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![Without question, one of the most essential elements of saving faith is trust in Christ’s
sacrificial death for guilty sinners. The doctrine of substitution is at the very heart of the
Gospel...
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 - “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which
I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By
which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless
ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that
he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
2 Corinthians 5:21 - “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.”
The sacrifice of Christ is the very source and basis of our salvation. We are saved from
our sin because He bore the penalty for our sin. The wrath which God bore against us
has been swallowed up by the Cross of Christ. If Christ died for you, then God has no
wrath left to pour out upon you. Christ did not merely sip from the cup of God’s wrath—
He drank the cup dry!
When we say that Christ died for all men, we cheapen His sacrifice, for Scripture
plainly declares that all men will not be saved.
1. To say that Christ died for every man would mean that the death of Christ, in
itself, is insufficient to save anyone.
2. The Arminian “gospel” adds a qualification or condition to the work of Christ. It
says “It is not enough that Christ died for you—now you must do your part by
believing in Him.” Thus, we add man’s faith or decision to believe, as a second
requisite to salvation. This divides the glory for man’s salvation between Christ
who died for us, and the faith-giver (whether it be man himself, or the Holy Spirit),
and it thereby belittles Christ and His sacrificial death.
The object of faith is no longer Christ’s death alone, but is partly the death of
Christ, and partly the act of faith.
We must raise the troubling question: “If your faith does not reside wholly in
Christ’s sacrifice, is it saving faith?”
Many deceive themselves into thinking that they believe in the Cross alone for salvation,
when their theology betrays their true convictions by insisting that the Cross cannot save
anyone unless man does his part by believing.
What can we conclude?
God is the final judge of men’s hearts. He has the sovereign power to quicken
people in response to the preaching of Christ. He is full of mercy, and may
indeed bring forth genuine faith in response to a seriously flawed presentation of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-15-320.jpg)
![of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at
the last day.”
John 6:43-45 - “Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not
among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent
me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets,
And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and
hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.”
John 6:64-66 - “But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from
the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And
he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were
given unto him of my Father. From that [time] many of his disciples went back,
and walked no more with him.”
Jesus openly taught the multitudes that there were certain ones whom the Father gave
to Him, and they are the ones who would come to Him and be saved. He taught that no
one could come to Him unless he was drawn (literally “dragged”) by the Father. He
taught that God would teach certain ones, and that everyone so taught would come to
Him. Here our Lord clearly taught the doctrines of Sovereign Election, Total
Depravityand Irresistible Grace to a crowd which contained many unbelievers.
And significantly, when He repeated (in verse 65) that no one could come to Him unless
it had been granted by the Father, many of His disciples “went back and walked no more
with Him .” Why did they forsake our Lord? John says it was “From that time”—i.e. this
statement that no one could come to Him unless the Father granted it to them.
In other words, they forsook Christ over the doctrines of Total Depravity and
Irresistible Grace.
Suppose a “disciple” today gets upset over these doctrines and leaves the church. Is he
saved? What if he had been living in our Lord’s day and had heard these doctrines
preached by Christ? Would he have forsaken our Lord when He preached them? This
should give us cause for great concern over those who will not tolerate the doctrines of
grace.
Just as importantly, it shows that we should not hold back teaching the TULIP just
because we fear someone may get angry and leave. Our responsibility is to faithfully
proclaim God’s glorious Word, and to leave the results to Him. We have no reason to
suppose that we are exempted from openly teaching the doctrines of grace, when our
Lord gave us such a clear model to follow.
1. John 6 is not the only such example.
2. John 10:11 - “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the
sheep.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-18-320.jpg)
![3. John 10:26 - “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto
you.”
Notice that our Lord plainly taught Limited Atonement when He said “the good shepherd
giveth His life for the sheep.” Notice also that He openly told some of His hearers that
they were not His sheep (and thus that He did not die for them!)
Finally, notice the relationship between believing and being a sheep. The reason they
did not believe was that they were not sheep! Arminian doctrine would like to turn the
passage around. But our Lord’s statement clearly teaches Irresistible Grace.
Peter on Pentecost openly taught God’s sovereignty to the unsaved when He
said: Acts 2:23 - “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and
slain:”
When Judas betrayed Christ, it was by God’s “predetermined plan and
foreknowledge.” Peter openly declared this truth to the unsaved multitude on
Pentecost, and it did not seem to hinder the visible success of his preaching, but
instead led to a revival of 3000 souls led to the Lord.
Rather than preventing men from trusting in Christ, proclaiming God’s sovereign glory
can be greatly used of God to bring about great revival.
Arminianism depicts God as a weak, frustrated deity who cannot accomplish His will:
He wants all men to be saved, and has done all that He can to bring it to pass, but still a
vast multitude reject Christ to their own ruin.
Calvinism, on the other hand, proclaims God as the Sovereign Lord of the universe
who has from eternity planned and purposed all that will ever come to pass. God will
save each and every one He has purposed to save, and this will exalt His marvelous
mercy and grace. God has appointed the rest to follow their own sinful impulses down
the wide path that leads to destruction, and this will exalt His awesome holiness and
justice. When we proclaim such a God as this, we should be prepared for great things.
Paul’s epistle to the Romans was written to a church which he had never, as yet,
visited. The epistle was addressed to To all that be in Rome, beloved of God,
called [to be] saints: This means that the epistle was to be read to (or by) every
saint in the church, no matter how new to the faith.
Romans is universally regarded as one of the most evangelical of the books of
the Bible. In this epistle, Paul proclaims much that we normally think of as Gospel
material: man’s sin and depravity, justification by faith alone, and even the
spiritual conflict of the Christian life. But in chapters 8, 9 and 11, he makes some
very strong statements about God’s sovereignty in salvation...](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-19-320.jpg)
![Romans 8:29 - “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to
be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren.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. What shall we then say to these things? If God [be]
for us, who [can be] against us? He that spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all
things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? [It is] God
that justifieth.”
Romans 9:8-23 - “That is, 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. For this [is] the word of promise, At this time will I come, and
Sara shall have a son. And not only [this]; but when Rebecca also had
conceived by one, [even] by our father Isaac; (For [the children] being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It
was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? [Is
there] unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith
unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will [have
mercy], and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man,
who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him
that formed [it], Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power
over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and
another unto dishonour? [What] if God, willing to shew [his] wrath, and to
make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of
wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of
his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto
glory,...”
Imagine the impact this must have had upon new converts in the Roman church! Yet,
Paul did not pull any punches. He was not fearful that openly preaching God’s
sovereignty would cause people to turn away from Christ, for he was fully confident that
every truly elect person would persevere by God’s sovereign power. Indeed, he no doubt
felt that to omit proclaiming God’s sovereignty would have betrayed the trust which God
had given him. To preach the Gospel rightly, we declare the awesome glories of God—
especially His sovereignty.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-20-320.jpg)
![We should remember Paul’s declaration to the Ephesian elders: Acts 20:27 - “For I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”
It appears that he did not shun to declare “the whole purpose of God” to the Roman
saints, either. The entire spectrum of doctrine, from the basic issues of sin and
justification, to the doctrine of God’s sovereign choice of some and hardening of others,
is boldly declared in the epistle to the Romans. May God grant us such boldness!
Romans 11:4-10 - “But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to
myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to [the image of] Baal. Even
so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
And if by grace, then [is it] no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if [it
be] of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then?
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and
the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of
slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this
day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock,
and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and
bow down their back alway.”
The faith of the early church.
The early church was not ashamed of the doctrines of grace. There is no evidence that
they entertained any Arminian leanings. We have already looked at some of their
teaching and preaching. We should also notice the way they thought and prayed.
Consider, for example, the prayer of the Church when the apostles were first arrested for
preaching the gospel, and then threatened and released with the command, “...not to
speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 4:18).
Acts 4:27-31 - “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were
gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to
be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with
all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that
signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they
had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
If the early Church was so thoroughly saturated with this confidence in God’s Sovereign
will and power, then we must conclude that they openly and frequently preached,
prayed, taught and discussed God’s sovereignty.
Another clear evidence that the early Christians fully believed in God’s sovereignty is
provided by a statement in Paul’s epistle to the Philippian church...](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-21-320.jpg)
![http://evangelicalarminians.org/files/The%20Diversity%20of%20Arminian%20Soteriology
%20%28Pinson%29_1.pdf
THE DIVERSITY OF ARMINIAN SOTERIOLOGY:THOMAS GRANTHAM, JOHN
GOODWIN, AND JACOBUS ARMINIUS By J. Matthew Pinson 13 pages
http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/47/47-1/47-1-pp121-136_JETS.pdf
JETS47/1 (March 2004) 121–36
IS THERE A REFORMED WAY TO GET THE BENEFITS OFTHE ATONEMENT TO
“THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD?” r. todd mangum 16 pages
http://www.theopedia.com/Salvation
Salvation:Salvation[1] refers to the act of God's grace in delivering his people
from bondage to sin and condemnation, transferring them to the kingdom of his
beloved Son (Col. 1:13), and giving them eternal life (Romans 6:23)—all on the
basis of what Christ accomplished in his atoning sacrifice. The Bible says we are
saved by grace through faith; and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God
(Ephesians 2:8).
In theology, the study of salvation is called soteriology, from the Greek soteria
meaning "salvation". Salvation, virtually synonymous with the overall concept of
redemption, includes a past, present, and future sense. As Christians, we were
saved from the penalty of sin when God brought us to faith in Christ; we are
presently being saved from the power of sin as the Holy Spirit sanctifies us; and
we will someday be saved from the presence of sin when we meet Christ face to
face in glory. This idea is presented below in terms of initial, progressive, and
final salvation.
Calvinism, Classical Arminianism, Doctrine of Election, Hermeneutics, Molinism,
Philosophy: Theology's Handmaiden,Theologically Miscellaneous,What The Bible Says
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It has been pictured in this way. Here is a vast host of people hurrying down the broad
road with their minds fixed upon their sins, and one stands calling attention to yonder door, the
entrance into the narrow way that leads to life eternal. On it is plainly depicted the text,
"Whosoever will, let him come." Every man is invited, no one need hesitate. Some may say, "Well, I
may not be of the elect, and so it would be useless for me to endeavor to come, for the door will not
open for me." But God's invitation is absolutely sincere; it is addressed to every man, "Whosoever
will, let him take of the water of life freely" (Rev. 22: 17). If men refuse to come, if they pursue their
own godless way down to the pit, whom can they blame but themselves for their eternal judgment?
The messenger addressed himself to all, the call came to all, the door could be entered by all, but
many refused to come and perished in their sins. Such men can never blame God for their eternal
destruction. The door was open, the invitation was given, they refused, and He says to them](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-23-320.jpg)
![sorrowfully, "Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life." ... [But some will say], "I am
going inside: I will accept the invitation; I will enter that door," and he presses his way in and it
shuts behind him. As he turns about he finds written on the inside of the door the words, "Chosen
in Christ before the foundation ofthe world.
(H.A. Ironside)
Calvin's Commentaries Complete
http://www.biblestudyguide.org/comment/calvin/comm_index.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other voices.
J. I. Packer, Introductory Essay to Owen’s The Death of Death (London: Banner of Truth, 1983).
... Without realising it, we have during the past century bartered that gospel for a substitute
product which, though it looks similar enough in points of detail, is as a whole a decidedly
different thing. Hence our troubles; for the substitute product does not answer the ends for
which the authentic gospel has in past days proved itself so mighty. The new gospel
conspicuously fails to produce deep reverence, deep repentance, deep humility, a spirit of
worship, a concern for the church. Why? We would suggest that the reason lies in its own
character and content. It fails to make men God-centred in their thoughts and God-fearing in
their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference
between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be “helpful” to
man—to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction—and too little concerned to glorify God.
The old gospel was “helpful,” too—more so, indeed, than is the new—but (so to speak)
incidentally, for its first concern was always to give glory to God. It was always and essentially a
proclamation of Divine sovereignty in mercy and judgment, a summons to bow down and
worship the mighty Lord on whom man depends for all good, both in nature and in grace. Its
centre of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the centre of reference is
man. This is just to say that the old gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not.
Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach men to worship God, the concern of the new
seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and His ways
with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of
difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed.
C. H. Spurgeon, Election, (delivered September 2, 1855 at New Park Street Chapel).
It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old
doctrines, which are called by nickname Calvinism, but which are surely and verily the revealed
truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make a pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I
see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake
hands with me. Were I a Pelagian, or a believer in the doctrine of free-will, I should have to walk
for centuries all alone. Here and there a heretic of no very honourable character might rise up
and call me brother. But taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-24-320.jpg)
![ancients peopled with my brethren--I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and
acknowledge that this is the religion of God’s own church.
And, lest this should be too high for you, note the other mark of election, which is faith, “belief
of the truth.” Whoever believes God’s truth, and believes on Jesus Christ, is elect. I frequently
meet with poor souls, who are fretting and worrying themselves about this thought—”How, if I
should not be elect!” “Oh, sir,” they say, “I know I put my trust in Jesus; I know I believe in his
name and trust in his blood; but how if I should not be elect?” Poor dear creature! you do not
know much about the gospel, or you would never talk so, fo he that believes is elect. ...
A.W. Pink, Gleanings in the Godhead (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), pp. 124-125.
There is a continual need to return to the great fundamental of the faith. As long as the age
lasts the Gospel of God’s grace must be preached. The need arises out of the natural state of
the human heart, which is essentially legalistic. The cardinal error against which the Gospel has
to contend is the inveterate tendency of men to rely on their own performances. The great
antagonist to the truth is the pride of man, which causes him to imagine that he can be, in part
at least, his own savior. This error is the prolific mother of a multitude of heresies. It is by this
falsehood that the pure stream of God’s truth, passing through human channels, has been
polluted.
Now the Gospel of God’s grace is epitomized in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should
boast.” All genuine reforms or revivals in the churches of God must have as their basis a plain
declaration of this doctrine. ...
After Luther came a still more distinguished teacher, John Calvin. He was much more deeply
taught in the truth of the Gospel, and pushed its central doctrine of grace to its logical
conclusions. As Charles Spurgeon said, “Luther had, as it were, undammed the stream of truth,
by breaking down the barriers which had kept back its living waters as in a great reservoir. But
the stream was turbid and carried down with it much which ought to have been left behind. Then
Calvin came, and cast salt into the waters, and purged them, so that there flowed on a purer
stream to gladden and refresh souls and quench the thirst of poor lost sinners.”
WHAT IS A BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN?
[What is a Biblical Christian?]
Albert N. Martin
There are many matters concerning which total ignorance and complete difference are neither
tragic nor fatal. I believe many of you are probably totally ignorant of Einstein’s theory of
relativity and if you were pressed to explain it to someone you would really be in difficulty. Not
only are you ignorant of Einstein’s theory of relativity, you are probably quite indifferent, and that
ignorance and indifference is neither fatal nor tragic.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-25-320.jpg)
![The theory of relativity, or simply relativity in physics, usually encompasses two
theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity.[1] (The word
relativity can also be used in the context of an older theory, that of Galilean invariance.)
Concepts introduced by the theories of relativity include:
Measurements of various quantities are relative to the velocities of observers. In
particular, space contracts and time dilates.
Spacetime: space and time should be considered together and in relation to each
other.
The speed of light is nonetheless invariant, the same for all observers.
The term "theory of relativity" was based on the expression "relative theory" (German:
Relativtheorie) used in 1906 by Max Planck, who emphasized how the theory uses the
principle of relativity. In the discussion section of the same paper Alfred Bucherer used
for the first time the expression "theory of relativity" (German: Relativitätstheorie).[2][3]
The theory of relativity transformed theoretical physics and astronomy during the 20th
century. When first published, relativity superseded a 200-year-old theory of mechanics
created primarily by Isaac Newton.[4][5][6]
General relativity is a theory of gravitation developed by Einstein in the years
1907–1915. The development of general relativity began with the equivalence principle,
under which the states of accelerated motion and being at rest in a gravitational field (for
example when standing on the surface of the Earth) are physically identical. The upshot
of this is that free fall is inertial motion: an object in free fall is falling because that is how
objects move when there is no force being exerted on them, instead of this being due to
the force of gravity as is the case in classical mechanics. This is incompatible with
classical mechanics and special relativity because in those theories inertially moving
objects cannot accelerate with respect to each other, but objects in free fall do so. To
resolve this difficulty Einstein first proposed that spacetime is curved. In 1915, he
devised the Einstein field equations which relate the curvature of spacetime with the
mass, energy, and momentum within it.
In the field of physics, relativity improved the science of elementary particles and their
fundamental interactions, along with ushering in the nuclear age. With relativity,
cosmology and astrophysics predicted extraordinary astronomical phenomena such as
neutron stars, black holes, and gravitational waves.[4][5][6]
some of the consequences of general relativity are:
1. Clocks run slower in deeper gravitational wells.[8] This is called gravitational
time dilation.
2. Orbits precess in a way unexpected in Newton's theory of gravity. (This has
been observed in the orbit of Mercury and in binary pulsars).](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-26-320.jpg)
![3. Rays of light bend in the presence of a gravitational field.
4. Rotating masses "drag along" the spacetime around them; a phenomenon
termed "frame-dragging".
5. so
Technically, general relativity is a theory of gravitation whose defining feature is its use
of the Einstein field equations. The solutions of the field equations are metric tensors
which define the topology of the spacetime and how objects move inertially.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity
I am sure there are few of us who can explain all the processes by which a brown cow
eats green grass and gives white milk. It does not keep you from enjoying the milk. But there
are some things concerning which ignorance and indifference are both tragic and fatal and one
such thing is the Bible’s answer to the question I am about to set before you.
‘What is a biblical Christian?’ In other words, when does a man or woman, a boy or girl, have
the right to take to himself or herself the name Christian, according to the Scriptures?
We do not want to make the assumption lightly that you are true Christians. I want to set before
you four strands of the Bible’s answer to that question.
1. ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE A CHRISTIAN IS A PERSON WHO HAS FACED
REALISTICALLY THE PROBLEM OF HIS OWN PERSONAL SIN
Now one of the many unique things about the Christian faith is this —unlike most of the
religions of the world, Christianity is essentially and fundamentally a sinner’s religion.
When the angel announced to Joseph he approaching birth of Jesus Christ, he did so in
these words, ‘Thou halt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins’
[Matt 1.21]. The apostle Paul wrote in I Timothy 1.15, ‘This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’. He
came into the world to save sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ himself says in Luke 5.31-
32, ‘Those that are healthy do not need a doctor but those who are sick. I did not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’. And the Christian is one who has faced
realistically this problem of his own personal sin.
When we turn to the Scripture and seek to take in the whole of its teaching on the
subject of sin, right down to its irreducible minimum, we find that the Scripture tells us
that each one of us has a two-fold personal problem in relation to sin. On the one hand,
we have the problem of a bad record and, on the other, the problem of a bad heart. If we
start in Genesis 3 and read that tragic account of man’s rebellion against God and his
fall into sin, then trace the biblical doctrine of sin all the way through the Old Testament,
and on into the New, right through to the Book of Revelation, we shall see that it is not
over-simplification to say that everything that the Bible teaches about the doctrine of](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-27-320.jpg)
![sin can be reduced to those two fundamental categories — the problem of a bad record
and the problem of a bad heart.
What do I mean by ‘the problem of a bad record’? I am using that terminology to
describe what the Scripture sets before us as the doctrine of human guilt because of
sin. The Scripture tells us plainly that we obtained a bad record long before we had any
personal existence here upon the earth
‘Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned’ [Rom 5.12]. When did the
‘all’ sin? We all sinned in Adam. He was appointed by God to represent all of the
human race and when he sinned we sinned in him and fell with him in his first
transgression.
That is why the apostle writes in 1 Corinthians 15.22, ‘As in Adam all die’. We
passed our age of accountability in the Garden of Eden and from the moment
Adam sinned we were charged with guilt. We fell in him in his first transgression
and we are part of the race that is under condemnation. Furthermore, the
Scripture says, after we come into being at our own conception and subsequent
birth additional guilt accrues to us for our own personal, individual
transgressions.
The Word of God teaches that there is not a just man upon the face of the earth
who does good and does not sin [Eccles 7.20], and every single sin incurs
additional guilt. Our record in heaven is a marred record. Almighty God measures
the totality of our human experience from the moment of our birth by a standard
which is absolutely inflexible; a standard that touches not only our external deeds
but also our thoughts and the very motions and intentions of our heart; so much
so, that the Lord Jesus said that the stirring of unjust anger is the very essence of
murder, the look with intention to lust as adultery. And God is keeping ‘a detailed
record’. That record is among ‘the books’ Which will be opened in the day of
judgment [Rev 20.12]. And there in those books is recorded every thought, every
motive, every intention, every deed, every dimension of human experience that is
contrary to the standard of God’s holy law, either failing to measure up to its
standard or transgressing it. We have the problem of a bad record — a record in
which we are charged with guilt; real guilt for real sin committed against the true
and the living God. That is why the Scripture tells us that the entire human race
stands guilty before Almighty God [Rom 3.19].
1. Has the problem of your own bad record ever become a burning, pressing
personal concern to you?
2. Have you faced the truth that Almighty God judged you guilty when our first
father sinned, and holds you guilty for every single word you have spoken
contrary to perfect holiness and justice and purity and righteousness?](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-28-320.jpg)
![A Bible Christian is a person who has in all seriousness taken to heart us own personal
problem of sin.
Now the degree to which we may feel the awful weight of sin differs from one person to
another. The length of time over which a person is brought to the consciousness of his
bad record and his bad heart differs. There are many variables, but Jesus Christ as the
Great Physician never brought his healing virtue to any who did not know themselves to
be sinners. He said, ‘I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’
[Matt 9.13]. Are you a Bible Christian, one who has taken seriously your personal
problem of sin?
