Victory! # 5
III. The third and last thing which I shall ask you to notice in this text is, the secret of the true Christian's VICTORY over the world. John reveals that secret to us twice over, as if he would emphasize his meaning, and make it unmistakable - "This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our FAITH. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who BELIEVES that Jesus is the Son of God?"
Simplicity is a distinguishing characteristic of many of God's handiworks. "How beautifully simple!" has often been the philosopher's cry, on finding out some great secret of nature. Simplicity is the striking feature of the principle by which the man "born of God" overcomes the world. Perhaps he hardly understands it himself. But he is what he is, and does what he does, acts as he acts, behaves as he behaves, for one simple reason, he believes! He realizes the existence of unseen objects" - compared to which the frowns or smiles, the favor or blame of the world, are trifles as light as air. God, and heaven, and judgment, and eternity, are not "words and names" with him - but vast and substantial realities; and faith makes everything else look shadowy and unreal.
But, towering far above all other objects, he sees by faith an unseen Saviour, who loved him, gave Himself for him, paid his debt to God with His own precious blood, went to the grave for him, rose again, and appears in heaven for him as his Advocate with the Father. Seeing Him, he feels constrained to love Him first and foremost, to set his chief affection on things above, not on things on the earth, and to live not for himself, but for Him who died for him. Seeing Him, he fears not to face the world's displeasure, and fights on with a firm confidence that he will bre "more than conqueror." In short, it is "the expulsive power of a new principle" - a living faith in an unseen God and an unseen Jesus - which minimizes the difficulties of a true Christian,drives away the fear of man, and overcomes the world.
This is the principle that made the Apostles what they were after the day of Pentecost. When Peter and John stood before the Council, and spoke in such fashion that all men marveled at their boldness, their vivid faith saw One higher than Annas and Caiaphas and their companions, who would never foresake them. When Saul, converted and renewed, gave up all his brilliant prospects among his own nation, to become a preacher of the gospel he had once despised, he saw far away, by faith, One that was invisible, who could give him a hundredfold more in this present life, and in the world to come everlasting life! These all overcame by FAITH.
This is the principle which make the primitive Christian hold fast their religion even to death,unshaken by the fierest persecution of heathen emperors. They were often unlearned and ignorant men, and saw many things through a glass darkly. But their so-called "obstinacy" astonished even philosophers like Pliny.
For centuries there were never lacking men like Polycarp and Ignatius, who were ready to die, rather than to deny Christ. Fines, and prisons, and tortures, and fire, and sword failed to crush the spirit of the noble army of martyrs. The whole power of imperial Rome, with her legions, proved unable to stamp out the religion which begins with a few fishermen and publicans in Palestine. They overcame by FAITH.
This is the principle that made our own Reformers in the sixteenth century endure hardships even unto death, rather than withdraw their protest against the Church of Rome. Many of them, no doubt, like Rogers, and Philpot, and Bradford, might have enjoyed rich preferments and died quietly in their beds, if they would only have recanted. But they chose rather to suffer affliction, and strong in faith, died at the stake. This was the principle that made the rank and file of our English martyrs in the same age - laborers, artisans, and apprentices - yield their bodies to be burned. Poor and uneducated as they were, they were rich in faith; and if they could not speak for Christ, they could die for Him. These all overcame by BELIEVING.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 6)
Saturday, July 4, 2020
Saturday, June 27, 2020
Victory! # 4
Victory! # 4
I am fully aware that, at first sight, the things I have just said may appear hard sayings. The standard of true Christianity which I have just raised may seem extravagant, and extreme, and unattainable in this life, I grant most freely that to "overcome" in the fashion I have described is naturally unpleasant to flesh and blood. It is disagreeable to find ourselves standing alone - and running counter to the opinions of all around us. We do not like to appear narrow-minded, and exdclusive, and uncharitable, and uncongenial, and ill-natured, and out of harmony with our fellows. We naturally love ease and popularity, and hate collisions in religion, and if we hear we cannot be true Christians without all this fighting and warring, we are tempted to say to ourselves, "I will give it up in despair." I speak from bitter experience. I have known and felt all this myself.
To all who are tempted in this way - and none, I believe, are so much tempted as the young - to all who are disposed to shrink back from any effort to overcome the world, as a thing impossible - to all such I offer a few words of friendly exhortation. Before you turn you back on the enemy, and openly confess that he is too strong for you - before you bow down to the strong man, and let him place his foot on your neck, let me put you in remembrance of some things which, perhaps, you are forgetting.
Is it not true that myriads of men and women, no stronger than yourself, have fought this battle with the world, and won it? Think of the mighty armies of Christian soldiers who have walked in the narrow way in the last eighteen centuries, and proved more than conquerors. The same Divine Captain, the same armor, the same helps and aids by which they overcame, are ready for you. Surely if they got the victory, you may hope to do the same.
Again, is it not true that this fight with the world is a thing of absolute necessity? Does not our Master say, "Whoever does not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple?" (Luke 14:27). "I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword" (Matt. 10:34). Here, at any rate, we cannot remain neutral, and sit still. Such a line of conduct may be possible in the strife of nations, but it is utterly impossible in that conflict which concerns the soul. The boasted policy of non-interference, the masterly inactivity which pleases so many statesmen, the plan of keeping quiet and letting things alone - all this will never do in the Christian warfare.
To be at peace with the world, the flesh, and the devil, is to be at enmity with God, and in the broad way that leads to destruction. We have no choice or option. The promises to the Seven Churches in Revelation are only "to him that overcomes." We must fight or be lost. We must conquer or die eternally. We must put on the whole armor of God. "He who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one" (Eph. 6:11; Luke 22:36).
