conferred only by washing with true water
together with the required form of words.”21

Thus Catholic teaching is that rebirth ‘as children of God’ is by Baptism. Real water, together with set form of words, is necessary for Baptism to work automatically. In the Scriptures, the new birth is solely the work of the Holy Spirit, and not the work of man or of physical things. This is from the very nature of the condition of man. The state of man by nature is represented as death in sin. Birth altogether excludes the idea of any effort or work on the part of the one who is born. The new birth is a spiritual resurrection, a passing from death unto life, outside of man’s control. In the valued words of the Lord, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”22

The Holy Spirit convicts a person of sin and as that person trusts on Christ’s cross and resurrection alone regenerates him to new life in Christ. Then the true believer has a Divine Person who indwells him23 who loves him24 who leads him25 who gives him assurance of his sonship26, who helps him in his weaknesses by making intercession for him.27 He it is who seals the true believer unto the day of redemption. 28 All of this Divine activity and power is from a Person. In Catholicism the Divine Person of the Holy Spirit, has in practice, been replaced by sacraments that ‘work by their own working’. Many of us who were Priests for many years baptized countless infants. Year after year we saw the infants we had baptized grew up destitute of the grace of God. It is necessary for Catholics to have the honesty to recognize that a Divine Person causes salvation, not a self-regulating sacrament of Baptism.

20 John 6:63
21 Code of Canon Law, Latin-English Ed. (Washington, DC: Canon Law Society of America, 1983), Canon 849.
She also asserts,“...The [Roman Catholic] Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude...” Catechism Para 1257
22 John 5:24 A fuller explanation of the Sacrament of Baptism is given in chapter three.
23 1 Corinthians 6:19
24 Romans 15:7
25 Romans 8:14
26 Romans 8:16
27 Romans 8:26
28 Ephesians 4:30

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It is necessary for every sincere Catholic, as in the presence of the Holy God, to ask himself how can he experience the quickening of the Holy Spirit. He ought to give no rest to his soul until he has sought the grace of God, and implored the work of His Spirit that his heart may be renewed.

Oldest, most alluring Temptation

The Catholic teaching on Baptism is in fact the oldest temptation known to man. A physical thing water, and physical words are presented as accomplishing new birth. Looking to a physical thing to give spiritual life was the first lie of Satan. “…in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”29 Satan offered the fruit as the efficacious means of bestowing good upon Eve. She believed in the fruit’s inherent efficacy to open the eyes and to give knowledge of good and evil. In the same way, the Roman Church presents ‘true water together with the required form of words’ as the inherent means of being born again. Flesh can only reproduce itself as flesh. The law of reproduction is ‘after its kind.’30 Therefore the Holy Spirit alone produces spirit, a life born again. The work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of true believers is fruitful and indestructible. His work is a renovating power; “he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit”31. In Scripture many activities are assigned to the Holy Spirit. He guides believers into all truth, He shows believers things to come; and He takes of the things of Christ and shows them to His people, “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you”.32 The prime object purpose of the Holy Spirit is the glorification of Christ Jesus. The centerpiece of this glorification of Christ is the revelation of Christ to the believer. The illumination of the Holy Spirit is His first work upon the soul, in the words of Scripture, “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”33

Spiritual Fruits, the vital test of reality

Christ Jesus said, “ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”34 Good spiritual fruit that shows the nature of the doctrines that have been taught. The Holy Spirit produces spiritual fruits in those who are truly born again. These are fruits of repentance, personal faith, and deep fellowship with God and His people. New birth bears fruit in an awareness of God’s absolute Holiness, and the exceeding sinfulness of sin. The fruit is seen in the fervent desire to humble oneself before God in submission to His Word and will. The fruits of salvation are seen in desires of the heart to walk in thankfulness with God and His people according to all His commandments. These fruits show an appreciation of the worship due to God alone, coupled desire to glorify Him in all aspects of life. The Lord Himself gave the touchstone, “ye shall know them by their fruits.”

A true Christian by living holy shows that he is “a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”35 The Christian life shows forth the work of the Holy Spirit that has taken place in the heart. Christian life is not a manufacturing plant where autonomous and self-regulating rites supposedly confer grace. It is the family of God where

29 Genesis 3:5
30 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:6 31 1 Corinthians 6:17
32 John 16:14
33 2 Corinthians 4:6
34 Matthew 7:16
35 II Corinthians 5:17

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He has free sons and daughters who lovingly and freely serve Him, where salvation is entirely of Him, directly wrought in Christ Jesus, entirely by His grace and to His glory. It is when one sees a truly Christian life, that one is shocked by how abnormal are such things as bowing down to crucifixes, statues and images, wearing ashes, lighting candles, praying to dead saints, using holy water, performing the stations of the cross, praying for souls in a non-existent place called purgatory, wearing medallions and scapulars and displaying palm branches. Many of us, even while we were devoutly Catholic, sensed that there was something strange in all the paraphernalia, we would joke about ‘the bells, yells and smells’ that were part of our Catholic life.

The life of the Spirit in Believers and Pastors

The Holy Spirit applies to true believers all the virtues of Christ’s perfect work. The Holy Spirit communicates to them conviction, light, love, faith, repentance and perseverance. By His death Christ Jesus meritoriously acquired for all of His people a real participation in the blessings of redemption, and in Christ, His Spirit directly applies these to them. By the operations of the Spirit true believers are brought to saving faith and repentance. In a word, the Holy Spirit is the bond by which Christ Jesus efficaciously unites true believers to Himself. There is no grace, no mercy, no privilege, and no consolation that we receive, possess, or use, except what is given to believers by Him alone. The Holy Spirit is the immediate and efficient cause of all divine activities. In Him divine excellence and the power is manifest. This life of the Holy Spirit is meant to be especially evident in the life and behavior of the Christian Pastor. The normal Christian life is meant to be under the pastoral care of men who exemplify godly
behavior. The Scripture states that, “a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach.”36 He must be one who so directs his family as to set a good example to heads of other families. A Pastor that rules a good Christian home gives proof of his ability to take care of the church of God, “for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?”37 Scripture emphasizes that fact that, “marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled.”38 From these passages it is clear that the Vatican law regarding the celibacy of the clergy is anything but normal. The lives of the Catholic clergy are quite irregular. For example, “well-informed victims’ advocacy groups in the United States estimate there are between 2,000 and 4,000 abusive priests in America at this time, or a number between 4 percent and 8 percent of the 48,000 U.S. priests. If true, that would reflect an inc idence of abuse alarmingly above that of the general population…”.39 Catholic Priests and people if they are honest should admit that in their midst things are not quite normal, the big question is are they willing to search for what is indeed standard Christian life.

Two Irreconcilable Prototypes

To discover normal Christian, life we must ask the question posed in Scripture “… how can a man be justified before God?”40 The Word of God says very clearly and repeatedly that a man is justified, that is, counted freed from sin and positively righteous, as a gift of God’s grace through

36 1 Timothy 3:2
37 1 Timothy 3:5
38 Hebrews 13:4
39 http://www.poynter.org/dg.lts/id.46/aid.52811/column.htm
40 Job 9:2

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faith, “now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”41 The Catholic Church claims that one becomes a Christian and maintains Christian life through her sacraments, holy oils and other objects, and that one does righteous works to earn merit, all in collaboration with what she calls “sanctifying grace”.42 Further, the Church of Rome declares that she herself “engenders supports and nourishes our faith.”43 In the Scriptures however, the Church was begun and established entirely by God through Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. God engenders saving faith by the true Gospel of grace. It is by the powerful operation of the Holy Spirit that one believes the Gospel of Christ. It is of such wonderful power that it is compared to the same power that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead! “That ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places."44

The Catholic Church presents a teaching about salvation that is very down-to-earth and under the control of her Priests. She officially says, “Indeed bishops and priests, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, have the power to forgive all sins ‘in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’45 And, “Priests have received from God a power that he has given neither to angels nor to archangels...God above confirms what priests do here below. Were there no forgiveness of sins in the Church, there would be no hope of life to come or eternal liberation.”46

To claim the power on earth that can only be attributed to the very Spirit of God in heaven is certainly not normal. Much more of this we will see as we progress in this book. The life and power of Priests is not normal in a Biblical sense. Even marriage in a Biblical sense is not normal in the life of Catholics. The life of a Nun is quite unusual when compared to what the Scripture teaches for believers. These topics and many others we will investigate in different chapters of the book. For now, the overview that we have been seeking is clear and precise. The All Holy God will not share His glory with another. Since the Scripture’s teaching concerning the power and prerogative of the Holy Spirit is true, the alternative method presented through rituals and Priests presented by Catholicism is of necessity false and abnornal.

Promise for our time

The promise concerning our days in the New Testament times is that our “eyes shall see the king in his beauty.”47 True believers shall experience the grace of Christ in all its power and excellence. He calls unto all, saying, “Look unto me, and be ye saved.”48 Peggy O’Neill, a

41 Romans 4:4-5
42 Catechism, Para. 2025 “We can have merit in God’s sight only because of God’s free plan to associate man with the work of his grace. Merit is to be ascribed in the first place to the grace of God, and secondly to man’s collaboration. Man’s merit is due to God.”
43 Catechism, Para. 181
44 Ephesians 1:18-20
45 Catechism, Para. 1461
46 Catechism, Para. 983
47 Isaiah 33:17
48 Isaiah 45:22

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former Catholic nun, began her testimony by saying, “I served as a sister in a religious order for about fifty years and during all that time, I had never heard the true Gospel.”49 Later in the same account of her life she said, “I was ignorant of God’s righteousness. What it takes for salvation is a righteousness that equals that of God and I knew that no one could ever reach that standard. This then is what the Gospel is all about: what God demands, He provides. The Good News is that if we believe in Jesus Christ whose death on the cross, burial and resurrection has paid the price of our sin, we will be saved. The Bible puts it this way; “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (II Corinthians 5:21). In exchange for my sins, God will give me the righteousness of Jesus, God’s righteousness for my sins! This is the Good News, the Gospel in a nutshell.”50

The Lord Christ Jesus is Ready

The message of the Gospel is that the Lord Christ Jesus is ready to receive all sinners that come to Him. He alone is able to make you right with the Father. He is ready and willing to receive you. The revelation that He gives to you through the Scriptures is by the truth and love of His Holy Spirit. The frightening words of the Lord ring in the ears of those of us who have spent most of our lives in man-made religion, “not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”51 No person, by merely acknowledging Christ’s authority, believing in His divinity, professing faith in His perfection and in His atonement, shall have any part with God in His salvation, but only he who does the will of His Father. Take heed of resting on rituals and a faith in Christ Jesus that is not exclusive of all others. Multitudes have been so deceived and have perished eternally with a lie in their right hand. The Lord made the will of the Father abundantly clear when He said, “this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”52 “Repent ye, and believe the gospel.”53 “Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness.”54

This day the offer of grace is given to you, for you it is the acceptable time. Others have had this day as well as you and have missed the opportunity; take heed that you do not harden your heart. “And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”55 The water of life is offered to you. Believe on Him alone and you will be forever secure, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”56

To forget the regeneration of the Divine Person of the Holy Spirit and replace it by faith and confidence in Priests and sacraments is fatal. In practice, instead of a Divine Person being the sole, and only efficient cause of being “born again”, ones thoughts and affections are on things, and the Priests that dispense them. This in a word, is the substitution of religion for a

49 The testimony of Peggy O’Neill on our WebPage: www.bereanbeacon.org/
50 Ibid, Peggy O’Neill’s testimony
51 Matthew 7:21
52 John 6:29
53 Mark 1:15
54 Hebrews 3:7, 8
55 Revelation 22:17
56 II Corinthians 5:17

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relationship with the living God. Man indeed, likes it so. Humankind always likes to have all aspects of life under control, and in this respect Catholicism has everything on tap, as it were. The huge difficulty with all of this is the inner wound of emptiness that ritualism generates. In face of this, the correct Christian hope is that the Spirit of God will beget a man to new life in Christ. Those who are begotten to a new and spiritual life are begotten to a new and lively hope. In the words of the Apostle Peter, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”57 All the believer’s blessings begin with the regeneration that comes from God’s abundant mercy. A living and durable hope needs to have such a solid foundation as the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! A true relationship with the Lord gives the believer that solid foundation, so that he is joyful and content having such a deep inner peace. True faith produces a strong love for Christ Jesus. This love shows itself in the highest esteem for Him, a desire to be with Him and to talk about Him. It embodies a cheerful service of the Lord in all things, even sufferings. The purpose of such sufferings and heaviness is, “that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 58 Where there is true faith and love of the Lord there is in the midst of all things, a joy unspeakable and full of glory. In Catholicism all of this inner foundation of a deep inner fellowship with the Lord is missing. The rituals and pomp, the fine architecture, and captivating music, the mysticism, charismatic experiences, visions and apparitions cannot fill the void that was meant to be filled by a Person, the Spirit of the living God. Catholicism can deceive peoples and nations no further and no longer than God will permit. The folly shall be finally manifested, it shall appear that it is the supreme example of “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof”.59 Many thousands of us have come out of Catholicism to normal Christian life. It still happens each year and in most nations. God is the only All Holy One. His holiness is the distinguishing factor in all His essential characteristics. This is the reason why we need to be in right standing before the one and only All Holy God on the terms He prescribes. God’s truth, as we seen Scripture, makes it clear you cannot be right before God and remain true to Catholic teaching, since they contradict and oppose the truth of the Bible on the essential factor of how we enter into a relationship with Him. You may cling to such teachings and traditions to your own eternal peril. Or you may do what so many of us have done before you. Turn to God in faith alone for the salvation that He alone gives, by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, based on Christ’s death and resurrection for His own, and believe on Him alone, “to the praise of the glory of his grace.”60

57 1 Peter 1:3
58 1 Peter 1: 7-8
59 2 Timothy 3:5
60 Ephesians 1:6
(End of Article)
*******************
May God be pleased to bestow upon the readers of this blog the unspeakable gift of salvation, as He has upon us, to the praise and glory of His grace!

The Word of God as found in James 1:17-18
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

In Christian love,

June & Ralph Nadolny,
two sinners saved by His grace (Eph. 2:1-9) & made
"new creatures in Christ" (II Cor. 5:17)

A Personal Knowledge of Jesus Christ

2009-01-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

THE PERSONAL PENTECOST AND THE GLORIOUS HOPE . . .
A sermon transcript preached by C. H. Spurgeon on June 13, 1886

“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.” Romans 5:5

PENTECOST is repeated in the heart of every Believer. Let me give you a little bit of historical analogy to illustrate the text. The Lord’s disciples were made to sorrow at His Cross. Sore was the tribulation which came upon them as they thought upon His death and His burial in Joseph’s sepulcher. But after a little patience and experience, their hope revived,for their Lord rose from the dead and they beheld Him ascending into Heaven. Their hopes were bright concerning
their Lord who had gone into Glory and had left them a promise to come again and to make them takers of His victory. After that hope had been begotten in them, they were, in due time, made partakers of the Holy Spirit, whose Divine influence was shed abroad upon them so that they were filled with His power. Then were they made bold. They were not ashamed of their hope, but proclaimed it by the preaching of Peter and the rest of them. The Holy Spirit had visited them and, therefore, they fearlessly proclaimed to the world the Lord Jesus, their hope of Glory.

Truly, history repeats itself. The history of our Lord is the foreshadowing of the experience of all His people! That which happens to the First-Born befalls, in measure, to all the Brethren. We have before us in our text an admirable example. First comes our tribulation, our agony, our cross-bearing. Out of our patience and experience there arises, in due season, a blessed hope—we are quickened by our Lord’s resurrection life and come forth from our sorrow! He raises us up from the grave of our woe. Then comes the Divine visitation of the Holy Spirit and we enjoy our Pentecost—“The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.” I trust we know what this means and are now enjoying it. Consequent upon that visitation, our hope becomes clear and assured—and we are led to make a full outspoken testimony concerning our hope and that blessed One who is the Substance of it. I hope that many of us have already proved that we are not ashamed and that others of you will yet do so. Our God has visited us in mercy and endowed us with the Holy Spirit who is His choice gift to His children. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us has caused us to know and feel the love of God and now we cannot but speak and tell others of what the Lord has made known to us! Thus, on a small scale, have we rehearsed a portion of early Church history in our own personal story. You shall find that not only in this case, but in all cases, the life of the Believer is in miniature the life of Christ! He who originally said, “Let Us make man in Our image,” still, in the new creation, follows the model of Christ in the new-making of chosen men!

Now let me give you a little passage of experimental mystery. You have it here spread before you in a little map of the inner life—Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; (Romans 5:3-5) This passage can only be fully understood by those people of God who have had it written in capital letters on their own hearts. “Tribulation works patience,” says the Apostle. Naturally it is not so. Tribulation works impatience and impatience misses the fruit of experience and sours into hopelessness! Ask many who have buried a dear child, or have lost their wealth, or have suffered pain of body and they will tell you that the natural result of affliction is to produce irritation against Providence, rebellion against God, questioning, unbelief, petulance and all sorts of evils!