2. A BIBLE CHRISTIAN IS ONE WHO HAS SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED THE ONE DIVINE
REMEDYFOR SIN
In the Bible we are told again and again that Almighty God has taken the initiative in
doing something for man the sinner. The verses some of us learned in our infancy
underscore divine initiative in providing a remedy or sinful man: ‘God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son . . .’; ‘Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that
he loved us and sent us Son to be the propitiation for our sins’; ‘But God, who is rich in
mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us. . .’ [John 3.16; 1 John 10; Eph 2.41.
You see, the unique feature of the Christian faith is that it not a kind of religious
self-help where you patch yourself up with the aid of God. Just as surely as it is a
unique tenet of the Christian faith that Christ is a Saviour for sinners, so it is also a
unique tenet of the Christian faith that all of our true help comes down from above and
meets us where we are. We cannot pull ourselves up by our own boot-strings. God in
mercy breaks in upon the human situation and does something which we could never do
for ourselves. Now when we turn to the Scriptures we find that the divine remedy has at
least three simple but profoundly wonderful focal points:
(a) First of all, that divine remedy is bound up in a Person.
Anyone who begins to take seriously the divine remedy for human sin will notice
in the Scriptures that the remedy is not in a set of ideas, as though it were just
another philosophy, nor is it found in an institution, it is bound up in a Person.
‘God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son’. ‘Thou shalt call his
name Jesus for he shall save. . .’ He, himself, said, ‘I am the way, the truth and
the life; no man comes to the Father but by me’ [John 14.6]. That one divine
remedy is bound up in a Person and that Person is none other than our Lord
Jesus Christ — the eternal Word who became man, uniting to his Godhead a
true human nature. Here is God’s provision for man with his bad record and his
bad heart, a Saviour who is both God and man, the two natures joined in the one
Person for ever. And your personal problem of sin, and mine, if it is ever to be
remedied in a biblical way will be remedied only as we have personal dealings
with that Person. Such is the unique strand of the Christian faith — the sinner in
all his need united to the Saviour in all the plenitude of his grace, the sinner in his](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-30-320.jpg)
![naked need and the Saviour in his almighty power, brought directly together in
the Gospel. That is the glory of the Gospel!
(b) It is centred in the cross upon which that Person died.
A cross that leads to an empty tomb, yes! And a cross preceded by a life of
perfect obedience, yes! And when we turn to the Scriptures we find that the
divine remedy in a unique way is centred in the cross of Jesus Christ. When he is
formally announced by John the Baptist, John points to him and says, ‘Behold
the Lamb of God who is bearing away the sin of the world’ [John 1.29]. Jesus
himself said, ‘I did not come to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give my
life a ransom for many’ [Matt 20.28], and true preaching of the Gospel is so
much centred in the cross that Paul says it is the word, or the message of the
cross. The preaching of the cross is ‘to them who are perishing foolishness, but
unto us who are being saved it is the power of God’ [1 Cor 1.18], and this same
apostle went on to say that when he came to Corinth — that bastion of
intellectualism and pagan Greek philosophy with its set patterns of rhetorical
expertise — ‘I came amongst you determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ
and him as crucified’ [1 Cor 2.2].
You see, God’s gracious remedy for sin is not only bound up in a Person, it
is centred in the cross of that Person — not
The cross as an abstract idea, nor as a religious symbol, but the cross in terms
of what God declares it to mean. The cross was the place where God heaped
upon his Son, by imputation, the sins of his people. On that cross there was
substitutionary curse-bearing. In the language of Galatians 3.13, ‘God made him
to be a curse for us’; ‘God made him to be sin for us’ [2 Cor 5.2] — the one who
knew no sin. It is not the cross as some nebulous, indefinable symbol of self-
giving love, it is the cross as the monumental display of how God can be just and
still pardon guilty sinners; the cross where God, having imputed the sins of his
people to Christ, pronounces judgment upon his Son as the representative of his
people. There on the cross God pours out the vials of his wrath, unmixed with
mercy, until his Son cries out, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
why have you forsaken me?’ [Psa 22.1; Matt 27.46].](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-31-320.jpg)
![There in the visible world at Calvary, God, as it were, was demonstrating
what was happening in the invisible spiritual world. He shrouds the heavens
in total darkness to let all mankind know that he is plunging his Son into the outer
darkness of the hell which your sins and my sins deserved. Jesus hangs on the
cross in the place of an undefended guilty criminal; he is in the posture of one for
whom society has but one option, ‘Away with him’, ‘Crucify him’, ‘Hand him over
to death’, and God does not intervene. There in the theatre of what men can see,
God is demonstrating what he is doing in the realm where we cannot see. He is
treating his Son as a criminal, he is causing him to feel in the depths of his own
soul all of the fury of the wrath that should have been vented upon us.
(c) A remedy that is adequate for and offered to all without discrimination.
Before we have any felt consciousness of our sin, about the easiest thing in the
world is to think that God can forgive sinners. But when you and I begin to have
any idea at all of what sin is — we, little worms of the dust, we creatures whose
very life and breath is held in the hands of the God in whom ‘we live and move
and have our being’ [Acts 17.28] — when we begin, I say, to take seriously that
we have dared to defy Almighty God who holds our breath in his hands, the God
who, when angels rebelled against him, did not wait to show mercy but
consigned them to everlasting chains of darkness with no way of mercy ever
planned or revealed to them, then our thoughts are changed.
Once we take seriously the truth that it is this holy God who sees the effusions of
the foul, corrupt human hearts which are yours and mine, then we say, ‘O God,
how can you be anything other than just; and if you give me what my sins
deserve, there is nothing for me but wrath and judgment! How can you forgive
me and still be just? How can you be a righteous God and do anything other than
consign me to everlasting punishment with those angels that rebelled’. When you
begin to take your sin seriously, forgiveness becomes the most knotty problem
with which your mind has ever wrestled. It is then that we need to know that God
has provided in a Person, and that Person crucified, a remedy that is adequate
for and offered to all without discrimination.
When God begins to make us feel the reality of our sin, if there were any
conditions placed on the availability of Christ we would say, ‘Surely I don’t meet
the conditions, surely I don’t qualify’, but the wonder of God’s provision is that it
comes in these unfettered terms: ‘Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
he who has no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price. Wherefore do you labour for that which does not satisfy’ [Isa 55.1 -2].
‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Him that comes unto me I will in no wise cast out’ [Matt 11.28; John 6.37].
Oh, the beauty of the unfettered offers of mercy in Jesus Christ! We do not need to have
God step out of heaven and tell us that we, by name, are warranted to come; we have](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-32-320.jpg)
![the unfettered offers of mercy in the words of his own Son, ‘Come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’.
3. A BIBLE CHRISTIAN IS ONE WHO HAS WHOLEHEARTEDLY COMPLIED WITH THE
DIVINE TERMS FOR APPROPRIATING THE DIVINE PROVISION
The divine terms are two — repent and believe. That is what Jesus preached, ‘At that
time Jesus came preaching, Repent and believe the gospel’ [Mark 1.15, 16]. It is what
Paul preached. He says, ‘I testified to Jews and Greeks wherever I went, repentance
toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ’ [Acts 20.21]. This is the Gospel that
Jesus told his own to preach [Luke 24.45, 46].
He opened their minds to understand the Scripture and told them it was
necessary for Christ to die, and to be raised again from the dead the third day,
that repentance unto remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
What are the divine terms for obtaining the divine provision? We must repent, we
must believe. Now because we have to speak in terms of one word following another, or
preceding another, we must not think that this repentance is ever divorced from faith or
that this faith is ever divorced from repentance.
True faith is permeated with repentance, true repentance is permeated with
faith. They inter-penetrate one another so that, whenever there is a true
appropriation of the divine provision, there you will find a believing penitent and a
penitent believer. The one will never be divorced from the other.
What is repentance? The definition of the Shorter Catechism is an excellent
one:
‘Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true
sense of his sin, and apprehension of (that is, a laying hold of) the mercy of
God in Christ, does with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God,
with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience’.
Repentance is the prodigal down in the far country coming to his senses. He left
his father’s home because he could not stand his father’s government. Everything about
his father’s will and ways irritated him. It was a constant block to following the desires of
his own foul, wretched, sin-loving heart. The day came when he said he wanted what
was due to him. He went into the far country. When he left he had a notion of his father,
of his government and of his ways, which was entirely negative, but the Scripture tells us
in Luke 15 that down in the far country he came to himself: ‘And when he came to
himself he said, I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father, I have
sinned against heaven, and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son.
Make me as one of your hired servants’. And then the Scripture says he did not sit there
and think about it, and write poetry about it and send telegrams home to his Dad. It says,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-33-320.jpg)
![‘He rose up and came to his father’. He left all those companions who were his friends in
sin; he loathed and abominated and abhorred everything that belonged to that life-style.
He turned his back on it. And what was it that drew him home? It was the confidence
that there was a gracious father with a large heart and with the righteous rule for his
happy, loving home. And he said, ‘I will arise and go to my father’. He did not send a
telegram saying, ‘Dad, things are getting rough down here; my conscience is giving me
fits at night; won’t you send me some money to help me out and come and pay me a
visit and make me feel good?’ Not at all! He did not need just to feel good, he needed to
become good. And he left the far country. It is a beautiful stroke in our Lord’s picture
when he says, ‘While he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had
compassion, and ran, and threw his arms around him and kissed him’. The prodigal did
not come strutting up to his father, talking about making a decision to come home. There
is a notion that people can come strutting into enquiry rooms and pray their little prayer
and so do God a favour by making their decision.
This has no more to do with conversion than my name is ‘Abraham Lincoln’. True
repentance involves recognizing that I have sinned against the God of heaven,
who is great and gracious, holy and loving, and that I am not worthy to be called
his son. And yet, when I am prepared to leave my sin, to turn my back upon it and to
come back haltingly, wondering if indeed there can be mercy for me, then — wonder of
wonders! — the Father meets me, and throws the arms of reconciling love and mercy
about me. I say it, not in a sentimental way but in all truth, he smothers repenting sinners
in forgiving and redemptive love.
But note, the father did not throw his arms around the Prodigal when he was still in the
hogpens and in the arms of harlots. Do I speak to some whose hearts are wedded to the
world, who love the world’s ways? Perhaps in your personal life, or in relationship to your
parents, or in your social life where you take so lightly the sanctity of the body, you show
what you are. Maybe some of you are involved in fornication, in heavy petting, involved
in looking at the kind of stuff on television and in the cinema that feeds your lust, and yet
you name the name of Christ. You live in the hog-pens and then go to a house of God
on Sunday. Shame on you! Leave your hog pens, your haunts of sin. Leave your
patterns and practices of fleshly and carnal indulgence. Repentance is being sorry
enough to quit your sin. You will never know the forgiving mercy of God while you are
still wedded to your sins.
Repentance is the soul’s divorce from sin but it will always be joined to faith.
What is faith? Faith is the casting of the soul upon Christ as he is offered to us in the
Gospel.
Forsaking All I Take Him. That is faith! ‘As many as received him, to them gave he the
right to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name’ [John 1.12].
Faith is likened to drinking of Christ. In my soul-thirst I drink of him. Faith is likened to
looking to Christ. Faith is likened to following Christ, fleeing to Christ. The Bible uses](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-34-320.jpg)
![many analogies and the sum of all of them is this, that in the nakedness of my need I
cast myself upon the Saviour, trusting him to be to me all that he has promised to be to
needy sinners.
Faith brings nothing to Christ but an empty hand by which it takes Christ and all
that is in him. And what is in him? Full pardon for all my sins! His perfect obedience is
put to my account. His death is counted as mine. And the gift of the Spirit is in him.
Adoption, sanctification and ultimately glorification are all in him, and faith, in taking
Christ, receives all that is in him. ‘But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, whom God has
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption’ [1 Cor
1.30].
What is a biblical Christian?
A biblical Christian is a person who has wholeheartedly complied with the divine
terms for obtaining the divine provision for sin. Those terms are repentance and
faith. I like to think of them as the hinge on which the door of salvation turns. The
hinge has two plates. One that is screwed to the door and the other screwed to the
door jam. They are held together by a pin and on that hinge the door turns. Christ
is that door, but none enter through him who do not repent and believe, and there
is no true hinge made up only of repentance. A repentance that is not joined to
faith is a legal repentance. It terminates on yourself and on your sin.
A professed faith that is not joined to repentance is a spurious faith, for faith Is faith in
Christ to save me, not in but from my sin. Repentance and faith are inseparable and
except you repent you will perish. He that believeth not shall be damned.
4. A TRUE CHRISTIAN IS A PERSON WHO MANIFESTS IN HIS LIFE THAT HIS CLAIMS TO
REPENTANCE AND FAITH ARE REAL
Paul said that he preached that men should repent and turn to God and do works meet
for, answering to, consistent with, repentance [Acts 26.20]. ‘By grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man
should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works
which God before ordained that we should walk in them’ [Eph 2.8-101. Paul says in
Galatians chapter 5, that faith works by love.
Wherever there is true faith in Christ there will always be implanted genuine love
to Christ and where there is love to Christ there will be obedience to Christ.
True faith always works by love, and what does it work? A life of obedience! ‘He
that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me. He that loves me
not, keeps not my sayings’ [John 14.21-24].
We are not saved by loving Christ, we are saved by trusting Christ, but a trust that
produces no love is not real. True faith works by love, and that which love works is not](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-35-320.jpg)
![the ability to sit out on a beautiful starlight night writing poetry about how exciting it is to
be a Christian.
It works by causing you to go back into that home and to obey your father and your
mother as the Bible tells you to do, or back to that university campus to take a stand for
truth and righteousness against all the pressure of your peers.
True faith makes you willing and prepared to be counted a fool and crazy, willing to be
considered anachronistic, because you believe that there are eternal, unchangeable,
moral and ethical standards. You are willing to believe in the sanctity of human life, and
to take your stand against pre-marital sex and the murdering of babies in mothers’
wombs. For Jesus said, ‘Whoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he
comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels’ [Mark 8.38]. What is a Bible
Christian? Not merely one who says, ‘Oh, yes, I know I am a sinner, with a bad record
and a bad heart. I know that God’s provision for sinners is in Christ and in his cross,
adequate, freely offered to all, and I know it comes to all who repent and believe’. That is
not enough. Do you profess to repent and believe? Then can you make that profession
stick, not by a life of perfection but by a life of purposeful obedience to Jesus Christ?
‘Not everyone who says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven’, Jesus
said, ‘but he who is doing the will of my Father who is in heaven’ [Matt 7.21]. In
Hebrews 5.8 we read, ‘He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him’ I
John 2.4, ‘He that says, I know him, and keeps not his commandments is a liar and the
truth is not in him.’
Can you make your claim to be a Christian stick from the Bible? Does your life manifest
the fruits of repentance and faith? Do you possess a life of attachment to Christ, of
obedience to Christ and confession of Christ? Is your behaviour marked by adherence to
the ways of Christ? Not perfectly — No! every day you must pray, ‘Forgive us our sins as
we forgive those who trespass against us’. But you can also say, ‘For me to live is
Christ’, or Jesus I my cross have taken All to leave and follow thee.
The world behind me, the cross before me, I have decided to follow Jesus. That is what
a true Christian is. How many of us are real Christians? I leave you to answer in the
deep chambers of your own mind and heart. But, remember, answer with an answer that
you will be prepared to live with for eternity. Be content with no answer but that which
will find you comfortable in death and safe in the day of judgment.
Author
Al Martin is pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, 116 Horseneck Road, Montv ille, New Jersey 07045, U.S.A., and an Associate Edit or of the Banner of Truth
magazine. This address was giv en at the Banner of Truth Youth Conf erencee
EVANGELISTIC MALPRACTICE
William MacDonald](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-36-320.jpg)
![There is a curious problem today in the evangelical [and fundamental] world — one that poses
sobering questions for the church and for the individual believer. The problem in brief is this: a
great army of personal soul-winners has been mobilized to reach the populace for Christ. They
are earnest, zealous, enthusiastic, and persuasive. To their credit it must be said that they are
on the job. And it is one of the phenomena of our times that they rack up an astounding number
of conversions. Everything so far seems to be on the plus side.
But the problem is this: The conversions do not stick. The fruit does not remain. Six months later
there is nothing to be seen for all the aggressive evangelism. The capsule technique of soul
winning has produced stillbirths.
What lies at the back of all this malpractice in bringing souls to the birth? Strangely enough it
begins with the valid determination to preach the pure gospel of the grace of God. We want to
keep the message simple — uncluttered by any suggestion that man can ever earn or deserve
eternal life. Justification is by faith alone, apart from the deeds of the law. Therefore, the
message is “only believe.”
From there the message is reduced to a concise formula. For instance, the evangelistic process
is cut down to a few basic questions and answers, as follows:
“Do you believe you are a sinner?” “Yes.”
“Do you believe Christ died for sinners?” “Yes.”
“Will you receive Him as your Savior?” “Yes.”
“Then you are saved!” “I am?” “Yes, the Bible says you are saved.”
At first blush the method and the message might seem above criticism. But on closer study we
are forced to have second thoughts and to conclude that the gospel has been over-simplified.
The first fatal flaw is the missing emphasis on repentance.
There can be no true conversion without conviction of sin. It is one thing to agree that I
am a sinner: it is quite another thing to experience the convicting ministry of the Holy
Spirit in my life. Unless I have a Spirit-wrought consciousness of my utterly lost
condition, I can never exercise saving faith. It is useless to tell unconvicted sinners to
believe on Jesus — that message is only for those who know they are lost. We sugar-
coat the gospel when we de-emphasize man’s fallen condition. With that kind of
watered-down message, people receive the Word with joy instead of with deep
contrition. They do not have deep roots, and though they might endure for a while, they
soon give up all profession when persecution or trouble comes (Matt. 13:21). Many have
forgotten that the message is repentance toward God as well as faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ.
A second serious omission is a missing emphasis on the Lordship of Christ.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/evangelismsalvationcorrectlydone-150211080557-conversion-gate01/85/Evangelism-salvation-correctly-done-37-320.jpg)
Evangelism salvation correctly done
Francis Schaeffer argues that evangelicals must take truth seriously and preach and practice biblical truth, even when it is costly. He makes three main points: 1. Evangelicals must accept and preach propositional biblical truth rather than viewing religious truth as only psychological. They must take a stand for truth and against what contradicts God's word. 2. Evangelicals must carefully consider the purity of the visible church and what church discipline and living according to doctrine means. 3. If evangelicals practice "latitudinarianism" or compromise central truths, they will lose credibility with a skeptical world that does not believe truth is possible. They must practice what they preach about truth.
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Evangelism salvation correctly done
- 1. THE PREACHING AND THEPRACTICE OF TRUTH Second, we and our churches must take truth seriously. The great tragedy is that in all our countries, evangelicalism under the name of evangelicalism is destroying evangelicalism. Orthodoxy under the name of orthodoxy is destroying orthodoxy. Take the Free University of Amsterdam, that great school which under Abraham Kuyper really spoke for God, not only in theology but in its understanding of culture. Today the Theology Department in the Free University discredits the Scripture. In America it is the same. We have theological seminaries that call themselves evangelical and no longer hold to the Scriptures, especially the first half of Genesis, as fully inspired in their historic content. In England it is the same. T. H. Huxley spoke as a prophet in 1890 when he said that there would come a day when faith would be separated from all fact (especially all pre-Abrahamic history), and faith would go on triumphant forever. That is where not only the liberal theologians are, but also the evangelical, orthodox theologians who begin to tone down on the truth, the propositional truth of Scripture which God has given us. The key here is antithesis. If a statement is true, its opposite is not true. We must take this very seriously. Many of us in the name of evangelicalism are letting it slip through our fingers. Unless we accept the modern twentieth-century concept that religious truth is only psychological truth, then if there is that which is true, the opposite is not true. Two religions that teach exactly opposite things may both be wrong, but they cannot both be right. We must act upon, witness, and preach this fact: what is contrary to God’s revealed propositional truth is not true, whether it is couched in Hindu terms or traditional Christian terms with new meanings. All the areas of our personal and corporate life, especially our corporate religious life, must be affected. The early church allowed itself to be condemned, both by the secular and religious authorities. They said, “We must preach, we must witness publicly; we must obey God rather than man.” In Acts 4:19, 20 they said: In obedience to God, we must say what we have seen, and we must say what we have heard regardless of any authority that would tell us to be quiet. They practiced antithesis. Students from London School of Economics, Harvard, the Sorbonne, from Africa and Asia and from the ends of the earth, have come to L’Abri with their packs on their backs. But if you think they would listen to us if we were not willing to say that what Christianity teaches (what God has spoken) stands as an antithesis to its opposite, you do not understand your own children or your own age. Our credibility is already minus 5 if we do not say what is false and wrong in contrast to what is true and right. It is minus 405 if we are not willing to stand practically in the arena of antithesis. Some Christians think they will be listened to more if they give in a bit at some points concerning the Scripture, but they are mistaken—they have given away the answers which are needed.
