The Power of God In The Salvation of His People # 5
8. The Power of God in PRESERVING His People
"Who are kept by the power of God through faith" (1 Peter 1:5). Kept from what? Ah, what mortal is capable of returning a full answer? A whole article might profitably be devoted to this one aspect of our subject.
Kept from the dominion of sin, which still dwells within us.
Kept from being drawn out of the narrow way, by the enticements of the world.
Kept from the horrible heresies, which ensnare thousands on every side.
Kept from being overcome by satan, who always seeks our destruction.
Kept from departing from the living God, so that we do not make shipwreck of the faith.
Kept from turning His grace into a license to sin. Weak as water in ourselves, yet, we are enabled to endure as seeing Him who is invisible. This "is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes."
Sin is a mighty monarch which none of His subjects can withstand.
There was more in Adam while innocent to resist sin, than in any other person since, for sin has an ally within the fallen creature that is ever ready to betray him into temptations from without. But sin had no such advantage over Adam, nevertheless, it overwhelmed him.
The non-elect angels were yet better able to withstand sin than Adam was, having a more excellent nature and being nearer to God - yet, sin prevailed against them and threw them out of Heaven into hell.
Then, what a mighty power is required to subdue it! Only He who "led captivity captive" can make His people more than conquerors."
As the providence of God is a manifestation of His power in a continued creation, so the preservation of grace is a manifestation of His power in a continued regeneration. God's strength abates and modifies the violence of temptations. His staff supports His people under them, His might defeats the power of satan. The counter-workings of indwelling corruptions, the reluctancies of the flesh against the breathings of the Spirit, the fallacies of the sences, and the movings of the mind - would quickly stifle and quench grace, if it were not maintained by the same all-powerful blast that first inbreathed it. No less in fulfilling the work of faith - than in ingrafting the word of faith (2 Thess. 1:11)".
The preservation of God's people in this world greatly glorifies the power of God. To preserve those with so many corruptions within, and so many temptations without - magnifies His ineffable might more than if He were to translate them to Heaven the moment they believed. In a world of suffering and sorrow, to preserve the faith of His people amid so many and sore testings, trials, buffetings, disappointments, betrayals by friends and professed brethren in Christ - is infinitely more wonderful than if a man should succeed in carrying an unsheltered candle alight across an open door when a hurricane was blowing.
To the glory of God, the writer bears witness that, but for omnipotent grace, he had become an infidel years ago as the result of the treatment he had received from those who posed as preachers of the Gospel. Yes, for God to supply strength to His fainting people, and enable them to, "Hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast unto the end" (Heb. 3:14), is more marvelous than though He were to keep a fire burning in the midst of the ocean!
How the contemplation of the power of God should deepen our confidence and trust in Him, "Trust in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength" (Isa. 26:4). The power of God was the ground of Abraham's assurance (Heb. 5:7). Oh, to bear constantly in mind that, "God is able to make all grace abound toward us" (2 Cor. 9:8). Nothing is so calculated to calm the mind, still our fears, and fill us with peace - as faith's appropriation of God's sufficiency. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" ( Romans 8:31). His infallible promise is, "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" (Isa. 41:10).
He who brought a nation through the Red Sea without any ships, and led them across the desert for forty years, where was neither bread nor water - still lives and reigns!!
~A. W. Pink~
(The End)
Saturday, November 9, 2019
Saturday, November 2, 2019
The Power of God In The Salvation of His People # 4
The Power of God In The Salvation of His People # 4
Unbelief is far, far more than entertaining an erroneous conception of God's way of salvation - it is a species of hatred against Him. So faith in Christ is far more than the mind assenting to all that is said of Him in the Scriptures. The demons do that, but it does not save them. Saving faith is not only the heart of my acceptance before God - but it is also the heart being weaned from every other object that competes with Him for my affections. Saving faith is that "which works by lover", a love which is evidenced by keeping His commandments. Therefore, where there is a believing heart which is devoted to Christ, esteeming Him high above self and the world, a mighty miracle of grace has been wrought in the soul.
6. The Power of God in Communicating a SENSE OF PARDON
When a soul has been sorely wounded by the "arrows of the Almighty" (Job 6:4), when the ineffable light of the thrice holy God has shone into our dark hearts, revealing their unspeakable filthiness and corruption; when our innumerable iniquities have been made to stare us in the face, until the convicted sinner has been made to realize he is fit only for hell, and sees himself even now on the very brink of it; when he is brought to feel that he has provoked God so sorely that he greatly fears he has sinned beyond all possibility of forgiveness (and unless your soul has passed through such experiences, my readers, you have never been born again) - then nothing but divine power can raise that soul out of abject despair and create in it a hope of mercy!
To lift the stricken sinner above those dark waters that have so terrified him, to bestow the light of comfort as well as the light of conviction into a heart filled with worse than Egyptian darkness, is an act of Omnipotence! God alone can heal the heart which He has wounded, and speak peace to the raging tempest within.
Men may count up the promises of God until they are as old as Methuselah, but it will avail them nothing until a divine hand shall pour in "the balm of Gilead." The sinner is no more able to apply to himself the Word of divine comfort when he is under the terrors of God's law, and writhing beneath the strokes of God's convicting Spirit - than he is able to resurrect the moldering bodies in our cemeteries. To "restore the joy of salvation" was in David's judgment an act of sovereign power equal to that of creating a clean heart (Psalm 51:10).
All the doctors of divinity put together, are as incapable of healing a wounded spirit as are the physicians of medicine of animating a corpse. To silence a tempestuous conscience, is a mightier performance than the Saviour's stilling the stormy winds and raging waves, though it is not to be expected that any will grant the truth of this who are in themselves strangers to such an experience. As nothing but infinite power can remove the guilt of sin - so nothing but infinite power can remove the despairing sense of it!