Surely, in the face of such considerations as these, I may well charge and entreat all who are inclined to make peace with the world, and not resist it, to awake to a sense of their danger. Awake and cast aside the chains which indolence or love of popularity are gradually weaving round you. Awake before it is too late - before repeated worldly acts have formed habits, and habits have crystallized into character, and you have become a helpless slave.
But who ever fought God's battle manfully against the world and failed to find a rich reward? No doubt the experience of Christian pilgrims is very various, Not all have "an abundant entrance" into the kingdom and some are "saved so as by fire" (2 Peter 1:11; 1 Co. 3:15). But none, I am persuaded, have such light hearts, as those who come out boldly, and overcome the love and fear of the world. Such men the King of kings delights to honor while they live; and when they die, their testimony is that of old Bunyan's hero, Valiant - "I am going to my Father's house; and though with great difficulty I have got here, yet now I do not repent me of all the troubles I have been at to arrive where I am."
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 5)
I am fully aware that, at first sight, the things I have just said may appear hard sayings. The standard of true Christianity which I have just raised may seem extravagant, and extreme, and unattainable in this life, I grant most freely that to "overcome" in the fashion I have described is naturally unpleasant to flesh and blood. It is disagreeable to find ourselves standing alone - and running counter to the opinions of all around us. We do not like to appear narrow-minded, and exdclusive, and uncharitable, and uncongenial, and ill-natured, and out of harmony with our fellows. We naturally love ease and popularity, and hate collisions in religion, and if we hear we cannot be true Christians without all this fighting and warring, we are tempted to say to ourselves, "I will give it up in despair." I speak from bitter experience. I have known and felt all this myself.
To all who are tempted in this way - and none, I believe, are so much tempted as the young - to all who are disposed to shrink back from any effort to overcome the world, as a thing impossible - to all such I offer a few words of friendly exhortation. Before you turn you back on the enemy, and openly confess that he is too strong for you - before you bow down to the strong man, and let him place his foot on your neck, let me put you in remembrance of some things which, perhaps, you are forgetting.
Is it not true that myriads of men and women, no stronger than yourself, have fought this battle with the world, and won it? Think of the mighty armies of Christian soldiers who have walked in the narrow way in the last eighteen centuries, and proved more than conquerors. The same Divine Captain, the same armor, the same helps and aids by which they overcame, are ready for you. Surely if they got the victory, you may hope to do the same.
Again, is it not true that this fight with the world is a thing of absolute necessity? Does not our Master say, "Whoever does not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple?" (Luke 14:27). "I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword" (Matt. 10:34). Here, at any rate, we cannot remain neutral, and sit still. Such a line of conduct may be possible in the strife of nations, but it is utterly impossible in that conflict which concerns the soul. The boasted policy of non-interference, the masterly inactivity which pleases so many statesmen, the plan of keeping quiet and letting things alone - all this will never do in the Christian warfare.
To be at peace with the world, the flesh, and the devil, is to be at enmity with God, and in the broad way that leads to destruction. We have no choice or option. The promises to the Seven Churches in Revelation are only "to him that overcomes." We must fight or be lost. We must conquer or die eternally. We must put on the whole armor of God. "He who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one" (Eph. 6:11; Luke 22:36).
Surely, in the face of such considerations as these, I may well charge and entreat all who are inclined to make peace with the world, and not resist it, to awake to a sense of their danger. Awake and cast aside the chains which indolence or love of popularity are gradually weaving round you. Awake before it is too late - before repeated worldly acts have formed habits, and habits have crystallized into character, and you have become a helpless slave.
But who ever fought God's battle manfully against the world and failed to find a rich reward? No doubt the experience of Christian pilgrims is very various, Not all have "an abundant entrance" into the kingdom and some are "saved so as by fire" (2 Peter 1:11; 1 Co. 3:15). But none, I am persuaded, have such light hearts, as those who come out boldly, and overcome the love and fear of the world. Such men the King of kings delights to honor while they live; and when they die, their testimony is that of old Bunyan's hero, Valiant - "I am going to my Father's house; and though with great difficulty I have got here, yet now I do not repent me of all the troubles I have been at to arrive where I am."
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 5)
Saturday, June 20, 2020
Victory! # 3
Victory! # 3
2. The second thing I will now ask my readers to notice in my text is, the special MARK which John supplies of the man who is a true Christian. He says, "Whoever is born of God overcomes the world." In short, to use the words of that holy man Bishop Willson - the Apostle teaches that "the only certain proof of regeneration is victory."
We are all to flatter ourselves, that if we are duly enrolled members of that great ecclesiastical corporation, the Church of God, our souls cannot be in much danger. We secretly stifle the voice of conscience with the comfortable thought, "I am a Churchman - why should I be afraid?"
Yet common sense and a little reflection might remind us that there are no privileges without corresponding responsibilities. Before we repose in self-satisfied confidence on our Church membership, we shall do well to ask ourselves whether we bear in our character the marks of living membership in Chris't mystical body. Do we know anything of renouncing the devil and all his works, and crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts? And, to bring this matter to a point, as it is set before us in our text, do we know anything of "overcoming the world?"
The three great spiritual enemies of man are the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is hard to say which does most harm to the soul. The last day alone will settle that point. But I venture boldly to say, that at no former period has "the world" been so dangerous, and so successful in injuring Christ's Church, as it is just now. Every age is said to have its own peculiar epidemic disease. I suspect that "worldliness" is the peculiar plague of Christendom in our own era. That same love of the world's good things and good opinion - that same dread of the world's opposition, and blame - which proved so fatal to Judas Iscariot, and Demas, and many more in the beginning of the gospel era - each is just as powerful in the nineteenth century as it was in the first, and a hundred times more.