- 2. But if firstwe must speak Christianity with a clear content and an emphasis on truth as over against what is not true, equally we must practice truth. This was the stress in my speech to the Berlin Congress on Evangelism, “The Practice of Truth,” and it has been what I have stressed at many places, and at many times, since. We must practice the truth even when it is costly. We must practice it when it involves church affiliation or evangelistic cooperation. There is a difference between having a public discussion with a liberal theologian and inviting him to pray in our program. There is a difference between personal fellowship with a Christian and publicly acting in such a way that others would conclude it makes no difference when central points have been compromised. This is a time to show to a generation which thinks that the concept of truth is unthinkable that we do take truth seriously. This means we must carefully consider the principle of the purity of the visible church and what discipline in regard to both life and doctrine means. We may differ at certain points in application, but the concepts must be discussed and put into practice under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Two biblical principles have to be considered in their interrelationship: (1) the principle of the purity of the visible church; and (2) the principle that the world has a right to judge whether we are Christians and whether the Father sent the Son, on the basis of observable love shown among all true Christians. If we practice latitudinarianism either individually or corporately in an age like our own, we have removed our credibility before the non-Christian, post-Christian, relativistic, skeptical, lost world. If you think that those who have rejected the plastic culture and are sick of hypocrisy are going to be impressed when you talk about truth and at the same time practice untruth, you are wrong. They will never listen. You have cut the ground from under yourself. We live in a generation that does not believe that such a thing as truth is possible, and if you practice untruth while talking about truth, the real thinkers will just say, “Garbage!” Author Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer is widely recognized as one of the most influential Christian thinkers of the day. He is the author of twenty-two books which have been translated into twenty-five foreign languages, with more than three million copies in print. Dr. Schaeffer has lectured frequently at leading universities in the U.S. and abroad. With his wife, Edith, the Schaeffers founded L’Abri Fellowship, an international study center and community in Switzerland with branches in England, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.S. Among Dr. Schaeffer’s most influential books are The God Who Is There, Escape From Reason, He Is There and He Is Not Silent, and The Mark of the Christian. His two most recent books — How Should We Then Live? and Whatever Happened to the Human Race? (written with Dr. C. Everett Koop) — have also been produced as major film series. Whether in books, films or the work of L’Abri, Dr. Schaeffer has proclaimed a common theme — the uncompromising Truth of historic, biblical Christianity and its relevance for all of life.
- 3. The God WhoIs There, Escape From Reason, He Is There and He Is Not Silent, and The Mark of the Christian. His two most recent books — How Should We Then Live? and Whatever Happened to the Human Race? (written with Dr. C. Everett Koop) What is it to Preach the Gospel? a sermon by Henry Mahan For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! — 1 Corinthians 9:16 The greatest man of apostolic times was the apostle Paul — no question about that. Paul was the greatest man in everything he did and if you go back to the time when his life was not lived in Christ, through Christ and for Christ, he was even great in what he did then. Someone said Paul was great in everything he did whether it was good or whether it was bad because he did nothing half way. If you consider him as a sinner, he was exceeding sinful — that's what he said, "exceeding sinful." If you consider him as a persecutor, he was mad against Christians — he persecuted them even in strange cities. He was not content to persecute those at home — he had to travel even to Damascus with letters giving him permission to destroy the people of Christ. If you consider the apostle as a convert, his conversion was remarkable; he met Christ in a real and personal way on the road to Damascus, blinded by the light, falling into the dust, looking up into that light, crying, "Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?" If you consider this man as a preacher of the gospel, he stands out as the prince of preachers, the greatest of them all, crying, "I am ready to preach the gospel to them that are at Rome also; I am determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified." "God forbid," he said, "that I should glory save in the cross of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." Whatever Paul did, he did with all his heart; he did nothing halfway. if he was rebelling, he was rebelling; if he was bowing, he was bowing; if he was worshipping, he was worshipping; if he was preaching the gospel, he was preaching the gospel. There was no nonsense in anything he did when it came to speaking about God. When he wrote this text, "for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel," he writes it with an unshaking hand; he writes it with a firmness, with a dedication and with a determination! "I preach the gospel. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel." No nonsense in anything connected with the praise of God, with the worship of God, with the glory of God, or with the gospel of God. Now we need to learn this. I want you to turn to Psalm 89, verse 7. The Scripture says, "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him." In the Old Testament when one spoke of a genuine believer; when one spoke of a man who worshipped God and walked with God, do you know how he was described? "One that feared the Lord." Do you know how the rebels of our day are described? Do you know how men are described, women, boys and girls who do not know God, who are not children of God? They are said to be those who have "no fear of God before their eyes." Now what I'm saying is, the apostle Paul, whatever he did, he did it one hundred percent; whatever he did, it was no half-way measure.
- 4. And particularly whenit came to the gospel; when it came to worship; when it came to preaching Christ; when it came to the praise of God, there was no nonsense about this man. Ecclesiastes 5:1 — "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." Turn to the book of Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 20, and listen to this: "but the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before him." Now the words of our text are applicable to every minister of the gospel and to every church where the gospel is to be preached. In our text, 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul says seriously, sincerely, in simplicity, in boldness, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, "though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of." What is it to preach the gospel? Is everybody preaching the gospel? No! Is everybody who claims to preach the gospel preaching the gospel? No! What is it to preach the gospel? To Preach the Gospel is. . . To Tell The Truth About God First, to preach the gospel is to preach the truth about God. 1. We preach the God of eternal existence. The Scripture says, "in the beginning God." When Moses came to the burning bush, God said, "Go down and deliver my people out of Egypt." Moses said, "whom shall I say hath sent me?" and God replied, "I am." Not, I was; not I shall be, but I AM ? the eternal I AM ?the everlasting I Am ? I Am that I Am! 2. We preach the God of creation. "All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made." In him we move, we live and we have our being. God created all things. 3. We preach the God of sovereign mercy. The Scripture says "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." The Bible says, "I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." We preach the God of mercy, yes, but sovereign mercy; the God of grace, yes, but sovereign grace. God will be gracious to whom he will be gracious ? he owes no man anything; if he bestows grace, his mercy, it is sovereignly bestowed. He is an immutable sovereign, and unchanging sovereign. 4. We preach the God of righteousness. Our Lord said, "I will in no wise clear the guilty. The soul that sinneth it shall die. Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." God Almighty is a righteous God — He is a holy God, therefore, Christ Jesus came into the world that God might be just and justify the ungodly. We preach a God that cannot show his love at the expense of his holiness. We preach a God that cannot show mercy at the expense of his truth ? and only at Calvary can mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss one another. The God we preach is the God of righteousness, and 5. He's the God of unchanging grace. "I am the Lord," he said, "I do not change; therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed "Why is there no fear of God before the eyes of this generation? They've heard preached a false god; they've heard preached a weak god; they've heard preached a failing god; they've heard preached a disappointed god; they've heard preached a god whose hands are tied; they've heard preached a god who says I have no eyes but your eyes; I have no feet but your feet; I have no hands but your hands. That's a lie. The God of the Bible is totally and completely independent of his creatures as far as his
- 5. strength, his wisdom,his power, his beauty and his glory are concerned. We do not add to his glory — we receive and share in his glory. The God we preach is the God of eternal existence, the God of creation, the God of sovereign mercy, the God of righteousness, and the God of unchanging grace. He is the God upon whom we depend; the God to whom we look; and the God without whom we can't exist! All things that we have we receive of him — we return nothing but that which he gives us. What is it to preach the gospel? It is to preach the truth about God. To Tell The Truth About Man Secondly, what is it to preach the gospel? It's to preach the truth about man. Men do not want to hear the truth about God; and they do not want to hear the truth about themselves. But gospel preachers preach the truth, not only about God, but the truth about the sinner, and they leave that sinner empty, broken and destroyed with all his foundations of flesh swept from under him, and all his self-righteous rags stripped from off him, leaving him naked and unclothed before the searchlight of God's holiness. What does the Bible say about man? It says in Romans 10:3, "there is none righteous, no not one, there is none that understandeth; there is none that seek after God." What are men seeking? Seeking their own pleasure; seeking their own comfort; seeking their own glory; seeking their own wills; seeking their own satisfaction — everybody seeks his own, they do not seek God. "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, for there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Christ said, "you have not the love of God in you." Somebody says, "Well, I love people." No you don't. You just consider who you love. You love yourself. You try to think this minute — is there anybody in this world you really love? Well, you say, "I love my wife" — that's yourself. That's your wife. Well, "I love my mother and father" — that's still loving yourself — that is not loving anybody — you love them because they are your mother and father. Well, "1 love my son or daughter" — your son and daughter — do you love anybody else's son or daughter? "I love my brothers and sisters" — that's yourself. Well, "I love my Saviour; my own personal Saviour." That's loving yourself. If he weren't your Saviour, you would not love him. Everything you love is connected with your own sinful, selfish self ? your whole world revolves around yourself ? your own pleasures, your own delights, your own passions, your own seeking. "There is none good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongues they have used deceit the poison of snakes is under their lips; their mouths are full of cursing, bitterness, murmuring, complaining, fault- finding, gossip, back-biting — their feet are swift to shed blood — destruction and misery are in their ways — the way of peace, they know nothing about it." There's no genuine, honest, sincere fear of God before their eyes — they don't fear God; they do not tremble at the presence of God; they don't fall at his feet as dead men — even religious worshippers today don't fear God. If they feared God, they would be silent in the presence of God; they would choose their words carefully; their worship would be marked, not by shouting, but by awesome reverence and fear. Job said, "when I saw the Lord, I said I have spoken once, yea, twice, but I'll never speak again." John said, "when I saw the Lord, I fell at his feet as a dead man — my eyes have seen the Lord." Isaiah said, "When I saw the Lord, I cried, woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips — when I saw the Lord I saw my guilt." The average person goes to church and he comes away feeling good. If the preacher had preached the truth about man, they would have come away from that place crying, "O, God, be merciful to me a sinner!"
- 6. To Tell TheTruth About Christ Thirdly: What is it to preach the gospel? It is to tell the truth about God and man, and it is to tell the truth about Jesus Christ. My friends Jesus of Nazareth is not a weak, frustrated reformer; Jesus Christ of Nazareth is very God of very God. He is the Messiah. He did not die as a martyr; he did not die as an example — he came down here and died on the cross as the victorious, conquering, successful Redeemer of his people. He died as the covenant Redeemer. He died for the covenant people — he died to accomplish a task given him by the Father before the world's creation. When he completed his suffering on Calvary, he said, "It is finished." He cannot fail! Christ is not a frustrated Redeemer; he is not a disappointed Saviour; he is not a defeated Saviour; he is not a poor, weak, reformer up there in heaven, crying his eyes out because people won't let him have his way. He is the conquering, victorious Messiah who is seated at the right hand of the Father, expecting until his enemies become his footstool! He is the Lord of the living and the dead. A preacher said to a congregation one time, "won't you make Jesus your Lord?" I emphatically declare to this congregation that you cannot make Jesus Christ your Lord — the Father has already beat you to it! He is your Lord! He is your Lord if you are saved; he is your Lord if you are damned! He is your Lord if you are on the right hand with his sheep; he is your Lord if you are on the left hand with the goats! He is your Lord! Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess in heaven, earth and hell that he is Lord. You don't make him Lord — you recognize him as Lord. God made him Lord. The Father has delivered all things to the Son; the Scripture says, he is the Lord. He purchased that right through his death on Calvary. Jesus Christ is not a fire escape from hell, he is the Lord; he is not a door-mat named Jesus, he is Lord. If any man shall confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in his heart that God has raised him from the dead, he shall be saved. His life is a perfect righteousness; his death a perfect sacrifice. We?d better start telling the truth about this man called Jesus. To preach the gospel is to tell the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not here to pastor a church; I'm here to preach the gospel. I'm not here to see how many people I can baptize, I'm here to preach the gospel. And I did not come to preach it with wisdom of words lest I cover the cross of Christ so that man can't even recognize it because of my intellectuality or my vocabulary. To Tell The Truth About Salvation Fourthly: I am come to preach the gospel and tell the truth about God, about men, about Christ and to tell the truth about salvation. Now let me tell you something: this thing of salvation — we use that word rather loosely in this day ? salvation from sin is not by the deeds of the law. Even those who are supposed to know something about salvation by grace have to remind themselves again and again that salvation is not by the works of the flesh, not at all, in any way! Salvation is not by reformation; salvation does not come by decision; salvation does not come through church ordinances; salvation is not ours by church membership; salvation is in Christ the Lord. That's where salvation is — not in man's purpose, not in man's plan, it's in a person. It's not in a proposition, it's not in walking an aisle, it's not in a church ordinance, it's in Christ! It's not in a law; it's not in the deeds of the flesh; salvation is in Christ. A man does not have salvation until he comes by the power of God's Spirit through faith to a living, personal, vital, intimate union with Christ as the Lord. A man is not a Christian until he has a vital union with Christ. A man is not a Christian until he is inseparably joined — personally joined to Jesus
- 7. Christ. A manis not a Christian until Christ becomes his life. A man is not a Christian unless you can cut into his heart and find love for Christ; cut into his mind and find thoughts of Christ; and cut into his soul and find a panting after Christ. Christ in you, that's the hope of glory. The Holy Spirit convicts a man of sin; the Holy Spirit empties a sinner; the Holy Spirit brings a man to faith in the Son of God — faith in the living Lord. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. Most people's so-called Christianity can be taken off with their Sunday clothes; but a man who is genuinely saved has Christ living in him as an everlasting fountain springing up into everlasting life — he's been born-again — he's been resurrected from the grave — he has the very image of the Son of God stamped on his heart and it cannot be moved. What is it to preach the gospel? There are not many folks preaching the gospel because there are not many people telling the truth about God. Everybody has a god. But eternal life is to know the living God, What is it to preach the gospel? It's to tell the truth about man, and we are not going to like what we hear. It's to tell the truth about, Christ, and it's to tell the truth about salvation. Nothing To Glory Of In Preaching The next thing that Paul deals with here is "though I preach the gospel I have nothing to glory of. Why is it that we who preach the gospel have nothing to glory of? Well, firstly, we are conscious of our guilt. Any man who is not conscious of his own guilt can't preach the gospel because he doesn't know the gospel. And you can't tell what you don't know any more than you can come back from where you haven't been. A man who preaches the gospel is conscious of his own guilt. The man who was led of the Spirit to write this Scripture said, "I am not worthy to be an apostle, I see no worthiness in myself." Later on he said, "I am less than the least of all the saints" — pick out the least saint in God?s house and I am less than the least saint. Then later on he said, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." I wonder if I asked this morning, "Will the chief of sinners please stand?" — would anybody really stand? No, we wouldn't stand. But the apostle Paul said that the man who really knows God feels that way. When somebody asked, "Paul, who is the chief of sinners?" He replied, "I am." Dr James M. Gray wrote this: "suffer a sinner whose heart overflows, loving his Saviour to tell what he knows; once more to tell it would I embrace — what do you want to tell, Dr. Gray — "I'm only a sinner, saved by grace." A man who really knows God never graduates above that statement right there — "I'm only a sinner saved by grace." He may grow in grace, grow in talent, grow in gifts and grow in knowledge, but he's still only a sinner saved by grace. We have nothing to glory of, we're just using borrowed gifts. Turn to 1 Corinthians 4, and listen to verse 7 — "Who maketh thee to differ?" Are you able to preach — who gave you the power? Do you have a little more than somebody else — who gave it to you? Do you have more talents than the next fellow — who made you to differ? "What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if you received it, why dost thou glory?" Why do you glory in your beauty? — God gave it to you. Why do you glory in your strength? Without God you would not have it. Why do you glory in your wealth? God gave it to you. Why do you glory in your talent, in your singing ability? Why do you glory in your ability to play an instrument? You couldn't play the radio without God's grace — you'd be a simpleminded imbecile. Who made you to differ? What do you have that God didn't give you? If you are walking around with something, something somebody gave you, why are you bragging as if you have it of your own natural ability? Why do you think that you are better
- 8. than anybody else?Only God's merciful grace; God's gracious grace enables you to be anything but a stuttering, stammering moron. Let me tell you a story. Charles Spurgeon wrote this in 1855, "Last week the quiet neighborhood of Newtown was disturbed by an occurrence which has thrown a gloom over the whole neighborhood. Something dreadful happened. A well-known teacher, a man who had been principal of the academy for young men for years, who was my own professor, has become mentally deranged, he has lost his mind. A warrant had to be issued for his arrest, and while waiting for the vehicle to carry him away to the institution for the mentally insane, this old white- haired man who had been principal stood on the porch of his home, where he had lived all his life before his friends and neighbors, handcuffed to two policemen. He was then led away. He was my teacher, he was the man from whom I learned whatever human learning I have acquired. He was a man of genius, a man of ability! How fallen, how fallen." How quickly can human nature sink below the level of the beast. Who made you to differ? What do you have that you have not received? Salvation is the gift of God! Faith is the gift of God! Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of — nothing! I can't break the heart — the Holy Spirit must do that; I can't convict men of sin — God has to do that I can't give repentance and faith — God must do that; I can't reveal Christ — this, too, is the Spirit's work. If my words are the only voice you hear, you'll just have to perish — you've got to hear him speak from heaven. Necessity Laid Upon Me To Preach Read the next line of our text — "Necessity is laid upon me." Why is it necessary for me to preach the gospel? Preacher, why are you so compelled; why is it that every time you speak it's always Christ and him crucified — the gospel? I'll tell you why — because of the truth and the beauty of the gospel. I see in the gospel of substitution a beauty beyond all things. I see in the gospel of Jesus Christ the good news of the Son of God, the truth of God. Only Christ can meet the perfect law. Only Christ can satisfy the justice of God. Only Christ can open the way for us into the holiest of all, into the presence of the Father. Only Christ can supply the need of the bankrupt sinner, and only Christ can keep me from falling. "Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and who is able to present you faultless before the throne and the presence of his glory with exceeding joy; to him be glory both now and forever." That's why it's necessary for me to preach the gospel: the beauty of it, the glory of it, the truth of it. I could tell you that salvation is in the church, but it wouldn't be true. I could tell you to come down here and shake my hand and God would take you to heaven, but it would be a lie. I could tell you, let me baptize you, and by obeying the baptismal commandment you will go to heaven, but it wouldn't be so. I could tell you that if you live a good life and pray and go to church on Sunday and give a little offering, God will take you to heaven when you die, but it wouldn't be so. I could tell you to quit drinking, quit going to the picture show and live a good, moral life and you will go to heaven when you die, but that would be a lie — it wouldn't be so. But when I tell you that Christ died for our sins; that Christ is a sufficient Saviour; that Christ is an effectual substitute who came down here and gave us a righteousness which we didn't have and couldn't produce, went to the cross, bore our sins, paid our debt, satisfied the justice of God; that he is our living advocate at the right hand of the Father; and that if you come to a living, vital union with him, you'll be saved — that's the truth, and the only truth that will make you free.
- 9. Woe Is UntoMe If I Preach Not I wish I had the ear of every preacher in the world right now, not that I deserve to preach to preachers, but I know this is so — it doesn't matter if a little child says it, or an ignorant person says it, or who says it — Paul said it first, the Holy Spirit inspired him to say it, "Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel." I'm in trouble, real trouble. I cannot think of any crime — I can't think of a crime more terrible than to be intrusted with the immortal souls of eternity-bound boys and girls, young people, men and women, like every preacher is in-trusted every Sunday, and then stand up here and waste this precious time talking about myself, about my problems or my so- called denomination or my church, or talk about my ideas of what is right and what is wrong. I cannot think of a more terrible crime than to be intrusted with the souls of men and women who are sitting before us, some of whom may be in hell before next Sunday, and take that time singing a bunch of ditties, carrying on with foolishness, and making a mockery of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't think of a more awful crime against society than to deceive people who are given to us to instruct in the things of the Lord. I've got to preach the gospel — woe is unto me if I don't. God have mercy, and he won't, if I don't! Woe unto the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, woe unto the Christ-crucifiers of Jerusalem, but double woe upon the preachers and shepherds and pastors who for advantage, filthy lucre and praise of men deceive men's souls — God help them, but he won't. Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel, and there's not another one, it's the gospel of Christ. If an angel from heaven preach unto you any other gospel, Paul said, "let him be accursed." Now if you want to play games, you play them, but you play them somewhere else — I'm going to preach the gospel here. If you want to play church, you play it, but you play it somewhere else. I'm preaching as a dying man to dying men; I'm preaching as one who may never preach again, and under God I'm going to tell you the truth. I say this in closing, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel; but I have something to tell you: woe is unto you if I preach it and you do not believe it. You may not understand it; and it may not fit in with your tradition; and it may not fit into your denominational pattern, and I'm sure if it's the gospel it won't because Christ didn't fit the denominational pattern when he came down here either — he didn't fit into their religious theology; he didn't fit into their tradition; and he didn't fit into their mold; and they crucified him! My message may not fit what Mama taught you, but Mama wasn't sent of God to preach the gospel — I am. If I didn't believe that, I'd quit. Do you see what I'm saying? I'm saying, "woe is unto you, woe is unto the Tri-state area, and woe is everybody under the sound of my voice, if I preach the gospel and you do not believe it. I'm willing to take my medicine, if I don't preach the gospel; but you get ready to take yours, if I do and you do not receive it — is that fair? I preach the gospel, Paul says! I don't have anything to glory of — I'm just a sinner saved by grace. Necessity is laid upon me — I've got to preach the gospel, for woe is unto me if I don't preach it. Now will you say this — I believe the gospel, but if I believe the gospel, I don't have anything to glory of — will you say that? God gave me the knowledge; God gave me the repentance; God gave me the faith. For necessity is laid upon me — I've got to believe the gospel, because there's no truth anywhere else; there's no beauty anywhere else; there's no hope anywhere else; no refuge anywhere else — necessity is laid upon me — can you say that? And can you go on and finish — woe is unto me if I don't believe the gospel. That's all I've got to say. Now it's between you and God — I leave it with you.