But what a wonderful alteration takes place when the heart is renewed by the Holy Spirit! Then, but not till then, tribulation works patience! He that is never troubled cannot exercise patience. Angels cannot personally exhibit patience since they are not capable of suffering. It is necessary to the possession and exercise of patience that we should be tried—and a great degree of patience can only come by a great degree of trial. You have heard of the patience of Job (James 5:11) —did he learn it among his flocks, or with his camels, or with his children when they were feasting? No, verily, he learned it when he sat among the ashes and scraped himself with a potsherd—and his heart was heavy because of the death of his children. (Job 42:1-6) Patience is a pearl which is only found in the deep seas of affliction and only Divine Grace can find it there, bring it to the surface and adorn the neck of faith with it!

It comes to pass that this patience works in us experience, that is, to say, the more we endure, the more we test the faithfulness of God, the more we prove His love and the more we perceive His wisdom. He that has never endured may believe in the sustaining power of Grace, but he has never had experience of it. You must put to sea to know the skill of the Divine Pilot and you must be buffeted with tempest before you can know His power over winds and waves. How can we see Jesus in His full power unless there is a storm for Him to turn into a calm? (Mark 4:37-39) Our patience works in us an experimental acquaintance with the truth, the faithfulness, the love and the power of our God. We bow in patience and then we rise in happy experience of heavenly support! What better wealth can a man have than to be rich in experience? Experience teaches. This is the real High School for God’s children. I scarcely think we learn anything thoroughly without the rod of affliction. Certainly we know best that which has been a matter of personal experience. We need that Truth of God should be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction before we know it effectively—after that, no man may trouble us, for our heart bears the brand of the Lord Jesus! Thus patience works experience.

It is rather amazing that it should then be said, “and experience works hope”—not amazing in the sense of being questionable, for there is no hope so bright as that of the man who knows, by experience, the faithfulness and love of God. But does it not seem singular that this heavy tribulation, this grievous affliction, this painful chastisement should, nevertheless, bring forth for us this bright particular light, this morning star of hope, this herald of the everlasting day of Glory? Brothers and Sisters, how wonderfully does Divine alchemy fetch fine gold out of metal which we thought to be worthless! The Lord, in His Grace, spreads a couch for His own upon the threshing floor of tribulation and there, like Boaz, we take our rest! He sets to music the roar of the floods of trouble. Out of the foam of the sea of sorrow He causes to arise the bright spirit of “hope that makes not ashamed.”

This passage from which we have taken our text is a choice extract from the inner life of a spiritual man! It is a fragment of the Believer’s riddle—let him read it that has understanding.

Before I plunge into my subject, let me point out to you that this text is none other than the House of God and the gate of Heaven. Behold a Temple for the worship of the Divine Trinity in my text. Read the fifth and sixth verses together—“The love of God (the Father) is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:5-6) Behold the blessed Three in One! It needs the Trinity to make a Christian! It needs the Trinity to cheer a Christian! It needs the Trinity to complete a Christian! It needs the Trinity to create in a Christian the hope of Glory! I always like these passages which bring us so near to the Trinity. Let us pause a while and adore—“Glory be unto the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end! Amen.” It is most sweet to be called upon to offer special worship unto the one God in the Trinity of His Divine Persons and to feel your heart readily inclined thereto, as we do at this hour. By faith we bow with the hosts of the redeemed before the all-glorious Throne of God and worship Him that lives forever. How heartily may we do this when we think of the unity of the Sacred Three in our salvation! We have Divine Love bestowed by the Father, made manifest in the death of the Son and shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit! Oh, to feel, at this moment, communion with the Triune God! Let us bow before the sacred majesty of Jehovah and then, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, let us enter the Temple of our text!

The text runs thus: “Hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:5) The Apostle had worked up the subject till he came to the hope of Glory. When he had reached that height, he could not help saying something concerning it. Turning away from his main subject, as is often his custom, he makes a diversion and gives us a few glowing sentences upon the Believer’s hope.

Our first head will be the confidence of our hope—the hope makes not ashamed. Secondly, the reason of this confidence, which I hope we are enjoying, today, for we are so confident about our hope that we shall never be disappointed in it because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. Thirdly, we shall have a word or two to say upon the result of this confidence of hope, since, for this cause we bear testimony to the world and declare that we are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

I. First then, consider THE CONFIDENCE OF OUR HOPE.
We are not ashamed of our hope. Some persons have no hope, or only one of which they might justly be ashamed. Ask many who deny the Scriptures, what is their hope for the future. “I shall die like a dog,” says one. “When I am dead that’s the end of me.” If I had such a wretched hope as that, I certainly would not go about the world proclaiming it! I would not think of gathering a large congregation like this and saying to you, “Brothers and Sisters, rejoice with me, for we are all to die like cats and dogs.” It would never strike me as being a matter to be gloried in. The Agnostic knows nothing and, therefore, I suppose he hopes nothing. Here, also, I do not see much to stir enthusiasm. If I had no more hope than that, I would be ashamed.

The Romanist’s best hope when he dies is that he may come right in the end, but that, in the meantime, he will have to undergo the purging fires of “purgatory.” I do not know much about that place, for I cannot find mention of it in Holy Scripture—but those who know it well, because they invented it, and keep its keys—describe it as a dreary region to which even great bishops and cardinals must go! I have seen, personally seen, invitations to the faithful to pray for the repose of the soul of a late eminent cardinal—and if such is the lot of the princes of the church of Rome, where must ordinary people go? There is no great excellence in this hope. I do not think I should call you all together in order to say to you, “Rejoice with me, for when we die we shall all go to ‘purgatory.’” You would fail to see the special ground of rejoicing. I do not think I would say much about it and when anybody questioned me about it, I would endeavor to evade the point and declare that it was a deep mystery which had better be left to the clergy!

But we are not ashamed of our hope, we Christian people who believe that those Believers who are absent from the body are present with the Lord! (II Cor. 5:8) We look for a city which has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God! (Hebrews 11:10) We are not ashamed to hope for Glory, immortality and eternal life!

We are not ashamed of the object of our hope. We do not believe in gross carnal delights as making up our Heaven. We do not believe in a Muslim paradise of sensual delights, or we might very well be ashamed of our hope! Whatever imagery we may use, we intend, thereby, pure, holy, spiritual and refined happiness such as the False Prophet would not have regarded as a sufficient bait for his followers. Our hope is this—that our Lord will come a second time and all His holy angels with Him. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father! We believe that if we fall asleep before that time, we shall sleep in Jesus and shall be blessed with Him. (1 Thess. 4:14) “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise,” (Luke 23:43) is not for the thief, only, but for all of us who have trusted our souls with the crucified Savior. At His coming we expect a glorious resurrection. When He shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the trumpet of the archangel and the voice of God, then shall our souls be restored to our bodies and our complete manhood shall live with Christ! (1 Thess. 4:16) We believe and are sure, that from that day we shall be forever with Him. (1 Thess. 4:17) He will give us to be partakers of His Throne, of His crown and of His Heaven—and that forever and ever!

The more we talk about the promised bliss, the more we feel that we could not be ashamed of the hope of Glory! The ultimate reward of faith, the ultimate reward of a life of righteousness, is such that we joy and rejoice in prospect of it. Our glorious hope contains, within it, purity and perfection, freedom from all sin and the possession of every virtue. Our hope is that we shall be like our perfect Lord and shall be with Jesus where He is, that we may behold His Glory. Our hope is fulfilled in that promise, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” (John 14:16) We shall not merely exist, but live, which is another and a higher matter. Our life shall be the life of God in our spirits forever and ever! We are not ashamed of this hope! We press forward to the attaining of it!

Furthermore, we are not ashamed of the ground of our hope. Our hope rests upon the solemn promises of God (II Cor. 1:20) which He has made to us by His Prophets and Apostles—and confirmed in the Person and work of His dear Son. Inasmuch as Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead, we that are one with Him by faith, are sure that we shall rise again from the dead and live with Him. The fact of Christ’s Resurrection is the assurance of our resurrection! And His entrance into Glory is the pledge of our glorification because we are made one with Him by the purpose and Grace of God. As we fell in Adam by virtue of our being in him, so we rise and reign with Jesus because we are in Him. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living—yet is He the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob and, therefore, these men are yet alive! Even thus do we believe concerning all who die in the faith that they have not ceased to be, but they all live unto Him. Our hope is founded not upon reasoning, which, possibly, may dimly prove the immortality of the soul and the future reward of the righteous, but upon God’s Revelation which states it clearly and plainly and leaves no room for question. If this Book is a lie, our hope must be given up. But inasmuch as we have not followed cunningly devised fables, but have received the testimony of faithful eyewitnesses of our Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension, we believe the Holy Record and are not ashamed of our hope! (Acts 1:1-3; 1 John 5:10-11) What God has promised is sure—and what God has done fully confirms the same and, therefore, we have no fear.

And, Brothers and Sisters, we are not ashamed of our personal appropriation of this hope. Somebody may sneeringly say to us, “You expect to be in Glory, do you?” Yes, we do and we are not ashamed to acknowledge the soft impeachment, for our confidence is well grounded. Our expectation is not based upon any proud claim of personal merit, but upon the promise of a faithful God! He has said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” (John 3:36) We do believe in Him and, therefore, we know that we have eternal life! He has declared in His Word that, “whom He justified, them He also glorified”— (Romans 8:30) and we are justified by faith, (Romans 3:28; Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:11) therefore we shall be glorified! Our hope is not based on mere feeling, but on the fact that God has promised everlasting life to them that believe in His Son, Jesus. We have heard our Lord pray, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My Glory.” (John 17:24) We believe that the Father gave us to Jesus because we have been led to put our trust in Him and faith is the sure sign and token of Divine election. Therefore, being Christ’s, we expect to be with Him where He is. Reading in the Word of the Lord the words, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” (John 3:16) we hold on to that promise and know that we have everlasting life! This seems to us to be a strictly logical argument. Unless it is a mistake and God has not said that the Believer shall live forever, then we are under no delusion in expecting so to live. God’s Word is the most sure thing that can be and we are not ashamed to hold on to any claim which truthfully arises out of it! We dare believe that God will keep His Word to us and to all other Believers.

Brethren, we are not ashamed as to the absolute certainty that our hope will be realized. We believe that if, indeed, we are justified by faith and have peace with God, we have a hope of Glory which will not fail us in the end, nor on the way to the end. We do not expect to be deserted and to be left to fall from Grace, for, “He hath said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5) We do not expect to be left to ourselves, which would mean our sore and certain ruin, but we expect that He who has begun a good work in us will perfect it unto the day of Christ—(Phil. 1:6) we are certain that He who has worked this hope in us will justify that hope by fulfilling it in due time. He will preserve us through long life if we are to live long; will maintain a living hope in us when we come to die and will remember, even, our dust and ashes when these are hidden in the tomb. “Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?” (Romans 8:35-39) It is written, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.” And so it shall be. He shall not perish from the way, nor in the way. Has He not said, “I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me?” (Jeremiah 32:40) He keeps the feet of His saints. “I give unto My sheep,” He says, “eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” (John 10:27-28) Never shall we be deceived in our trust in Jesus! No man shall say, “I trusted the Lord Christ to keep me, but He has not kept me. I rested in Jesus to preserve me in spiritual life, but He has not preserved me.” Never! We shall not be ashamed of our hope!

II. As I have introduced to you that confidence which makes Believers—especially tried and experienced Believers— full of hope which makes us not ashamed, my second objective is to dwell upon THE REASON OF THIS CONFIDENCE. Why is it that men who possess the good hope are so far from being ashamed of it that they rejoice in it?

My answer, is first, because that hope has for one of its main supports the love of God . I expect, one day, to sit among the angels and to behold the face of my Best-Beloved, (Ps. 17:15; 1 John 3:1-3; 1 Cor. 13:12; Rev. 22:4) but I do not expect this because of anything in me, or anything which may ever be done by me, but simply because of the infinite love of God! I trust not to my love of God, but to God’s Love to me! We trust Him because He loves us. We are sure that He will fulfill our hope because He is too loving to fail us. It is from the love of God that all our hopes begin and it is upon the love of God that all our hopes depend! If it were not for the Father’s love, there had never been a Covenant of Grace. If it were not for His infinite love, no atoning Sacrifice had been provided. If it were not for His active love, no Holy Spirit would have quickened and renewed us. If it were not for His unchanging love, all that is good in us would soon pass away. If it were not for love almighty, love immutable, love unbounded, we would never hope to see the face of the King in His beauty in the land that is very far off. He loves us and, therefore, He leads us, feeds us and always keeps us. Do not your hearts confess this? If that love could be suspended for a moment—if its power were, for an instant, to cease, where would we be? We fall back upon the love of God as the final reason of our hope in Him.

Observe, dear Brothers and Sisters, the actual cause of our confidence is that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Let me try and explain what this means. The Holy Spirit is in the heart of every Believer and He is occupied in many gracious acts. Among other things, He sheds abroad the love of God in the heart in which He resides. The figure is taken from a box of precious perfume being poured out in a chamber. There lies the slumbering scent within the alabaster box—it is a very choice thing, but no one has yet perceived its odor. The love of God brought within the soul is that rare fragrance, but till it is shed abroad, it is not enjoyed. Now the Holy Spirit takes that box, opens it and the sweet savor of Divine Love streams forth and fills all the capacity of the Believer. This love penetrates, permeates, enters and occupies the entire being. A delightful perfume streams through the entire room when the odor of roses is poured out and even so, when the love of God is thought upon by the devout heart and the Holy Spirit helps its meditations, the theme fills the mind, the memory, the imagination, the reason and the affections! It is an engrossing subject and is not to be confined to any one faculty any more than you could keep the aroma of spices within a certain narrow
space.

Moreover, as perfume gives delight to the nostrils, so the love of God, when shed abroad in the power of the Holy Spirit, imparts a singular sweetness to our emotions. All the garments of the Lord of Love smell of myrrh, aloes and cassia. Where can such sweetness be as in the love of God ? That the eternal and the infinite One should really love men and love them at such a rate as He has done, is a Truth of God at once surprising and gladsome! It is a root from which springs the lily of perfect joy. This is an ivory palace wherein every dweller is made glad. You may meditate upon that love till you are ravished and carried away by it—and your soul, before you are aware, becomes like the chariots of Amminadib!

Yet again, wherever perfume comes, it not only spreads itself abroad and gives delight to all who are in the place, but it abides there. Take the ointment away if you will, but the sweet odor remains for many an hour in the room which was once filled with it. Some scent appears to abide forever. You went to your drawer the other day and there was a delicious flavor of lavender, yet there had been no lavender there since last summer—fragrance lingers! A few drops of the
true oil will perfume a wide space and remain long after the vase from which it was poured has been taken away. The love of God, when it comes into the heart and is shed abroad by the Holy Spirit, who is the great Master of the art of diffusing love, abides in the heart world without end! All other things may cease, but love abides. For a moment we may seem to forget the love of God amidst the business of the world, but no sooner is the pressure removed than we return unto our rest. The sweet perfume of Divine Love overcomes the rankness of the odor of sin and never quits the heart that has once known its exceeding deliciousness.

If I change the figure, I may say that the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit like one of yonder rain clouds, black with exceeding blessing, which pours forth a shower of innumerable silver drops, fertilizing every place on which they fall, making the drooping herbs to lift up their heads and rejoice in the Heaven-sent revival! After a while, from that spot where the rain fell, there rises a gentle steam which ascends to Heaven and forms fresh clouds—thus is the
love of God poured upon our heart and shed abroad in our nature till our spirit drinks it in and its new life is made to put forth its flowers of joy and fruits of holiness and, by-and-by, grateful praise ascends like the incense which in the Temple smoked upon Jehovah’s altar. Love is shed abroad in us and it works upon our heart to love in return.

To leave the figures—the shedding abroad of the love of God in the heart by the Holy Spirit means this—He imparts to us an intense appreciation and sense of that love. We have heard of it, believed in it and meditated upon it and, at last, we are overpowered by its greatness! “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” (John 3:16) We cannot measure such love! We become affected by it. We are filled with wonder and admiration. Its greatness, its singularity, its specialty, its infinity—all these amaze us! It is shed abroad in our hearts. Then there comes an appropriation of it. We cry, “He loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) We begin to feel that God’s love was not only love to men in general, but love to ourselves in particular and we are now fairly carried off our feet! In a belief of this special love to us we are ready to dance for joy. Faith perceives that it is even so and then we praise the Lord upon the high-sounding cymbals.

Then follows, as a matter of course, that return of love which the human heart must feel—"we love Him because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19) We doubted His love once, but we cannot doubt it now. If we were asked three times, “Do you love Me?” we would answer humbly, but most emphatically, “Lord, You know all things, you know that I love You. I could not live without loving You. I would rather a thousand times that I had never been born than be without love to You and, though I do not love You as I ought, and my heart craves after a far greater love, yet I do love You in deed and in truth. You know that I do and I should be false to my own consciousness if I denied it.” This is to have the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit which is given to us—to know it, enjoy it, appropriate it, rejoice in it—and come under its Divine influence. May this bundle of myrrh never be removed from the chamber of my soul!

