Regeneration...ye must be born again

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive [quickened us] with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions– it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me [i.e. believe in me] unless it is granted him by the Father." John 6:63-65

We don't develop or evolve into a new creature: it is a miracle ex nihilo.

"You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God..." (1 Peter 1:23,25)

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God" (1 John 5:1 )

"...the first effect of the power of God in the heart in regeneration is to give the heart a Divine taste or sense; to cause it to have a relish of the loveliness and sweetness of the supreme excellency of the Divine nature. - Jonathan Edwards

I say that man, before he is renewed into the new creation of the Spirit's kingdom, does and endeavours nothing to prepare himself for that new creation and kingdom, and when he is re-created has does and endeavors nothing towards his perseverance in that kingdom; but the Spirit alone works both blessings in us, regenerating us, and preserving us when regenerate, without ourselves..." -Martin Luther (Bondage of the Will pg. 268)

"Indeed the Word of God is like the sun, shining upon all those to whom it is proclaimed, but with no effect among the blind. Now, all of us are blind by nature in this respect... Accordingly, it cannot penetrate into our minds unless the Spirit, as the inner teacher, through his illumination makes entry for it." (Calvin's Institutes 3.2.34.)

"The Reformers, and particularly John Calvin, stressed the way the objective, written Word and the inner, supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit work together, the Holy Spirit illuminating the Word to God's people. The Word without the illumination of the Holy Spirit remains a closed book." - James M Boice

"Faith in the living God and his Son Jesus Christ is always the result of the new birth, and can never exist except in the regenerate. Whoever has faith is a saved man." - C.H. Spurgeon from His sermon Faith and Regeneration

"If salvation is the implantation of a new, infinite life in the soul, it must be a work of God. Self-caused effects can never rise above the character or qualities of their cause. "Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit," Jesus told Nicodemus. This saving grace cannot be caused by the creature, it can only come from God." - John Hannah (To God be the Glory pg. 34, 35)

The inward offer is a kind of spiritual enlightenment, whereby the promises are presented to the hearts of men, as it were, by an inward word." - William Ames

"...the Holy Spirit does not save people in a void, but, as we cast forth the seed of the gospel, He quickens us through the Word of truth. The Holy Spirit, germinates the seed, so to speak, quickening us though the Word. The seed does not work on its own, it requires the prior blessing of God. "...we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction." (1 Thess 1:4, 5)

"That's What Christmas is All About Charlie Brown"

Though only a fragment of the story, here is a simple biblical reading of the real meaning of Christmas as told through the iconic warmth of the Charlie Brown character, Linus. What is the real meaning? The blessed incarnation of Jesus Christ the Lord - "Immanuel, God with us."

This is a small, yet profound blessing that every holiday season this will be heard by millions through network TV via this beloved comic strip turned animation. Enjoy it with your whole family and be sure to share it with a few friends who, like Charlie Brown, may be screaming to know what Christmas is all about.

Read the Whole Story
Steve
Phil. 2:5-11

HT: JT

What's the Answer for a Culture in Decay, Decline and Despair?The Lord Jesus Christ: Immanuel, God with us

The Sufficiency of the Gospel
The church has the most powerful, explosive, life-changing, transforming truth in all of history - the gospel of Jesus Christ! It [the gospel] saves one for eternity (John 6:39, Ephesians 1:3-14); it completely changes someone into a new creation (2 Corinthian 5:17); it forgives sin and cleanses us thoroughly from our sin (2 Corinthian 5:21, Ephesians 1:7); translates us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:10-14; 1 Peter 2:9); grants us eternal life (John 3:16); secures heaven as our home forever (John 14:1-6); it overcomes death for it is eternally built upon the foundation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:50-58); it defeats sin and brings us into intimacy and peace with God forever (Romans 5:1); and it is rich in grace and mercy (Ephesians 2:1-10) without which we would all be forever lost with no hope (Galatians 5:2-6).

It is completely efficacious for the believer in Christ, past, present and future (Romans 8:20-30). We are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9); we are kept (John 17:12, Jude 1); and we will be presented one glorious day (Jude 24). IOW, we are justified; sanctified; and glorified (Romans 8:29-30) through the gospel of our risen Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ the Righteous. Is it any wonder the Apostle Paul boldly proclaims, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." (Romans 1:16). And again in 1 Corinthians 9:16, "...for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel."

Spiritual Substitutes 
Sadly, not many today are saying that anymore. If the gospel of Jesus Christ is all sufficient and accomplishes all saving grace, then why is the church not about proclaiming its truth with the boldness and conviction it demands? One significant reason is that the true gospel has been replaced by a different gospel (Galatians 1:6-8). One that is watered down, convoluted, a cheap imitation disguising itself as the real thing. Some of these "other gospels" are: pragmatism - just give me what works; entertainment - I want to feel my God not know my God; pop-psychology - God and His word are deficient, man's word and philosophy is sufficient; the self-esteem movement - denying yourself is passé, self-love is everything; mysticism - truth has been replaced with experience; easy-believism - just raise a hand, sign a decision card, walk an isle and presto... you have an instant Christian. The Emergent/Emerging Church - where postmodern culture, not biblical truth--is dictating how the church should function and be defined; human potentiality movement - coming to Jesus to have a better marriage, more fulfilled job, or to realize your best life now, instead of honoring Him as Lord of your life regardless of personal benefits; and most recently, "Evangelical Co-Belligerence - (ECB)" - political remedies for moral maladies is now the latest trend to try and stop the tide of decay of family values plaquing our nation.

As popular as some of those things might be, none of them is the gospel of Jesus Christ!

This kind of Laodicean thinking has produced a Jesus who can elect but cannot save; who can knock at the door, but cannot open it; who can justify, but cannot glorify; who can make decisions, but cannot make disciples.

Is it any wonder that J.I. Packer says of American Christianity that it is, "

success oriented, manipulative, and self-centered. Three thousand miles wide and one inch deep."

The Almost Christian
What is then the true gospel and what are its components? What did Jesus really mean when He said, "Follow me!"? (Matthew 28:19). This is one of the crucial issues facing the evangelical community in our day. Contrary to popular opinion it is not materialism; it is not communism, it is not Marxism, narcissism, or hedonism. The issue today is the reverence for and the purity of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That alone is the rudder that guides the church - it is the nexus of the matter.