- 10. This sermon wasfirst published in the Baptist Reformation Review, Nashville, Tennessee. by Mitch Cervinka How important are the doctrines of grace? Are they central to the Christian faith, or are they merely peripheral doctrines reserved for the more mature? Must a person believe the doctrines of grace to be saved? Should Calvinism be preached to the unsaved? Is Calvinism the gospel? These are important questions. To answer them properly, we need to define what we mean by “Calvinism” and what we mean by “the gospel.” Then we need to find the answers to these questions in God’s Word. What do we mean by “the Gospel”? The word “gospel” translates the Greek word euaggelion, which literally means “good message” or “message of good news.” When we speak of the Gospel, we normally mean the good news about salvation. There are at least two different things which might be meant when we ask “Is Calvinism the Gospel?” First, we might mean “Is Calvinism the good news about God’s salvation of men?” Does Calvinism declare to us how God saves men? Is the Gospel merely contained in Calvinistic teaching, or is Calvinism in its sum and substance a description of what God does to save men? Second, we might mean “Must a person believe the doctrines of God’s sovereign grace in order to be saved?” Is Calvinistic truth an essential object of saving faith? These two different meanings of the expression “the Gospel,” though related, are quite distinct. It is entirely possible, in principle, that Calvinism is a full description of how God saves men, yet contains more than is absolutely needed as the object of faith. Thus, there could be one sense in which Calvinism is the Gospel, and another sense in which it is not. What do we mean by “Calvinism”? The word “Calvinism” has been used in a variety of ways. 1. In its broadest sense, “Calvinism” refers to that view of God which sees Him as the Sovereign Ruler of the universe—that, before He created anything, He determined the course of the universe: from the smallest sub-atomic particles to the greatest galaxies; from the course of natural events, such as weather and earthquakes, to the very actions and thoughts of men. This includes every thought and every action, from the womb to the grave, of every man who would ever live. These were not only foreseen or permitted by God, but also planned and purposed by Him.
- 11. Moreover, Calvinism teachesthat God, in His Providence, intervenes in His creation when and however He pleases. At times, He is pleased to allow secondary and contingent causes to take their course. At other times, He deliberately intervenes, sometimes in very subtle, inconspicuous ways, and sometimes in very overt, spectacular ways. In short, Calvinism says that God is both the Architect and Master of all things. Nothing takes God by surprise, or is outside the realm of His control. This broad definition of Calvinism includes the doctrines related to salvation, but includes much more as well. 2. In a more focused sense, “Calvinism” refers to God’s sovereignty in the context of salvation. The Five Points of Calvinism (TULIP) represent an eloquent summary of this: Total Depravity - Men are so ruined by sin that they will not, indeed, cannot bring forth genuine repentance or saving faith apart from God’s regenerating power. Nor can they in any way improve their spiritual condition or prepare themselves to receive the grace of God. Unconditional Election - Before He created the world, God in mercy freely chose certain individuals to receive salvation. His choice was not based upon anything He foresaw in them, such as faith, good works, repentance, their decision to believe, or their willingness to cooperate with Him. He saw that they were dead in trespasses and sins, and totally unwilling to seek Him. The cause for any man’s salvation lies entirely in God, and not in the individual. Limited Atonement - Christ bore the full penalty of sin for all God’s elect. His death effectually and eternally saves all for whom He died. He emptied the cup of God’s wrath for each of them, so that, on the judgment day, God will have no reason or basis to condemn them. Had Christ died for all men, then no one could ever be condemned. Thus, Christ’s death is “limited” to the elect only. (Those who deny this doctrine limit the death of Christ much more severely, by denying the ability of the cross to save men). Irresistible Grace - Unregenerate man is unwilling and unable to come to God. An individual exercises genuine faith and repentance when and only when he has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. The new heart imparted by the Holy Spirit is the source of all true Christian graces, including saving faith and repentance. Perseverance of the Saints - Those whom the Father chose, the Son redeemed, and the Spirit regenerates are the objects of God’s eternal love and care. The Father’s election of them is eternal and unchanging. The Son’s redemption of them is comprehensive and complete. The Spirit’s work in their hearts is effective and abiding. The Holy Trinity is united in their resolve and efforts to save the elect, and so there is no possibility that any of the elect could totally or ultimately fall away and be lost. Is Calvinism the good news about God’s salvation of men?
- 12. It should beobvious that “Calvinism” in this second sense is squarely focused on the issues of salvation. In a very real sense, the Five Points of Calvinism are the Gospel of our salvation, for they carefully define man’s need of God’s grace, and summarize the great acts performed by the Triune God to save men from their sins. The Arminian “gospel” redefines the gospel doctrines of depravity, election, redemption, regeneration, and grace. Under the Arminian system, man is not so depraved that he cannot savingly believe in Christ. Thus, man’s need of salvation is greatly compromised by Arminianism. Under the Arminian system, God chose certain men only because He foresaw that they would believe. Thus, God’s plan of salvation is greatly compromised by Arminianism. Indeed, this is a great denial of God’s freedom to help needy sinners, for those who most need His help are those who would never have believed apart from God’s Irresistible Grace. Redemption under the Arminian system cannot save anyone unless man contributes his own faith. Thus, the price of our salvation and the worth of Christ’s blood to save guilty sinners is greatly compromised by Arminianism. Under the Arminian system God cannot regenerate a man until he responds in faith to the Gospel (whereas Calvinism teaches that faith is a fruit and evidence of regeneration). Thus, God’s power and freedom to bring about our salvation is greatly compromised by Arminianism. And Arminianism views “grace” merely as a universal provision of salvation for all men, who may then receive it or reject it as they choose. On the other hand, the Calvinistic concept of grace is that God does everything necessary for our salvation: choosing us (when we would not choose Him), redeeming us (effectually, with no restraining conditions) and powerfully regenerating us (thereby giving us a new heart which erupts forth in genuine, loving faith), when we were still dead in our sins and unbelief. To suppose that the Gospel could have any sensible meaning in a theological vacuum is ludicrous. The “gospel” of Arminianism is but a man-centered, man-glorifying counterfeit of the Biblical gospel. The doctrines represented by the TULIP are not mere window dressing. They are nothing less than a precise, Biblical definition of what salvation is all about. In this sense, the TULIP is very much the Gospel. Is belief in Calvinism essential to salvation? No one would claim that a perfect understanding of every doctrinal issue involved in Calvinism is required for salvation. But how much Calvinism, if any, is required? First, let us clarify one point: When we speak of certain beliefs being necessary for salvation, we do not mean that a person acquires salvation because of or on the basis of believing certain truths. Salvation is strictly by the sovereign decree of God, the
- 13. substitutionary work ofChrist and the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, and is never based upon anything which man does or wills (Romans 9:16). What we mean when we speak of a doctrine being “necessary for salvation” is this: When the Holy Spirit regenerates us, He gives us a new heart and brings forth saving faith from this new heart. What is it that saving faith believes? What constitutes the object of saving faith? We affirm that saving faith believes in Christ and in His death and resurrection. It does not believe merely in the objective facts of His life, death and resurrection, but also trusts the person, Christ Jesus, who died and rose for us, as Lord and Savior. However, it must believe in certain specific objective facts about the Lord Jesus, to ensure that it is the true, historical, eternal, resurrected God-man, Jesus, that is the object of faith, rather than a deceptive, imaginary counterfeit. Thus, saving faith believes in the deity of Christ, and in the saving, substitutionary aspects of His death and resurrection. Saving faith also believes in the truthfulness of God’s Word, the Bible. But does saving faith necessarily believe anything that is distinctively Calvinistic? I submit the following items for your consideration: Salvation requires belief in the One True God. What is the most basic attribute of God? His holiness and love are certainly essential and pre-eminent among His splendors. Nevertheless, the very definition of God is that He is the Sovereign Master of His universe. Worldly philosophers may be satisfied with a merely “Supreme” being, but the Bible declares our God to be the Sovereign Master of the universe. What is the difference between “Supreme Being” and “Sovereign Master”? The expression “Supreme Being” only means someone who is greater than everyone else. A “Sovereign Master” is in constant control of all things. Among God’s creatures, Satan is the Supreme Being, being more powerful than any other creature, but he is not Sovereign, for he cannot control all things. It is proper to indict the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons of believing in false gods because they deny the full deity of Christ, or assert that there are other gods besides the God of the Bible. If someone were to question God’s holiness, faithfulness, justice, truthfulness, omnipotence or omniscience, should we not question his salvation? Why is it that we do not regard disbelief in God’s sovereignty an equally serious error which may well indicate that he has never experienced the grace of God? We have a responsibility to warn people against seriously defective views of God.
- 14. I fear thatwe have been so conditioned by Arminian teaching that we no longer regard it as the serious heresy it is. I do not claim that a person with Arminian views is assuredly unsaved, just as we cannot assume that every Calvinist is saved. But we should not treat Arminianism lightly. It is a serious error to deny God’s sovereignty. Salvation requires belief and realization that we are spiritually bankrupt and need God’s grace. Men today are often led to believe that God will give them eternal life in return for believing in Christ. Faith in Christ is often viewed as a work which man can perform to obtain salvation. But genuine faith in Christ is born out of a sense of despair and helplessness, and the recognition that our only hope of salvation is to plead forgivness from the One we have so greatly offended. Perhaps such a faith is possible under the Arminian scheme, but far more often it seems that Arminians brag on their own accomplishments and contributions to salvation, and give very little credit to God. Calvinism strips man of any hope of attaining salvation through his own efforts or devices, thereby leading him to the very sense of despair and helplessness that is necessary for genuine saving faith. Comment: Calvinism takes away from man of any hope of receiving salvation through his own efforts or ideas thus leading him to the very sense of despair and helplessness that is necessary for genuine saving faith. Critics of Calvinism suppose that such utter despair will keep people from believing in Christ. On the contrary, it is from such fertile ground that genuine faith springs forth! As long as we continue to harbor the idea that we can do something to obtain salvation, our faith will be some impure mixture--trusting God to make salvation available to us, and trusting our own decision or faith to provide the essential ingredient. Once we understand that we can contribute nothing to our salvation, it is then that we look to God alone for mercy and forgiveness. When the Calvinist says “God, in mercy, opened my heart and brought me to Himself,” the Arminian will typically say “I saw my need of a Savior, and I decided to repent and trust in Christ.” Is this merely a different way of saying the same thing, or does it betray a different kind of faith? Whom does the Arminian credit for his salvation? Certainly not Christ alone. Again, I do not wish to dogmatically assert that one who says “I decided ...” is unsaved, but should we not at least consider whether such thinking is inconsistent with saving faith? Is it possible that we are giving individuals a false sense of assurance when we tell them that they can be saved by believing in a “God” who is not the Sovereign Master of His universe, or in a “salvation”which is partly God’s work and partly man’s? Salvation requires belief in Christ’s Substitutionary death.
- 15. Without question, oneof the most essential elements of saving faith is trust in Christ’s sacrificial death for guilty sinners. The doctrine of substitution is at the very heart of the Gospel... 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 - “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” 2 Corinthians 5:21 - “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.” The sacrifice of Christ is the very source and basis of our salvation. We are saved from our sin because He bore the penalty for our sin. The wrath which God bore against us has been swallowed up by the Cross of Christ. If Christ died for you, then God has no wrath left to pour out upon you. Christ did not merely sip from the cup of God’s wrath— He drank the cup dry! When we say that Christ died for all men, we cheapen His sacrifice, for Scripture plainly declares that all men will not be saved. 1. To say that Christ died for every man would mean that the death of Christ, in itself, is insufficient to save anyone. 2. The Arminian “gospel” adds a qualification or condition to the work of Christ. It says “It is not enough that Christ died for you—now you must do your part by believing in Him.” Thus, we add man’s faith or decision to believe, as a second requisite to salvation. This divides the glory for man’s salvation between Christ who died for us, and the faith-giver (whether it be man himself, or the Holy Spirit), and it thereby belittles Christ and His sacrificial death. The object of faith is no longer Christ’s death alone, but is partly the death of Christ, and partly the act of faith. We must raise the troubling question: “If your faith does not reside wholly in Christ’s sacrifice, is it saving faith?” Many deceive themselves into thinking that they believe in the Cross alone for salvation, when their theology betrays their true convictions by insisting that the Cross cannot save anyone unless man does his part by believing. What can we conclude? God is the final judge of men’s hearts. He has the sovereign power to quicken people in response to the preaching of Christ. He is full of mercy, and may indeed bring forth genuine faith in response to a seriously flawed presentation of
- 16. the Gospel. Butwe must remember that the character of saving faith is that it is humble, loving and obedient to God. Those who are truly saved may initially be greatly confused about the doctrines of salvation, but God will faithfully lead them into His truth with the passing days and years, as they faithfully study His Word and are taught by His Spirit. Arminians who have a gracious, humble spirit should not be treated as unbelievers. Even so, we should remember that one of the greatest dangers is a false assurance of salvation. Given that Arminian doctrine denies God His full glory, we should be more willing to examine it critically and to ask the hard, unpopular question: “Is it consistent with saving faith?” “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:” (2 Peter 1:10) We should stand firm for the Gospel of God’s glorious sovereign grace, teaching it faithfully, that our weaker brothers may become more assured of their calling and election. Should Calvinism be included in our presentation of the Gospel? Even if we conclude that Calvinism, though desirable to be believed, is not absolutely essential to saving faith, we still must ask whether it is appropriate to include it in our presentation of the gospel. Must Calvinism be included in the Gospel presentation? It is popular in our day to try to eliminate all “nonessential” features from the gospel message, mainly in an attempt to find common ground with others who profess faith in Christ, and to appear accepting, loving and tolerant of others. However, as each generation strips away another layer of what they suppose to be “nonessential” doctrine, we find that the content of our present Gospel has become very meager indeed. Instead of asking “How little must one believe to be saved?” we should instead ask “How may we preach the Gospel in all its fullness and glory?” If we are truly concerned with the salvation of men, we must turn the Gospel fire up brightly that its light and warmth may be witnessed by all. A tiny spark of a minimalistic gospel can still be used in God’s sovereign hand to save whom He will. However, He is likely to be far more glorified in a bold, clear presentation of His Gospel of sovereign grace. HOW IS THE BEST WAY TO APPROACH THE UNDERSTANDING OF DOCTRINE? We should also be concerned that the “minimized” Gospel may have gone too far, draining the very heart from the Gospel. We must be on guard against a mere shadow of the Gospel which does not possess the necessary object of saving faith.
- 17. A perhaps morecommon problem is that often the Gospel, while declared accurately, is expressed in terms which have not been adequately explained to the hearers. For example, the Gospel could be stated in this way: “Christ died for sinners so that every one who believes in Him will be saved.” This statement is true, and certainly contains the basic thought of the gospel. However, when we declare this truth to an individual, can we be certain that he understands it the same way we mean it? Does he know what it means to be a “sinner”? Does he understand the statement “Christ died for sinners” to mean that Christ died as their Substitute, bearing the penalty for their sins? What does he make of the statement “every one who believes in Him will be saved”? Perhaps he views his faith as a work which he can perform to merit salvation. Indeed, does he even understand what it means to be saved? Stripping the Gospel down to a bare-bones statement is not a wise course. The unsaved need more than a Gospel-statement declared to them. Instead, they need to have Gospel-truths explained to them. And when we explain the Gospel fully and accurately, we must tell them the depth of their depravity and declare the great acts which each member of the Trinity has done to save sinners: choosing, redeeming and regenerating them. In short, we need to tell them the TULIP. When we explain the Gospel to them in this way, we can have greater assurance that they will not misunderstand the Gospel. It has been rightly said that the doctrines of grace stand as sentinels, guarding the Gospel of salvation. Only the Lord can open men’s hearts to receive the Gospel, but if we are careful to include the doctrines of grace in our Gospel preaching, we will avoid giving men the false assurance that comes from embracing a defective concept of the Gospel message. Is it wrong to include Calvinism in the Gospel presentation? Men often assume it is wrong to preach Calvinism to the unsaved, because they suppose that 1) Calvinism is not the Gospel, and 2) Calvinism will prejudice them against believing the Gospel. However, such thinking betrays a distrust of God’s power, and a presumption that our Gospel must be in some sense man-pleasing in order to be effective. We need only consider the example of our Lord to see that it is perfectly appropriate to preach Calvinistic doctrines openly to the unsaved. John 6:36-39 - “But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that
- 18. of all whichhe hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” John 6:43-45 - “Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” John 6:64-66 - “But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that [time] many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” Jesus openly taught the multitudes that there were certain ones whom the Father gave to Him, and they are the ones who would come to Him and be saved. He taught that no one could come to Him unless he was drawn (literally “dragged”) by the Father. He taught that God would teach certain ones, and that everyone so taught would come to Him. Here our Lord clearly taught the doctrines of Sovereign Election, Total Depravityand Irresistible Grace to a crowd which contained many unbelievers. And significantly, when He repeated (in verse 65) that no one could come to Him unless it had been granted by the Father, many of His disciples “went back and walked no more with Him .” Why did they forsake our Lord? John says it was “From that time”—i.e. this statement that no one could come to Him unless the Father granted it to them. In other words, they forsook Christ over the doctrines of Total Depravity and Irresistible Grace. Suppose a “disciple” today gets upset over these doctrines and leaves the church. Is he saved? What if he had been living in our Lord’s day and had heard these doctrines preached by Christ? Would he have forsaken our Lord when He preached them? This should give us cause for great concern over those who will not tolerate the doctrines of grace. Just as importantly, it shows that we should not hold back teaching the TULIP just because we fear someone may get angry and leave. Our responsibility is to faithfully proclaim God’s glorious Word, and to leave the results to Him. We have no reason to suppose that we are exempted from openly teaching the doctrines of grace, when our Lord gave us such a clear model to follow. 1. John 6 is not the only such example. 2. John 10:11 - “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
- 19. 3. John 10:26- “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.” Notice that our Lord plainly taught Limited Atonement when He said “the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.” Notice also that He openly told some of His hearers that they were not His sheep (and thus that He did not die for them!) Finally, notice the relationship between believing and being a sheep. The reason they did not believe was that they were not sheep! Arminian doctrine would like to turn the passage around. But our Lord’s statement clearly teaches Irresistible Grace. Peter on Pentecost openly taught God’s sovereignty to the unsaved when He said: Acts 2:23 - “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:” When Judas betrayed Christ, it was by God’s “predetermined plan and foreknowledge.” Peter openly declared this truth to the unsaved multitude on Pentecost, and it did not seem to hinder the visible success of his preaching, but instead led to a revival of 3000 souls led to the Lord. Rather than preventing men from trusting in Christ, proclaiming God’s sovereign glory can be greatly used of God to bring about great revival. Arminianism depicts God as a weak, frustrated deity who cannot accomplish His will: He wants all men to be saved, and has done all that He can to bring it to pass, but still a vast multitude reject Christ to their own ruin. Calvinism, on the other hand, proclaims God as the Sovereign Lord of the universe who has from eternity planned and purposed all that will ever come to pass. God will save each and every one He has purposed to save, and this will exalt His marvelous mercy and grace. God has appointed the rest to follow their own sinful impulses down the wide path that leads to destruction, and this will exalt His awesome holiness and justice. When we proclaim such a God as this, we should be prepared for great things. Paul’s epistle to the Romans was written to a church which he had never, as yet, visited. The epistle was addressed to To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called [to be] saints: This means that the epistle was to be read to (or by) every saint in the church, no matter how new to the faith. Romans is universally regarded as one of the most evangelical of the books of the Bible. In this epistle, Paul proclaims much that we normally think of as Gospel material: man’s sin and depravity, justification by faith alone, and even the spiritual conflict of the Christian life. But in chapters 8, 9 and 11, he makes some very strong statements about God’s sovereignty in salvation...
- 20. Romans 8:29 -“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.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. What shall we then say to these things? If God [be] for us, who [can be] against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? [It is] God that justifieth.” Romans 9:8-23 - “That is, 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. For this [is] the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. And not only [this]; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, [even] by our father Isaac; (For [the children] being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? [Is there] unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will [have mercy], and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed [it], Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? [What] if God, willing to shew [his] wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,...” Imagine the impact this must have had upon new converts in the Roman church! Yet, Paul did not pull any punches. He was not fearful that openly preaching God’s sovereignty would cause people to turn away from Christ, for he was fully confident that every truly elect person would persevere by God’s sovereign power. Indeed, he no doubt felt that to omit proclaiming God’s sovereignty would have betrayed the trust which God had given him. To preach the Gospel rightly, we declare the awesome glories of God— especially His sovereignty.
- 21. We should rememberPaul’s declaration to the Ephesian elders: Acts 20:27 - “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” It appears that he did not shun to declare “the whole purpose of God” to the Roman saints, either. The entire spectrum of doctrine, from the basic issues of sin and justification, to the doctrine of God’s sovereign choice of some and hardening of others, is boldly declared in the epistle to the Romans. May God grant us such boldness! Romans 11:4-10 - “But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to [the image of] Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then [is it] no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if [it be] of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.” The faith of the early church. The early church was not ashamed of the doctrines of grace. There is no evidence that they entertained any Arminian leanings. We have already looked at some of their teaching and preaching. We should also notice the way they thought and prayed. Consider, for example, the prayer of the Church when the apostles were first arrested for preaching the gospel, and then threatened and released with the command, “...not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 4:18). Acts 4:27-31 - “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” If the early Church was so thoroughly saturated with this confidence in God’s Sovereign will and power, then we must conclude that they openly and frequently preached, prayed, taught and discussed God’s sovereignty. Another clear evidence that the early Christians fully believed in God’s sovereignty is provided by a statement in Paul’s epistle to the Philippian church...