7. The Power of God in Actually CONVERTING a Soul
"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jere. 13:23). No, indeed, though he may paint or cover them over. So, one out of Christ may restrain the outward acts of sin, but he cannot mortify the inward principle of it. To turn water into wine was indeed a miracle - but to turn fire into water would be a greater one. To create man out of the dust of the ground was a work of divine power - but to re-create a man so that a sinner becomes a saint, a lion is changed into a lamb, and enemy transformed into a friend, hatred is melted into love - is a far greater wonder of Omnipotence.
The miracle of conversion, which is effected by the Spirit through the Gospel, is described thus, "For the weapons of our warfare (that is, the preachers) are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:4-5).
Well has it been said, "To dispossess a man of his self-esteem and self-sufficiency; to make room for God in the heart where there was none but for sin, as dear to him as himself; to hurl down pride of nature; to make stout imaginations stoop to the Cross; to make designs of self-advancement sink under a zeal for the glory of God and an overruling design of His honor - is not to be ascribed to any but to an outstretched arm wielding the sword of the Spirit. To have a heart full of the fear of God, which was just before filled with contempt of His wisdom; to have a hatred of his habitual lustings that had brought him in much sensitive pleasure; to loathe them; to live by faith in and obedience to the Redeemer, who before was so heartily under the dominion of satan and self- is a triumphant act of infinite power that can subdue all things to itself".
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 5)
Unbelief is far, far more than entertaining an erroneous conception of God's way of salvation - it is a species of hatred against Him. So faith in Christ is far more than the mind assenting to all that is said of Him in the Scriptures. The demons do that, but it does not save them. Saving faith is not only the heart of my acceptance before God - but it is also the heart being weaned from every other object that competes with Him for my affections. Saving faith is that "which works by lover", a love which is evidenced by keeping His commandments. Therefore, where there is a believing heart which is devoted to Christ, esteeming Him high above self and the world, a mighty miracle of grace has been wrought in the soul.
6. The Power of God in Communicating a SENSE OF PARDON
When a soul has been sorely wounded by the "arrows of the Almighty" (Job 6:4), when the ineffable light of the thrice holy God has shone into our dark hearts, revealing their unspeakable filthiness and corruption; when our innumerable iniquities have been made to stare us in the face, until the convicted sinner has been made to realize he is fit only for hell, and sees himself even now on the very brink of it; when he is brought to feel that he has provoked God so sorely that he greatly fears he has sinned beyond all possibility of forgiveness (and unless your soul has passed through such experiences, my readers, you have never been born again) - then nothing but divine power can raise that soul out of abject despair and create in it a hope of mercy!
To lift the stricken sinner above those dark waters that have so terrified him, to bestow the light of comfort as well as the light of conviction into a heart filled with worse than Egyptian darkness, is an act of Omnipotence! God alone can heal the heart which He has wounded, and speak peace to the raging tempest within.
Men may count up the promises of God until they are as old as Methuselah, but it will avail them nothing until a divine hand shall pour in "the balm of Gilead." The sinner is no more able to apply to himself the Word of divine comfort when he is under the terrors of God's law, and writhing beneath the strokes of God's convicting Spirit - than he is able to resurrect the moldering bodies in our cemeteries. To "restore the joy of salvation" was in David's judgment an act of sovereign power equal to that of creating a clean heart (Psalm 51:10).
All the doctors of divinity put together, are as incapable of healing a wounded spirit as are the physicians of medicine of animating a corpse. To silence a tempestuous conscience, is a mightier performance than the Saviour's stilling the stormy winds and raging waves, though it is not to be expected that any will grant the truth of this who are in themselves strangers to such an experience. As nothing but infinite power can remove the guilt of sin - so nothing but infinite power can remove the despairing sense of it!
7. The Power of God in Actually CONVERTING a Soul
"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jere. 13:23). No, indeed, though he may paint or cover them over. So, one out of Christ may restrain the outward acts of sin, but he cannot mortify the inward principle of it. To turn water into wine was indeed a miracle - but to turn fire into water would be a greater one. To create man out of the dust of the ground was a work of divine power - but to re-create a man so that a sinner becomes a saint, a lion is changed into a lamb, and enemy transformed into a friend, hatred is melted into love - is a far greater wonder of Omnipotence.
The miracle of conversion, which is effected by the Spirit through the Gospel, is described thus, "For the weapons of our warfare (that is, the preachers) are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:4-5).
Well has it been said, "To dispossess a man of his self-esteem and self-sufficiency; to make room for God in the heart where there was none but for sin, as dear to him as himself; to hurl down pride of nature; to make stout imaginations stoop to the Cross; to make designs of self-advancement sink under a zeal for the glory of God and an overruling design of His honor - is not to be ascribed to any but to an outstretched arm wielding the sword of the Spirit. To have a heart full of the fear of God, which was just before filled with contempt of His wisdom; to have a hatred of his habitual lustings that had brought him in much sensitive pleasure; to loathe them; to live by faith in and obedience to the Redeemer, who before was so heartily under the dominion of satan and self- is a triumphant act of infinite power that can subdue all things to itself".
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 5)
New Covenant Theology Essentials # 2
New Covenant Theology Essentials # 2
3. The Old Covenant was Temporary by Divine Design
The third distinctive on New Covenant Theology is that the Old Covenant was temporary by divine design. God intended for it to be an interim covenant. The NT is emphatic about the fact that those in Christ are no longer under the law (1 Cor. 9:20; 2 Cor. 3; Romans 6:14, 7:6; Gal. 3:23, 5:18; Hebrews 8). Galatians is very clear about this point. The Judaizers needed new watch batteries They failed to realize what time it was in God's plan. The Bible depicts history as being divided up between this age and the age to come. This present evil age consists of sin, flesh, and death but when the Messiah comes, He would usher in the new age of righteousness, Spirit, and life. Paul sees the old covenant law as part of the old age (Gal. 1:4; Romans 6:14). The Judaizers were trying to force Gentile believers to observe the old covenant law. Paul insists that its day is over. The law was given after the promise to Abraham and until the Messiah came. Galatians 3:19 says, "Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come." Verses 24 -25 say, "So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian." Here Paul calls the law a guardian (paidagogos). In the first century, this referred to the household slave who was responsible for a child until they reached maturity. Paul's point is the temporal nature of the old covenant. Once we are grown up, we no longer need a guardian. The old covenant law was intended parenthesis in God's plan and has now been replaced by the New Covenant (Heb. 8). The new covenant is not merely a renewal, but really is new covenant unlike the old one (Jere. 31:32).