Take away the truth of the gospel and the church turns into a religious bar serving up whatever mixture of intoxicant faith that will be imbibed by those who are drunk on their own righteousness never desiring to be awakened from their stupor. And the lamentable thing is that they think they are saved. That is precisely why I am a firm believer that many people attending our churches week after week have made some sort of emotional verbal assent to Christ, but are not truly regenerated. They enjoy all the niceties of worship, fellowship, music, service, communion, etc, but have never been confronted with the reality of their sin, their need for a Savior, the eternal consequences of rejecting Christ, the awfulness of the wrath of God, the necessity for submission to the Lordship of Christ, the complete atoning work that Jesus accomplished on the cross, what His grace entails, and so crucially, what kind of faith is saving faith. Otherwise their epitaph will read, "They did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:10b).

I am utterly convinced, that one of the greatest mission fields in the United States today is the local church.

Walking an Aisle--the Narrow Road that Leads to Heaven?
Have you ever attended an evangelistic outreach service at a concert, missions conference, church meeting, etc..., where you heard gospel altar calls or appeals such as, "accept Jesus in your heart today"; "just lift up you hand and walk this aisle and you are saved"; "say this sinners prayer with me and if you do you're a Christian"; "make Jesus Lord of your life"; "there's a God-size hole in your heart and He alone can fill it"; or "just be bananas over Jesus"?

As familiar sounding as these phrases are, it may surprise you that not one of them is even remotely biblical or associated to the gospel according to Jesus. He does not want your hand raised, beloved, He wants your life surrendered! (Matthew 7:21). He doesn't desire you to be bananas over Him, but He does desire that you are obedient to Him (John 14:15, 15:14-16). There is not a hole in your heart to be filled but your entire life to be transformed (Colossians 1:10-14). You don't make Jesus Lord of your life - He is Lord... period. The question is will you submit to Him as Lord and honor Him for who He is and all He claimed to be (Hebrews 1:-8; John 1:14, 8:58; 14:5-9)?

No Cheap Grace Allowed
Have you considered the cost of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ... to follow Him? The content of the gospel is confessing Christ as Lord and believing in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10); believing on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (John 1:12, 3:15-18); that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4); for by grace you have been saved by faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Here we have a glimpse of the saving work of Jesus Christ. It requires believing, confession, trusting in His complete work from the cross to the resurrection, it is by God's grace and His enabling faith, and it is His gift to you - you can't earn it no matter what.

Notice that coupled with God's loving grace, is the call for our conformity and submission to all He commands. Though we do not participate in our salvation; we do participate in our sanctification--and yet, it is still all of grace (John 15:5). This is a mystery beloved: God's sovereignty and man's obedience woven together in our sanctification--ouyr daily growth and conformity to Christlikeness (Titus 2:11-12).

Let's look at three essential commands of the Lord to become His disciple: that you deny yourself; take up your cross; and follow Him (Matthew 16:24).

"What Does it Mean to Follow Jesus?"

1. DENY YOURSELF:
To deny yourself means to come to the end of yourself; to be done with yourself; to see yourself as bankrupt from any ability to save yourself; to not place any trust whatsoever within yourself to be saved. The Lord did not come to "complete us" or to help us "get in touch with ourselves." Far from it. The Lord is calling for us to be finished with ourselves: our desires; our goals; our ways; our own truths; our agendas; our self-made religious whims, ceremonies or inventions. We must "deny" ourselves to be His disciple. John Calvin says it this way: "the sum of the Christian life is the denial of self"- and I thoroughly agree with him. We must come to Christ not putting our confidence in our own "goodness", because we have none (Romans 3:10), but solely in what Jesus has done for us. The prophet Isaiah brings us to the end of our own righteousness by affirming, "All our righteous deeds are like filthy garments" (Isaiah 64:6). I recognize this is a hard way, for our entire culture shouts at you to trust in yourself, you control your own destiny, it is personal power and self esteem that will set you free. The most flamboyant, bold, misguided, foolish example of this is the recent fascination with psychic power. Out of all the religions in this world, and there are thousands of them, there are really only two kinds; the religion of human achievement; and the religion of divine accomplishment. The religion of human achievement says that man is good, man can save himself, man can earn his way to heaven through good works, etc...

Christianity on the other hand says man is totally depraved, completely sinful, by nature children of wrath, sons of disobedience, none are good, and, in fact, no one does what is good (Roms. 3:10-18). Christianity says human achievement cannot save and that to have salvation someone must have divinely accomplished what man could never do. Jesus Christ fulfilled on the cross what no man or manmade religion could ever do - satisfy God's wrath against all sin and abolish the penalty of sin. He "died once for all, for all time" (Hebrews 10:12). His sacrifice is complete not requiring any additional word. When Jesus cried out on the cross "It is finished!" He was proclaiming that He had achieved the atonement as the Captain of our Salvation (Hebrews 2:10). When any man embraces, surrenders and submits to Jesus Christ, by grace, as Lord and Savior of his life (2 Corinthians 4:5), he then has as Paul says, "peace with God" (Romans 5:1). In other words, the war is over. "If God is for us who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). The answer is clear... no one. And the converse is also true, if God is against you who can be for you? The New Age movement? Buddha, Mohammad, or Krishna? No. Sun Young Moon, J.Z. Knight or Shirley McClain? No. Can praying on your rosary or trusting in the Pope in Rome? No. You must deny yourself; jettison all confidence in your own ability to save yourself and cling to Christ alone.

That is why Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me" (John 14:6). Jesus is absolutely exclusive in His claim. He is the only living and true way! There is no other way to heaven no matter how noble, good, or satisfying it may seem. You must be bankrupt of human achievement, and place your belief only in Christ for your redemption (John 3:16).

2. TAKE UP YOUR CROSS:
All people in the world have one thing in common - a sin nature. We are all born into this life with sin in our heart that needs divine healing. It's difficult for us to imagine this when we see little new-born babies who are so pure, gentle, sweet and innocent. Scripture tells us though that we are "by nature children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3); "behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me" (Psalms 51:5); and again the Psalmist affirms this reality when he says, "the wicked are estranged from the womb; those who speak lies go astray from birth" (Psalms 58:3). That is why our "old man"; our "old self"; our sin nature needs to be dealt with. We need a new nature that is not rooted in sin but rooted in righteousness! (read Ephesians 2:1-10). Two natures cannot co-exist with each other (read Romans 6) and that is why in order to receive a new nature the old one must be brought to Calvary and crucified!

The Apostle Paul was proclaiming this truth when he explodes with this amazing statement in Galatians 2:20. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ Jesus lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me." And again in Romans 6:6 he says, "knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin." When we come and place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished at Calvary, at that moment we are crucified with Him. Our old self or nature is executed, put to death, and we are made alive unto God...new creations in Christ Jesus our Lord! That is painful for the old man doesn't want to die, but live. Oh friend, but we must come the way of the cross if we desire to have eternal life in Jesus Christ.