Even in days of persecution, under heathen emperors, these spiritual enemies slew their thousands, and in days of ease, and luxury, and free thought, like our own, they slay their tens of thousands. The subtle influence of the world, nowadays, seems to infect the very air we breathe. It creeps into families like an angel of light, and leads myriads captive, who never know that they are slaves. The enormous increase of wealth, and consequent power of self-indulgence, and the immense growth of a passionate relish for recreations and amusements of all kinds, the startling rise and progress of a so-called liberality of opinion, which refuses to say anybody is wrong, whatever he does, and loudly asserts that, as in the days of the Judges, every one should think and do what is right in his own eyes, and never be checked, mall these strange phenomena of our age give the world an amazing additional power, and make it doubly needful for Christ's ministers to cry aloud, "Beware of the world!"
In the face of this aggravated danger, we must never forget that the word of the living God changes not - "Do not love the world!" "Do not be conformed to this world!" "Friendship with the world is emnity with God!" - these mighty sayings of God's statute book remain still unrepealed (1 John 2:15); Romans 12:2; James 4:4). The true Christian strives daily to obey them, and proves the vitality of his religion by his obedience. It is as true now as it was eighteen hundred years ago, that the man "born of God" will be a man who, more or less, resists and overcomes the world.
Such a man does not "overcome" by retiring into a corner, and becoming a monk or a hermit, but by boldly meeting his foes and conquering them. He does not refuse to fill his place in society, and do his duty in that position to which God has called him. But though "in" the world, he is not "of" the world. He uses it, but does not abuse it. He knows when to say "NO," when to refuse compliance, when to halt, when to say, "Thus far have I gone, but I go no further." He is not wholly absorbed either in the business or the pleasures of life, as if they were the sum total of existence. Even in innocent things he keeps the rein on his tastes and inclinations, and does not let them run away with him. He does not live as if life was made up of recreation, or money-getting, or politics, or scientific pursuits, and as if there were no life to come.
Everywhere, and in every condition, in public and in private, in business or in amusements, he carries himself like a "citizen of a better country," and as one who is not entirely dependent on temporal things. Like the noble Roman ambassador before Pyrrhus, he is alike unmoved by the elephant or by the gold. You will neither bribe him, nor frighten him, nor allure him into neglecting his soul. This is one way in which the true Christian proves the reality of his Christianity. This is the way in which the man 'born of God" overcomes the world.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 4)
2. The second thing I will now ask my readers to notice in my text is, the special MARK which John supplies of the man who is a true Christian. He says, "Whoever is born of God overcomes the world." In short, to use the words of that holy man Bishop Willson - the Apostle teaches that "the only certain proof of regeneration is victory."
We are all to flatter ourselves, that if we are duly enrolled members of that great ecclesiastical corporation, the Church of God, our souls cannot be in much danger. We secretly stifle the voice of conscience with the comfortable thought, "I am a Churchman - why should I be afraid?"
Yet common sense and a little reflection might remind us that there are no privileges without corresponding responsibilities. Before we repose in self-satisfied confidence on our Church membership, we shall do well to ask ourselves whether we bear in our character the marks of living membership in Chris't mystical body. Do we know anything of renouncing the devil and all his works, and crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts? And, to bring this matter to a point, as it is set before us in our text, do we know anything of "overcoming the world?"
The three great spiritual enemies of man are the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is hard to say which does most harm to the soul. The last day alone will settle that point. But I venture boldly to say, that at no former period has "the world" been so dangerous, and so successful in injuring Christ's Church, as it is just now. Every age is said to have its own peculiar epidemic disease. I suspect that "worldliness" is the peculiar plague of Christendom in our own era. That same love of the world's good things and good opinion - that same dread of the world's opposition, and blame - which proved so fatal to Judas Iscariot, and Demas, and many more in the beginning of the gospel era - each is just as powerful in the nineteenth century as it was in the first, and a hundred times more.
Even in days of persecution, under heathen emperors, these spiritual enemies slew their thousands, and in days of ease, and luxury, and free thought, like our own, they slay their tens of thousands. The subtle influence of the world, nowadays, seems to infect the very air we breathe. It creeps into families like an angel of light, and leads myriads captive, who never know that they are slaves. The enormous increase of wealth, and consequent power of self-indulgence, and the immense growth of a passionate relish for recreations and amusements of all kinds, the startling rise and progress of a so-called liberality of opinion, which refuses to say anybody is wrong, whatever he does, and loudly asserts that, as in the days of the Judges, every one should think and do what is right in his own eyes, and never be checked, mall these strange phenomena of our age give the world an amazing additional power, and make it doubly needful for Christ's ministers to cry aloud, "Beware of the world!"
In the face of this aggravated danger, we must never forget that the word of the living God changes not - "Do not love the world!" "Do not be conformed to this world!" "Friendship with the world is emnity with God!" - these mighty sayings of God's statute book remain still unrepealed (1 John 2:15); Romans 12:2; James 4:4). The true Christian strives daily to obey them, and proves the vitality of his religion by his obedience. It is as true now as it was eighteen hundred years ago, that the man "born of God" will be a man who, more or less, resists and overcomes the world.