4. There is No Tripartite Division of the Law
The fourth distinctive of New Covenant Theology is that the law is presented as a unit throughout Scripture. Covenant Theology divides the law up into three parts: moral, civil, and ceremonial. While we see how some commandments could be classified as moral in nature, as opposed to civil or ceremonial, New Covenant Theology denies this "tripartite" division of the law because the writers of Scripture do not make such distinctions. The law is presented as a unit throughout Scripture
5. We are not under the Law of Moses, but under the Law of Christ.
The fifth distinctive of New Covenant Theology regards its relation to law. If we are not under the law, does that mean we are lawless? No! We are no longer under the law of Moses, rather we are under the law of Christ. This phrase only occurs once in Scripture: Galatians 6:2, which reads, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Probably the most important passage for New Covenant Theology is 1 Cor. 9:20-21, which reads, "To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law." This helpful passage summarizes what New Covenant Theology is all about. Paul is clear that he is not under the law (nomos meaning law of Moses), but he is not free from God's law. So we see that God's law is no longer equivalent to the Mosaic law but is now Christ's law. The law of Christ can be defined as those prescriptive principles drawn from the example and teaching of Jesus and His apostles (the central demand being love), which are meant to be worked out in specific situations by the guiding influence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
6. All in the New Covenant Community Have the Holy Spirit.
The sixth distinctive belief is the nature of the new covenant community. In the New Covenant, unlike the Old, every member is fully forgiven and every member has the Holy Spirit. This is another way of saying they are all believers. The prophets looked forward to a day when God would pour out His Spirit from on high (Ezek. 36-37; Joel 2; Isa. 32:15, 44:3). This is one of the major differences between Israel and the Church. Not all within Israel had the Holy Spirit. All within the new covenant community do.
Jesus is the hermeneutical key! New Covenant Theology is consistently Christocentric. The New Testament is Israel-Jesus-church. Believers are considered the offspring of Abraham by being united to Jesus. Galatians 3:7 says, "Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham (Israel)." Galatians 3:29 says, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 6:15-16 says, "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule - to the Israel of God." All of the promises of God are yes in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20).
~Blake White~
(The End)
3. The Old Covenant was Temporary by Divine Design
The third distinctive on New Covenant Theology is that the Old Covenant was temporary by divine design. God intended for it to be an interim covenant. The NT is emphatic about the fact that those in Christ are no longer under the law (1 Cor. 9:20; 2 Cor. 3; Romans 6:14, 7:6; Gal. 3:23, 5:18; Hebrews 8). Galatians is very clear about this point. The Judaizers needed new watch batteries They failed to realize what time it was in God's plan. The Bible depicts history as being divided up between this age and the age to come. This present evil age consists of sin, flesh, and death but when the Messiah comes, He would usher in the new age of righteousness, Spirit, and life. Paul sees the old covenant law as part of the old age (Gal. 1:4; Romans 6:14). The Judaizers were trying to force Gentile believers to observe the old covenant law. Paul insists that its day is over. The law was given after the promise to Abraham and until the Messiah came. Galatians 3:19 says, "Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come." Verses 24 -25 say, "So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian." Here Paul calls the law a guardian (paidagogos). In the first century, this referred to the household slave who was responsible for a child until they reached maturity. Paul's point is the temporal nature of the old covenant. Once we are grown up, we no longer need a guardian. The old covenant law was intended parenthesis in God's plan and has now been replaced by the New Covenant (Heb. 8). The new covenant is not merely a renewal, but really is new covenant unlike the old one (Jere. 31:32).
4. There is No Tripartite Division of the Law
The fourth distinctive of New Covenant Theology is that the law is presented as a unit throughout Scripture. Covenant Theology divides the law up into three parts: moral, civil, and ceremonial. While we see how some commandments could be classified as moral in nature, as opposed to civil or ceremonial, New Covenant Theology denies this "tripartite" division of the law because the writers of Scripture do not make such distinctions. The law is presented as a unit throughout Scripture
5. We are not under the Law of Moses, but under the Law of Christ.
The fifth distinctive of New Covenant Theology regards its relation to law. If we are not under the law, does that mean we are lawless? No! We are no longer under the law of Moses, rather we are under the law of Christ. This phrase only occurs once in Scripture: Galatians 6:2, which reads, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Probably the most important passage for New Covenant Theology is 1 Cor. 9:20-21, which reads, "To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law." This helpful passage summarizes what New Covenant Theology is all about. Paul is clear that he is not under the law (nomos meaning law of Moses), but he is not free from God's law. So we see that God's law is no longer equivalent to the Mosaic law but is now Christ's law. The law of Christ can be defined as those prescriptive principles drawn from the example and teaching of Jesus and His apostles (the central demand being love), which are meant to be worked out in specific situations by the guiding influence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
6. All in the New Covenant Community Have the Holy Spirit.
The sixth distinctive belief is the nature of the new covenant community. In the New Covenant, unlike the Old, every member is fully forgiven and every member has the Holy Spirit. This is another way of saying they are all believers. The prophets looked forward to a day when God would pour out His Spirit from on high (Ezek. 36-37; Joel 2; Isa. 32:15, 44:3). This is one of the major differences between Israel and the Church. Not all within Israel had the Holy Spirit. All within the new covenant community do.
Jesus is the hermeneutical key! New Covenant Theology is consistently Christocentric. The New Testament is Israel-Jesus-church. Believers are considered the offspring of Abraham by being united to Jesus. Galatians 3:7 says, "Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham (Israel)." Galatians 3:29 says, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 6:15-16 says, "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule - to the Israel of God." All of the promises of God are yes in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20).