- 22. Philippians 1:29 -“For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” 1. Notice that this verse clearly teaches Irresistible Grace—faith in Christ is something which God grants to us. But notice also that Paul assumed that the Philippian saints already understood and fully embraced this doctrine, for he argues that God has “not only” granted us faith, “but also”grants to us the privilege of suffering for Christ. Paul evidently knew that the Philippians rejoiced in God’s Irresistible Grace, but felt that they may have found the doctrine of suffering for Christ more difficult to accept. 2. Again, this ties in perfectly with the fact that Paul boldly proclaimed God’s sovereign grace in his epistle to the Romans. God’s sovereignty is much too necessary to effective Christian devotion, worship, sanctification and service to keep it hidden away in seminary classrooms and theological journals. It is the very lifeblood of the Christian faith, and should be joyously proclaimed as the glorious Gospel of God’s surpassing grace. Concluding observations. Those who view Calvinism merely as a doctrinal aberration or hobby will no doubt regard this inquiry to reflect a certain doctrinal arrogance. There are many who regard Calvinism as suitable only for graduate-level courses at a seminary or Bible college. But those who have been made, by God’s refreshing Spirit, to taste the sweetness of the doctrines of grace, can never regard God’s sovereign mercy with such disdain. To us, Calvinism is the very Gospel itself, declaring the great acts by which our Sovereign Triune God chooses, redeems, cleanses and preserves His beloved people. The Doctrine of Grace or Calvinism in salvation: "Whimsy" or unusual it is not an excessive extent or degree, beyond what is desirable, or fitting Calvinism is not merely a quaint intellectual curiosity—it is a revolutionary way of thinking about God and salvation! It is revolutionary in the most Biblical, devout and God-honoring way. It proclaims a God who is truly glorious, and a salvation that is truly gracious. It exalts Christ’s redemptive sufferings by acknowledging that they are fully efficacious in saving all for whom they were intended. It crushes human pride by insisting that, apart from regeneration, men are wholly unwilling and unable to come to God or to trust in Christ. Let us therefore rejoice in our sovereign God, and in His sovereign mercy to us! Let us joyfully proclaim His glories to a lost world—a world which needs to know that there is a God in heaven—a God who is infinitely worthy of all honor, glory, fear and love. May He be forever praised! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- 23. http://evangelicalarminians.org/files/The%20Diversity%20of%20Arminian%20Soteriology %20%28Pinson%29_1.pdf THE DIVERSITY OFARMINIAN SOTERIOLOGY:THOMAS GRANTHAM, JOHN GOODWIN, AND JACOBUS ARMINIUS By J. Matthew Pinson 13 pages http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/47/47-1/47-1-pp121-136_JETS.pdf JETS47/1 (March 2004) 121–36 IS THERE A REFORMED WAY TO GET THE BENEFITS OFTHE ATONEMENT TO “THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD?” r. todd mangum 16 pages http://www.theopedia.com/Salvation Salvation:Salvation[1] refers to the act of God's grace in delivering his people from bondage to sin and condemnation, transferring them to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col. 1:13), and giving them eternal life (Romans 6:23)—all on the basis of what Christ accomplished in his atoning sacrifice. The Bible says we are saved by grace through faith; and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). In theology, the study of salvation is called soteriology, from the Greek soteria meaning "salvation". Salvation, virtually synonymous with the overall concept of redemption, includes a past, present, and future sense. As Christians, we were saved from the penalty of sin when God brought us to faith in Christ; we are presently being saved from the power of sin as the Holy Spirit sanctifies us; and we will someday be saved from the presence of sin when we meet Christ face to face in glory. This idea is presented below in terms of initial, progressive, and final salvation. Calvinism, Classical Arminianism, Doctrine of Election, Hermeneutics, Molinism, Philosophy: Theology's Handmaiden,Theologically Miscellaneous,What The Bible Says ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It has been pictured in this way. Here is a vast host of people hurrying down the broad road with their minds fixed upon their sins, and one stands calling attention to yonder door, the entrance into the narrow way that leads to life eternal. On it is plainly depicted the text, "Whosoever will, let him come." Every man is invited, no one need hesitate. Some may say, "Well, I may not be of the elect, and so it would be useless for me to endeavor to come, for the door will not open for me." But God's invitation is absolutely sincere; it is addressed to every man, "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely" (Rev. 22: 17). If men refuse to come, if they pursue their own godless way down to the pit, whom can they blame but themselves for their eternal judgment? The messenger addressed himself to all, the call came to all, the door could be entered by all, but many refused to come and perished in their sins. Such men can never blame God for their eternal destruction. The door was open, the invitation was given, they refused, and He says to them
- 24. sorrowfully, "Ye willnot come unto Me, that ye might have life." ... [But some will say], "I am going inside: I will accept the invitation; I will enter that door," and he presses his way in and it shuts behind him. As he turns about he finds written on the inside of the door the words, "Chosen in Christ before the foundation ofthe world. (H.A. Ironside) Calvin's Commentaries Complete http://www.biblestudyguide.org/comment/calvin/comm_index.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other voices. J. I. Packer, Introductory Essay to Owen’s The Death of Death (London: Banner of Truth, 1983). ... Without realising it, we have during the past century bartered that gospel for a substitute product which, though it looks similar enough in points of detail, is as a whole a decidedly different thing. Hence our troubles; for the substitute product does not answer the ends for which the authentic gospel has in past days proved itself so mighty. The new gospel conspicuously fails to produce deep reverence, deep repentance, deep humility, a spirit of worship, a concern for the church. Why? We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centred in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be “helpful” to man—to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction—and too little concerned to glorify God. The old gospel was “helpful,” too—more so, indeed, than is the new—but (so to speak) incidentally, for its first concern was always to give glory to God. It was always and essentially a proclamation of Divine sovereignty in mercy and judgment, a summons to bow down and worship the mighty Lord on whom man depends for all good, both in nature and in grace. Its centre of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the centre of reference is man. This is just to say that the old gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach men to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and His ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed. C. H. Spurgeon, Election, (delivered September 2, 1855 at New Park Street Chapel). It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines, which are called by nickname Calvinism, but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make a pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me. Were I a Pelagian, or a believer in the doctrine of free-will, I should have to walk for centuries all alone. Here and there a heretic of no very honourable character might rise up and call me brother. But taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the
- 25. ancients peopled withmy brethren--I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God’s own church. And, lest this should be too high for you, note the other mark of election, which is faith, “belief of the truth.” Whoever believes God’s truth, and believes on Jesus Christ, is elect. I frequently meet with poor souls, who are fretting and worrying themselves about this thought—”How, if I should not be elect!” “Oh, sir,” they say, “I know I put my trust in Jesus; I know I believe in his name and trust in his blood; but how if I should not be elect?” Poor dear creature! you do not know much about the gospel, or you would never talk so, fo he that believes is elect. ... A.W. Pink, Gleanings in the Godhead (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), pp. 124-125. There is a continual need to return to the great fundamental of the faith. As long as the age lasts the Gospel of God’s grace must be preached. The need arises out of the natural state of the human heart, which is essentially legalistic. The cardinal error against which the Gospel has to contend is the inveterate tendency of men to rely on their own performances. The great antagonist to the truth is the pride of man, which causes him to imagine that he can be, in part at least, his own savior. This error is the prolific mother of a multitude of heresies. It is by this falsehood that the pure stream of God’s truth, passing through human channels, has been polluted. Now the Gospel of God’s grace is epitomized in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” All genuine reforms or revivals in the churches of God must have as their basis a plain declaration of this doctrine. ... After Luther came a still more distinguished teacher, John Calvin. He was much more deeply taught in the truth of the Gospel, and pushed its central doctrine of grace to its logical conclusions. As Charles Spurgeon said, “Luther had, as it were, undammed the stream of truth, by breaking down the barriers which had kept back its living waters as in a great reservoir. But the stream was turbid and carried down with it much which ought to have been left behind. Then Calvin came, and cast salt into the waters, and purged them, so that there flowed on a purer stream to gladden and refresh souls and quench the thirst of poor lost sinners.” WHAT IS A BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN? [What is a Biblical Christian?] Albert N. Martin There are many matters concerning which total ignorance and complete difference are neither tragic nor fatal. I believe many of you are probably totally ignorant of Einstein’s theory of relativity and if you were pressed to explain it to someone you would really be in difficulty. Not only are you ignorant of Einstein’s theory of relativity, you are probably quite indifferent, and that ignorance and indifference is neither fatal nor tragic.
- 26. The theory ofrelativity, or simply relativity in physics, usually encompasses two theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity.[1] (The word relativity can also be used in the context of an older theory, that of Galilean invariance.) Concepts introduced by the theories of relativity include: Measurements of various quantities are relative to the velocities of observers. In particular, space contracts and time dilates. Spacetime: space and time should be considered together and in relation to each other. The speed of light is nonetheless invariant, the same for all observers. The term "theory of relativity" was based on the expression "relative theory" (German: Relativtheorie) used in 1906 by Max Planck, who emphasized how the theory uses the principle of relativity. In the discussion section of the same paper Alfred Bucherer used for the first time the expression "theory of relativity" (German: Relativitätstheorie).[2][3] The theory of relativity transformed theoretical physics and astronomy during the 20th century. When first published, relativity superseded a 200-year-old theory of mechanics created primarily by Isaac Newton.[4][5][6] General relativity is a theory of gravitation developed by Einstein in the years 1907–1915. The development of general relativity began with the equivalence principle, under which the states of accelerated motion and being at rest in a gravitational field (for example when standing on the surface of the Earth) are physically identical. The upshot of this is that free fall is inertial motion: an object in free fall is falling because that is how objects move when there is no force being exerted on them, instead of this being due to the force of gravity as is the case in classical mechanics. This is incompatible with classical mechanics and special relativity because in those theories inertially moving objects cannot accelerate with respect to each other, but objects in free fall do so. To resolve this difficulty Einstein first proposed that spacetime is curved. In 1915, he devised the Einstein field equations which relate the curvature of spacetime with the mass, energy, and momentum within it. In the field of physics, relativity improved the science of elementary particles and their fundamental interactions, along with ushering in the nuclear age. With relativity, cosmology and astrophysics predicted extraordinary astronomical phenomena such as neutron stars, black holes, and gravitational waves.[4][5][6] some of the consequences of general relativity are: 1. Clocks run slower in deeper gravitational wells.[8] This is called gravitational time dilation. 2. Orbits precess in a way unexpected in Newton's theory of gravity. (This has been observed in the orbit of Mercury and in binary pulsars).
- 27. 3. Rays oflight bend in the presence of a gravitational field. 4. Rotating masses "drag along" the spacetime around them; a phenomenon termed "frame-dragging". 5. so Technically, general relativity is a theory of gravitation whose defining feature is its use of the Einstein field equations. The solutions of the field equations are metric tensors which define the topology of the spacetime and how objects move inertially. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity I am sure there are few of us who can explain all the processes by which a brown cow eats green grass and gives white milk. It does not keep you from enjoying the milk. But there are some things concerning which ignorance and indifference are both tragic and fatal and one such thing is the Bible’s answer to the question I am about to set before you. ‘What is a biblical Christian?’ In other words, when does a man or woman, a boy or girl, have the right to take to himself or herself the name Christian, according to the Scriptures? We do not want to make the assumption lightly that you are true Christians. I want to set before you four strands of the Bible’s answer to that question. 1. ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE A CHRISTIAN IS A PERSON WHO HAS FACED REALISTICALLY THE PROBLEM OF HIS OWN PERSONAL SIN Now one of the many unique things about the Christian faith is this —unlike most of the religions of the world, Christianity is essentially and fundamentally a sinner’s religion. When the angel announced to Joseph he approaching birth of Jesus Christ, he did so in these words, ‘Thou halt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins’ [Matt 1.21]. The apostle Paul wrote in I Timothy 1.15, ‘This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’. He came into the world to save sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ himself says in Luke 5.31- 32, ‘Those that are healthy do not need a doctor but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’. And the Christian is one who has faced realistically this problem of his own personal sin. When we turn to the Scripture and seek to take in the whole of its teaching on the subject of sin, right down to its irreducible minimum, we find that the Scripture tells us that each one of us has a two-fold personal problem in relation to sin. On the one hand, we have the problem of a bad record and, on the other, the problem of a bad heart. If we start in Genesis 3 and read that tragic account of man’s rebellion against God and his fall into sin, then trace the biblical doctrine of sin all the way through the Old Testament, and on into the New, right through to the Book of Revelation, we shall see that it is not over-simplification to say that everything that the Bible teaches about the doctrine of
- 28. sin can bereduced to those two fundamental categories — the problem of a bad record and the problem of a bad heart. What do I mean by ‘the problem of a bad record’? I am using that terminology to describe what the Scripture sets before us as the doctrine of human guilt because of sin. The Scripture tells us plainly that we obtained a bad record long before we had any personal existence here upon the earth ‘Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned’ [Rom 5.12]. When did the ‘all’ sin? We all sinned in Adam. He was appointed by God to represent all of the human race and when he sinned we sinned in him and fell with him in his first transgression. That is why the apostle writes in 1 Corinthians 15.22, ‘As in Adam all die’. We passed our age of accountability in the Garden of Eden and from the moment Adam sinned we were charged with guilt. We fell in him in his first transgression and we are part of the race that is under condemnation. Furthermore, the Scripture says, after we come into being at our own conception and subsequent birth additional guilt accrues to us for our own personal, individual transgressions. The Word of God teaches that there is not a just man upon the face of the earth who does good and does not sin [Eccles 7.20], and every single sin incurs additional guilt. Our record in heaven is a marred record. Almighty God measures the totality of our human experience from the moment of our birth by a standard which is absolutely inflexible; a standard that touches not only our external deeds but also our thoughts and the very motions and intentions of our heart; so much so, that the Lord Jesus said that the stirring of unjust anger is the very essence of murder, the look with intention to lust as adultery. And God is keeping ‘a detailed record’. That record is among ‘the books’ Which will be opened in the day of judgment [Rev 20.12]. And there in those books is recorded every thought, every motive, every intention, every deed, every dimension of human experience that is contrary to the standard of God’s holy law, either failing to measure up to its standard or transgressing it. We have the problem of a bad record — a record in which we are charged with guilt; real guilt for real sin committed against the true and the living God. That is why the Scripture tells us that the entire human race stands guilty before Almighty God [Rom 3.19]. 1. Has the problem of your own bad record ever become a burning, pressing personal concern to you? 2. Have you faced the truth that Almighty God judged you guilty when our first father sinned, and holds you guilty for every single word you have spoken contrary to perfect holiness and justice and purity and righteousness?
- 29. 3. He knowsevery object you have touched and taken contrary to the sanctity of property and every word spoken contrary to perfect, absolute truth. Has this ever broken in upon you, so that you awakened to the fact that Almighty God has every right to summon you into his presence and to require you to give an account of every single deed contrary to His law, which has brought guilt upon your soul? Certainly we have the problem of a bad record but we have an additional problem — the problem of a bad heart. We not only are pronounced guilty in the court of heaven for what we have done. The Scripture teaches that the problem of our sin is one that arises not only from what we have done, but from what we are. When Adam sinned he not only became guilty before God, but defiled and polluted in his own nature. The Scripture describes it in Jeremiah 17.9, ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?’ Jesus describes it in Mark 7.21, ‘From within, out of the heart of man, proceed...’and then He names all the various sins that can be seen in any newspaper on any day — blasphemies, pride, adulteries, murder. Jesus said that these things rise out of this artesian well of pollution, the human heart. Notice carefully that he did not say, ‘For from without, by the pressure of society and its negative influences, come forth murder and adultery and pride and thievery’. That is what our so-called sociological experts tell us. It is ‘the condition of society’ that produces crime and rebellion. Jesus says it is the condition of the human heart. For from within, out of the heart, proceed these things — lies, selfishness, self-centredness, total pre- occupation with my feelings and my desires and my plans and my perspectives. We have hearts that the Scripture describes as ‘desperately wicked’ — the fountain of all forms of iniquity. To change the biblical imagery, Romans 8.7 reads, ‘The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be’. Paul says that the carnal mind, that is, the mind that has never been regenerated by God, is not reflective of some enmity; he calls it enmity itself. ‘The carnal mind is enmity against God’. The disposition of every human heart by nature can be visually pictured as a clenched fist raised against the living God. This is the inward problem of a bad heart — a heart that loves sin, a heart that is lie fountain of sin, a heart that is at enmity with God. And such is the problem that every one of us has by nature. Has the problem of your bad heart ever become a pressing personal concern to you? I am not asking whether you believe in human sinfulness in theory. Oh, there is such a thing as a sinful nature and a sinful heart. My question is: Have your bad record and your bad heart ever become a matter of deep, inward, personal, pressing concern to you? Have you known anything of real, personal, inward consciousness of the awfulness of your guilt in the presence of a holy God? — the horribleness of a heart that is ‘deceitful above all things and desperately wicked’?
- 30. A Bible Christianis a person who has in all seriousness taken to heart us own personal problem of sin. Now the degree to which we may feel the awful weight of sin differs from one person to another. The length of time over which a person is brought to the consciousness of his bad record and his bad heart differs. There are many variables, but Jesus Christ as the Great Physician never brought his healing virtue to any who did not know themselves to be sinners. He said, ‘I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’ [Matt 9.13]. Are you a Bible Christian, one who has taken seriously your personal problem of sin? 2. A BIBLE CHRISTIAN IS ONE WHO HAS SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED THE ONE DIVINE REMEDYFOR SIN In the Bible we are told again and again that Almighty God has taken the initiative in doing something for man the sinner. The verses some of us learned in our infancy underscore divine initiative in providing a remedy or sinful man: ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son . . .’; ‘Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent us Son to be the propitiation for our sins’; ‘But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us. . .’ [John 3.16; 1 John 10; Eph 2.41. You see, the unique feature of the Christian faith is that it not a kind of religious self-help where you patch yourself up with the aid of God. Just as surely as it is a unique tenet of the Christian faith that Christ is a Saviour for sinners, so it is also a unique tenet of the Christian faith that all of our true help comes down from above and meets us where we are. We cannot pull ourselves up by our own boot-strings. God in mercy breaks in upon the human situation and does something which we could never do for ourselves. Now when we turn to the Scriptures we find that the divine remedy has at least three simple but profoundly wonderful focal points: (a) First of all, that divine remedy is bound up in a Person. Anyone who begins to take seriously the divine remedy for human sin will notice in the Scriptures that the remedy is not in a set of ideas, as though it were just another philosophy, nor is it found in an institution, it is bound up in a Person. ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son’. ‘Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save. . .’ He, himself, said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by me’ [John 14.6]. That one divine remedy is bound up in a Person and that Person is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ — the eternal Word who became man, uniting to his Godhead a true human nature. Here is God’s provision for man with his bad record and his bad heart, a Saviour who is both God and man, the two natures joined in the one Person for ever. And your personal problem of sin, and mine, if it is ever to be remedied in a biblical way will be remedied only as we have personal dealings with that Person. Such is the unique strand of the Christian faith — the sinner in all his need united to the Saviour in all the plenitude of his grace, the sinner in his
- 31. naked need andthe Saviour in his almighty power, brought directly together in the Gospel. That is the glory of the Gospel! (b) It is centred in the cross upon which that Person died. A cross that leads to an empty tomb, yes! And a cross preceded by a life of perfect obedience, yes! And when we turn to the Scriptures we find that the divine remedy in a unique way is centred in the cross of Jesus Christ. When he is formally announced by John the Baptist, John points to him and says, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who is bearing away the sin of the world’ [John 1.29]. Jesus himself said, ‘I did not come to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give my life a ransom for many’ [Matt 20.28], and true preaching of the Gospel is so much centred in the cross that Paul says it is the word, or the message of the cross. The preaching of the cross is ‘to them who are perishing foolishness, but unto us who are being saved it is the power of God’ [1 Cor 1.18], and this same apostle went on to say that when he came to Corinth — that bastion of intellectualism and pagan Greek philosophy with its set patterns of rhetorical expertise — ‘I came amongst you determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ and him as crucified’ [1 Cor 2.2]. You see, God’s gracious remedy for sin is not only bound up in a Person, it is centred in the cross of that Person — not The cross as an abstract idea, nor as a religious symbol, but the cross in terms of what God declares it to mean. The cross was the place where God heaped upon his Son, by imputation, the sins of his people. On that cross there was substitutionary curse-bearing. In the language of Galatians 3.13, ‘God made him to be a curse for us’; ‘God made him to be sin for us’ [2 Cor 5.2] — the one who knew no sin. It is not the cross as some nebulous, indefinable symbol of self- giving love, it is the cross as the monumental display of how God can be just and still pardon guilty sinners; the cross where God, having imputed the sins of his people to Christ, pronounces judgment upon his Son as the representative of his people. There on the cross God pours out the vials of his wrath, unmixed with mercy, until his Son cries out, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? why have you forsaken me?’ [Psa 22.1; Matt 27.46].