But I want you to notice the special sweetness which struck our Apostle as being so amazingly noteworthy. He goes on to tell us what most affected him. He says, “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6) That is the first point to be dwelt upon—that God should give His Son to die for the ungodly. That God should love those who love Him, that God should love His renewed people who are striving after holiness is, indeed, delightful. But the most overpowering thought of all is that He loved us when there was nothing good in us whatever! He loved us from before the foundation of the world! Regarding us as being fallen and lost, His love resolved to send His Son to die for us! Jesus came not because we were good, but because we were evil! He gave Himself, not for our righteousness, but for our sins! The moving cause of love in God was not excellence in the creature then existing or foreseen to exist, but simply the good pleasure of the God of Love! Love was born of God, Himself. It was so great in the heart of God that—

“He saw us ruined in the Fall
Yet loved us notwithstanding
all.”
He loved us when we hated Him! He loved us when we opposed Him, when we cursed Him, when we persecuted His people and blasphemed His ways. Marvelous fact! Oh, that the Holy Spirit would bring home that Truth of God to our hearts and make us feel its energy! I cannot put the thought fitly before you, much less shed it abroad within you, but the Holy Spirit can do it—and then how charmed you will be, how humbled and yet how full of praise to the Most High
God!

The Apostle is not content with bringing that point before us—he would not have us forget that Christ died for us. Brothers and Sisters, that Christ should love us in Heaven was a great thing. That He should then come down to earth and be born in Bethlehem was a greater thing. That He should live a life of obedience for our sakes was a wonderful thing. But that He should die—this is the climax of Divine Love’s sacrifice—the summit of the Alp of love! Some sights in the world astonish us once or twice and then grow commonplace, but the Cross of Christ grows upon us. The more we know of it, the more it surpasses knowledge! To a saint who has been saved 2,000 years, the sacrifice of Calvary is even more a marvel than when first he saw it! That God, Himself, should take our nature and that in that nature He should die a death like that of a felon upon a gallows to save us, who were His enemies, is a thing which could not be believed if it
had been told us on less authority than the Divine! It is altogether miraculous! And if you let it take possession of your soul until it is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit, you will feel that there is nothing worth knowing, believing, or admiring when compared with this! Nothing can ever rival in interest the Cross of Christ. Let us study what books we may, the knowledge of a crucified Savior will still remain the most sublime of all the sciences.

Furthermore, the Apostle then goes on to say that the Lord must always love us, now that we are reconciled. He puts it thus—If God loved us when we were enemies, He will surely continue to love us, now that we are friends. If Jesus died for us when we were rebels, He will refuse us nothing, now that He has reconciled us. If He reconciled us by His death, surely He can and will save us by His life. If He died to reconcile enemies, surely He will preserve the reconciled. (Romans 5:9-11) Do you see the whole argument? It is very full of reasons for the upholding of our hope of Glory and causing us not to be ashamed of it. When the great God makes us feel the exceeding greatness of His love, we banish all doubt and dread. We infer from the Character of His love as seen in the past that He cannot possibly cast us away in the future! What? Die for us and then leave us? What? Pour out His heart’s blood for our redemption and yet permit us to be lost? Will He manifest Himself to us as He does not to the world, robed in the crimson of His own Atonement through death, and then will He, after all, say to us, “Depart, you cursed”? Impossible! He changes not! Our hope has for the keystone of its arch the unchanging love of Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever! The Holy Spirit has so shed abroad the love of God in Christ Jesus in our hearts that we feel quite sure that no one can separate us from it and, so long as we are not divided from it, our hope of Glory is sure as the Throne of the Eternal!

Once more—the Apostle reminds us in the 11th verse that, “we have now received the atonement.” We already feel that we are at one with God. Through the Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus we are at peace with God. We love Him—our quarrel with Him is ended—we delight in Him, we long to glorify Him. Now this delightful sense of reconciliation is a satisfactory assurance of Grace and Glory. The hope of Glory burns in the golden lamp of a heart reconciled to God by Jesus Christ. Inasmuch as we are now in perfect accord with God, longing only to be and to do just what He would have us to be and to do, we have the beginnings of Heaven within us, the dawn of the perfect day! Grace is Glory in the bud. Agreement with God is the seed-corn of perfect holiness and perfect happiness. If we are under the dominion of holiness. If there is no wish in our soul but what we would take back if we knew it to be contrary to the mind of our holy Lord, then are we assured that He has accepted us and that we have His life in us and shall finally come to His Glory. He that has brought His enemies to be His hearty friends will not permit this gracious work to be undone, or His holy purpose to fail! In our present delight in God we have the earnest of our endless joy in Him and, therefore, we are not ashamed of our hope.

One word more on this point—note well that the Apostle not only mentions the love of God and its being shed abroad in our hearts, but he mentions the Divine Person by whom this has been done. The shedding abroad of God’s love in the heart has been worked by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:5) Only by the Holy Spirit could this have been done. Would you ever have been charmed with the love of God through the influence of the devil? Would you ever have been overpowered and filled with excessive joy in the love of God through the power of your own fallen human nature? You judge! They that have felt the love of God shed abroad in their heart can say without a doubt, “This is the finger of God; the Holy Spirit has worked this in me.” Nothing short of the Holy Spirit can effect it. “Thank God,” says one, “I sat under an earnest ministry!” So you might and yet have never felt the love of God within your heart! We can shed that love abroad by preaching, but we cannot shed it abroad in the heart. A higher influence than that of human orator must deal with the inner nature!

Perhaps you were alone in your chamber, or walking by the roadside when the sweet savor of Divine love stole into your soul. Oh the love of God! The amazing, immeasurable, incomprehensible love of the Father! Oh, to feel this till our very souls are inflamed with it and our unloving nature is all on fire with love to the great Lover of the souls of men! Who can do this but the Holy Spirit? And how come we to have the Holy Spirit but by the free gift of God, whose gifts and calling “are without repentance”? God does not give and take—His gifts are ours forever. If the Holy Spirit has been given to you, is He not the pledge of God’s love? Does not the New Testament describe Him as the earnest of the inheritance? (II Cor. 5:5; II Cor. 1:21-22) Is not an earnest the security for all the rest? (Eph. 1:13-14) Does the Holy Spirit set His seal to a document which, after all, is so faulty that it will not effect its purpose? Never! If the Holy Spirit dwells in you, He is the guarantee of everlasting joy. Where Grace is given by His Divine indwelling, Glory must follow it. The Holy Spirit, when He comes into the soul, comes that there He may take up His dwelling place—and there He will abide till we shall be caught up to the higher realms, to behold our Lord’s face forever! (1 John 4:13; Romans 8:9-11)

III. Lastly, let us hint at THE RESULT OF THIS CONFIDENT HOPE. Let the context instruct us.

First, this confident hope breeds inward joy. The man that knows that his hope of Glory will never fail him because of the great love of God, of which he has tasted, that man will hear music at midnight! The mountains and the hills will break forth before him into singing wherever he goes! Especially in times of tribulation he will be found “rejoicing in hope of the Glory of God.” His most profound comfort will often be enjoyed in his deepest affliction because then the
love of God will especially be revealed in his heart by the Holy Spirit, whose name is, “the Comforter.” Then he will perceive that the rod is dipped in mercy, that his losses are sent in fatherly love and that his aches and pains are all measured out with gracious design. In our affliction, God is doing nothing to us which we should not wish for ourselves if we were as wise and loving as God is. O Friends! You do not need gold to make you glad! You do not even need health to make you glad—only get to know and feel Divine love and the fountains of delight are unsealed to you—you are introduced to the banquets of happiness!

This brings with it the Grace of holy boldness in the avowal of our hope. Christian people do not often enough show worldlings the joy of their hope. We do not wear our best liveries, nor say enough of the joy of being in the Lord’s service, nor speak enough of the wages which our Lord will pay at the end of the day. We are as silent as if we were ashamed of our hope! We even go mourning, although we have reason to be the happiest men on God’s earth. I fear we have not enough experience of Divine love shed abroad in our hearts. If the perfume were within, it would be perceived by those who are around us. You pass a factory of perfume and at once perceive that sweetness steals abroad. Let us make worldlings know the fragrance of our joyous hope—especially let us tell those who seem most likely to laugh at us—for we have learned by experience that some of these are most likely to be impressed. Often has a new convert written to a worldly friend to tell him of his great change and of his new joy—and that worldly friend has put the letter aside with a sneer or a jest. But after a while he has thought it over and he has said to himself, “There may be something in it. I am a stranger to this joy of which my friend speaks and I certainly need all the joy I can get, for I am dull enough.” Let me tell you that all worldlings are not such fools as some would take them for—they are aware of an unrest within their bosoms and they hunger after something better than this vain world can give them! So that it frequently happens that as soon as they learn where the good is, they accept it.

Even if they do not hunger, I do not know any better way of making a man long for food than yourself to eat. The looker-on feels his mouth water. All of a sudden his appetite arrives. In the parable of the prodigal son, the servants were ordered to bring forth the best robe and put it on him and to put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet—but the father did not tell them to take the son and make him eat! What he said was, “Let us eat and be merry.” He knew that at the
sight of others feasting, his hungry son would eat. When you who belong to the Divine family, eat and drink in happy fellowship and are merry with the Lord in feasting upon love Divine, the poor hungry brother will desire to join you and he will be encouraged to do so.

Come, then, you that have a hope of Glory, let all men see that you are not ashamed of it! Act as decoys to others— let the sweet notes of your happy life charm them to Jesus! May the Lord cause you to spread abroad what He has shed abroad and may that which perfumes your heart also perfume your house, your business, your conversation and your whole life! May we so enjoy true godliness that we may never bring shame upon it, nor feel shame concerning it!

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." (Phil. 4:4)
****** End of Sermon Transcript ******

May all who read this sermon know what it is for themselves to have this "blessed hope" and to live in the enjoyment of it!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
1 Peter 1:3

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16

In Christian love,

June & Ralph Nadolny,
two sinners saved by God's grace alone (Eph. 2:8-10; Romans 5:8)
"Christ in you (us), the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27b)
"new creatures in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17)
"We love him, because HE first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

CHRIST . . . the only WAY to GOD

2008-10-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

Only One Way—Christ / A sermon preached by J. C. Ryle / 1816 - 1900

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

These words are striking in themselves. But they are much more striking if you consider when and by whom they were spoken. They were spoken by a poor and unpopular Christian, in the midst of a persecuting Jewish Council and it was a wonderful confession about Christ. These words were spoken by the lips of the Apostle Peter. This is the man who, a few weeks before, abandoned Jesus and fled: this is the very man who three times denied his Lord. There is another spirit in him now. He now stands up boldly before priests and Sadducees, and tells them the truth to their face, saying: "This [Jesus] is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation is any other: for there is none other name given among men, whereby we must be saved.” [Acts 4:11-12].

In considering this serious subject there are three things I wish to do:

I. First, to show you the doctrine being declared here by the Apostle.

II. Secondly, to show you some reasons why this doctrine must be true.

III. Thirdly, to show you some consequences that naturally flow from the doctrine.

I. First let me show you THE DOCTRINE OF THE TEXT. Let us make sure that we correctly understand what the Apostle Peter means. He says of Christ, "Neither is there salvation in any other:” Now what is this? This is a very critical statement that we need to clearly understand. He means that no one can be saved from sin—from its guilt, power, and consequences—except by Jesus Christ. He means that no one can have peace with God the Father—obtain forgiveness of sin in this world, and escape the wrath of God that is coming after death—except through the atoning death and mediation of Jesus Christ. Only in Christ will we find God’s rich provision of salvation for sinners. Only in Christ will we find God’s abundant mercies coming down from Heaven to earth.

Only the blood of Christ can cleanse us; only the righteousness of Christ’s can clothe us; Only the sacrifice of Christ can give us a title to heaven. Jews and Gentiles, educated and uneducated, rich and poor—everyone, no matter what their position or standing in life must either be saved by Jesus Christ or lost forever. And the Apostle emphatically adds, “for there is none other name given among men, whereby we must be saved.” There is no other person commissioned, sealed, and appointed by God the Father to be the Savior of sinners, except Christ. The keys of life and death are only found in His hand, and all who want to be saved must go to Him.

There was only one place of safety in the day when the flood came upon the earth, and that was Noah’s ark. All other places and things—mountains, towers, trees, rafts, boats—all were completely useless. Likewise, there is only one hiding place for sinners who want to escape the storm of God’s anger—they must hide their souls in Christ. There was only one man to whom the Egyptians could go to in the time of famine, when they needed food—they could only go to Joseph: it was a waste of time to go to anyone else. Likewise, there is only One to whom hungering souls must go, if they don’t want to perish forever—they must go to Christ. There was only one word that could save the lives of the men of Ephraim in the day when the men of Gilead fought with them, and took control of the fords of the Jordan [Judges 12]—they must say the word "Shibboleth," or die. Well, in the same way, there is only one name that will save us when we stand at the gate of heaven—we must name the name of Jesus as our only hope, or be thrown into the Lake of Fire forever.

Such is the doctrine of the text. "Salvation is found in no one else but Jesus Christ: in Him is complete salvation—salvation to the uttermost, salvation for the very chief of sinners—without Jesus there is no salvation at all." This doctrine is in perfect harmony with our Lord's own words in the Book of John: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” [John 14:6]. It is the same thing that Paul told the Corinthians: "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ.” [1 Corinthians 3:11]. And it is the same truth that John tells us in his first Epistle: "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath no life.” [1 John 5:11-12]. All these texts state the same undeniable truth, that there is no salvation except through the person of Jesus Christ.

Dear friends, make sure that you understand this before you pass from this world. Perhaps you think this is old news. Perhaps you feel, "These are ancient things: who doesn’t know this simple truth? Of course we believe there is no salvation except by Christ." But listen carefully to what I say: make sure that you understand this doctrine, or else in time you will stumble, and be offended at what I am about to say. Remember that you are to base your entire salvation on the person of Christ and on Christ only. You are to totally reject and dismiss all other hopes and trusts. You are not to rest partially on Christ—partially on doing all you can—partially on going to church—partially on receiving the Lord’s Supper. In the matter of your justification Christ is to be everything. This is the doctrine of the text before us this morning. Remember that heaven is standing before you, and Christ is the only door into it; hell is beneath you, and only Christ is able to deliver you from it; the devil is behind you and accusing you of sin, and Christ is the only place of safety from the devil’s wrath and accusations; the law is against you, and only Christ is able to redeem you; sin is weighing you down, and only Christ is able to take it away. This is the doctrine of the text before us this morning. Now do you see it? I hope you do. But I fear many who think so, may find, before this sermon is over, that they really don’t.

II. Let me show you, in the second place, some REASONS why the doctrine of the text, that Jesus is the only way of salvation, must be true. I could cut short this part of the subject with one simple argument: "God says so." "One plain text," said an old preacher, "is as good as a thousand reasons." But I will not do this. I intend to answer the many objections that are ready to rise in many hearts against this doctrine, by pointing out the strong foundations on which it stands.

(1) Let me then say, for one thing, the doctrine, that Jesus is the only way of salvation, must be true, because man is what man is. Now, what is man? There is one broad, sweeping answer, which takes in the whole human race: man is a sinful creature. All children of Adam born into the world, whatever their name or nation is, are corrupt, wicked, and defiled in the sight of God. Their thoughts, words, ways, and actions are all, more or less, defective and imperfect. Is there no country on the face of the earth where sin doesn’t reign? Is there no happy valley, no secluded island, where innocence can be found? Is there no tribe on earth, far away from civilization, and commerce, and money, and weapons, and luxury, and books, where morality and purity flourish? No, dear friends: there is none. Look over all the voyages and travels you can lay your hand on, from Columbus down to Captain Cook, and you will see the truth of what I am asserting. The most isolated islands of the Pacific Ocean—islands cut off from all the rest of the world, islands where every person there are all ignorant of Rome and Paris, London and Jerusalem—these islands have been found to be full of impurity, cruelty, and idolatry. The footprints of the devil have been traced to every shore. The truthfulness of the third chapter of Genesis has been established everywhere. Whatever else savages have been found ignorant of, they have never been found ignorant of sin.

But are there no men or women in the world who are free from this corruption of nature? Have there not been high and exalted souls who have every now and then lived faultless lives? Have there not been some, if it is only a few, who have done everything that God required, and thus proved that sinless perfection is a possibility? No, dear friends: there have been none. Look over all the biographies and lives of the holiest Christians; note how the brightest and best of Christ’s people have always had the deepest sense of their own failures and corruption. They groan, they mourn, they sigh, they weep over their own shortcomings: it is one of the common grounds on which they meet. Patriarchs and Apostles, Early Church Fathers and Reformers, Luther and Calvin, Knox and Bradford, Rutherford and Bishop Hall, Wesley and Whitefield, Martyn and M’Cheyne—all are in total agreement in being totally aware of their own sinfulness. The more light they have, the more humble they seem to be; the more holy they are, the more they seem to feel their own unworthiness, and to glory, not in themselves, but in Christ.

Now what does all this seem to prove? In my mind it seems to prove that human nature is so tainted and corrupt that, left to himself, no man could be saved. Man’s case appears to be a hopeless one without a mighty Savior. There must be a Mediator, an Atonement, an Advocate, to make such poor sinful creatures acceptable with God: and I find this nowhere, except in the person of Jesus Christ. Heaven for man without a mighty Redeemer, peace with God for man without a mighty Intercessor, eternal life for man without an eternal Savior—in one word, salvation without Christ—all appear to me to be utter impossibilities.