~Blake White~
(The End)
Saturday, October 26, 2019
The Power of God In Salvation # 3
The Power of God In Salvation # 3
4. The Power of God in Producing REPENTANCE
Man, without Christ, cannot repent, "Him has God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance" (Acts 5:31). Christ gave it as a "Prince," and, therefore, to none but His subjects, those who are in His kingdom, in whom He rules. Nothing can draw men to repentance, but the regenerating power of Christ, which He exercises at God's right hand. For the acts of repentance are: hatred of sin, sorrow for it, determination to forsake it, and earnest and constant endeavor after its death.
But sin is so transcendentally dear and delightful to a man out of Christ, that nothing but an infinite power can draw him to these acts mentioned. Sin is more precious to an unregenerate soul than anything else in Heaven or earth. It is dearer to him than liberty, for he gives himself up to it entirely, and becomes its servant and slave. It is dearer to him than health, strength, time, or riches, for he spends all these upon sin. It is dearer to him than his own soul. Shall a man lose his sins, or his soul? Ninety-nine out of a hundred vote for the latter, and lose their souls on that account. Sin is a man's self. Just as "I" is the central letter of "sin", so sin is the center, the moving power, the very life of self! Therefore did Christ say, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself" (Matt. 16:24). Men are "lovers of their own selves" (2 Tim. 3:2), which is the same as saying that their hearts are wedded to sin. Man "drinks iniquity like water" (Job 15:16). He cannot exist without it - he is ever thirsting for it - he must have his fill of it.
Now, since man so dotes on sin, what is going to turn his delight into sorrow, his love for it into loathing of it? Nothing but almighty power! Here, then, we may mark the folly of those who cherish the delusion that they can repent whenever they get ready to do so. Evangelical repentance is not at the beck and call of the creature. It is the gift of God, "If God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth" (2 Tim. 2:25). Then, what insanity is it that persuades multitudes to defer the effort to repent until their deathbeds? Do they imagine that, when they are so weak that they can no longer turn their bodies - they will have strength to turn their souls from sin? Far sooner could they turn themselves back to perfect physical health! What praise, then, is due to God if He has wrought a saving repentance in us.
5. The Power of God in Working FAITH in His People.
Saving faith in Christ is not the simple matter that so many vainly imagine. Countless thousands supposed it is as easy to believe in the Lord Jesus as in Caesar or Napoleon - and the tragic thing is that hundreds of preachers are helping forward this lie. It is as easy to believe on Him as on them in a natural, historical, intellectual way - but not so in a spiritual and saving way. I may believe in all the heroes of the past - but such belief effects no change in my life! I may have unshaken confidence in the historicity of George Washington - but does my belief in him abate my love for the world and cause me to hate even the garment spotted by the flesh?
A supernatural and saving faith in Christ, alone purifies the life. Is such a faith easily attained? No, indeed! Listen to Christ Himself, "How can you believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that comes from God alone?" (John 5:44). And again, we read, "They could not believe" (John 12:39).
Faith in Christ is receiving Him as He is offered or presented to us by God in the Scriptures. Now, God presents Christ to us not only as Priest - but as King; not only as Saviour - but as "Prince."
Are men as willing for Christ to rule them - as to save them?
Do they pray as earnestly for purity - as for pardon?
Are they as anxious to be delivered from the power of sin - as they are from the fires of hell?
Do they desire holiness - as much as they do heaven?
Is the dominion of sin as dreadful to them - as its wages?
Does the filthiness of sin grieve them - as much as the guilt and damnation of it?
The man who divides what God has joined together when He offers Christ to us has not "received" Him at all. Faith is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). It is wrought in the elect by "the operation of God" (Col. 2:12). To bring a sinner from unbelief to saving faith in Christ, is a miracle as great and as wondrous as was God's raising Christ from the dead (Eph. 1:19-20).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 4)
4. The Power of God in Producing REPENTANCE
Man, without Christ, cannot repent, "Him has God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance" (Acts 5:31). Christ gave it as a "Prince," and, therefore, to none but His subjects, those who are in His kingdom, in whom He rules. Nothing can draw men to repentance, but the regenerating power of Christ, which He exercises at God's right hand. For the acts of repentance are: hatred of sin, sorrow for it, determination to forsake it, and earnest and constant endeavor after its death.
But sin is so transcendentally dear and delightful to a man out of Christ, that nothing but an infinite power can draw him to these acts mentioned. Sin is more precious to an unregenerate soul than anything else in Heaven or earth. It is dearer to him than liberty, for he gives himself up to it entirely, and becomes its servant and slave. It is dearer to him than health, strength, time, or riches, for he spends all these upon sin. It is dearer to him than his own soul. Shall a man lose his sins, or his soul? Ninety-nine out of a hundred vote for the latter, and lose their souls on that account. Sin is a man's self. Just as "I" is the central letter of "sin", so sin is the center, the moving power, the very life of self! Therefore did Christ say, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself" (Matt. 16:24). Men are "lovers of their own selves" (2 Tim. 3:2), which is the same as saying that their hearts are wedded to sin. Man "drinks iniquity like water" (Job 15:16). He cannot exist without it - he is ever thirsting for it - he must have his fill of it.
Now, since man so dotes on sin, what is going to turn his delight into sorrow, his love for it into loathing of it? Nothing but almighty power! Here, then, we may mark the folly of those who cherish the delusion that they can repent whenever they get ready to do so. Evangelical repentance is not at the beck and call of the creature. It is the gift of God, "If God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth" (2 Tim. 2:25). Then, what insanity is it that persuades multitudes to defer the effort to repent until their deathbeds? Do they imagine that, when they are so weak that they can no longer turn their bodies - they will have strength to turn their souls from sin? Far sooner could they turn themselves back to perfect physical health! What praise, then, is due to God if He has wrought a saving repentance in us.