3. FOLLOW HIM:
Last but not least, we must follow Him. I can't think of a better definition of a Christian than one who follows Him--who obeys the Lord and His Word. The masses would come from miles around to hear our Lord preach, see Him perform miracles and acts of healing. However, Jesus said to the onlookers that they would have "to eat His flesh and drink His blood" if they wanted to be His disciples (John 6:37ff). What did He mean by this? Every time Jesus said follow Me, He was headed to the cross. He was meaning to partake of the crucified life. As my friend, John MacArthur, so susinctly says, "to give all that you are for all that Jesus is." This means that we must love Him more than all other loves - father, mother, brother, sister, son and daughter. Jesus isn't saying "hate your families." But what He is saying is, that He must be first love of your life. (read Luke 14:26-27; Rev. 2:4). The gospel is Jesus Christ and Him crucified, buried and risen bodily on the third day. It is good news that there is eternal life in Christ, victory over sin, hope beyond the grave for those who place their faith and trust in Him. Oh my dear friend, consider the cost.

DIGGING DEEPER:

• "The Gospel According To Jesus" by Dr. John MacArthur;
• "Faith Works" by John MacArthur;
• "A Guide To Christ" by Solomon Stoddard;
• "Gospel Fear" by Jeremiah Burroughs

LIFE APPLICATION:

1. What is the most important thing in the world to you? At what cost would you be willing to give it up?

2. Read through the Gospels of Matthew and John. What did our Lord require of those who would be His true disciples?

3. Why is it unbiblical to assume that you can take Jesus as Savior, while not acknowledging Him as Lord of your life?

4. In what ways is the Gospel according to Jesus different from the "easy-believism" that much of contemporary evangelism espouses today?

5. Pray that the Lord will give you an understanding of what His work on the cross cost Him, what your life in Him will cost you, and what the cost would be in rejecting him.

The "E"ssentials of Ministry...what's not for sale: the nonnegotiables

"But I do not consider my life of any account
as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course
and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus,
to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God."
-Acts 20:24

Some of inquired of me why blog; why spend the hours of research on the posts, and what drives that dedication? As I began to distill those reasons to reasonable sign posts, here are six essentials for ministry that I am bound to. I certainly haven't arrived in these things and on many a day do them poorly. But it is my sincere desire and prayer to the Lord Jesus that He would daily cause my life to honor these things more and more to His glory. Whether in song, preaching or teaching God's Word, blogging, etc. these are the things that are the fuel behind the passion.

Maybe they will resonate with you as well.

We live in the day of the half-hearted commitment beloved. The pedestals are virtually empty regarding leadership worth emulating. Where are the Paul's today that can honestly say, "Follow me as I follow Christ..."? By God's sanctifying grace, I prayerfully want to serve the Lord as one of the those men today. Though I fall far short many days, by God's mercy, He still uses me to do His work (2 Cor. 4:5). What is my greatest "work" in Him that I do each day? Raising five wonderful children in the nuture and admonition of the Lord that aren't really children anymore (ages 12-18). I am learning to be a Dad all over again with all the new struggles, hurdles, fears, joys, talents, jobs, relationships, etc. that occupy their days (especially as teenagers). It is my joy to be their father and your prayers are so appreciated that I would lead and serve them with patience, love, truth, and grace.

Grace and peace to you,
Steve
2 Cor. 4:5-7



1. To: Exalt and reverence a high view of God
To honor the One Triune God of the Bible in the fullness of His attributes as to how He has revealed Himself through general and special revelation. To glorify God in all things; to reverence the person, character and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ; and to worship, live, and serve in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 115:1 "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory because of Your mercy, because of Your truth."


2. To: Equip the saints with the Word of God
To honor Sola Scriptura; that all things be done by the authority of and not in contradiction to God's holy Word.

Psalm 19:7-11 "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward."


3. To: Encourage the saints to walk with God
A right view of God; and an orthodox, obedient view of Scripture; should be exemplified in Christlike living.

Titus 2:11-12 "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age."


4. To: Exhort the saints to worship God
To live daily in the presence of His glory; to present our lives as living sacrifices; holy, acceptable, pleasing unto God - for this is our just and spiritual worship

Ephesians 5:8-11 "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness..."


5. To: Engage the saints in sacrificial service to God and others
We preach not ourselves and proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and your servants for Jesus sake; the fruit, will be service to God and His creatures.

1 Peter 4:10-11 "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."


6. To: Evangelize the lost with the gospel of God
To herald Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen; to go where Christ is not yet named; to proclaim the gospel of sola fide, calling all men everywhere to repentance by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We affirm that any genuine gospel presentation should contain in some manner the following key truths:

1. The law of God
   
2. The depravity and sinfulness of man
   
3. The impotence of good, religious works to save
4. The virgin birth and sinless life of Jesus
   
5. Justification by grace alone through faith alone
   
6. The vicarious substitutionary death of Christ
   
7. The imputation of the righteousness of Christ
8. The bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead
   
9. Repentance from sin
   
10. The Lordship of Christ
    

"the gospel is the power of God unto salvation..." (Roms. 1:16)

"But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:4-7)

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures," (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

The Cross Is a Radical Thinga call to live the crucified life-boldly & unashamedly

An Encore Presentation

To listen to this song, click the flashing play button at the end of the information bar. I have chosen the song, "Could I Be Called a Christian" that perfectly compliments this article - The Cross is a Radical Thing. This song is from the CD "Consider the Cost" which was inspired after reading a book by my friend, Dr. John MacArthur, called, "The Gospel According to Jesus." I wrote this CD as a musical trac (which I call "sound" doctrine) so others could proclaim the gospel plainly and biblically using music as a powerful tool for evangelism. You can download the entire CD at AudienceONE by simply clicking on the CD picture link in the left hand column of this blog. As always, our policy is that any of our ministry resources can be obtained for whatever you can afford; and if you can't afford anything you may receive it free of charge.


"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me" -Galatians 2:20.

The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most unprecedented event in human history. In Jesus' day it was the most excruciating, painful, horrific way of death known to man. It was usually reserved for the worst of criminals who had committed the most inhumane of crimes. The Roman roads were silhouetted with literally thousands of crosses that bore not only those outlaws, but ultimately the precious martyred bodies of the faithful for God.

A. W. Tozer brings this authenticity of the cross to vivid truth when he says, "We must do something about the cross and one of two things only we can - flee it or die upon it! The cross will cut into our lives where it hurts worst sparing neither us nor our carefully cultivated reputations." Sin had to be destroyed. Death had to be conquered. The only way to eternal life is for the Old Adam to die - to be crucified with Christ. To follow Jesus meant hardship, persecution, almost certain death.