- 32. There in thevisible world at Calvary, God, as it were, was demonstrating what was happening in the invisible spiritual world. He shrouds the heavens in total darkness to let all mankind know that he is plunging his Son into the outer darkness of the hell which your sins and my sins deserved. Jesus hangs on the cross in the place of an undefended guilty criminal; he is in the posture of one for whom society has but one option, ‘Away with him’, ‘Crucify him’, ‘Hand him over to death’, and God does not intervene. There in the theatre of what men can see, God is demonstrating what he is doing in the realm where we cannot see. He is treating his Son as a criminal, he is causing him to feel in the depths of his own soul all of the fury of the wrath that should have been vented upon us. (c) A remedy that is adequate for and offered to all without discrimination. Before we have any felt consciousness of our sin, about the easiest thing in the world is to think that God can forgive sinners. But when you and I begin to have any idea at all of what sin is — we, little worms of the dust, we creatures whose very life and breath is held in the hands of the God in whom ‘we live and move and have our being’ [Acts 17.28] — when we begin, I say, to take seriously that we have dared to defy Almighty God who holds our breath in his hands, the God who, when angels rebelled against him, did not wait to show mercy but consigned them to everlasting chains of darkness with no way of mercy ever planned or revealed to them, then our thoughts are changed. Once we take seriously the truth that it is this holy God who sees the effusions of the foul, corrupt human hearts which are yours and mine, then we say, ‘O God, how can you be anything other than just; and if you give me what my sins deserve, there is nothing for me but wrath and judgment! How can you forgive me and still be just? How can you be a righteous God and do anything other than consign me to everlasting punishment with those angels that rebelled’. When you begin to take your sin seriously, forgiveness becomes the most knotty problem with which your mind has ever wrestled. It is then that we need to know that God has provided in a Person, and that Person crucified, a remedy that is adequate for and offered to all without discrimination. When God begins to make us feel the reality of our sin, if there were any conditions placed on the availability of Christ we would say, ‘Surely I don’t meet the conditions, surely I don’t qualify’, but the wonder of God’s provision is that it comes in these unfettered terms: ‘Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; he who has no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you labour for that which does not satisfy’ [Isa 55.1 -2]. ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Him that comes unto me I will in no wise cast out’ [Matt 11.28; John 6.37]. Oh, the beauty of the unfettered offers of mercy in Jesus Christ! We do not need to have God step out of heaven and tell us that we, by name, are warranted to come; we have
- 33. the unfettered offersof mercy in the words of his own Son, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. 3. A BIBLE CHRISTIAN IS ONE WHO HAS WHOLEHEARTEDLY COMPLIED WITH THE DIVINE TERMS FOR APPROPRIATING THE DIVINE PROVISION The divine terms are two — repent and believe. That is what Jesus preached, ‘At that time Jesus came preaching, Repent and believe the gospel’ [Mark 1.15, 16]. It is what Paul preached. He says, ‘I testified to Jews and Greeks wherever I went, repentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ’ [Acts 20.21]. This is the Gospel that Jesus told his own to preach [Luke 24.45, 46]. He opened their minds to understand the Scripture and told them it was necessary for Christ to die, and to be raised again from the dead the third day, that repentance unto remission of sins should be preached in his name among all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. What are the divine terms for obtaining the divine provision? We must repent, we must believe. Now because we have to speak in terms of one word following another, or preceding another, we must not think that this repentance is ever divorced from faith or that this faith is ever divorced from repentance. True faith is permeated with repentance, true repentance is permeated with faith. They inter-penetrate one another so that, whenever there is a true appropriation of the divine provision, there you will find a believing penitent and a penitent believer. The one will never be divorced from the other. What is repentance? The definition of the Shorter Catechism is an excellent one: ‘Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of (that is, a laying hold of) the mercy of God in Christ, does with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience’. Repentance is the prodigal down in the far country coming to his senses. He left his father’s home because he could not stand his father’s government. Everything about his father’s will and ways irritated him. It was a constant block to following the desires of his own foul, wretched, sin-loving heart. The day came when he said he wanted what was due to him. He went into the far country. When he left he had a notion of his father, of his government and of his ways, which was entirely negative, but the Scripture tells us in Luke 15 that down in the far country he came to himself: ‘And when he came to himself he said, I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants’. And then the Scripture says he did not sit there and think about it, and write poetry about it and send telegrams home to his Dad. It says,
- 34. ‘He rose upand came to his father’. He left all those companions who were his friends in sin; he loathed and abominated and abhorred everything that belonged to that life-style. He turned his back on it. And what was it that drew him home? It was the confidence that there was a gracious father with a large heart and with the righteous rule for his happy, loving home. And he said, ‘I will arise and go to my father’. He did not send a telegram saying, ‘Dad, things are getting rough down here; my conscience is giving me fits at night; won’t you send me some money to help me out and come and pay me a visit and make me feel good?’ Not at all! He did not need just to feel good, he needed to become good. And he left the far country. It is a beautiful stroke in our Lord’s picture when he says, ‘While he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran, and threw his arms around him and kissed him’. The prodigal did not come strutting up to his father, talking about making a decision to come home. There is a notion that people can come strutting into enquiry rooms and pray their little prayer and so do God a favour by making their decision. This has no more to do with conversion than my name is ‘Abraham Lincoln’. True repentance involves recognizing that I have sinned against the God of heaven, who is great and gracious, holy and loving, and that I am not worthy to be called his son. And yet, when I am prepared to leave my sin, to turn my back upon it and to come back haltingly, wondering if indeed there can be mercy for me, then — wonder of wonders! — the Father meets me, and throws the arms of reconciling love and mercy about me. I say it, not in a sentimental way but in all truth, he smothers repenting sinners in forgiving and redemptive love. But note, the father did not throw his arms around the Prodigal when he was still in the hogpens and in the arms of harlots. Do I speak to some whose hearts are wedded to the world, who love the world’s ways? Perhaps in your personal life, or in relationship to your parents, or in your social life where you take so lightly the sanctity of the body, you show what you are. Maybe some of you are involved in fornication, in heavy petting, involved in looking at the kind of stuff on television and in the cinema that feeds your lust, and yet you name the name of Christ. You live in the hog-pens and then go to a house of God on Sunday. Shame on you! Leave your hog pens, your haunts of sin. Leave your patterns and practices of fleshly and carnal indulgence. Repentance is being sorry enough to quit your sin. You will never know the forgiving mercy of God while you are still wedded to your sins. Repentance is the soul’s divorce from sin but it will always be joined to faith. What is faith? Faith is the casting of the soul upon Christ as he is offered to us in the Gospel. Forsaking All I Take Him. That is faith! ‘As many as received him, to them gave he the right to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name’ [John 1.12]. Faith is likened to drinking of Christ. In my soul-thirst I drink of him. Faith is likened to looking to Christ. Faith is likened to following Christ, fleeing to Christ. The Bible uses
- 35. many analogies andthe sum of all of them is this, that in the nakedness of my need I cast myself upon the Saviour, trusting him to be to me all that he has promised to be to needy sinners. Faith brings nothing to Christ but an empty hand by which it takes Christ and all that is in him. And what is in him? Full pardon for all my sins! His perfect obedience is put to my account. His death is counted as mine. And the gift of the Spirit is in him. Adoption, sanctification and ultimately glorification are all in him, and faith, in taking Christ, receives all that is in him. ‘But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, whom God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption’ [1 Cor 1.30]. What is a biblical Christian? A biblical Christian is a person who has wholeheartedly complied with the divine terms for obtaining the divine provision for sin. Those terms are repentance and faith. I like to think of them as the hinge on which the door of salvation turns. The hinge has two plates. One that is screwed to the door and the other screwed to the door jam. They are held together by a pin and on that hinge the door turns. Christ is that door, but none enter through him who do not repent and believe, and there is no true hinge made up only of repentance. A repentance that is not joined to faith is a legal repentance. It terminates on yourself and on your sin. A professed faith that is not joined to repentance is a spurious faith, for faith Is faith in Christ to save me, not in but from my sin. Repentance and faith are inseparable and except you repent you will perish. He that believeth not shall be damned. 4. A TRUE CHRISTIAN IS A PERSON WHO MANIFESTS IN HIS LIFE THAT HIS CLAIMS TO REPENTANCE AND FAITH ARE REAL Paul said that he preached that men should repent and turn to God and do works meet for, answering to, consistent with, repentance [Acts 26.20]. ‘By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God before ordained that we should walk in them’ [Eph 2.8-101. Paul says in Galatians chapter 5, that faith works by love. Wherever there is true faith in Christ there will always be implanted genuine love to Christ and where there is love to Christ there will be obedience to Christ. True faith always works by love, and what does it work? A life of obedience! ‘He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me. He that loves me not, keeps not my sayings’ [John 14.21-24]. We are not saved by loving Christ, we are saved by trusting Christ, but a trust that produces no love is not real. True faith works by love, and that which love works is not
- 36. the ability tosit out on a beautiful starlight night writing poetry about how exciting it is to be a Christian. It works by causing you to go back into that home and to obey your father and your mother as the Bible tells you to do, or back to that university campus to take a stand for truth and righteousness against all the pressure of your peers. True faith makes you willing and prepared to be counted a fool and crazy, willing to be considered anachronistic, because you believe that there are eternal, unchangeable, moral and ethical standards. You are willing to believe in the sanctity of human life, and to take your stand against pre-marital sex and the murdering of babies in mothers’ wombs. For Jesus said, ‘Whoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels’ [Mark 8.38]. What is a Bible Christian? Not merely one who says, ‘Oh, yes, I know I am a sinner, with a bad record and a bad heart. I know that God’s provision for sinners is in Christ and in his cross, adequate, freely offered to all, and I know it comes to all who repent and believe’. That is not enough. Do you profess to repent and believe? Then can you make that profession stick, not by a life of perfection but by a life of purposeful obedience to Jesus Christ? ‘Not everyone who says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven’, Jesus said, ‘but he who is doing the will of my Father who is in heaven’ [Matt 7.21]. In Hebrews 5.8 we read, ‘He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him’ I John 2.4, ‘He that says, I know him, and keeps not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.’ Can you make your claim to be a Christian stick from the Bible? Does your life manifest the fruits of repentance and faith? Do you possess a life of attachment to Christ, of obedience to Christ and confession of Christ? Is your behaviour marked by adherence to the ways of Christ? Not perfectly — No! every day you must pray, ‘Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us’. But you can also say, ‘For me to live is Christ’, or Jesus I my cross have taken All to leave and follow thee. The world behind me, the cross before me, I have decided to follow Jesus. That is what a true Christian is. How many of us are real Christians? I leave you to answer in the deep chambers of your own mind and heart. But, remember, answer with an answer that you will be prepared to live with for eternity. Be content with no answer but that which will find you comfortable in death and safe in the day of judgment. Author Al Martin is pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, 116 Horseneck Road, Montv ille, New Jersey 07045, U.S.A., and an Associate Edit or of the Banner of Truth magazine. This address was giv en at the Banner of Truth Youth Conf erencee EVANGELISTIC MALPRACTICE William MacDonald
- 37. There is acurious problem today in the evangelical [and fundamental] world — one that poses sobering questions for the church and for the individual believer. The problem in brief is this: a great army of personal soul-winners has been mobilized to reach the populace for Christ. They are earnest, zealous, enthusiastic, and persuasive. To their credit it must be said that they are on the job. And it is one of the phenomena of our times that they rack up an astounding number of conversions. Everything so far seems to be on the plus side. But the problem is this: The conversions do not stick. The fruit does not remain. Six months later there is nothing to be seen for all the aggressive evangelism. The capsule technique of soul winning has produced stillbirths. What lies at the back of all this malpractice in bringing souls to the birth? Strangely enough it begins with the valid determination to preach the pure gospel of the grace of God. We want to keep the message simple — uncluttered by any suggestion that man can ever earn or deserve eternal life. Justification is by faith alone, apart from the deeds of the law. Therefore, the message is “only believe.” From there the message is reduced to a concise formula. For instance, the evangelistic process is cut down to a few basic questions and answers, as follows: “Do you believe you are a sinner?” “Yes.” “Do you believe Christ died for sinners?” “Yes.” “Will you receive Him as your Savior?” “Yes.” “Then you are saved!” “I am?” “Yes, the Bible says you are saved.” At first blush the method and the message might seem above criticism. But on closer study we are forced to have second thoughts and to conclude that the gospel has been over-simplified. The first fatal flaw is the missing emphasis on repentance. There can be no true conversion without conviction of sin. It is one thing to agree that I am a sinner: it is quite another thing to experience the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life. Unless I have a Spirit-wrought consciousness of my utterly lost condition, I can never exercise saving faith. It is useless to tell unconvicted sinners to believe on Jesus — that message is only for those who know they are lost. We sugar- coat the gospel when we de-emphasize man’s fallen condition. With that kind of watered-down message, people receive the Word with joy instead of with deep contrition. They do not have deep roots, and though they might endure for a while, they soon give up all profession when persecution or trouble comes (Matt. 13:21). Many have forgotten that the message is repentance toward God as well as faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. A second serious omission is a missing emphasis on the Lordship of Christ.
- 38. A light, jovialmental assent that Jesus is Savior misses the point. Jesus is first Lord, then Savior. The New Testament always places His Lordship before His Saviorhood. Do we present the full implication of His Lordship to people? He always did. A third defect in the message is the tendency to keep the terms of discipleship hidden until a decision has been made for Jesus. Our Lord never did this. The message He preached included the cross as well as the crown. “He never hid His scars to win disciples.” He revealed the worst along with the best, then told His listeners to count the cost. We popularize the message and promise fun. The result of all this is that we have people believing without knowing what they believe. In many cases they have no doctrinal basis for their decision. They do not know the implication of commitment to Christ. They have never experienced the mysterious, miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. And of course there are others who are talked into a profession because of the slick salesmanship techniques of the soul winner. Or some who want to please the affable, personable young man with the winning smile. And some who only want to get rid of this religious interloper who has intruded into their privacy. Satan laughs when these conversions are triumphantly announced on earth. I would like to raise several questions that might lead to some changes in the strategy of evangelism. 1. First of all, can we generally expect people to make an intelligent commitment to Christ the first time they hear the Gospel? Certainly, there is the exceptional case where a person has already been prepared by the Holy Spirit. But generally speaking, the process involves sowing the seed, watering it, then sometime later reaping the harvest. In our mania for instant conversion, we have forgotten that conception, gestation, and birth do not occur on the same day. 2. A second question — can a capsule presentation of the gospel really do justice to so great a message? As one who has written several gospel tracts, I confess to a certain sense of misgivings in even attempting to condense the good news into four small pages. Would we not be wise to give people the full presentation as it is found in the Gospels, or in the New Testament? 3. Thirdly, is all this pressure for decisions really Scriptural? Where in the New Testament were people ever pressured into making a profession? The practice is justified by saying that if only one out of ten is genuine, it is worth it. But what about the other nine disillusioned, bitter, perhaps deceived; enroute to hell by a false profession? And I must add this: Is all this boasting about conversions really accurate? You’ve met the man who solemnly tells you of ten people he contacted that day and all of them were saved. A
- 39. young doctor testifiedthat every time he goes to a new city, he looks in the phone book for people with his last name. Then he calls them one by one and leads them through the four steps of salvation. Amazing enough, every one of them opens the door of his heart to Jesus. I don’t want to doubt the honesty of people like this, but am I wrong in thinking that they are extremely naive? Where are all those people who are saved? They cannot be found. What it all means is that we should seriously re-examine our streamlined capsule evangelism. We should be willing to spend time teaching the gospel, laying a solid doctrinal foundation for faith to rest on. We should stress the necessity for repentance — a complete about face with regard to sin. We should stress the full implication of the Lordship of Christ and the conditions of discipleship. We should explain what belief really involves. We should be willing to wait for the Holy Spirit to produce genuine conviction of sin. If we do this, we’ll have less astronomical figures of so-called conversions, but more genuine cases of spiritual rebirth. ======================================================================== ===== WHAT IS A TRUE REVIVAL? by Charles Woodruff “Revival! June 1- June 6th — Special singing each night.” How often we have observed similar advertisements in front of various churches. Also we have seen such wording in the media announcing the special meeting. Because of this type of promotion, the average American would equate having a special meeting with revival. But, is this a true definition? When the late missionary Dr. James A. Stewart first came to the U.S.A. from Scotland, he spotted such a sign in front of a church. He was riding on a bus at the time and was excited by a sign that said “REVIVAL— HERE EACH NIGHT THIS WEEK AT 7:30!” Upon seeing this, he grabbed his wife by the hand and went to see the pastor of the church. An explanation was given that here in the Southern U.S.A., it is the custom for a church, when it has a special meeting for a time, to call it a revival. Then Brother James Stewart asked a very valid question: “It what you’re having at 7:30 each evening is a “special meeting”, why don’t you call it that, instead of revival?” You see, he had been in a real revival in Europe for much of his ministry and to call a series of meetings a “revival” was shocking to this man. He called it prostitution of the word “revival”.
- 40. He was right.Today, many things pass for revival. Sometimes a spirited gospel song is considered a revival. Perhaps when a few people shout, “Amen”, or “Hallelujah”, it is considered a revival. When several folks get saved in one meeting, some call that revival. These are all good things, but not necessarily revival. Others have had the audacity to proclaim that we are in a mighty revival now; called the “Charismatic movement”. Yet the major fruit of the movement has been a watered down gospel of ecumenism, hardly a true revival! Actually, the Charismatic movement has done more to bring about the one world church than any other force in history! Even when you consider that the Charismatics have called our attention to the work of the Holy Spirit, something often neglected in the churches, we are compelled to renounce it, as a movement. I say this because as a movement, the Charismatic movement has produced much division among true Christians, especially the current “name it and claim it” variety. Perhaps the most striking proof of its failure is the fact that there is generally little holiness, or biblical separation, or true godliness associated with the movement. Too often, standards are thrown to the wind! Some of the Charismatics’ own leaders have said this, so I am not trying to slander them. I do hasten to add that non-charismatics can’t throw any rocks here! When we speak of holiness, we all fall short! But shouldn’t a movement that sweeps the country and purports to be true revival be touching all around? Yet today we have more bars, more pornography, more prostitution, more homosexuality, more child molesting, more abortion, and more nakedness, more divorces, more illegal drugs, more rebellious children — in general, more sin, in spite of any movement! A real revival would certainly change all that! Study the history of the Great Awakening, and other revivals and you should see this clearly. The Foundation for Revival: Truth Since 1968 when I was called to preach, I have seen the need for revival. I titled my first awkward newsletter in 1970-71 “Revival for Survival”. I still believe revival is the only answer for our survival. There has been a resurgence of Puritan literature in our day. Also, the works of sound evangelicals of yesterday such as Charles Spurgeon, J.C. Ryle, John Brown, J. Gresham Machen and many others are abundant as perhaps never before in history if you know where to look for them. The average Christian book store doesn’t stock too much “meaty” reading. Some declare this abundance of good literature as revival. While I certainly count it as a wonderful thing to see all this good literature published at a time when we also have more shallow, carnal, religious books available, in itself, this is not revival. It is foundational to a revival! Before we can have revival, we must know who God is! We must see Him in His awesome majesty. He must be glorified in His attributes. These old writers have a way of pointing us to this omnipotent God. This has been strengthened by many present day writers such as J.I. Packer, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, John Piper, Sinclair Ferguson, Jerry Bridges, etc., who seemed to have picked up
- 41. the torch fromearlier writers now gone such as D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, William Hendriksen, A.W. Pink, etc.. Because of this renewed interest, many preachers have come to appreciate the sovereignty of God. For many years this truth has been pushed aside. I have personally noticed that in the last 25 years there are many more churches and pastors boldly declaring the old paths. Churches have openly declared to adhere to the Westminster Confession (Presbyterian-Reformed), and the London, or Philadelphia Confessions (Baptist). These are definitely “Old Paths”, and is a reformation of sorts “in progress”, which must come before a real revival. It is hopefully a beginning. I am grateful to God for this revelation to His called servants, but this is not, in itself revival! Revival Is The Work of God! The book of Habakkuk is one book that deserves our careful study in these wicked days. It is not my purpose at this time to expound all three chapters, but I do want to take a brief look at the whole book. Chapter one deals with the prophet’s complaint. Sin and violence had covered the land. The situation was much as it is today. Evildoers needed to be punished, yet, justice is forgotten and the guilty go unpunished. God’s answer is startling. He tells the prophet in chapter 1, verses 6.and 7, “For, Lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.” In verse 9 He goes on to say “They shall come all for violence.” The prophet cries out about the sin and God sends the Chaldeans! This is equivalent to us today in the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and other free-world nations crying to God about our sinful nations, and having Him reply by sending the Russians or Chinese! A strange answer, we would say! Then in verse 12, Habakkuk cries to God again and asks the question, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity: Wherefore lookest thou upon them that
- 42. deal treacherously, andholdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?” In other words, “God, can you use evil people to chastise those who are not as wicked as they?” Chapter two shows us the prophet waiting (something we all have a problem doing). He climbs upon his watchtower to wait upon God’s answer, but, indeed God does answer when we patiently wait upon Him. The reason Habakkuk could wait patiently on God is that he had an understanding of God’s attributes. He saw that: God is eternal — “Art Thou not from everlasting?” (1:12) As the late Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “He is forgetting for a moment the immediate problem, and asking himself what it was he was sure of about God. The first thing was, ‘Art thou not from everlasting?’ He is not like the gods whom men worship; He is not like the god of the proud Chaldean army. He is God from eternity to eternity, the everlasting God. There is nothing more consoling or reassuring when oppressed by the problems of history, and when wondering what is to happen in the world, than to remember that the God whom we worship is outside the flux of history. He has preceded history; He has created history. His throne is above the world and outside time. He reigns in eternity, the everlasting God”.1 God is self existent — “‘Art thou not from everlasting, O, LORD?’ — he uses the great name ‘Jehovah’ — ‘art thou not from everlasting, O, Jehovah?’ That name tells us that God is the self existing One, the eternal I AM.”2 God is holy. — “‘Art thou not from everlasting, O, LORD my God, mine holy One?’ He is sure, not only of His eternal existence, not only of His self existence, and His independence of everything and everybody, but that He is the ‘Holy One’, utterly and absolutely righteous and holy, ‘a consuming fire’ ‘God is light and in Him is no darkness at all’ and the moment you consider Scriptures like this, you are forced to ask: ‘Can the Lord of the earth do that which is unrighteous?’ Such a thing is unthinkable”.3 God is almighty. — “‘O, Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment and O, mighty God, thou has established them for correction.’ God can take care of all His enemies when it pleases Him.” God is faithful — “‘My God, mine Holy One, we shall not die.’ He is recalling that God is the God of the Covenant. Though He is independent and absolute, eternal, mighty, righteous and holy, nevertheless He has condescended to make a covenant with men. For those saintly men.