5. The Power of God in Working FAITH in His People.
Saving faith in Christ is not the simple matter that so many vainly imagine. Countless thousands supposed it is as easy to believe in the Lord Jesus as in Caesar or Napoleon - and the tragic thing is that hundreds of preachers are helping forward this lie. It is as easy to believe on Him as on them in a natural, historical, intellectual way - but not so in a spiritual and saving way. I may believe in all the heroes of the past - but such belief effects no change in my life! I may have unshaken confidence in the historicity of George Washington - but does my belief in him abate my love for the world and cause me to hate even the garment spotted by the flesh?
A supernatural and saving faith in Christ, alone purifies the life. Is such a faith easily attained? No, indeed! Listen to Christ Himself, "How can you believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that comes from God alone?" (John 5:44). And again, we read, "They could not believe" (John 12:39).
Faith in Christ is receiving Him as He is offered or presented to us by God in the Scriptures. Now, God presents Christ to us not only as Priest - but as King; not only as Saviour - but as "Prince."
Are men as willing for Christ to rule them - as to save them?
Do they pray as earnestly for purity - as for pardon?
Are they as anxious to be delivered from the power of sin - as they are from the fires of hell?
Do they desire holiness - as much as they do heaven?
Is the dominion of sin as dreadful to them - as its wages?
Does the filthiness of sin grieve them - as much as the guilt and damnation of it?
The man who divides what God has joined together when He offers Christ to us has not "received" Him at all. Faith is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). It is wrought in the elect by "the operation of God" (Col. 2:12). To bring a sinner from unbelief to saving faith in Christ, is a miracle as great and as wondrous as was God's raising Christ from the dead (Eph. 1:19-20).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 4)
New Covenant Theology Essentials # 1
New Covenant Theology Essentials # 1
The story of Scripture can be summarized as "Creation to New Creation." How God brings revelation, history, and humanity from creation to new creation is referred to by many as "Redemptive History." One of the most complex yet rewarding pursuits in biblical studies is to understand the flow of Redemptive History. What is its structure? How does it progress and develop over time? How is one era related to another? Where do we find unity and continuity? Where do we encounter diversity and discontinuity? What has priority and permanence? What is temporal and passing away? These are not merely questions for the academic theologian. Since there is more material devoted specifically to this issue in the New Testament than to almost any other single issue, the Bible itself invites every believer to pursue this understanding of the big picture with all its theological and practical implications for life and faith.
Currently there are three main systems of theology within evangelical Christianity which address the subject of Redemptive History:
Covenant Theology
Dispensational Theology
New Covenant Theology
Whether or not they are conscious of it, all Christians will generally fall into one of these three systems.
Generally speaking, Covenant Theology emphasizes continuity to the expense of discontinuity. Since the Westminster Confession of Faith is structured around Covenant Theology, it is mostly Presbyterians who adhere to Covenant Theology, although others do was well (e.g. Reformed Baptists).
Dispensationalism, on the other hand, tends to emphasize discontinuity at the expense of continuity. It is mostly Bible churches that adhere to Dispensationalism, but it is certainly not limited to them. Dispensationalism is by far the most popular of the three, due in large part to its adoption early on in the Fundamentalist movement, as well as current popular marketing with fictional books and movies.
New Covenant Theology accommodates both continuity and discontinuity. It is held to by those in the "believer's church" tradition. New Covenant Theology is a relatively new label, but it is not a new method of interpretation. The early church fathers, the Anabaptists, as well as other significant figures in church history put the Bible together in a similar way.
There are six key distinctives that make up New Covenant Theology. Taken individually, these points may fit into Covenant Theology and/or Dispensationalism, but taken together they uniquely fit New Covenant Theology.
1. One Plan of God Centered in Jesus Christ.
The first distinctive of New Covenant Theology is that there is one plan of God throughout the Bible. This plan is centered on and finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Ephesians 1:8-10 says, With all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment - to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." Covenant Theology speaks of this plan in terms of the "covenant of grace." New Covenant strives to let biblical theology inform systematic theology. Exegesis should be the lifeblood of theology. This being the case, New Covenant Theology does not find exegetical warrant for an over arching covenant of grace that encompasses all the biblical covenants. This tends to flatten out the Bible. There is both continuity between the covenants and discontinuity. Each covenant must be dealt with in its own context as well as its contribution to the whole. When we recognize this, it becomes clear that there is a sharp contrast between the Old Covenant and the New. Dispenationalism, on the other hand, tends to chop up the Bible, not seeing the fulfillment that the Messiah brings in continuity with what has gone before.
2. The Old Testament Should be Interpreted in Light of the New Testament
The second distinctive of New Covenant Theology is its insistence that the Old Testament must be read and interpreted in light of its New Testament fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe". We take the progressive nature of God's revelation with the utmost seriousness. We learn how to interpret the Old Testament from Jesus and His apostles. It is our opinion that the conclusions of Covenant Theology and Dispensational Theology are a result of beginning with the Old Testament rather than the New Testament.
~Blake White~
(continued with # 2)
The story of Scripture can be summarized as "Creation to New Creation." How God brings revelation, history, and humanity from creation to new creation is referred to by many as "Redemptive History." One of the most complex yet rewarding pursuits in biblical studies is to understand the flow of Redemptive History. What is its structure? How does it progress and develop over time? How is one era related to another? Where do we find unity and continuity? Where do we encounter diversity and discontinuity? What has priority and permanence? What is temporal and passing away? These are not merely questions for the academic theologian. Since there is more material devoted specifically to this issue in the New Testament than to almost any other single issue, the Bible itself invites every believer to pursue this understanding of the big picture with all its theological and practical implications for life and faith.
Currently there are three main systems of theology within evangelical Christianity which address the subject of Redemptive History:
Covenant Theology
Dispensational Theology
New Covenant Theology
Whether or not they are conscious of it, all Christians will generally fall into one of these three systems.