When Jesus called for all His true disciples to "deny [themselves], take up [their] cross, and follow Him" (Matthew 16:24; Luke 14:26f), He was not offering a suggestion but issuing a command. He was calling for the death of the old life, the old man, the old nature... the death of self (Romans 6:6). The crowd pleasers and thrill seekers of His time quickly dismissed any notion of giving up all to follow Him. They wanted an easier way - a broader road that they thought would lead to heaven (Matthew 7:13-14).

Nowhere in any of the gospels did our Lord Jesus say, "If any man wishes to be my disciple let him slip up his hand and put it down quietly." That would be easy; no cross. The simple truth is this: happiness is convenient, but holiness costs. He does not want our hands raised beloved, but our lives surrendered.

Every true believer of the Lord Jesus Christ will know four realities of the cross: 1. the nakedness of the cross; 2. the loneliness of the cross; 3. the humiliation of the cross; and 4. the glory of the cross.

There is a nakedness to the cross.
We must be stripped of all confidence in our flesh; consider our lives to be bankrupt of any goodness that could add one additional work to our salvation. We must come destitute, broken, stripped of all fleshly religious boasting and as the hymn writer has instructed to sy, "nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Your cross I cling." (Phil. 3:3-12).

There is a loneliness to the cross.
We must come alone to Christ; not carrying our parents cross, not our neighbors cross, not our friends cross, nor our brothers or sisters or spouse's cross, but our cross. We must follow Jesus even if all others deny Him, reject Him, turn away from Him, and scorn Him (Luke 14:26-28; Matthew 10:34-39; 16:24-26).

There is a humiliation to the cross.
Pride is the most deadly of all sins; religious pride intensifies this depravity a hundred fold. Pride in ourselves, in our good works, in our abilities, in our own righteousness, must be crucified with Christ. We must be humbled under the weight of our sin and come as beggars pleading for His mercy; realizing that no church system, no religious practice, no ceremony or feast day, no indulgence from any church, no works of any kind can save us or add to our salvation (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10-12, 6:6; Matthew 5:3,20).

Lastly, there is a glory to the cross.
The cross was not tragedy--but triumph. What man viewed in horror and shame, God viewed as victory. For now man once alienated by sin, has been brought into peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Christ's death on the cross was a substitution for you and me. He died in our place. He accomplished what man and all his religious good works could never do and that was to satisfy the wrath, justice, righteousness and holiness of God once for all. It took an unblemished Lamb; a perfect High Priest; and a sinless life lived. All of those things were present only in the Lord Jesus Christ.

As Dr. MacArthur is profound when he says, "Every sin, ever committed, by everyone that would ever believe was imputed or credited to Christ on the cross." Though He is sinless, undefiled and absolutely holy, He was treated as if He lived our life. And by an act of grace (God's unmerited favor to us; getting what we don't deserve) when we by faith place our sole hope and trust for our salvation in the finished work and person of Jesus Christ alone, though we are sinful people to the core we are treated as if we lived His life; for His perfect righteousness is imputed or credited to us. If you know Christ as your Lord and Savior you are clothed with the perfect righeousness of Christ not obtained through law-keeping, but through faith. What a wonderful, merciful Savior we have in the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen?

Our Lord, having conquered sin and death now gives life-everlasting, the forgiveness of sin, newness of life, securing us with His precious Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our redemption to all those that the Father has drawn and chosen from all eternity to be His own (John 3:16-18; Hebrews 2:14; 2 Corinthians 5:17,21; Ephesians 1:13-14; Galatians 2:20; Romans 5:1-10). What tremendous victories that cause us to glory in our Lord. (Titus 3:4-6).

Compare the cost of the cross with the cost of sin
A life of sin can leave you naked - stripped of friends, family, dignity, wealth, and reputation. A life of sin can leave you lonely - separated from fellowship with God and other believers, left in despair without much hope. A life of sin can leave you in utter humiliation - waking up in the "pigpen" of your rebellion as the prodigal son sorrowfully discovered (Luke 15:14-16). And last, a life of sin can never bring glory, but only shame on all who embraces it, cover it, and hold it dear (Philippians 3:18-19; Psalm 66:18).

Like the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-22) who wanted heaven on his own terms, people today, are trying to find their own way to God, but Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me (John 14:6 emphasis added)." The cross is truly a radical thing.

DIGGING DEEPER
"Jesus Our Man In Glory" by A.W. Tozer; "The Cross of Christ" by John Stott; "Redemption Accomplished and Applied" by John Murray.

LIFE APPLICATION
1. Why do you think the cross has become little more than a fashion statement in the minds of many people as they wear them on necklaces, etc...?

2. What has the cross cost you? What did it cost Jesus and accomplish on behalf of God and man?

3. What are the four realities of the cross? Explain in your own words.

4. Write down how you will daily take up your cross in living for Jesus. Pray over these things that the Lord would give you strength as you follow Him.

5. Use these passages of Scripture in your quiet-times this week. Reflect on the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross: Mark 10:17-21; 38-39; Psalm 22; Isaiah 53; Hebrews 2:5-18;Phil. 2:1-12; John 19; Luke 23.

THE PREEMINENT ISSUE IN MINISTRY IS REVERENCE...and this is the achilles heel of the emerging church

• Do these images bother you?
• Are they disturbing to you as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ?
• Do you think they an afront to His holy character; or fun?
• What if T's like these were worn by... say... your pastor while he was preaching on Sunday?
• Do these images bring glory and reverence to our Lord or mock Him?

IMHO, this is the number one issue bar none, coming from within the emerging/emergent church culture today. Contextualization of message, defining missional thinking, postmodern cultural relevance, open hand/close hand pragmatics, etc. are all secondary, and frankly child's play, compared to the issue of the lack of reverence that is coming from within the emerging/emergent church to the greater body of Christ.

The emerging/emergents primarily focus on the humanity of Christ; and they do so with such imbalance that they make Him out to be just one of the boys. Why? so that He can be more relatable and cool to a "jacked up" society. In doing so, they forget to chiefly honor Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. They fail to exalt Him as God in the Deity of Christ. Jesus, in incarnation, IS fully man - no question (John 1:14; Phil. 2:5-6; Heb. 4:15). But He is also, at the same time, fully God - two natures, one Person. And as such, He is perfectly holy in all respects; tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin! He is is sinless - able not to sin (posse non peccare); and impeccable - not able to sin (non posse peccare). He is God in human flesh; He is the Lord. And as John the Baptist so rightly declared that he was unworthy to even untie His shoe strings.

Beloved I come before you with tears today; not as one who has arrived in his own walk with the Lord, but one who knows his own sinful heart towards sin as well; and I am burdened, broken and deeply concerned about this issue of the lack of reverence in our worship that is literally affecting millions of believers in the Lord.