Such a man does not "overcome" by retiring into a corner, and becoming a monk or a hermit, but by boldly meeting his foes and conquering them. He does not refuse to fill his place in society, and do his duty in that position to which God has called him. But though "in" the world, he is not "of" the world. He uses it, but does not abuse it. He knows when to say "NO," when to refuse compliance, when to halt, when to say, "Thus far have I gone, but I go no further." He is not wholly absorbed either in the business or the pleasures of life, as if they were the sum total of existence. Even in innocent things he keeps the rein on his tastes and inclinations, and does not let them run away with him. He does not live as if life was made up of recreation, or money-getting, or politics, or scientific pursuits, and as if there were no life to come.
Everywhere, and in every condition, in public and in private, in business or in amusements, he carries himself like a "citizen of a better country," and as one who is not entirely dependent on temporal things. Like the noble Roman ambassador before Pyrrhus, he is alike unmoved by the elephant or by the gold. You will neither bribe him, nor frighten him, nor allure him into neglecting his soul. This is one way in which the true Christian proves the reality of his Christianity. This is the way in which the man 'born of God" overcomes the world.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 4)
Saturday, June 13, 2020
Victory! # 2
Victory! # 2
(c.) To be "born of God" is a change which unquestionably is very mysterious. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself tells us that in well-known words - "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound thereof, but can not tell whence it comes, and where it goes; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8). But we must all confess there are a thousand things in the natural world around us which we cannot explain, and yet believe. We cannot explain how our wills act daily on our members, and make them move, or rest, at our discretion; yet no one ever thinks of disputing the fact. The wisest philosopher cannot tell us the origin of physical life. What right, then, have we to complain because we cannot comprehend the beginning of spiritual life in him that is "born of God"?
(d.) But to be "born of God" is a change which will always be seen and felt. I do not say that he who is the subject of it will invariably understand his own feelings. On the contrary, those feelings are often a cause of much anxiety,conflict, and inward strife. Nor do I say that a person "born of God" will always become at once an established Christian, a Christian in whose lie and ways nothing weak and defective can be observed by others. But this I do say, the Holy Spirit never works in a person's soul without producing some perceptible results in character and conduct. The true grace of God is like light and fire - it cannot be hidden; it is never idle; it never sleeps. I can find no such thing as totally "dormant" grace in Scripture. It is written, "Whoever is born of God does not commit sin; for His seed remains in him - and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (John 3:9).
(e.) To crown all, to be born of God is a thing which is of absolute necessity to our salvation. Without it we can neither know God rightly and serve Him acceptably in the life that now is, nor dwell with God comfortably in the life that is to come. There are two things which are indispensably needful before any child of Adam can be saved. One is the forgiveness of his sins through the blood of Christ - the other is the renewal of his heart by the Spirit of Christ. Without the forgiveness e have no title to heaven - without the renewed heart we could not enjoy heaven. These two things are never separate. Every forgiven man is also a renewed man, and every renewed man is also a forgiven man. There are two standing maxims of the gospel which should never be forgotten - one is, "He who believes not the Son, shall not see life" (John 3:36; Rom. 8:9). Quaint, but most true, is the old saying - "Born once - die twice - and die forever , Born twice - never die - and live forever." Without a natural birth we would never have lived and moved on earth - without a spiritual birth we shall never live and dwell in heaven. It is written, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
And now, before I pass away from the name which John gives in this text to the true Christian, let us not forget to ask ourselves what we know experimentally about being "born of God." Let us search and try our hearts with honest self-examination, and seek to find out whether there is any real work of the Holy Spirit in our inward man. Far be it from me to encourage the slightest approach to hypocrisy, self-conceit, and fanaticism. Nor do I want any one to look for that angelic perfection in himself on earth, which will only be found in heaven. All I say, is, let us never be content with the "outward and visible signs: of Christianity, unless we also know something of "inward and spiritual grace." All I ask, and I think I have a right to ask, is, that we should often take this First Epistle of John in our hands, and try to find out by its light whether we are "born of God."
One more thing let me add, which I dare not leave unsaid. Let us never be ashamed, in a day of abounding heresy, to contend earnestly for the Godhead and personality of the Holy Spirit, and the reality of His work on souls. Just as we clasp to our hearts the doctrine of the Trinity, and the proper Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, as great foundation verities of the gospel, so let us grasp tightly the truth about God, the Holy Spirit. Let us ever give Him in our religion the place and dignity which Scriptures assigns to Him. Wherever in the providence of God we may be called to worship, let our first inquiry be, "Where is the Lamb?" and our second, "Where is the Holy Spirit?" We know there have been many martyrs for Jesus Christ and the true doctrine of justification. "A day may come," said a remarkable Christian, "when there will need to be martyrs for the Holy Spirit, and His work within the soul."
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 3)
(c.) To be "born of God" is a change which unquestionably is very mysterious. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself tells us that in well-known words - "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound thereof, but can not tell whence it comes, and where it goes; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8). But we must all confess there are a thousand things in the natural world around us which we cannot explain, and yet believe. We cannot explain how our wills act daily on our members, and make them move, or rest, at our discretion; yet no one ever thinks of disputing the fact. The wisest philosopher cannot tell us the origin of physical life. What right, then, have we to complain because we cannot comprehend the beginning of spiritual life in him that is "born of God"?
(d.) But to be "born of God" is a change which will always be seen and felt. I do not say that he who is the subject of it will invariably understand his own feelings. On the contrary, those feelings are often a cause of much anxiety,conflict, and inward strife. Nor do I say that a person "born of God" will always become at once an established Christian, a Christian in whose lie and ways nothing weak and defective can be observed by others. But this I do say, the Holy Spirit never works in a person's soul without producing some perceptible results in character and conduct. The true grace of God is like light and fire - it cannot be hidden; it is never idle; it never sleeps. I can find no such thing as totally "dormant" grace in Scripture. It is written, "Whoever is born of God does not commit sin; for His seed remains in him - and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (John 3:9).