- 43. the prophets, andall who had spiritual understanding in Israel, this fact was more significant than anything else. While believing in the eternal attributes of God, they might have been chilled by the thought that such a God might be far away in the heavens, and oblivious of their need. But what linked Him to them was the knowledge that He was a faithful covenant-keeping God. God had given His word and He would never break it”.4 So, because of these attributes which the prophet recognizes in chapter 1, we find that he is able to wait upon the Lord in chapter 2. In this chapter Habakkuk pronounces woe concerning seven major sins of his day. It really sounds like our day, though. Listen to this list: covetousness v. 9 murder v. 10 oppression v. 12, 13 drunkenness v. 15 adultery and/or homosexuality v. 15 violence v. 17 idolatry v. 18 While realizing the historical setting of this chapter, and that these sins primarily refer to the Babylonians, clear spiritual principles can nevertheless be found here. God is always against sin in every age and sin does not change. For instance, as Edward Marbury says “Drunkenness itself is a horrible sin; it is one of the fruits of the flesh” (Gal 5:21). “Drunkenness is confessed of all men to be a sin; and they who love it best and use it most will be very angry with you if you call them drunkards.”5 Also, drunkenness leads to immorality, as Edward Marbury recognizes. “Lot was drunk when he committed incest with his daughters (Gen 19) and so overcome with wine, that he neither knew of their coming to his bed nor of their going from him.”6 As in Leviticus 18, both heterosexual (outside marriage) and homosexual (abnormal) relationships are forbidden, so Hab. 2:15 could mean either. Sin never changes, it is always sin and exceedingly sinful! Habakkuk recognizes the awful problems of his day and future days and this brings him to the prayer room. Note that chapter 3 begins by saying a Prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shigionoth, “It was a prayer accompanied with music, neither mournful, nor joyful, but expressive of profound and strong emotion.”7 Like so many of the beautiful Psalms of David, this chapter is as much poetry as prayer, yet it has a profound theological lesson for us. Habakkuk heard God’s voice. Like others such as Isaiah, who heard, or saw a vision of God, He became afraid. Men are in our day so flippant regarding God. They are not afraid to take His Holy name in vain! Even professing Christians speak of the Lord Jesus in such casual terms as if to say “He’s my buddy.” They try to treat Him as a “spiritual bellhop,” catering to all their needs and wants. They speak of Him as if He were all sentimental, soft, lovey-dovey; as if He would even wink at sin! This is not the God of the Bible! The God of the Bible, as Father, Son, and
- 44. Holy Ghost, ismajestic and Holy! He is angry with the wicked every day! As Habakkuk said. He will not look upon sin. My friend, if you ever see God, you’ll be in the dust before Him. Read of John the beloved in Rev, 1:17. No flippancy here! He fell at His feet as dead! Thomas, who got a glimpse of the resurrection glory, and who had been an intimate friend, a disciple, cried when He saw Him. “My Lord and My God!” One of the greatest problems today, even in our churches is that “there is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:18). A healthy fear of God is needed, even for Christians. In the old days a “God-fearing man” was a man who understood that “His commandments are not grievous”. Professing Christians today scoff at the commands of God, but I have news for you, even in the New Testament there are commandments. I realize we cannot keep them except in Christ, but “He worketh in you” and He says “if you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). It is awesome. There is a famine in the land “for the hearing of the word of God.” The word is here but we don’t hear it. It is preached in many places, but who takes heed? Ungodly humanist “law” is exalted above God’s law. Habakkuk heard from God. He was God’s prophet. Yet he was afraid. When is the last time you heard from God, preacher? I mean, really heard from God. We all need to hear from Him. The need for God is desperate! Revival Comes To God’s People “Revive thy work.” Revival is a restoration. It presupposes a declension. In times of spiritual lull, sin runs rampant and we need a renewal. It is a renewing of His work in the Church. Churches are dead without God’s breath, no matter how orthodox they may be! Renewal in the home — our homes are falling apart. What home in America has not been touched, either directly or indirectly, by divorce?
- 45. Revival is arenewal in God’s people. To reach the lost, Christians must be renewed first in their prayers, then in their love for God, above all things. Then God becomes the number one topic. He is worshipped and appreciated and the ball games, the theaters and the other amusements and things of the world become “strangely dim”. In other words, God gets our worship and all our attention. How can we give Him less than all and claim to be Christians? Jesus said we are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. However we cannot do this in the natural man. We must be divinely enabled. Revival is awakening (Eph. 5:14). Oh, how we need to be awakened! It is bad enough that sinners sleep the sleep of death, but professing Christians also are sleeping, and it is going to take a loud voice, indeed, God’s own voice, to awaken them! Read the history of some of the revivals of old and you will find the same thing each time. Before an awakening swept through the heretofore unconcerned world, it first arrested the Christians. Even genuinely born again people need revival. They, too, have to be on fire for God. Hear these words of Duncan Campbell, who was used of God in the revival of 1949 and after, in the Scottish Hebrides Islands: What have been the outstanding features of this movement? Three stand out clearly. First: an awareness of God. To be fully realized, this has to be felt. A rector of the Church of England, referring to his visit to the Isle of Lewis, said, ‘What I felt, apart from what I saw, convinced me at once that this was no ordinary movement.’ Second: the main feature has been deep conviction of sin — at times leading almost to despair. I have known occasions when it was necessary to stop preaching, because of the distress manifested by the anxious, and many would find expression for the feeling in their hearts and burden of their guilty conscience, in the words of John Newton: ‘My conscience fell and owned its guilt and plunged me in despair: I saw my sins His blood had spilt and helped to nail Him there.’
- 46. “Third: Physical manifestationsand prostrations have been a further feature, I find it somewhat difficult to explain this aspect; indeed. I cannot. But this I will say: The person who would associate this with satanic influence is coming perilously near to committing the unpardonable sin. Lady Huntingdon on one occasion wrote to George Whitefield respecting cases of crying out and falling down in meetings, and advised him not to remove them from the meetings as he had done. When this was done, it seemed to bring a damper on the meeting. She said, ‘You are making a great mistake. Don’t be wiser than God. Let them cry out. It will do a great deal more good than your preaching”’8 (emphasis mine). If you are really interested in revival, there are several books I will recommend. But if you read no other, you should read Jonathan Edwards’, Narrative of Surprising Conversions. Here is an excerpt from it: It was very wonderful to see how persons’ affections were sometimes moved — when God did, as it were, suddenly open their eyes, and let into their minds a sense of the greatness of His grace, the fullness of Christ, and His readiness to save, after having been broken with apprehension of divine wrath and sunk unto an abyss, under a sense of guilt which they were ready to think was beyond the mercy of God. Their joyful surprise has caused their hearts, as it were, to leap, so they have been ready to break forth in laughter, tears often mingling a loud weeping. Sometimes they have not been able to forbear crying out with a loud voice and expressing their great admiration. In some, even the view of the glory of God’s sovereignty, in the exercises of His grace has surprised the soul in such sweetness, as to produce the same effects. I remember an instance of one, who, reading something concerning God’s sovereign way of saving sinners, as being self moved — having no regard to man’s own righteousness as the motive of His grace, but as magnifying Himself and abasing man, or to that purpose, felt such a sudden rapture of joy and delight in the consideration of it: yet then he suspected himself to be in a Christless condition, and had long been in great distress for fear that God would not have mercy on him.9 (emphasis mine). “Revive thy work!” — It is God’s work and as the Sovereign of the universe. He controls the keys. “Ministers knock at the door of men’s hearts; the Spirit comes with a key and opens the door” (Thomas Watson).
- 47. Salvation is ofthe Lord (Jonah 2:9). This is true in the Salvation of a soul, of a preacher in the belly of a whale, and of His church. Did not Jesus say in Matthew 16:18, “Upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”? When God begins a work, He will bring it to fruition. God is not abandoning His church. We must remember however that... Revival Comes in God’s Time Habakkuk says “Revive thy work in the midst of the years” — just as in the fullness of time God sent forth His Son. Christ came right on time, just at the exact moment God had chosen to fulfill all the prophecies of His first coming. He will come again and “will not tarry” — just at God’s appointed time the Son of Righteousness will appear with healing in His wings (Mal. 4:2) God has also appointed times of refreshing for His people. The day of Pentecost came when God had decreed it should, and likewise revival will come in God’s time and in God’s way. The Great Awakening came at just the right time. Reliable reports are that in the 20th century Korea, Romania, Russia, Indonesia, and the Scottish Hebrides were places that experienced a measure of revival. Will God do it in Century 21? It is all in God’s time. You can’t work it up or even pray it down. But, prayer is the place to begin to be ready for revival. God controls the time. He has decreed that one day time shall be no more. As for now, we must “redeem the time for the days are evil” (Eph 5:14). “In the midst of the years make known!” Revival is God being really known, not just the abstract truth about Him. Systematic theology has its place, but theology cannot replace God! True theology is the study of God. We must see the veil lifted and really study God, not just about Him. Oh, to really know Him, and the power of His resurrection! Revival is a shaking of the dry bones. The dry bones were once alive, so we can apply it to today’s dead church. When the dry bones live, we can see the church again reap a harvest. True soul-winning can only be done in the power of the Holy Ghost. Why Is There No Revival?
- 48. As the thunderingpreacher from Wales, John Elias, pointed out: “We don’t have revival because “The Church does not feel the need for revival as it should.”10 Elias, in one of his famous letters, makes it clear that the reason the word of God has so little effect in our lives is that we do not consider it is the Word of God. We can have revival in any age. There is nothing in Scripture to forbid it. We must, however, apply the word of God to ourselves, We must pray expecting great things from God. We can casually say we want revival without being also willing to pay the price. Can we really cry with Habakkuk, “Revive thy Work in the midst of the years.”? May this be our heart’s cry! Amen! Notes D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Front Fear to Faith (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1953), p. 29. Ibid, p. 29, 30. Ibid, p. 30. Ibid, p. 31, emphasis mine. (All headings, ‘a’ through ‘e’, also by Lloyd-Jones.) Edward Marbury, Commentary on Habakkuk (Minneapolis: Klock and Klock, 1979 reprint. Originally written 1650) p. 506. Ibid, p. 506. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, op. cit., p. 57. Duncan Campbell, God’s Answer (Belfast: The Faith Mission, 1960), pp. 88, 89. Hymn quoted, “In Evil Long I Took Delight”, John Newton. Jonathan Edwards, The Narratives (Asheville: Revival Literature, 1957 abridged edition, James Stewart, Editor) p. 55. John Elias: Life and Letters (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1980) ======================================================================== ===== WHAT IS A REVIVAL BY C.H. SPURGEON THE word "revival" is as familiar in our mouths as a household word. We are constantly speaking about and praying for a "revival;" would it not be as well to know what we mean by it? Of the Samaritans our Lord said, "Ye worship ye know not what," let him not have to say to us,
- 49. "Ye know notwhat ye ask." The word "revive" wears its meaning upon its forehead; it is from the Latin, and may be interpreted thus—to live again, to receive again a life which has almost expired; to rekindle into a flame the vital spark which was nearly extinguished. When a person has been dragged out of a pond nearly drowned, the bystanders are afraid that he is dead, and are anxious to ascertain if life still lingers. The proper means are used to restore animation; the body is rubbed, stimulants are administered, and if by God's providence life still tarries in the poor clay, the rescued man opens his eyes, sits up, and speaks, and those around him rejoice that he has revived. A young girl is in a fainting fit, but after a while she returns to consciousness, and we say, "she revives." The flickering lamp of life in dying men suddenly flames up with unusual brightness at intervals, and those who are watching around the sick bed say of the patient, "he revives." In these days, when the dead are not miraculously restored, we do not expect to see the revival of a person who is totally dead, and we could not speak of the re-vival of a thing which never lived before. It is clear that the, term "revival" can only be applied to a living soul, or to that which once lived. To be revived is a blessing which can only be enjoyed by those who have some degree of life. Those who have no spiritual life are not, and cannot be, in the strictest sense of the term, the subjects of a revival. Many blessings may come to the unconverted in consequence of a revival among Christians, but the revival itself has to do only with those who already possess spiritual life. There must be vitality in some degree before there can be a quickening of vitality, or, in other words, a revival. A true revival is to be looked for in the church of God. Only in the river of gracious life can the pearl of revival be found. It has been said that a revival must begin with God's people; this is very true, but it is not all the truth, for the revival itself must end as well as begin there. The results of the revival will extend to the outside world, but the revival, strictly speaking, must be within the circle of life, and must therefore essentially be enjoyed by the possessors of vital godliness, and by them only. Is not this quite a different view of revival from that; which is common in society; but is it not manifestly the correct one? It is a sorrowful fact that many who are spiritually alive greatly need reviving. It is sorrowful because it is a proof of the existence of much spiritual evil. A man in sound health with every part of his body in a vigorous condition does not need reviving. He requires daily sustenance, but reviving would be quite out of place. If he has not yet attained maturity growth will be most desirable, but a hale hearty young man wants no reviving, it would be thrown away upon him. Who thinks of reviving the noonday sun, the ocean at its flood, or the year at its prime? The tree planted by the rivers of water loaded with fruit needs not excite our anxiety for its revival, for its fruitfulness and beauty charm every one. Such should be the constant condition of the sons of God. Feeding and lying down in green pastures and led by the still waters they ought not always to be crying, "my leanness, my leanness, woe unto me." Sustained by gracious promises and enriched out of the fullness which God has treasured up in his dear Son, their souls should prosper and be in health, and their piety ought to need no reviving. They should aspire to a higher blessing, a richer mercy, than a mere revival. They have the nether springs already; they should earnestly cover the upper springs. They should be asking for growth in grace, for
- 50. increase of strength,for greater success; they should have out-climbed and out-soared the period in which they need to be constantly crying, "Wilt thou not revive us again?" For a church to be constantly needing revival is the indication of much sin, for if it were sound before the Lord it would remain in the condition into which a revival would uplift its members. A church should be a camp of soldiers, not an hospital of invalids. But there is exceedingly much difference between what ought be and what is, and consequently many of God's people are in so sad a state that the very fittest prayer for them is for revival. Some Christians are, spiritually, but barely alive. When a man has been let down into a vat or into a well full of bad air, yea do not wonder when he is drawn up again that he is half-dead, and urgently requires to be revived. Some Christians—to their shame be it spoken!—descend into such worldly company, not upon such unhallowed principles, and become so carnal, that when they are drawn up by God's grace from their backsliding position they want reviving, and even need that their spiritual breath should as it were be breathed into their nostrils afresh by God's Spirit. When a man starves himself, continuing for a long time without food, when he is day after day without a morsel of bread between his lips, we do not marvel that the surgeon, finding him in extremities, says, "This man has weakened his system, he is too low, and wants reviving." Of course he does, for he has brought himself by low diet into a state of weakness. Are there not hundreds of Christians—shame that it should be so!—who live day after day without feeding upon Bible truth? shall it be added without real spiritual communion with God? they do not even attend the week-night services, and they are indifferent hearers on the Lord's day. Is it remarkable that they want reviving? Is not the fact that they do so greatly need it most dishonorable to themselves and distressing to their truly spiritual brethren? There is, a condition of mind which is even more sad than either of the two above mentioned; it is a thorough, gradual, but certain decline of all the spiritual powers. Look at that consumptive man whose lungs are decaying, and in whom the vital energy is ebbing; it is painful to see the faintness which suffuses him after exertion, and the general languor which overspreads his weakened frame. Far more sad to the spiritual eye is the spectacle presented by spiritual consumptives who in some quarters meet us on all hands. The eye of faith is dim and overcast, and seldom flashes with holy joy; the spiritual countenance is hollow and sunken with doubts and fears; the tongue of praise is partially paralyzed, and has little to say for Jesus; the spiritual frame is lethargic, and its movements are far from vigorous; the man is not anxious to be doing anything for Christ; a horrible numbness, a dreadful insensibility has come over him; he is in soul like a sluggard in the dog-days, who finds it hard labor to lie in bed and brush away the flies from his face. If these spiritual consumptives hate sin they do it so weakly that one might fear that they loved it still. If they love Jesus, it is so coldly that it is a point of question whether they love at all. If they sing Jehovah's praises it is very sadly, as if hallelujahs were dirges. If they mourn for sin it is only with half-broken hearts, and their grief is shallow and unpractical. If they hear the Word of God they are never stirred by it; enthusiasm is an unknown luxury. If they come across a precious truth they perceive nothing particular in it, any more than the cock in the fable, in the jewel which he found in the farmyard. They throw themselves back upon the enchanted couch of sloth, and while they are covered with rags they dream of riches and great increase of goods. It is a sad, sad thing when Christians fall into this state; then indeed they need reviving, and they must have it, for "the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint."
- 51. Every lover ofsouls should intercede for declining professors that the visitations of God may restore them; that the Sun of righteousness may arise upon them with healing beneath his wings. When revival comes to a people who are in the state thus briefly described, it simply brings them to the condition in which they ought always to have been; it quickens them, gives them new life, stirs the coals of the expiring fire, and puts heavenly breath into the languid lungs. The sickly soul which before was insensible, weak, and sorrowful, grows earnest, vigorous, and happy in the Lord. This is the immediate fruit of revival, and it becomes all of us who are believers to seek this blessing for backsliders, and for ourselves if we are declining in grace. If revival is confined to living men we may further notice that it must result from the proclamation and the receiving of living truth. We speak of "vital godliness," and vital godliness must subsist upon vital truth. Vital godliness is not revived in Christians by mere excitement, by crowded meetings, by the stamping of the foot, or the knocking of the pulpit cushion, or the delirious bawlings of ignorant zeal; these are the stock in trade of revivals among dead souls, but to revive living saints other means are needed. Intense excitement may produce a revival of the animal, but how can it operate upon the spiritual, for the spiritual demands other food than that which stews in the fleshpots of mere carnal enthusiasm. The Holy Ghost must come into the living heart through living truth, and so bring nutriment and stimulant to the pining spirit, for so only can it be revived. This, then, leads us to the conclusion that if we are to obtain a revival we must go directly to the Holy Ghost for it, and not resort to the machinery of the professional revival-maker. The true vital spark of heavenly flame comes from the Holy Ghost, and the priests of the Lord must beware of strange fire. There is no spiritual vitality in anything except as the Holy Spirit is all in all in the work; and if our vitality has fallen near to zero, we can only have it renewed by him who first kindled it in us. We must go to the cross and look up to the dying Savior, and expect that the Holy Spirit will renew our faith and quicken all our graces. We must feed anew by faith upon the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus, and so the Holy Ghost will recruit our strength and give us a revival. When men in India sicken in the plains, they climb the hills and breathe the more bracing air of the upper regions; we need to get nearer to God, and to bathe ourselves in heaven, and revived piety will be the sure result. When a minister obtains this revival he preaches very differently from his former manner. It is very hard work to preach when the head aches and when the body is languid, but it is a much harder task when the soul is unfeeling and lifeless. It is sad, sad work—painfully, dolorously, horribly sad, but saddest of all if we do not feel it to be sad, if we can go on preaching and remain careless concerning the truths we preach, indifferent as to whether men are saved or lost! May God deliver every minister from abiding in such a state! Can there be a more wretched object than a man who preaches in God's name truths which he does not feel, and which he is conscious have never impressed his own heart? To be a mere sign-post, pointing out the road but never moving in it, is a lot against which every tame heart may plead night and day. Should this revival be granted to deacons and elders what different men it would make of them! Lifeless, lukewarm church officers are of no more value to a church, than a crew of sailors would be to a vessel if they were all fainting and if in their berths when they were wanted to
- 52. hoist the sailsor lower the boats. Church officers who need reviving must be fearful dead weights upon a Christian community. It is incumbent upon all Christians to be thoroughly awake to the interests of Zion, but upon the leaders most of all. Special supplication should be made for beloved brethren in office that they may be full of the Holy Ghost. Workers in the Sunday-schools, tract distributors, and other laborers for Christ, what different people they become when grace is vigorous from what they are when their life flickers in the socket! Like sickly vegetation in a cellar, all blanched and unhealthy, are workers who have little grace; like willows by the water-courses, like grease with reeds and rushes in well-watered valleys, are the servants of God who live in his presence. It is no wonder that our Lord said, "Because thou art neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth," for when the earnest Christian's heart is full of fire it is sickening to talk with lukewarm people. Have not warm- hearted lovers of Jesus felt when they have been discouraged by doubtful sluggish people, who could see a lion in the way, as if they could put on express speed and run over them? Every earnest minister has known times when he has felt cold hearts to be as intolerable as the drones in the hive are to the working bees. Careless professors are as much out of place as snow in harvest among truly living Christians. As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes are these sluggards. As well be bound to a dead body as forced into union with lifeless professors; they are a burden, a plague, and an abomination. You turn to one of these cold brethren after a graciously earnest prayer-meeting, and say with holy joy, "What a delightful meeting we have had!" "Yes," he says carelessly and deliberately, as if it were an effort to say so much, "there was a good number of people." How his frostbitten words grate on one's ear! You ask yourself, "Where has the man been? Is he not conscious that the Holy Ghost has been with us?" Does not our Lord speak of these people as being cast out of his mouth, just because he himself is altogether in earnest, and consequently, when he meets with lukewarm people he will not endure them? He says, "I would thou wert cold or hot," either utterly averse to good or in earnest concerning it. It is easy to see his meaning. If you heard an ungodly man blaspheme after an earnest meeting, you would lament it, but you would feel that from such a man it was not a thing to make you vexed, for he has only spoken after his kind, but when you meet with a child of God who is lukewarm, how can you stand that? It is sickening, and makes the inmost spirit feel the horrors of mental nausea. While a true revival in its essence belongs only to God's people, it always brings with it a blessing for the other sheep who are not yet of the fold. If you drop a stone into a lake the ring widens continually, till the farthest corner of the lake feels the influence. Let the Lord revive a believer and very soon his family, his friends, his neighbors, receive a share of the benefit; for when a Christian is revived, he prays more fervently for sinners. Longing, loving prayer for sinners, is one of the marks of a revival in the renewed heart. Since the blessing is asked for sinners, the blessing comes from him who hears the prayers of his people; and thus the world gains by revival. Soon the revived Christian speaks concerning Jesus and the gospel; he sows good seed, and God's good seed is never lost, for he has said, "It shall not return unto me void." The good seed is sown in the furrows, and in some sinners' hearts God prepares the soil, so that the seed springs up in a glorious harvest. Thus by the zealous conversation of believers another door of mercy opens to men.