Generally speaking, Covenant Theology emphasizes continuity to the expense of discontinuity. Since the Westminster Confession of Faith is structured around Covenant Theology, it is mostly Presbyterians who adhere to Covenant Theology, although others do was well (e.g. Reformed Baptists).
Dispensationalism, on the other hand, tends to emphasize discontinuity at the expense of continuity. It is mostly Bible churches that adhere to Dispensationalism, but it is certainly not limited to them. Dispensationalism is by far the most popular of the three, due in large part to its adoption early on in the Fundamentalist movement, as well as current popular marketing with fictional books and movies.
New Covenant Theology accommodates both continuity and discontinuity. It is held to by those in the "believer's church" tradition. New Covenant Theology is a relatively new label, but it is not a new method of interpretation. The early church fathers, the Anabaptists, as well as other significant figures in church history put the Bible together in a similar way.
There are six key distinctives that make up New Covenant Theology. Taken individually, these points may fit into Covenant Theology and/or Dispensationalism, but taken together they uniquely fit New Covenant Theology.
1. One Plan of God Centered in Jesus Christ.
The first distinctive of New Covenant Theology is that there is one plan of God throughout the Bible. This plan is centered on and finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Ephesians 1:8-10 says, With all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment - to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." Covenant Theology speaks of this plan in terms of the "covenant of grace." New Covenant strives to let biblical theology inform systematic theology. Exegesis should be the lifeblood of theology. This being the case, New Covenant Theology does not find exegetical warrant for an over arching covenant of grace that encompasses all the biblical covenants. This tends to flatten out the Bible. There is both continuity between the covenants and discontinuity. Each covenant must be dealt with in its own context as well as its contribution to the whole. When we recognize this, it becomes clear that there is a sharp contrast between the Old Covenant and the New. Dispenationalism, on the other hand, tends to chop up the Bible, not seeing the fulfillment that the Messiah brings in continuity with what has gone before.
2. The Old Testament Should be Interpreted in Light of the New Testament
The second distinctive of New Covenant Theology is its insistence that the Old Testament must be read and interpreted in light of its New Testament fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe". We take the progressive nature of God's revelation with the utmost seriousness. We learn how to interpret the Old Testament from Jesus and His apostles. It is our opinion that the conclusions of Covenant Theology and Dispensational Theology are a result of beginning with the Old Testament rather than the New Testament.
~Blake White~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, October 19, 2019
The Power of God in the Salvation of His People # 2
The Power of God in the Salvation of His People # 2
2. The Power of God in Convicting Us of Sin
"For you were once darkness" (Eph. 5:8). Such was the Christian's fearful state before grace laid hold of him. he was not only in darkness, but he himself was "darkness." He was utterly devoid of a singly ray of spiritual light. The "light of reason" of which men boast so much, and the "light of conscience" which others value so highly, were utterly worthless as far as giving any intelligence in the things of God was concerned. It was this solemn fact that Christ referred when He said, "If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt. 6:23). Yes, so "great" is that darkness that men "call evil good and good evil; put darkness for light, and light for darkness; put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). So "great" is that darkness that spiritual things are "foolishness" unto them (1 Cor. 2:14). So "great" is that darkness that they are completely ignorant of it (Eph. 4:18), and utterly blind to their actual state.
Not only is the natural man unable to deliver himself from this darkness, but he has no desire whatever for such deliverance, for being spiritually dead - he has no consciousness of any need for deliverance. it is because of their fearful state that, until the Holy Spirit actually regenerates, all who hear the Gospel are totally incapacitated for any spiritual understanding of it. The majority who hear it imagine that they are already saved, that they are real Christians, and no arguments from the preacher, no power on earth, can ever convince them to the contrary. Tell them, "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes - and yet is not washed from their filthiness" (Prov. 30:12), and it makes no more impression than does water on a duck's back! Warn them that, "Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish!" (Luke 13:3), and they are no more moved than are the rocks by the ocean's spray. No, they suppose that they have nothing to repent of, and know not that their repentance needs "to be repented of" (2 Cor. 7:10). They have far too high an opinion of their religious profession to allow that they are in any danger of hell!
Thus, unless a mighty miracle of grace is wrought within them, unless divine power shatters their complacency - there is no hope at all for them. For a soul to be savingly convicted of sin is a greater wonder than for a putrid fountain to send sweet waters. For a soul to be brought to realize that, "Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," (Gen. 6:5) requires the power of omnipotence to produce.
By nature, man is independent, self-sufficient, self-confident. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he now feels and owns his helplessness!! By nature, a man thinks well of himself. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he acknowledges, "in me dwells no good thing" (Rom. 7:18)! By nature, men are "lovers of themselves" (2 Timothy 3:2). What a miracle of grace has been wrought when they abhor themselves (Job. 42:6)! By nature, man thinks he is doing Christ a favor to espouse His Gospel and patronize His cause. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he discovers that he is utterly unfit for His holy presence, and cries, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Luke 5:8). By nature, man is proud of his own abilities, accomplishments, attainments. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he can truthfully declare, "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus...and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ!" (Phil. 3:8).
3. The Power of God in CASTING OUT THE DEVIL
"The whole world lies in wickedness" (1 John 5:19) - bewitched, fettered, helpless. As we go over the Gospel narratives, and read of different ones who were possessed of demons, thoughts of pity for the unhappy victims stir our minds, and when we behold the Saviour delivering these wretched creatures, we are full of wonderment and gladness. But does the Christian reader realize that we, too, were once in that same awful plight? Before conversion, we were the slaves of satan, the devil wrought in us his will (Eph. 2:2), and so we walked according to the prince of the power of the air. What ability had we to deliver ourselves? Less than we have to stop the rain from falling, or the wind from blowing!