I lay these things before you, and ask you to consider them. I know it is one of the hardest things in the world to realize the sinfulness of sin. To say we are all sinners is one thing; to have an idea what sin must be in the sight of God is something else. Sin is too much a part of us to allow us to see it as it is: we don’t feel our own moral deformity. We are like those animals in creation which are vile and loathsome to our senses, but are not so to themselves, nor yet to one another: their loathsomeness is their nature, and they don’t perceive it. Our corruption is part and parcel of ourselves, and at our best we have only a feeble comprehension of its intensity. But this you can be sure of—if you could see your own lives with the eyes of the angels who never fell, you would never doubt this point for a moment. Depend on it, no one can really know what man is, and not see that the doctrine of our text must be true. There can be no salvation except though Christ.

(2) Let me say another thing. The doctrine of our text, that Jesus is the only way of salvation, must be true, because God is what God is. Now what is God? That is indeed a deep question. We know something of His attributes: He has not left Himself without witness in creation; He has mercifully revealed to us many things about Himself in His Word. We know that God is a Spirit—eternal, invisible, almighty—the Maker of all things, the Preserver of all things—holy, just, all-seeing, all-knowing, all-remembering— infinite in mercy, in wisdom, and in purity. But, what is sad, is how base and demeaning our greatest ideas are when we come to put down on paper what we believe God to be! How many words and expressions we use whose complete meaning we cannot understand! How many things our tongues say about God which our minds are utterly unable to conceive! How small a part of Him do we really see! How little of Him can we possibly know! How poor and worthless are any words of ours to convey any idea of Him who made this mighty world out of nothing, and with whom "one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day!" (II Peter 3:8) How weak and inadequate are our poor feeble intellects to conceive of Him who is perfect in all of His works—perfect in the greatest as well as perfect in the smallest, perfect in appointing the days and hours in which Jupiter, with all its satellites, will travel around the sun—perfect in forming the smallest insect that creeps over a few feet of our little globe! How little can our busy helplessness comprehend a Being who is always commanding and directing all things, in heaven and earth, by universal providence: controlling and directing the rise and fall of nations and dynasties, like Nineveh and Carthage; directing the exact length to which men like Alexander and Napoleon will extend their conquests; directing the smallest step in the life of the humblest believer among His people: all at the same time, all continuously, all perfectly—all for His own glory.

The blind man is no judge of the paintings of Rubens or Titian; the deaf man is insensible to the beauty of Handel’s music; the person who lives in Greenland can have but a faint notion of the climate of the tropics; the Australian savage can only form in his mind a remote conception of a locomotive engine, however well you may describe it: there is no place in their minds to take in these things; they have no set of thoughts which can comprehend them; they have no mental fingers to grab hold of them. And, in just the same way, the best and brightest ideas that man can form of God, compared to the reality which we will one day see, are indeed weak and faint.

But, my friend, the one thing that I think is very clear is this: The more any one considers calmly who God really is, the more they must feel the immeasurable distance between God and themselves: the more they meditate, (on Him through His Word) the more they must see that there is a great gulf between them and God. (See Isaiah 55:8-9) Their conscience, I think, will tell them, if they will let it speak, that God is perfect, and they are imperfect; that God is very high, and they are very low; that God is glorious majesty and they are nothing but a poor worm: and that if they are ever to stand before Him in judgment with any comfort, then they must have a mighty helper, or they will not be saved.

And what is all this but the very doctrine of our text? What is all this but coming around to the conclusion I am urging you to make? With such a person as God to give account to, we must have a mighty Savior. We must have an Almighty Friend and Advocate on our side—who can answer every charge that can be laid against us, and plead our cause with God on equal terms. We need this, and nothing less than this. Vague notions of mercy will never give true peace. And such a Savior, such a Friend, such an Advocate is nowhere to be found except in the person of Jesus Christ. I lay this reason before you. I well know that people may have false notions of God as well as everything else, and shut their eyes against the truth; but I say boldly and confidently, no man or woman can really have high and honorable views of who God is, and escape the conclusion that the doctrine of our text must be true. There can be no possible salvation except by Jesus Christ. (See 1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 7:25)

(3) Let me say, in the third place, this doctrine must be true, because the Bible is what the Bible is. All through the Bible, from Genesis down to Revelation, there is only one simple account of the way in which a man or woman must be saved. It is always the same: only by our Lord Jesus Christ—through faith; never by our own works and righteousness.

You see it dimly revealed at first: it looms through the mist of a few promises, but there it is. You see it more clearly later: it is taught by the pictures and symbols of the law of Moses. You have it still more clearly as time goes by: the Prophets saw in visions many particulars about the Redeemer that was to come.

Finally, you have the complete revelation, in the sunshine of New Testament history: Christ incarnate—Christ crucified —Christ rising again, Christ preached to the world. But one golden thread runs through the whole Bible; no salvation except by Jesus Christ. The bruising of the serpent’s head predicted in the day of the fall; (Genesis 3:15) the clothing of our first parents with animal skins, (Genesis 3:21) the sacrifices of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; (Genesis 8:20; Genesis 22:1-13; Genesis 31:54) the Passover, (Read Exodus 12) and all the particulars of the Jewish law—the high priest, the altar, the daily offering of the lamb, the holy of holies entered only by blood, the scapegoat, the cities of refuge (Read the book of Leviticus)—all are many witnesses to the truth set forth in the text: all preach with one voice, salvation only by Jesus Christ.

In fact, this truth appears to me to be the great focus of the Bible, and all the different parts and portions of the book are meant to pour light on it. I can gather from it no ideas of pardon and peace with God except in connection with this truth. If I could read of one soul in it who was saved without faith in the Savior, I might perhaps not speak so confidently. But when I see that faith in Christ—whether in a coming Christ or a crucified Christ—was the prominent feature in the religion of all who went to heaven; when I see Abel owning Christ in his better sacrifice, (See Genesis 4:4; Hebrews 11:4) at one end of the Bible, and the saints in glory in John’s vision rejoicing in Christ, at the other end of the Bible; (Rev. 19:5-9) when I see a man like Cornelius, who was devout, and feared God, and gave to the poor and prayed, told, in effect that in order to be saved, he was to send for Peter, and hear of Christ; (Read Acts 10) when I see all these things I say, I feel bound to believe that the doctrine of the text is the doctrine of the whole Bible. No salvation, no way to heaven, except through Jesus Christ.

I don’t know what use you make of your Bible—whether you read it or whether you don’t—whether you read it all, or whether you only read the parts that you like; but this I tell you plainly, if you read and believe the whole Bible, you will find it hard to escape the doctrine that there is no salvation except through the person and blood of Jesus Christ. I don’t see how you can consistently reject what I have been endeavoring to prove. Christ is the way, and the only way; Christ is the truth, and the only truth; Christ is the life, and the only life.

Such are the reasons which seem to me to confirm the truth laid down in our text. What man is—what God is—what the Bible is—all appear to me to lead us on to the same great conclusion: no possible salvation without Christ. I leave them with you, and move on.

III. And now, in the third and last place, let me show you some CONSEQUENCES which flow naturally out of our text. This is a critical part of our subject. The truth I have been trying to set before you is absolutely critical for mankind and I must speak of it with urgency. If Christ is the only way of salvation, what are we to feel about the many people in the world? This is the point I am now going to take up.

I believe that many persons would go with me as far as I have gone, and would go no further. They will allow my premises, but they will have nothing to do with my conclusions. They think it unloving to say anything which appears to condemn others. For my part I cannot understand such love: it seems to me the kind of love which would see a neighbor slowly drinking poison, but never intervene to stop him; a love which would allow migrants to embark in a leaky, un-seaworthy vessel, and not intervene to prevent them; a love which would see a blind man walking near a precipice, and think it wrong to cry out, and tell him there was danger.

I believe the greatest love is to tell the greatest quantity of truth. I believe it is a lack of love to hide the legitimate consequences of such a text as we are now considering, or to close our eyes to them. And I solemnly call on every one who really believes there is no salvation in anyone but Christ and no other name, given under heaven whereby we must be saved—I solemnly call on those persons to listen to me, while I set before them some of the tremendous consequences of our text.

One mighty consequence then, which seems to be learned from this text, is the utter uselessness of any religion without Christ. There are many to be found today who have this kind of religion. They would not like to be called Deists, but they are Deists. They believe that there is a God, that there is what they are pleased to call Providence, that God is merciful, that there will be a life after death—this is about the sum and substance of their creed; and as to the distinguishing tenets of Christianity, they don’t seem to recognize them at all. Now I denounce such a system as a baseless fabric—its foundation is nothing but man’s ideas—its hopes an utter delusion.

The god of such people is an idol of their own invention, and not the glorious God of the Scriptures—their god is a miserably imperfect creature: without holiness, without justice, without any attribute but that of vague indiscriminate mercy. Such a religion is nothing but a toy to play with: it is far too unreal to die with. It utterly fails to meet the needs of man’s conscience: it offers no remedy; it affords no rest for the souls of men and women; it cannot comfort, for it cannot save. Beware of it if you love life. Beware of a religion without Christ.

Another consequence to be learned from the text is, the folly of any religion in which Christ is not given the first place. I need not remind you how many hold to a system of this kind. The Socinian tells us that Christ was a mere man; that His blood had no more efficacy or value than that of another; that His death on the cross was not a real atonement and propitiation of man’s sins; and that, after all, one must work their way to heaven, and not just have faith. I solemnly declare that I believe such a system is disastrous to the souls of men and women. It seems to me to strike at the very root of the whole plan of salvation which God has revealed in the Bible, and practically to nullify the greater part of the Scriptures. It overthrows the priesthood of the Lord Jesus, and strips Him of His office; it converts the whole system of the law of Moses touching sacrifices and ordinances, into a meaningless form; it seems to say that the sacrifice of Cain was just as good as the sacrifice of Abel; it puts a man adrift on the sea of uncertainty, by taking from him the finished work of a divine Mediator.

Beware of Deism. If you love life, beware of the least attempt to depreciate and undervalue the person of Christ, and His offices and works. The only name by which you can be saved, is the name that is above every other name, and the slightest contempt poured on it is an insult to the King of Kings. The salvation of your soul has been established by God the Father on Christ, and no other; and if Christ were not God Himself, He never could accomplish it: there could be no salvation at all.

Another consequence to be learned from our text is the great error, committed by those who add anything to Christ, as being necessary to salvation. It is an easy thing to profess belief in the Trinity, and reverence for our Lord Jesus Christ, and yet to make some addition to Christ as the ground of hope, and so to overthrow the doctrine of the text as really and completely as by denying it altogether. The Roman Catholic Church does this systematically. She adds things over and above the requirements of the Gospel, by her own invention. She speaks as if Christ’s finished work was not a sufficient foundation for a sinner's soul, and as if it were not enough to say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." (Acts 16;31) She sends men and women to penances and absolution, to masses and extreme unction, to fasting and bodily mortification, to the Virgin and the saints—as if these things could add to the safety there is in Christ Jesus. And in doing this she greatly sins against our text. Let us beware of any Roman Catholic additions to the simple way of the Gospel. (See Col. 2:8-10; Hebrews 7:25; Colossians 1:19)

But I fear the Roman Catholic Church does not stand alone in this matter: I fear there are thousands of professing Protestants who are often erring in the same direction, although, of course, in a very different degree; they begin adding, perhaps without thinking, other names to the name of Christ, or attaching importance to them which they ought never receive. The ultra Churchman in England who thinks God’s covenanted mercies are tied to a system of church government in which bishops are the chief clerics—the ultra Evangelical, who traces every evil in the Church to its connection with the State and denominations, and can talk of nothing but the independent system—the ultra Baptist, who shuts out from the Lord’s table every one who has not received his views of baptism—the ultra Plymouth Brethren, who believes all knowledge resides within his own church, and condemns every one outside as a poor weak babe in Christ—all these, I say, however unwittingly, appear to me to have a most uncomfortable tendency to add to the doctrine of our text. All seem to me to be practically declaring that salvation is not to be found simply and solely in Christ; all seem to me to be practically adding another name to the name of Jesus whereby men and women must be saved—even the name of their own denomination and sect; all seem to me to be practically replying to the question, "What must I do to be saved?" not merely, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." but also "Come and join us."

Now I call upon every true Christian to beware of such extremism. In saying this I don’t want to be misunderstood. I like everyone to be decided in his views of church matters, and to be fully persuaded of their correctness; all I ask is that you will not put these things in the place of Christ, or place them anywhere near Him, or speak of them as if you thought them needful to salvation. However dear to us our own particular views may be, let us beware of thrusting them in between the sinner and the Savior, let us beware, in short, of adding to the doctrine of the text. In the things of God’s Word, let us remember that addition, as well as subtraction, is a great sin. (See Revelation 22:18-19)

The last consequence which seems to me to be learned from our text is, the utter absurdity of supposing that we ought to be satisfied with a man’s state of soul if he is simply sincere. This is a very common heresy indeed, and one against which we all need to be on our guard. There are thousands who say today, "We have nothing to do with the opinions of others. They may perhaps be mistaken, though it is possible they are right and we are wrong: but if they are sincere, we hope they will be saved, even as we are." And all this sounds tolerant and loving, and people like to believe their own views are also considered as such.

Now I believe such notions are entirely contradictory to the Bible, whatever else they may be. I cannot find in Scripture that any one ever got to heaven merely by sincerity, or was accepted with God if he was only earnest in maintaining his own views. The priests of Baal were sincere when they cut themselves with knives till the blood gushed out; but still that did not prevent Elijah from commanding them to be treated as wicked idolaters. (Read 1 Kings 18) Manasseh, King of Judah, was doubtless sincere when he burned his children in the fire to Moloch; (Read II Kings 21) but who doesn’t know that he brought on himself great guilt by doing so. The apostle Paul, as a Pharisee, was sincere while he persecuted the Church, but when his eyes were opened he mourned over this as a special wickedness. (See Acts 22:1-4; Acts 26:1-11; 1 Cor. 15:9-10; Philippians 3:1-11; Galatians 1:13-24)

Let us beware of allowing for a moment that sincerity is everything, and that we have no right to speak against a man’s spiritual state because of the sincere opinions he holds. On such principles, many atrocities committed in the name of religion might each and all be defended. However, they will not stand: they will not bear the test of Scripture. Once we allow such notions to be true, then you might as well throw your Bible away. Sincerity is not Christ, and therefore sincerity cannot atone for sin.

I am sure that these consequences sound very unpleasant to the minds of some. But I tell you of them advisedly and deliberately. I say calmly that a religion without Christ, a religion that takes away from Christ, a religion that adds anything to Christ, a religion that puts sincerity in the place of Christ—all are dangerous: all are to be avoided, and all are alike contrary to the doctrine of our text. You may not like this. You may think that I am unloving, narrow-minded, bigoted, and so forth: so be it. But you will not tell me my doctrine is not that of the Word of God. That doctrine is, salvation in Christ to the very uttermost—but without Christ there is no salvation at all.

I feel it a duty to bear my solemn testimony against the spirit of the day in which we live; to warn you against its infection. It is not Atheism I fear so much, in the present times, as Pantheism. It is not the system which says nothing is true, so much as the system which says everything is true; it is not the system which says there is no Savior, so much as the system which says there are many saviors and many ways to peace. It is the system which is so liberal that it dares not say anything is false; it is the system which is so loving that it will allow everything to be true; it is the system which seems ready to honor others as well as our Lord Jesus Christ and to class them all together. The system tells us not to condemn or to treat with disrespect the writings of Confucius and Zoroaster, Socrates and Mohammad, the Hindus of India and the African devil-worshippers, Arius and Pelagius, Ignatius Loyola and Socinus. It is the system which commands us to smile complacently on all creeds and systems of religion: the Bible and the Koran, the Hindu Veda and the old wives’ tales of Rabbinical writers and the rubbish of the Early Church Fathers’ traditions, and the book of Mormon by Joseph Smith—we are told to listen to them all: none are to be denounced as lies. It is the system which is so scrupulous about the feelings of others, that we are never to say that they are wrong; it is the system which is so liberal that it calls a man a bigot if he dares to say, "I know my views are right."

This is the world system, this is the tone of feeling which I fear this very day. This is the world system of today which I desire emphatically to testify against and denounce. What is it but a bowing down before a great idol specifically called liberality? What is it all but a sacrificing of truth upon the altar of a caricature of love? Beware of it, beware that the rushing stream of public opinion does not carry you away. Beware of it, if you believe the Bible. Has the Lord God spoken to us in the Bible, or has He not? Has He shown us the way of salvation plainly in that Bible, or has He not? Has He declared to us the dangerous state of all those who do not agree with the Holy Scriptures, or has He not? Focus your mind, and look these questions fairly in the face, and give them an honest answer. Tell us that there is some other inspired book beside the Bible, and then we will know what you mean; tell us that the whole Bible is not inspired, and then we will know where to meet you: but grant for a moment that the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, is God’s truth, and then I don’t know in what way you can escape the doctrine of the text. From the liberality which says everybody is right, from the love which forbids you to say anyone is wrong, from the peace which is bought at the expense of truth—may the good Lord deliver you!

I speak for myself: I find no resting-place between downright Evangelical Christianity and downright infidelity, whatever others may find. I see no half-way house between them. I can see consistency in an infidel, however much I may pity him; I can see consistency in the full maintenance of Evangelical truth: but as to a middle course between the two—I cannot see it; and I say so plainly. Let it be called intolerant and unloving. I can hear God's voice nowhere except in the Bible, and I can see no salvation for sinners in the Bible except through Jesus Christ. In Him I see abundance: without Him I see none.