- 53. When Christians arerevived they live more consistently, they make their homes more holy and more happy, and this leads the ungodly to envy them, and to enquire after their secret. Sinners by God's grace long to be like such cheerful happy saints; their mouths water to feast with them upon their hidden manna, and this is another blessing, for it leads men to seek the Savior. If an ungodly man steps into a congregation where all the saints are revived he does not go to sleep under the sermon. The minister will not let him do that, for the hearer perceives that the preacher feels what he is preaching, and has a right to be heard. This is a clear gain, for now the man listens with deep emotion; and above all, the Holy Spirit's power, which the preacher has received in answer to prayer comes upon the hearer's mind; he is convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come, and Christians who are on the watch around him hasten to tell him of the Savior, and point him to the redeeming blood, so that though the revival, strictly speaking, is with the people of God, yet the result of it no man can limit. Brethren, let us seek a revival during the present month, that the year may close with showers of blessing, and that the new year may open with abundant benediction. Let us pledge ourselves to form a prayer-union, a sacred band of suppliants, and may God do unto us according to our faith. ======================================================================== ==== What is it to Preach the Gospel? a sermon by Henry Mahan For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! — 1 Corinthians 9:16 The greatest man of apostolic times was the apostle Paul — no question about that. Paul was the greatest man in everything he did and if you go back to the time when his life was not lived in Christ, through Christ and for Christ, he was even great in what he did then. Someone said Paul was great in everything he did whether it was good or whether it was bad because he did nothing half way. If you consider him as a sinner, he was exceeding sinful — that's what he said, "exceeding sinful." If you consider him as a persecutor, he was mad against Christians — he persecuted them even in strange cities. He was not content to persecute those at home — he had to travel even to Damascus with letters giving him permission to destroy the people of Christ. If you consider the apostle as a convert, his conversion was remarkable; he met Christ in a real and personal way on the road to Damascus, blinded by the light, falling into the dust, looking up into that light, crying, "Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?" If you consider this man as a preacher of the gospel, he stands out as the prince of preachers, the greatest of them all, crying, "I am ready to preach the gospel to them that are at Rome also; I am determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified." "God forbid," he said, "that I should glory save in the cross of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." Whatever Paul did, he did with all his heart; he did nothing halfway. if he was rebelling, he was rebelling; if he was bowing, he was bowing; if he was worshipping, he was worshipping; if he was preaching the gospel, he was preaching the gospel. There was no nonsense in anything he did when it came to speaking
- 54. about God. Whenhe wrote this text, "for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel," he writes it with an unshaking hand; he writes it with a firmness, with a dedication and with a determination! "I preach the gospel. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel." No nonsense in anything connected with the praise of God, with the worship of God, with the glory of God, or with the gospel of God. Now we need to learn this. I want you to turn to Psalm 89, verse 7. The Scripture says, "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him." In the Old Testament when one spoke of a genuine believer; when one spoke of a man who worshipped God and walked with God, do you know how he was described? "One that feared the Lord." Do you know how the rebels of our day are described? Do you know how men are described, women, boys and girls who do not know God, who are not children of God? They are said to be those who have "no fear of God before their eyes." Now what I'm saying is, the apostle Paul, whatever he did, he did it one hundred percent; whatever he did, it was no half-way measure. And particularly when it came to the gospel; when it came to worship; when it came to preaching Christ; when it came to the praise of God, there was no nonsense about this man. Ecclesiastes 5:1 — "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." Turn to the book of Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 20, and listen to this: "but the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before him." Now the words of our text are applicable to every minister of the gospel and to every church where the gospel is to be preached. In our text, 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul says seriously, sincerely, in simplicity, in boldness, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, "though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of." What is it to preach the gospel? Is everybody preaching the gospel? No! Is everybody who claims to preach the gospel preaching the gospel? No! What is it to preach the gospel? To Preach the Gospel is. . . To Tell The Truth About God First, to preach the gospel is to preach the truth about God. 1. We preach the God of eternal existence. The Scripture says, "in the beginning God." When Moses came to the burning bush, God said, "Go down and deliver my people out of Egypt." Moses said, "whom shall I say hath sent me?" and God replied, "I am." Not, I was; not I shall be, but I AM ? the eternal I AM ?the everlasting I Am ? I Am that I Am! 2. We preach the God of creation. "All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made." In him we move, we live and we have our being. God created all things. 3. We preach the God of sovereign mercy. The Scripture says "Noah found grace in the eyes
- 55. of the Lord."The Bible says, "I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." We preach the God of mercy, yes, but sovereign mercy; the God of grace, yes, but sovereign grace. God will be gracious to whom he will be gracious ? he owes no man anything; if he bestows grace, his mercy, it is sovereignly bestowed. He is an immutable sovereign, and unchanging sovereign. 4. We preach the God of righteousness. Our Lord said, "I will in no wise clear the guilty. The soul that sinneth it shall die. Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." God Almighty is a righteous God — He is a holy God, therefore, Christ Jesus came into the world that God might be just and justify the ungodly. We preach a God that cannot show his love at the expense of his holiness. We preach a God that cannot show mercy at the expense of his truth ? and only at Calvary can mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss one another. The God we preach is the God of righteousness, and 5. He's the God of unchanging grace. "I am the Lord," he said, "I do not change; therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed "Why is there no fear of God before the eyes of this generation? They've heard preached a false god; they've heard preached a weak god; they've heard preached a failing god; they've heard preached a disappointed god; they've heard preached a god whose hands are tied; they've heard preached a god who says I have no eyes but your eyes; I have no feet but your feet; I have no hands but your hands. That's a lie. The God of the Bible is totally and completely independent of his creatures as far as his strength, his wisdom, his power, his beauty and his glory are concerned. We do not add to his glory — we receive and share in his glory. The God we preach is the God of eternal existence, the God of creation, the God of sovereign mercy, the God of righteousness, and the God of unchanging grace. He is the God upon whom we depend; the God to whom we look; and the God without whom we can't exist! All things that we have we receive of him — we return nothing but that which he gives us. What is it to preach the gospel? It is to preach the truth about God. To Tell The Truth About Man Secondly, what is it to preach the gospel? It's to preach the truth about man. Men do not want to hear the truth about God; and they do not want to hear the truth about themselves. But gospel preachers preach the truth, not only about God, but the truth about the sinner, and they leave that sinner empty, broken and destroyed with all his foundations of flesh swept from under him, and all his self-righteous rags stripped from off him, leaving him naked and unclothed before the searchlight of God's holiness. What does the Bible say about man? It says in Romans 10:3, "there is none righteous, no not one, there is none that understandeth; there is none that seek after God." What are men seeking? Seeking their own pleasure; seeking their own comfort; seeking their own glory; seeking their own wills; seeking their own satisfaction — everybody seeks his own, they do not seek God. "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, for there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Christ said, "you have not the love of God in you." Somebody says, "Well, I love people." No you don't. You just consider who you love. You love yourself. You try to think this minute — is there anybody in this world you really love? Well, you say, "I love my wife" — that's yourself. That's your wife. Well, "I love my mother and father" — that's still loving yourself — that
- 56. is not lovinganybody — you love them because they are your mother and father. Well, "1 love my son or daughter" — your son and daughter — do you love anybody else's son or daughter? "I love my brothers and sisters" — that's yourself. Well, "I love my Saviour; my own personal Saviour." That's loving yourself. If he weren't your Saviour, you would not love him. Everything you love is connected with your own sinful, selfish self ? your whole world revolves around yourself ? your own pleasures, your own delights, your own passions, your own seeking. "There is none good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongues they have used deceit the poison of snakes is under their lips; their mouths are full of cursing, bitterness, murmuring, complaining, fault-finding, gossip, back-biting — their feet are swift to shed blood — destruction and misery are in their ways — the way of peace, they know nothing about it." There's no genuine, honest, sincere fear of God before their eyes — they don't fear God; they do not tremble at the presence of God; they don't fall at his feet as dead men — even religious worshippers today don't fear God. If they feared God, they would be silent in the presence of God; they would choose their words carefully; their worship would be marked, not by shouting, but by awesome reverence and fear. Job said, "when I saw the Lord, I said I have spoken once, yea, twice, but I'll never speak again." John said, "when I saw the Lord, I fell at his feet as a dead man — my eyes have seen the Lord." Isaiah said, "When I saw the Lord, I cried, woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips — when I saw the Lord I saw my guilt." The average person goes to church and he comes away feeling good. If the preacher had preached the truth about man, they would have come away from that place crying, "O, God, be merciful to me a sinner!" To Tell The Truth About Christ Thirdly: What is it to preach the gospel? It is to tell the truth about God and man, and it is to tell the truth about Jesus Christ. My friends Jesus of Nazareth is not a weak, frustrated reformer; Jesus Christ of Nazareth is very God of very God. He is the Messiah. He did not die as a martyr; he did not die as an example — he came down here and died on the cross as the victorious, conquering, successful Redeemer of his people. He died as the covenant Redeemer. He died for the covenant people — he died to accomplish a task given him by the Father before the world's creation. When he completed his suffering on Calvary, he said, "It is finished." He cannot fail! Christ is not a frustrated Redeemer; he is not a disappointed Saviour; he is not a defeated Saviour; he is not a poor, weak, reformer up there in heaven, crying his eyes out because people won't let him have his way. He is the conquering, victorious Messiah who is seated at the right hand of the Father, expecting until his enemies become his footstool! He is the Lord of the living and the dead. A preacher said to a congregation one time, "won't you make Jesus your Lord?" I emphatically declare to this congregation that you cannot make Jesus Christ your Lord — the Father has already beat you to it! He is your Lord! He is your Lord if you are saved; he is your Lord if you are damned! He is your Lord if you are on the right hand with his sheep; he is your Lord if you are on the left hand with the
- 57. goats! He isyour Lord! Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess in heaven, earth and hell that he is Lord. You don't make him Lord — you recognize him as Lord. God made him Lord. The Father has delivered all things to the Son; the Scripture says, he is the Lord. He purchased that right through his death on Calvary. Jesus Christ is not a fire escape from hell, he is the Lord; he is not a door-mat named Jesus, he is Lord. If any man shall confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in his heart that God has raised him from the dead, he shall be saved. His life is a perfect righteousness; his death a perfect sacrifice. We?d better start telling the truth about this man called Jesus. To preach the gospel is to tell the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not here to pastor a church; I'm here to preach the gospel. I'm not here to see how many people I can baptize, I'm here to preach the gospel. And I did not come to preach it with wisdom of words lest I cover the cross of Christ so that man can't even recognize it because of my intellectuality or my vocabulary. To Tell The Truth About Salvation Fourthly: I am come to preach the gospel and tell the truth about God, about men, about Christ and to tell the truth about salvation. Now let me tell you something: this thing of salvation — we use that word rather loosely in this day ? salvation from sin is not by the deeds of the law. Even those who are supposed to know something about salvation by grace have to remind themselves again and again that salvation is not by the works of the flesh, not at all, in any way! Salvation is not by reformation; salvation does not come by decision; salvation does not come through church ordinances; salvation is not ours by church membership; salvation is in Christ the Lord. That's where salvation is — not in man's purpose, not in man's plan, it's in a person. It's not in a proposition, it's not in walking an aisle, it's not in a church ordinance, it's in Christ! It's not in a law; it's not in the deeds of the flesh; salvation is in Christ. A man does not have salvation until he comes by the power of God's Spirit through faith to a living, personal, vital, intimate union with Christ as the Lord. A man is not a Christian until he has a vital union with Christ. A man is not a Christian until he is inseparably joined — personally joined to Jesus Christ. A man is not a Christian until Christ becomes his life. A man is not a Christian unless you can cut into his heart and find love for Christ; cut into his mind and find thoughts of Christ; and cut into his soul and find a panting after Christ. Christ in you, that's the hope of glory. The Holy Spirit convicts a man of sin; the Holy Spirit empties a sinner; the Holy Spirit brings a man to faith in the Son of God — faith in the living Lord. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. Most people's so-called Christianity can be taken off with their Sunday clothes; but a man who is genuinely saved has Christ living in him as an everlasting fountain springing up into everlasting life — he's been born-again — he's been resurrected from the grave — he has the very image of the Son of God stamped on his heart and it cannot be moved. What is it to preach the gospel? There are not many folks preaching the gospel because there are not many people telling the truth about God. Everybody has a god. But eternal life is to know the living God, What is it to preach the gospel? It's to tell the truth about man, and we are not going to like what we hear. It's to tell the truth about, Christ, and it's to tell the truth about salvation.
- 58. Nothing To GloryOf In Preaching The next thing that Paul deals with here is "though I preach the gospel I have nothing to glory of. Why is it that we who preach the gospel have nothing to glory of? Well, firstly, we are conscious of our guilt. Any man who is not conscious of his own guilt can't preach the gospel because he doesn't know the gospel. And you can't tell what you don't know any more than you can come back from where you haven't been. A man who preaches the gospel is conscious of his own guilt. The man who was led of the Spirit to write this Scripture said, "I am not worthy to be an apostle, I see no worthiness in myself." Later on he said, "I am less than the least of all the saints" — pick out the least saint in God?s house and I am less than the least saint. Then later on he said, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." I wonder if I asked this morning, "Will the chief of sinners please stand?" — would anybody really stand? No, we wouldn't stand. But the apostle Paul said that the man who really knows God feels that way. When somebody asked, "Paul, who is the chief of sinners?" He replied, "I am." Dr James M. Gray wrote this: "suffer a sinner whose heart overflows, loving his Saviour to tell what he knows; once more to tell it would I embrace — what do you want to tell, Dr. Gray — "I'm only a sinner, saved by grace." A man who really knows God never graduates above that statement right there — "I'm only a sinner saved by grace." He may grow in grace, grow in talent, grow in gifts and grow in knowledge, but he's still only a sinner saved by grace. We have nothing to glory of, we're just using borrowed gifts. Turn to 1 Corinthians 4, and listen to verse 7 — "Who maketh thee to differ?" Are you able to preach — who gave you the power? Do you have a little more than somebody else — who gave it to you? Do you have more talents than the next fellow — who made you to differ? "What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if you received it, why dost thou glory?" Why do you glory in your beauty? — God gave it to you. Why do you glory in your strength? Without God you would not have it. Why do you glory in your wealth? God gave it to you. Why do you glory in your talent, in your singing ability? Why do you glory in your ability to play an instrument? You couldn't play the radio without God's grace — you'd be a simpleminded imbecile. Who made you to differ? What do you have that God didn't give you? If you are walking around with something, something somebody gave you, why are you bragging as if you have it of your own natural ability? Why do you think that you are better than anybody else? Only God's merciful grace; God's gracious grace enables you to be anything but a stuttering, stammering moron. Let me tell you a story. Charles Spurgeon wrote this in 1855, "Last week the quiet neighborhood of Newtown was disturbed by an occurrence which has thrown a gloom over the whole neighborhood. Something dreadful happened. A well-known teacher, a man who had been principal of the academy for young men for years, who was my own professor, has become mentally deranged, he has lost his mind. A warrant had to be issued for his arrest, and while waiting for the vehicle to carry him away to the institution for the mentally insane, this old white- haired man who had been principal stood on the porch of his home, where he had lived all his life before his friends and neighbors, handcuffed to two policemen. He was then led away. He
- 59. was my teacher,he was the man from whom I learned whatever human learning I have acquired. He was a man of genius, a man of ability! How fallen, how fallen." How quickly can human nature sink below the level of the beast. Who made you to differ? What do you have that you have not received? Salvation is the gift of God! Faith is the gift of God! Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of — nothing! I can't break the heart — the Holy Spirit must do that; I can't convict men of sin — God has to do that I can't give repentance and faith — God must do that; I can't reveal Christ — this, too, is the Spirit's work. If my words are the only voice you hear, you'll just have to perish — you've got to hear him speak from heaven. Necessity Laid Upon Me To Preach Read the next line of our text — "Necessity is laid upon me." Why is it necessary for me to preach the gospel? Preacher, why are you so compelled; why is it that every time you speak it's always Christ and him crucified — the gospel? I'll tell you why — because of the truth and the beauty of the gospel. I see in the gospel of substitution a beauty beyond all things. I see in the gospel of Jesus Christ the good news of the Son of God, the truth of God. Only Christ can meet the perfect law. Only Christ can satisfy the justice of God. Only Christ can open the way for us into the holiest of all, into the presence of the Father. Only Christ can supply the need of the bankrupt sinner, and only Christ can keep me from falling. "Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and who is able to present you faultless before the throne and the presence of his glory with exceeding joy; to him be glory both now and forever." That's why it's necessary for me to preach the gospel: the beauty of it, the glory of it, the truth of it. I could tell you that salvation is in the church, but it wouldn't be true. I could tell you to come down here and shake my hand and God would take you to heaven, but it would be a lie. I could tell you, let me baptize you, and by obeying the baptismal commandment you will go to heaven, but it wouldn't be so. I could tell you that if you live a good life and pray and go to church on Sunday and give a little offering, God will take you to heaven when you die, but it wouldn't be so. I could tell you to quit drinking, quit going to the picture show and live a good, moral life and you will go to heaven when you die, but that would be a lie — it wouldn't be so. But when I tell you that Christ died for our sins; that Christ is a sufficient Saviour; that Christ is an effectual substitute who came down here and gave us a righteousness which we didn't have and couldn't produce, went to the cross, bore our sins, paid our debt, satisfied the justice of God; that he is our living advocate at the right hand of the Father; and that if you come to a living, vital union with him, you'll be saved — that's the truth, and the only truth that will make you free. Woe Is Unto Me If I Preach Not
- 60. I wish Ihad the ear of every preacher in the world right now, not that I deserve to preach to preachers, but I know this is so — it doesn't matter if a little child says it, or an ignorant person says it, or who says it — Paul said it first, the Holy Spirit inspired him to say it, "Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel." I'm in trouble, real trouble. I cannot think of any crime — I can't think of a crime more terrible than to be intrusted with the immortal souls of eternity-bound boys and girls, young people, men and women, like every preacher is in-trusted every Sunday, and then stand up here and waste this precious time talking about myself, about my problems or my so- called denomination or my church, or talk about my ideas of what is right and what is wrong. I cannot think of a more terrible crime than to be intrusted with the souls of men and women who are sitting before us, some of whom may be in hell before next Sunday, and take that time singing a bunch of ditties, carrying on with foolishness, and making a mockery of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't think of a more awful crime against society than to deceive people who are given to us to instruct in the things of the Lord. I've got to preach the gospel — woe is unto me if I don't. God have mercy, and he won't, if I don't! Woe unto the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, woe unto the Christ-crucifiers of Jerusalem, but double woe upon the preachers and shepherds and pastors who for advantage, filthy lucre and praise of men deceive men's souls — God help them, but he won't. Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel, and there's not another one, it's the gospel of Christ. If an angel from heaven preach unto you any other gospel, Paul said, "let him be accursed." Now if you want to play games, you play them, but you play them somewhere else — I'm going to preach the gospel here. If you want to play church, you play it, but you play it somewhere else. I'm preaching as a dying man to dying men; I'm preaching as one who may never preach again, and under God I'm going to tell you the truth. I say this in closing, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel; but I have something to tell you: woe is unto you if I preach it and you do not believe it. You may not understand it; and it may not fit in with your tradition; and it may not fit into your denominational pattern, and I'm sure if it's the gospel it won't because Christ didn't fit the denominational pattern when he came down here either — he didn't fit into their religious theology; he didn't fit into their tradition; and he didn't fit into their mold; and they crucified him! My message may not fit what Mama taught you, but Mama wasn't sent of God to preach the gospel — I am. If I didn't believe that, I'd quit. Do you see what I'm saying? I'm saying, "woe is unto you, woe is unto the Tri-state area, and woe is everybody under the sound of my voice, if I preach the gospel and you do not believe it. I'm willing to take my medicine, if I don't preach the gospel; but you get ready to take yours, if I do and you do not receive it — is that fair? I preach the gospel, Paul says! I don't have anything to glory of — I'm just a sinner saved by grace. Necessity is laid upon me — I've got to preach the gospel, for woe is unto me if I don't preach it. Now will you say this — I believe the gospel, but if I believe the gospel, I don't have anything to glory of — will you say that? God gave me the knowledge; God gave me the repentance; God gave me the faith. For necessity is laid upon me — I've got to believe the gospel, because there's no truth anywhere else; there's no beauty anywhere else; there's no hope anywhere else; no refuge anywhere else — necessity is laid upon me — can you say that? And can you go on and finish — woe is unto me if I don't believe the gospel. That's all I've got to say. Now it's between you and God — I leave it with you.
- 61. This sermon wasfirst published in the Baptist Reformation Review, Nashville, Tennessee.