A picture of man's helplessness to deliver himself from satan's power is drawn by Christ in Luke 11:21, "When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace." The "strong man" is satan. His "goods" are the helpless captives. But blessed be His name, "The Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8). This, too, was pictured by Christ in the same parable, "But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divides the spoils" (Luke 11:22). Christ is mightier than satan, whom He overcomes him in the day of His power (Psalm 110:3), and emancipates "His own" who are bound (Isa. 61:1). He still comes by His Spirit to "set at liberty" them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18), therefore is it said of God, "Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son!" (Col. 1:13). The Greek word for, "delivered," signifies freeing by violence, a plucking or snatching out of a power that otherwise would not yield its prey.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 3)
2. The Power of God in Convicting Us of Sin
"For you were once darkness" (Eph. 5:8). Such was the Christian's fearful state before grace laid hold of him. he was not only in darkness, but he himself was "darkness." He was utterly devoid of a singly ray of spiritual light. The "light of reason" of which men boast so much, and the "light of conscience" which others value so highly, were utterly worthless as far as giving any intelligence in the things of God was concerned. It was this solemn fact that Christ referred when He said, "If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt. 6:23). Yes, so "great" is that darkness that men "call evil good and good evil; put darkness for light, and light for darkness; put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). So "great" is that darkness that spiritual things are "foolishness" unto them (1 Cor. 2:14). So "great" is that darkness that they are completely ignorant of it (Eph. 4:18), and utterly blind to their actual state.
Not only is the natural man unable to deliver himself from this darkness, but he has no desire whatever for such deliverance, for being spiritually dead - he has no consciousness of any need for deliverance. it is because of their fearful state that, until the Holy Spirit actually regenerates, all who hear the Gospel are totally incapacitated for any spiritual understanding of it. The majority who hear it imagine that they are already saved, that they are real Christians, and no arguments from the preacher, no power on earth, can ever convince them to the contrary. Tell them, "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes - and yet is not washed from their filthiness" (Prov. 30:12), and it makes no more impression than does water on a duck's back! Warn them that, "Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish!" (Luke 13:3), and they are no more moved than are the rocks by the ocean's spray. No, they suppose that they have nothing to repent of, and know not that their repentance needs "to be repented of" (2 Cor. 7:10). They have far too high an opinion of their religious profession to allow that they are in any danger of hell!
Thus, unless a mighty miracle of grace is wrought within them, unless divine power shatters their complacency - there is no hope at all for them. For a soul to be savingly convicted of sin is a greater wonder than for a putrid fountain to send sweet waters. For a soul to be brought to realize that, "Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," (Gen. 6:5) requires the power of omnipotence to produce.
By nature, man is independent, self-sufficient, self-confident. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he now feels and owns his helplessness!! By nature, a man thinks well of himself. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he acknowledges, "in me dwells no good thing" (Rom. 7:18)! By nature, men are "lovers of themselves" (2 Timothy 3:2). What a miracle of grace has been wrought when they abhor themselves (Job. 42:6)! By nature, man thinks he is doing Christ a favor to espouse His Gospel and patronize His cause. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he discovers that he is utterly unfit for His holy presence, and cries, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Luke 5:8). By nature, man is proud of his own abilities, accomplishments, attainments. What a miracle of grace has been wrought when he can truthfully declare, "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus...and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ!" (Phil. 3:8).
3. The Power of God in CASTING OUT THE DEVIL
"The whole world lies in wickedness" (1 John 5:19) - bewitched, fettered, helpless. As we go over the Gospel narratives, and read of different ones who were possessed of demons, thoughts of pity for the unhappy victims stir our minds, and when we behold the Saviour delivering these wretched creatures, we are full of wonderment and gladness. But does the Christian reader realize that we, too, were once in that same awful plight? Before conversion, we were the slaves of satan, the devil wrought in us his will (Eph. 2:2), and so we walked according to the prince of the power of the air. What ability had we to deliver ourselves? Less than we have to stop the rain from falling, or the wind from blowing!
A picture of man's helplessness to deliver himself from satan's power is drawn by Christ in Luke 11:21, "When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace." The "strong man" is satan. His "goods" are the helpless captives. But blessed be His name, "The Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8). This, too, was pictured by Christ in the same parable, "But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divides the spoils" (Luke 11:22). Christ is mightier than satan, whom He overcomes him in the day of His power (Psalm 110:3), and emancipates "His own" who are bound (Isa. 61:1). He still comes by His Spirit to "set at liberty" them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18), therefore is it said of God, "Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son!" (Col. 1:13). The Greek word for, "delivered," signifies freeing by violence, a plucking or snatching out of a power that otherwise would not yield its prey.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 3)
A Call to Prayer # 10 (and others)
A Call to Prayer # 10 (and others)
I commend to you the importance of thankfulness in prayer. I know well that asking God is one thing and praising God is another. But I see so close a connection between prayer and praise in the Bible, that I dare not call that true prayer in which thankfulness has no part. It is not for nothing that Paul says, "By prayer and supplication, with thankfulness, let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6). "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." (Col. 4:2). It is of mercy that we are not in hell. It is of mercy that we have the hope of heaven. It is of mercy that we live in a land of spiritual light. It is of mercy that we have been called by the Spirit, and not left to reap the fruit of our own ways. It is of mercy that we still live and have opportunities of glorifying God actively or passively. Surely these thoughts should crowd on our minds whenever we speak with God. Surely we should never open our lips in prayer without blessing God for that free grace by which we live, and for that loving kindness which endures forever. Never was there an eminent saint who was not full of thankfulness. Paul hardly ever writes an epistle without beginning with thankfulness. Men like Whitefield in last century, and Bickersteth in our own time, abounded in thankfulness. Oh, reader, if we would be bright and shining lights in our day, we must cherish a spirit of praise. Let our prayers be thankful prayers!
I commend to you the importance of watchfulness over your prayers. Prayer is a point in religion at which you must be most of all on your guard. Here it is that true religion begins; here it flourishes, and here it decays. Tell me what a person's prayers are, and I will soon tell you the state of their soul. Prayer is the spiritual pulse. Prayer is the spiritual weather-glass. By this we may know whether it is fair or foul with our hearts. Let us keep an eye continually upon our private devotions. Here is the heart of the matter of our practical Christianity. Sermons and books and tracts, and committee meetings and the company of good people are all good in their way, but they will never make up for the neglect of private prayer. Mark well the places and society and companions that unhinge your hearts for communion with God and make your prayers drive heavily. If you take care of your prayers, nothing shall go very wrong with your soul.