And as for those who hold to religions in which Christ is not everything, whoever they may be, I have a most uncomfortable feeling about their safety. I do not for a moment say that none of them are saved, but I say that those who are saved are saved by their disagreement with their own principles, and in spite of their own system. The man who wrote the famous line, "He can’t be wrong whose life is in the right," was a great poet undoubtedly, but he was a wretched divine.

Let me conclude with a few words by way of APPLICATION. First of all, if there is no salvation except in Christ, make sure that you have an interest in that salvation yourself. Do not be content with hearing, and approving, and assenting to the truth, and going no further. Seek to have a personal interest in this salvation: lay hold by faith for your own soul; do not rest till you know and feel that you have gotten actual possession of that peace with God which Jesus offers, and that Christ is yours, and you are Christ’s. If there were two, or three, or more ways of getting to heaven, there would be no necessity for pressing this matter upon you. But if there is only one way, you will hardly wonder that I say, "Make sure that you are in it."

Secondly, if there is no salvation except in Christ, then try to do good to the souls of all who do not know Him as a Savior. There are millions and millions in this miserable condition—millions in foreign lands, millions in your own country, millions who are not trusting in Christ. You ought to feel for them if you are a true Christian; you ought to pray for them; you ought to work for them, while there is yet time. Do you really believe that Christ is the only way to heaven? Then live as if you believed it. Look around the circle of your own relatives and friends: count them up one by one, and think how many of them are not yet in Christ. Try to do good to them in some way or other: act as a man or woman should act who believes his friends to be in danger. Do not be content with their being kind and sociable, gentle and good-tempered, moral, and courteous; be unhappy about them till they come to Christ, and trust in Him: for you ought to be distressed over their condition. Leave no one alone who is without Christ—take every opportunity to reach them. I know all this may sound like enthusiasm and fanaticism. I wish there was more of it in the world: anything, I am sure, is better than a quiet indifference about the souls of others, as if everybody was on their way to heaven. Nothing, to my mind, so proves our little faith, as our lack of feelings about the spiritual condition of those around us.

Thirdly, if there is no salvation except in Christ, let us love all who love the Lord Jesus with sincerity, and exalt Him as their Savior, whoever they may be. Let us not draw back, because they do not see eye to eye with us in everything. Whether a person is an Independent, a Wesleyan or a Baptist, let us love them if they truly love Christ, and gives Christ His rightful place. We are all traveling fast towards a place where names and forms and Church government will be nothing, and Christ will be everything: let us get ready for that place now, by loving all who are in the way that leads to it. This is true love: to believe all things and hope all things, so long as we see Bible doctrines maintained and Christ exalted. Christ must be the single standard by which all opinions must be measured. Let us honor all who honor Him: but let us never forget that the same apostle Paul who wrote about love, also says, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Marantha.”(cursed) (See 1 Cor. 16:22) If our love and tolerance are wider than that of the Bible, they are worth nothing at all: indiscriminate love is no love at all, and indiscriminate approval of all religious opinions, is only a new name for infidelity. Let us hold out our right hand to all who love the Lord Jesus, but let us beware how we go beyond this.

Lastly, if there is no salvation except by Christ, then you must not be surprised if ministers of the Gospel preach a lot about Him. We cannot tell you too much about the name which is above every name: you cannot hear of Him too often. You may hear too much about controversy in our sermons—you may hear too much of men and books, of works and duties, of forms and ceremonies, of sacraments and ordinances—but there is one subject which you never hear too much of: you can never hear too much of Christ.

When we become tired of preaching Christ, then we are false ministers: when you are wearied of hearing of Him, your souls are in an unhealthy state. When we have preached Him all our lives, the half of His excellence will remain untold. When you see Him face to face in the day of His appearing, you will find there was more in Him than your heart ever conceived. (See Acts 5:42; 1 Cor. 1:23-25; 1 Cor. 2:1-2)

Let me leave you with the words of an old writer, to which I desire humbly to subscribe. "I know no true religion but Christianity; no true Christianity but the doctrine of Christ: the doctrine of His divine person, of His divine office, of His divine righteousness, and of His divine Spirit, which all that are His must believe. I know no true ministers of Christ but such as make it their business, in their calling, to commend Jesus Christ, in His saving fullness of grace and glory, to the faith and love of men and women; no true Christian but one united to Christ by faith and love, unto the glorifying of the name of Jesus Christ, in the beauty of Gospel holiness. Ministers and Christians of this spirit have been for many years my brothers, sisters, and friends, and I hope shall ever be, wherever the hand of God shall lead me." Amen.

In Christian love,
June & Ralph Nadolny,
two sinners saved by God's grace alone (Eph. 2:8-10; Romans 5:8)
"Christ in you (us), the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27b)
"new creatures in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17)
"We love him, because HE first loved us." 1 John 4:19

Prove All Things by the Word of God

2008-10-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

Prove All Things / A Sermon preached by J. C. Ryle / 1816-1900.

"Prove all things—hold fast that which is good."

1 Thessalonians 5:21

You live in days when the text before your eyes is one of the first importance. The truths it contains are especially truths for the times. Give me your attention for a few minutes, and I will try to show you what I mean.

There were three great doctrines or principles which won the battle of the Protestant Reformation:

first, the sufficiency and supremacy of Holy Scripture

secondly, the right of private judgment

thirdly, justification by faith alone, without the deeds of the law.

These three principles were the keys of the whole controversy between the Reformers and the Church of Rome. Keep firm hold of them when you argue with a Roman Catholic, and your position is unassailable; no weapon that the Church of Rome can forge against you shall prosper. (See Isaiah 54:17) Give up any one of them, and your cause is lost. Like Samson, with his hair shorn, your strength is gone. (See Judges 16:19) Like the Spartans, betrayed at Thermopylae, you are outflanked and surrounded. You cannot maintain your ground. Resistance is useless. Sooner or later you will have to lay down your arms, and surrender at discretion. Remember this.

The Roman Catholic controversy is upon you once more. You must put on the old armor, if you would not have your faith overthrown. The sufficiency of Holy Scripture, the right of private judgment, justification by faith alone—these are the three great principles to which you must always cling. Grasp them firmly, and never let them go. Reader, one of the three great principles to which I have referred appears to me to stand forth in the verse of Scripture which heads this tract—I mean the right of private judgment. I wish to say something to you about that principle.

The Holy Spirit, by the mouth of Paul, says to us, "Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good." In these words you have two great truths:

I. The right, duty, and necessity of private judgment. "Prove all things."

II. The duty and necessity of keeping firm hold upon truth. "Hold fast that which is good."

I propose to dwell a little on both these heads.

I. Let me speak first, of the right, duty, and necessity of private judgment. "Prove all things." When I say the right of private judgment, I mean that every individual Christian has a right to judge for himself by the Word of God, whether that which is put before him as religious truth, is God's truth, or is not. When I say the duty of private judgment, I mean that God requires every Christian man to use the right of which I have just spoken—to compare man's words and man's writings with God's revelation, and to make sure that he is not deluded and taken in by false teaching. And when I say the necessity of private judgment, I mean this—that it is absolutely needful for every Christian who loves his soul and would not be deceived, to exercise that right, and discharge that duty to which I have referred; seeing that experience shows that the neglect of private judgment has always been the cause of immense evils in the Church of Christ!

Now the Apostle Paul urges all these three points upon your notice when he uses those remarkable words, "Prove all things." I ask your particular attention to that expression. In every point of view it is most weighty and instructive. Here, you will remember, the Apostle Paul is writing to the Thessalonians, to a Church which he himself had founded. Here is an inspired Apostle writing to young inexperienced Christians, writing to the whole professing Church in a certain city, containing laity as well as clergy, writing too with especial reference to matters of doctrine and preaching, as we know by the verse preceding the text: "Despise not prophesyings." And yet mark what he says: "Prove all things." He does not say, "Whatever apostles, whatever evangelists, pastors and teachers, whatever your leaders, whatever your ministers tell you is truth--that you are to believe." No! he says, "Prove all things." He does not say, "Whatever the universal Church pronounces true--that you are to hold." No! he says, "Prove all things."

The principle laid down is this, "Prove all things by the Word of God. All ministers, all teaching, all preaching, all doctrines, all sermons, all writings, all opinions, all practices—prove all by the Word of God. Measure all by the measure of the Bible. Compare all with the standard of the Bible. Weigh all in the balances of the Bible. Examine all by the light of the Bible. Test all in the crucible of the Bible. That which can abide the fire of the Bible--you are to receive, hold, believe and obey. That which cannot abide the fire of the Bible--you are to reject, refuse, repudiate, and cast away."

Reader, this is private judgment. This is the right you are to exercise if you love your soul. You are not to believe things in religion merely because they are said by Popes or Cardinals—by Bishops or Priests—by Presbyters or Deacons—by Churches, Councils, or Synods—by Fathers, Puritans, or Reformers. You are not to argue, "Such and such things must be true--because these men say so." You are not to do so. You are to prove all things by the Word of God.

I know such doctrine sounds shocking in some men's ears. But I write it down advisedly, and believe it cannot be disproved. I want to encourage no man in ignorant presumption or ignorant contempt. I praise not the man who seldom reads his Bible, and yet sets himself up to pick holes in his minister's sermons. I praise not the man who knows nothing but a few texts in the New Testament, and yet undertakes to settle questions in divinity which have puzzled God's wisest children. But still I hold with Bilson, that "all hearers have both liberty to discern, and a charge to beware of seducers; and woe to them that do it not." (See 1 Tim. 4:1) And I say with Davenant, "We are not to believe all who undertake to teach in the Church, but must take care and weigh with serious examination, whether their doctrine is sound or not."

Reader, men may dislike the doctrine of private judgment, but there is no doubt that it is continually taught in the Word of God. This is the principle laid down in the eighth chapter of Isaiah, 20th verse. These words were written, remember, at a time when God was more immediately King over His Church, and had more direct communication with it than He has now. They were written at a time when there were men upon earth who had direct revelations from God. Yet what does Isaiah say? "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light (or truth) in them." If this be not private judgment what is?

This again is the principle laid down by our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. Remember what He says: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits." (Matt. 7:15-16a) How is it possible that men shall know these false prophets, except they exercise their private judgment as to what their fruits are?

This is the practice you find commended in the Bereans, in the Acts of the Apostles. They did not take the Apostle Paul's word for granted, when he came to preach to them. You are told, that they searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so," and "therefore," it is said, "many of them believed." (See Acts 17:11, 12) What was this again but private judgment?

"The people of God are called to test the truth, to judge between true and false, between light and darkness. God has made them the promise of His Spirit, and has left unto them His Word. The Christians of Berea, when they heard the preaching of Paul, searched the Scriptures daily, to ascertain whether those things which Paul taught were true. So must you. Give heed to instruction--and yet do not receive any teachings without proof and trial that they are the wholesome doctrine of the Word of God." Jewell.

This is the spirit of the advice given in 1 Cor. 10:15, "I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say."
Colossians 2:8, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."

1 John 4:1a, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:"

2 John 10, "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:"
If these passages do not recommend the use of private judgment, I do not know what words mean. To my mind they seem to say to every individual Christian, "Prove all things."

Reader, whatever men may say against private judgment, you may be sure that it cannot be neglected without immense danger to your soul. You may not like it, but you never know what you may come to, if you refuse to use it! No man can say into what depths of false doctrine you may be drawn—if you will not do what God requires of you, and "Prove all things."

Suppose that, in fear of private judgment, you resolve to believe whatever the Church believes. Where is your security against error? The Church is not infallible. There was a time when almost the whole of Christendom embraced the Arian heresy, and did not acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ to be equal with the Father in all things. There was a time, before the Reformation, when the darkness over the face of Europe was a darkness which might be felt. The General Councils of the Church are not infallible. When the whole Church is gathered together in a General Council, what says our Twenty-first Article? “They may err, and sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining unto God. Wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation, have neither strength nor authority, unless it may be declared that they he taken out of Holy Scripture."

The particular branches of the Church are not infallible. Anyone of them may err. Many of them have fallen foully, or have been swept away. Where is the Church of Ephesus at this day? Where the Church of Sardis at the present time? Where the Church of Hippo in Africa? Where the Church of Carthage? They are all gone! Not a vestige of any of them is left! Will you then be content to err merely because the Church errs? Will your erring in company with the Church, remove your responsibility for your own soul? Oh, reader, it were surely a thousand times better for a man to stand alone and be saved—than to err in company with the Church, and be lost! It were better to prove all things, and go to heaven—than to say, "I dare not think for myself," and go to hell.

But suppose that, to cut matters short, you resolve to believe whatever your minister believes. Once more I ask, Where is your safety? Where is your security? Ministers are not infallible, any more than Churches. All of them have not the Spirit of God. (See Rom. 8:9b) The very best of them are only men. Call us Bishops, Priests, Deacons, or whatever names you please—we are all earthen vessels. I speak not merely of Popes, who have promulgated awful superstitions and led abominable lives. I would rather point to the very best of Protestants and say, "Beware of looking upon them as infallible—beware of thinking of any man (whoever that man may be)—that he cannot err!"

Luther held to consubstantiation—that was a mighty error. Zwingle, the Swiss Reformer, went on to battle, and died in the fight—that was a mighty error. Calvin, the Geneva Reformer, advised the burning of Servetus—that was a mighty error. Cranmer and Ridley urged the putting of Hooper into prison because of some trifling dispute about vestments—that was a mighty error. Whitgift persecuted the Puritans—that was a mighty error. Wesley and Toplady in the last century, quarreled fiercely about doctrine—that was a mighty error. All these things are warnings—if you will only take them. All say, "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” (Isaiah 2:11) All show us that if a man's religion hangs on ministers, whoever they may be, and not on the Word of God—it hangs on a broken reed!

Never make ministers into Popes. Follow us so far as we follow Christ, but not a hair's breadth further. Believe whatever we can show you out of the Bible, but do not believe a single word more. Neglect the duty of private judgment, and you may find, to your cost, the truth of what Whitby says: The best of overseers do sometimes make oversights. You may live to experience the truth of what the Lord said to the Pharisees: “And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” (Matthew 15:14)

Reader, be very sure no man is safe against error, unless he acts on Paul's injunction—unless he "proves all things" by the Word of God. Reader, I have said that it is impossible to overrate the evils that may arise from neglecting to exercise your private judgment. I will go further, and say that it is impossible to overrate the blessings which private judgment has conferred both on the world and on the Church. I ask you to remember that the greatest discoveries in science and in philosophy, have arisen from the use of private judgment. To this we owe the discovery of Galileo, that the earth went round the sun, and not the sun round the earth. To this we owe Columbus' discovery of the new continent of America. To this we owe Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood. To this we owe Jenner's discovery of vaccination. To this we owe the printing press, the steam engine, the power-loom, the electric telegraph, railways, and gas. For all these discoveries we are indebted to men who dared to think for themselves. They were not content with the beaten path of those who had gone before. They were not satisfied with taking for granted that what their fathers believed must be true. They made experiments for themselves. They brought old established theories to the proof; and found that they were worthless. They proclaimed new systems, and invited men to examine them, and test their truth. They bore storms of obloquy and ridicule unmoved. They heard the clamor of prejudiced lovers of old traditions without flinching. And they prospered and succeeded in what they did. We see it now. And we who live in the nineteenth century are reaping the fruit of their use of private judgment.

And, reader, as it has been in science—so also it has been in the history of the Christian religion. The martyrs who stood alone in their day, and shed that blood which has been the seed of Christ's Gospel throughout the world—the Reformers, who, one after another, rose up in their might to enter the lists with the Church of Rome—all did what they did, suffered what they suffered, proclaimed what they proclaimed, simply because they exercised their private judgment about what was Christ's truth.

Private judgment made the Waldenses, the Albigenses, and the Lollards, count not their lives dear to them, (See Rev. 12:11) rather than believe the doctrines of the Church of Rome. Private judgment made Wyckliffe search the Bible in our land, denounce the Romish Friars, and all their impostures, translate the Scriptures into the vulgar tongue, and become "the morning star" of the Reformation. Private judgment made Luther examine Tetzel's abominable system of indulgences by the light of the Word. Private judgment led him on, step by step, from one thing to another, guided by the same light, until at length the gulf between him and Rome was a gulf that could not be passed, and the Pope's power in Germany was completely broken. Private judgment made our own English Reformers examine for themselves, and inquire for themselves, as to the true nature of that corrupt system under which they had been born and brought up. Private judgment made them cast off the abominations of Popery, and circulate the Bible among the laity. Private judgment made them brake the fetters of tradition, and dare to think for themselves. They refused to take for granted, Rome's pretensions and assertions. They examined them all by the Bible, and because they would not abide the examination, they broke with Rome altogether. All the blessing of Protestantism in England, all that we are enjoying at this very day, we owe to the right exercise of private judgment.

Surely if we do not honor private judgment, we are thankless and ungrateful indeed! Reader, I warn you not to be moved by the common argument, that the right of private judgment is liable to be abused—that private judgment has done great harm, and should be avoided as a dangerous thing. Never was there a more miserable argument! Never was there one which when thrashed proves so full of chaff! Private judgment has been abused! I would like the objector to tell me what good gift of God has not been abused! What high principle can be named that has not been employed for the very worst of purposes? Strength may become tyranny when it is employed by the stronger to coerce the weaker, yet strength is a blessing when properly employed. Liberty may become licentiousness when every man does that which is right in his own eyes, without regarding the rights and feelings of others; yet liberty, rightly used, is a mighty blessing. Because many things may be used improperly, are we, therefore, to give them up altogether? Because opium is used improperly by some, is it not to be used as a medicine on any occasion at all? Because money may be used improperly, is all money to be cast into the sea? You cannot have good in this world without evil. You cannot have private judgment without some abusing it, and turning it to bad account.