Some emerging-seeker sensible-ecumenical-culturally relevant-evangelical pastors within the emerging/emergent feel they need to use scatological, demeaning, crass language to describe our Lord in incarnation by continually referring to His bodily functions. Why? because if they didn’t - they think we're all too stupid to "get it." Some want to embellish the biblical account of our Lord's Virgin Birth with speculative talk that people in Bethlehem thought that Mary and Joseph were knocking boots in the back seat of a car on prom night to make "the story" of His birth more relatable to the culture. Why? because if they didn't - the preaching of the gospel of sola fide isn't powerful enough to regenerate lost people on its own; that nonbelievers just won't otherwise "get it."

This loss of reverence and the fear of the Lord in local church pulpit ministry is the hallmark personality of today's evangelical, ecumenical, emerging type of Christianity - which to me is no Christianity at all. Technique wins over truth; methodology is prime while message remains secondary; market driven research dominates while sound doctrine dissipates. To quote my friend Dr. James White: "what you save them with is what you save them to."

I'm sick of it beloved; and I for one say NO MORE!
No more cheap, irreverent, blasphemous caricature representations
of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Will you stand with me?

And we should boldly speak out in humble righteous indignation against this kind of spiritual tripe being propagated in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And anytime it raises its ugly head - no matter who may say it - call them to repentance. It is a dangerous thing to play politics with God beloved; to think it is a funny thing to come into the presence of a holy God, rather than a fearful thing. We can not sit back while others, whether liberal or pretending to be reformed, pervert His Word and treat the Lord Jesus Christ as some sort of caricature or cartoon for their amusement and theater.

He is holy; He is righteous; He is high and lifted up; He is seated at the right hand of the throse of God; He is Heaven's Dread Sovereign; He is Judge; He is the Alpha and Omega; He is our First Love; and He is not to be trifled with. Amen?

Don't tell us that the emerging church is pursuing humility, when their worship of the Lord is irreverent. Chris Rock is not the homiletics model for pulpit ministry for the man of God; and "smash-mouth exposition" has no place behind the sacred desk in the preaching of God's Word.

Listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah and the Apostle John below as they describe their visions of the Lord. Then compare it with today's emerging/emergent "pastors." We need fall on our faces, we all need to repent for ever condoning or entertaining such juvenile antics in the name of Christ; and we all need to prayerfully seek to restore a high view of God and a reverence for Him once again in biblical ministry.

"Worship the Lord with reverence; rejoice with trembling."
-Psalm 2:11

Is. 6:1 ¶ "In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Is. 6:2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.Is. 6:3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” Is. 6:4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Is. 6:5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

Rev. 1:12 ¶ "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; Rev. 1:13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. Rev. 1:14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. Rev. 1:15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. Rev. 1:16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. Rev. 1:17 ¶ When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, Rev. 1:18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."

He Emptied Himself...by Thomas Goodwin

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men." -Phil. 2:5-7


It is adorably true indeed that the Eternal Son made Himself of no reputation. Yes; but He did far more than that. He did infinitely far more than that. For our salvation, HE EMPTIED HIMSELF. That is to say, the Eternal Son despoiled and depleted Himself of all His divine power and heavenly glory, and was made flesh, and was made sin, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

His greatness He for us abas'd,
For us His glory vail'd;
In human likeness dwelt on earth,
His majesty conceal'd.

What all that divine power and heavenly glory was which the Eternal Son possessed before He emptied Himself neither the tongue nor the pen even of an inspired apostle can ever attain to tell. But there were some things that the Eternal Son performed in the service of His Father before He emptied Himself: some things that come perhaps somewhat more within the range of revelation and within the scope of the human mind. As thus:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him: and without Him was not anything made that was made...For by Him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth: visible and invisible, all things were created by Him, and for Him, and by Him all things consist."

But wonderful and glorious as all that is, at the same time it had been better that the Son of God had never created this world of ours at all unless He was prepared to do far more for our world than merely to create it and to sustain it in its created existence. For, whatever any of His Father's other worlds might need and might receive at the Son's almighty hands over and above their first creation and their continual preservation, it was divinely foreseen from eternity-nay, the apostle is bold enough to say that it was divinely foreordained from eternity - that sin should enter this world of ours, and with sin, and as its wages, both death and hell. And thus it was that before the foundations of this world of ours were ever laid, the Eternal Father had already committed it to His Eternal Son that, for our salvation from sin and death and hell, He must, in the fulness of time, empty Himself and take upon Himself the form of a servant, and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

And thus it was that when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And thus it came about that He who had created this world of ours descended into it, and made Himself one of His own earthly creatures, and lived all His appointed time on earth in all the emptiness and limitation and dependence and subjection that was involved in His great work which he had undertaken to perform for His Father. For it is wholly true and it is wholly due to Him that it should be told us concerning our Saviour that He made Himself of no reputation. The whole heavens and the whole earth had all resounded with His great reputation as soon as He had finished the formation of the heavens and the earth and all the host of them. On the seventh day of creation the Son of God ended His great work which He had created and made, and He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. And on that first Sabbath day all the morning stars sang together before Him, and all the sons of God shouted for joy in His presence.

But when the predestinated time for the Son's humiliation and for our salvation came He arose and descended down from His Father's house and left all His heavenly renown and reputation behind Him. And then, as the great prologue has it, He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. How His own received Him, and what entertainment He had at their hands, we read with unspeakable shame and pain on every page of the four Gospels. At the same time all that was no surprise to Him; neither did the reception that He received on this earth take Him at all unawares. From the beginning he had foreseen it all, and had prepared Himself for it all. "Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it is all written of Me." He means that such things as these were written of Him: such awful things as these: "I am a worm, and no man. I am a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they shake the head." The Son of God foresaw Himself as in a glass in that awful twenty-second Psalm. Again, this was written, and He had often read it: "He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him."

And again, He foresaw that all this also would be written concerning Him, and He had often in anticipation read it.

"Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on His head. And they put on Him a purple robe, and bowed the knee, and said, Hail! King of the Jews. And they smote Him in His face with their hands."

Yes, indeed: the Eternal Son, the Maker of the heavens and the earth, made Himself of no reputation! And that one word, of no reputation, makes us sinful men to stop and think. For, how we all live and labour for a reputation! How we are all puffed up with our reputation when it comes to us! And how we are all cast down when our reputation departs from us.

But how different from all that was our Divine Lord.
O reputation-loving men! in all your ambitions remember your Divine Redeemer. And determine to follow Him henceforth in all His footsteps of self-humiliation. And, like Him, always seek the praise and the reputation that come from God and from a good conscience alone.