(e.) To crown all, to be born of God is a thing which is of absolute necessity to our salvation. Without it we can neither know God rightly and serve Him acceptably in the life that now is, nor dwell with God comfortably in the life that is to come. There are two things which are indispensably needful before any child of Adam can be saved. One is the forgiveness of his sins through the blood of Christ - the other is the renewal of his heart by the Spirit of Christ. Without the forgiveness e have no title to heaven - without the renewed heart we could not enjoy heaven. These two things are never separate. Every forgiven man is also a renewed man, and every renewed man is also a forgiven man. There are two standing maxims of the gospel which should never be forgotten - one is, "He who believes not the Son, shall not see life" (John 3:36; Rom. 8:9). Quaint, but most true, is the old saying - "Born once - die twice - and die forever , Born twice - never die - and live forever." Without a natural birth we would never have lived and moved on earth - without a spiritual birth we shall never live and dwell in heaven. It is written, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
And now, before I pass away from the name which John gives in this text to the true Christian, let us not forget to ask ourselves what we know experimentally about being "born of God." Let us search and try our hearts with honest self-examination, and seek to find out whether there is any real work of the Holy Spirit in our inward man. Far be it from me to encourage the slightest approach to hypocrisy, self-conceit, and fanaticism. Nor do I want any one to look for that angelic perfection in himself on earth, which will only be found in heaven. All I say, is, let us never be content with the "outward and visible signs: of Christianity, unless we also know something of "inward and spiritual grace." All I ask, and I think I have a right to ask, is, that we should often take this First Epistle of John in our hands, and try to find out by its light whether we are "born of God."
One more thing let me add, which I dare not leave unsaid. Let us never be ashamed, in a day of abounding heresy, to contend earnestly for the Godhead and personality of the Holy Spirit, and the reality of His work on souls. Just as we clasp to our hearts the doctrine of the Trinity, and the proper Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, as great foundation verities of the gospel, so let us grasp tightly the truth about God, the Holy Spirit. Let us ever give Him in our religion the place and dignity which Scriptures assigns to Him. Wherever in the providence of God we may be called to worship, let our first inquiry be, "Where is the Lamb?" and our second, "Where is the Holy Spirit?" We know there have been many martyrs for Jesus Christ and the true doctrine of justification. "A day may come," said a remarkable Christian, "when there will need to be martyrs for the Holy Spirit, and His work within the soul."
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, June 6, 2020
Victory!
Victory!
"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4-5).
It ought to be our practice, if we have any religion, to examine the state of our souls from time to time, and to find out whether we are "right in the sight of God" (Acts 8:21).
Are we true Christians? Are we likely to go to Heaven when we die? Are we born again - born of the Spirit - born of God? These are searching questions, which imperatively demand an answer: and the text which heads this paper will help us to give that answer. If we are born of God, we shall have one great mark of character, we shall "overcome the world."
In opening up this subject, there are three points to which I propose to invite attention in this paper.
1. In the first place, let us consider the name by which John describes a true Christian. He calls him six times over, in his First Epistle, a man "born of God," and once, "begotten of God."
2. In the second place, let us consider the special mark which John supplies of a man born of God. He says that he "overcomes the world."
3. In the last place, let us consider the secret of the true Christian's victory over the world. He says, "This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith."
Let me clear the way by expressing an earnest hope that no reader will turn away from the subject before us, under the idea that it is a controversial one. I doubt whether any doctrine of the Bible has suffered so much from impatient dislike of controversy as that which is contained in the phrase, "Born of God." Yet that phrase contains a great foundation verity of Christianity, which can never be neglected without damage. Deep down, below strifes and contentions about the effect of baptism, and the meaning of liturgical services, there lies in those three words one of the primary rocks of the everlasting gospel - even the inward work of the Holy Spirit on the soul of man.
The atoning work of Christ for us, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit within us, are the two cornerstones of saving religion. Surely a truth which the last writer of the New Testament brings forward no less than seven times in the five chapters of one Epistle - a truth which he binds up seven times with some of the distinguishing characteristics of the Christian man - such a truth ought not to be disliked or timidly passed by. Surely it may be handled profitably without entering upon debatable ground. I shall attempt so to handle it in this paper.
1. First and foremost, I ask my readers to notice the NAME by which John describes a true Christian. Here, and in five other places, he speaks of him as one "born of God."
Let us briefly analyze this rich and wonderful expression. The natural birth of any child of man, in the humblest rank of life, is an important event. It is the bringing into being a creature who will outlive sun, moon, stars, and earth, and may one day develop a character which shall shake the world. How much more important must spiritual birth be! How much must lie beneath that figurative phrase, "Born of God!"
(a) To be "born of God" is to be the SUBJECT OF AN INWARD CHANGE of heart, so complete, that it is like passing into a new existence. It is the introduction into the human soul of a seed from heaven, a new principle, a Divine nature, a new will. Certainly it is no outward bodily alteration; but it is no less certain that it is an entire alteration of the inward man. It adds no new faculties to our minds; but it gives an entirely new bent and bias to our old ones. The tastes and opinions of one "born of God," his views of sin, of the world, of the Bible, of God, and of Christ, are so thoroughly new, that he is to all intents and purposes what Paul calls "a new creature." In fact, as the Church Catechism truly says, it is "a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness."
(b) To be "born of God" is a change which is the peculiar gift of the Lord Jesus Christ to all His believing people. It is He who plants in their hearts the Spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, "Abba Father," and makes them members of His mystical body, and sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty (Romans 8:15). It is written - "He quickens whom He will." "As the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself" (John 5:21-26). In short, as the first chapter of John teaches, so it will be as long as the world stands - "To as many as received Him He gave power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on His name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13).