But private judgment, people say, has done more harm than good! What harm has private judgment done, I would like to know, in matters of religion, compared to the harm that has been done by the neglect of it? Grant, for a moment, that among Protestants who allow private judgment, there are divisions. Grant that in the Church of Rome, where private judgment is forbidden, there are no divisions. I might easily show that Romish unity is far more seeming than real. Bishop Hall, in his book called The Peace of Rome, numbers up no less than three hundred differences of opinion maintained in the Romish Church. I might easily show that the divisions of Protestants are exceedingly exaggerated, and that most of them are upon points of minor importance. I might show that, with all the varieties of Protestantism, as men call them, there is still a vast amount of fundamental unity and substantial agreement among Protestants. No man can read the "Harmony of Protestant Confessions" without seeing that.

But grant for a moment that private judgment has led to divisions, and brought about varieties. I say that these divisions and varieties are but a drop of water, when compared with the torrent of abominations that have arisen from the Church of Rome's practice of disallowing private judgment altogether! Place the evils in two scales—the evils that have arisen from private judgment, and those that have arisen from no man being allowed to think for himself. Weigh the evils one against another, and I have no doubt as to which will be the greatest. Give me Protestant divisions, certainly, rather than Popish unity, with the fruit that it brings forth! Give me Protestant variations, rather than Romish ignorance, Romish superstition, Romish darkness, and Romish idolatry!

Let the two systems be tried by their fruits—the system that says, "Prove all things," and the system that says, "Dare to have no opinion of your own," let them be tried by their fruits in the hearts, in the intellects, in the lives, in all the ways of men—and I have no doubt as to the result!

Reader, I warn you above all things not to be moved by the specious argument, that it is humility to disallow private judgment, that it is humility to have no opinion of your own, that it is the part of a true Christian not to think for himself! I tell you that such humility is a false humility, a humility which does not deserve that blessed name. Call it rather laziness! Call it rather idleness. Call it rather sloth. It makes a man strip himself of all his responsibility, and throw the whole burden of his soul into the hands of the minister and the Church! It gives a man a mere vicarious religion, a religion by which he places his conscience and all his spiritual concerns under the care of others. He need not trouble himself! He need no longer think for himself! He has embarked in a safe ship, and placed his soul under a safe pilot—and will get to heaven!

Oh, beware of supposing that this deserves the name of humility. It is refusing to exercise the gift that God has given you. It is refusing to employ the sword of the Spirit which God has forged for the use of your hand. Blessed be God, our forefathers did not act upon such principles! Had they done so, we should never have had the Reformation. Had they done so, we might have been bowing down to the image of the virgin Mary at this moment, or praying to the spirits of departed saints, or having a service performed in Latin. From such humility, may the good Lord ever deliver you!

Reader, as long as you live—resolve that you will read for yourself; think for yourself, judge of the Bible for yourself; in the great matters of your soul. Have an opinion of your own. Never be ashamed of saying, "I think that this is right—because I find it in the Bible," and "I think that this is wrong—because I do not find it in the Bible." "Prove all things," and prove them by the Word of God. As long as you live, beware of the blindfold system, which many commend in the present day—the system of following a leader, and having no opinion of their own—the system which practically says, "Only keep your Church, only receive the sacraments, only believe what the ordained ministers who are set over you tell you—and then all shall be well."

I warn you, that this will not do. I warn you that if you are content with this kind of religion, you are periling your immortal soul. Let the Bible, and not any Church upon earth, or any minister upon earth, be your rule of faith.

"Prove all things" by the Word of God. And, above all, as long as you live, look forward to the great day of judgment. Think of the solemn account which every one of us shall have to give in that day before the judgment seat of Christ. We shall not be judged by Churches. We shall not be judged by whole congregations. We shall be judged individually, each by himself! (See II Cor. 5:10) What shall it profit you in that day to say, "Lord, Lord, I believed everything the Church told me. I received and believed everything ordained ministers set before me. I thought that whatever the Church and the ministers said, must be right"? What shall it profit us to say this, if we have held some deadly error? Surely, the voice of Him who sits upon the throne will reply, "You had the Scriptures. You had a book plain and easy—to him that will read it and search it in a childlike spirit. Why did you not use the Word of God when it was given to you? You had a reasonable mind given you to understand that Bible. Why did you not 'Prove all things,' and thus keep clear of error?" Oh, reader, if you refuse to exercise your private judgment, think of that awful day—and beware!

II. And now let me speak of the duty and necessity of keeping firm hold upon truth. The words of the Apostle on this subject are pithy and forcible. "Hold fast," he says, "that which is good." It is as if he said to us, "When you have found the truth for yourself; and when you are satisfied that it is Christ's truth—that truth which the Scriptures set forth—then get a firm hold upon it, grasp it, keep it in your heart, never let it go!" He speaks as one who knew what the hearts of all Christians are. He knew that our grasp of the Gospel, at our best, is very cold—that our love soon waxes feeble—that our faith soon wavers—that our zeal soon flags—that familiarity with Christ's truth often brings with it a species of contempt—that, like Israel, we are apt to be discouraged by the length of our journey—and, like Peter, ready to sleep one moment and fight the next —but, like Peter, not ready to watch and pray. (See Mark 14:37-38; John 18:10)

All this Paul remembered, and, like a faithful watchman, he cries, by the Holy Spirit, "Hold fast that which is good!" He speaks as if he foresaw by the Spirit that the good tidings of the Gospel (See Luke 10:11) would soon be corrupted, spoiled, and plucked away from the Church at Thessalonica. He speaks as one who foresaw that Satan and all his agents would labor hard to cast down Christ's truth. (See 1 Peter 5:8) He writes as though he would forewarn men of this danger, and he cries, "Hold fast that which is good." Reader, the advice is always needed as long as the world stands.

There is a tendency to decay in the very best of human institutions. The best visible Church of Christ is not free from this liability to degenerate. It is made up of fallible men. There is always in it a tendency to decay. We see the leaven of evil creeping into many a Church, even in the Apostle's time. There were evils in the Corinthian Church, evils in the Ephesian Church, evils in the Galatian Church. All these things are meant to be our warnings and beacons in these latter times! All show the great necessity laid upon the Church to remember the Apostle's words: "Hold fast that which is good!"

Many a Church of Christ since then has fallen away for the lack of remembering this principle. Their ministers and members forgot that Satan is always laboring to bring in false doctrine. They forgot that he can transform himself into an angel of light—that he can make darkness appear as light, and light appear as darkness; truth appear as falsehood, and falsehood appear as truth. (See II Cor. 11:13-15) If he cannot destroy Christianity, he ever tries to corrupt it. If he cannot prevent the form of godliness, he endeavors to rob Churches of the power. No Church is ever safe which forgets these things, and does not bear in mind the Apostle's injunction: "Hold fast that which is good!"

Reader, if ever there was a time in the world when Churches were put upon their trial, whether they would hold fast the truth or not—that time is the present time, and those Churches are the Protestant Churches of our own land. Popery, that old enemy of our nation, is coming in upon us in this day like a flood. We are assaulted by open enemies without, and betrayed continually by false friends within. The numbers of Roman Catholic churches, and chapels, and schools, and convents and monasteries, are continually increasing around us. Month after month brings tidings of some new defection from the ranks of the Church of England, to the ranks of the Church of Rome. Already the clergy of the Church of Rome are using great swelling words about things to come, and boasting that, sooner or later, England shall once more be brought back to the orbit from whence she fell, and take her place in the Catholic system! Already the Pope is parceling our country into his bishoprics, and speaks like one who thinks that by-and-by he shall divide the spoil. Already he seems to foresee a time when England shall be as Rome, when London shall be as the Vatican itself. Surely, now or never, we ought all of us to awake, and "Hold fast that which is good."

We supposed, some of us, in our blindness, that the power of the Church of Rome was ended. We dreamed, some of us, in our folly, that the Reformation had ended the Popish controversy, and that if Romanism did survive, Romanism was altogether changed. If we did think so, we have lived to learn that we made a most grievous mistake! Rome never changes! It is her boast that she is always the same. The snake is not killed! He was wounded at the time of the Reformation, but was not destroyed. The Romish Antichrist is not dead. He was cast down for a little season, like the fabled giant buried under Etna, but his deadly wound is healed, the grave is opening once more, and Romish Antichrist is coming forth! The unclean spirit of Popery is not laid in his own place. Rather he seems to say, "My house in England is now swept and garnished for me; let me return to the place from whence I came forth." (See Matthew 12:13-15)

And, reader, the question is now, whether we are going to abide quietly, sit still, and fold our hands, and do nothing to resist the assault. Are we really men of understanding of the times? Do we know the day of our visitation? Surely, this is a crisis in the history of our Churches and of our land. It is a time which will soon prove whether we know the value of our privileges, or whether, like Amalek, "the first of the nations," our "latter end shall be that we perish forever." It is a time which will soon prove whether we intend to allow our candlestick to be quietly removed—or repent, and do our first works, lest any man should take our crown. (See Revelation 2:5)

If we love the open Bible—if we love the preaching of the Gospel—if we love the freedom of reading that Bible, and the opportunity of hearing that Gospel, with no man forbidding us—if we love civil liberty—if we love religious liberty—if these are precious to our souls, we must all make up our minds to hold fast, lest by and by we lose all.

Reader, if we mean to hold fast, every parish, every congregation, every Christian man, and every Christian woman, must do their part in contending for the truth. Each should work, and each should pray, and each should labor as if the preservation of the pure Gospel depended upon himself or herself, and upon no one else at all. The rich must not leave the matter to the poor, nor the poor to the rich. We must all work. Every living soul has a sphere of influence. Let him see to it that he fills it. Every living soul can throw some weight into the scale of the Gospel. Let him see to it that he casts it in. Let everyone know his own individual responsibility in this matter; and all, by God's help, will be well.

If we would hold fast that which is good, we must never tolerate any doctrine which is not the pure doctrine of Christ's Gospel. There is a hatred which is downright charity—that is the hatred of erroneous doctrine. There is an intolerance which is downright praiseworthy—that is the intolerance of false teaching. Who would ever think of tolerating a little poison given to him day by day? If men come among you who do not preach "all the counsel of God," (See Acts 20:27), who do not preach of Christ, and sin, and holiness, of ruin, and redemption, and regeneration; and do not preach of these things in a Scriptural way, you ought to cease to hear them. You ought to act upon the injunction given by the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament: "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 19:27) You ought to carry out the spirit shown by the Apostle Paul, in Gal. 1:8: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed!"

If we can bear to hear Christ's truth mangled or adulterated—and can see no harm in listening to that which is "another Gospel"—and can sit at ease while "sham Christianity" is poured into our ears—and can go home comfortably afterwards, and not burn with holy indignation—if this is the case, there is little chance of our ever doing much to resist Rome! If we are content to hear Jesus Christ not put in His rightful place—we are not men and women who are likely to do Christ much service, or fight a good fight on His side. He who is not zealous against error—is not likely to he zealous for truth. If we would hold fast the truth—we must be ready to unite with all who hold the truth, and love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. We must he ready to lay aside all minor questions as things of subordinate importance. All minor points of difference, however important they may be in their place and in their proportion—all ought to be regarded as subordinate questions. I ask no man to give up his private opinions about them. I wish no man to do violence to his conscience. All I say is, that these questions are wood, hay, and stubble, when the very foundations of the faith are in danger! The Philistines are upon us! Can we make common cause against them, or can we not? This is the one point for our consideration.

Surely it is not right to say that we expect to spend eternity with men in heaven, and yet cannot work for a few years with them in this world. The presence of a common foe ought to sink minor differences. We must hold together. Depend upon it, all Christians must hold together, if they mean to "hold fast that which is good." Some men may say, "This is very troublesome." Some may say, "Why not sit still and be quiet?" Some may say, "Oh, that horrid controversy! What need is there for all this trouble? Why should we care so much about these points of difference?" I ask, what good thing was ever gotten or ever kept, without trouble? Gold does not lie open in the fields, but deep in the earth. Pearls do not grow on trees, but deep down in Indian seas. Difficulties are never overcome without struggles. Mountains are seldom climbed without fatigue. Oceans are not crossed without tossings on the waves. Peace is seldom obtained without war. And Christ's truth is seldom maintained, without pains, without struggles, and without trouble. (See John 16:33)

Let the man who talks of "trouble" tell me where we would be at this day—if our forefathers had not taken some trouble? Where would be the Gospel of England—if martyrs had not given their bodies to be burned? Who shall estimate our debt to Cranmer, Latimer, Hooper, Ridley and Taylor, and their brethren? They held fast that which is good. They would not give up one jot of truth. They counted not their lives dear, for the Gospel's sake. They labored, and they travailed—and we have entered into their labors. Shame upon us if we will not take a little trouble to keep with us—what they so nobly won!

Trouble or no trouble—pains or no pains—controversy, or no controversy—one thing is very sure: that nothing but Christ's Gospel will ever do good to our own souls. Nothing else will maintain our Churches. Nothing else will ever bring down God's blessing upon our land. If, therefore, we love our own souls, or if we love our country's prosperity, or if we love to keep our Churches standing, we must remember the Apostles words, and "hold fast," hold firmly the Gospel, and refuse to let it go!

And now, reader, I have set before you two things. One is the right, the duty, and necessity of private judgment. The other is the duty and necessity of keeping firm hold upon truth. It only remains for me to APPLY these things to your own individual conscience by a few concluding words.

For one thing, if it is your duty to "prove all things," let me beseech and exhort you to arm yourself with a thorough knowledge of the Word of God. Read your Bible regularly. Become familiar with your Bible. Prove all religious truth when it is brought before you—by the Bible. A little knowledge of the Bible will not suffice. Depend upon it, a man must know his Bible well if he is to prove religious teachings by it; and he must read it regularly if he would know it well. There is no royal road to a knowledge of the Bible. There must be reading daily, regular reading of the Book—or the Book will not be known. As one said quaintly, but most truly, "Justification may be by faith, but a knowledge of the Bible comes only by works." The devil can quote Scripture. He could go to our Lord and quote Scripture when he wished to tempt Him. A man must be able to perceive error, from his knowledge of Scripture, when he hears error taught—lest he be deceived. Neglect your Bible, and nothing that I know of can prevent your becoming a Roman Catholic, an Arminian, a Socinian, a Jew, or a Turk—if a plausible advocate of any of these false systems shall happen to meet you.

For another thing, if it be right to "prove all things," take care to test every Roman Catholic doctrine, by whoever put forward, by the written Word of God. Believe nothing, however speciously advanced—believe nothing, with whatever weight of authority brought forward—believe nothing, though supported by all the Fathers— believe nothing, except it can be proved to you out of Scripture! That alone is infallible. That alone is light. That alone is God's measure of truth and falsehood. "Let God be true—and every man a liar." (Romans 3:4)

The New Zealanders' answer to the Romish priests who went among them, is an answer never to be forgotten. They heard these priests urge upon them the worship of the Virgin Mary. They heard them recommend them to pray to saints. They heard them advocate the use of images. They heard them speak of the authority of the Church of Rome, the supremacy of the Pope, the antiquity of the Romish church. They knew the Bible, and they heard all this calmly, and gave one simple but memorable answer: "It cannot be true—because it is not in the Book!" All the learning in the world could never have supplied a better answer than that! Latimer, or Knox, or Owen, could never have made a more crushing reply. Let this be our rule when we are attacked by Romanists; let us hold fast the sword of the Spirit, and say in reply to all their arguments, "It cannot be true—because it is not in the Book!"

Last of all, if it be right to "hold fast that which is good," let us make sure that we have each laid hold personally, upon Christ's truth for ourselves. Reader, it will not save you to know all controversies, and to be able to detect everything which is false. Head knowledge will never bring you to heaven! It will not save us to be able to argue and reason with Roman Catholics, or to detect the errors of Popes' Bulls, or Pastoral Letters. Let us see that we each lay hold upon Jesus Christ for ourselves, by our own personal faith. Let us see to it that we each flee for refuge, and lay hold upon the hope set before us in His glorious Gospel. (See Hebrews 6:18-20) Let us do this, and all shall be well with us, whatever else may go ill. Let us do this, and then all things are ours. The Church may fall. The State may go to ruin. The foundations of all establishments may be shaken. The enemies of truth may for a season prevail. But as for us—all shall be well. We shall have in this world, peace—and in the world which is to come, life everlasting; (See John 14:27; John 5:24) for we shall have Christ, and having Him, we have all. (See John 10:42) This is real good, lasting good—good in sickness, good in health, good in life, good in death, good in time, and good in eternity! All other things are but uncertain. They all wear out. They fade. They droop. They wither. They decay. The longer we have them the more worthless we find them, and the more we realize, that everything here below is "vanity and vexation of spirit." (See Eccl. 1:14)

But as for hope in Christ, that is always good. The longer we use it—the better it seems. The more we wear it in our hearts—the brighter it will look. It is good when we first have it. It is better far when we grow older. It is better still in the day of trial, and the hour of death. And best of all, depend upon it—it will prove good in the day of judgment. Reader, if you have not yet laid hold on this hope in Christ, seek it at once. Call on the Lord Jesus to give it to you. Give Him no rest until you know and feel that you are His. If you have laid hold on this hope, hold it fast. Prize it highly, for it will stand by you when everything else fails!