But to proceed. Such was His self-depletion that, Divine Sovereign and Divine Lawgiver as He was, He took upon Him the form of a servant, and became obedient to all men in all things. And to begin with, He became obedient to Joseph and Mary in all things and at all times. At twelve years old He went down from His first Passover and was subject to them. And that was so because He humbled Himself to come under the law of a true and proper human childhood. Year after year, he lived under the fifth commandment of the Decalogue like any other dutiful son in the house of Israel. So much was this the case, that if you go back and enter Mary's humble home you will see her first-born son making Himself subject to her, and to His brothers and sisters, in everything. He learned obedience by the things that He suffered every day at all their hands. And if you go back and enter Joseph's toilsome workshop you will see Him who had made all things in heaven and on earth now making Himself obedient in cutting and planing wood, and in all joining and mortising work, like any other obedient apprentice in the workshops of Nazareth. "St Joseph was dead, and Jesus had succeeded to His foster-father's modest business."

As Dr. Newman has it:

"Our Divine Lord was found of no reputation in this world, whether on the score of rank or of education. It seems almost irreverent to speak of His temporal employment; but it is profitable to remind ourselves that the Son of God Himself was a sort of smith, and made ploughs and cattle yokes."

Yes, and all the time He never once hinted at what He might have spoken out but for His absolute and ever-silent humility. He never once said to his fellow-workmen what He had found written concerning Himself in the prophet Isaiah: He so hid all these amazing things in His wholly self-emptied and utterly humble heart. "He hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance. His own hands hath made all these things."

"Wherefore God hath also highly exalted Him."
His God and Father had seen all that from His Son's first undertaking of all that down to His finishing of all that. His God and Father had kept in His bottle every tear that His Son the Man of Sorrows had shed during the whole of His sojourn in this world of sorrows. Not one sigh of His, not one sob, not one heavenward breath of secret self-surrendering prayer had escaped His Father's ever-open ear.

"And He shall be mine," said His Father, "in that day when I make up My jewels." And it was so, and it now is so, and it shall for ever be so. For all the Divine Son's self-emptiness is for ever at an end now. "Father, the hour is come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. Glorify Thou Me with the glory I had with Thee before the world was, and before I emptied Myself and was made flesh." And it was so. "Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, and hath set Him again at His own right hand, far above all principality and power and every name that is named. As it was in the beginning, as it is now, and as it shall for ever be, world without end." And all that to the glory of God the Father. All that to His glory who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to death, even the death of the cross.

Yes, my believing brethren, yes. God's great love accounts for it all. God's everlasting love explains it all.
God is love, and that is the true explanation and the sufficient key to it all. Given that God is love, and that God's Eternal Son is God with His Father, and is ever in His Father's bosom given all that, and all the rest follows as by a Divine necessity. Yes, my loving brethren, you have the true secret and the full explanation of the self-emptying and the humiliation of the cross in your own loving hearts. All you who are born of God, all you who truly love God and one another, all you who greatly love and are greatly loved-in all that you possess in your own bosoms the true explanation and the true key to the whole mystery of redemption, the explanation and the key to that love which passes all explanation and every key.

And, after the glory of God, it is to kindle ever afresh the life of a true brotherly love in our hearts that this apostle so carries our hearts captive to the astounding love of Christ toward us. It is to banish for ever from among us all envy of one another, all jealousy of one another, all suspicion of one another, and all strife as to who shall be counted the greatest. It is to make all self-seeking and all vain-glory to be for ever impossible among all Christian men. It is to make us to look not at our own things alone, but every man to look on the honour, and the prosperity, and the whole happiness of other men also. It is on the ground of the amazing and all-conquering love of Christ that the apostle reasons with us, and says to us:

"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ: if any comfort of love: if any fellowship of the Spirit: if any bowels and mercies: be ye like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife and vain-glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless: the sons of God without rebuke."

In one word, and in a word beyond which even an inspired apostle cannot go: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who emptied Himself and humbled Himself even to the death of the cross."

(Taken from The Spiritual Life. A sermon of Thomas Goodwin.)

Pride and Humility...the war between vice and virtue

Pride is the most serious of sins in all of Scripture. Pride caused Adam and Eve to disobey God, sin to enter this world, and to cause all mankind to become children of wrath by nature. Pride caused Lucifer to be cast out of heaven because he tried to exalt himself above the throne of the Most High God. Pride drove Nebuchadnezzar to be stripped of his royal position and eat the grass of beasts in insanity for seven years for proclaiming: "this is the Babylon that I have built, by my might, and my power, for my glory." Pride made Herod believe his own press release that he had "not the voice of a man, but the voice of a god." And he fell over, was eaten by worms and died for he failed to give God glory. And my friends, pride will bring us low as well. It will cause us to forget our Lord and dishonor His Word. Pride will find sweet solace in wounding others. Pride will split churches, destroy families, cripple ministry, and forfeit God's blessing. Pride seeks and relishes the demise of others. Pride fans the flame of self-importance and with a malicious spirit rejoices in crushing ones neighbor. Pride puts down another in order to lift self up. Pride seeks only the advantage of self. Pride's first impulse is not to serve, but to be served. And pride cherishes unforgiveness and savors revenge.

Humility, however, is the daily surrender of our will to the submission of God’s will so that we may live pleasingly to Him and in right relationship with others in every circumstance and area of our lives. It is the purposeful yielding of ourselves to the Lordship of Christ. It is unqualified obedience to the truth of God. It is the unremitting state of being humble. Humility is quick to confess sin and seek repentance and restoration. It is being a living sacrifice. It is the broken and contrite heart, the broken spirit in which God is not despised. It is an all-inclusive dependence upon the Lord for all things pertaining to life and godliness. It is the denunciation of self-sufficiency, self-fulfillment, and self-aggrandizement. It is loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Humility is counting all things as rubbish except knowing Christ Jesus the Lord. It is denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Christ. It is not loving your life, even unto death. It is embracing the right to be wronged; free from retaliation, revenge and retribution. It is blessing those who curse you, praying for those who mistreat you, doing good to those that hate you. It is loving your enemy. It is to giving up all rights to us so that God may be glorified in all things. It is selflessness. It is treating the eternal as preeminent; and the temporary as modest. It is a high view of God and a low view of ourselves.

I pray the following words will encourage us all to daily guard against the pride of man; and with a whole heart to pursue the humility of Christ.

His Unworthy Servant in His Unfailing Love,
Steve
Jer. 9:23-24


Pride:
"Pride is self contending with God for preeminence."
-CHARLES BRIDGES

"A proud faith is as much a contradiction as a humble devil." -STEPHEN CHARNOCK

"Pride is the shirt of the soul, put on first and put off last." -GEORGE SWINNOCK

Job 35:12 “There they cry out, but He does not answer because of the pride of evil men.

Prov. 8:13 “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate.