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 2)
"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4-5).
It ought to be our practice, if we have any religion, to examine the state of our souls from time to time, and to find out whether we are "right in the sight of God" (Acts 8:21).
Are we true Christians? Are we likely to go to Heaven when we die? Are we born again - born of the Spirit - born of God? These are searching questions, which imperatively demand an answer: and the text which heads this paper will help us to give that answer. If we are born of God, we shall have one great mark of character, we shall "overcome the world."
In opening up this subject, there are three points to which I propose to invite attention in this paper.
1. In the first place, let us consider the name by which John describes a true Christian. He calls him six times over, in his First Epistle, a man "born of God," and once, "begotten of God."
2. In the second place, let us consider the special mark which John supplies of a man born of God. He says that he "overcomes the world."
3. In the last place, let us consider the secret of the true Christian's victory over the world. He says, "This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith."
Let me clear the way by expressing an earnest hope that no reader will turn away from the subject before us, under the idea that it is a controversial one. I doubt whether any doctrine of the Bible has suffered so much from impatient dislike of controversy as that which is contained in the phrase, "Born of God." Yet that phrase contains a great foundation verity of Christianity, which can never be neglected without damage. Deep down, below strifes and contentions about the effect of baptism, and the meaning of liturgical services, there lies in those three words one of the primary rocks of the everlasting gospel - even the inward work of the Holy Spirit on the soul of man.
The atoning work of Christ for us, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit within us, are the two cornerstones of saving religion. Surely a truth which the last writer of the New Testament brings forward no less than seven times in the five chapters of one Epistle - a truth which he binds up seven times with some of the distinguishing characteristics of the Christian man - such a truth ought not to be disliked or timidly passed by. Surely it may be handled profitably without entering upon debatable ground. I shall attempt so to handle it in this paper.
1. First and foremost, I ask my readers to notice the NAME by which John describes a true Christian. Here, and in five other places, he speaks of him as one "born of God."
Let us briefly analyze this rich and wonderful expression. The natural birth of any child of man, in the humblest rank of life, is an important event. It is the bringing into being a creature who will outlive sun, moon, stars, and earth, and may one day develop a character which shall shake the world. How much more important must spiritual birth be! How much must lie beneath that figurative phrase, "Born of God!"
(a) To be "born of God" is to be the SUBJECT OF AN INWARD CHANGE of heart, so complete, that it is like passing into a new existence. It is the introduction into the human soul of a seed from heaven, a new principle, a Divine nature, a new will. Certainly it is no outward bodily alteration; but it is no less certain that it is an entire alteration of the inward man. It adds no new faculties to our minds; but it gives an entirely new bent and bias to our old ones. The tastes and opinions of one "born of God," his views of sin, of the world, of the Bible, of God, and of Christ, are so thoroughly new, that he is to all intents and purposes what Paul calls "a new creature." In fact, as the Church Catechism truly says, it is "a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness."
(b) To be "born of God" is a change which is the peculiar gift of the Lord Jesus Christ to all His believing people. It is He who plants in their hearts the Spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, "Abba Father," and makes them members of His mystical body, and sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty (Romans 8:15). It is written - "He quickens whom He will." "As the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself" (John 5:21-26). In short, as the first chapter of John teaches, so it will be as long as the world stands - "To as many as received Him He gave power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on His name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13).
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Injustice In A Graveyard # 2 (and others)
Injustice In A Graveyard # 2 (and others)
In this way, we shall be delivered from condemnation for sin, from the power and love of sin, and also from the practice of sin. And thus living, and thus dying - we shall ultimately be delivered from the indwelling, and all the consequences of sin. Then, being delivered from sin - we are really delivered from death, the very nature of which is changed, so that we only fall asleep in Jesus, depart to be with Jesus, and at length wake up in the exact likeness of Jesus, both in body and soul!
Let us then, when we think of death or look on suffering - trace it up to sin, and then make it our first great business to get rid of sin! No remedy will do for us, which does not go to the root of the disease and eradicate it. We must get rid of sin, both in guilt and power - or we shall never be safe, we can never be happy. And there is no getting rid of sin - but by faith in Christ, and the possession of the Holy Spirit. No sacrifice will ever atone for our sins - but the death of Christ. And no power will ever deliver us from the authority and enslaving influence of sin - but the power of the Holy Spirit. Nor will the blood of Christ deliver us, without a personal application to it; nor will the power of the Holy Spirit deliver us, unless He is received into our hearts and dwells there. As, therefore, it is of the greatest importance to be delivered from sin, as otherwise we cannot be delivered from death, or saved from hell - let us apply to Christ at once!
If we have already fled to Jesus - let us apply to Him afresh daily; let us ask of our heavenly Father, the filling of the Holy Spirit. Nor let us rest satisfied until we prove His presence with us, by an abiding hatred to sin, and a constant thirst for perfect holiness. Nor let us be satisfied, even if we have the Spirit, without a deep and thorough work of sanctification. And, as there are degrees of holiness, and the more holiness the more happiness for us, and the more glory for God - let us set our hearts upon the attaining of perfect holiness. For this let us pray, at this let us aim - and the result will be a thorough devotedness to God, the enjoyment of our election and calling, and growing usefulness in the world and the Church.
And if this should be the case in any one instance, as the result of reading these few lines, I shall not regret my ramble in the village church yard, or the labor of penning the thoughts suggested by the inscriptions on the tombs and head-stones.
~James Smith~
(The End)
______________________
Discontent!