I offer these points for your private consideration. I do it in all humility. I know no one who needs to be reminded of them more than I do myself. But I believe them to be God's own truth, and I desire myself and all I love to feel them more.
I want the times we live in to be praying times. I want the Christians of our day to be praying Christians. I want the church to be a praying church. My heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this paper is to promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who never prayed yet, to arise and call upon God, and I want those who do pray, to see that they are not praying amiss.
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
______________________________
Christ's Self-Sacrifice And Ours
I commend to you the importance of thankfulness in prayer. I know well that asking God is one thing and praising God is another. But I see so close a connection between prayer and praise in the Bible, that I dare not call that true prayer in which thankfulness has no part. It is not for nothing that Paul says, "By prayer and supplication, with thankfulness, let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6). "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." (Col. 4:2). It is of mercy that we are not in hell. It is of mercy that we have the hope of heaven. It is of mercy that we live in a land of spiritual light. It is of mercy that we have been called by the Spirit, and not left to reap the fruit of our own ways. It is of mercy that we still live and have opportunities of glorifying God actively or passively. Surely these thoughts should crowd on our minds whenever we speak with God. Surely we should never open our lips in prayer without blessing God for that free grace by which we live, and for that loving kindness which endures forever. Never was there an eminent saint who was not full of thankfulness. Paul hardly ever writes an epistle without beginning with thankfulness. Men like Whitefield in last century, and Bickersteth in our own time, abounded in thankfulness. Oh, reader, if we would be bright and shining lights in our day, we must cherish a spirit of praise. Let our prayers be thankful prayers!
I commend to you the importance of watchfulness over your prayers. Prayer is a point in religion at which you must be most of all on your guard. Here it is that true religion begins; here it flourishes, and here it decays. Tell me what a person's prayers are, and I will soon tell you the state of their soul. Prayer is the spiritual pulse. Prayer is the spiritual weather-glass. By this we may know whether it is fair or foul with our hearts. Let us keep an eye continually upon our private devotions. Here is the heart of the matter of our practical Christianity. Sermons and books and tracts, and committee meetings and the company of good people are all good in their way, but they will never make up for the neglect of private prayer. Mark well the places and society and companions that unhinge your hearts for communion with God and make your prayers drive heavily. If you take care of your prayers, nothing shall go very wrong with your soul.
I offer these points for your private consideration. I do it in all humility. I know no one who needs to be reminded of them more than I do myself. But I believe them to be God's own truth, and I desire myself and all I love to feel them more.
I want the times we live in to be praying times. I want the Christians of our day to be praying Christians. I want the church to be a praying church. My heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this paper is to promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who never prayed yet, to arise and call upon God, and I want those who do pray, to see that they are not praying amiss.
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
______________________________
Christ's Self-Sacrifice And Ours
Our self-abnegation is thus not for our own sake, but for the sake of others. And thus it is not to mere self-denial that Christ calls us, but specifically to self-sacrifice: not to unselfing ourselves, but to unselfishing ourselves. Self-denial for its own sake is in its very nature ascetic, monkish. It concentrates our whole attention on self—self-knowledge, self-control—and can therefore eventuate in nothing other than the very apotheosis of selfishness. At best it succeeds only in subjecting the outer self to the inner self, or the lower self to the higher self; and only the more surely falls into the slough of self-seeking, that it partially conceals the selfishness of its goal by refining its ideal of self and excluding its grosser and more outward elements. Self-denial, then, drives to the cloister; narrows and contracts the soul; murders within us all innocent desires, dries up all the springs of sympathy, and nurses and coddles our self-importance until we grow so great in our own esteem as to be careless of the trials and sufferings, the joys and aspirations, the strivings and failures and successes of our fellow-men. Self-denial, thus understood, will make us cold, hard, unsympathetic,—proud, arrogant, self-esteeming,—fanatical, overbearing, cruel. It may make monks and Stoics,—it cannot make Christians.
It is not to this that Christ’s example calls us. He did not cultivate self, even His divine self: He took no account of self. He was not led by His divine impulse out of the world, driven back into the recesses of His own soul to brood morbidly over His own needs, until to gain His own seemed worth all sacrifice to Him. He was led by His love for others into the world, to forget Himself in the needs of others, to sacrifice self once for all upon the altar of sympathy. Self-sacrifice brought Christ into the world. And self-sacrifice will lead us, His followers, not away from but into the midst of men. Wherever men suffer, there will we be to comfort. Wherever men strive, there will we be to help. Wherever men fail, there will be we to uplift. Wherever men succeed, there will we be to rejoice. Self-sacrifice means not indifference to our times and our fellows: it means absorption in them. It means forgetfulness of self in others. It means entering into every man’s hopes and fears, longings and despairs: it means manysidedness of spirit, multiform activity, multiplicity of sympathies. It means richness of development. It means not that we should live one life, but a thousand lives,—binding ourselves to a thousand souls by the filaments of so loving a sympathy that their lives become ours. It means that all the experiences of men shall smite our souls and shall beat and batter these stubborn hearts of ours into fitness for their heavenly home. It is, after all, then, the path to the highest possible development, by which alone we can be made truly men. Not that we shall undertake it with this end in view. This were to dry up its springs at their source. We cannot be self-consciously self-forgetful, selfishly unselfish. Only, when we humbly walk this path, seeking truly in it not our own things but those of others, we shall find the promise true, that he who loses his life shall find it. Only, when, like Christ, and in loving obedience to His call and example, we take no account of ourselves, but freely give ourselves to others, we shall find, each in his measure, the saying true of himself also: "Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him." The path of self-sacrifice is the path to glory.
~B. B. Warfield~
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