A Name Written in Heaven, the Truest Ground of Joy

2008-08-31T20:07:00.001-07:00

An excerpt from a sermon preached by Matthew Mead, a Puritan minister who lived from 1629 to October 6, 1699.

"Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven!" Luke 10:20

The greatest ground of joy imaginable is to have "a name written in heaven!" A saving interest in the glories of the eternal world, is a truer and nobler cause of rejoicing, than anything which this present world can afford.

I need produce no other proof of the truth of this doctrine, than the authority of the text itself; it stands clear in the light of its own evidence. The Lord Christ himself has said it—and therefore we ought to believe it is so.

But why is it so?

Reason 1.

"A name written in heaven" is a rich result of electing love! Love is the most comforting attribute in God—the best name the creature knows him by: "God is love," 1 John 4:16. There are three things to be considered in it.

1. Love acts with a priority to all other attributes. Wisdom contrives the good and felicity of the creature. Power and providence maturate and bring the contrivements of wisdom to pass. But love has the first hand in the work. It was love which first summoned the great counsel held by all the three persons of the Trinity, when neither men nor angels existed.

It was love that first pitched upon the Son, and laid him as the foundation of the whole structure of man's salvation and blessedness. Love sent Christ into the world—love put him to death—love made him an offering for sin! All the attributes of God act in the strength of love; and all the providences of God follow the motions of love.

2. Electing love is the proper source of all our other mercies. So the apostle makes it, Ephesians 1, "Who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings;" how so? "According as he hath chosen us in him" (Christ). And what those spiritual blessings are, he tells you. "He hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." "Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence." "Having made known to us the mystery of his will." "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance"—that is, a name written in heaven! All which the apostle resolves again into electing love, verse 11, "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."

3. Love is the only attribute which God has acted to the utmost. We have never seen the utmost of his power—what God can do. But we have seen the utmost of his love—he has found a ransom for lost souls! Job 33.24-28, "He has laid help upon one who is mighty;" Psalm 89.19, "He has tabernacled divinity in flesh." 1 Tim. 3.16, "He has made his soul an offering for sin, laid upon him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53.11, "He has made us the righteousness of God in him;" 2 Cor. 5.21, "He has accepted us in the beloved." Eph. 1.6, "He has made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2.6, "He has written our names in heaven." How can divine love put forth greater efforts of itself than these?

The love of God, is infinite love. It gives the soul interest in an infinite good, entitles it to an infinite blessedness, and so fills the soul with an infinite satisfaction. And is not a saving interest in God's electing love, the highest cause of rejoicing? The scripture compares love to wine—but the love of God is better than wine; Song of Solomon 4.10. It gives "a name in heaven," which causes an eternal rejoicing.

Reason 2. "A name written in heaven" is a special mercy, which is given only to the Christian. David prays, Psalm 106.4,5, "Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people." God records the names of his people in the book of life, and there David would be recorded too; and why? "That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance."

Nothing is so great a cause of rejoicing and glorying as this. What if God gives you life, riches, relations, honors? There is no special mercy in all this. Can you prove your title to the love of God by any or all of these? A man may have life—and yet be dead to God, and dead in sin! A man may be rich, and yet wretched! We may have children—and yet be ourselves children of wrath for all that! God does not love us in giving us sons, unless he gives us his own Son! A man may have honor—and yet not be honored by God. Herod was honored by the people—and yet "eaten up with worms!" Acts 12.21,23.

Special mercies cause special rejoicing. Common mercies can cause but common joy. A name in heaven is a special mercy—this is not the lot of all; the names of the greatest part of the world are written in the dust! Jer. 17.13, "O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters." The expression has much in it; it travels with a curse.

"A name in heaven" imports the greatest happiness; so a name written in the dust implies the greatest misery.

A name written in the dust implies a short duration, a name of no continuance.

The dust is a place of putrefaction and corruption; what is buried in the earth soon turns to rottenness; so that a name written in the dust implies rottenness, according to Solomon, "The name of the wicked shall rot." Proverbs 10.7b.

The dust is a place of oblivion. What is written in heaven is recorded forever—but what is written in the dust is soon forgotten; so says Bildad of the wicked. "His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street. He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. He shall neither have son or nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted. Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God." Job 18:17-21.

The earth is designed for burning; it is decreed to be fuel for the conflagration of the great day, when "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire," 2 Thess. 1.7,8. So says the apostle, 2 Pet. 3.10, "The day of the Lord will come, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up!" Whatever is of affinity to earth must feel the flames of that dreadful day! Not only the dust of the earth—but the treasures of the earth—the pleasures of the earth, the names written in the dust, earthly affections, earthly delights, earthly designs, earthly hearts—all together must make fuel for that fire! For "the earth, and all the works that are therein, shall be burned up!"

You see what a curse, that a name written in the dust is; and yet the names of the greatest part of men and women in the world are written there. To have a name written in heaven, is the portion but of few; it is a special privilege, by which the Lord distinguishes his people from the rest of the world; and therefore to have a name in heaven is cause of rejoicing indeed.

Reason 3.

A name written in heaven, manifests that person to be in the highest relation to God. You are his children, his sons and daughters, the adopted of the Lord! What can be greater ground of unimaginable joy?

What is it which clothes your child with honor and fame—but the nobleness of his descent? and how does your honor and greatness come to descend upon him—but by being of the same blood? It is the nearness of the relation, which entitles him to all. So all that is in God, all his excellencies, all his attributes, his wisdom, his power, his love, his justice, his providence—all are yours, and work for your benefit and advantage, by virtue of your relationship to him.

There is a two-fold relation to God, a relation of servants and of sons. But the difference between them is very great, especially in five things.

1st, The relation of servants is a common relation. All creatures in the world are God's servants—as he is the great master and householder of heaven and earth. God has servants of all sorts, good and bad; he has "good and faithful servants," Matt. 25.23, and he has "wicked and slothful servants," verse 26. He has some that honor him, and some that rebel against him. God has many servants that take wages of him—but do the devil's work.

All creatures stand in this relation to God, the very devils themselves are subject to his command; "Every knee bows to him, both of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth," Phil. 2.10.

But the relation of sons is a special relation, which appertains only to a few. God has many servants—but he has but few sons; he has many in subjection—but few sons. All are his subjects—but all are not his sons.

2ndly, The relation of servants is a mercenary relation; the duty of that relation is drawn forth by the rewards of it; servants work for hire, it is wages they chiefly look for. God has many such servants, that are merely mercenaries in all their duties. They know God is a good master, pays well, and keeps a good table; his commands are equal, and his rewards are bountiful, therefore they own him. As many followed the Lord Christ when he was upon earth, not because of his mercies—but because of his morsels; not because they would be saved—but because "they ate of the loaves and were filled," John 6.26. It was not for the sake of his person—but his provision; not out of love to the truth, so much as the wages.

The Lord Christ has many such servants now, that call themselves the Servants of Christ, and Ministers of Christ—but they are but mercenaries to him. It is the salary they look at, more than the service; dignities more than duty; the preferments of the church, more than the concernments of it. They have the flesh-hook of the law in their hand, 1 Sam. 2.13,14, often to serve themselves—but the book of the law is in their hand but seldom, whereby they should "save themselves and them that hear them," 1 Tim. 4.16. These follow Christ, indeed—but it is for the loaves. No wages—no work! Like those in Mal. 3.14, who cry out, "What profit is it to serve God?"

But now the relation of sons is more sincere. Sons obey and serve in love—not for the reward. They labor—because they love. Not but that the children of God may look at the rewards promised. Moses was sincere in all his performances, and yet "he had a respect unto the recompense of the reward," Heb. 11.26. Christ was a son in the highest relation, the son of God's choicest regard, Matt. 17.5, and yet it is said of him, in his "enduring the cross, and despising the shame," that he "had an eye to the joy which was set before him," Heb. 12.2. A dutiful child may look at his inheritance; yet he would pay the obedience of a son, though he were to receive no father's blessing.

3rdly, The relation of sons, is a communicative relation. The relation of a servant is not so. A master does not impart all his mind, nor disclose his secrets—to his servant. He lays upon him his commands—but does not trust him with his secrets. So says our Lord Christ, John 15.15, "Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth." But a father will disclose and communicate his heart to his child—he will tell all his mind, and will, and counsels, to his son.

4thly, The relations of servants gives no claim; it does not entitle them to the estate of their Lord. The law allows them a present maintenance—but no share in the inheritance.

But the relation of a son is entitling—it gives a claim. By virtue of his sonship, he has a title to what is his father's—his father's riches, his father's honors, etc. If you are the "children of God," you are born heirs, and your inheritance is the greatest in this world or in the next; for God himself is your portion! All he is, and all he has—is "the lot of your inheritance!"

5thly, The relation of servants is not lasting; it is arbitrary, founded on will and pleasure of the master. You take one servant, and put away another, at your pleasure. But the relation of a son is abiding, it lasts forever, to the end of being. So says our Lord Christ, John 8.35, "And the servant abideth not in the house for ever; but the son abideth ever." If you are the children of God, you are taken into a lasting relation which shall never end! God is your father forever, and you are his children forever—it is an everlasting relationship!

How should we rejoice in this near relation to the great God! To be a child of God is the highest title in the world. David was made but son-in-law to a king, not born a son; and this sonship was but to an earthly king, who dies like other men, Psalm 82.7, and yet the thoughts of it wrought to astonishment in him: "Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son in law . . . . . ?" 1 Sam. 18.23. What is it then to be taken into an eternal sonship to an everlasting father, before whom the kings of the earth are as grasshoppers; who "bringeth the princes to nothing: he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity." Isaiah 40.22,23.

Reason 4. "A name written in heaven" gives an assured hope of heaven. We are by this forever set free from all fear of miscarrying. If you have a title—never question the possession. If the right is yours, you shall surely inherit. When you look over a bundle of deeds, and see the name of such a particular person run through them all, and expressly mentioned in the deeds, and all things run in his name—you conclude that estate his, it belongs to him, and will come to him, for all the law is on his side.

It is so in the case in hand; if you have "a name written in heaven," the estate is yours, the conveyance is made to you. The covenant is the main deed, which is sealed in the blood of Christ, and therein the inheritance is made over and conveyed to you!

There is an inseparable connection between election and glorification. Though there are many links in the golden chain which reaches from election to glorification—yet not one of them can be broken! "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Romans 8.30.

It is observable in what tense the Spirit of God puts it; not in the future, as a thing to be done—but in a tense that notes it to be already done—to show the certainty of it. If our "names are written in heaven," we shall as surely share in the glories of it, as if already in possession; nay, we are already in possession:

1. Partly in Christ, who is already entered upon his inheritance in our behalf; Heb. 6.20, "Where the forerunner has entered for us." Hence that of the apostle, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" Eph. 2.6.

2. Partly by the promise: we have the deeds, though we do not enjoy the estate; we keep the title, though we do not possess the inheritance.

3. Partly in the "first fruits of glory," Romans 8.23, which we receive by the Spirit of God, and the graces of the Spirit in our hearts. Entrance upon the least part of an estate, gives a right to the possession, as well as entrance upon the whole. Grace in the heart is a pledge of the holy land, the land of promise, whereby God does actually instate us in the glorious inheritance.

APPLICATION.

The first use shall be for examination. Is "a name written in heaven," the truest cause of rejoicing? Then let us see what cause of rejoicing we may have in ourselves, upon this account. The apostle's counsel is plainly to this purpose, Gal. 6.4, "But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another."

You have heard that there can be no true cause of joy in the heart—but "a name written in heaven!"

Is "a name written in heaven" the chief ground of your joy?

Question. But you will reply, "Who can say his name is written in heaven? Who has thus far known the mind of the Lord? To whom has he at any time opened the sealed book of his secret decrees? Was ever any man admitted into the regions above, to search the eternal records of the divine purpose?"

Answer. Surely not. But yet let me, in answer to this, lay down two conclusions.

First, The knowledge of this, that our names are written in heaven, is attainable. Why else are we commanded to "make our calling and election sure?" Would the Lord Christ have called upon us to rejoice, because "our names are written in heaven," if it were a thing that could not be known? Surely therefore it is no such secret as lies out of the reach of faith's attainment.

Indeed, to wicked, unbelieving, and impenitent sinners—the knowledge of this is impossible. How can a man who forsakes God, know that his name is written in heaven, when God says, "Those who forsake him, their names shall be written in the dust?" But believers may attain to the knowledge of this.

Secondly, As the knowledge of it is attainable, so it is evident from scripture examples, that many have attained to it. God has sometimes unsealed the book of his decrees, and held it open to the believing eye; so that the soul has been enabled to read its interest in divine love, by the spiritual optics of faith; for "faith is the evidence of things not seen," Heb. 11.1. The soul is as yet enrapt up in gross matter, imprisoned in flesh, and confined to an abode in a tabernacle of clay; and therefore distanced from God, and utterly incapable of any farther converse and communion with him, than what is attainable by the mediation of faith.

Now faith enters within the veil, removes the soul out of the valleys of sense, and sets it upon the highest ground of gospel consolation, that it may stand at the fairest vantage ground, to get a prospect into the glory of the eternal world. Faith draws infallible conclusions of the goodness of its state, from the immutable decrees of electing love. What else made Job say, "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." Job 19.25-27.

And what made Paul glory in the Lord Christ, crying out, "Who loved me, and gave himself for me!" Gal. 2.20. What made the church say, with so much confidence, "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine!" Song of Solomon 6.3.

Question. But the great question is, "How shall a man be able to know, that his name is written in heaven?"

Answer. There are certain discoveries of this in a man's self; which if we attend to, we may have a sure proof and witness of.

1. Effectual calling is a sure proof that your name is written in heaven! If the call of God has taken hold of our hearts—then our names are written in heaven! There is an inseparable connection between election and calling; and therefore, when the apostle bids us "give all diligence to make our calling and election sure." II Pet. 1:10 Though election is before calling (the one being an act of God in eternity; the other an act of God in time), yet the apostle puts the making our calling sure in the first place; because a man can never be sure he is elected—until he is first effectually called.

Now then, if you would know whether your names are written in heaven; satisfy yourselves in this, that the call of God has taken effectual hold of your hearts. Has it brought your souls off from everything below Christ, wholly to follow Christ? It is said, when Christ called Peter and Andrew, they presently "left their nets and followed him," Matt. 4.18,19,20. Every man has his nets—something that his soul is entangled in, until the call of God takes hold of him. Can you now, with Peter, when God calls—lay aside your nets to follow him?

For it is not every call which will witness the truth of our election: there is an external call of the word—which is ineffectual. It prevails not upon the sinner's heart, he turns a deaf ear upon it. This call leaves sinners as it finds them—in their sins and lusts! Matt. 20.16.

But then there is an internal and effectual call—when Word and Spirit go together, and work together, to bring the soul off from sin, and lust, and self, and world—to Jesus Christ, to live upon him as its portion, and conform to him as its pattern. Now if you are thus called, then is your name written in heaven—and therefore you may go and rejoice indeed—for if any in the world has cause, you have.

2. If the law of God is written in your heart—then your name is written in heaven! It is one of the great promises of the new covenant, that "God will write his law in our hearts," Heb. 8.10.

Question. Now you will say, "What is this law of God?"

Answer. It is the law of love, the law of holiness—a law that takes in all the duties that God requires of us, a law of universal obedience. Psalm 40.8, "I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." It is a law that comprehends the whole rule of the new creature. The law within is a counterpart of the law without; so that, whatever the word of God commands, the soul is enabled to perform, when this law is written in the heart.

Question. When is God said to write his law in the heart?

Answer. When he does powerfully impress a divine principle of grace, by his Holy Spirit, in the heart. Believers are said to be "the epistle of Christ, written not with ink—but with the Spirit of the living God," 2 Cor. 3.3. An epistle is nothing else but a paper, with the mind of a man written in it, and sent to another. Believers are "the epistle of the living God;" there his mind, and will, and law is written, not in tables of stone—but in the fleshly tables of the heart.

So that if the law of God is written in your heart—then may you know that your name is written in heaven!

Converting grace in the heart, is the best of God's eternal election; without which the eternal decree concerning us can never be read with clearness, nor understood with comfort. The decree travails and brings forth, in a work of grace in the heart. The mind of God, concerning our eternal condition, is best known by a sound conversion; for there he speaks plainly. That fountain of love which ran underground before, now bubbles up and breaks forth. In election, God spoke within himself; but in conversion, God speaks to the soul. In election, God wrote our names in heaven secretly; but in conversion, we see them written there openly.

A work of grace in the heart carries in it a four-fold witness:

1. That we are the objects of God's election.

2. That sin is pardoned through Christ's atoning sacrifice.

3. That God is reconciled by Christ's intercession.

4. That we are secure as to eternal salvation.

The least of these is worth a whole world!
Who would not be willing to know himself, as the chosen of God? Who would not be glad to see sin pardoned? Who would not rejoice in a friendship with God—whose wrath burns to the lowest hell? Who would not triumph, in an assurance of being saved forever? Now if grace is wrought in your heart, this is your privilege—and you may rejoice in hope of glory. No better witness of our names written in heaven—than the image of God engraved in the heart!