(Arthur Pink, "Comfort for Christians")
"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11
Contentment is the being satisfied with the sovereign dispensations of God's providence. It is the opposite of murmuring, which is the spirit of rebellion--the clay saying to the Potter, "Why have You made me thus?" Instead of complaining at his lot--a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are.
Discontent! Was there ever a time when there was so much discontent and restlessness in the world, as there is today? We very much doubt it. Despite our boasted progress, the vast increase of wealth, the time and money expended daily in pleasure--discontent is everywhere! No class is exempt. Everything is in a state of flux, and almost everybody is dissatisfied. Many even among God's own people are affected with the evil spirit of this age.
Contentment! Is such a thing realizable, or is it nothing more than a beautiful ideal, a mere dream of the poet? Is it attainable on earth, or is it restricted to the inhabitants of Heaven? If feasible here and now--may it be retained, or are a few brief moments or hours of contentment the most that we may expect in this life?
The force of Paul's statement will be better appreciated, if his condition and circumstances at the time he made it, are kept in mind. When the apostle wrote the words, he was not luxuriating in a special suite in the Emperor's palace--but was in prison "in chains". The contentment which Paul enjoyed, was not the result of congenial and comfortable surroundings. Most people suppose that contentment is impossible, unless one can have the desires of the carnal heart gratified. A prison is the last place to which they would go, if they were seeking a contented man. This much, then, is clear--contentment comes from within and not without; it must be sought from God, not in creature comforts.
Now, there is a vast difference between precept and practice, between the ideal and the realization. But in the case of Paul, contentment was an actual experience! It was something he had learned in the school of Christian experience.
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said--Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5
In this way, we shall be delivered from condemnation for sin, from the power and love of sin, and also from the practice of sin. And thus living, and thus dying - we shall ultimately be delivered from the indwelling, and all the consequences of sin. Then, being delivered from sin - we are really delivered from death, the very nature of which is changed, so that we only fall asleep in Jesus, depart to be with Jesus, and at length wake up in the exact likeness of Jesus, both in body and soul!
Let us then, when we think of death or look on suffering - trace it up to sin, and then make it our first great business to get rid of sin! No remedy will do for us, which does not go to the root of the disease and eradicate it. We must get rid of sin, both in guilt and power - or we shall never be safe, we can never be happy. And there is no getting rid of sin - but by faith in Christ, and the possession of the Holy Spirit. No sacrifice will ever atone for our sins - but the death of Christ. And no power will ever deliver us from the authority and enslaving influence of sin - but the power of the Holy Spirit. Nor will the blood of Christ deliver us, without a personal application to it; nor will the power of the Holy Spirit deliver us, unless He is received into our hearts and dwells there. As, therefore, it is of the greatest importance to be delivered from sin, as otherwise we cannot be delivered from death, or saved from hell - let us apply to Christ at once!
If we have already fled to Jesus - let us apply to Him afresh daily; let us ask of our heavenly Father, the filling of the Holy Spirit. Nor let us rest satisfied until we prove His presence with us, by an abiding hatred to sin, and a constant thirst for perfect holiness. Nor let us be satisfied, even if we have the Spirit, without a deep and thorough work of sanctification. And, as there are degrees of holiness, and the more holiness the more happiness for us, and the more glory for God - let us set our hearts upon the attaining of perfect holiness. For this let us pray, at this let us aim - and the result will be a thorough devotedness to God, the enjoyment of our election and calling, and growing usefulness in the world and the Church.
And if this should be the case in any one instance, as the result of reading these few lines, I shall not regret my ramble in the village church yard, or the labor of penning the thoughts suggested by the inscriptions on the tombs and head-stones.
~James Smith~
(The End)
______________________
Discontent!
(Arthur Pink, "Comfort for Christians")
"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11
Contentment is the being satisfied with the sovereign dispensations of God's providence. It is the opposite of murmuring, which is the spirit of rebellion--the clay saying to the Potter, "Why have You made me thus?" Instead of complaining at his lot--a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are.
Discontent! Was there ever a time when there was so much discontent and restlessness in the world, as there is today? We very much doubt it. Despite our boasted progress, the vast increase of wealth, the time and money expended daily in pleasure--discontent is everywhere! No class is exempt. Everything is in a state of flux, and almost everybody is dissatisfied. Many even among God's own people are affected with the evil spirit of this age.
Contentment! Is such a thing realizable, or is it nothing more than a beautiful ideal, a mere dream of the poet? Is it attainable on earth, or is it restricted to the inhabitants of Heaven? If feasible here and now--may it be retained, or are a few brief moments or hours of contentment the most that we may expect in this life?
The force of Paul's statement will be better appreciated, if his condition and circumstances at the time he made it, are kept in mind. When the apostle wrote the words, he was not luxuriating in a special suite in the Emperor's palace--but was in prison "in chains". The contentment which Paul enjoyed, was not the result of congenial and comfortable surroundings. Most people suppose that contentment is impossible, unless one can have the desires of the carnal heart gratified. A prison is the last place to which they would go, if they were seeking a contented man. This much, then, is clear--contentment comes from within and not without; it must be sought from God, not in creature comforts.
Now, there is a vast difference between precept and practice, between the ideal and the realization. But in the case of Paul, contentment was an actual experience! It was something he had learned in the school of Christian experience.
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said--Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Injustice In A Graveyard! # 1
Injustice In A Graveyard # 1
"The wages of sin is death!" (Romans 6:23).
The other day, as I was wandering over a village graveyard, and reading the inscriptions on the tombs and head-stones, I could not but think that there was something like injustice. In every direction DEATH was spoken against - and called cruel, insatiable, and against SIN. And yet death is but the offspring of sin. But for sin - there would have been no death, and no graveyards.