Prov. 11:2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom.

Prov. 16:5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD;

Prov. 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.

Prov. 29:23 A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.

Dan. 4:37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

James 4:6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

1 Pet. 5:5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.


Humility:
"The meek man will attain a place of soul rest. As he walks on in meekness he will be happy to let God defend him. The old struggle to defend himself is over. He has found the peace which meekness brings." -A.W. TOZER

"Repentance is a grace of God's Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed." -THOMAS WATSON

"Humility and love are precisely the graces which the men of the world can understand, if they do not comprehend doctrines. They are the graces about which there is no mystery, and they are within reach of all classes... The poorest Christian can every day find occasion for practicing love and humility." -J. C. RYLE

Prov. 15:33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility.

Prov. 16:19 It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Prov. 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, but humility goes before honor.

Prov. 22:4 The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, honor and life.

Is. 66:2 “For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

Zeph. 2:3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the LORD’S anger.

Eph. 4:1-3 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,

Phil. 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;

Col. 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

James 1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

1 Peter 2:23 When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued trusting Himself to Him who judges justly.

1 Pet. 5:6 ¶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

Genuine Repentance"...till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet"

"If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares that he knows the Lord's will but does not mean to attend to it, you are not to pamper his presumption, but it is your duty to assure him that he is not saved. Do not suppose that the Gospel is magnified or God glorified by going to the worldlings and telling them that they may be saved at this moment by simply accepting Christ as their Savior, while they are wedded to their idols, and their hearts are still in love with sin. If I do so I tell them a lie, pervert the Gospel , insult Christ, and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness." -C.H. SPURGEON

Strong and necessary words.

Repentance is a forgotten word within the church today. It is virtually left out of most gospel invitations you will hear presented at crusades, concerts and church gatherings. The use of the "R" word, as it is referred to by contemporaries in postmodern ecclesiology, should be avoided because it is too offensive to our advanced sensibilities, it is intolerant and nonecumenical, emergent unfriendly, and church growth stifling. They will say that it doesn't have "curb appeal" and lacks compassion.

But yet, it is unmistakably central to the biblical record. To paraphrase what Calvin once said: "a Christian's life should not be marked by just one act of repentance, but by a daily life of repentance." That is my contrite and painful prayer for my own life - to be that kind of man in the Lord though I fall woefully short most days. But praise be to God for His sanctifying grace that conforms us to Jesus and does not leave us to ourselves (Titus 2:11-12).

It is as Newton once so powerfully bursted forth in confession by saying: "I am a great sinner; but HE is a greater Savior!" Amen? SDG!!!

What then does it mean to repent of sin? Why is it so important? Can lost, sinful people have eternal life without it? Is it a grace that God gives or an act of obedience that man must do... or both? If someone never repents of their sin can they ever truly have the assurance of salvation?

Puritan pastor and theologian, Thomas Watson, gives solid answers to these and other important questions. I would encourage any of you who do not have his profound book, The Doctrine of Repentance, to add it to your library. It is rich truth that deserves an essential place within your home and church.

His Unworthy Servant in His Unfailing Love,
Steve
2 Cor. 4:1-7


Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Luke 24:47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Acts 17:30-31 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.

Rom. 2:4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

2Cor. 7:9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

2Cor. 7:10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

2Pet. 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.


by Thomas Watson
So what is repentance?

1. Seeing your sin – 1 John 1:8,10.
2. Sorrowing over your sin – We must do more than admit it. We must internally engage with it. Psalm 51:17; Isaiah 57:15; 2 Corinthians 7:9.
3. Confessing your sin – We must put our sin into words and agree with God that what we did was wrong. Psalm 51:4; Hosea 14:1-3; 2 Corinthians 7:11; 1 John 1:9.
4. Being ashamed of your sin – Watson: “blushing is the color of virtue.” Jeremiah 6:15; 31:19.
5. Hating your sin – Job 42:5-6.
6. Turning from your sin – Watson: “Reformation is left last to bring up the rear of repentance. It is not the heart of repentance, but the fruit of repentance.” Matthew 3:7-8; Acts 26:20.

a. At the very least, this means removing yourself as much as possible from places of temptation (Proverbs 4:14-17).
b. If your sin was against other people, then you must go to them and ask their
forgiveness (Matthew 5:23-24).
c. If the sin involves stealing, then restitution must be made (Luke 19:8).

There is no rowing to paradise except upon the stream of repenting tears. Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.
Why are the wells of repentance stopped? Do not the sinners of the land know that they should repent? Have they no warning? Have not God's faithful messengers lifted up their voice as a trumpet and cried to them to repent? But many of these tools in the ministry have been spent and worn out upon rocky hearts. Do we think that God will always put up with our affronts?

Some bless themselves that they have a stock of knowledge, but what is knowledge good for without repentance?
Learning and a bad heart is like a fair face with a cancer in the breast. Knowledge without repentance will be but a torch to light the way to hell. Repentant tears may be compared to myrrh, which though it is bitter in taste, has a sweet smell and refreshes the spirit. So repentance, though it is bitter in itself, yet it is sweet in the effects. It brings inward peace.

We are to find as much bitterness in weeping for sin as ever we found sweetness in committing it.
Surely David found more bitterness in repentance than ever he found comfort in Bathsheba. Tears have four qualities: they are moist, salt, hot, and bitter. It is true of repenting tears, they are hot to warm a frozen conscience; moist, to soften a hard heart; salt, to season a soul decaying in sin; bitter, to wean us from the love of the world. And I will add a fifth, they are sweet, in that they make the heart inwardly rejoice. David, who was the great weeper in Israel, was the sweet singer of Israel. The sorrows of the repentant are like the sorrows of a travailing woman: "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world". (John 16:21).

Be as speedy in your repentance as you would have God be speedy in His mercies.
Many are now in hell that purposed to repent. Satan does what he can to keep men from repentance. When he sees that one begins to take up serious thoughts of reformation, he bids them wait a little longer. It is dangerous to procrastinate repentance. The longer any go on sinning, the harder they will find the work of repentance. Delay strengthens sin and hardens the heart and gives the devil fuller possession. A plant at first may be easily plucked up, but when it has spread its roots deep in the earth, a whole team cannot remove it. It is hard to remove sin when it comes to be rooted. The longer the ice freezes the harder it is to be broken. The longer a man freezes in security, the harder it will be to have his heart broken.

Presuming upon God's mercy can be eternally fatal.
Many suck poison from this sweet flower. Oh, one says, "Christ has died; He has done all for me; therefore I may sit still and do nothing." Thus they suck death from the tree of life and perish by a savior. So I may say of God's mercy, it accidentally causes the ruin of many. Because of mercy, some men presume and think they may go on sinning. But should a king's clemency make his subjects rebel? The psalmist says, "there is mercy with God, that he may be feared," (Psalms 130:4) but not that we may sin.