The ungodly do not need descend in the deep, to search in hell—to see if their names be written, by the wrath and vengeance of God, in eternal misery. No! they may find it nearer home; there is a hell within them! There is the stench and filth of hell, in their vile affections! The smoke and flames of hell, are in their burning and raging lusts! The darkness of hell, is in their blind minds! And sometimes the torments of hell, are in their guilty and self-revenging consciences—that "worm which dieth not!" Mark 9.44. Just so—many believers find a heaven in their own souls, a heaven of light, of love, of holiness, of joy and praise! "The kingdom of God (heaven) is within you." Luke 17:21

3. If true faith is wrought in your heart—then is your name written in heaven. 1 John 5.10, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself:" Faith is a sure fruit of electing love: "As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed!" Acts 13.48. God does not elect us because we believe—but we believe because we are elected. (Election upon foreseen faith is an Arminian dream!) Faith is one of the first fruits which eternal love brings forth in the heart. Final unbelief is a sad witness of a reprobate state: so says our Lord Christ, "But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep." John 10.26.

Would you know then whether your name is written in heaven? then see if saving faith is wrought in your heart. Have you ever truly closed with the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you heartily embrace him, as he is set forth in the gospel? Can you venture your soul, your salvation, your eternal all—upon the single foundation of the Redeemer's righteousness? Have you ever had actual application of the blood and righteousness of Christ to your own consciences, to take off that guilt of sin whereby your souls stand bound over to wrath and damnation? This faith is of the operation of God; and wherever this faith is found in the heart—the name of that man, that woman, is found in heaven! Therefore well may the apostle say, "In whom believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory!" 1 Pet. 1.8.

4. If the father's name is written on your foreheads—then are your names written in heaven! In Rev. 14:1, it is said of those who stood with the Lamb upon Mount Zion—that "the Father's name was written in their foreheads."

The name of God is written in the forehead—when we openly confess the truths of God, and are not ashamed of religion; nor ashamed to own God, and his ways, and ordinances, and people—in the midst of a profane, scoffing, and adulterous generation. Now says our Lord Christ, "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, (that is—the name of Christ written on the forehead) "him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven;" Matt. 10:32 . . . that is—he shall have a name written in heaven!

Do you repine at difficulties, shrink at sufferings, blush at being counted pious? Are you ashamed of Christ, his ways, his name, his people? Why if so, his name is not on your forehead.

Or can you lift up your heads, and show your faces, in the cause of Christ? "God is not ashamed to be called our God," Heb. 11.16. And will you be ashamed to be called his children, his saints, his witnesses? Moses was not ashamed, when he "Esteemed the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt;" Heb. 11.26. He had the father's name on his forehead.

5. If your great work is to have treasure in heaven—then your names are written in heaven! This is the counsel of the blessed Jesus, Matt. 6.20, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven!" Luke 12.33,34: "provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

The treasures of most men are perishing, earthly treasures, cankered and moth-eaten treasures, treasures of vanity. Where is your treasure? Is it in this world—or in the eternal world? Is it in present vanities—or in future glory? Is it in present contentments—or in an everlasting inheritance? Is it in food and feasting—or is it in the light of God's countenance? Is it in profits, pleasures, and honors—or is it in grace and glory? Do you build, and plant, and sow in the eternal world, that hereafter you may reap an eternal harvest of blessedness? If so, then are your names written in heaven!

6. If your conversations are in heaven—then are your names written in heaven! Phil. 3.20, "Our conversation is in heaven."

Many profess hope of heaven—but their conversations are upon the earth: like that foolish actor, that while his eyes were fixed upon the earth, cried, "O heavens!" they savor only earthly things—earthly profits, earthly comforts, earthly vanities.

Let a man's profession be ever so heavenly, his prayers and duties ever so heavenly—yet if they are over-topped by an earthly conversation, that man's religion is vain! The scripture says expressly, "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him!" 1 John 2.15.

Never talk of a name in heaven—so long as your hearts are buried in the earth! Where your hearts are—there your names are! If your hearts are earthly, your names are in the earth, "Carnal, worldly, sensual, enemy to God"—that is your name, and the scripture gives you no other! James 4.4: "whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

Now what is your life? How do you live? Do you live by sense—or do you live by faith? Do you live upon the creatures—or upon the promises?

It is said of the virtuous woman, Proverbs 31.14, that "she bringeth her food from afar." So does the true believer; he uses the blessings of the creature—but he lives upon the blessings of the covenant.

"From afar." That is, far out of the sight and view of the natural eye—for it is bread the world knows nothing of. The natural man is blind and cannot see afar off. "God has set the world in their hearts." Eccles. 3.11. They are strangers to this heavenly joy.

"From afar." "for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth," Luke 12.15. His "life is hid with Christ in God," Col. 3.3; and from thence are the comforts of his life. "He fetches his food from afar"—it is God in Christ, and the glories of the eternal world, which are the bread of his soul.

Do you fetch your food from far, or nearer home? Are you fed by sense—or does faith feed you with clusters fetched from the holy land? Do you serve flesh, lust, and sins, and times, which is the basest thraldom? Or do you serve Christ, whose service is perfect freedom? Romans 6.16, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey;" His you are—whom you serve. The apostle Paul will tell you whom he serves, "God, whom I serve with my spirit." Romans 1.9.

"Forgetting the things behind, I press towards the mark," Phil. 3.13,14. Outward privileges, carnal contentments, perishing hopes—these were once the things before him; but now he has turned about, and set his face the other way, and left them all behind him. "I press toward the mark." He is now ascending upon the wings of faith and love—above this dung and darkness—to the regions of light and glory!

If your conversation is in heaven, it is thus with you in one degree or other. Heavenly concernments are your work, and heavenly comforts are your support. It is not profits, pleasures, or honors, which can comfort and gladden you; but it is fruit from the tree of life, in the midst of the paradise of God, which nourishes you.

If thus your conversation be in heaven—then is your name written in heaven!

Entire text of the sermon can be accessed here: http://www.gracegems.org/28/mead_name_in_heaven.htm

In Christian love,

June & Ralph Nadolny,
two sinners saved by God's grace alone (Eph. 2:8-10; Romans 5:8)
"Christ in you (us), the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27b)
"new creatures in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17)
"We love him, because HE first loved us." 1 John 4:19

"Book of books! Inspired, inerrant, infallible, utterly dependable. THE WORD OF GOD." Shaun Willcock

2008-07-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

THE BIBLE: The Word of God

Used by express permission of the author, Shaun Willcock, Gospel Minister . . . Ambassador for Christ (II Cor. 5:17-20)

If the Bible is not the Word of God, divinely inspired by God, then there is no difference between the Bible and any other book. If the Bible is not the Word of God, its origin is earthly, not divine. And if this is so, then Christians have, as their foundation, the feeble words of fallible men.
The Scriptures claim to be "able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15); yet, if they are not the words of God, but merely the words of weak, sinful men, then how can they make anyone wise unto salvation? How can anyone be certain they are trustworthy?
If the Bible is not the Word of God, then what fools Christians are!

Yet if the Bible IS the Word of God, we can expect to find abundant evidence of this fact. And, indeed, there IS abundant evidence. That evidence is the subject of this article.
The Bible itself claims to be the Word of God; given by divine inspiration. This it does over and over again, in both the Old and the New Testaments. Just two excellent examples from the New Testament will be given. The first is from 2 Tim. 3:16: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God". And the second is from 2 Pet. 1:21: "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
However, it will be argued, by those who do not believe that it is God's Word, that it is a simple matter for a man to declare that what he writes is "the Word of God". Evidence must be available, if this claim is true. How do we know that the Bible is the Word of God? How can we be certain?
There IS abundant evidence that the Bible is God's Word, apart from its own claims; and some of it will be given here. But at the end of this article, it will be seen where the full persuasion and assurance of this truth comes from.
Here, then, is some of the incontestable evidence that the Bible is the Word of God.

1. If the Bible is nothing more than the work of men, then it was either written by good men, or by evil men. Now, if it was written by good men, they would not have lied about its origin. Paul, who wrote 2 Timothy, declared that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (3:16). And in 1 Cor. 14:37 he wrote, "the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." And Peter, in his second epistle, wrote that the Scriptures were given by men "moved by the Holy Ghost" (1:21). Many other examples could be given. If these were good and honest men, they would not have lied.
Therefore, if the Bible was written merely by men who were not inspired of God, then it was written by evil men. But evil men would have written it to their liking! And they would have written it to the liking of other evil men! The truth is, however, that it is NOT written to the liking of evil men. It is not to their taste at all. It speaks of sin; it declares that sinners will spend eternity in the lake of fire; it calls the worldly pleasures so beloved of evil men, sin; it exalts the grace of God, and lays low the works of men; it calls Christians to holy living, to the mortification of the works of the flesh; etc., etc. Such teachings are not to the taste of evil men. They hate them!
It must, then, be what it claims to be: not the word of man, but of God.

2. The Bible reveals God: his character, attributes, etc., in a way that no other "god" is revealed in any other writing. A holy, just, pure God – not a god who is little better than men, subject to like passions as men! This is how the gods of the heathen are represented, but not the Lord God of the Bible. This proves its divine origin.

3. The Bible's account of Christ proves its divine origin. The Gospels are simply written; honestly; matter-of-factly. They do not bear the marks of fiction, but of fact. What purpose would Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have had in writing fiction? What did they stand to gain, apart from persecution from Jew and Roman and Greek alike? Take John as an example: he suffered persecution for his faith (see Acts 3 and 5), even exile to a lonely isle (Rev. 1:9). Would he have suffered all that he did suffer over a character of fiction? A character who, if fictional, was one whom he partly invented?
No – the Christ of the Bible is TRUE. Hear the admission of Rousseau, a man who was an infidel: "I will confess to you further, that the majesty of the
Scripture strikes me with admiration, as the purity of the gospel hath its
influence on my heart. Peruse the works of our philosophers, with all their pomp
of diction – how mean – how contemptible – are they, compared with the
Scripture! Is it possible, that a book at once so simple and sublime should be
merely the work of man? Is it possible that the sacred personage whose history
it contains should be himself a mere man? Do we find that he assumed the air of
an enthusiast or ambitious secretary? What sweetness, what purity in his manner!
What an affecting gracefulness in his delivery! What sublimity in his maxims!
What profound wisdom in his discourses! What presence of mind! What subtilty!
What truth in his replies! How great the command over his passions! Where is the
man, where the philosopher, who could so live and die, without weakness and
without ostentation? Shall we suppose the Evangelic History a mere fiction?
Indeed, my friend, it bears not the marks of fiction. On the contrary, the
history of Socrates, which nobody presumes to doubt, is not so well attested as
that of Jesus Christ. The Jewish authors were incapable of the diction, and
strangers to the morality contained in the gospels; the marks of whose truth are
so striking and invincible, that the inventor would be a more astonishing
character than the hero."
"Which of you convinceth me of sin?" asked Jesus (Jn. 8:46). Nobody ever has – not in 2000 years.

4. There is no lie, or contradiction, in the Scriptures; they are, therefore, "the word of truth", as they claim to be (Eph. 1:13; Dan. 10:21). And they contain no unholy doctrine, but promote holiness in men; they are, therefore, "the holy scriptures", as they claim to be (Rom. 1:2).

5. The method of salvation revealed in the Bible proves its divine origin. It is absolutely unique. All other religions in the world proclaim some form of salvation by human works; by man's own efforts. The Bible declares that salvation is of the LORD. It emphatically asserts that, if the LORD does not save a man, he cannot be saved. Indeed, 1 Cor. 1:17-31 says that this teaching is "foolishness" to those who perish. The method of salvation revealed in the Bible is NOT one which men would have invented: election in eternity; the incarnation of Christ, who was God manifest in the flesh; his death for the elect; effectual calling; etc.

6. The marvellous unity, and harmony, of the Bible, proves that it is of God. It was not written down by one man, at one time; but it was written over a period of 1500 years, by all sorts of men, from all sorts of backgrounds, in all sorts of places, on all sorts of topics. And yet it forms a unit, with one central theme, and no contradictions. Could such a work be the product of the uninspired minds of men? Impossible! This Book is the revelation of God.

7. The men who wrote the Bible, themselves, being the human instruments God used, are proof that it is divine in origin. Though some, like Moses and Paul, were educated men, others were fishermen (Matt. 4:18), "unlearned and ignorant men" (Acts 4:13). And yet they wrote in a manner and style beyond their natural abilities or education. Obviously, they were "moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet. 1:21).

8. The prophecies of the Bible prove its divine origin. These prophecies are not the ambiguous mutterings of the "prophets" of heathenism; they are authentic revelations, given by men as they were moved by the Spirit of God. Hundreds of years before the Lord Jesus Christ was born, the prophets of the Old Testament foretold his birth, events of his life, his death, his resurrection. It is manifestly absurd to assert that this was all coincidental. An impostor could have succeeded in "fulfilling" some of them, but never ALL of them – and there are a great many. Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled them all.
And there are other prophecies, too: for example, prophecies in Daniel, Revelation, 2 Thess. 2, Matt. 24, and elsewhere, which have been wonderfully fulfilled by events of history over the past 2000 years. No, this is no mere book written by man. Fulfilled prophecy is one of the most powerful witnesses to the divine origin of the Scriptures. Only he who declares "the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done" (Isa. 46:10) could have moved men to foretell such things.

9. The accuracy of the Scriptures as to details of chronology, history, geography, astronomy, etc., is yet further proof that this is the Word of God. Science attests to this accuracy in all sorts of ways. And the extent of this accuracy includes the account of the creation, and that of the worldwide flood! The false theory of evolution has absolutely NO solid evidence to support it, but there is abundant evidence that the universe was created by God. There is also abundant evidence that the world was destroyed by a flood, exactly as the Bible says it was.

10. The attacks upon the Bible through the centuries prove its divine origin. No other book has been so hated and assaulted – no, not since the world began. It has been criticised, burnt to ashes, locked away, forbidden to the people, scorned – why? If it is merely a book written by uninspired men, like any other book, then why have men hated it so? Why have they sought, with everything in their power, to destroy it from off the face of the earth? What is it about this Book that has so enraged men? It can only be that it is GOD'S Book, and because men hate God, they hate his Word. And this leads to the next point –

11. The preservation of the Scriptures proves their divine origin. Despite the mad assaults of those who have hated the Lord and his Word through the centuries, the Lord has wonderfully preserved it down to this very day! Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matt. 24:35). And it is written in 1 Pet. 1:25, that "the word of the Lord endureth for ever." In a number of places, the Lord has promised to preserve his Word. In the Old Testament, Antiochus Epiphanes "cast down the truth to the ground", when he took the books of the law, and burnt them (Dan. 8:12); and in this, the New Testament age, his antitype, the Antichrist – the Roman Papacy – did precisely the same thing, burning copies of the Bible, and burning those who translated or distributed it. The Papacy has produced corrupt versions of the Bible, as have other groups. And yet despite all this – it survives! Like the very existence of the Church of Jesus Christ itself, the preservation of the Bible is a miracle of God.

12. Finally, one of the greatest of all evidences that this Book is the Book of books, the very Word of God, is that it has transformed the lives of countless numbers of people through the centuries. Men who were once idolaters, murderers, adulterers, liars, thieves, drunkards, sodomites – to list just a few – have been transformed into holy, godly men, and all because of the teachings of this Book. Men who, like Paul, could describe themselves as the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15), became saints of God. The effects of the Bible, then, prove its divine origin. What other book that has ever been written has had such an effect? Wherever it has gone, it has transformed lives, even whole societies. Its teachings have changed vile, wretched sinners into the very salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13). It has transformed men from being weak, timid individuals into mighty men of valour, prepared to suffer unspeakable agonies, and even to die, for the Lord who is revealed in its pages. What a Book this is!
And this, after all, is its purpose: to make souls "wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15). It was written "that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (Jn. 20:31). As Peter said, when many of Christ's disciples left him, and he asked the twelve if they, too, would leave, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (Jn. 6:66-68). He does indeed – and they have been recorded in this Book.

All that has been said above, abundantly testifies to the fact that the Bible is the divinely-inspired Word of God. Proof upon proof has been given. The evidence is overwhelming and incontestable. And yet, something more is needed, if the corrupt, depraved heart of man is ever to believe it.
Oh, these infallible proofs must be given. They must be made known! But, just as miracles were performed in the apostolic age in order to confirm, to authenticate, the Word (Mk. 16:20; Heb. 2:3,4), and yet many rejected it; so something more is needed, today, to persuade corrupt and sinful men of its divine origin and truth. And that is the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness in the hearts of men! Since "the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. 2:11); and since "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God" (vs.14); God must reveal them unto us by his Spirit (vs.10), or we will never know them.
In conclusion, then: the Bible is the Word of the living God. It claims to be; it is proved to be; and it is fully seen to be, when the Holy Spirit enlightens the eyes and opens the heart.

Book of books! Inspired, inerrant, infallible, utterly dependable. THE WORD OF GOD.

Shaun Willcock is a minister of the Gospel, and runs Bible Based Ministries. He lives in South Africa. For other pamphlets (which may be downloaded and printed), as well as details about his books, tapes, news articles, etc., please visit the Bible Based Ministries website. If you would like to be on Bible Based Ministries’ electronic mailing list, please send your details.
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