Death is a divine infliction, originally a punishment for man's sin! It is from God's hand - and therefore man is more ready to speak harshly of death, than he is of sin - which is man's own act and deed.
We blame death for robbing us of our parents, children, and friends; but we ought to blame sin - which gave death its power. And thus we should blame ourselves - by whom sin came into the world, and has perpetuated death here.
Sin is the parent of disease, pain, grief, sorrow, disappointment, vexation, anxiety, woe, death - yes, of every evil!
And man is the parent of sin! Sin sprung from us - and all misery springs from sin!
God, in death - only gives to man his due. How prone are we to fix the eye on effects (death) - and never think of the cause (sin)! Or if we admit that the cause is sin - we look upon it, and talk of it, as if sin was a calamity instead of a crime!
When I tread the grounds of the graveyard, and see the proofs that multitudes have been buried there - let me ask with Jehu, "Who slew all these?" And the only answer that can be justly given, will be, SIN!
Some may be ready to say, "Oh, it was small pox or tuberculosis, or cancer, or cholera, etc.!" True, true - but what introduced all these diseases into our world - for they were not here originally? Ah, that was sin - our sin!"
We therefore must trace suffering and death - to disease! We must trace disease - to sin! We must trace sin - to man! Man therefore, is the cause of all his own misery! Man has no one to blame but himself. Nor is it any use trying to throw the blame on anything else.
But as sin has introduced disease, misery, and death into our world - is there any possibility of getting rid of sin? Because, if we can get rid of sin - we may then get rid of all the consequences of sin. Well, blessed be God, sin may be gotten rid of! How this is to be done, the Bible, and the Bible alone, can inform us. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (Romans 6:23).
No one could devise a plan to get rid of sin - but the infinitely wise God. No one could furnish the means - but the Possessor of heaven and earth! It requires a most costly sacrifice - and the Son of God furnishes that. It requires a wondrous change in us, nothing less than a new creation (new birth) - and the Spirit of God produces that!
If we want to get rid of sin - we, being fully convinced that we are guilty, and deserve to be punished for it. We must fix the eye of the mind on the Son of God as our sacrifice. We must then confess our sins, and plead with God to pardon them, on the ground of the sacrifice of Jesus, and so we shall obtain a pardon. We must also ask for the Holy Spirit, to renew and sanctify our nature, and so we shall be delivered from the power and pollution of sin. We must live, believing in the efficacy of the blood of Jesus to remove our guilt, and in the power and grace of the Spirit to make us new creatures, and then take the precepts of the gospel as our guide, and the example of Jesus as our model.
~James Smith~
(continued with # 2)
"The wages of sin is death!" (Romans 6:23).
The other day, as I was wandering over a village graveyard, and reading the inscriptions on the tombs and head-stones, I could not but think that there was something like injustice. In every direction DEATH was spoken against - and called cruel, insatiable, and against SIN. And yet death is but the offspring of sin. But for sin - there would have been no death, and no graveyards.
Death is a divine infliction, originally a punishment for man's sin! It is from God's hand - and therefore man is more ready to speak harshly of death, than he is of sin - which is man's own act and deed.
We blame death for robbing us of our parents, children, and friends; but we ought to blame sin - which gave death its power. And thus we should blame ourselves - by whom sin came into the world, and has perpetuated death here.
Sin is the parent of disease, pain, grief, sorrow, disappointment, vexation, anxiety, woe, death - yes, of every evil!
And man is the parent of sin! Sin sprung from us - and all misery springs from sin!
God, in death - only gives to man his due. How prone are we to fix the eye on effects (death) - and never think of the cause (sin)! Or if we admit that the cause is sin - we look upon it, and talk of it, as if sin was a calamity instead of a crime!
When I tread the grounds of the graveyard, and see the proofs that multitudes have been buried there - let me ask with Jehu, "Who slew all these?" And the only answer that can be justly given, will be, SIN!
Some may be ready to say, "Oh, it was small pox or tuberculosis, or cancer, or cholera, etc.!" True, true - but what introduced all these diseases into our world - for they were not here originally? Ah, that was sin - our sin!"
We therefore must trace suffering and death - to disease! We must trace disease - to sin! We must trace sin - to man! Man therefore, is the cause of all his own misery! Man has no one to blame but himself. Nor is it any use trying to throw the blame on anything else.
But as sin has introduced disease, misery, and death into our world - is there any possibility of getting rid of sin? Because, if we can get rid of sin - we may then get rid of all the consequences of sin. Well, blessed be God, sin may be gotten rid of! How this is to be done, the Bible, and the Bible alone, can inform us. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (Romans 6:23).
No one could devise a plan to get rid of sin - but the infinitely wise God. No one could furnish the means - but the Possessor of heaven and earth! It requires a most costly sacrifice - and the Son of God furnishes that. It requires a wondrous change in us, nothing less than a new creation (new birth) - and the Spirit of God produces that!
If we want to get rid of sin - we, being fully convinced that we are guilty, and deserve to be punished for it. We must fix the eye of the mind on the Son of God as our sacrifice. We must then confess our sins, and plead with God to pardon them, on the ground of the sacrifice of Jesus, and so we shall obtain a pardon. We must also ask for the Holy Spirit, to renew and sanctify our nature, and so we shall be delivered from the power and pollution of sin. We must live, believing in the efficacy of the blood of Jesus to remove our guilt, and in the power and grace of the Spirit to make us new creatures, and then take the precepts of the gospel as our guide, and the example of Jesus as our model.
~James Smith~
(continued with # 2)
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