Can men expect mercy by provoking justice?
God will hardly show those mercy who sin because mercy abounds. Many would rather go sleeping to hell than weeping to heaven.


-COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE-
There are several deceits of repentance which might occasion that saying of Augustine that `repentance damns many'. He meant a false repentance; a person may delude himself with counterfeit repentance.

1. The first deceit of repentance is legal terror
A man has gone on long in sin. At last God arrests him, shows him what desperate hazard he has run, and he is filled with anguish. Within a while the tempest of conscience is blown over, and he is quiet. Then he concludes that he is a true penitent because he has felt some bitterness in sin. Do not be deceived: this is not repentance. Ahab and Judas had some trouble of mind. It is one thing to be a terrified sinner and another to be a repenting sinner. Sense of guilt is enough to breed terror. Infusion of grace breeds repentance. If pain and trouble were sufficient to repentance, then the damned in hell should be most penitent, for they are most in anguish. Repentance depends upon a change of heart. There may be terror, yet with no change of heart.

2. Another deceit about repentance is resolution against sin
A person may purpose and make vows, yet be no penitent. `Thou saidst, I will not transgress' (Jer. 2.20). Here was a resolution; but see what follows: `under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot'. Notwithstanding her solemn engagements, she played fast and loose with God and ran after her idols. We see by experience what protestations a person will make when he is on his sick-bed, if God should recover him again; yet he is as bad as ever. He shows his old heart in a new temptation.

Resolutions against sin may arise:
(1) From present extremity; not because sin is sinful, but because it is painful. This resolution will vanish.

(2) From fear of future evil, an apprehension of death and hell: `I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him' (Rev. 6.8). What will not a sinner do, what vows will he not make, when he knows he must die and stand before the judgment-seat? Self-love raises a sick-bed vow, and love of sin will prevail against it. Trust not to a passionate resolution; it is raised in a storm and will die in a calm.

3. The third deceit about repentance is the leaving of many sinful ways
It is a great matter, I confess, to leave sin. So dear is sin to a man that he will rather part with a child than with a lust: `Shall I give the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?' (Mic. 6.7). Sin may be parted with, yet without repentance.

(1) A man may part with some sins and keep others, as Herod reformed many things that were amiss but could not leave his incest.

(2) An old sin may be left in order to entertain a new, as you put off an old servant to take another. This is to exchange a sin. Sin may be exchanged and the heart remained unchanged. He who was a prodigal in his youth turns usurer in his old age. A slave is sold to a Jew; the Jew sells him to a Turk. Here the master is changed, but he is a slave still. So a man moves from one vice to another but remains a sinner still.

(3) A sin may be left not so much from strength of grace as from reasons of prudence. A man sees that though such a sin be for his pleasure, yet it is not for his interest. It will eclipse his credit, prejudice his health, impair his estate. Therefore, for prudential reasons, he dismisses it. True leaving of sin is when the acts of sin cease from the infusion of a principle of grace, as the air ceases to be dark from the infusion of light.

THE 2007 WEBLOG AWARDSCOT is a finalist this year! You can vote by clicking the image below.

UPDATE:

The results are in and we finished fourth in the 2007 Weblog Awards in the religious category. You can see all of the winners in every category here. A special congratulations to Joe Carter and all at The Evangelical Outpost - they finished second this year and are well deserving of this recognition. He has an excellent blog well worth your investment of time.

I want to personally thank each of you for voting and for the constant support you show this blog by your interaction on a myriad of issues marked by your love of the gospel of sola fide, sound doctrine, biblical theology, the Word of God, and the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Steve
Col. 1:9-14

IF YOU'LVE ALREADY VOTED... THANK YOU.
BUT REMEMBER, YOU CAN VOTE AGAIN;
AND TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO VOTE.
I KNOW I WON'T WIN AND THAT'S COOL - BUT MAYBE WILL STAY TOP FIVE.
EITHER WAY, IT'S NOT WHY I BLOG AND IT'S A
JOY AND PRIVILEGE TO SERVE YOU AND THE LORD
HERE AT COT ... AMEN?
-SDG-

I wasn't certain if this was really legit or not; but I was notified by another prominent Christian blogger that this is a genuine thing. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not much for awards at all. But this not a-typical and seems like it could be fun. You can vote once a day, every day through November 7th; winners will be announced on the 8th. Not much time to let your voice be heard, so would you consider supporting COT by voting the next few days?

Grace and peace,
Campi

Your Weekly Dose of Gospel...the reality of sin and the necessity of the law

"For all have sinned, and continually fall short of the holy appraisal of God." -Romans 3:23


by Ichabod Spencer
All, and therefore you, my dear Reader, and myself. We have sinned; that is, we have broken God's law; for 'There is none righteous, no, not one' (Romans 3:10). There is none that has kept the law of God. We have transgressed every precept of His moral law, either in act, word, or evil desire. The charge is heavy, but the verdict is true. Let us consider the case, earnestly entreating God to enlighten our minds. Take the ten commandments into your hand, and read. We have broken the first commandment, by trusting in and loving other things more than God. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart" (Matthew 22:37). In this we have come short. The second respects the manner in which God is to be worshiped, not with outward form and ceremony, but in spirit and truth.

Alas! how deficient have we been in that serious attention, that inward reverence, and that devout affection, which His worship required! God is a jealous God. You say you have never been guilty of profane cursing and swearing, and so think you have kept the third; but have you never in prayer, and in reading the sacred Scriptures, suffered the holy name of God to pass through your lips without an awful sense of what you were doing, or even without thought? "the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain" (Exodus 20:7). Have you always employed the whole Sabbath in those religious exercises which the fourth commandment enjoins; and performed those exercises in such a devout manner, that the law has nothing to charge you with, in thought, word, or deed? Sinner, lay your hand upon your mouth, and plead guilty. Need I go through the second table? Dost thou love thy neighbor as thyself? Hast thou done unto all men as thou wouldst they should do unto thee? Have you never been guilty of disobedience to your parents? Know ye not that every rising of causless anger is murder? (Matthew 5:22) that every unchaste desire is adultery? (Matthew 5:28) that every secret fraud and neglect of affording that succour to the poor which is in your power, is theft? That every uncharitable thought is a breach of the ninth, and every covetous wish a transgression of the tenth commandment?

Surely all have sinned, in doing that which the law forbids, and in not doing that which the law commands. What have I then done; and what have I not done? All have sinned. What is my state? A state of sinfulness and misery. Why have I not felt it till now? Because sin hath blinded my eyes against the light of truth.